Maerin and Brandon's Reception

Our beautiful niece, Maerin, got married (in July... I am a little behind)!  She looked amazing and so happy.  Brandon is a great guy and we are glad to have him in the family.  I didn't get many pictures because my battery died, but it was beautiful!

 Daddy Daughter Dance

 They had little birds hiding all around the reception.  Laney had lots of fun looking for them.

 This picture does not do the room justice.  It really was splendid.

Me with my "big" boys

 Sara showing us that she is what completes any picture. Silly girl!

Our brother-law Grant made these cute benches and the table topper arbors.  It was super cool! 

 I tried to snap a few shots with my phone, but they didn't come out too great.  There were flowers everywhere.  It really had a garden feel.

The kids helping to "clean up".  They enjoyed dismantling the cake.

It was a fun night.  We are excited for Maerin and Brandon and their new life together!

Sunday Gathering and Monday Goodbyes

Sunday after church we all went over to Kim's parents' house.  She had some cousins in town visiting from California.  The Loveridge family and extended family are all wonderful people.  Again, it was like being at one of our big family gatherings.  We had lots of yummy food and company.  The kids had a blast making friends and playing.  

Laney made friends with one of the cousins.  They have the same name, so it made bonding all the more easy.

It was pretty hot that day, especially with so many people in the house.  We moved the party out in to the shade of the tree.  It was great with the breeze.  I drove Richard and the little ones back to go to bed, since we were leaving in the morning to head home.  We needed to have at least one rested driver.  I went back and stayed with the older kids and Kim until late.  

Monday morning was filled with a bunch of packing and goofing around.  The boys had battles with old drum set equipment in the basement.  

The little girls were busy playing too.

Zanna, Bethany and Laney

Nate, Daniel, Timothy and Matthew

Tim, Andrew and Sara

Drew, Natalie and Nate

Josh, John and Tim

Ashley and Josh

Josh and Natalie

Natalie and Sara

Sara, Kim, Laney and Susanna

Josh and Kim

Timothy and Tim

All 19 of us!

John and Sara

Natalie and Susanna

Kim and Steph - I love this lady!!!

It was a wonderful trip.  We loved every minute.  I can't thank you enough, Kim and John, for such a fabulous vacation.  Thank you for squeezing us into your busy lives and for letting us crash all of your fun family gatherings, sleep all over your house, eat your candy and treats, keep you up late partying and for spoiling our kids rotten.  We can't wait to meet up with you all again, any time, any place!!!

Saturday Afternoon Fun

I guess it's time that I finished recording our Utah trip.  This is the second to last one.  So Saturday afternoon, after our temple trip, we came home and played with smoke bombs.  My kids had a blast, being new to all the pyro fun.  

Tim and Drew brewing up something magical.

The weather was beautiful.  It makes me long for the cooler months when we can actually play outside and have the windows open.

Then several of the boys decided to paint their toes.  Silly kiddos!

Kim did a little touch up for the little ones.  Their toes were well coated.

We watched videos of old school plays and such, giggling about how cute Ashley was as a little girl.  There was lots of laying around relaxing and just enjoying each other.  

It was a great finish to the day.  

The Jordan River Temple

Our last Saturday in Salt Lake City we made a trip to the Jordan River Temple.  This was Sara's first time inside the temple.  She just turned 12  at the end of May and was excited to share this experience with Ashley and Andrew as well as her older brothers and Mom and Dad. Richard and I had never been to this temple before so it was new to us too.  We were planning to take them to the Salt Lake Temple, but it was closed for maintenance.  

We stopped for some pictures outside first.  The clouds were unreal, they were so gorgeous!  The inside of the Jordan River Temple is beautiful too.  

Sam got a few fun pictures of the temple, of course.

We had such a wonderful time in the temple.  It was truly a beautiful experience to be there with our four oldest children.  There is no place on earth that brings me such a feeling of peace and eternal love.

As we walked out of the temple doors, I was completely surprised to be treated to this view.

I always think of the temple as being the "view".  And while the temple is amazing, walking out to see the mountains across the valley, framed by beautiful trees and clouds was stunning!