This was a really special day! Kelly and I drove down to the Capitol building in a blizzard! I guess I should go back- Kelly had scheduled her pictures for the 3rd, but once we planned Yellowstone, we didn't want to have to compete with that, so I asked her (and paid for) to move it to the 1st. Well mother nature pulled a little April Fool's joke on her and made it SNOW!! In April! I mean, we've seen real snow in April before, but this was really in the middle of a lot of sunny days! So it was such a surprise. Kelly had wanted to get some photos with the cherry blossoms out on the grounds of the capitol building. We were trying to stay positive all the way there and hopeful that we could still get some, even some outside, good shots of her and Devan, regardless of the weather. So we pulled up to the capitol, Mandy was there, having walked up after parking and then offered to park my car also- super nice!- so I could go in with Kelly. We got in, made our way up to the spot Kelly had chosen for their "first look" pictures. Devan and the photographer were waiting. This was so neat! I loved being there for this and seeing these two enjoying each other. Kelly looked amazing!! They were so cute the whole time, posing for all their pictures, nobody complained, they just had so much fun and made it such a pleasant experience. I loved it. Mandy and I got to talk a little which was also fun even though she was feeling really horrible I guess. We made our way outside and got some amazing pictures in the snowy spring. BEAUTIFUL cherry blossom pictures, with all white sky and background! Nobody would ever be able to recreate these! They were so perfect!! I loved how they all turned out!! Kelly's feet had to be freezing though! Poor girl. 4-1-25
YELLOWSTONE 2025
This was kind of a funny trip. By the time we went we knew that Yellowstone was not going to be open which was a huge bummer, but we'd gotten such a great deal from Ruth on the rooms, we couldn't change it. We decided to just make the most of it, and I really think we did. We had a nice ride up there. We stopped in Idaho Falls to go to Chillis with the Idaho Mayneses which was fun for everyone except Jack. He doesn't love eating out and he had gotten so hungry that he was in a really bad mood. He basically just laid his head down the whole time til Nate was able to get him to eat. Poor guy. But we had fun with Rob, Heather and Hannah. Good times. We got up to the resort in West Yellowstone with plenty of time for dinner and swimming. Everyone was happy. We had two rooms while we were there, one for all the girls and one for all the boys and mom. It was tricky to figure that all out, but that was how it worked best. The girls were down the hall from us which wasn't super convenient, but we made do. We were able to go exploring a little while we were up there, took a little drive where we saw some buffalo and had a little snowball fight- yet still snowy. We walked through the little town, hitting the few gift shops that were open. Felt a little like a ghost town except that a few stores were setting up for the big season in a few weeks. We spent a lot of time swimming, laying around watching General Conference in our room, hot tubbing for some of us and at the Grizzly World (or whatever it was called). We got passes that worked for two days so we went twice. The bears were so fun to watch! And they were so much more active the second day. Noah got lots of pictures of them, which was super fun. We saw otters which the girls loved- one was chewing on it's tail. Wolves were cool- not super active, but cool to see. And LOTS of ravens. We really did have a lot of fun though. I was pleasantly surprised. I had my moment where I overthought about how this trip could be perceived as really lame, especially to the newbies, but it was fine- I worked out of it. We had some really special study time moments talking about what Jesus would tell Heavenly Father as our advocate. And played some rousing rounds of four on the couch. Got a little tense at times. We survived. And really, 11 people crammed into 2 rooms for fourish days--- we did awesome :). I did my questionnaire on the way home. We did the thing where we have everyone pick a question:
This was kind of a funny trip. By the time we went we knew that Yellowstone was not going to be open which was a huge bummer, but we'd gotten such a great deal from Ruth on the rooms, we couldn't change it. We decided to just make the most of it, and I really think we did. We had a nice ride up there. We stopped in Idaho Falls to go to Chillis with the Idaho Mayneses which was fun for everyone except Jack. He doesn't love eating out and he had gotten so hungry that he was in a really bad mood. He basically just laid his head down the whole time til Nate was able to get him to eat. Poor guy. But we had fun with Rob, Heather and Hannah. Good times. We got up to the resort in West Yellowstone with plenty of time for dinner and swimming. Everyone was happy. We had two rooms while we were there, one for all the girls and one for all the boys and mom. It was tricky to figure that all out, but that was how it worked best. The girls were down the hall from us which wasn't super convenient, but we made do. We were able to go exploring a little while we were up there, took a little drive where we saw some buffalo and had a little snowball fight- yet still snowy. We walked through the little town, hitting the few gift shops that were open. Felt a little like a ghost town except that a few stores were setting up for the big season in a few weeks. We spent a lot of time swimming, laying around watching General Conference in our room, hot tubbing for some of us and at the Grizzly World (or whatever it was called). We got passes that worked for two days so we went twice. The bears were so fun to watch! And they were so much more active the second day. Noah got lots of pictures of them, which was super fun. We saw otters which the girls loved- one was chewing on it's tail. Wolves were cool- not super active, but cool to see. And LOTS of ravens. We really did have a lot of fun though. I was pleasantly surprised. I had my moment where I overthought about how this trip could be perceived as really lame, especially to the newbies, but it was fine- I worked out of it. We had some really special study time moments talking about what Jesus would tell Heavenly Father as our advocate. And played some rousing rounds of four on the couch. Got a little tense at times. We survived. And really, 11 people crammed into 2 rooms for fourish days--- we did awesome :). I did my questionnaire on the way home. We did the thing where we have everyone pick a question:
Nate: What is your favorite restaurant?
Nate- Blue Fin
Me- The Habit
Hunter- Cheesecake Factory
Charity- Chick-fil-a
Devan- Hip Hop Chicken
Kelly- Pizza, Buffalo Wild Wings, Olive Garden
Kelly- Pizza, Buffalo Wild Wings, Olive Garden
Noah- B dubs
Erika- Zupas
Jack- The Habit
Molly- Ihop and The Habit and Dylans
Sadie- Carl's Jr
Me: What's one thing you want to accomplish in the next year?
Nate- Read every book of scripture all the way thru
Me- workout everyday for a while month
Hunter- Jujitsu group
Charity- do a pull-up
Devan- go on lots of fun adventures and have fun with Kelly
Kelly- be a good wife and learn the job in AK and work hard at it
Kelly- be a good wife and learn the job in AK and work hard at it
Noah- Sub 16 hurdle time
Erika- make the high school basketball team
Jack- perfect A1c
Molly- make friends on my soccer team and learn to save money
Sadie- be a flower girl and do my tithing
Hunter: If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go?
Nate- Sweden
Me- Australia
Hunter- Greece
Charity- Greece
Devan- Europe
Kelly- Amsterdam
Noah- Alaska Cape Town South Africa
Erika- Norway
Jack- Back in Time
Molly- Australia Peru Alaska
Sadie- Florida
Charity: IF you could be any animal what would you be?
Nate- perigrene falcon
Me- Penguin
Hunter- Cheetah
Charity- orca
Devan- Bald eagle
Kelly- panda
Noah- elephant
Erika- orca
Jack- dinosaur
Molly- horse or wolf
Sadie- koala and giraffe
Devan: What is your biggest pet peeve?
Nate- Laziness
me- people calling adult kids "kiddos"
Hunter- when people don't offer him their leftover
Charity- when people say something mean and say it's a joke
Devan- Slow drivers or people that don't walk straight
Kelly- when people cheat in games
Noah- When people ask if I'm okay, fake people
Erika- when people ask how you're doing and don't listen to your answer, loud chewing
Jack- diabetes stuff
Molly- when people know what bugs me and do it
Sadie- when people eat something in a room and don't wash it
Kelly: Which Disney/Pixar movie would you choose to be in?
Nate- finding Nemo
me- brave little toaster
Hunter- Brother Bear- throwing spears
Charity- Inside Out
Devan- Star Wars
Kelly- Bug's Life
Noah- How to train your Dragon
Erika- Cars
Jack- Spider Man
Molly- Tinkerbell, The Little Mermaid or Bluey
Sadie- Tinkerbell
Noah: What is your favorite kind of tree?
Nate- Bonzai
Me- Oak Tree
Hunter- Red Oak
Charity- Willow
Devan- Dark Oak
Kelly- Redwood
Noah- bush tree, mystree
Noah- bush tree, mystree
Erika- Willow
Jack- Oak tree
Molly- Cherry blossom
Sadie- Drooping tree where the leaves are down
Erika: if you could have any car what would you choose?
Nate- truck
me- Lambourghini
Hunter- dodge challenger
Charity- Forerunner
Devan- Ram Trx
Kelly- Time travel car- delorian from bttf
Noah- school bus
Erika- cool truck
Jack- truck
Molly- dream house car
Sadie- ice cream truck
Jack: What dinosaur would you be?
Nate- triceratops
Me- mosasaurus
Hunter- stegosaurus
Charity- brontosaurus
Devan- Raptor
Kelly- triceratops that befriends raptors
Noah- pteranodon
Erika- pterodactyl
Jack- T Rex
Molly- Long neck, triceratops or blue
Sadie- pterydactyl
Molly: What is your favorite animal seen on this trip?
Nate- wolf
me- bison
Hunter- bears
Charity- otters
Devan- fish
Kelly- grizzly bear or otter sucking his tail
Noah- bison
Erika- bison
Jack- wolves
Molly- all of them
Sadie- turtles
Sadie: What is your favorite kind of weather?
Nate- cool summer morning
Nate- cool summer morning
me- fall rain
Hunter- sunny
Charity- summer rain
Devan- warm rain
Kelly- lightning storms
Noah- sun but not super hot but like fall sun when it's fall and there's sun, wait change mine to acid rain
Erika- sunny rain
Jack- sunny
Molly- warm actually magic weather
Sadie- raining hard
What was your most memorable moment of the trip?
Kelly- snowball fight on the sid eof the road and icicle hunting
Charity- opening the door and taking pictures of the buffalo as we drove past
Nate- study time Sunday night
me- swimming and the bears
Devan- Four on the couch when me and Noah were crashing out, and fishing
Noah- fishing or when we were driving thru the bison taking pictures, when Molly let me go swimming with her
Erika- looking at the bison
Hunter- when Kelly threw a snowball at Charity's crotch
Jack- seeing the buffalo
Sadie- when Noah put Erika's phone in his pants and when we were panicking
Molly- everything
ERIKA SET APART FOR STAKE YOUTH COUNCIL
They finally did it!! We're so proud of Erika and her willingness to accept this calling. She's going to be awesome. She had her first meeting also and it did not disappoint- wink wink-- kinda funny. She's going to be great! 4-13-25
NOAH NEURO-PSYCH EXAM
This was pretty fun :). Noah got to play with blocks, look at pictures and memorize lists while I sat in the waiting room listening to the Saints Book. He did great!! One more day of it. 4-14-25
TRACK
Our track season for both Noah and Erika has been amazing!! I'm so far behind on my blog that I cannot update on specific meets and times and stuff which is a huge bummer!! But they've been doing so great!! They've had lots of support from grandma and Simon, me and Nate and even Kelly and Devan :). Fun stuff! 4-15-25
CULTURAL NIGHT
This ended up being really cool! We got to see so much talent and everything pointing to Christ! I actually really loved it. I hope we do it again sometime. Erika had played her cello with a few other string instruments and it was compiled together to be played as one song and it was cool, but would have been better if we'd been able to just listen to them all play! But very cool. 4-16-25
This ended up being really cool! We got to see so much talent and everything pointing to Christ! I actually really loved it. I hope we do it again sometime. Erika had played her cello with a few other string instruments and it was compiled together to be played as one song and it was cool, but would have been better if we'd been able to just listen to them all play! But very cool. 4-16-25
MOLLY'S 3rd GRADE PROGRAM
Molly was so cute in her program! Did her part perfectly! She knew all the songs and sang her little heart out. I really enjoyed this one- lots of fun songs!! 4-17-25
PAIN
Erika found herself in an excruciating amount of pain this weekend. She did NOT feel well for most of the evening Friday night. She had a moment that felt especially awful, but the pain did not go away. She played her game in the morning, but all afternoon was just writhing. The poor girl.
DAVIS INVITE
This was a big deal this year! Nate had volunteered to cook the meat for the sponsors this year! BIG JOB!! Then he decided he wanted to try selling sandwiches outside of the entrance as well. So he was VERY busy, running around getting things done. With a big smile on his face. I know because I was sitting across the way in the ticket booth watching him work. He did awesome. It was a crazy busy day but we survived! That night was Kelly's Bachelorette party! I'd give details but I wasn't invited :). 4-19-25
ER FOR ERIKA
Once we were done with selling meat and the ticket booth on Saturday, I'd had enough of Erika's pain and decided to take her to the Urgent Care. They did some tests and then decided she needed to go to the ER. We walked over there, they ran some more of the same tests, plus an ultrasound (that they call three ultrasounds, the weirdos). They were able to determine that it wasn't her appendix or gallbladder but that she'd had an ovary that burst. There was a lot of fluid floating around so they told her she'd be in pain for a while. This was a huge understatement. About a month later and she's still having off days with pain. Poor thing. 4-19-25
EASTER SUNDAY!
I really wanted to do Easter baskets and stuff on Saturday, but it just didn't work out with soccer games and Davis Invite. So we did it all on Sunday. Charity and Hunter slept over. Kelly was here. We did creamed eggs on toast. It was a good day. I was trying to make it more Christ centered so I assigned everyone to come prepared ot share something or an activity or something about Christ. I think it went pretty well. 4-20-25
ERIKA ON VARSITY
Erika was picked to dress and play on Varsity this week, the same game that Kelly had volunteered to announce! This was so cool! So after a huge lead, Devin put her in the game and seconds later, SHE SCORED!!! It was so much fun!! Kelly got to announce her first shot/score on the Varsity team! Very cool stuff. Erika played awesome in that game and in the next one! So proud of her! 4-22-25
Erika was picked to dress and play on Varsity this week, the same game that Kelly had volunteered to announce! This was so cool! So after a huge lead, Devin put her in the game and seconds later, SHE SCORED!!! It was so much fun!! Kelly got to announce her first shot/score on the Varsity team! Very cool stuff. Erika played awesome in that game and in the next one! So proud of her! 4-22-25
SETTING UP THE CANOPY
I wasn't there, and I didn't help at all, but it took them like five hours so I had to document that Nate, Kelly and Devan all set up the canopy! Not the arrangement we'd signed up for, but they did it!! It looked AMAZING!! 4-23-25
SADIE KINDERGARTEN PROGRAM
It was a tough decision, but I decided I needed to be with Kelly on her wedding morning, getting all ready. So I chose to go to Sadie's program the morning before, during the assembly performance of it. This was SO FUN!! I had Jack, Erika and Kelly with me, we all LOVED Sadie's performance! She did so good! She knew all the words and got so into all the fun actions- it was so much fun!! Her beautiful smile and saying her part perfectly! I loved it!! I was so glad I got to see her! She did amazing. 4-24-25
FLOWERS
We went down to Trader Joes after Sadie's performance and got all the pretty yellow, white and green flowers we could find. We even ran into Mandy while we were there :). Then we went to the D I for some vases, ran into Mandy there as well :). Then that evening after Erika's game, we all put together the centerpieces. It was actually so much fun!! They weren't professional by any stretch of the imagination, but it was so fun doing it. Sierra, Matt and Meg and Chris were here to keep us company and help take things up to the Church which was so nice. We had taken a lot of it the day before, which was so good, but still a lot to take up there. We were waiting for the go ahead from the Samoan/Mexican wedding that they were done and once we got the word we were up there. Unfortunately, it felt like we kicked them out! But it was a LOT of work! We ended up cleaning up after their reception, moving all the tables and chairs to one side of the room to mop and then back to the other side to mop the other half of the gym. SO much work! We finished cleaning up their stuff and then started on ours. We had help from the Brenchley's and bridesmaids, and then Sarah Laramore and Barbara Noriega as well. Our one sad moment was when Kelly's mirror fell off the easel and cracked. She was so sad! It was really heartbreaking. Luckily we found one on Walmart really quickly and we'd basically solved the problem minutes after it happened. She just needed to write on the new one sometime tomorrow :). But it all looked so good! So awesome! We really couldn't have done it without them all. We were all SO pleased with how it turned out though and very excited for the next day! I think we got home around 1:30am!! SO crazy. 4-25-25
KELLY AND DEVAN'S WEDDING DAY
This day can only be summed up as perfect! It went SO WELL. I have said that so many times and it is so true. We only had a few tiny hang ups. Kelly was just giddy getting ready. She was bouncing around reminding everyone that she is getting married today! So fun! I had been trying to figure out how to do a video with their kid pictures and the ones Devan had given me were way too small so it wasn't working at all. I feel bad that I was working on that quite a bit that morning, but luckily, I finally moved on and we made do without. But it was cute to see Kelly bouncing around, so happy. She passed around notes to everyone, gave me a sweet gift, and was just a little ray of sunshine. As we were walking out the door to make it to the temple on time, Jack announced that he was almost out of insulin. We paused, reloaded his pump, and THEN left for the temple. We got there a few minutes late, but it was okay. I got a little anxious at this point and needed some calming, said a prayer and seconds later Lynn was sitting by me, laughing and talking about kids and this crazy job as parents. It was nice. Then I ran into Debbie McColley who gave me the warmest hug. It was great. I was calmed down. Things moved very slowly after this, which was SO nice. The temple workers are so amazing. They led us to the Bride's dressing room, Kelly and I got to talk and laugh as she got ready. We loved that the temple worker informed her that she "chose right!" when she saw she was wearing her temple dress for the sealing. So cute. Then we split up again. I got to go in and talk with family waiting in the waiting room. I got to talk with Maddie, Becky and Jen, then Brent and Sarah came in and I got the biggest hug from Brent- that was nice. I got to introduce him to Devan's parents. It was such a calm, peaceful wait. I loved it! We paused for a minute waiting for a couple family members on Devan's side, but then we were escorted to the sealing room. I LOVED this part!! Nate sat down next to me, just cuz there was a chair there, we both thought they'd make him go back to the witness seats, but they never did! Which was SO awesome. We got to sit there holding hands and loving the moment together. I had to whisper to Nate, "How did we get here?" It feels like just yesterday Nate and I were sitting in the hallway of the Salt Lake temple, outside the 2C sealing room, telling our sealer what we loved about each other, then sitting on the couch in a pool of my tears before kneeling across the alter together. Those are some of my most cherished memories. They are so vivid still. And yet, here we are. Sitting next to the couch/pool of Kelly's tears, watching her making the Everlasting Covenant of marriage with the Lord and Devan. So cool. I really loved it. COuldn't believe it is here already, but I definitely loved it!! Their sealing was amazing. I loved that the sealer talked about the Initiatory blessings and Heavenly Mother (things Kelly and I had been talking about on the way to the temple! that were very important to her). It was hard when he talked about "multiplying and replenishing the earth" just knowing the hard road they might have ahead on this matter, but also knowing that they are tough and are geared up and ready for that challenge. Everything about their sealing was so wonderful. I loved it. At the end, Nate nad I were talking and found out the same line had stood out to both of us about "presiding in gentleness", which I thought was interesting. We got to hug them a few times, everyone walked by and hugged and congratulated, it was so fun. Then I got to go back to the Bride's dressing room with Kelly and help her get in her wedding dress and touch up her makeup and hair. This was so awesome also. I loved it. It was fun to come out to the large group of Kelly and Devan supporters/family waiting for them. I was handed a sick, feverish Sadie, which caught me off guard and was really the only challenge we faced that day, but we carried on with the grand exit, pictures, and more pictures just fine. Sweet Aunt Jen offered to get some medicine for Sadie (and of course took some orders for a toy pony for Sadie and some candy for Jack). We met up with her at the luncheon. Kelly and Devan were only 20 minutes late :). We ate the delicious Cafe Rio food and enjoyed visiting with everyone. This was a really nice relaxing part of the day, no pressured speeches or anything, just sitting and eating. We were anxious for our part of the evening, but this was a highlight. After the luncheon we hurried home for the food and things to finish setting up the reception. We got up there, got things done- thanks to lots of helpers- Sarah Laramore, Barbara Noriega, Suzanne Blanketship, Cathie Nybo, Krista Johnson, who am I forgetting?- and it was all ready to go when Kelly and Devan got there at 6:00! I had kind of maxed out and had promised Sadie some cuddle time, so we made our way to the far foyer couch and cuddled for a while. My dad joined us and it was fun talking with him about how awesome Kelly and Devan are and what a great day this was for them. I loved that. I was pretty prepared to just sit there all night and might have enjoyed that enough, but thankfully, Paige came and got me because, "Someone needed to see me". She didn't say who or how I would know them, but when I got in the gym it was Mrs. Ashliman!! I was so happy she had shown up and that she'd requested to see me! I got to talk to her for a while. SO cool that she would come- it's been over a decade!! That's just too cool. By then I was in the room. I may as well make the rounds a little. Sadie was asleep on the couch all comfy. I got to talk with Nancy a little, then Kim Ball!! Then Courtney!!! The wardies made it- I got to talk to Shelly Last and Margie. It was so fun! I only wish I'd been able to talk shorter with people so that I could have said hi to more people? I don't know. Seemed like things went really fast because all of a sudden we were doing the shoe game, cutting the cake and throwing the bouquet! Then the dance party started! This was a LOT of fun. The Ritchies showed up. So amy good things!! I really loved their reception. I was exhausted of course, but I really loved it!! The cake was to die for!! I did get a slice of that. We ahd pulled pork sliders, baked potato bar, pineapple, caesar salad, and lots of dessert bars! Apparently we did really good on amounts of everything. There was enough food/leftovers, but not so much leftover that we didn't know what to do with it. So that was awesome. Nate did great on the meat. We had our exciting send off with the sparklers. Took some coordinating while we waited for the newlyweds, but worked out SO WELL!! I couldn't believe it! It was so cute when she got in the car with her "HUSBAND" and less cute when they drove off. Kinda sad really. But I am so happy for them. They are going to have a beautiful life together. They left for their stay up in Ogden. We stayed and cleaned up for a VERY long time. I think we got home around 10:00 though, so that was good. 4-25-25
