Be excited!

Because our Thanksgiving Family Reunion is going to rock!!! I can't wait for all of us to be together again! It's been too long...

Smiles!

This picture makes me happy!

Utah...BYU

Who doesn't love a good Utah trip (to see those of you who live here already, of course)?

It's really the only place I watch football, thanks to Braithwaites! BYU vs. Utah. We all know how much Allie and Uncle Mike get into it. It's contagious and I find myself getting into it every once in awhile. Really into it...

The mountains. It's amazing to look out the window and see mountains! And it's great driving up the 15 past Lagoon, imaging yourself on The Rocket or the big, white, rickety roller coaster.

Soccer, kickball, and trampoline in Braithwaite's back yard. And who can resist a game of "spin really fast to get really dizzy then see who can walk the straightest line" with Rachel? (She was amazing at it. Seriously. It only took her one step to re-orient and walk straight, and that was after spinning for a looong time. When giving me tips on being better, she said, "I just look for something fuzzy that looks sorta like a human and I know it must be you." So then she starts walking towards me. She had other key tips for success as well.)

Pounce, Rook, word whiz, scum, and family dinners around the tables in Heber and Kaysville.

There are beautiful hikes of all levels of difficulty. The outdoors are lovely.

Thanks for always letting me come visit! I love being here!!

Happy birthday you hot mama of mine!!!

You are the best Mom I could ever ask for! Sure, there were times when I didn't make it seem like it was true, but I'm here to tell you that it is so true!!! 

You have so many qualities I'm trying to somehow inherit from you - I guess I'll actually have to work to get them though ;)

1. You are always doing research to find out pertinent information to our situation

2. You are so patient with me

3. You are constantly doing things for us kids/husband and never (sadly so it seems) do things for yourself

4- You're willing to do things with me even if you have a mound on your plate (like random photo shoots :D)

5. You are definitely wise when it comes to spending money and always look for the best deal on things.

There are so many more things that show your amazingness, but I don't think I'll ever be able to stop coming up with things!

Love you! And HapPY bIRthDaY!!!

Lawn Mowing

We have lots more pictures to share! This is just a little preview of our recent Utah fun... :)

Wedding Plans

I apologize! We are limited on our wedding invitations sooooo we are sending them to Aunts and Uncles but not nieces and nephews. I hope you all look at your parents fridge and know that you are all invited. We hope you can all come up to Utah----- we will have a thrilling wedding, delicious luncheon and an amazing reception. The activities will start on Aug 14th with a boating cookout at deer creek. On Sunday Aug. 15th Ryan will talk in church--- afterwards we will have a delicious dinner!!

On Monday Aug 16th we will go hiking in the beautiful mountains. On Tuesday Aug 17th we will witness a wonderful wedding. On Wed Aug 18th we will drop Ryan off at the MTC curb-----have a good long cry ------and then attend education week until Friday.

And then we will have a long nap!!! We look forward to seeing everyone. Our weather is wonderful! See ya in August.

Dear World:

We were pleased to receive the invitation to speak to you on this fine occasion. The topic of today's post is...

... world peace (commence cheering). I realize these faces may not look like the most avid world peace advocates, but do not be fooled. They are the most peaceful of their kind. At least when separated. We urge you to invite a little peace into your world today. Smile. Be active. Pick up that piece of litter along your path. Live. Laugh. Love.

And remember, keep your eggs sunny-side up.

Signed,

M-face and Swunshine

Cousins are the BEST!!!

This past April (I know forEVER ago!) Buffy, Mary and I went to Mormon Prom together...it was a blast and I don't know about you, but I think I know these two ladies to the right of me are gorgeous! 

       

In June, we got together (after the family reunion) and partied it up!

Cousins are definitely the best to spend time with!

Lunch time!

This is how excited he gets when it's time for lunch. Imagine this huge smile with a squeal of delight and other unidentifiable noises. Haha. Meal time is awesome!


He is just so handsome. We all love him.

Mission Call

Jared should be getting his mission call soon!! It is so exciting! Where do you think that he is going to go? I can't wait to find out!!

Soldiers

We had a lovely time at the Easter Pageant this year with some of the Braithwaites, Genieres, and Queen Creek Heywoods. Here are a few of us with a brave soldier... 

Thanks Grammy and Aunt Francie for brining us snacks and thank you Mom for being there ridiculously early to save some stellar seats! I love being part of this family! 

Chemistry ;)

I got an e-mail at the start of the semester informing me that we'll have a new chem lab instructor. I didn't think much of it until I walked into that first recitation where I decided he's kinda cute :) Dark hair, glasses, about 6 feet tall, 26ish. He was pretty quiet and most of the girls decided he had no personality. But I was betting on him being hilarious. You know, one of those quiet guys who doesn't say too much but when he does, you're lucky to be within hearing distance because it's so comical!! Well I had a secret crush on him all semester.

But then I realized he was a ruthless grader. And he treated me like an incompetent! It made me furious. My goal became proving my competency. And I did just that.

Well, the last day of lab finally came. All we had to do was fill out a teacher evaluation form, turn in our final report and head out. I was running a little late (last minute report writing...), so my lab partner and I were the last ones to the lab room to turn in our reports. He was looking mighty cute in that light blue polo shirt. "I like your glasses," he says to me,"they're a good look on you." I look him in the eye and respond in grateful thanks. My lab partner pipes in with a "thanks for teaching us this semester," and we turn to go. "Are you done? Have you checked out your drawer?" Lab Instructor asks (we had to do this before we could leave last week, so obviously it's done). "Yes" is the affirmative reply and we leave. As we're walking down the hallway, my lab partner asks me why he started blushing. "All I did was say thanks for teaching us."

Well, as a girl with a secret crush all semester, I like to imagine why the dashing Mr. Lab Instructor was blushing :)

Make a guess

Ryan's mission call should come any time and I am giving out a cool prize to the closest guess. So post your guess and maybe you could be the winner. He has had no Japanese or any other language in school.

Easter

We had a great easter here in AZ. Braithwaites and Ganiers came and we had a blast!

We colored eggs...

Played soccer...

Played word whiz!

And took pictures at the temple...

We also went to the Easter Pageant and hit up last chance. What could get better than that? 

Well I'll tell you... It's always better when everyone of the cousins, aunts, and uncles are all here...but we'll take what we can get! 

Family Picture Fun

Oh, Brady Boy- Such a little trooper through these. Isn't he a doll?

Alina's baptism!

        Alina with the Elders:

                               Jared and Alina:

                                                                               the family:

Alina was baptized a few weeks ago by Jared. It was a neat baptism and had a great turnout. Congratulations Alina! 

Amber!

Thank you for the headbands that you made for me for Christmas!! Today I wore one to school and everyone thought that it was sooo cute!! I got tons of compliments!

Lovely

This picture makes me smile. I hope it does the same for you :)

My Happy Thoughts

Darling Morg. Oh, how I love her. I love her so much I wish there were two of her. Oh wait, my wish came true!!! :)

The most darling nephew in the world. End of story. Just look at that adorable smile. And that amazing aunt.

Brady and Morgan were having a little party. Oh the adorable joy that fills our home!

what a week

This week has been crazy....i did not think all these sports would get to be an overload on me. I had a basketball game on tuesday that we won... then go to volleyball. basketball practice Monday, Wednesday, and Friday... a basketball game on thursday that we won in over time... then go to volleyball practice... i just want to sleep but there is more tomorrow i have to be in Park City at 8 tomorrow morning for a all day volleyball tournment... when it gets done i am going to the BYU vs. Utah mens basketball game. On sunday its kyles farewell... then if that is not enough we play our biggest rivles on tuesday and we need to win that game... it is getting to be an overload now!!!

Good Reads

For those of you that are looking for a good book to read, I have a couple of suggestions.

Russell M Nelson - Father - Surgeon - Apostle written by Elder Spencer Condie
Winners Never Cheat written by Jon M. Huntsman

Love you all.

"The Shirt"

Without further adieu, here she is, the beautiful purple swimsuit-inspiring shirt!

If we number the strips from L to R: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, then the 1s are sewn down first, followed by the 2s, 3s, 4s, and finally the middle 5 last with one seam down the middle of 5.

Ribbons 1 and 4 are the same (a total of 4 of the same ribbon)

Ribbon 2 on the left is the same as 3 on the right

Ribbon 3 on the left is the same as 2 on the right. Make sense?

That's just how this one is, but have fun with the idea! Any other questions, feel free to ask. I brought the shirt with me when I came up this weekend, but I missed you by just a short amount of time, so the picture will have to do. I can't wait to hear about your Disneyland trip!!

Also, we found a cute swimsuit while post-Christmas shopping so we took a couple pictures. Here they are.

A joyful Christmas!

What cute girls!