~ tree of life ~

finally time to update our blog. 
December 3, 2016 – we traveled to Utah to attend the first presidency Christmas devotional on December 4th.  we decided to explore Utah with my mom. 

our first stop was the famous Utah sign:

we also stopped at all the temples that we spotted in Utah.  i won’t put all the pictures here or i would run out of space.

when we reached the Bountiful Utah temple we of course stopped there and we let Michael Douglas know that we would love to meet him and his family.  we went to their home and enjoyed visiting with them.

Michael Douglas was assigned as a full time missionary in roxas city.  i worked as a stake missionary with him and his companions.  he is a very humble guy and we are happy that he still speaks our language.  it was nice to see him and his wonderful family.

after we visited with mike and his family, we went to the tree of life in Draper, Utah.  we got there just in time. while we were in the parking lot we saw all the lights turn on and it was amazing.  my mom was soo happy.  you could see it in her face how she lit up.  i was glad to show my mom around.  my only wish is to take my mom places.

~ snow ~

when we got back to rexburg we were greeted with snow.  my mom’s first snow experience.  my kids went out to make a snowman and my mom went out to take pictures.

~ blessing day ~

november 27, 2016 – it is my birthday.  i am soo happy because it is also sage’s baby blessing day.  we decided to have her blessed at home surrounded by loving family. 

it was a spiritual blessing that her daddy gave her.  i am very grateful for my husband because he is worthy to hold the priesthood and bless our family with it.  what makes it extra special is that it is a wonderful birthday gift for me. glad that i could celebrate it with family and my mama is here with me.

after sage’s baby blessing we all went to church to attend sacrament meeting.  we had to put the little babe in her car seat and she fell asleep all the way to church then when we took her out of the car seat she didn’t stop screaming. 

after sacrament meeting we went back to my in-law’s house.  we reserved one of the trifles for my birthday.  we shared and celebrated my birthday and rain helped me blow out my candles.  after spending time with the whole family we got ready to go back to rexburg.  it was a wonderful week to spend time with family.

~ birthday date ~

my birthday in 2016 fell on a sunday.  soo rich took me out on saturday.  we made a quick date in between feedings with sage.  rich took me to applebee’s and then we just went back to my in-law’s house.

~ cousins ~

november 26, 2016 – dan and his girls, adriana and aliyah, were driving back to north dakota.  every chance i get i always take a picture of dan’s girls and my boys and rain to see every year how much they change and grow.

~ twin falls idaho temple ~

november 25, 2016 – we took my mom to the twin falls idaho temple.  it’s the 2nd temple she visited in the U.S.  my goal is to take my mom to the temples of all the places that we will visit.

~ road trip ~

november 24, 2016 – we took a short trip to jerome.  we planned to spend thanksgiving there, bless sage, and spend my birthday there.

it was sage’s first road trip and she was sleeping the whole way.  it was also my mom’s first time to go to jerome.

it was also thanksgiving day. so the night before we traveled i made trifle for dessert on thanksgiving.

i am grateful that we were with family thanking and uplifting each other.

~ rain’s birthday ~

november 12, 2016 – it was rain’s 7th birthday.  november 12, 2009 at 7:01am, this little girl joined our family. she is the most loving and sweet little girl. happy 7th birthday, our Rain Arielle. We love you!

greenland quad-squad.  rain’s siblings picture to greet her on her birthday.

on the morning of her birthday the primary in our ward had a primary practice for their presentation the next day.  i took this picture before rain and kalel went to church.  she wanted to share the cupcakes with the primary and i made 129 of them the day before.

rain with her brothers before we took her out to celebrate after their primary practice.
opening her presents from her grandpa and grandma and us.

after she opened her presents we took her out.  my mom left money for her birthday.  we took her to toys-r-us so she could choose her own presents.  my mom also left money for the boys so they could choose a toy for themselves.  while the others were choosing, the little babe was just chilling in her car seat.

after they chose their presents we took rain to petco for her to enjoy seeing all the animals.  she wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up.

we let her choose a place to eat and use the left over money from her presents.  she chose to eat at chuck-a-rama.

after eating dinner we went back home for rain to blow out her candles.

rain enjoyed her birthday.  she is a big girl and an older sister.  she loves sage very much.

happy birthday rain arielle.  we love you soo much!