July 11: Emma's Birthday

July 11 is the day that Brian and Rachel had their first daughter, Emma. She was still born. This was 6 years ago. Every July 11 they celebrate her and her birth. It is a really special thing to be a part of. We went to the cemetery where she is buried and stood around the grave site. Brian opened with a prayer and then we all sang "Families Can Be Together Forever". After this Rachel said some beautiful things about how happy she is to be a mother. We then sang "I Am a Child of God" and Brother Palmer gave another prayer. Each year we are asked to bring a pink flower to leave there. Scott and I brought a beautiful, big pink rose. Also each year, Brian and Rachel do some kind of service in Emma's honor. This year they donated 250 beginning reading books to a classroom that had nothing.

I am so happy that I get to participate in this day with Brian and Rachel. We love them so much. I love the way that they have taken a very painful experience and made it a special way to remember Heavenly Father's plan for us and our families. I am so grateful for the knowledge that we can be together forever. This day with them really puts things into a more eternal perspective.



 

Eight Hour Car Ride Home

Well, at the end of our fun trip to Tahoe we had to drive 8 hours back to Salt Lake City. I was nervous to put Brielle in her car seat that long. She did great though! She slept, she played and her favorite part was nawing on a Biter Biscuit for a full hour. She was a mess! The car seat was a mess! And I was a mess! But she was occupied and entertained with that thing. She loved it! Here are pictures to prove it.
 

Cousins

This is a picture of Davin, Kea and Brie all dressed for church in Tahoe on Sunday morning. It was awesome to watch how much Davin and Kea love . . . and I mean LOVE Brielle. Kea walked around the house constantly singing "Brielle, Brielle, Brielle". Laura says she even sang it over and over as she fell asleep at night. Davin is so good at playing with Brie and makes her laugh so hard when he pretends to be Jack in the Box. She was hard core belly laughing at him. I'm glad that Brie has such fun cousins who adore her like they do.
 

Last Day

Our last day in Tahoe we went to Tahoe City. We just walked around and checked out shops, a park and a very nice restaurant right on the water. When Laura and Brian took their kids home for naps, Scott and I decided to drive around the lake. Tawna, Krista and Brie had their naps in the car. It was a beautiful drive. Lake Tahoe is huge! It is surrounded by gorgeous mountains. We stopped at Emerald Bay to take a look.

That evening Krista and Tawna baby sat the kids while Laura, Brian, Scott and I got to go out on a date. It was fun. We have a great time with them. And then of course the night was finished off just like every night . . . with a game of Settlers of Catan. Someone always walks away happy because they won and someone always walks away annoyed or mad. It's a good time.

P.S. Notice Tawna's painful face and red legs below.

 

Barry's Wedding

Our purpose for going to Lake Tahoe was to attend Barry Jensen's wedding. We just turned it into a family vacation. Barry is one of Scott's good friends. They have known each other since they were twelve years old and running around in scouts together. Barry married a beautiful girl named Julie. She is from Reno, so the wedding was at Lake Tahoe, which is every Reno girl's dream.

And it was a dream! It was a gorgeous setting in the mountains overlooking the lake. Afterward was a fancy and delicious dinner and then dancing. Scott wore his kilt as proper Scottish formal attire. He also took some time on the microphone during toasts. He brought a red rose and had them recited Robert Burns poem that says "My love is like a red, red rose . . . ". He also gave them a Scottish blessing. These are traditions that his dad does at every wedding (including ours) and Scott wanted to continue that for his friends.




 

Day at Lake Tahoe

Friday we spent at the lake. We found a nice spot on the beach and just hung out there most of the day. We all tested the water and while it was clear and clean and looked nice to swim in . . . as soon as you touched it you decided not to go any further. It was cold! I think the snow capped mountains in the background kind of added to that feeling. So we all soaked our feet and paddled around on a water tricycle. Krista was the most daring and went in the furthest. Tawna wanted to get a tan though so she layed up on the beach soaking in the sun. By the end of the day, she was so sun burned she could not walk! We spent the rest of the weekend laughing at her attempts to move around the house and moaning in pain. 

Swinging

We found a great park in Tahoe for the kids to play at. We all went and watched Davin and Kea play on all of the toys. Brian and Scott tossed the football and Laura, Tawna, Krista and I sat and watched and chatted. I thought Brielle might like to try swinging so we put her in a swing next to Kea. Kea loved it. And Brielle did too! She had a great time swinging back and forth. What a big girl! 

Hiking Spooner Lake

Our first morning in Tahoe we headed out on a hike. It was a pretty easy walk around Spooner lake. Most of the time Kea set the pace, so it wasn't all that strenuous, but it was very pretty. Krista carried Brie in the front pack and she loved it! Davin's favorite part was hiding behind every third tree to jump out and scare everyone. Scott kept this game going pretty well with him. We stopped and had lunch. Brie got to have her lunch as we sat on a bench and looked out at the beautiful lake. What a nice spot. By the end of the hike all the kids were tired and being carried and Brie was asleep in my arms so we headed back for nap time. Yahoo!

Lake Tahoe Vacation

We're back! We all arrived home from a very fun vacation in Lake Tahoe last night.

On Wednesday morning (July 5) Laura, Davin, Kea, Krista, Tawna and I started driving from Salt Lake to Lake Tahoe. We had a pretty good trip considering we had a 2 year old and a 4 year old. The kids were very good. Laura just kept handing them a new toy or a new treat to keep them going. At one point we stopped for a break in Lovelock, NV. This is a tiny little town in the middle of nowhere on I-80. There was not much there but a Safeway. Laura bought Davin and Kea a popsicle at the Safeway and after that Davin begged her over and over to promise that they would please come back there some day! I hope they enjoy Lovelock on future family vacations.

Scott flew to Reno after he was done with work. Lucky for me and everyone else in the van he was able to take Brie. Rama watched her in the morning and then Scott picked her up for the flight. He said she slept right through it. Brian (Laura's husband) left Bakersfield and drove to Tahoe. Amazingly enough, we all arrived within about 10 minutes of each other! Crazy timing huh?

We rented a condo at a ski resort and it was very nice. It worked out perfect to have a "home" with beds, a kitchen, living room, dining room, etc. to come home to each day. We had fun, busy days. It was a great time. I'll let you know what we did each day.


 

Fourth of July Parade

Happy Fourth of July! Today has been a fun day already . . . and the fireworks are yet to come. Scott and I woke up early this morning to get ready to be in the Mill Creek 4th of July parade with Brian and Rachel and their family. Brian and Rachel have spent the past couple weeks working so hard on a Wizard of Oz float. It turned out great. We all dressed as the characters from Wizard of Oz. Brian was the scarecrow, Rachel, Annabelle and Clara were all Dorothy, Rebecca was the the good witch, Suzy was the Tin Man, Scott the Lion and I was the wicked witch. We also had the mayor of munchkin land and another small tin man. We all marched down Evergreen Avenue throwing out candy to the kids. They all seemed so excited to see us. At the end of the parade we found my family and a huge party with games and food and a band at the park.

My parents left to head back to California, but everyone else is still here. So this afternoon Scott, Evan and Brielle hung out watching the world cup (Italy vs. Germany) and Krista, Tawna and I went back to the Hilton were they had been staying and got to swim in the pool.

Now we are waiting to see if the storm that is passing over us clears up enough to have fireworks tonight. Let's hope so.