Yellowstone Road Trip

Luke and I took off for Montana bright and early.  We drove and drove and finally made it to the West Yellowstone, Montana.  We checked into the Stagecoach Inn and then went to dinner at the Black Bear Diner.  

Saturday morning we met our tour guide and group.  It was kind of funny hearing the most basic of instructions for driving a snowmobile. 

The tour to Old Faithful and back was super fun..very scenic, kind of cold, but full of wild life and a fabulous partner, Mr. Luke Peacock.

Oh ya know...... just eating lunch in a yurt :)

Saturday night we ate a yummy pizza dinner, stroll the shops (that were actually open for the winter) and went to a movie.  ... and tried on a fuzzy bison hat :)

Sunday morning we came home..... long long drive. and we were anxious to see our little girlies again.

We just couldn't resist a moose shirt Unfortunatly we didn't take a picture of the older girls in their t-shirts. But... they were cute (the shirts were too)

Hello 2015

This was such a big year for us as a family.  I'm excited to finally get caught up on this blog and share about our life in 2015.  So many changes, so many awesome memories.

Ready set--- go!

Turning the BIG 3-0!

On January 9th, I finally hit the 30's and celebrated to the fullest!
I have always wanted a surprise birthday party and my sneaky and wonderful next door neighbor, Robyn, helped Luke concoct the BEST surprise party ever.

I on the other hand, couldn't exactly tell Luke I wanted a surprise party (defeats the entire definition) but I wanted to do something exciting, so I talked Luke into  a weekend trip for he and I to Yellowstone National Park.  I couldn't understand why he was so resistant to our quick get-away, but it all made sense later when I found out that I planned our trip right on top of his surprise party plans.  Thankfully, they were able to work it out to move it up a night.

So Luke took me out to dinner while my neighbor babysat the girls.  After dinner we went to pick them up and as I got to the door I found it strange that there were so many pairs of shoes laying in their entry way.... after a few steps further into the house, I understood.  "SURPRISE!!!"  and OH how I was.  I never suspected a thing!

It was wonderful! We had many friends from our ward, Luke's work, neighbors, and my parents, Jason and Joy and Jana and Casey and family.  It was so much fun!

Sadly, I do not know where any of the pictures from that night went......... but thank you to all who made it an exciting, surprising birthday bash!

As if I didn't feel old enough turning 30, Linaya had to have her baby in the picture... I was the Grandma.  *sigh*

 My beautiful bouquet from my darling sweetheart!

Christmas in Castle Dale (even if a few days after)

We are so blessed to be able to spend at least some part of the holiday break with BOTH sides of the family. 

Christmas at the Cabin

One of the most unexpected and special surprises came to our door the Sunday before Christmas.  A secret family dropped off this divine handmade doll bed for our family.  We felt so undeserving of such a neat (and time consuming) gift but felt true gratitude. It made Christmas seem so magical.
We spent weeks trying to figure out who gave it to us, but we ended up not finding out until half a year later when one of the kids from the family who gave it to us was over playing.  She spilled the beans.  Thank you, Williams family! 

Christmas morning was as always super fun.  It was cool to have Santa set the doll bed up and put the dolls the older girl's received on it.  

 Linaya got a princess castle.