We decided to go visit St. George between Christmas and the the new year. It was a lovely visit and a nice change of scenery! We got to meet and snuggle with our newest cousin, hit the park, hike, and enjoy being around family. We stopped at BYU on the way down Leah and Emmie hatching out of a dino egg at the park. Nate and Grandpa took the kids to the skinnies, which they LOVED, while I stayed home and took a nap with Emmie. They squeezed through the slot, climbed Dixie Rock, and scrambled over the hills like mountain goats. Looking out over the city. Fun times with Aunt Lindsey! Some good vegging time. And of course Elaina! We checked out this award-winning Christmas light display. And hiked in Snow Canyon in search of petroglyphs. We found them in this slot. Grandpa is so awesome! It was a cold, windy, low-morale hike out. But hamburgers afterwards made it...

Once upon a time, long long ago, I went to college. It seems like another life now. But I have a diploma to prove it, so it must be real. This is the story of one of the hard lessons that I learned during my time at BYU, that I will never forget. Here I am with my brand spankin' new husband. We look so young and innocent! Anyway, about the time this picture was taken, I was in my last year of college. I spent the fall semester pre-student teaching, and the winter one student teaching. I pre-student taught at a high school, since my main age of interest was middle-schoolers. I totally hit the jackpot with both the schools I was assigned. In fact, if I could've chosen them myself, I would've picked the ones I got. For pre-student teaching, I taught the best band at the best high school around with an amazing, prestigious, knowledgeable, and just extremely cool teacher. He also played the trumpet, and he taught part time at UVSC. All his students were hopelessly devoted ...

In the middle of June, my sister Jenna came out to start school. She's at BYU for the summer and then will head up to BYU-Idaho in the fall. She stayed at our house for a week, and Megan, Sam and Natalie came down for part of it. It was so fun. Here are some of the highlights. And a ton of pictures. It was so fun for the kids to have an auntie around. They all adore Aunt Jenna and she is so good with them. She even volunteered her babysitting services one evening and let Nate and I sneak out for a bike ride. It was fun to show off our little Asa. Jenna and Meg and Sam are the first on my side of the family to meet him. And I thank Megan looks so cute in this picture. We went for a hike in Wheeler Canyon. It was June 14, so none of us bothered to check the weather. It was so cold! Addison scrambling on the rocks. This is one of MANY pictures of pretty and amazing things that the kids found. We told them that instead of picking them all up to take ...