BYU Jerusalem 10 YR Reunion

It'll be 10 years this coming Fall that I spent a semester abroad studying at the BYU Jerusalem Center. Having the great husband that I do, and all the support around me to help with my kids, I was able to fly home to Utah (ALONE) to attend my 10 year reunion. It was an excuse to see some good friends and to have a little weekend away. After missing my flight out of Portland due to the most horrible traffic I have ever been in in my life... I did eventually make it to Utah. It was great to catch up with roommates and friends from that time in Jerusalem that I had not seen in years. You can imagine how close we all got. The center was like living in one big house with 170 roommates for 4 months. We were one of the last groups that BYU took over before they closed the Jerusalem Center due to the state of unrest in the surrounding areas. It has recently reopened.

On the flight there, I had time to read back in my journals and to reflect on the whole experience. Every day I wrote how I never wanted this experience to end. It was absolutely incredible. I also wrote about how tired I was. We had field trips where we had to be on the bus by 6am and we'd fall into our beds at midnight. We traveled to Jericho, to Jordan, to the Sinai Pennisula and spent two weeks in Galilee and Egypt. I took classes in the Old Testament, the New Testament, Acts, Near Eastern Studies, ANCIENT Near Eastern Studies, Islam, Judaism and studied Hebrew. One of my favorite places to be was at the Garden Tomb or sitting on the shores of Galilee. I wrote about getting up at 2 am to hike Mount Sinai and freezing almost to death on top of the mountain, waiting for the sun to rise. Seeing the sun come over the horizon and lighting the valley below will always be one of the most amazing views I think I will ever experience. It was simply breathtaking.

I made such wonderful friends at the Jerusalem Center. Everyone was so great and we were all there because we wanted to be. I came to know my Savior in such a personal way as we studied His life and walked where He would have walked. There is an incredible spirit in those sacred places such as the Garden of Gethsemane and the Garden Tomb. The scriptures literally came to life as we read them on location and the meaning of them became so clear.

A flood of memories have come back to me as I've been able to reflect on everything I learned and felt while studying in the Holy Land. It's made me stop and reflect on my life and my testimony and where my priorities lie now. It's good to have these little reminders every once in a while of where we should be. I am just so grateful for this amazing opportunity and the foundation it has given me of the gospel of Jesus Christ and of our Savior's Atonement.

A few of us at the reunion dinner.

Sweet Friends

A House Full of Princesses

So, I now have a 4 year old! I can hardly believe it but oh... what a fun age to be! This little girl is all PRINCESS so of course, we had to have a PRINCESS PARTY to celebrate. For two hours, I had a house full 12 dancing and singing princesses and it was absolutely CRAZY! I have never been so exhausted. Birthday parties are so much work and if you know me, I don't know how to make anything easy. To see the smile on Macy's face and how HAPPY she was to be with her friends made everything worth it. I love this girl! Anything for her! She's completely spoiled.

The girls arrived at 1pm. It was requested that they arrive in their BEST PRINCESS ATTIRE or they could dress up when they got here. They all looked so beautiful in their dresses and it just added to all of the excitement. By the end of the party, I think they had all changed into at least one different outfit and it was all we could do to make sure everyone left in the same clothes they arrived in. We decorated princess wands and party bags with glittery stickers and jewels. Note to self: Stick to stickers in the future and stay away from glitter, glue and anything that is wet and sticky! The girls loved it though! Next came the games: Pass the Slipper (similar to Hot Potato) and Pin the Crown on the Princess. Then the Dance-off-Freeze Competition where the girls danced their little hearts out to "Happy Birthday Princess" and froze when I stopped the music. I got them good and tired. Next came cupcakes and presents and the grand finale...the Princess Pinata. It was a hit. Another side-note: don't put rings and candy bracelets in the pinata that could get busted. You get what you pay for!

It was such a fun birthday DAY all together! I just love my little Macy. She is my little best friend. I love our conversations together. I love playing dollhouse and our little time at night when just me and her read stories together and talk about our favorite part of the day and all the fun we are going to have tomorrow. Macy is such a sweet little girl. She doesn't come without the drama of a 4-year-old, that is for sure, but we love her none-the-less. The twins adore her and she is such a great big sister to them. They follower her everywhere. Nicholas is ALWAYS by her side playing, but mostly bugging her like little brothers do. We are working on patience.

Here's to the birthday girl! Macy, we love you!

The Party Invites!

The Princess Barbie Cake! No, I did not make this. The sweetest girl, Lizzie, did! The girls were all in love with it! I wouldn't serve it because it was just too beautiful! I served cupcakes instead. I think the girls were definitely disappointed.

Stars in the Entryway!

The Beautiful Princesses

The sweet birthday girl opening her presents!

Princesses gathered all around.

This Tinkerbell outfit was so cute!

Macy riding her new scooter! She was so excited!

Celebrating 8 Years Together

Eight years ago today, Mark and I were married in the Logan LDS Temple. We got married on a Wednesday, of all days. I wanted August 1st. Sorry, to everyone that had to take off work in the middle of the week. It was a gorgeous day, not a cloud in the blue Utah skies. After 7 months of planning a wedding without my mother, who was in Australia serving with my dad who was over the missionaries for our church in that area, all the details flawlessly came together. I think we ran out of desserts at the reception but I didn't even notice. Come to think of it, I didn't even get any refreshments at my own wedding. I have no idea if they were good or not. All I know is that we served lots of different cakes. I remember not wanting to take my wedding dress off after the reception knowing that I would never wear it again or have a day quite like this one. Then there was the midnight run through Wendy's drive thru because we both were STARVING after the reception. It was the perfect wedding day I had always dreamed about as a little girl. The prince wasn't bad looking either ;-)

Now, looking back, we look so young and innocent in this picture. My hair is actually done and if you look close enough, we're actually holding hands. Holy smokes! I can't remember the last time we did that! J

A lot has happened in our eight short years together (12 if you're counting when we first met the summer before our Freshman year at Utah State); dating, Mark's mission, breaking up, getting back together, an engagement, a wedding, graduations, new jobs, three moves, three kids, new friends, and lots of laughs and cries, big decisions and surprises along the way. I am so glad that I've had Mark to experience all of these many little adventures with. He is my very best friend and the one I rely on to get me through the day. We are perfect for each other and I couldn't imagine my life with anyone but him. Love ya, Babe! Thanks for making life so sweet! I'm so glad we have forever!

Lady Antebellum

Last night, we took Macy to the see Lady Antebellum in concert at the Benton County Fair right up the road from us. Macy and I can sing all of their songs. It was so AWESOME! We were eight rows from the front and right in the middle. The crowd was huge. People came from all over Oregon and California to hear them and they put on such a great concert. I kept thinking how awesome it was for them to perform at such a small venue like the county fair when they are in the middle of touring with headliner Kenny Chesney. To me, it just shows how grounded they are and that they haven't forgotten where they started. I'm a serious fan for life now.

Afterwards, we waited around to meet them and to get their autographs. They took a little extra time with us, I think because we had Macy go first to meet them and they thought she was just beautiful. I shook all of their hands and blabbered on about how much I loved their concert and their music. What can I say....I'm a BIG, BIG fan!

Umm...yes, that is me holloring in the background! I'm like a teenage girl at her first concert. I just got so excited.

Macy was completely exhausted after the concert but she was so good. She wouldn't let us leave until she got to meet the singers. Now their autographed picture is hanging in her room.

Fourth of July Fun!

We had such a great time in Utah with my family. Here are some pictures of all of the Fourth of July Festivities.

The Hyrum Parade

My sister-in-law and good-looking brothers.

The sweet water slide my parents bought for all the grandkids. It was a blast!

Us girls saying good-bye. We always cry. Thanks for a great week even though it got a little crazy with all of our kids running around. It's always so good to come home and be together!

This picture is priceless. Another successful roadtrip
Summer 2009!

Something for Baby!

I had so much fun making this diaper cake for my sister-in-law's baby shower. I can't even believe how cute it turned out. I did a search on YouTube for instructions on how to make one and came up with this. I almost hated giving it away!


We had a great turn out for Heather's shower. It was so good to see so much family! Heather looked beautiful and received some great gifts. Now comes the hard part. Figuring out what to do with all that baby stuff and how it all works. Good Luck, Heather and Jason! You're going to be great parents!

Family Vacation....Cancun!

We've been a little spoiled this year taking two big vacations, first Hawaii and then Cancun, but apparently, our families have been waiting for us to get out of school so we could start playing. We are certainly not complaining. If there has ever been a year that we've needed two vacations...this has been it! This last trip to Cancun with Mark's family was the GREATEST vacation EVER! It was absolutely perfect. We left all the kids at home and did nothing but eat, sleep, and seriously laugh out loud. Mark's family is hilarious and they love nothing more than being together and telling funny, funny stories. We had a great, great time!

All of us hanging out on the beach! There were 13 of us total!

View from our hotel room at the Barcelo Maya Colonial Resort.

This is one of the restaurants we ate at every day. The resort was all-inclusive and yes...we ate...A LOT! I could not leave the soft-serve ice cream alone. It was DELICIOUS!

The food

Me, loving life on the beach! Everyone else read like 5 books. I read 100 pages. I seriously just vegged!

The entire family, plus Breanne, whom we love!

Phil and Dana, Mark's parents, who put this whole thing together.

The restaurants had a strict dress code for the men: NO SHORTS OR SANDALS but the women could wear whatever they wanted. Jason and Mark didn't pack any pants for the trip and had to taxi in to the city to buy some. They came back with these workout pants and wore them every night to dinner. It was the laughing joke. Apparently, you can look like a scrounge and eat at the restaurants as long as you are wearing pants and shoes.

The "Kids Table" as we called it. Mark's parents and the older sibling were next to us at the big table.

Cute Breanne and Syd.

The day at Tulum.

It was pouring rain the day we left which made it a little easier to leave.

Our last day in Cancun! Tan, happy and very much rested. Thanks, Mom & Dad, for watching our kids. I know they were loved to pieces!