Merry Christmas!

We are especially grateful this year for you, our family and friends. We were deeply moved by all the support and kindness you showed our family as Jacob was diagnosed with brain cancer in February. We know that the Savior lives and loves us and are grateful for the gift His life offers to all of us.

Aloha!

I'm giddy as I type because this summer Jake and I are going with our kids to....



We've never been there before and thanks to my parents for airfare, my second parents the Philipps for a rental home, and my grandma for a rental car we are able to go with our kids on this dream vacation.

This trip has been in the works for a while, but now with Jake's clean scan it is a reality that we are all so looking forward to. Memory making here we come.

Memorial weekend

Over the Memorial Day weekend we met up with my parents, my sister and her family, my brother-in-law's father, and my and youngest brother and his wife in Chinle, AZ.





My brother-in-law's father (R. Sr.) lived in Chinle for three years while working in the hospital there and knew so much about the area, the Navajo people, and the history of the Canyon de Chelly. It was a treat to spend the weekend with him and learn more about this beautiful hidden gem in the NE corner of Arizona.



We arrived on Saturday afternoon and enjoyed seeing everyone and hanging out. The kids were in heaven to have some cousins and be loved on by their grandparents and aunts and uncles.

 




Sunday everyone went to church in Chinle and enjoyed the spirit of the meetings there. In the afternoon we went on a hike down the canyon to see the white house ruin. It was a 1.5 mile hike down the most gorgeous canyon I've seen in a long time. We all made the trek, with the little boys being packed by their dads and the two 4 year olds making the whole journey on foot in maybe not the best of hiking footwear. Stylish, but not practical.




 





 

It was a gorgeous hike and view of the sandstone canyon walls, riverbed, and the amazing ruin. We took our time on the trail, soaking in the scenery and catching up with each other. After the walk we drove to the other viewpoints around the canyon and were stunned with the beauty of the canyon. I lvoed hearing our girls exlaim, "It's so beautiful" or "Wow, that's amazing" as they took in their surroundings. God is a master architect.











 

Sunday night we had a little FHE where my parents and R Sr. spoke about their ancestors and some family history stories. My mom gave us a wonderful family history chart spanning more than 8 generations as well as a book about my great-grandfather Vernon Romney. I am so grateful for the legacy of faith and hard work my ancestors paved for me. I am "the beneficiary of the visions and the dreams, the labors and the sacrifices of all who have gone before me" and I hope to always be a strong link in my generational chain.





 

Monday morning we played in the green grass on the hotel's grounds and packed to leave. The drive home was a breeze and we were loved starting off the summer with such a fun trip.

June 2013

June meant the start of summer, Spalding reading class for Lauren and Ellie, and traveling to CA and Utah or the big event of the year- my little brother Andy's wedding to the wonderful Chelsea L.

I'm so grateful for the summer reading class taught by my good friend in the ward, and love that my girls spend the first few weeks of summer living in their jammies and reading books. 

J's work had the annual company party at the ice arena and we dug out our pants and sweatshirts and had a great time.

 

 Thankfully we also had time for some fun play dates with wonderful friends from school and church.

I got to sneak up to girls camp for a day and give a little talk about missionary work and my lucky girls got to come with me. They loved having a sneak peek at camp and the bigs totally braved the 30 foot cargo net, with five year old Ellie making it all the way up and over.

 

 

 

 

  

Baby bump at 18 weeks:

  

  

and finding out that baby number four is a BOY!

and BANGS! So far, so good. 

Finally, the long awaited trip and eternal marriage of these two love birds! It was a wonderful day and we loved being there to share and celebrate with them.

 

Recoginze anyone else we say that day in LA?

 

After the CA wedding, we moved north on the road to Utah. We spent a few fun days in St. George (thanks to the Philipp's generosity in opening up their vacation home to us) and loved touring the historic church sited there, seeing Mary Poppins, and celebrating Father's Day with my dad and the sweet father of my children.



We made it to Utah to help get things set up for the wedding reception there. It was a lovely event in the mountains on a beautiful spring night, and only the key to the moving truck (back left pocket J) put a hitch into the evening.



We then had a few days in Utah to visit 7-peaks, ride on Bruno (my Grandpa's electric stair chair ala Up), spend time with our Robertson grandparents, and have a playdate with friends who'd relocated to Utah from Phoenix.



 

 

At the end of the month J returned home to work for a few weeks and I joined him a few days later, leaving our kids in Utah with their grandparents for a week. Our parents were both so wonderful to watch/entertain/feed/care for the girls, our kids loved having quality time with their grandparents, and J and I made the most of our time alone back at home.

Maybe it will become a yearly tradition??? :)

May 2013

May was a wonderful month. J and I celebrated our 9th anniversary with a fancy dinner out and sweet presents (bought with their own money) from these 3.



A few weeks later, the Cougars came to play baseball at ASU, so Daddy took his girls on a date to see it.

We enjoyed the ward camp out and didn't poison anyone with the breakfast that we were in charge of making. I ate a gourmet mothers day breakfast in bed (J really outdoes himself every year) and appreciated the kindness of my sweet family.






On memorial day we took a day trip to Sedona and loved seeing that little town, climbing the red rocks, and hanging out together.

 

And I just like this picture that Claire took of us at the library. Reading is the bomb.