Playing Catch-up

I have been really bad about posting lately so I'm going to be playing catch-up for this post! Life has been a whirlwind for Kevin and I the last 2 months or so. There have been so many changes and big decisions to make and I'm feeling more and more like a grown up ha!

Back in March, Kevin's brother Todd asked us to house sit for the summer at his in laws house. We decided that this would be a fun adventure and free rent is something you should never turn down! As we made plans to move out of our apartment, we decided to move out the end of April and save some money, so we moved in with my parents for about 6 weeks until the house was ready for us.  I  never thought I would be moving back in with my parents and most definitely not bringing my husband haha but it was fun to be there! There were lots of things that happened while living there:

• We had two deaths in the family, my cousin's husband and my grandpa. Although death is a difficult thing to deal with, we're so grateful for the blessing and gift of having eternal families. My testimony of this has grown so much the last several weeks. It's helped me to realize that things happen on the Lord's timetable and that we have to have faith in His plan for each of us. I also learned that I love Kevin so much and that I can't imagine life without him. I'm very grateful for all that he does for me and that we get to be together forever. 
• My mom and I spent lots of time together and I just love her so much! She's such a great example to me of service, love, compassion, charity, patience, and every other quality you can think of! She definitely lives Gordon B. Hinckley's motto of "forget yourself and go to work". 
• I found out that I was not accepted to complete an internship this coming school year. (I'll talk about this later)
• I got a second job at the Pediatric Center which is great because I love kids and hope to work with them one day as a Dietitian.   
• My parents got to see a different side of Kevin and Wayne said one day that he is starting to warm up haha. I love the sarcastic side of Kevin so it was fun to see that come out in him around my parents.
• My mom watches my niece Summer on Wednesday's and she would come down each morning and find me if  I wasn't upstairs. She couldn't quire comprehend why I was living with "grandma" but she loved it. One weekend she stayed there while her parents were out of town and she was my buddy. I couldn't hardly sneak downstairs without her right on my tail. I was working on a big project for school that day and she would always come down and ask if I was done and then eventually my mom would come down to bring her upstairs.  This is how their conversation would go: 
• Grandma: "Summer, what did I tell you about Gretchen today?
• Summer: "Umm.. I don't know"
• Grandma: "She has a lot of homework so you need to come upstairs and quit bothering her."
• Summer: "Uhh FINE" and put her hands on her hips.
• It was so funny to watch this. Really she wasn't bothering me, she just wanted to play in my room and wait for Kevin to get home.
• She would also say something or ask a question, and wanting a certain response she would say, "now say this..." and then proceed to tell me the answer she had in mind.  She has quite the personality and I just love her! 



She LOVES jumping on the trampoline and her Toy Story characters!

• We also got enjoy my mom's home cooking and it was great not having to cook dinner!
• My mom got me hooked on the game candy crush and now Kevin plays it too!
• We celebrated Kevin's 28th birthday at Plum Loco for lunch where they sang to him and he got to where this cute sombrero that was a little small.. 
  
  
  
  

  

  His birthday present from me and we also went to see Oblivion.

• I also got asked to prom! One morning Kevin went to leave for work and he came back inside to tell me someone had written on my car, asking me to prom haha! It was so funny and hilarious!

 As I mentioned earlier, I recently found out that I was not accepted to complete an internship this coming school year. That is part of the process of becoming a Registered Dietitian and the next step after graduation. The internships are very competitive so I applied to 5 different schools, hoping one of them would work out. The day I was supposed to find out I was really nervous and tried not to think about it, but it was basically impossible! 5pm was the time the results were available to us but it was more like 630 before I could log onto the website even. Kevin and I were both anxious to find out the decision. When I read the words "we regret to inform you..." I was numb as I sat there and read the letter. I just kept thinking, okay I didn't get one, oh well. After about 20 minutes of it sinking it, the water works started. I was embarrassed to cry about something that seemed so small but to me it was a huge deal! I was so mad, disappointed, sad, confused, and just about every other emotion you could imagine at this point. I didn't want to talk about it because it would just make me cry more, so Kevin held me in his arms for a long time while we watched a movie on TV as I stewed over what had happened. People were announcing on Facebook all the places they had been accepted to do an internship while I sat there on the couch not knowing what to do next. Getting on Facebook that night was probably not the best way to make me feel better! Anyway, after a few hours of feeling sorry for myself I decided I needed to buck up and have a better attitude.  The next week or so I put on a happy face and did my best to appear like I was handling it well, but inside I wasn't.  I kept telling myself that I should've tried harder and put in more effort but deep down I knew that I had done my part and for whatever reason this was my path and there was something else I needed to do this next year.  Finally I started feeling better about things and Kevin and I have many experiences where we know we are right where we need to be.

So, our plan for the next year is something like this...although it is subject to change!! Kevin has one more semester of classes, which he will finish up this fall, and then an internship, so we are trying to figure out where to apply for that.  He is studying business finance, so we're thinking we could be moving away for that, but we shall see! I am going to continue working at Well's Fargo part time and also at my second job which I started last week. My older sister is a nurse at the Pediatric Center in IF and they were hiring a part time receptionist and I ended up getting the position. Between the two jobs I'll be working full time.  I'm also going to be studying for the DTR exam and the GRE.  I can take the DTR exam after I graduate and then I can work in Dietetics.  I plan on applying for an internship that is coordinated with a master's degree next year so that I can accomplish my goal of completing a master's degree!

We are currently living with Todd, Erin and their 4 kids, well Todd is gone working in Utah.  We've been here for 3 days now and we are loving it! Demry is almost 2 and she has never liked Kevin and I but I'm determined to be her friend! Tonight after we read scriptures and said family prayer, the kids were giving me a hug good night, and Demry came over and gave me a hug!! I was so excited she did that and shocked. Then she was showing me pictures on Erin's phone and talking to me and that was even more progress! Kambree and Bailey share a room next to ours and it's so fun to hear them talking and playing at night, it reminds me of my sister Courtney and I staying up late doing that when we shared a room. 

So, the moral of the story is that life is so unpredictable and we have to take things as they come. Life is not going to turn out how any of us imagine and we are going to experience challenges, disappointments, and exciting things too, but we must move on know that all things will work out!

Feeling thankful!

Well, as some of you know, I had shoulder surgery just before Christmas and I am now 10 weeks out of surgery! The recovery has been pretty good so far and I feel so blessed that is has been. Something I have learned to love is running and shoulder surgery really interferes with that.  With my previous 2 surgeries it's usually 6-8 months before I am able run regularly and allow my arm to swing back and forth for so long. For about 4 or 5 weeks now, I have been easing my way into going to the gym and working out.

Yesterday I was there, walking on the tread mill and getting really bored doing so and so I decided to try running. I figured I would only be able to run for a few minutes before my shoulder would start hurting and I would have to stop.  TWO miles later I was still running and my shouler was feeling great, pain free!!  I couldn't believe it!! I did stop at 2 miles because I wanted to see if I would pay for it later and although it was a little sore last night, it wasn't anything unbearable!  I was overcome with a feeling of gratitude for my doctor, physical therapist, Kevin and the rest of my family and friends that have given me so much support!! I have been doing therapy for 10 weeks now and I know that a large part of my healing process has been because of my awesome therapist and the time he has put into helping me get stronger. Together, my therapist and I have spent 45 hours working on strengthing my shoulder and still more to come!

I am so grateful for my body and my health.  It's so important to take care of our bodies because they heal faster when we do and they are the only ones we have.  There are still plenty of days that I wish I could get a new shoulder but Heavenly Father has given me this challenge for a reason and I am learning more and more about why He has. 

Kevin is wonderful and has really stepped up his game since my surgery. He helps me do things I can't and supports me every day. Here are just a few things he has done. He spent the night at the hospital with me, drove me to therapy and doctor appointments for weeks, slept on the couch so that I could have the bed to myself, he did the cleaning, cooking and grocery shopping, held onto me when we went outside so that I wouldn't fall, and kept me entertained when I wasn't able to do much besides sit around. He's also been very supportive of helping me get back to the gym and making me feel good when I only was able to workout for a short time at first. I am so thankful for my wonderful husband, he is the best!! I'm so thankful he picked me and for all the love and support he gives me every day!

Catching up

Once again I am way behind on our blog so I will do my best to catch up!  So school has once again started and we've been keeping quite busy. We took a day trip to Reno in January so that I could visit the Internship Director there and also so that we could explore the area in case we end up moving there.  We really liked the area and felt at home. It was weird to think that home was so far away.  The drive there was awful and so long.  The weather wasn't great going there but coming home it was, thankfully! There is really nothing to see except for the Nevada State Prison and the no hitchhiking signs because of the prisons. 

Downtown Reno was fun, kind of like a mini Las Vegas.  If it had been warmer we would've walked around more.  We did spend time driving around and looking at potential places to live.  It seems like a fun place to live and many locals told us there are lot of things to do!

We attempted to drive to Lake Tahoe but the roads were not good, obviously, and we were only going 20 mph, so we ended up turning around when we got to the top of the pass. 

We drove down to Carson City to check it out.  It seemed similar to Idaho Falls and we enjoyed it! It was about 30 minutes from Reno.

This is the view from our hotel room.  The University of Nevada Reno is off to the right, minutes from downtown and the Interstate.

 I am currently working on my internship application, which is due this Friday!! It has been so much work and I am so glad to be turning it in finally! I am applying for internships in Pocatello, Boise, Reno, and Las Vegas. We are hoping that we get one of them in Nevada, but we will see what the Lord has in store for us.  It's difficult to be patient when we have no idea what the future holds.  Whatever happens though we know that it is what we are supposed to do and where we are supposed to be. It will be about 2 months before we find out anything so I'll be keeping my fingers crossed until then. 

Kevin is taking IBC this semester and is really busy getting their business started up.  He also started working today and we are so excited!! He hasn't been able to find a job that fit his school schedule well, but a temporary position came up at one of his previous jobs and we are very grateful!! He has been so supportive of my internship and us moving wherever we get the chance and it's wonderful! He is so good to me, I'm one lucky wife!!

There isn't much else new with Kevin and I. We just hangout on the weekends and watch the Bachelor Monday nights!  We've also been going to the gym together and it's so fun to have something to do besides sitting around and watching TV.  Being healthy is important and I'm glad we both agree! We also received a new calling this past Sunday to serve together in the Institute presidency for the young married adults.  I had no idea they even had Institute for married people but we are excited! This will be a great experience and the best part is that we get to do it together!

Fall fun!

The fall semester is quickly coming to end for Kevin and I and we couldn't be more excited for a break!! We have been keeping very busy with the usual things, school, work, and church, plus lots of family activites the last little while! We are getting excited for Thanksgiving as we will be spending it in Boise this year with my dad! I haven't had Thanksgiving with them for several years and Kevin never has so it will be fun! I am also very much looking forward to BLACK FRIDAY shopping!!!! It's a tradition every year and I love it!

 

A few weeks ago we had family pictures and they turned out great! (If you need a great photographer for a decent price let me know!) These were just a few favorites of Kevin and I.  This first one is probably my very favorite!  The more I look at it, the more I realize how lucky I am to have a such a wonderful, handsome husband to spend eternity with!  He makes me laugh everyday, lots, and he takes great care of me!  A few nights ago we were laying in bed, both complaining about school, when Kevin says, "if it weren't for bad luck I wouldn't have luck at all" hahahaha.  I was laughing for like five minutes and then I reminded him of just how lucky he really is to have so many blessings and good people in our lives! (I threw my name in there a couple times too). 

 

With that, I have had thankfulness on my mind a lot this week and have been counting my blessings! (I could list things all day but I chose just a few for now!)
1.  I am thankful for my husband! He makes me happier than I ever imagined possible and I love him more and more each day! He takes great care of me and does everything he can to help me in any way.  He is so supportive of me in all the things that I do and is my best friend! How did I get so lucky?!
2.  I am thankful for my talents and that I can play the piano.  I currently serve in the young women's in our ward and since none of the yw can play the piano I get to play each Sunday for them as well as for any special musical numbers they perform.  We had young women of excellence night this past week and the girls sang a beautiful song called, "Like the Stars".  Listening to their voices as they sang made me tingle inside for the wonderful blessing of music, it blesses my life everyday! 
3.  I am grateful for my education and although it's not always easy, I love learning and look forward to one day being able to help people as a Dietitian! I am grateful for Kevin's education too and all the hardwork he is putting into getting good grades!
4.  I am grateful for my health.  Some of you know that I have been having some health problems the last few months and after many tests the doctor has concluded I am severely lactose intolerant, so much so that I should treat it as a milk allergy.  This has made cooking and eating difficult at times because there are so many delicious things I can no longer eat.  I do finally feel better, most days at least, and I am finding more and more foods and recipes I can have!  This has been a great learning experience for me and I have to give a big shout out to my awesome husband and family members who have been by my side, caring and taking care of me through these last few months.  Kevin has been there the whole time, making me feel better on those days I feel sorry for myself and when I feel awful! My parents and in-laws are great about making sure I have things to eat when we go to their house and they care so much! It has meant the world to me and made it that much easier!  Kevin even offered to elimiate milk/dairy from his diet but I told him there was no sense in both us being miserable.  I am happy to say however that this is feeling less and less like a burden and the Lord has blessed and helped me to do realize that.  I read a scripture in Helman 5:3 today about trials and that they are given to us so that we don't forget the Lord.  It is so true!!

This past weekend Kevin and my dad ran in the Phi U 5k!  At school I belong to a sorority/club type thing called Phi Upsilon Omicron, that focuses on family and education.  We hosted a family 5k fun run/walk in Pocatello and my family came out and supported us.  It ended up being cold and snowy but we still had a decent turn out.  Kevin and my dad ran it in about 26 minutes and they were the first ones to cross the finish line. It meant so much to have my dad, lynn, Abby, Natalee, Adam, Austin, and Brody come out for it! 

 This is right at the starting line and when Joanna yelled "GO!" Kevin and dad were the only ones that took off haha. 

                                  They were really excited to be running in the cold and snow!

 Just before the finish line.  Right after this pic was taken, Kevin sprinted to the finish line a few steps ahead of my dad!

                                                             Almost to the finish line!

In this season of thanksgiving I hope we all remember what we have to be grateful for and to not forget all that the Lord has done each of us!  We hope that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

Boise State Game!

Fall for us means back to school and less fun for us. With work, homework, and classes, we don't have time for much else.  We spend every evening doing homework but at least we get to do it together.  We always look forward to Sundays, the one day we take off from homework (usually) and just enjoy the day together.  We enjoy going to the haunted attractions at Halloween with our friends Mary and Ty, and it always brings back good memories for the 4 of us.  Kevin and I started dating during the fall of 2010 and we often doubled with Mary and Ty who started dating  not much longer after we did. 

Last weekend we were able to go to Boise and see my dad, Lynn, and the kids.  My dad has been back east for work since July it's been June since we saw him last, so we were looking forward to spending the weekend with them! My sister Natalee, and her family came as well.  Kevin and I were so excited to go that we took off for the weekend Thursday after our classes got out.  It was a much needed break for both of us.  Austin and Brody, Natalee and Adam's boys were a hoot and kept us all on our toes.  Natalee and Adam didn't get into town til later Friday afternoon so Kevin and I got to spend Friday at my dad's house.  It was a treat to have that time with him!  He's a great example, a hard worker, an awesome dad, and so good at his job!  He wears his testimony on his sleeves, whether he knows it or not, and I love seeing that side of him.  I'm proud to call him my dad! :)

Saturday was a busy day for all of us.  It was my dad's turn to clean the church so we all loaded up in the cars and drove up.  Austin and Brody even helped vacuum!  It was fun to do that service as a family!  After that we went home and got showered to go to the BOISE STATE GAME!! My dad and sister Abby stayed home with Austin and Brody and Lynn, Hunter, Adam, Natalee, Kevin, and myself went to the game.  Boise played Fresno State and we pulled a W!! It wasn't the most exciting game but being at the stadium with all the fans was so fun!  The endzones wore white, one side wore orange and the other side wore blue. It was awesome to see a whole side of orange!  That was Kevin's first BSU game and he was in heaven!  Him and Adam were like little boys at Christmas haha! 

After the game we met up with dad, Abby and the boys to visit Uncle Bill and Aunt Carolyn before going to the Boise LDS temple openhouse.  It was so beautiful inside!!  When we went by the Bride's room Kevin was like, "Did you get to get ready in a room like this?" I was like yes and he was jealous haha!  I never went in the temple before the remodel but on the video we watched we learned that the original temple was built simply because of costs and so I guess this new remodel has just made it that much more beautiful with the chandeliers and earth tone colors used.  The Spirit was so strong there and it made me think of how grateful I am that families can be together forever!  That was the first day the temple was open to the public and over 20,000 people had visited just that day, how awesome!  After the temple we went to Fudrucker's for dinner and then home to bed, we were all pooped!



Austin (Brody wanted to try it too!)

Brody and his cute little smile!

Kevin with "the blue tarp"!

Adam, so excited to be there! Natalee surprised him with the trip!

Me my cute husband waiting for the game to start!
You can see the sun was shining on us and we all got sunburned and raccoon eyes!

Boise LDS temple entrance

Temple from the road, kinda blurry..

Sunday we went to church, ate, hung out for awhile and then headed home.  We stopped in Pocatello and saw grandma and grandpa Reese and what a treat!   We just love them!   It was a great weekend and being with the family was so fun!  I think a new tradition is in order... :)

1 year anniversary: Viva Las Vegas!

For our 1 year anniversary we went to Las Vegas for 4 days and had so much fun! We've both been to Vegas before so seeing the sights wasn't the top of our list.  We stayed at a great resort that had 3 swimming pools and a lazy river, so as you can imagine we spent many hours at the pool!  However, we did spend time on the strip each day and did some things we've never done before. 

 We had to stop at the Las Vegas sign for a few pictures.  There were 3 tour buses there, many cars and even a wedding party, so we snuck up on the side of the line to get some pictures and took a few goofy ones as well.  We both got a hat from the Hard Rock cafe and decided to sport them that day.  Elvis Presley was also at the sign and offered pictures but did say that he works for tips.  We choose to bypass the offer. 

One of our stops was the Hoover Dam right on the Nevada Arizona border.  Neither of us had been there before and it was breath taking.  There is a new road that was recently built that goes over the dam and its 880 feet above the water.  We drove down on the old road to take pictures from below and then walked across the new bridge above.  It was amazing! As we looked at the wall to the right we laughed about the movie "Vegas Vacation" with Chevy Chase and the part the dam plays in the movie. 

This is the view from the new road above the dam.  If you're afraid of heights its probably a good idea not to look down or even walk across it. 

The view from the old road.  Gives you some perspective of just how high the new road is. 

There is so much concrete here.  It took 30,000 cubic yards of concrete and 16,000,000 pounds of steel just to build the new road.  I can only imagine how much concrete was used to build the dam itself. 

We went on the roller coaster at New York New York and it was sweet! We both love rides and roller coasters of all types and are pretty willing to try any of them that we can.

Insanity, the ride at the top of the Stratosphere!

Our anniversary was Monday so we had a late night at the strip.  I get tired about 10pm each night and we got back to our room at 1:30 am, so you can imagine how tired I was.  We had to make a pit stop for some caffeine about 11pm for both of us haha.  However, we had so much fun playing on the strip and celebrating!  We kicked off the evening by eating dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe and it was delicious! After that we walked around the strip seeing sights and doing some things.  We had to stop at the M&M's world and get some random colored candies.  They were definitely the most expensive M&M's I have ever bought and ever intend to buy.                                                

Then we decided to head to the north end of the strip.  There we went to the top of the Stratosphere and it was awesome! It was about midnight by this time so seeing the lights was far better than being up there during the day.  There are 3 rides at the top where the viewing deck is and we went on the ride called Insanity.  You sit in these chairs and the ride goes out over the edge of the Stratosphere and looking down is kinda scary at first knowing not much is strapping you to the chair.  Then the ride spins you around for awhile and then it's over.  It was a great view and so cool to look down and see just far up you really are. 

If you look in the picture to the right you can see the cables behind us.  That is for those people that decide to Bungee Jump off the top of the Stratosphere.  We wanted to do it sooo bad but it was way to expensive.  We saw some people do it however and it looks like an amazing experience and it's one that been added to our bucket lists!

We also went to downtown Las Vegas that same night to see the Fremont Street light show.  There's 1 city block that is covered and a light show put to music is displayed above you.  It's pretty cool to watch.  There were all sorts of weirdos downtown though, so we didn't stick around to do too much after the light show. 

The Hard Rock souvenir shop had lots of sweet things we wished we could buy but we just stuck with a hat for each of us, shown in the pictures at the beginning of the blog.  Kevin decided to model this sweet hat for the camera but we decided it's not really his style haha.  He's so goofy!

This is us at our table at the Hard Rock Cafe  where we ate dinner in celebration of our 1 year anniversary!

One of the three awesome pools at our resort.  This was the largest pool but more kid friendly so we swam at a different pool most of the time.  We were fortunate enough to have the pool to ourselves most of the time.  We spent about 2 hours at the pool each morning as well as in the evenings some nights.  We even bought goggles and dove for coins a lot.  It's just fun to have something to do and I guess you can say we're still kids at heart haha. 

One of my favorite pics from our trip! I called this the 'love fountain' and it was outside of Caesar's Palace.  I sure do love Kevin, he makes me so happy, and I feel so fortunate that he picked me!! : )

We had some time to kill before catching our shuttle back to the resort  one night, so we walked around inside Caesar's Palace and stumbled upon this awesome escalator! It twisted around and took you up all 3 floors.  We didn't really have a reason to ride it but we did just so we could say we did!!

We had a great time going to Las Vegas and although it was warm down there, we were lucky enough to have the cooler temps most of the days we were there, cooler temps being 95-100 degrees haha.  I can't believe we have been married for 1 year now.   Our love has grown so much over the last year, so much more than I could've ever imagined.  We have had quite the adventure over the last year and look forward to eternity together!

Sunburns and Mosquito bites

Our summer of family reunions and vacations has commenced and is quickly coming to an end. I am VERY behind when it comes to blogging.  I decided one post about the 4 trips thus far would be way too much so I split them up into 2. 

Our first adventure was at Wolf Creek in the Ogden canyon down in Utah with the Barber family.  All of the kids, spouses, and grandkids were there and we had so much fun!!  The resort was in a beautiful location surrounded by the mountains.  Kevin and I were only there for the first few days because of having to come back for work so we missed out on a lot of stuff.  The things we did do were lots of fun though.  We spent one day swimming at Cherry Hill water park and everyone got sunburned I think but it was fun.  I was surprised to see Mike and Tena (Kevin's parents) going down the water slides.  The resort had a great pool so we swam a lot as well as doing outdoor activities such as basketball, tennis, horse shoes, hiking, etc.  We, the adults, spent many hours playing cards after the kids had gone to bed and we had a lot of laughs.  When it comes to cards I'm a pretty good player and I think all of the Barber siblings and spouses now know that about me.

I somehow got roped into playing basketball with Tim, Todd, Chad, Kevin, and Emilee.  I wasn't too excited at first as sports is definitely not a favorite thing of mine to do.  I don't mind waching but when it comes to playing them I've never been any good at it and have decided I never will.  I got to play because Emilee played and they wanted one girl on each team (no hard feelings Emilee).  In the end I did admit to having fun playing with them.  They were of course nice and let me shoot and dribble the ball when someone was nice enough to pass it to me, but I didn't have a problem with just hanging out in the back of the court or the side lines and not touching the ball haha.  Emilee fell on the court and scraped up her leg pretty bad so Matt, her husband, took her spot.  I then got to guard Chad.  Now Chad gets picked on a lot by his brothers but he's a good sport about it.  I can't say I ever played basketball with the boys but now I can.  There was sweat flying and ball fighting but it was fun to watch Kevin and his brothers play.  When I played t-ball as a little kid I was hit in the face with the ball in the outfield and ever since then I have had this fear of balls coming at my face.   For this reason I never go under the basketball hoop.  Also, that seems to be a very competetive place to fight for the ball and I didn't want any part in it.  In the end, I did make a few baskets and had a great time playing, although I'm sure they were all laughing inside at how horrible my skills are haha.

I was horrible at taking pictures on this trip unfortunately but I did get a couple. 

                                            This is a picture of the dam below our resort. 

                                  Kevin and Emilee playing tennis against Chad and Kelsey.

Our next adventure was the following weekend at Copper Basin with my dad's family.  This is one of my favorite places ever! Growing up I can't tell you how many years of memories I have of being up there but I love the fact that now Kevin and I get to make our own memories up there.  At the campground we are about 1 hour from cell phone service and 1.5 hours from any sort of store and basically civilization and it's THE BEST thing ever! Four wheeler rides, hiking, lots of card playing, delicious food, and sitting around the fire making memories.  Here are a few pictures to enjoy.

 My grandpa Ed takes lots of naps! Him and Grandma are wonderful people and we all love them so much! What great examples to look up to of marriage, the importance of family, and having gospel centered lives.  I sure do love spending time with them and appreciate all that they do. 

 A tradition of ours is to hike up to Greek Lake each year.  It's always an adventure because you never know the condition of the trail.  Sometimes we can get a car up to the trail head and sometimes only 4 wheelers can get up the road so it's always an adventure.  We have to go through large creeks to get to the road that takes you to the trail head and Kevin loves to get us wet when we have the opportunity. This year we could get cars up the road so we had two vehicles and many 4 wheelers hauling people to the trail head.  At the bottom of the trail head is this cabin, seen below, that has been there for a long time.  Each year the roof falls in a little more but we can still get in there for pictures.  Another thing we always encounted up at the lake is snow.  We're sitting at about 10,000 feet so its chilly but beautiful!

This is my Dad and Lynn with most of their kids and grandkids.  It's nice to get together as we don't all live in the same places and states and visits are sometimes very spaced out.

 Grandpa Ed with most of his grandkids and great grandkids.  We had 35 people up at camp this year and that's probably the most that will ever be up there all at the same time. 

 Kevin and I with Green Lake in the background.  It's all glacier water so it's freezing cold but glistens green and beautiful year after year. 

               Grandpa Ed with the grandkids and three grandson-in-laws that were there this year. 

 This is kind of difficult to read, but last year Kevin carved our names into the log by the lake, where everyone carves things, and put "KG 11", adding a 12 this year.  I hope that one day we can have our kids intials added next to ours!

We went on many 4 wheeler rides and found a lot of snow this year.  Snow and tress blocked many trails forcing us to turn around but we had lots of fun exploring and going through the creeks. 

All in all, we had a fun 2 weeks in the sun and the mountains with our families.  We feel so blessed to get to spend time with them and live close to most of them.  Thank goodness that we were blessed with such wonderful families that have great traditions and love spending time together.  We look forward to the day that our children will get to make memories of their own with cousins and aunts and uncles.