St. George Weekend/Valentine's Day

We had a great trip down to visit our friends in St. George. We stayed with Brent, Andrea, and little Gabriel. He has become such a cute kid. When Ade and I would eat cereal for breakfast, he would alternate between us asking "please" in sign language to give him a bite of our cereal. It was adorable so how could we resist?

Part of the reason for the trip was to finally use the $250 gift certificate for Ashley Furniture we won last year. We finally (after 10 years of marriage) decided on a bedroom set that we both liked the style and the price. We also got a couple of end tables and a coffee table for the front room. We'll have to post some pictures later when they make it to our house.

Sunday was Valentine's day. After going to church with Andrea and Brent we headed over to the Todds' house. It was great catching up with everyone there. Tiffany and Colby's kids are getting so big, as are Tyler and Brooks. Lauren is due with her third on the 2nd of March and Jimmy was gracious enough to take some photos for us. I think I'll end with some photos that he took. Keep in mind, these are the unadjusted versions. He was going to send us some touched up later.

Australia Trip Review

Ok, here is the mother of all posts. I'm going to try to cover the majority of the events of the Australia trip in one shot.

We landed in Australia on Saturday the 29th of November around mid-day. We were tired, bedraggled and our feet were even swollen from sitting so long. Chi Nam took us out to lunch at Hien Vuong in Footscray. We had Pho which was amazing. It was so good that Adrienne decided that she now understands why I like Vietnamese food (previously she only put up with it, not hating it but not liking it either). My and Ammon (her fiance) got home later that night and we caught up on the plans for the week.

Sunday we went to church in Footscray Ward and saw some of the people I knew years before when I was a missionary. The Vietnamese branch has been dissolved and they meet with the Aussie ward now. Bishop Toi was visiting (he's in the Stake Presidency now) and Chu Gio was there as well. There is a huge shopping center right next to the church now...it's pretty bizarre. I found my old Yarraville flat and took a picture outside for old time's sake.

Sunday afternoon and evening was spent first preparing, then eating, Thanksgiving dinner. It was a few days early, but we wanted to share the experience with a bunch of people. I cooked turkey, stuffing, corn bread pudding (another form of dressing), and Pumpkin Pie Cake. David Tran brought some chicken, someone else brought a quiche and Khanh brought potato salad (which was truly yummy). Most of them didn't really know the story behind Thanksgiving so I took a few minutes to explain it to them.

The best part of the dinner, for me, was the dessert. We didn't have canned pumpkin, so we used real pumpkin. We didn't have pumpkin pie spice, or even normal cinnamon. We did have cinnamon bark. So we shredded the bark and put it into a pepper grinder. Then Nam went on to grind it 4 or 5 times (she just kept reloading it). I threw it in the mix and it turned out AMAZING! Here's a photo of the event. From left to right: Adrienne, Khanh, Lana, Jane, My, Ammon, Eden, Jenny, Rodney, Nam, and David. I took the photo...so I'm invisible.

Monday we headed downtown to see the city a bit. We took the train from Footscray down to Flinder's Street and walked around a bit. I can't believe how much the city has changed. I think all the bad areas have been turned into shopping and restaurants.

Tuesday we headed up through Sunshine and St. Albans. On the way back down we found the bowling alley the missionaries went to a couple times while we were there. It's right by the train station. Since I was feeling nostalgic, Adrienne humored me with a couple of games. Later, we went down to the city again. This time we shopped for souvenirs at Queen Victoria Market and went down to check out Rod Laver Arena (where they play the Australian Open). We got a bunch of smaller items for friends and family members...we even got a couple things for ourselves. Here's a shot of the city circle tram we rode.

Wednesday was a whole different kind of adventure. We went down to the Werribee Zoo. When we got there, we found out about a "ute" (ute = Australian for off-road vehicle) tour that you could do. Basically we did a safari style tour around the zoo. We went out to see the Giraffes, Rhinos, Camels, African Deer, Antelope, etc. It was a total blast. Then we went around the zoo to see some of the animals at feeding time. We just missed the lions eating, so they were pretty lazy when we got there. He's a nice shot of one (don't worry, I was behind some glass when I took this photo). Notice the drool...

That night we tried to hunt down where Chi Lieu is living now. I had heard she bought a house in Coburg and even had an address that was a few years old. We used the navigation in the rental car to get there. But when we knocked on the door the very old vietnamese lady who answered said that Lieu didn't live there anymore. Then she brought us in and pointed to a phone number on her white board and handed me her phone. So I called the number and a young man answered. He said she lived there, but wasn't home at the moment (most of this is translated from a Vietnamese conversation). I got his address and we drove there. When we got to that house we saw another Vietnamese guy and I asked him if Chi Lieu was back yet and he said that she was on holiday (vacation). I asked if he was sure and then he realized he misunderstood the name I asked and led me around back. Chi Lieu lives in the bungalow out back. So now I knocked on that door and a young man answered. She wasn't home still, but I persuaded him to let Adrienne and I wait inside for her (he seemed weirded out by the request). We waited probably an hour and there comes Chi Lieu walking her bicycle. She saw me threw the windows and had a look of surprise. She's married now to an old high school friend and the young man was her step son. She goes to church at Glenroy Ward and she is just as wonderful as ever. By the way, the Footscray missionaries didn't even know who she was. And the old lady at the other house was her mother-in-law.

Thursday we headed out towards the great ocean road (right after a quick stop at High Point shopping center). We went the quick way out. Headed straight out to Colac and went south to Cape Otway. We first visited the "Otway Fly Tree Top Walk". The hike takes about an hour and for about half of it you are hiking on a suspended trail that is almost 80 feet above the ground (maybe 150-175 feet to the top of the tower). Then we went over to Triplet Falls. This hike also takes about an hour normally. Of course, being a rain forest, it rained on us about halfway through so we we a bit quicker to finish. We drove the rest of the way to our hotel in Port Campbell, had a nice dinner and went to bed. Here's a shot of the Otway Fly trail from the top of the tower.

After we got up in the morning on Friday (OUR TEN YEAR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY!!!), we had breakfast in our amazing hotel room, showered and headed out on the Great Ocean Road. We stopped by the Twelve Apostles and Loch Ard Gorge first taking plenty of photos. Then we stopped by this little wilderness park. When we drove up, no one was around and we almost left. Then we heard someone mowing grass somewhere and hunted them down. It was just $10 to get in with a back of feed for the animals so we decided to give it a shot. At first it was pretty mundane feeding some exotic birds in cages and such. Then we rounded the corner and there were several wallabies hanging around. We got to feed them right out of our hands and even pet them. They were very gentle and pretty amazing in their own way. Then we saw some deer, Jerusalem Donkeys, Emus, and Kangaroos. The owner came out and let us into the paddock with the Kangaroos and we got to feed them from our hands too. There were even a couple mammas with baby Joeys sticking their heads out. The last stop was the Koala area. He let us in with them too, but said that they weren't very friendly so it would be best to not try to feed them. Then he recommended we stop by Red Johanna Beach. When we go there, we saw a couple cars in the parking lot. We walked over to the beach area and found it completely deserted. It was absolutely gorgeous!

Then we stopped headed to Apollo Bay and Lorne. We stopped for a bit in Lorne to lay on the beach and watch the waves. I just love that drive along the coast. We finished up with a quick dinner in Geelong and headed back home to Nam's. They were in the final stages of wedding preparation.

Saturday Morning we headed to the Temple on the other side of town. The weather had forecasted rain, but all we had throughout the wedding and reception was sunshine. It only rained after it was all done.

Yes, that is a Hummer Limo that she chose to have drive the wedding party from the Temple to the reception hall. The reception was fantastic. We sat with a bunch of My's friends. The food was really nice. They had a first dance, then called the wedding party and parents to come out and dance. Ade and I saw that My's mom wasn't going out, so I went and danced with her myself. It did take some considerable convincing to get her to come out on the dance floor though.

After the party we drove Nam's sister (Binh) and neice (Y) home to Dandenong in the rain and headed home again. Sunday we packed up and headed to the airport. We had one bad flight in all our travels. Coming back from Sydney to LA the entertainment system was broken. No movies or TV to pass the time (there were 4 movies scheduled). Oh, and the plane was LATE. In LA we had to get our baggage and go through customs before we could board the flight to San Francisco. We had to RUN once we got through security and barely made it. We left at 1 PM Melbourne time on Sunday and got to our home at 10 PM Utah time on the same day...even though we had traveled for more than 24 hours. We are still readjusting to the time zone changes on the way back.

Adoption Update and New Job

Yesterday we met with our new adoption case worker. She stopped by our house to renew our Home Study for another year. It was great to put a face to the name and get to know her a little bit. We are all approved again for another year and just hope that things work out for us to adopt sooner rather than later.

I am starting work at a new job this Friday at Millenniatta, Inc. My new boss is in Japan most of this week, so I am just studying up at home about the new company. On Friday we'll meet at the office so that I can fill out all the employment paperwork. I'll be working on their PR with two others.

Youth Conference 2009

Hey everyone. It seems I'm always claiming that we are busy...but we really are. Last weekend was our stake's youth conference. It was a great experience. We were there 3 days and each one represented past, present, or future with various activities and learning opportunities. I've included some of the pictures below.


The first day we had the youth take a pioneer trek and do some old fashioned games. This first photo shows a bunch of the youth in their pioneer clothes playing partner tag. That night we had a dance so they would have an opportunity to socialize.

Day 2 we went down to Payson Lakes where the youth swam and went around the lake in canoes. Later in the afternoon we had 4 guest speakers come and take turns talking about different aspects of their future.

Our stake president came up the last day to talk about their lives in the present. Then we dd various service projects around the camp and cleaned up. Right before leaving, one of the ward groups decided to hike up to the overlook into a canyon and I decided to join them. This last photo is a view from there.

My company had our summer party this week. It's always fun, and, as usual, we had it up at a park up Provo Canyon. Great food, good fun, and we even had a little volleyball action.

This weekend we are headed to Lake Powell with our cousins. We won't be able to post or be online until we get back. We can't wait to take this break and enjoy a little vacation with our extended family. I'll have plenty of pictures to share when we get back.

Will's Deployment

It seems we are always busy this summer. Our garden is starting to produce some vegetables. We have one type of pest attacking our garden. I never new about Squash Bugs before now, but I've put some serious time in researching how to kill them. First, some squash are naturally resistant to the bugs (Butternut squash for instance). The only squash I am growing with problems is the Spaghetti squash. I've probably killed 100 of the little guys by now.

Will and Stephanie had a tough goodbye this week. Will is a reservist in the Marines and he's being deployed to Afghanistan. He's already been to Iraq and back, but he's being sent again. We met up with them at Camp Williams and with Will's mom and siblings to say goodbye. He'll be in San Diego for training approximately 3 months, then home for 10 days...then he's gone for about 9 months overseas. I've included some pictures for everyone.

Here's Will's oldest sister holding little Liberty before it's time to go.

Steph and Will just sitting together as we visited.

Will is a Sergeant in the Marines. He's assigned to an anti-tank light armored unit in the C (Charlie) company. Here's what it looks like. The one they will train in is an older model. The ones in Afghanistan actually have air conditioning.

This was their final goodbye before Will had to get on the bus to head out. It's tough to see loved ones separated like this, but I'm so proud of my brother-in-law. He's a good man.

This weekend Ade and I are headed up to Youth Conference for our Stake. We're taking all of the youth between 14-18 years old up to the camp. The theme for the year is from 1 Timothy 4:12. "Let no man dispise thy youth; but be thou and example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." We're going to try to have them look to the past for examples and reflect on how they can use those examples to guide their lives moving forward.

Catching up

I'm finally up and about again. I got sick Friday night, July 3rd, and haven't really been very coherent since then. My neighbor is a doctor and he decided that I had Bronchitis. It's pretty sad that I missed all the 4th of July celebrations, but I was lucky to have friends and family to look after me. I'll just have to find some other fireworks celebrations to see since I missed the 4th. I was excited to try the "fireworks setting" on my camera.

Facebook is an amazing website. It is fascinating to make contact with old friends that you haven't seen in years. One such friend is going to stop by in about 10 minutes. Mike is moving from North Carolina back to Washington and decided to make a stop in Utah to catch up. He's a great guy and I can't wait to meet his three stepkids (his wife is in training in Missouri). He'll be stationed in Ft. Lewis.

We found out that our case worker at LDS Family Services is quitting. Her husband was accepted to graduate school in Philadelphia. We wish her all the best and can't wait to meet our newly assigned case worker. I guess our profile is shown regularly and we seem to match well with lots of birth moms...it's just a matter of time.

UOVA Tournament 6-27-09

Adrienne and I both participated in the Men's/Women's outdoor volleyball tournament last Saturday (UOVA stands for Utah Outdoor Volleyball Association). Ade played with our good friend Emily in the Women's novice division, while I teamed up with Dan for the Men's novice. We all had a great time. The girls placed about 5th and the guys actually won their division. I've posted a couple of photos for memory's sake.

Dan set me up pretty good for this one. Notice my stylish shades and bandana. I started wearing the bandana a couple years ago after my head got burned one too many times.

Ade is about to bring the heat with her serve as Emily watches. They were only one game out of making the next stage of the tournament. This was the first time they played together. I hope they get another chance soon. On a side note, Emily's shoulders look pretty buff in this camera angle.

Lots of fun

Hey everyone, my wife's company had their annual summer party today. We all went up to Sundance and had a great meal and some fun games. There were face painters, an air castle, and even volleyball. It's always fun at their company parties. Our cousin, Eric, was even there. He flew in from Florida to make an appearance.

Our case worker had an interesting question for us. I guess there is one birth mom that is looking for many of the qualities that we have, but with one addition. She wants the baby to be taught sign language and our case worker was wondering what our feelings were on that matter. We talked it over and decided that we did plan on using sign language to assist in early language development, but that we probably couldn't commit to reaching a fluent level. We don't know if that was what she was looking for, but I hope it helps her. We know everything is going to work out when the time and the situation is right. We hope it is sooner rather than later but we know we need to leave it in the Lord's hands.

Rain and making time for things that matter

I think it's at least rained a little bit each day for the last two weeks. I thought summer was supposed to be here. There is a bit of sunshine at the end of the tunnel though. It is supposed to stop by the weekend. This is wonderful because we have decided to play in a Co-ed 4's volleyball tournament as part of the Utah Summer Games. We're playing with our old neighbors (Dan and Kim). Ade and I haven't done any outdoor tournaments in a year so we are really looking forward to it.

The good news with the rain is that I haven't had to water my garden at all. It seems to be doing well for the most part.

Most people who follow our blog know this already, but I wanted to let the others know too. My Uncle Larry isn't doing well with his treatment (for cancer). According to the doctors, he might only have a couple of months left. Of all my aunts and uncles, he was the one that I knew the best growing up. We would take trips up to their home in Tennessee about once a year during most of my "formative years". The sad part is, of all my aunts and uncles, it has been the longest since I have seen him and Aunt Margaret. They live out in Wisconsin now, but I wish I would have found the time and resources to make a trip out there before all this happened. At the least, I wish I would have called a few times over the years. I just relied on updates from my mom and dad over the years. Sometimes it takes a tough situation to wake us up to the little to the things we should be doing. We should let those we care about know how we feel. Larry has always been an example of what it means to be a good and honorable man and father all the years I have known him...of course I've heard a story or two from before my time that certainly makes me laugh.

Weeks are flying by

Remember when back in the days of youth and you were 10 and one week was an eternity? I can hardly believe how fast time is flying by these days. It seems like just a month or two back that we were getting ready for Christmas.

Anyways, we don't really have any more progress on the yard. I put in some pavers as stepping stones around the garden boxes. Now I just need to figure out the best way to build the fountain for the front of the house. Hopefully I can get it all together before Adrienne's family comes out to visit.

My neighbor (Seth) is going to build a fort in his backyard for his girls to play on. I think I'm going to try to help. It sounds like a fun project and I could probably learn a thing or two from putting it together.

Adrienne's Birthday!!!

Adrienne's birthday was today. She spent most of the afternoon with Danielle (our old neighbor who has a birthday about the same time) hiking, swimming, and basically having a blast. Before she took off with Danielle, we headed up to Camp Koholowo with Kevin and David to check out the site of our Youth Conference in August. Basically we just wanted to get an idea of the facilities and space that was available.
We borrowed some 4-Wheelers from a friend so that it would be easier to get around. Here is a shot of Ade and I riding on one of the 4-Wheelers. It is beautiful up there.
If you look very closely you can see the deer we found on the way back. We named him Stewart. ;-)
This is from the Utah Lake overlook on the Nebo Loop. We stopped on the way back to take some photos. The Nebo Loop is one of our favorite places to explore. It seems like there is beauty at every turn.

While Ade was going around hiking, playing, swimming, etc. I searched out a source for flagstone to use as pavers around our garden and also bought a "Burning Bush". Just another shrub to add to our landscaping. This one has leaves that turn bright red in the fall, hence the name.

And then there was more yardwork...

It's actually been fun getting the yard done. We finished up filling the garden boxes and even planted some herbs and vegetables. Memorial Day was mostly spent moving rock. We put decorative rock inside all of the curbing to cover the ground and weed fabric. I really need to take some pictures, but I've been busy trying to get it all done.

Yesterday a bunch of us got together to lay sod for my backyard neighbor. It's amazing the difference an hour of work can make on a yard (especially when that hour is spent covering bare earth with grass). Seth has been working just about everyday for a month to get the ground ready. He couldn't be happier with how it turned out.

Well, I'll try to take some photos tonight and post them soon. We just have a few more projects to get done this year and we'll be set.

Garden boxes and our friends adopt

We haven't heard much on the adoption front the last couple of weeks, but there are still some birth moms interested as far as we know. Some friends of ours down the street adopted a little boy last Wednesday. We are very excited for them. Ben and Britney are great parents and this child will have a wonderful home and family to grow up in. This is their third adoption (all boys). The birth parents decided it was important to them to have the boy raised in a family with other kids.

We've been working outside in our yard quite a bit. Between weeding, moving dirt, roto-tilling, hiring someone to put in curbing, planting, building garden boxes and everything else...we've been a little busy. We are getting close.

I thought everyone might like to take a peek at our 2 garden boxes. We built them out of 2" x 6" x 10' lengths of common redwood. Then we treated them with boiled linseed oil to add a little additional weather protection. This picture shows 1 box finished and 1 box before the boiled linseed oil. They are sitting on weed fabric so that the dirt and soil above the ground won't get anything creeping up from below.

We are in the process of filling them with some dirt and garden soil. Dirt we have in abundance. Our neighbor is helping us obtain some garden soil. He has a friend that mixes all the good stuff together and sells it by the yard (cubic yard that is). We should get it all put in by this weekend and plant all the little vegetable and herb plants on Saturday.

SF Volleyball and Yard

This week we had another volleyball tournament. Our Spanish Fork team competed in the middle bracket and took 3rd place. This might be the last year that we do both Spanish Fork and Payson at the same time. It takes quite a bit of time and hopefully we'll have adopted by then. ;-)

Friday was Liberty's 1st birthday party (our niece). She didn't quite know what to do with the presents, but with a little help she started to get the hang of it. She also had a ball with the cake and ice cream. Check out this great shot I took with my phone.

Saturday was spent in the yard. We weeded the area that we are going to put a planter. Weeded all the garden beds around the house. Moved all the excess dirt from the planter area (about 10 wheel barrow loads worth). Planted our peach tree. Transplanted the maple from the front yard to the side yard. Planted 3 bushes and 2 Hosta plants. We even put down weed barrier fabric everywhere that we cleared.

I still haven't painted the shelves in our closet, but I'll try to get that done tonight. Then, tomorrow, we are having our curbing put in our yard. I'll try to get some before and after photos to share with everyone. I wish I would have taken the time Saturday so that everyone could see just how much was done.

Sarah's Wedding and Reception

Hello family and friends. Last week was crazy with all the wedding stuff going on, but I thought you might enjoy a few pictures. This first one is from when they came out of the temple. There were some issues with the back panel of the dress (as in it was forgotten at the apartment), but it all worked out in the end.
I thought this shot turned out pretty well. I tried to do a little of the crooked view that Jimmy does so well (their photographer for the engagement and bridal pictures).
This group is all of the bride's maids and groom's men from the wedding party. Alisha, Ashley Alyssa, Natalie and Hailey were the bride's maids. Dane, James, Mitch, Chandler, and I were the groom's men. The two kids are Hannah and Parker (belonging to Chandler and Hailey).
This one is my family. My parents (Jim and Daisy) with Austin, Sarah, Adrienne and I.

Here's everyone from Sarah's side together. I don't want to name everyone because there's just too many. But we have people there from places spanning from Washington to Pittsburg.I had to include at least one from the reception. It was a great party. Beautiful decorations, good food, and great people. Here's the cake cutting.

Updates

Jason's parents arrived yesterday afternoon. After Jason and his dad watched the Jazz/Lakers game we headed up to Salt Lake county to have dinner with Sarah, Austin, and the future in-laws. The food was great and it was nice to get to meet the rest of Austin's family. Jason's parents are staying at a hotel in Salt Lake to make sure they are available for anything Sarah needs help for with the wedding.

After dinner, Sarah had all the bride's maids and groomsmen meet to go over instructions and responsibilities. We had to laugh a little because Sarah had a full page of instructions (front AND back) outlining everything that we each had to do. It included responsibilities, assignments, times, dress codes, etc. In the end it will probably be very useful to have that all written down, but every once in a while I still see her as my 11 year-old sister and it weirds me out that she is getting married.

This week will be swamped. Sarah is going through the temple for the first time on Tuesday, we have a family wedding dinner on Wednesday, and Thursday is the wedding itself and reception. I don't know when we'll get to sleep again (probably after it's all done).

We don't have any news to report on the adoption front. Still trying to speak on the phone with the girl out of state and nothing new from the one in state. We'll try to keep everyone updated as we get more information.

Jason's Favorite Story from General Conference

The Story of the Light Bulb, or Losing Sight of What Matters Most - As told by Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"On a dark December night 36 years ago, a Lockheed 1011 jumbo jet crashed into the Florida Everglades, killing over 100 people. This terrible accident was one of the deadliest crashes in the history of the United States.

"A curious thing about this accident is that all vital parts and systems of the airplane were functioning perfectly—the plane could have easily landed safely at its destination in Miami, only 20 miles away.

"During the final approach, however, the crew noticed that one green light had failed to illuminate—a light that indicates whether or not the nose landing gear has extended successfully. The pilots discontinued the approach, set the aircraft into a circling holding pattern over the pitch-black Everglades, and turned their attention toward investigating the problem.

"They became so preoccupied with their search that they failed to realize the plane was gradually descending closer and closer toward the dark swamp below. By the time someone noticed what was happening, it was too late to avoid the disaster.

"After the accident, investigators tried to determine the cause. The landing gear had indeed lowered properly. The plane was in perfect mechanical condition. Everything was working properly—all except one thing: a single burned-out light bulb. That tiny bulb—worth about 20 cents—started the chain of events that ultimately led to the tragic deaths of over 100 people.

"Of course, the malfunctioning light bulb didn't cause the accident; it happened because the crew placed its focus on something that seemed to matter at the moment while losing sight of what mattered most."

This was just a small part of the talk he gave during General Conference. There is a really good lesson to be learned from this. How many times in life do we get focused on things that might seem important in the moment and lose sight of those things that matter most?

We haven't posted much about adoption recently, so I think that it is a good time for an update. We are currently being considered by two different birth moms. We don't know much about either one, but have hope that something will work out. We'll post more information when it is available and appropriate to share. All we know at this point is that one is in state and one is out of state.

Volleyball and Babysitting

Last week was very busy. As you know, we got back to town late on Monday. The rest of the week was spent scrambling to catch up on unpacking, cleaning, and other activities.

Our volleyball teams went 1-3 this week. It was disappointing because we should have won 2 more of those. We just ended up giving the games away through mistakes in the end. We still had a lot of fun though. It is always fun to play with all our friends.

Danielle (Dan and Kim's daughter) invited us to come to her basketball game on Saturday. We ran into some of our other friends from the old neighborhood while we were there. Then, in the evening we took care of Tyson (with Danielle's help). Dan took Bryce to the Jazz game, and Kim went to a Young Women's meeting in Salt Lake. He's 6 months old now and surprisingly strong. The key is to make sure your fingers are protected by his...or he'll crunch yours with his two tiny teeth.

What else can I fill everyone in on? Oh, my parents sold their house in Philadelphia a couple weeks ago. It will be nice for them to not have an extra house payment.

Sarah's wedding is just 3 1/2 weeks away. I can't believe how fast time flies.

Arizona Trip

Well, we went down to Arizona for Heather and Nic's wedding. All the sisters from Adrienne's family are married now. Alex is the only one of the siblings that is still single. Here's a picture of Nic and Heather Harenberg as they first came out of the Temple.
And here's Nic with his jump for joy. We flew down Thursday night and came back Monday night. Before the wedding events started we headed over to Chandler to have lunch with my cousin (Kim) and her family. My Aunt Pam came down from Glendale as well. I realized I hadn't seen Kim and her husband since Ade and I got married. Here is a picture of Eduardo, Annalise (Spelling?), Kim, and Aunt Pam. Their son, Ian, had just been put down for a nap.
Friday night was the reception with the wedding and wedding luncheon on Saturday. I'll include a few more pictures below for everyone to see. The first is all of the bride's maids with Helen and Liberty. From left to right: Heidi (sister), little Liberty (niece), Stephanie (sister), Helen (mom), Adrienne, and Mandy (Heather's best friend).
Heidi's husband, Trevor, likes to take pictures too.Stephanie's husband, Will, leaning against the Mesa Temple with Liberty.

MWC Tournament and Hike

Last week our friend Henry invited us down to the Mountain West Basketball tournament with him. We decided to head down and watch the BYU game on Friday and stayed the night at one of his other friend's homes. BYU lost that game, so we didn't really want to go to the Final on Saturday. Instead, we decided to go for a hike. This first photo is at the far end of the trail.

Adrienne was so excited to go that she climbed all over the place. You can see her better if you click on the photo and blow it up. I climbed around some too. This is on the way back.
Windows Live has a really neat feature with their photo gallery. You can take a large group of photos and it will make it into a panorama for you. It does a really good job as you can see below. The area to the left of the rock outcropping is Las Vegas. In the full size photo you can really zoom in. After the hike we headed back to Utah. Saturday night we watched a movie with Brent and Andrea and stayed up late talking. I wish we could hang out with them more often.

Sunday, we made it back for Church and had dinner with Sarah and Austin. They are just about finished with all the plans for their wedding next month. In fact, Tuesday they head down to get their bridal photos taken.

This week is going to be crazy. We are leaving Thursday to go to Arizona for Heather and Nic's wedding. I hope we get some good photos and get the chance to catch up with friends and relatives down there. We just don't seem to make it down more than once every couple of years. Flights have gone up in price, and it's a pretty long drive.