5,000 Miles

Joseph and I just got back from the longest trip I've EVER been on. We drove nearly 5000 miles to Wisconsin, Kirtland, Washington D.C., Nauvoo and back to Utah. Our car survived (other than the CD player breaking in the first hour of the trip) and we survived all the heat and humidity. Here are some highlights of our trip.

The first part of the trip we drove to Wisconsin. My step-sister Rindy got married and we went to that. We also were able to see my sister for a day before she left for school in Louisiana again. Mom took us up north to go to Jim Peck's and Boulder Junction. We also went swimming at the cottage. The sad part of our trip was that Tilly, our dog, had to be put down. She dislocated her hip badly and it wasn't repairable. Here are some pictures to highlight Wisconsin.

Joseph is feeding the bears at Jim Peck's. I love doing this all the time!


At Rindy and Max's Wedding. It was a beautiful day.
At Jim Peck's Zoo, you can feed goats who are just in the open. I saw this goat climb in the stroller and thought it was pretty cool.

After Wisconsin, we headed out to Washington D.C. for my friend's wedding. We stopped in Kirtland along the way. We visited the Kirtland Temple, which was cool to see. So much history exists in those walls. After my friend's wedding, we stayed in D.C. for a day to tour. Joseph had never been to D.C. and I love that city! We went all over and were quite busy! Here are some pictures.

At Historic Kirtland! We went to the temple after this.

At the National Zoo with gorillas. They started to play a lot when we were there so it was neat to see how human-like they truly are.Outside the Washington D.C. Temple

After D.C., we took off to go to Nauvoo. Joseph went there when he was a toddler and I have only went once a few years ago. We camped there and spent three days in Nauvoo. While we came too late for the pageant and other shows, it was not really busy. It was nice because we could do whatever we needed. Here are some highlights

Because we came during the slow season, we were able to go "behind the scenes" and see how they make the legendary Nauvoo bricks.

We loved the Nauvoo Temple and enjoyed going there together.

This is Joseph's ancestor who we found records of in the Seventies Hall in Nauvoo.

The trip was great but we look forward to sticking around Utah and only driving 10 miles a day instead of 700!

Hot Summer Days

Since our visit to Salt Lake City a few weeks ago, Joseph and I have been up to a whole bunch of nothing!

Joseph is continuing his classes this summer by taking Organic Chemistry, English, and Book of Mormon. He is doing amazing in all of them! Many times, he comes home and tells me a surprising fact about chemistry. I humor him and listen.

We're preparing for our HUGE trip in August. For preparation, we bought an air mattress. I blew it up and it appears nice. It even came with two inflatable pillows! Now, we don't need to bring pillows! Once I take my GRE exam the first week of August, I am packing for it. I can't wait!

Summer Sun

Joseph and I have been quite busy this summer! Here are some highlights.

We went to Living Planet Aquarium in Salt Lake City this weekend. They have a new Penguin exhibit. We were able to see them fed while we were there as well.

Joseph and I visited Manti Temple and the Manti Pageant. It's hard to believe this time last year, we were just starting to date! And now we've been married for over half a year!

One of our wedding gifts was a small grill. So one weekend, Joseph and I decided to grill out. We grilled hotdogs and corn on the cob! It was very delicious!

This is the duck pond near our home where Joseph and I had our first date! We like going back and feeding the ducks.

Joseph and I took a camping trip to Goblin Valley one weekend! We hiked Ding and Dang Canyon and stayed at the State Park near the canyon.

Sunny Weather

Joseph and I celebrated Easter in Texas with Joseph's family. It was a pleasant change in weather. We returned home and went from 95 degree weather to 30 degree weather.

Here are some pictures highlighting our trip:

Temples

If you don't know yet, President Monson announced three new temples Saturday morning in General Conference. I was working during the morning session but was able to listen to President Monson's remarks. I thought I could share why I love the temple so much and my testimony.

Here is why I love the temple:

1. They are simply beautiful- both the appearance and the work done there.

2. The peace that exists in the temple cannot be matched anywhere else in the world.

3. The ordinances done in the temple are saving ordinances. The feeling I receive when doing work for my ancestors is wonderful. To know that my ancestors are able to receive all the blessings of the Gospel amazes me.

4. The sealing power exists so strongly in the temple.

I know the temple is the House of the Lord. He is there and I feel His presence so strongly when visiting the temple. I know the ordinances done inside the temple are true and are crucial to our salvation and to others. I know that families can be together forever. By being sealed in the temple, I know I will be with my husband forever and with my children forever. The covenants made in the temple allow me to return to live with my Heavenly Father and I am grateful to have the possibility of seeing the Savior again. I love the temple and am grateful to be worthy to go inside. It is a privilege to attend the temple and to live in a dispensation where temples are dotting the earth.

Freezin' Logan

This weekend, I was reminded of two things.
1) I left Logan because it is always freezing there. I went to visit my friend, Chelsea and to hang out with her again. It snowed a lot and I had to scrape my car for the first time in about three months. Since we have a covered garage, we never had to worry about it.
2) I love my husband. He is simply amazing. I came home from being away for the weekend and the house was clean and everything! It was so nice!

Couches, Fishing, and NCAA Tournaments

Those three things may have nothing in common to you but to us, that is what we've been doing lately.

When we moved into our home, we received a free couch and two free chairs. Free is always great, especially for a newlywed couple. However, the downfall of free was that the couch and one chair were a pastel pink. It was okay for a while but this weekend, I had enough. Our plan was to always buy a slipcover but they are so expensive. This weekend, I bought a king and queen flat sheet to make into slip covers. We haven't stapled the sheets to the couch yet (that is another weekend project) but they look a lot better. If you can't tell by the picture, our couch is now tan with beautiful blue pillows that match other knick-knacks in our living room.


As many know, tis the season for NCAA tournament. I decided to make our wall the bracket for us. We have a few empty walls and what better way to fill them! We are doing the bracket starting with the Sweet Sixteen and down to the championship. Using tacks and yarn, our bracket proudly bears my favorite two names: Wisconsin and BYU! I hope they play each other in the Elite Eight.


With my calling to Nursery, I was in charge of singing time this week. I made cool fish and then a fishing pole. I put magnets on each fish and a magnet at the end of the fishing pole. The kids went fishing for songs! It went pretty well this morning and the kids liked it. Some of them know primary songs better than I do!