Nevada

The meadow at Birch Creek

Earlier this month Elise, Emerson and I flew to Nevada to meet two of our new cousins, Trey and Mariah, and see Grandma and Grandpa Young and the Young aunts and uncles. 

Can you believe how adorable these kids are? 

The first morning there, Elise ran outside and was greeted by seven adorable border collie puppies! She about died with excitement. Every day of our entire visit she spent hours outside with the puppies. I also received the guilt trip of a lifetime when I denied the repeated offers to take a puppy home with us.

Elise: "Mommy, he can live in my woom."

Me: "We can't have a dog in the house, Sweetie. I'm allergic."

Elise: "He can live in our backyaaad."

Me: "It rains too much at our house. A puppy would be very sad in the rain all day."

Elise: "But it can live in the sed (shed) when it wains."

Me: "It rains every day, and the shed is much too small for this puppy. It likes to run around a lot."

Elise: "But...whyyyy?"

[insert never-ending conversation with a three year-old here]

We also had a serendipitous surprise when my parents' old neighbors, Tal and Ophir, and their son, Yael, stopped by to visit on their way home to Israel. Yael and Elise are the best of friends and play great together.  I've never seen Elise get along with someone so well--except for maybe her cousin Charlotte.

We spent the rest of our time there visiting, helping Grandma bottle pears, gathering eggs, going on the tractor and in the semi with Grandpa, riding horses, meeting kittens, riding 4-wheelers, and having an all-around great time!

I loved visiting with all of my siblings and adoring my new niece and nephew. Having three babies around meant everyone got to hold a baby as often as they wanted!

We love all of you and hope to visit again soon!

Sunny San Diego

One day last winter Elise and I were discussing colors found in nature. When I asked her what color the sky is, the poor child insisted the sky is grey. Technically she was right - the sky in the Northwest is consistently cloudy and overcast from about September to June - but oh, July and August!! However, for the majority of the year it is drizzly, wet, and dark.

Exibit A: Do you see the overcast sky? This picture was taken on a "nice" day.
(Please ignore D.J.'s ridiculous Movember handlebar mustache.)

Everyone told us to take a vacation in February. That is about the time cabin fever sets in and sitting near the kitchen stove with the oven light turned on feels pretty marvelous. So we escaped the never-ending cloud cover and flew to California.

We stayed in Carlsbad; right on the beach.

See the blue sky?!

Elise kept us busy filling buckets with water and building sandcastles.

We spent a couple of days visiting D.J.'s cousins,Tii and Nathaniel. Tii and his fiance, Teresa, took us out for Thai food, and Elise made fast friends with Nathaniel and Janitsy's two adorable boys while we visited at their home. 

Arrgh! Scurvy pirates!

While in Carlsbad we won tickets from our hotel to the Birch Aquarium, which worked out perfectly, because the rainy weather followed us from Seattle for part of the trip.

See the shark eyeing Elise on the bottom left?

My Mom and Dad, and youngest siblings Emily and Tyler joined us at the end of the week, too. We went to the Mormon Battalion Visitor's Center...

Tyler and Elise got to dress in period clothing, and Elise struck it rich panning for gold. 

Then to Knott's Berry Farm... 

Even Grandma and Grandpa rode the roller coasters!

...then on to Disneyland! 

We were all magically exhausted by the end of the day.

So we got our fill of California sunshine and fun! It was so nice to see family there, too. When's our next vacation?

Nauvoo

In October we went to St. Louis and met up with D.J.'s parents and grandparents (who spent a couple of weeks vacationing in Branson, Missouri) to go to Nauvoo, Illinois. While in St. Louis, we visited the Gateway Arch. D.J., Elise and I had been before, but it was Grandma Audrey's first time to the top.

3 generations at 630 feet!

After St. Louis, we drove to Nauvoo, a city with great significance to the members of our church. Here our ancestors and predecessors built a beautiful city out of Mississippi River swampland and most importantly, began building the Nauvoo Temple.

We were lucky enough to attend a session in the newly dedicated temple with Bob and Candy while Grandma and Grandpa watched Elise. Getting there was an adventure! The night before, I realized I forgot my temple recommend and both D.J. and I needed dress clothes. Candy let me borrow a skirt, and Grandpa Joe graciously offered his Sunday clothes for D.J. to wear.

D.J.'s ensemble was a little tight and not his usual style, but it worked! Thanks Grandpa!

The temple workers verified the active status of my temple recommend, and we entered the temple. It was a magnificent experience! The temple is beautiful. We are glad to have visited such an uplifting and inspiring building!

Being there made me think of a quote by President Hinckley, who-- speaking of the Salt Lake Temple and the Nauvoo Temple-- said,

"They look toward one another as bookends between which there are volumes that speak of the suffering, the sorrow, the sacrifice, even the deaths of thousands who made the long journey from the Mississippi River to the valley of the Great Salt Lake."

D.J. and Elise on the temple steps.

Elise and Grandpa Bob outside the temple.

We toured Old Nauvoo, and saw all of the historical sites. One of my favorites was the home of Brigham Young, my great-great-great grandfather. The missionaries there were so excited-- they asked me to sign a special book reserved for all of Brigham Young's descendants.

Another highlight of our visit to Nauvoo was an old-fashioned wagon ride. Elise made friends with the horses.

We traveled down Parley Street on the wagon; the same way the saints went as they left their beloved city of Nauvoo. Looking back, we could see the temple spires above the trees.

The wagon driver quoted Newell Knight, a Nauvoo pioneer, who said,

"...here we all halted and took a farewell view of our delightful City.... We also beheld the magnificent Temple rearing its lofty tower towards the heavens... My heart did swell within me."

We imagined the families; mothers, fathers and children, about to forge a frozen river (they left in February) looking back at the temple, and then turning toward the unknown. What humility and faith!

Before leaving for home, we drove to Carthage, Illinois to visit Carthage Jail, where the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum Smith were martyred. We felt the Spirit so strongly there!

We drove back to West Lafayette and spent a few days at our house before everyone flew home. It was a great vacation!