There's No Place Like Home

We Were able to go home for a little longer than usual this past weekend and we had a blast doing so many things with family and friends. We stayed with my parents to help my mom out a little after her knee replacement surgery. It was so hard to see her limping around and not able to do much but she is a great sport!Thursday we were able to re-do a book shelf that my dad had extra so we went to the shop to to that. Thanks Dad for helping us out!


That night we went to Les Mis out at Tuacahn (Thanks to Alex) with Cleola and Charles and we absolutely loved it! They did a great job and it is definitely worth seeing. On Friday night we went to see Wall-e with my brother Tom and his wife Nichole. It is a great movie but if you are wanting to see it I would wait until it goes to the dollar theater or something :). On Saturday we were able to go out to lunch with some of our friends that still live in St. George and then later on that night we got together with Kate and Graham to do a little art. We started out putting paint inside balloons which we were going to pin onto a white canvas but the balloons kept popping and the paint got everywhere (literally everywhere. On the walls, counter, mouths, and hair! Cleola was great for letting us do it in her kitchen!) so we ended up with less balloons than we wanted. After popping them with blow darts and a BB Gun we went Jackson Pollock style and started throwing the paint with our hands and the paint containers.
It was so much fun and it was an awesome idea that Kate came up with!!! After this weekend there is no other way of putting it other than there is NO place like home!

The Pioneer children sang as they walked and walked and walked...

This post is a little late but it is the perfect week to honor the Pioneers! Working with the youth is a blast but definitely a new experience. I can now say that I have more respect and love for my parents and all of my leaders :). Burke and I were called as a Ma and Pa for the trek. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done but also one of the most spiritual. The Faith and motivation that the Pioneers had must have been incredible. They went through so much (Snow, Rain, Chilly Winds, Many Deaths of loved ones, etc.) but yet continued to keep going. We only had a small glimpse of what they went through and yet it was still very difficult.


Some of the things we experienced:
Martin's Cove

This is where the Martin company came to get out of the snowstorm because there was more room and trees to help cover them. Many Pioneers left loved ones behind in Martin's Cove

The Sweet Water
They had some statues near the Sweet Water which represented the four men who helped carry the women and children across the cold icy water. We were able to walk through the water, get carried, or push a hand cart to see what it must have been like.

The Women's Pull



This was probably the most touching part of the trek. The men were all called to become the Mormon Batallion and the women were left to push the carts by themselves. The hill that we pushed the carts up was very sandy and had a lot of rocks. My family only had three girls (including myself) and it was extremely difficult. It is amazing to watch the change in all the boys. They were able to stand on the side and watch us and afterward they told the girls that they didn't need to push the carts anymore (they were very cute). This experience helped me to realize how hard life would be without Burke and in a Modern sense it would be very hard to go through out life today with out him...he is the love of my life!!

There were two other couples in our ward that went with us, Bishop and his wife, Alicia & Aaron and Jenny Johnson. It was so much for to get to know them! They are such fun and loving people!!
The trek was a great experience and I am so grateful that I was able to do it with Burke!!

Fourth of July and My Birthday

The Fourth of July was so much fun. For my birthday I woke up to flowers that Burke got me for my birthday (he also got me a purse, some jewelry and one of my favorite movies, First Daughter). We went to the Provo Parade and then Burke took me to breakfast. It was such a fun and relaxing day. My family was all up here because one nephew (Jacom) was wrestling and then my new niece (Ada Grace) was being Blessed on Sunday. So that night we went over to spend time with them for a BBQ and some fireworks.We missed everyone that we didn't get to see on the Fourth but it was still a fun break from school and work...and Burke made it a GREAT birthday for me

Family Reunion

I am really behind on my posts. We went to Panquitch a little while ago for a family reunion on Burke's side. it was so much fun to get away for a little bit and spend time with family. It was especially fun for me to get to know a little more about the people I met for the first time at out wedding. They are so fun and I learned a lot about Panguitch and what there is to do there:).

We got to tend Sophie while Cleola and Charles went out (K.C. and Mary's daughter). She is so cute and such a great baby!
In the morning there was the festival of hot air balloons. It was really early in the morning but we decided to go down to it anyways. On the way down Burke said that he was thinking all morning that it would be cool if we got down there and ended up being able to ride in one. We were standing around and a lady asked us if we wanted to help someone set up their balloon. Of course we did and so we sent over to one and actually ended up getting to ride in one!!! Can you believe it? It was so fun to experience that and it was something we have both wanted to do and can now mark it off our list of things we want to do. however, we didn't get to ride in it together but that is okay.
I love going horse back riding and when we were at the ranch Burke's cousin Troy brought all his horses up. He was so nice and let us ride them for awhile. We rode them up in the fields and through little rivers.It was a blast and another thing we have never done together! I have to say that I was extremely sore for the next couple of days.
The project at the ranch for this reunion was to build on a room for a washer and dryer. Burke, Ben and Charles worked really hard all day and got a lot accomplished. Burke also was able to do a couple of appointments for his work so I was able to see exactly what he did for his job. At the end of the day we went to the Glow, which is where all the hot air balloons are lined up on center street and lit up.
The Weekend went really fast but we were so glad that we went to see the family and do things that we have never done before!! Thanks everyone!!