Life in Hawaii for K & E

Kayla & Emily are living their best lives in Hawaii. 

They watch each sunrise & sunset from the beach.

They ride the bus around the island.

They are making friends and always have sand in their hair.

As well as a fresh flower picked to go behind their ear.

They make pancakes at the house each morning after the sun rise

They swim in the ocean daily

They use the landscape for inspiration for their canvas paintings

And are enjoying endless amounts of cookies from Turtle Bay Resort & 

delicious food from Ted's Bakery. 

They are living their best life and we are so happy for them.

 

Youth Conference Kitchen Crew

A few months ago we got called to serve on the Youth Conference Kitchen Crew.  We did not know the leaders of the committee or man of the committee members, but we were excited to go and to serve.

Due to the fact that we have been involved in sooo many camps, youth conferences, treks, etc, we had a lot of knowledge about food options and menu's that are tasty but not too expensive. We took the task of putting the menu together, ordering all the food, and getting it up to Heber Valley Camp.

We have a good friend that works for a big restaurant supply company here in Salt Lake, so restaurant food we ordered :)

Night #1 - the best pot roast ever, with restaurant mashed potatoes, salad, & rolls

topped off with famous BYU mint brownies.  Soooo good! 

Next morning Geoff and Robert were off using their power tools to cook up some amazing pancakes.

These guys both served as bishops in our stake at the same time, and it was fun for them to now be on kitchen duty together.

Kelly was our grill master for day #2. He kept that grill hot and cookin' and is so fun to chat and visit with. 

The kiddos were quite happy with the food and the amount of food they got to eat.

Robert cooked up the burgers inside, while others cooked up the hot dogs in the outside grills.

Having a big industrial kitchen with a standing warming oven (pictured on the right)

walk in frig, walk in freezer, multiple big sinks, lots of plugs, dish towel, pretty much everything we needed was right there and that made everything soooo much easier.

Outside grills going

Marianne and Angela helped keep everything organized and on time

Dave would introduce the meals before having a youth bless the meal.

Pretty awesome to get to serve with your BESTIE all weekend long!!!

And this is why we did it.....for each and every one of our youth who had come to Youth Conference to focus on the 'Journey Within' and find ways they could better connect with the Savior and feel of us love and relentless pursuit for each of them 💓

 

Makai LOVES babies

Makai loves to talk about babies, see babies, and especially hold babies.

Tonight they were at Yvette's and Makai was in heaven holding the baby.

 

Aubrye Lynn's Baby Shower

Aubrey J and Aubrey Lynn were each others first friends when they were little. Robert & I moved into a duplex in Provo when Aubrey J was 9 months old and Aubrye Lynn was born shorter after that.

These cute babies moms, Jenna & Carrie, became fast friends and we spent most days doing things together. whether at one of our houses, at the park, walking the river trail, playing at the mall, or anything else we could think of to keep ourselves busy while our husbands were at work.

Life was so different then. 

Though we didn't know it at the time - looking back life seemed to move at a slower pace, less problems, less to worry about. It was busy, definitely busy as we changed diapers, fed babies and watched our families grow from 1 to 2 to 3 kids,  but it was still different.

I will always treasure all the time we spent together and am so excited for Aubrye Lynn to now start her own little family with her husband Michael. Life just keeps on moving on. 

 

Favorite Morning Outings

One of my favorite late morning outings is to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. I always park in the same area and get the same beautiful view as I walk in and out. Always so good for my soul to commune with God in His Holy House.

 

Boyz Be Golfin'

Robert, Jeremy, Elan & Brandon out golfing at Riverbend.

 

Sourdough Starter Explosion

My sourdough starter runneth over, so I guess I need to make some bread.

Today's sourdough loaf

 

Lego Movie Night

Lego Movie Night!

Each Friday night during the summer, our city puts on a movie night, and when we can we all try to go. 

They always have free activities that coordinate with the movie 

which the boys love.

Ax throwing is a favorite

Koa founds some massive legos to build with

All concessions are only $1.00, so that is fun

And the movie usually starts once it gets dark, so about 9:15 pm.

We like to get there about 8:00 and put our blanket in the same spot so people can join us as they come.

It's been a fun summer tradition that we look forward to each week.

 

Hot Pilates

Met up with cute Lindsay at Brick Canvas for Hot Pilates.

We worked hard and sweated even more.

So grateful for the opportunities I have to see my girls and do fun/hard things with them.

 

Bells Canyon Hike

Ayla & Brenna played on Elevate together their last 2 years of high school.

Now they are coaching an Elevate high school team together this summer.

We picked them up from practice and headed to hike Bell's Canyon.

This is such a great hike. 

Not too hard, not too easy.

No too long, not too short.

Lots of trees 

and some water along the way

With the big reveal at the end...

A big, powerful waterfall rushing down the mountainside.

I seriously love it every single time 

 

Tree DOWN

Came home to find one of our largest trees laying on our neighbors car.

We had a microburst move through the area and the tree just toppled.

It has been quite a task to try to clean it all up

1 tree cut down - 2 more to go

And many trips to the dump.

This project is going to take us awhile.

 

Farewell to Curt & Tammy

Had to say goodbye to my 2nd parents today as they head off to Missoula, Montana to serve as Mission Leaders there for the next 3 years. I can honestly say I don't know where I would be in life without Curt & Tammy. They had such a tremendous impact in my life during my teenage years and I don't know that Robert would have joined the church at age 18 without their love and influence. 

Similar to Jon & Alexis, I can talk to Tammy about anything and always feel safe, accepted, and loved. I could call her in the middle of the night, and know she would happily help me. We both know we can talk about all the things going on in our lives and our families lives,  and it will never be shared. 

When my girls give me periodic updates on Val & Jenna from social media, I've usually already known for awhile. 

Tammy is such a great mom, friend, leader and someone I have always looked up to. With all she has going on with her own kids, grandkids, church responsibilities, health concerns, etc - she'll still be out there supporting my girls at their lacrosse games. 

 I will  miss you friend and I thank the Lord for the blessing you are in my life.

We may just have to find our way up to Missoula sometime soo for a visit.

 

Dinner with Schmitt's

So fun to be able to hang out with Jon & Alexis. Jon had meetings on May 30th that kept them from coming to Brenna's graduation and they have been wanting to celebrate her ever since. We got to hear about many of Jon's recent assignments and we all got to watch Brenna's speech on their TV.

I'm so grateful to have a village of people that love and care about us and our kids like family.  They are the best and love and appreciate them so much! 

Had to get Jon's Yuman 2 in there before Brenna & Brandon left.