Another Trip up North . . . Really?

Much to my surprise I went back up to Salt Lake the end of June because my brother had some neighbors with two openings on their Wasatch Back Ragnar Team.  It gave me the chance to take Brianna up to stay with the Durrants and she was so excited she couldn't stand it.  It was fun to see them together again, even though it had only been a month.  They are so funny!

I was so excited to see Kelsea the night before Ragnar because she has been staying with my mom since we came up in May.  She was SO genuinely happy in this picture because I put her Tron music on the speaker system in the loaded car I drove up from St. George (it was a rental van for my friends that ran Ragnar and they had me drive it up).  In the picture below we went with my mom to Sweet Tomatoes and I caught Kelsea mid bite.  We had a lot of fun and I thoroughly enjoyed being with her again!! I miss her!

Early Morning Park Trip

We have to go to the Park very early because of how hot it gets here.  One morning we went to the park at 8 a.m. and the kids had a lot of fun. Jason showed up unexpectedly because he rode his bike over and then went to exercise.

In the first picture below, you an see a lady swinging in the background and I have to tell you it was awesome.  She was on that swing the entire time we were there and she was jamming to her music.  She was just so free and so happy and I thought it was fantastic!

Keira the Teacher FHE

Once again, Brianna helped out with FHE and helped Keira prepare her lesson.  She turned Keira into a Teacher and put these adorable glasses on her.  Their play was great and I was so pleased to see them work so well together.  Kids are so wonderful and I am very thankful to be the mother of six adorable children!

Father's Day

Jason had a great Father's Day and the kids just love him like crazy.  We tried to make the day really special for him and I think he had a nice day.  We gave him some new shirts and I was especially excited about the purple one (my favorite color) :)  He looks SO good in it!. . . just sayin'

My Hunk of Loveness in purple . . . Yum! ;)

Tiki Island Broiler

Wow! Jason took me on a date to a new restaurant called Tiki Island Broiler and it was crazy good! Yum!!

Camp Activity

We had a camp activity for a few hours on a Saturday morning and it was fun because we were able to make our camp shirts, flag, do the lip sync and more.  I can't wait for camp! :)

Broken Heart

Brianna REALLY struggled when we came back home from our visit to our old neighborhood.  She was missing her best friend, Kelsie so much and it was heartbreaking.  One day she asked if she could use my computer to look up our old house and her friends' house on Google maps and she drew these pictures from what she saw online.  I thought it was quite impressive and very accurate.  When I noticed the "Friends Forever" quote and the broken heart I felt so bad for her. (She is doing much better now, and I am grateful!  This move has been so hard for her!)

YW Swimming Activity

We had a YW activity at our pool and I decided not to get in my swimsuit . . . well, it was very hot and the entire time I kept wishing I had worn my swimsuit and swam with the girls.  At the very end, Chris Cooper, Tara Chappell, and I thought it would be funny if we jumped in the pool fully clothed.  The girls did not think that we really would, but we sure did . . . and it felt great!  The girls loved it and it was totally worth the soaking wet clothes afterward!

Summer Fun

Brianna and her sweet friend, Aliyah, thought it would be fun to put colored chalk in their hair.  They asked permission, but I didn't realize she would be doing it in her nice white shirt! Silly girl!

I took the little kids to the park and it was very warm, but they sure had fun!

Welcome Home

This is how I was welcomed home from Youth Conference.  Brianna made the times you CAN'T eat sign and also the welcome home sign.  She's such a cutie.  I always love coming home to my darling family!

Youth Conference

The week after I got home from taking my family up North, I had the privilege of attending Youth Conference with our ward in Salt Lake.  (Youth Conference is only for youth 14-18 so Kelsea was not able to go.) Our YM's leaders were not able to attend so my First Counselor and her husband (Melissa and Richard Ryther) and I were the only leaders from our ward to go.  The Rythers drove their car and I drove the Syphus' Suburban.  As it turned out, all of the youth drove in my car with me and we had a blast.  I didn't know any of the Young Men and was curious how the trip would be. I was thrilled that they were all so much fun and could handle my goofiness the whole week! :)

Our ward got a long so well with each other!  They were all such great friends. :)

Our Hotel

We went on a tour of the LDS Conference Center and I was so thrilled to walk through the room that had all of our modern day prophets statues.  President Hinckley is so dear to me and one of my favorite prophets, so of course I wanted to get a picture by his statue. I sure miss him, but am very grateful for our living prophet, Thomas S. Monson!  I am so grateful to belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!  I know it is the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ from when Jesus lived on this earth and I know that our Savior, Jesus Christ is at the head of the Church.

We had the privilege of seeing many of the original Books of Mormon and documents that were translated by Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery back when the Church was restored.  It was very touching to hear Elder Snow speak and to listen to Brother Metcalf who works in the Church History department. (There was a ton of security there because some these things are priceless.)

I have a much more detailed explanation of this entire trip in my personal journal :)