A day on the Farm

It was a great reunion to be with cousins again. The giggles never stopped. I wish we would didn't have to live so far away so they could spend more time together. We found lots of things to do to pass the time. Day one we spent at a farm exploring. All Brittlynn wanted to do was to milk a cow and when she finally had a chance she wouldn't go near it. Cows, pigs, sheep, horses, llamas...you name it we saw it and the girls had a great time together. The weather was nice enough to us as we explored the farm and the we made sure to come home very exhausted.  

After a day at the farm we went home at dinner with the family and headed to watch Bowen play baseball. Eric was had fun riding in the mustang with the top down and loved sporting the pink.  Brittlynn had lots of run riding in the back of the car. I was really surprised because she can't stand having the window down in the car.  It was a great day to spend time with the family. I am in love with Savannah's hair, she is a lucky girl.

Plane Ride

We decided the only way to see our family was to make an adventure out of it all. After driving down to Vegas we caught an early flight to Ohio to be able to spend some time with cousins. The girls are some of the most amazing and cutest travelers ever. I love watching them in front of me looking so much the same. The have so much fun when they travel...taking pictures every chance they get. We stop off in Colorado and had to look at the mountains we miss so much. We had lots of adventures as we spent time at the airport.  I love traveling with my girls.

Las Vegas...is where we start

We started of a long adventure on a backroad to Vegas. What an adventure it was. The road was long and nothing was really around. Somewhere in the middle of it all I look back and see this beautiful smile. Brittlynn had found some lip gloss and she decided she needed to be pretty. We arrived and were able to watch Liberty be baptized. It was a special day for her and I am so glad we were able to be part of it. The next day Hunter was able to receive the Aaronic Priesthood. Eric was a part of that. What an amazing thing for him to be a part of. To pass the time on Sunday we drove out to walk around the temple grounds. What a beautiful place to be. I love to see the temple and I can't wait to go there with my family soon. Of course Eric was able to find time to go golfing. It was a beautiful weekend to spend time with our family in Las Vegas, before we went on to our next adventures.

Goodbye Alex

Alex came to visit before he went to basic training and to see his dad get baptized. What was supposed to be only a week turned into three months after he hurt himself snowboarding. Perhaps it was Heavenly Fathers way of allow broken things to be mended before it is all lost. More than anything it allowed a father to be able to send his son off they way he had always hoped. Savannah and Brittlynn also had a chance to have their brother in their life again. It is hard knowing there is such a gap between the older kids and the younger ones that they won't grow up sharing that many memories of each other. Its also crazy to think we are old enough to have children on their own ready to take on the world. Both Alex and Emily have chosen to do difficult things. Both opportunities will allow them to mature faster than most at their age. We are excited that we were able to spend the time having Alex back in our house. I know it wasn't his choice to be here for so long. I am just glad it turned into a positive experience for our family and perhaps someday he will look back on the time he had in Idaho with our family as positive also. Eric was able to go golfing one more time before he left. We said goodbye to Alex on Monday night when he stayed in a hotel before he left for the airport. It might be awhile before we are all together as a family. The next day to Eric's surprise and excitement Alex called to have us meet him at the airport. When Eric went to basic training he never called his mom to let him know when he was leaving until it was to late. There was a little mix up at the airport so his flight was delayed for 3 hours so we were able to spend more time with him. To our surprise he told us how much he missed us already. A year ago if you told me Alex would miss his family I wouldn't believe it...but at this moment he did.
He is going to join the Air Force. Carry on a tradition of serving his country in the military. He is determined to succeed at this choice in his life. I know he wants it bad enough nothing will stop him.

Love this guy

 We had a formal dance with the youth that I was supposed to chaperone so Eric was a great sport to get all dressed up in his formal to go to the dance with me. One of the things I have missed most about moving to Idaho is not being able to get dressed up for all of the fun events that they have on base. So it was great being able to be spend the evening with my favorite person.

I have been waiting for the day that I could go to the temple with him. It has been a challenge to be find family names to be able to go to the temple, but some how we manage and we have made it our favorite date night for the month. I love this guy and I am so glad he loves going to the temple with me.