A Lovely Trip to Utah

Ben and I are learning to smile through tears and tantrums

It is never easy to travel with children.  Ever.  However, thanks to Ben's mom and sister the process was much more enjoyable.  The kids were definitely off schedule and out of their routine, but we still managed to have a wonderful trip and make some fun memories.  

The plane ride out there felt like it would never end but looking back it really wasn't that bad.  We pulled Jax through the airports in his car seat (shown below).  Not the best of pictures and I'm not sure what Sadie is up to - but, you get the idea.

We didn't arrive until very late on Tuesday.  By the time the kids were both asleep it was 3:30 AM, which is 5:30 AM Florida time.

On Wednesday I went with Christy and the family to the temple while Ben stayed in Heber with the kids.  That evening we had a Johnson get together.

Sadie and cousin Logan playing together in the afternoon

Sadie and cousin Jadyn enjoying a little photo shoot.

Thursday we met Kurt and Des at an Indian restaurant in Provo.  We arrived a little early so we had a mini photo shoot....

Sadie reminds me so much of Ben's mom, Cliffie.

He is growing up so quickly!

Love, love, love his smile

That evening we went to Matt's house for a get together.  He has a fun loft in his house and we had a blast throwing frisbee-type-hats around all evening.

On Friday (day of reception) we didn't need to be in Provo until the afternoon/evening so we went to Zermatt, a resort type place in Heber, for gelato and a carousel ride.

Sadie shown above drooling over the gelato.

Sadie wasn't quite sure what to think of the carousel ride.

She was trying to put on a brave face in the picture above.

Ben switched her to a horse, but she wasn't so fond of that either.

We had planned to ride the carousel a few times but Sadie felt like one ride was plenty.  So instead we went and admired the large bear statue in the parking lot.  She loved that!

On Saturday we needed to be in Provo for the brunch and sealing.  Cliffie and Natalie were kind enough to watch the kids for us all day - thank you, thank you, thank you!

That evening we had a great time eating delicious tacos and decorating Easter eggs back in Heber.  Side note - Ben's grandma, mom, and aunt/uncle all have homes next door to each other.  So, my parents stayed in the basement of Grandma Doris, Kimmy and us stayed in Cliffie's basement, and Mike and Sarah stayed in Auntie Nancy and Uncle Richard's basement.  It was great fun to all be together! 

We didn't start decorating eggs until probably 10PM.

Sadie had a great time - of course!

Easter morning Sadie did a quick check to see if the Easter Bunny had come - he had! (Or is it she had?).  Then we headed off to church.

Ben, Mike, Sarah, and Ethan flew our that day.  I cried like a baby when Ben left.  We may be slightly overly attached to each other.  But, I still had lots of family to keep me company and help with the kids.

Troy and Becky came over that evening and we had a little Easter egg hunt with Jadyn and Sadie.

I'm so in love with this baby!

Monday was nice and layed back.  Cliffie and Natalie had to work, and Kimmy and my parents went to Provo during the day.  

We enjoyed FHE at Nancy and Richards where we all gorged ourselves on Auntie Nancy's amazing cooking and then everyone shared their conversion stories.  It was a wonderful evening!

Tuesday morning we woke up to 6 inches of snow.  We were sad to part with family but I was ready to return home and see Ben.  We had a very turbulent flight; but, despite what I thought at the time, we did in fact end up surviving.

Special thanks to Natalie and Cliffie for their hospitality and loving us through our chaos!  We can't wait until the next time we'll get to see you!!

The Wedding

Christy Meyers is now officially Christy Haggard.  The happy couple seemed giddy and in love.  The week went quickly and was so chuck full of events that I barely had a chance to talk to Christy, but I was happy we were able to be there for the reception and sealing to support them.

Sadie and Jax dressed up and ready to go to the reception

They choose to have the reception on Friday night and the sealing on Saturday.  We arrived early to the reception for pictures.  It was a very cold evening (around 40 degrees - I think that's cold). The kids did great during pictures and Sadie, Ethan, and Baby Joseph loved playing together.

Joseph and Sadie are the best of little friends

My men-folk staying warm inside

The reception was simple and sweet.  They didn't have a receiving line but instead just mingled all night.  The only events during the reception were the two traditional dances (first dance and father-daughter/son-mother) and the cake cutting.

Joseph and Sadie did the cutest dance together during the reception which my sister-in-law caught on video but I can't seem to upload the video.  I'll share it later.

On Saturday, the day of the sealing, we had a brunch at 10AM and the sealing took place at 3:30PM.  The sealing was very nice and many tears were shed.  It was quite funny to watch my mom and Matt embrace afterwards.  I think there is a foot and a half height difference between them.  

After the sealing we took a few quick pictures and headed back to Heber.  It was cold and rainy and we were anxious to see the kids.  Natalie and my mother-in-law were kind enough to watch them the whole day.  

Anyways, it was a sweet experience and I'm happy to see Christy so happy.  I think her and Matt are very similar and make a wonderful couple.   

Back At It

All around the world, at this very moment, little girls are scribbling names on little bits of paper dreaming of how exciting it will be to name their future children.  Little do they know the stress and difficulty they will experience when the time actually comes to make a decision.

Yes, we're back at it again - the baby naming business.  And, since we are choosing to keep the gender a surprise we need to decide on both a boy and a girl name.  So, here are some of the names one or both of us like right now.  Please share any opinions or suggestions you may have.

BOY                                                                

Will (short for William)                                    

Jake (short for Jacob)                                   

Reid                                                    

Grant                                                        

Max (can we have a Max and Jax?) 

Lincoln

McKay

GIRL
Kate (short for Katherine which is my middle name)
Anika
Julia (call her Jules?)
Jane
Jade

Summer Hairdo

Sadie is about as girly as a girl can be.  She loves to be pampered, adored, danced with, doted on, carried, and admired.  So it should come as no surprise that she absolutely loved her first-ever 'real' hair cut.  She kept saying, "I'm a little princess" and "I'm so, so pretty".  She loved it!!  And, thankfully, we're very happy with the end product!

Can you feel her joy?

Sadie shown above posing with the hair dryer.

Do you like the new style?

The Not-So Itsy Bitsy Spider

Two evenings past Ben and I were sitting on the sofas watching the Rays win their second game of the new year, Ben was chit-chatting on the phone with his brother when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye:

Perhaps this pictures doesn't do this spider justice.  It was probably a good two inches, perhaps more.  

I immediately headed for the tallest chair in the room and kept yelling at Ben to kill it.  

So he asked his brother if he could call him back and then we decided on our game plan: a shoe.  This was the first time I've seen Ben bothered by a bug.  He grabbed a shoe and stood like this for a really long time:

Finally, he got close and whacked it:

Then he ran, laughing and prancing.  He kept saying, "Oh gross, I think I'm going to be sick." 

He went back to inspect to be sure it was good and dead:

It was:

I did feel a little bad about killing it, but we do have two and a half children to protect.