June Happenings

Here are some highlights from June.

Jonathan's diploma is here! I need to frame it and hang it with our other diplomas.

Amy R. sent a Mother's day package with all sorts of cute gifts! In it she sent little magnetic frames. Apparently, Garrett is the only person I have small pictures of and so his school pictures are now finally framed!

Jonathan and I went up to the airport in Heber to see some cool old planes and swing dance in one of the hangers. It was a great night!

Jonathan had his first interview with a company we would love for him to work with. The night before we went to the temple to get some extra blessings for Jonathan to be able to do his best in the interview.

It did end up going really well! So, we went out to the Old Spaghetti Factory to celebrate and for him to tell me all about it.

My parents and Amy R's family came into town before our trip up to Idaho. I decided to go to work while they played the days away. It was tough, but it made the week in Idaho that much sweeter!

Jonathan and Garrett playing catch.

Father's Day Weekend

The "parent" holidays can be rough for us. This year, I decided to own Father's Day (instead of being a crying mess) and spend the weekend doing things Jonathan would like to do.

One of our favorite activities is driving around neighborhoods looking at homes. We try to visit model homes, but that's a purely Saturday activity since they close by the time I'm done at work. We got tickets for the Utah Valley Parade of homes and spent the day going from house to house seeing what we liked and a lot of what we didn't like. (It was mostly awkward floor plans that we couldn't stand.)

I love the grey and the ceiling.

I don't think laundry would be as terrible in this room!

I am now sold on smart thermostats.

A free standing soaking tub is in my future!

This is a fantastic idea for a door stop!

I also see a large creative space for me in the future.

Even though we had a great Saturday, Sunday morning was still tough. These holidays bring up a lot of emotions and inadequacies. I was about to indulge in these thoughts, but then I thought about Jonathan and the father he already is. It's not his fault that both of our pregnancies didn't make it full term (and it's not my fault either) and so there's really no reason for him not to be included on Father's Day. Instead of barely making it through the day, I decided to share the father that I see when I look at Jonathan.

Jonathan's choices have had our family in mind long before her met me while there are men in the world that technically are fathers, but choose not to be fathers. Every so often I see a quote saying "If you think my hands are full, you should see my heart." For us it's "If you think my hands are empty, you should see how full my heart is." We make all of our decisions with our children in mind. We truly, deeply love each one of them. I love J and E and I love the rest of our children, no matter how long they are going to stay with us. It doesn't matter. What matters is they are each an essential part of our family. Our family would not be complete without them just as it wouldn't be complete without me or Jonathan.

Jonathan is the father of our family. That's why I married him. I saw that he was already taking on that role and I liked the way he was fulfilling it. I wouldn't have anyone else be the father of my children.

Poppies

I heard about a place in Alpine that had poppies and that it was magical. Jonathan and I had to wait until they bloomed, but it was worth it!

There weren't tons of poppies, but it was still magical! There were a lot of big, happy bees buzzing from flower to flower.

Of course, we took more pictures together!

I guess you could say things are still pretty serious!

I'm so grateful for people who find and share beautiful places to visit! I got the directions to this place from here.

Spiritual Enlightenment: Consider the Lilies

Idaho Falls Temple Rededication

Jonathan and I went up to Idaho for the rededication of the Idaho Falls Temple. This is a very special temple for my family because my grandpa Machen helped build it after he came home from his mission in Tahiti. It was a wonderful weekend.

It started with Ruby not going to sleep on Friday night.

We played for most of Saturday while Chris and Annie did yard work. Ruby fell asleep before dinner.

We were able to watch the youth cultural celebration about the area and the temple. One of the songs they sang was about potatoes. It was very Idaho! Afterwards, we roasted marshmallows in the backyard.

Sunday morning, we went to the second session of the dedication. It was wonderful. I kept thinking about my grandparents and their example of temple service. My life would be bleak without the blessings of the temple. It gives me real hope for the future both for the coming years and after I die.

I can't wait to go inside the temple again!

My Elder Machen

Spiritual Enlightenment: Honorably Hold a Name and Standing - This talk helped me understand the importance of the temple for me as an individual.

Antelope Island

I've been wanting to go on more adventures with Jonathan for a while. Now that he's out of school and we don't expect to live in Utah much longer, we are really working on getting in as many adventures as we can!

Last month we went to Antelope Island. It's been awhile since we took family photos and so we got dressed up.

I'm very blessed to walk through life with Jonathan at my side.

Naturally, after we finished taking pictures I walked out into the water. It was surprisingly clear and a very comfortable temperature. I did make Jonathan touch the water so he can now say that he has touched the Great Salt Lake.

Spiritual Enlightenment: I Will Stay True - I wholeheartedly agree!

Donut Falls

Back in May, Jonathan and I hiked up to Donut Falls up Big Cottonwood Canyon. I like going up there because my great-great grandpa McMillan would hike up that canyon to cut down wood for his family. 

After we reached the falls, I went exploring on the rocks and logs. Jonathan didn't feel like joining me instead he took pictures of me climbing around.

Even with all the warm weather, there was a lot of snow and even more mud on the trail!

Naturally, we had donuts to celebrate our hike!

Spiritual Enlightenment: For the Beauty of the Earth

May Happenings

May went by in a blur, mostly because we were still recovering from Jonathan's graduation festivities.

Amy R. sent my birthday present with tons of confetti in the box.

Yes there is still confetti in our apartment to mix with the confetti I made for Jonathan's graduation party.

My dad accidentally left his Book of Mormon in the car he rented during his trip. This is the one he used on his mission and is overflowing with insight and notes. Thankfully, the car rental place had his precious book and we were able to pick it up for him. Jonathan took pictures of it, so I can fill my own Book of Mormon with his notes.

Those are not rain drops on my windshield. 

It snowed.

In the middle of May.

I still am not okay with that.

Some local graffiti in our apartment complex. In Utah, we sensor our language and use chalk so it can easily be washed away. (Even though it is still there.)

The peonies were blooming and gorgeous! I took this picture on my mom's birthday and never sent it to her. She loves peonies, but can't grow them in hot California. So, here's you're really late birthday flower Mom!

Spiritual Enlightenment: The Healing Ointment of Forgiveness

School's Out Forever (or at least for now)

After taking a nice long break, I've decided it's time to get back into blogging!

I went to see Jonathan present his Senior project. His professors and classmates all loved his version on the Weasley's clock from Harry Potter. When he finished his presentation and opened it up for questions, one of the first ones was when can they buy it.

I was sneaky and took a few pictures of him.

Two short weeks later, Jonathan officially graduated!

On Saturday, we had a party with lots of family.

After all of the festivities, Jonathan decided that for his first week of no homework to have a Harry Potter marathon. Each night when I got home from work, we watched a Harry Potter movie. It was fun, but also nerve-wracking because we were both convinced he should be doing homework instead of hanging out with me. Now that it's been almost two months, we are loving our evenings together!



Spiritual Enlightenment: To the Boys and to the Men - Jonathan remembers this talk when he was a boy. I am grateful that he listened and followed through with the counsel given. I have no doubt that he was able to finish school and get to where he is today because of his obedience. Together, we are now following the counsel given to the men. I know we will be equally blessed for following that counsel.

It's Really Happening

Later today, Jonathan is presenting his Senior Capstone project. It's hard to believe that in two short weeks he's going to be done with school.

Jonathan has worked incredibly hard and his persistence is about to pay off. I feel so blessed to have him at my side. He truly is the best of the best.

Shower of Heavenly Blessings

Here's the link to the rest of the talk.

Back to Idaho

During our last trip to Idaho, I realized a few things. First, I don't take many pictures because I am enjoying my time with the kids. Second, the kids enjoy having separate conversations all at the same time with people. (Though sometimes Ruby was just repeating whatever Clara said.) Finally, our trips to Idaho are never long enough!

Since it was spring break for Jonathan, we headed up on Thursday morning. The big kids were at their aunt and uncle's house when we pulled in. Ruby slowly warmed up to us as usual. She showed us how she jumps off of the trampoline. It's alarming to see because she is so little, but she (usually) sticks the landing.

Later that night, we used the fire pit to roast marshmallows. We ate way too many! Chris was shocked to find out we still haven't seen any of the Hobbit movies, so naturally we watched one each night we were there.

Ruby stole my spot next to Jonathan after we roasted marshmallows on the new fire pit.

The next day we did a lot of drawing and Clara and I did a sewing project.

Clara taught me how to sew an envelope with a button.

That night, the kids spent the night at Annie's parent's and we played Risk with Wes and Brittany.

On Saturday, we went swimming at Green Canyon Hot Springs for Chris's birthday with all of Annie's family. The water was amazing! The main pool was right around 98 degrees and the smaller hot pool was about 107 degrees.

We had to take off early Sunday morning to get back in time for nursery, but it was a fantastic trip.