Conference (aka Almost-Like-Christmas) Weekend

A much appreciated trip back to Utah was wonderfully-timed with the 179th Annual Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (imagine these last words spoken in Lloyd K. Newell's voice). Two of my best friends came to Salt Lake to join my Nana, my sister Maggie, and my brother-in-law Nate in the enjoyment of this semi-annual event.

We went for Chinese food during the Priesthood Session in a restaurant filled mostly with women :). Later we had much shoe success at the mall, where Hillary and I both came away with great shoes, thanks to our fashionable advisor, Miss Bethany Daniel. We topped it all off with some Coldstone Ice Cream (Cake Batter is now officially the new favorite flavor) and Oreos at home. As justification for our slight over-indulgence that evening, we decided that we would start in our application of Temperance (so beautifully described by Elder Kent D. Watson in the Saturday Afternoon Session) as an attainable virtue on the following Monday, since certainly it can't be applied on such a celebratory weekend, which the three of us consider close to Christmas.:)


Sunday afternoon, we headed for Temple Square to take part in the joy first-hand.

Being in the presence of prophets and apostles of God was truly an outstanding experience. Even though I had entered this awe-inspiring Conference Center many times before, the Spirit penetrating there never ceases to amaze me. We were blessed enough to have tickets for the Sunday Afternoon session, where we heard Elder Jeffrey R. Holland boldly proclaim is unshakable testimony before all the world, followed by many edifying and inspired sermons. Follow this link to hear or read (starting this Thursday) these important prophetic messages, which should be our walk and talk for the next 6 months.

Colorado Adventures...

Going back to my Forsyth roots was such a fun adventure of sharing family stories and family history, hiking and swimming in the cool Colorado weather, and just plain hanging out with my really cool relatives.

Dave and I stayed with Sherry and Andrew, who now live in Parker Colorado, and we got to enjoy a day down in Colorado Springs in Garden of the Gods (can you pick out the "Kissing Camels" in the middle picture? It's much better than Jeremy's "Camelback Mountain" LOL).

We then spent a few minutes exploring the grounds of the huge Glen Eyrie castle...which I definitly reccommend to anyone who is up for an awesome hike and great views!

We got to get together with my Grandma and Grandpa and my cousin Shauna at a great Italian Kitchen, where Dave used to work, called Zios...and I think it's even better than Olive Garden and California Pizza Kitchen...too bad we don't have it in UT!

We also got to go by the Nolte's old house in Colorado Springs...it was beautiful!



Even more beautiful was the House of the Lord where we got to perform ordinances for many of my ancestor's on the Forsyth side that Sherry has been searching out on new.familysearch.org. It was a wonderful experience for all of us! In the baptistry that day I was with a ward group doing family names, and all together the Shift Coordinator said that over 700 ordinances were performed by us in the baptistry lone that morning! How this wonderful work is rolling forth!!!

Back in Parker, we loved playing with Fluffy's five little new kitties...the one Andy has here is my favorite little gal...or at least we hope it's a gal, cuz I named her Lucy for the little splotch of red fir on the top of her head :) And Mags, that was your nickname for me for quite a while :) Haha.

And last but not least, we got to see Kevin (my dad's younger brother) show off some awesome trampoline tricks...Kev and Amanda and their three great kids (my newly discovered cousins...Josh, Patrick, and adorable Ali there in the pink) live right down the street from Sherry. It was so great to see everyone and I'm so grateful for their hospitality there in Parker! Love you all so much, and I can't wait for the next time we can get together!

The Land of Enchantment

After Colorado, we continued our journey down to New Mexico to introduce Dave to the enchantment of my home state. We took him all over the northern half of the state, and here's some of the gorgeous sites we saw...

A view of North Mesa in Los Alamos, the breathtaking hilltop town where I spent my high school years. Go Hilltoppers! LOL, I do say we have an original mascot :) Here's Dave looking strapping in the green and gold :)He's such a coner...Like me!

Experiencing the fresh guacamole at Gabriel's in the town of Pojoaque. They make it right at your tableside...and it's the best you've ever had!

Near the Tesuque Reservation, there's a glassworks and metalwork foundry where we got to explore all of the cool and...interesting...sculptures.
The five orange poles you see in the back of me and Aslan here are actually a very modern and expensive work of art that apparently people would buy...? If they had $25000 to spare. That's right folks, $5000 per pole in this "Sequence"...I could make the same thing out of Play-do for 50 cents. I think I'll stick with that. But these three little pigs here were tempting, only a few thousand dollars for a welcoming garden sculpture. "Truffles" the pig in the plaza pictured with Dave, however, is very valuable...neither of us would ever be able to afford such a "stunning" work of art :) Some Santa Feans must though...no wonder they call it "The City Different"!

We do have some gorgeous art here, however, being totally serious. The Southwestern style, even found in the arcitecture, is unique and special to this enchanted land...



Our house in Santa Fe!

Fun times on the Plaza

We got to visit with my Nana in Albuquerque, and she took us by the Cancer Center at UNM Hospital, where they have a plaque in her honor

While in ABQ, we also got to do baptisms for some of my relatives in the temple, and we went around the whole place taking pictures and goofing around. Couldn't quite get a good one of us jumping off the ledge of the fountain...oh well, we got a lot of funny lookin action shots...

Finally, the beginnings of a beautiful sunset, seen from my parent's land outside of town.

See Sponge Run!

Here's my lil happy sponge nephew...Rach and I got these pjs for him, and he pretty much loves running around in them! And we love playin with the kid. He's stinkin hilarious!

Fourth of July Weekend!!!!

So after a long five hour journey from Vegas to Manti, UT (with this adorable little one screaming in my ear...good thing he's so adorable cuz I still love him just as much), we arrived Thursday night for Maggie and Nate's sealing on Friday afternoon. David, one of my great friends that I've known at the Elms for the past 10 months, came down to help me babysit during my family's session and the sealing. We did baptisms that morning at 8 a.m. in the Manti temple, which was absolutely gorgeous, and the people were so nice and kind!

And the babysitting was tons of fun, especially once they stopped screaming and fell asleep in the 'Chariot' stroller:)

So not only has this been an exciting weekend for Maggie and Nate and my family, this has been an exciting weekend for me too. Now since it's Facebook official, I am so happy to announce that Dave and I are a couple...and a cute couple at that, if I do say so myself...looking at us with that cute lil Lincoln in the followin picture. Three extremely pale blondies...we applied the SPF 50 over and over again...but we all still managed to come away pink:) As usual...the curse of white skin!

Back in P-town, we got to run a 5k as a kickoff to the Provo Freedom Festival, the world's largest celebration for the Fourth of July. Then we watched the Provo Parade, which was absolutely spectacular! Here's a Madeline float for Beka...(C'est toi!). And the MTC had an awesome float w/ missionaries marching behind it. That was our favorite!