Family Time in Utah

 Family Time in Utah.

 Enjoying yoga with Uncle Bryan

 Cousins make the best of friends

The Bubble

 Who can resist going to the Bubble when visiting Utah. Does anyone call it the Bubble anymore? Maybe it's just the Bountiful Recreation Center. But we love going there. The kids have a blast on the toys, and swimming around the whirl pool part.

Brigham City Temple Open House 2012

 We went to the Brigham City Temple Open House with my Mom. It was really special to be able to take the children inside the temple and have them see how beautiful and sacred our temples are from the inside. They always get excited for us when we go on a "date" to the temple, and it was fun to have them get a glimpse of why we go.

Pineview fun 2012

 Spending the day at PINEVIEW!!!
It's always fun going to the lake with Grandpa's boat and playing with cousins.

 Malakai wasn't a huge fan of the inner tube. Ryan kept going with him, and he finally stopped crying. Eventually he was waving and telling us to drive faster.

 Raiyah and Lauren were hilarious on the tube. They wanted to go by themselves but we kept trying to drive and their tube would go underwater because they were too little. The last time they attempted by themselves Lauren fell off and wouldn't let go and was just screaming. Raiyah jumped in and told her it was just fine and to let go. They are so sweet together. They were excited when Ryan got on with them and they could actually ride.

 Malakai was very sweet with his new cousin Haden

 Can you see Dad in the background. While everyone was playing he just kept doing laps. What a tough old man. :)

UTAH VISIT

 UTAH!!!! We were able to visit home for three weeks. We had a really fun time hanging out with family, and friends. Mom took these fun pictures at Bountiful Park.
Although we had a great time we could tell it was no longer where our little family called home. We were ready to get back to our adventure when the weeks were up.

 The kids love every moment with Ryan. He seems to always push them past their comfort level. I loved this picture on Raiyah's face. This is how the kids feel when he's pushed them a little too far. But they always go back to him for more fun times, so they must enjoy it.

 Malakai's typical tackle pose right before he's about to pounce on Ryan.

Boston Temple and Cannon Mountain in the White Mountains

 Boston Massachusetts Temple

 Hike on Cannon Mountain in the White Mountains, NH. Since Elaine had the kids in Utah and we had two days free we decided to take a quick trip up to the White Mountains. The temple was wonderful, and the camping and hike was really fun. We tried to find one of the harder mountains and found Cannon Mountain looked like a lot of fun. We climbed the backside which was absolutely beautiful. It was rough bouldering with my damaged hand but we managed. We were really excited to be at the top and figured we were pretty secluded. But as we sat at the top all the sudden we started hearing all these people. We went around the peak and there is this huge lift taking people up and down! I will be honest that I resented they were just riding to the top to enjoy what we worked so hard for. But it was nice to be able to ride the lift back down in the major down pour that started right when we got to the top. It was a great getaway with my sweetheart.

Sailing with Anne Lane our dear RI friend

 Sailing with our dear friend Anne Lane. Anne is one of those rare people you meet in the world who truly cares about each individual and would do anything for even a stranger. She took us in from the moment we met her. I felt an instant bond with her and hope to always enjoy a dear relationship with her. She allowed us to use her sail boat and we made some wonderful memories.

 This trip out was quite a dramatic one. We were coming in close to the docks in Jamestown and it was low tide. There was an unmarked boulder. Right as I was climbing below to get something from the hull the boat crashed into the boulder. My left hand was on the slide board and it slid open hard and fast when we hit. My four fingers were crushed. It immediately knocked me off my feet from the pain. I could hardly breathe. After x-rays the doctor said that miraculously nothing was broken but that I just had a lot of tissue damage. I couldn't move my fingers for three months, and they were grotesquely gray. Here I am a year later and my fingers still ache when I am typing more than ten minutes, or playing my violin. Very disheartening. Hopefully with time it will get better. There was also extensive damage done to the boat. Thankfully insurance paid for it but it was heartbreaking to Anne as well. Grateful that Anne was driving at the time, and that she cares more about people than things.