women's conference

Living in Utah defintiely has its perks. For the General Relief Society meeting, our stake went down in busses to the conference center and saw the real deal. That building is amazing. It was neat to see the thousands and thousands of women all in one spot. I think my favorite part o fthe night was when they had everyone stand up and sing a hymn together. To hear that many people all singing together gave me goosebumps. There was just such a strong feeling of power in the building.

How do you like that shot of President Monson? I always get the best shots :)

I passed the camera down to Rachael and she helped me out. It is easy for me to forget how blessed we are to have a prophet to lead us today. I love being a member of this church.

the feast.

So last week, Sam was studying all night, every night, and I was trying to think of a way to make our Friday night fun, even though I knew he would be studying the whole time. So I told him I was going to cook a feast for us. Yes, a feast. I was kind of picturing the scene in Harry Potter where the students come back to Hogwarts and have that huge dinner where different dishes magically keep appearing in front of them. So I rushed home from work, and cooked and cooked and cooked for a good 2 hours. We finally ate at 9pm. The problem is, when I took a picture of our "feast" I realized it just looked like a normal dinner. The kind my mom made every single day of the week. Quite the reality check. So it's back to the quesadillas for us, normal dinners are way too much work!

what a great day.

We have the nicest couple in our ward, The Boyers. They have a bunch of land and know how much Sam and Todd love dirtbiking, so they offered to take us up to their property. Sam and Todd rode the bikes, Lacey and I rode AWESOME 4 wheelers, and we had one of the best afternoons ever. It was a blast. We rode the prettiest trail about 2 hours back to a small lake, where we BBQed and laughed about everything. Mostly about mooning people... don't ask. Then we headed back in the dark and talked and hung out looking for shooting stars for awhile.

Lacey and I brought up the rear and ended up with about a pound of dirt on our faces.

My husband is tougher than your husband.

I remind myself of Ben Stiller in Zoolander when he painted himself black.

finally family!

I have been dying for my family to visit ever since we moved here, and over two years later they finally made it! Ok, so it wasn't for me, it was to bring Britt up to BYU Idaho, but they still spent they week at my house and it was a BLAST. Everyone crammed in our little place. We hiked waterfall canyon, long boarded, rode bikes, and spent our nights watching movies and eating pizookies. I thought I loved that dessert, but my family loved it even more. We ate them 3 nights in a row. Monday I went with my family to bring Britt up to BYU Idaho. It was fun to do a family road trip again. I had no idea Idaho was so cold, Brittany is definitely in for a treat. I am so glad I could take Brittany up for her first college weekend! It was great to get to spend so much time with my family, and I am so impressed with how grown up Brittany is. Definitely not the middle school-er I remember her as. For some reason the age everyone was when I moved away for college is the age they stay in my mind. Anyways, I already miss them like crazy and need my Mom back here to take care of me again. It is just wrong to spoil me for a weekend and then leave!

We are easily entertained. We spent a few evenings racing on the long boards and trying to avoid Sam, who loves pretending like he is going to crash into us on his bike and then stopping half an inch before he gets to you. We really missed out, not having a brother (Not!).

Sam was a trooper. He put up with the chic flicks great, although he drew the line when we put in Center Stage. His line of the week was, "Why do we have to WATCH chic flicks when we are LIVING one big chic flick?" I hope we have all girls.

I love being with my mom. I miss her a lot already. She has always and still loves to always be doing something, even if it's just riding bikes around or taking a walk. She was never the type of mom to sit around and watch TV. In fact, I don't EVER remember her watching a show for herself. While she was here, every morning I would wake up and all the dishes would be done and the house would be clean. I don't know how she does it.

I LOVED getting to spend time with Brittany. It is still weird for me to see her all grown up. She is one of the kindest people you will ever meet. Her roommates don't know how good they've got it.

Brittany in her new place. I had no idea it would be so hard to leave her there! It made me remember how homesick I was my first couple months away from home.

Ally is now the only child at home! I miss her witty personality already. I remember my senior year of high school, she was only 5 but she would put all my friends in their place. She could come up with better comebacks than most of the boys. They loved trying to tease her. I'm guessing she is already using the "only child" thing to her advantage.