UTAH!!!

Oh man! I am so glad we had the opportunity to go to Utah and see my family!!! 

This will be a mostly pictures post (looooooooots of pictures) so I hope you enjoy it!

As always, I will start out the post with a montage of places Aaron fell asleep:

This first set - this was Thursday night when he refused to stay in the room but knew he couldn't come out where we were... so he fell asleep on the floor outside the room.

Then, Friday night, we crawled in bed and watched a movie. Aaron fell asleep in bed with us and then in the morning (we laid him in his own bed), we found him like this...

This one, from Saturday is cute - he opened his eyes briefly when my camera flashed, reached out and took my hand, only to fall right back to sleep. My heart still melts when he holds my hand, even after over 2 years of holding!

Sunday, he fell asleep after church watching Tangled. Mikayla scooped him up and carried him to my mom's bed which is apparently full of very colorful sheets and blankets :)

It was a super crazy weekend. We got there really early and just spent the day at home. We tried to sleep in the morning, but it was rough because Aaron was wide awake for so long... At one point, I woke to Audrey crying. Not sure what was wrong, I tried to comfort her and Aaron came over and said, "I color Audrey!" ... she had pen all over her forehead. Poor kid. Eventually, Aaron fell asleep and we were able to nap until about noon. In the evening, Alaina and Krist came over and after they left, then we did a "girl's night" where we did nails!

Now for normal pictures: Aaron had fun feeding Matthew! :) 

I just need to take a minute... This girl, Rebecca, is so absolutely adorable.

Even if things don't work out between her and my brother, I am so glad to have gotten to know her - I know that I have a life long friend in her! But, that aside, I would be more than happy if they did :) We have so many similar interests and similar mannerisms... Definitely a great friend!

Here are our nails! So many fun different nails!

Audrey and I even did our toes!

Friday was another day at home and we did family portraits in the evening (which will be put in a separate post).

Saturday morning found us at the temple where we were privileged to go with Thomas as he received his Endowments. I was blessed to stand with him in the prayer circle and to sit beside my mother and Melissa for the Endowment session. After the session, I ran into my friend, Jamie, and was able to meet her fiance!

Everyone who could not attend inside attended outside ... 

I said I wanted a photo and Eric was a little busy with his phone...

And then the wind decided to pick up right as we did a family picture. It was fun going back to "our" temple ... where we were married, my parents were married, my sister was married, my mom received her Endowments, I received my Endowments, my sister received her Endowments, and now Thomas. :)

 Aaron kept saying, "Aaron go temple!" And then walking over to touch the temple.

After the temple was Pizza Pie Cafe and then some cleaning and a football game :)

 Audrey napped for part of the game with Mikayla ... and then watched intently!

Sunday brought Thomas' farewell talk which was spectacular. He started the talk by saying that when he was visiting us in Oregon he thought of things he would do different than the missionaries here - then basically God said, "Oh, you think you could do better, huh? Here you go!"

After his talk we had an open house.

I got to meet my cousin, Drew's son, Alden. He is so adorable!

As a birthday/Christmas gift for my parents, we did the family pictures and then put us each in frames in the living room. We presented it at the open house.

Aaron fell asleep after church and I rudely woke him to get pictures with Aldren and

Brendon. He was soooooo tired and he just wanted to sit with Thomas from there on out.

Aaron loves the trampoline and we each took our turn playing with him during the weekend. Here is Tom and Bekah playing with him.

We had fun playing Dominion!

Aaron loved playing with (un-building and re-building in his own way) the legos downstairs.

Monday morning, we said our good-byes and took a few more photos.

Tom is obviously sad to see me go ... first he is crying and then he tries to strangle me with my scarf...

I am going to miss this kid! I hope we get to have him in our ward so we can feed him and hold discussions in our home. I definitely feel more of a responsibility to find people for the missionaries to teach now that my brother is on his way here! 

Hey Kid - I love ya tons. If you don't serve in our ward ... 

I shop at Winco every few weeks ... usually on Tuesdays, in the afternoon. :) 

Hope to see ya there! I'll carry cash in my wallet for your groceries as incentive :)

Don't you worry, we won't forget about you, and there is no way your nephew or niece will grow up in the next 2 years not knowing you or your face. We have lots of pictures and lots of videos, and hopefully we get to see you from time to time. 

You have immeasurable courage and I am beyond proud of you.

God be with you till we meet again!