Wedding bells are ringing!

My baby sister is getting married next month! I'm so excited for her. She's excited too as the picture attests.

The man of her dreams gave her this beautiful ring. I still haven't met the man but I hear from the family that he's a keeper.

We threw her a bridal shower. Those fortune cookies were handmade by my amazing sister-in-law, Melinda. They contained some of the funniest fortunes I've ever heard. My aunt's fortune read, "Your future will be embarrassing." Love it!

I enjoyed meeting some of Julie's close friends and spending time with family that I don't get to see often. I administered a multiple choice test all about Kurt and Julie's courtship. It was great fun to invent make-believe scenarios about their courtship. It was fun to see which people were really in the know on Julie's life!

Fun, fun, fun!

We stayed with my big sis, Jenny, and her three kids. Can I just say we had so much fun with them?!! Lily has been waiting ages to spend time with Sarah and Amy. And she's been excited to see Ty, but oh, so afraid, he'd tickle her 'til she couldn't breathe. She laid down the law and said no tickling her...he agreed.

My Carter is such a boy. He loves to play rough, blow raspberries in people's faces, and do annoying stuff like that...well, I was delighted to see that he'd found someone who would play with him! Ty was lying on the couch. Carter came right up to him and made a very annoying sound in his face. Normally, if he did that to me I'd say, "Stop it, Carter." But awesome Tyler did it right back to Carter! So they had a little annoying sound war with each other...and Carter loved it! He's a super fun cousin! I also have to add that Tyler is a busy young man, always at work or out with friends, but he made time to spend with us while we were there. Thanks, Ty!

Sarah did Lily's makeup and hair. Lily felt so beautiful.

My beautiful nieces, Amy and Sarah.

Aunt Jen spoiled the kids and showered them with love. She's affectionately known as Aunt Skittles because she often has packs of Skittles for all the little cousins. They adore her! My beautiful sis is an amazing woman. I admire her courage, sense of humor, dedication to her family and the Lord, and her beauty.

I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I love Temple Square. I have pleasant memories of time I spent there throughout my childhood and youth. I want my children to have a little bit of that too. We visited Temple Square and had a wonderful time.

A feeling of peace pervades this place. It is calm and beautiful. I feel God's love for me when I am there.

We enjoyed the Christus statue and the reminder of our Savior's love and infinite sacrifice for us.

The temple grounds are always so lovely. I love the flowers, grass, and trees there, coupled with the blue sky. It's a beautiful place. I wanted to get a photo of all my kids together. The girls appeased me...

Carter didn't.

Another favorite activity of the day was watching Book of Mormon stories in the visitors' center. We watched clips about Nephi's trust in God when he and his family were traveling in the wilderness and needed food. He sought God's direction about where to hunt and went to work to make a new bow and arrow after his original one broke.

We also liked the clip about the young men who fought valiantly to protect their families, people, and liberty. They trusted God completely because their mothers taught them to have faith in God.

This statue caught my attention because it captures and portrays motion. Joseph Smith was always in motion, he was always doing, working, producing, serving. I felt inspired to move forward and better serve others.

Lily got a kick out of this cool drinking fountain. You push the foot pedal on the bottom to get water. Cute Lily had to put both feet on the pedal and use all her body weight to make it work! Needless to say, she took several drinks from that fountain and then got a few more when we passed by it again later.

I served my mission in France and Belgium. I found a soeur Francaise (a French sister missionary) serving on Temple Square and absolutely loved speaking with her in French. I love France and speaking French, but don't have the opportunity very often. So this was a treat. At the end of our conversation, this soeur sincerely thanked me for serving in her country. I honestly can't express how that touched me. If you served in France, you can understand why that meant so much.

As we stood on the top floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, I told the kids again about their great, great....grandpa from their daddy's side of the family who manned the crane that placed the statue on top of the Salt Lake Temple spire after it was built. The kids always love hearing that story. Hearing it again while seeing the statue high on top of the temple, made it real and exciting to them.

This was a wonderful day. I was spiritually filled.

Grandpa Clark

My dad took us to the zoo when we were in Utah. We had so much fun with him! We enjoyed the cool, comfortable weather, watching the animals, and time with Grandpa.

Carter loved riding the train!

Lily was the photographer behind the camera for this shot.

Two ferocious spiders!

Grandpa and the girls.

We were all tired after the long day of walking at the zoo. Carter insisted that Grandpa carry him. Thanks, Grandpa!

The next day we went to the Clark Planetarium. My kids loved this place! They were so interested in the Foucault pendulum. They loved the anticipation as the pendulum swung closer and closer to knocking down the next little key. Grandpa followed those kids all over the planetarium...upstairs and down, and back up again!

Here's a cool story: we had lunch that day in the nearby food court. As we were walking out, I saw a cute little baby girl in her stroller...and I recognized her! I didn't recognize her because I had ever met her, but because I keep in touch with her mommy, my cousin, via our blogs! Baby Quinn was in line with her daddy (who I also wouldn't have recognized if not for our blogs!). So I stopped and said hi and he told me my cousin, Crystal, was there! So I made a beeline over to see her. I am so glad for our blogs that have kept us in touch! Love you, Crystal!

The Drive Up

The kids and I drove up to Utah together for our first big trip of the summer. Some say the drive from Phoenix to Provo can be done in 10 1/2 hours...but I've never braved it with the kids, especially without Aaron.

We usually break the trip into two days but this time we split it into three, having playtime with cousins both nights. We drove the two hours up to Flag and stayed with Neal and Chris the first night. Fortunately, Topher, Natalie, and Joey and their families were there...so it was a super fun par-tay! I didn't get any pictures but we had a lot of fun!

The next morning we drove from Flag to St. George. It took us 6 hours, with two bathroom/nursing stops. Our first stop was at Lee's Ferry. We walked out on a bridge across the Colorado River and even saw a native California Condor perched under the bridge. Arizona is beautiful.

The kids on the bridge.

We stopped for a minute by these gargantuan rocks. I asked the kids to stand by them for a picture but they refused because they were afraid the rocks would roll and crush them.

We visited the St. George temple grounds. It was peaceful and lovely there. These are my two willing models. They were happy to sit still for me to photograph them.

Carter, however, was on the go. He only held still long enough to look at a motorcycle and a fire hydrant.

Carter thinks these things are so cool. He likes to count them when we're driving. He notes the different colors and shapes of hydrants. He doesn't yet know why dogs like them. I'll keep that one a secret for as long as I can, otherwise, he might want to try it too.

Carter is holding a pass-along card. They are a friendly way of sharing our faith with others. I visited with a sister missionary who is serving in the visitors' center with her husband. I noticed a French flag pinned on her lapel and introduced myself to her in French. It was so much fun to chat en francais! I was utterly shocked to learn that in May 11,000 francophones visited the St. George temple grounds! Usually around 4,000 pass through per month. I couldn't believe it!

We had a grand old time playing with Sherrie and Gayle and their families. They are two of the funnest families on the whole planet! I am so glad we belong to each other. My kids had a great time playing with all our cousins. It was so much fun. In that first leg of the trip, Hazel met 16 new cousins!

The kids and I got in the car to make the last leg of our trip up to Provo...and the van wouldn't start. Turned out I needed a new battery. So sweet Sherrie tagged along with me (held my hand, really) while I got a new battery. Thanks, Sherrie!! We got on the road a few hours later than hoped, but it turned out a-okay. I was just glad the battery died in St. George rather than in the middle of the desert. We were blessed. The last leg took 4 hours. When we reached Provo, the magnet was pulling us to Jordan and Kelly's house to meet our brand new cousin, baby Ian.

He is sweet and sleepy, just like a newborn should be. I could see lots of Kelly in him at the beginning of the trip. By the end of our two weeks there, I was deciphering some more of his daddy in him. He's a precious boy. We love him!

I have a wish list of things I'm wanting. It has things on it like a concealer brush and a hand wheat mill. Well, my list has just grown one item longer. The Silhouette, a digital cutting tool, much like the cricut...but better! You don't have to have cartridges for it! It comes with images, you can use the fonts and images from your own computer, and download more from their website for 99 cents. Yikes!

Thrifty Decor Chick is doing a giveaway for one. A million and two people have entered the giveaway. I did too. You can too! Good luck to us!

Kindergarten complete!

Sending Lily to kindergarten was challenging for me. I missed her terribly when she started all-day kindergarten. We settled into a routine through the school year. While I missed her, I'm so pleased with the education she received this year. Now the school year has ended and we're nearly a month into summer and having a great time! We had a fabulous trip to visit family in Utah, which I'll post about in coming days. First things first!


She received an award for knowing all 70 phonograms in the Spalding curriculum. I loved the uniforms the kids wore this year. It made dressing for school in the morning easy, provided an atmosphere of modest dress, and decreased perceived social classes based on who has the coolest clothes.

The kindergarten teachers at Lily's school are amazing! Lily learned about all the presidents of the United States and the founding of our nation. The kindergarten put on a fun and stirring patriotic performance with song, dance, and word. Lily was Thomas Jefferson on Mount Rushmore.

"I'm a Yankee doodle dandy, a Yankee doodle do or die. A real live nephew of my Uncle Sam, born on the Fourth of July!" Those little kids were so cute dancing up on stage. I loved it!

Ms. Carol and Lily were good pals this year. I'm incredibly thankful for her positive influence in Lily's life. Now my Lily has lost her first two teeth, can read, and is an official first-grader. Wow!