Christmas in Rexburg

This year we were due for Christmas in Rexburg with my sister Jen and her family!

It snowed big, beautiful, fluffy snowflakes all day on Christmas Eve.

We spent good quality time together, and the anxiousness for Christmas morning was palpable.

Christmas Day was simply perfect.

We opened presents, played games, colored, ate delicious food, and went to bed early.

I had the best time with my niece Sophie during this trip.
She's really growing up and it was so much fun to do puzzles with her, color with her, play games, and do endless crafts with her!

I cherish trips like this when I get to spend quality time with those nieces and nephews of mine.

The next day we decided to brave the frigid Rexburg temperatures and go sledding!

My girls and I were all matching! :)

Sophie and I had a snowball fight, Sam and I tried desperately to make a snowman with the dry snow, and we did quite a bit of sledding!

I haven't played in the snow like that since our Minnesota and Illinois days, and it was so much fun!

It was a simple, perfect, and spectacular Christmas.

Dinosaur Land!

My family and I all went camping in Dinosaur Land this last June.

We combined family pictures and a camping trip all into one and it was so much fun!

This ^ is what happens when you want to take a picture with four rowdy nieces and nephews who just want to go look at some dinosaur bones!

We were (not so) smart enough to go to the desert of Utah at the end of June and it was so ridiculously hot.

We spent some time looking at dinosaur bones but quickly retreated to a higher elevation to look around.

It was beautiful!
We spent a lot of time driving (thank goodness for air conditioning) and as little time back at our camp as possible.

We also ventured into some slot canyons that were surprisingly cool and breezy.

I spy a little Sam in this one!

Overall, it was a lot of fun, but we learned our lesson and will never be camping in Southern Utah in June again.

Before camping we all met up in Vernal to have some family pictures taken.

I'm so thankful for the many times we've all been able to get together in the last couple of years!

I sure do love this family of mine.

Blessing Day

The Sunday of the week I graduated my sister and brother-in-law blessed my niece, Caroline.

It worked out perfect because my parents, my oldest sister and her kids, and my grandparents were all able to be there.

I was able to steal just a few pictures during the day :)

Miss Audrey 

Sophie and Audrey.

Cousins coincidentally wearing matching dresses :)

Sam :) 

My sister Jen, brother in law Eric, Sophie, Sam, and Caroline!

Grandpa playing with Sophie, Jaden, and Sam

Jaden, Sophie, Audrey, and Sam

Worn out and watching Lego Movie :)

It was a really great day and a fantastic way to kick off a week of family time!

God Bless the USA

Happy (belated) Independence Day!

I had a fantastic day that definitely reminded me why the Fourth of July is my absolute favorite holiday!

It started a week ago with the Huntsman Springs Celebrate America Celebration.

This is the third year in a row that I've been to it, and it's definitely the best fireworks show I have ever seen, and that includes some tough contenders like the Portland Waterfront BluesFest! 

It was definitely a great start to my holiday celebrations!

Yesterday morning I joined my sister and her family at the Rexburg parade down Main Street!

It was so fun to see Sophie waving away at all of the floats to try and get them to throw her candy :)

By the end her and Sam had acquired enough candy to last them quite a while!

Little Caroline had a hard time sleeping through all of the sirens and loud music, but she was still as happy as could be despite it all.

Just look at her pretty little face!

Isn't she the cutest?!

Later that afternoon my roommates and I headed down to Idaho Falls to stake out our spot for the Melaleuca Freedom Celebration.

We had six hours to wait for the fireworks to start, so we passed the time with games and really good food!

The Idaho Falls fireworks didn't disappoint, but they were definitely nowhere near as spectacular as Huntsman Springs. 

Huntsman Springs 2014

I am so thankful to live in a country where I have freedom.

It's easy to be negative about the direction our Nation is headed in, as well as the lack of freedom we sometimes feel we might have, but one thing is true - we really are blessed to live in the USA.

This Nation was founded on freedom!

Freedom of religion

Freedom of speech

Freedom of the press

Freedom of assembly

Freedom of petition

If there's one thing I've learned and one thing I really do believe, it's that as long as we stand for and protect those freedoms we were granted in the Bill of Rights, our Nation will be okay.

Happy Birthday, America!

Moab Getaway

My family and I all got together for a long weekend in Moab a couple weekends ago.

The reason for the get together was because of my niece Audrey's first ever dance recital!

Audrey with her friend and her cousins after her performance

After the recital we all packed up and headed to Moab for a little three-day getaway!

It was so much fun for all of the kids to get to play together.

They got along pretty well!

We had a weekend full of fun in Arches, swimming, playing games and a whole lot of laughing :)

I definitely love that family of mine!

It was a much needed get away :)

P.S. This is my 200th post! Yay!