I Love To See The Temple

I LOVE Temple Square at this time of year.  I love it because it reminds me of my wedding day and the flowers are just absolutely beautiful.  Brian loves visiting the temple grounds and asks to go often so I took the boys on Thursday afternoon.  I want everyone to take a REAL good look at the money shot above, because you won't see anything like it in the following pictures. 

 I took a million pictures and these were the best I got.  These little boys were crazy.  It seemed to me that they had a goal to swim in every fountain, frolic in every bed of flowers, and ruin every wedding couple's photo op.  Yet through it all I had a giant smile plastered to my face. I love these guys.

So I got only one "good" photo and I did a lot of running after my little monkeys, but we had so much fun and both kids want to sing "I Love To See The Temple" all day long now.  I am so glad I got to see those tulips before they are replaced by summer flowers.

8 Years Ago

on a beautiful sunny spring day like today, Mark and I were married in the Salt Lake Temple.  What a wonderful day to celebrate and remember.  Today I am not only remembering the day we got married, but I'm also thinking of the many memories and adventures we have had since that day.  It is such a blessing to be married to Mark and to raise our children in love.  Eternal marriage is such a wonderful divine gift.

Thanks to my mom I now have some digital pictures of our wedding day!

Like all my sisters and many of my cousins, I had a photo taken when I got married wearing my great grandmother Oertel's wedding dress.

My mother wore the same dress for her wedding.

My grandmother Cannon also wore the dress when she was married.

To me these pictures are a visual representation of following in the footsteps of these beautiful women.  I am sealed to a loving and righteous husband and am raising my own children in the gospel. I only hope I can rise to the standard of the women above.



Here is a picture of Mark and me now.  A good word to describe us would be more.  We are a little bit more tired, maybe a little bit chubbier, and more in love and happier to be experiencing life together even than we were 8 years ago.  Happy Anniversary Mark!

Easter Weekend

We had a marvelous Easter weekend.  I think my favorite thing this year was discussing with Brian what Easter is really all about.  He is understanding that Jesus Christ was killed. buried in the tomb, and then resurrected three days later.  I tried to focus on that the last few days and we talked about it in detail several times each day.  Timmy loves seeing pictures of Jesus and pointing Him out.

Saturday morning we colored and dyed some eggs.  It was very fun and not as messy as I was expecting.  It really helped to have Mark there helping Timmy.

Saturday afternoon we had our traditional Easter Egg Hunt with the Evans cousins at Alli and Dave's house.  It could not have been more fun. We ate a delicious dinner and then headed out to find lots of eggs.  Both Brian and Timmy were great at finding the eggs.  The older kids left all the eggs on the grass for Timmy to just walk around and pick up. He was so happy picking up those eggs until one broke open and candy spilled all over the grass.  From then on he forgot about gathering more eggs, and focused completely on opening the eggs he had and eating the candy.

Sunday was beautiful all around.  After Brian's big birthday bash last week and all the fun and candy we had on Saturday, I decided there was no need (nor energy) to do Easter baskets this year.  So we just enjoyed our candy and dyed eggs from the day before and had a hearty oatmeal breakfast while listening to the Music and Spoken Word.  We also had time to snap a few pictures before Mark headed off to meetings, and before I had to haul the kids, the bag, the blankies, and my cello to church to practice with Mandy and our pianist before church began.  Mandy and I played a few Easter songs in Relief Society.  I love playing with my sisters and it helped me really get into the Easter spirit.

After making it through all of church the boys got to take a nice Easter nap.  We then headed to the Hsiao house for some yummy dinner and fun with the Hsiao cousins.  The weather was gorgeous so we spent some time outside.  A very nice cat wandered into the yard and I thought the kids were just petting it until I looked over to find this.  That poor cat! Strangely it didn't even seem to mind, because it kept coming back for more.  Luckily Timmy did learn to just pet it softly.

Vivian got this picture of the cousins before we left to go home.  True to form my kids had bed hair from their naps and Easter candy, food, dirt, and grass all over their outfits.  I still love how cute they are with their cousins and their open mouthed smiles!

Brian's Bug Birthday

Brian's birthday was all about bugs.  Coincidentally the theme in his preschool class that day was bugs as well.  I signed up to help in his class on his birthday to make it a little more special for him at school.  My mom came to watch Timmy while we were gone.  His teacher had him bring a poster all about him and she did a cute little spotlight on Brian.  He was so happy to have his friends learn more about what he likes to do and eat and to share a little birthday treat with them.  He requested rice crispy treats.

After school we came home to a little lunch.  Somehow while we were gone my mom cleaned all the appliances in my kitchen, emptied my dishwasher, did the dishes, mopped my floors, and cleaned up my backyard all while playing with and watching Timmy.  Thank you Mom!  You are amazing! 

The kids took a nap and then we finished getting ready for Brian's party.  He wanted his closest cousins to come, so we invited Jordan, Caitlin, Xander, and Lily.  Their parents came too, along with Grandma, Grandpa, and Grandma Joycie.

Brian could not wait for everyone to get here!

We started off the party with a bug hunt.  Each kid got to catch plastic bugs in the backyard with their bug nets and magnifying glasses.

Then we turned little capsules into bugs at the table.

Then Brian opened so many fun gifts from everyone who came.  Thank you all so much!

Pizza came next. . .

followed by the bug cake.

Brian was so happy to pick his own balloon colors.  I had to remind myself that it was his birthday, not mine, when he decided he wanted black in the mix.  

Brian got some grow bugs for his birthday.  This "little" grasshopper is the first one we have tried.  It just keeps growing and growing and growing and growing.  So weird and fascinating.

It was so fun for me to spend a few weeks thinking about Brian and planning a little party for him.  He is just my favorite 4-year-old ever!  Happy Birthday Buddy!