Space Derby 2015

Xander had a baseball game so it was only Noah who participated in the cub scout Space Derby of 2015! He and David made his rocket the night before the big event (no surprise there).

Getting checked in.

All the rockets!

All the artwork was original Noah!

Acting goofy with his good friend Ben.

And hangin' with some other friends who haven't quite made it to scouts yet.

This was the first time our pack has done the space derby so there were definitely some blips and things to learn for the next time around. Poor Noah had his rubber band break in the first race causing his rocket to sputter and stop about two inches from the start line; he was devastated.

Thank goodness he had better success in his other two races.

He hurried to the finish line to see how his rocket had done in the third race.

Since the windup of the rockets between races was taking quite a lot of time, the leaders decided to hand out awards during the waiting time. Noah earned several awards,

of which he was quite proud.

Although it didn't have quite the same excitement as the Pinewood Derby, I think the boys still had fun and that's all that really matters.

Utah = Temples!

One of the things I most wanted to do during my visit to Utah was visit the newly dedicated Payson temple. It was about half an hour away and I was lucky enough to spend the drive down seated in the back with these two cuties!

The Payson temple is absolutely beautiful!

Me and my sis!

I love these two little munchkins so much!

It was such a wonderful way to spend our morning!

Cute little Swedish.

My Ensign cover picture of the temple, ha ha.

Jared was nice enough to take a detour through Provo so I could also see the Provo City Center temple which is still under construction.

All too soon my trip to Utah had come to end and it was time to say goodbye. Before leaving for the airport Tuesday morning, the girls and I took sad selfies. I'm going to miss these girls.

Utah = A Wedding!

The main reason I went to Utah was to attend the temple wedding of one of my former young women, Sydney. The young women I have come to know throughout the years always hold a special place in my heart and Sydney is no exception. I am so proud of that girl, knowing the trials she has faced in her life and watching her make correct choices that eventually led her to this special day in the most sacred place.
Saturday morning, the day of the wedding, I came upstairs to find Aveleen all dressed up for the Fairy Tea Party that she was attending later that day (she had been ready since 5:00 that morning).  We decided that a little photo shoot was in order before I headed off to the temple.

We then decided to act like movie stars with my big sunglasses.

Several weeks before the wedding, when I knew that I was for sure going to be able to attend, Sydney called to ask if I would be her escort. The tears started flowing, on both ends of the phone; I was extremely touched that she would pick me to share in such a special way in her sealing. Their wedding was held at the Jordan River Temple and the ceremony was absolutely beautiful. After the sealing I was able to meet the sealer, who was Jeff's former mission president, and his wife, and he told me that I had such a pleasant face and that it had inspired him as he advised Jeff and Sydney. Well, of course that made me love the guy even more!
There was a makeup mishap in the bridal room that set us back a bit but finally out they came - Jeff and Sydney Furlong!

Of course we had to take lots of pictures!

Giles, who used to live in Baltimore, served as Sydney's witness so it was a wonderful reunion for all of us!

We had to grab a few selfies!

Me and my sweet girl.

What a special thing it is to spend time in the temple with those I love and to witness a couple be sealed for time and all eternity!

Utah = Friends

In an effort to be economical on this trip, I decided not to rent a car. Big mistake! Although Kelly was wonderful about driving me places, I know that next time I want to have the freedom of going wherever I want, whenever I want and to not have to rely on others to be my taxi. One of those willing to be a taxi driver, however, was one of my besties, Lenae. She moved to Utah three years ago and I still haven't forgiven her for it. When I found out I was going to be heading her way,  I immediately got in touch with her to make plans to spend some time together. She picked me up Friday morning and we spent the day together. It was so much fun!
I was super excited to meet her new little guy, Ashur, as well as catch up with her other kids.

She and I went to lunch and also got pedicures. Oh, how I have missed having her close by!

The second willing taxi driver was my sweet friend Linda who I have known for over 20 years. She picked me up from Lenae's house Friday evening and we headed to Tepanyaki to meet up with some of my other long-time friends, Courtney and Jennifer, to have dinner and play catch up. These ladies can make me laugh and our dinner was filled with loud stories (Courtney), gossip (Linda), and a lot of joy and laughter. We had a hard time saying goodbye at the end of the evening; we ended up talking in the parking lot for another 45 minutes! Love these ladies!

When friends saw that I was in Utah many of them reached out to me about coming to see them but I had to apologize and say "Sorry, no car." But one of those lovely friends didn't let my lack of a car stop her from seeing me - Kinzi, who was Sister Mortensen to my family while she served her mission in Baltimore, got in her car and came to me. What a sweetie! It was so great to give her a big hug and catch up with all of her post-mission happenings. Love her!

And of course there's Kelly, a person who I'm lucky to call not only sister but friend. She took time off work to spend time with me and it was wonderful. I absolutely treasured the time we got to be together during this trip and especially loved the evening where we got to go to dinner and just enjoy each other's company.

Utah = Cute Nieces

The first weekend in June I was lucky enough to fly out to Utah to attend a wedding. There were several different highlights of this trip, the first being I got to stay with my sister Kelly and her husband Jared and spend tons of time with my two cute little nieces!
It's been three years since I've been to Utah and it's easy to forget how ginormous the mountains are!

Kelly and her girls met me at the airport and from that point on they spoiled me tremendously. We had a fun car ride home, with lots of smiles from Aveleen...

and a chocolate face from Swede. (I had given her some mini M&M's to get her to sit in her car seat. Yes, they got all over everything.)

They bought me delicious Cafe Rio and a HUGE Dr. Pepper for lunch and then we headed off to Deseret Book and the mall for the afternoon.

Those piggies!

They kept me laughing the five days I got to stay with them.

I was introduced to Aveleen's My Little Pony stuffed animals though unfortunately, and she would be so disappointed in me, I have forgotten all their names. I remember something with Rainbow and Princess and Cupcakes and maybe a few Sparkles and Glitters.

And I found out how important Kitty is to Swede and helped make sure we never left home without her.

We spent some early mornings together; thank goodness they liked the coloring gifts I brought.

I love these two little monkeys!

One afternoon while Aveleen attended a Fairy Tea Party,

Kelly, Swede, and I fed some ducks,

tried on fancy clothes,

and snuggled with a soft, overgrown bear.

As I mentioned earlier, they spoiled me rotten. The girls even helped their mom make me pancakes for breakfast one morning!

Such cute little helpers!

Voila! Tasty Mickey Mouse pancakes!

One afternoon we encountered a very aggressive black spider while playing in the front yard. He seemed innocent enough...

until I got too close. He pulled his swords on me and was not going to back down! I've never seen a spider do this! It was intense!

My last day there Kelly and Jared had a jam out session with the girls in their car; it was awesome!

Sitting in the back with my nieces was true entertainment!

It was such a blessing to be able to stay with them. I love them to pieces and can't wait to see them again.