Little Miss

After my last post, I realized that a lot happened during the past couple of months. So please indulge me as I work on catching up with everything!

During the end of March and early April, I was able to have some fun with Mercedes.

The statue of Angel Moroni was installed on the Provo City Center temple, that name is a mouthful! I picked up Mercedes and off we went to see it all happen!

It was amazing seeing so many people gathered together to witness a special event. The temple is still at least a year away from being done, but this is a step that is very exciting.

Before heading home, Mercedes and I needed a sweet treat. We ended up at BYU Creamery for a couple of ice cream cones.

Mercedes loves making silly faces!

Later that same week, she came over and we baked a very colorful cake.

Mercedes tried to block the camera with her spoon.

While we waited for the cake, Mercedes found a few activities to keep herself busy. We drew on the chalkboard. We worked on typing.

 Did a little Easter egg craft.

We worked on recognizing numbers.

After the cake cooled off, Mercedes supervised the frosting of the cake and of course had a piece of it.

It has been so great to live close to Mercedes again. She has grown up so much and has quite the personality.

Life Lately

Since it's been a while since my last post, I'll share quite a few pictures of what we've been up to for the past month and a half.

Back at in April, Mercedes came over to help me bake a colorful cake. She may or may not have eaten half of the batter...

Jonathan took me on a tour of a few of the places he lived in Provo before he met me.

This was his first apartment which is also where his dad lived when he met Jonathan's mom.

He lived in the basement of that cute little house.

We then went to hear Elder Dallin H. Oaks talk about religious freedom and how it is still very important in our day. Jonathan made an audio recording of what he said, so if you want a copy of it let us know!

Elder Quinten L. Cook, Elder D. Todd Christofferson, and Elder Jeffery R. Holland were in the audience as well.

Elder Oaks on the big screen!

I finally printed out about 40 of our instagram pictures!

I'm embarrassed with how long it took, but I finally recovered Jonathan's desk chair.

We took a trip up to Idaho to see these two silly monkeys! Seth was showing us the new bedspread he got from my mom for his birthday. Jonathan is totally jealous and now wants his own Star Wars bed.

We flew kites at the farm and were totally unprepared for how cold it still can me in Idaho in the springtime.

I got a beautiful flower arrangement from my parents for Mother's day.

We had some crazy clouds come through and cover up the mountains.

We walked around BYU and saw a really cute duck family!

Charlotte made her debut on our photo wall. (I'll share the rest of it another time!)

Mercedes, Jonathan, and I all got to shoot Taylor's AR-15 for the first time. I really can't wait to have one of my own! It's a really nice gun!

Jonathan and I took a hike up Rock Canyon on Memorial day with a lot of other people.

What are men to rocks and mountains! - Jane Austen

We found a nice old car that apparently tumbled off of the trail.

After Mackenzie's birthday party, we checked out the progress of the Payson temple.

I got to spend a couple of hours with my cousin's adorable little girl!

We took another trip up to Idaho, (not surprising!) to find Clara jumping on our bed while Seth and Jonathan played with legos.

We all walked to church. Seth was holding my hand, trust me he was really there!

Seth and Clara picked some flowers for me.

It's nice now that spring is really here and quickly turning into summer! In less than 2 weeks my parents will be here and so there will definitely be more to share!

School's Out!!!

For a week and a half...
Then summer semester starts up. Oh well!

At least this next round of classes will be so much better for Jonathan. He will be in various computer classes. It will be so much better than taking Ethics from an unethical professor.

Yesterday, they started filling up the pool in our apartment complex. I have a feeling that we will be using that to help us cool off when our swamp cooler can't. That's right, we have a swamp cooler... Be jealous.

Well we'll see where the wind will take us for this next week and a half. I already am feeling a strong push in the direction of Idaho.

Spring Has Sprung

On Saturday, Jonathan went to a Big Data Conference in Salt Lake. While he was nerding out, I explored Temple Square and enjoyed the spring weather.

I took a tour of the Conference Center. (Don't worry Mom, I didn't get lost this time!)

Everything was so green and lush. I've really missed this.

The flowers smelled heavenly as I walked around. I love all of the tulips, dafodills, poppies, and English buttons. I told Jonathan when we grow up and have a house we will have all of these wonderful flowers.

You can't see it, but there were people EVERYWHERE! I can't blame them. It was a gorgeous spring day.

 I am so grateful that it's spring!

When I saw the ducks, I thought of Jonathan's brother Thomas. He likes to go duck hunting. These ducks were lucky he wasn't around.

After Jonathan finished up, we did a session in the temple. This was my first time ever in the Salt Lake temple. Jonathan can tell you that I was giddy to be there. It is such a unique experience in this temple because it is live. In the vast majority of temples, there is a combination of video and audio instruction. The video was just recently updated and is amazing, but there is just something about being in a live session. I can't find the words to describe it.

Jonathan was sitting next to a man and shared that it was his first time at a live session. The man said that he almost always goes to a live session and that he hasn't even seen the new movie. He wished he lived closer to a temple that had the video. When Jonathan told me I couldn't believe my ears. From our apartment in Orem to Salt Lake, we pass by 5 temples in the 40 minute drive. Apparently that's just too far away!

Anyway, it was a wonderful experience. I can't wait to go again.

Welcome Home

I haven't been feeling good for the past few days and I just had to get out of the apartment today. I went for a drive wandering the streets of Orem and Provo. As I came up on Provo there was a sign "Provo: Welcome Home". A wave of homesickness came over me. Utah is certainly nice but it's not Roseville. I thought about all of my nieces and nephews there and what they would tell me about. 

Ryan would tell me about how Minecraft works (again).

Tyler would teach me some big words that he knows like stupendous and precipitation.

Kyle would tell me he's not Kyle but one of the Avengers.

Lyla and I would have chips and other snacky foods instead of whatever we were having for dinner. 

Garrett would tell me how doctors are terrible people that give you shots.

Charlotte would show me how she can walk everywhere and now get into cupboards.

I'm so excited that Easter is coming soon. We're planning on spending it in Idaho with Chris's family. It won't be the madness that I miss, but it will be a little bit more like home.

Oquirrh Mountain

For Family Home Evening this week, Jonathan and I went to the Oquirrh Mountain temple. This was our first time being on the temple grounds. We've seen it dozens of times from the freeway, but it's easy to see temples along I-15.

We were there as the sun was setting and so we got to watch the color of the temple change from grey to a warm beige.

Since it was Monday, the gates were locked but we still were able to enjoy being there. I was at first surprised by the number of families there, but then realized that they were doing their own FHEs at the temple as well.

One of the families was a dad with his young teenaged son and daughter. He was asking them questions about ordinances that they have already participated in. It made me think about how we will do very similar things with our kids.

As we were taking pictures, we heard a helicopter. Jonathan quickly recognized that it wasn't just an ordinary one, but an Apache helicopter. I didn't see it at first, so I handed him the camera to get some pictures.

I am so grateful that we have the opportunity to live close to so many temples at this time. As we were looking at schools, a couple of them were 3 hours away from the nearest temple. In Utah, you can drive 3 hours and drive past about a dozen. It is a wonderful reminder to make sure that we go to them, not just to enjoy the grounds but also participate in the ordinances provided inside.

This Weekend

This weekend we have the opportunity to listen to living prophets. In preparation, I'm making a list of questions. I know that they will be answered.

Last Saturday was the General Women's meeting. All women 8 and older were invited to be there. The spirit was just incredible and General Conference is the same way. When we gather together, there is a very real power that comes with it. Here is a snipet from the General Women's meeting.

I invite you to join General Conference. Click here to watch it.