New York 2015 Sat.-Sun.

My favorite days of our trip were definitely Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday we got to do a session in the Manhattan temple (Janna did baptisms). It was so so great. It was a wonderful break from the hustle of the city, and it was extra special because Cammie just received her endowment so we were really excited to get to do a session together.

Even though the temple was very restful, I was pretty tired afterward so I rested at the hotel while the others checked out Grand Central Station and the New York public Library. I really do enjoy pregnancy for the most part, but it’s amazing to me how little energy I have sometimes!

Not pictured: on Saturday night we saw Lion King! Which was such a blast.

On Sunday we went to church at the Stake Center which shares the building with the temple. It was super nice to be in such a familiar environment! After church, Dad ate a really spicy hot dog and we all met up in Central Park for a little bit of relaxation.

27 week baby bump! I can’t believe how big my belly is getting. I think it’s the most adorable thing in the whole world.

After eating dinner at Johnny Rockets (a kind of family “tradition”/memory from several years ago on a cruise), I headed back to the hotel for some FaceTime with my hubby while the rest of the gang went to the Brooklyn Bridge.

It was definitely a great weekend!

Chicago Temple

We made the 2 1/2 hour drive to the Chicago temple last weekend. We paid a ridiculous amount of money in tolls and we got a little lost but it was still such a great experience. We hadn’t been able to attend the temple for almost a month, which I’m pretty sure is the longest we’ve ever gone since we got married. We barely made it in time for the 12:00 session and then ended up being the witness couple for the Spanish session because there were two members going through for the first time and their session was so small that there weren’t enough for a witness couple. It was just really neat.

The temple has blessed our marriage so much. I’m so so so grateful that we are still within a few hours of a temple, but holy cow I miss having one just up the street and being able to go every week.

We did some wintery things

The day before our anniversary we got to do a lot of very wintery things. First we drove Kevin's sister to the airport in white-knuckle kinds of snowy conditions. We planned to spend the day in Salt Lake but the weather was no good so we ended up at IKEA for the better part of the morning, planning our dream home.
But the point of this blog post is when we made a snowman and went to Temple Square.
Kevin and I have a Fall/Winter Semester Bucket List and we are trying to do as much as we can.
We hung out at my parents house for part of the afternoon, and after shoveling their driveway I said "Kevin, let's build a snowman!" So we did.

 He ended up being a teeny little guy because the snow wasn't packing as easily as I thought it would, and we got tired of crouching over, trying not to get our jeans wet. But he's a cute little snowman. :)

 My family was nice enough to invite us to ride the Frontrunner up to Temple Square to see the lights. It was interesting. The train ended up stopping for almost an hour in Murray because of a door malfunction. It was kind of an exhausting night, but it was still fun and I'm so glad that we got to go hang out with my family.

 Temple Square was fun and everything, but Kevin and I kept saying "We are not having this for a tradition in our family." I tend towards the side of anxiety, especially in crowds, so the entire night was accompanied by an undercurrent of mild panic. It was a fun night though.

 I love these people so much. The older I get, the more I love being with my family. My sisters are two of my best friends. And I truly love my parents so much. My little brother Jeffrey isn't in any of these pictures because he was home recovering from a wisdom-teeth-ectomy. But I love him too.

 And of course, I love my sweet husband. I love the life we have together and the future that is ahead of us. I am a lucky girl!

Merry Christmas!

Playing catch up

There is a really big part of me that wants to blog regularly. I love reading blogs, especially blogs that are updated frequently. I'm not entirely sure what's been holding me back lately on blogging. Part of it probably has to do with the fact that we don't have internet at our apartment. I don't know.
So this post will be all about catching up. This summer has been so much fun. It's been busy and hard sometimes, but we've really packed in a lot of awesome things.

We've been camping three times and we are looking forward to another couple of camping trips before it gets too cold.

We've hiked a lot (obviously!)

Stewart Falls

Squaw Peak

Angel's Landing

Mount Timpanogos! 

Biggest hike of the year!

Kevin turned 24!!

We've enjoyed the bounty of Grandma's garden and fruit trees and we've done a lot of experimenting with using those fruits and veggies (smoothies, homemade salsa, fruit leather, stir fry)

We've been to Seven Peaks a handful of times

We've read a lot of great books

I got to go on the annual girls trip with my sister, mom and all of her sisters down in St. George!

We (and by that I mean me) have been running a lot! (Kevin has been running too, but I have been a machine lately. It's awesome!)

Pioneer Day 5K

After an awesome 5 mile run on the Provo River Trail

 We've been going to the temple as much as we could! And speaking of the temple, we just got set apart to be temple workers starting in September! We are so excited.

Yep, this summer has been pretty fantastic. But we are dang excited for what is in store for us! Next week we are heading on a cruise which we are very excited about. We didn't take a honeymoon after our wedding so that's what we are calling this trip. :) Then school starts and with it a new job for me (today was my last day at Wavetronix!), and totally different schedules. We have a lot of exciting things in our future and we are just loving our little life together!