Visit to Vernal

Finally went and visited the Porters since we all had the babies.

I love that this time around we went through everything together, the pregnancy, the deliveries, nursing, midnight feedings...

Obviously we weren't literally together but I loved that this time around we were doing those things at almost the same times.

I love that Kelsie was still pregnant while I was going through my first few months cause Melissa and I couldn't remember anything with our terrible new mommy brains.

Then when Poppy was born Kelsie could ask us because she had just forgotten everything.

I love that our babies will once again grow up together.

I better get Scott or Dean to marry into one of these families.

I love these girls so much.

We had such a wonderful visit.

I miss the days when we could just hang out like this on a daily basis.

Our kids just get along so good together.

These girls bring me sanity.

They let me know I can keep on going.

They make me laugh and feel like a little girl again.

Instead of playing house we are living house and making it more fun then I could imagine.

Thanks Kels, for the awesome visit.

We miss you everyday.

Temple Walk

So a while ago I saw this church video of this young womens group in Ephraim hike 8 miles or something through a canyon down to the Manti Temple.

After the hike they had a little program talking about how coming up on the temple felt like how it would feel going to Heaven.

I knew instantly that I wanted to do this with my girls.

I sent the video to Soper and Ginell and told them we must do this.

Through all the planning meetings I made sure they remember this.

I had so many conflicts on how to achieve the spirit I so wanted the girls to feel.

After asking for a bit of advise in the beginning I realized that I had an image in my head of what I wanted and I should start trusting myself to figure it out.

This activity kinda became mine.

I just needed to share this special testimony of mine with the girls of the temple.

So how it happened was we all started at the Church.

From there it was about three miles to the temple.

I split the girls up in three groups and staggered their start times.

Along the way there would be three stops where the girls would be give a choice.

They had to roll a dice to find out if they made a good choice or a bad choice.

If they made a bad choice they got a bad consequence that would slow them down on their journey.

Like taking a detour around the park or hopping part of the way in a potato sack.

If they made a good choice they got a good consequence to help them along or lift their spirits.

Things like Gatorade or a cookie.

The girls did great and had a fun time along the way.

Once they all got to the temple we had popsicles waiting for them as a refresher.

We Soper tell her testimony of the temple.

She is so honestly powerful.

The girls will not soon forget the lessons she has taught them.

Then we had letters written for the girls.

We asked their parents to write something for each of them.

The temple is all about families being together forever and I wanted the girls to feel the love of their families while there.

I hope that they realized that it is our choices that bring us closer or farther from the temple.

That we shouldn't give up even if we've fallen behind.

That there is more then one way to make it there and none of them includes being perfect.

That we are all here on this earth to help one another on the journey.

That families can be together forever.

I know that about the temple.

I know that it is my goal. 

Mesa Verde National Park

What happens when spring hits?

We head out the door and go camping.

I love the adventures our family goes on.

I loved taking Dean on his first National Parks.

This time we decided to head down to Mesa Verde.

Arches is on the way so we stopped and did our favorite hike up to Delicate Arch.

This time Scott did the whole hike, up and back.

Dean and I hiked up together and he slept the whole way.

Scotty and Mark walk under the arch but I have discovered from this trip that I may not be afraid of hieghts for myself but while with my kids I turn into an anxious mess.

There were too many cliffs on this trip too.

I don't usually care if I look down but this time each time I looked down I saw one of the kids tumbling down.

It was a bit distracting while trying to enjoy the views.

Along the way we decided to take Scott off the road to a place with Dinosaur foot prints.

We saw them but we really had to look.

Scott didn't find them all that interesting since they were hard to see but oh well.

It will make a fun memory.

We scheduled a few tours when we got there but my favorite was Cliff Palace which we did first.

There were quite a few stairs and ladders.

My heart was freaking out at this point.

I could look down once the boys were safe on top.

Scott did enjoy himself at first but it became increasingly harder for him.

We saw ancient ruins, he saw amazing cliff houses to crawl through.

It was kinda hard to get him to understand no touchy.

But there were still a few places to crawl through.

There was even one of the dwellings that was kid friendly.

I guess it was pretty demolished or something.

Scott liked this one.

We did a scavenger hunt in it and Scott even earned his Junior Ranger Badge.

First one that he's gotten.

You might be wondering where the pic of us standing in front of the Mesa Verde sign is.

Yeah, about that, we forgot.

We got 45 minutes out of town when we remembered it.

I was so ticked off that we forgot.

It was a really fun trip but it was kinda one of those places that you don't need to go back to.

At least not right away.

So I can't officially check it off my list.

We have to go back, and soon.