Sugar and Spice...

This little girl makes life better!!

What Happens In Vegas...

Gets Shared On my Blog...

So Brandon and I just hit our 10 year anniversary...and to celebrate we decided to go to Vegas and bring some friends along!! We absolutely had a BLAST!! Hopefully the Owens and Turleys will still want to be friends with us after having spent 5 days with us!!

Here are some of our highlights!

#1 - The Vegas Temple
I've always wanted to go to the Vegas temple and now I know what I have been missing! Absolutely a GORGEOUS temple and we had an awesome experience doing Sealings.

#2 - Watching Brandon beat Ross in Air Hockey!
Never knew you could pull your hamstring playing Air Hockey...thanks for the great laugh Ross!!

#3 - The Tournament of the Kings
You ever wanna see Rick & Corie Turley come out of their shell...take them to the 'Tournament of the Kings' at the Excalibur! Haven't laughed that hard in a LONG time!

#4 - Playing Games
While we were waiting for the show at the Excalibur to start we played some carnival games...Brandon won both times and won me this cute little stuffed animal. Thanks Honey!

#5 - Walking the Strip
We of course couldn't go to Vegas and NOT go to the strip. We had lots of fun at the Coke Factory, watching the water show at the Bellagio, Listening to the guys sing on the Gondolas at the Venetian, and just people watching!!

#6 - THE FOOD
We ate more than anything else! I seriously came back 10 lbs heavier! We enjoyed Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, The Cheese Cake Factory, Amazing Crepes, Panda Express, Chilis, Golden Corral, Ihop, Cinnamon Rolls from the Temple, a 5lbs bag of Peanut M&M's, and much much more!!

#7 - Playing card Games
On Sunday afternoon we played card games...it's amazing what you learn about people playing Phase 10, Uno, and Skip Bo:) I even learned that my nickname sounds like an Unicorn's Fart (you had to be there)!!

#8 - The Pool
Yep we actually went swimming a couple of times...our resort had amazing pools. We even played water volleyball and the girls killed the boys:)

#9 - Spending Time With my Honey
This obviously is my favorite Highlight! I can't get enough of him and I am so grateful he picked me! We have had 10 amazing years together and I look forward to an Eternity more!!

Big Thanks to Ross & Tiff and Rick & Corie for making our trip even that much more fun! Let's do it again...SOON!!!

Treking it...

I had the awesome privilege to be apart of the Trek as an adult child. I had been asked by LaChelle Crandell to take her place, but the day before the trek I got a call saying they didn't need me to go anymore cause they had more big sisters than they knew what to do with. Well when I got out there Thursday do help Jami with the Taffy Pull, Shawna came up to me saying their big sister went home the night before and asked if I would stay and be there female adult child. I of course said yes!! Even though I didn't get to be apart of the first day, I still had a blast being able to finish out the last 3 days with them.

What an experience a Trek is! My attitude was slightly different this time than the first trek I went on 14 years ago! Back then I was an 18 year old with a nasty attitude and didn't want to go at all. It was great to be able to do it again with a different attitude and being a little bit more mature:) Both Treks have been life altering. Some of my experiences are too sacred to share and I will write down in my personal journal. It was amazing to see how stalwart our youth are! We have amazing leaders who are truly inspired. I gained a greater appreciation for President Whipple, and learned why the kids absolutely love him! What a huge example he is to our youth!

A BIG thanks to everyone who made it all happen!! And a BIG BIG thanks to Bruce and Shawna for allowing me to be apart of their Trek Family! We really did have the best family out there:) I hope the youth got as much out of it as I did!!

Brandon and I out at the Taffy Pull

Macky and Maryssa...two of the cutest pioneers ever!

Jami and Tim...the Taffy Pull goobers!

Beautiful Emma cleaning her feet with a wipey!

The girls in our family hitching a ride in the handcart!

Dave Godfrey, Shawna Ma, Brucie Pa, me and Travis Parham

Shawna Ma, Emily Cheney, and Casey Palmer pushing the handcart

The women in our family...Casey, Emily, Brooklyn, Adeline, Sam, Brittany, Shayna, Me and Shawna Ma

The Men in our family...Mike, Trey, Hayden, Chance, Travis, Jayden, Brad, Dave, and Brucie Pa

Shawna Ma, Me, and Brucie Pa

The whole Fam Damily

Hayden Farr hanging out in his tarp made hammock!

Braiding Shayna's hair!

Ma and Pa McLaws doing the chicken dance!

President and Sister Farr doing their own version of the square dance:)

Hey Travis baby...if you love Jayden...please smile!!! (you had to be there:)

Had to catch this moment...These 4 people have had the biggest influence on my life! My own parents and Ma & Pa Farr!!

My dad was the guest speaker out there at our Sunday meetings. He of course did an amazing job!!!

President Pa, me and Ma Farr...these were my trek Ma & Pa 14 years ago!
I really wonder if these two have any idea of how they changed my life...and still do! I was raised with my dad being the Stake President. I know how many hours he spent doing his calling and how many hours my mom spent alone!! THANK YOU THANK YOU for all of your hard work and service! I promise it doesn't go unnoticed!!

makes it worth it...

I went into get ready for bed the other night & this is what I found.

(drawing courtesy of Morgon)

All those moments of feeling overwhelmed & inadequate as a mother were washed away. I'm grateful kids are so quick to forget & forgive. I truly love being a mom!!

I'm going there someday...

For part of Eva's 12th birthday we let her invite some friends along to go do baptism for the dead. It was a beautiful experience and we are so proud of Eva to have the desire to do so!!

Fabiana, Eva, and Brooklyn

Fabiana, Eva, Brooklyn, Brock, Devin, and Tristen

Goofy boys!

Three handsome future missionaries!
(A BIG thanks to the amazing Aunt Diane Dodge who sees that every young man in our ward has a suit to pass and bless the sacrament. We sure do love her!)

The group again!

It is of course an amazing experience to be able to take your children to the temple!! Sure do love these kids!!!

Totally Over-Rated!!

Happy Mother's Day to all those amazing Mothers out there!!

I personally think Mother's Day is completely over-rated...I always set myself up for disappointment by thinking that JUST because it's Mother's Day that my children will magically be perfect...that they won't fight, argue, make messes, be naughty and that they will be perfect little angels for the full 24 hours!! Don't get me wrong...I enjoy the extra attention and all the sweet notes and kisses, but I would like those on any other day of the year:)

I am grateful though for the opportunity I have to be a mother. My life has been forever changed because of the beautiful children God has trusted me with...and I love each and everyone of them!!!

NOW...I do need to pay tribute to the most amazing woman in my life...my Mother! I can only pray that I am half the woman she is. I have never met anybody that is more selfless than she is. To this day she is still the last person to sit down to eat dinner. She is always making sure everybody else has exactly what they need. She spends her days off from the temple babysitting a few of her 52 grandchildren. She till dotes on my dad and serves him his dinner in his favorite chair...not because he demands it but because she LOVES him!!

I hope she knows how much I admire and love her!!

Eva is in YW!!!!

I can't believe my oldest daughter is 12!! She is my biggest helper and I'm gonna be lost without her while she is away growing into the woman that one day she will be!

Happy 12th Bday Eva! We love you more than you know!!

Our BeAuTiFuL Eva Marie!!

She was SO excited she got a CTR ring!!