a perfect father's day

This father's day was extra special because we got to celebrate with two of our favorite people...Kam's parents! And much of it was made possible because this beautiful girl was getting married!

This is Nelia, Kam's cousin. She was married last Thursday in the DC Temple and we are so glad that we live close enough that we were able to attend (I guess there are perks to living so far from most of our family) and that Kam's parents flew out for the event which meant we got to play with them for the weekend!

The wedding was held in the evening so we left Thursday morning for DC. We decided to drive to the hotel first, get changed and then head over to the Temple where we would leave the boys with the younger cousins while we went in for the Endowment Session and then the Sealing. We probably should have gone straight to the Temple because the traffic was horrendous! We got to the temple just late enough that we missed the Endowment Session but since it was dinner time, we decided to take the kids to get something to eat at IHOP.

After dinner we headed back to the Temple for the Sealing. It had been raining off and on all day and while we were at dinner it started to pour. Just as we arrived back to the Temple though, the rain stopped and the sun came out and it's rays peaked through the clouds shining beautifully on the Temple. It was as though our Heavenly Father was shining his love on the Temple sharing with me that what was about to happen, this eternal marriage, was pleasing to Him. It was really moving.

Following the Sealing everyone gathered at a local restaurant, Cafe 1894, for a light dinner. It was a cute little establishment with an intimate setting perfect for our group. The food was delicious and the company was even better. It was really wonderful to share this special evening with the newly created Willis Family.

After returning to the hotel we realized that all the traffic we encountered was due to the US Open happening in Bethesda, MD. (No wonder all the hotels close to the Temple were completely booked!) Well, because of all the extra people in the DC area we decided that it was probably best not to stay in DC even though our plans were to take Kam's parents there. Instead we decided to head north to Philadelphia and then on to Amish country and Gettysburg.

On our drive to Philly we passed this house who obviously 

doesn't mind a freeway for a back yard.

And Braden enjoyed some yogurt.

Our first stop in Philadelphia was to get some lunch. And the best thing to eat when in Philly? a Philly Cheese Steak of course! We decided to find out for ourselves who we thought was the best by trying the rivals Pat and Geno's. Unfortunately when I cut up and distributed the different halves of the sandwiches I got them mixed up and couldn't tell who's was who's. Keven said he liked Geno's better and Kam thinks he thought it was Pat's that he liked best but really, because I mixed them up, we'll never know..whoops!

When we finished our lunch we headed into the city where we visited the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.

 With George Washington in the Liberty Bell Center

 I wish I would have gotten the shot but at one point Grandpa 

was laying on the floor to get a picture looking up inside the bell.

After visiting the Liberty bell we headed across the street to Independence Hall. There were no tickets left for tours of the hall but I was lucky enough to talk the guide into letting Keven go in without a ticket since he has never seen inside before. I think he liked it...he is so hard to read sometimes, but looking between the lines, I'm sure he did. While we waited for Grandpa the boys sat on the steps making silly faces at anyone who walked past.

 George Washington

 They also got to meet some ancient revolutionary citizens.

We also visited Congress Hall.

That night we drove down to Amish Country and found a place to stay overnight. The next morning, Saturday, we visited the Amish Village where we took a tour of an Amish house and farm surroundings. It was really interesting to learn about the Amish traditions and why they do what they do. I was surprised to learn that much of "the Amish way" comes from tradition rather than from a religious belief. I also didn't know that Amish was a break-off from the Mennonite religion.

The boys got to feed a baby cow.

 We got to see where the Amish go to school.

 And sit inside an Amish buggy.

We also visited Kitchen Kettle Village, one of our favorite spots. We got to taste all sorts of jams, jellies, and relishes that were made right in their Mennonite run kitchen. Yummy!

Our next stop was Gettysburg. We stopped at the visitors center first where we got to see some of the weapons used during the battle of Gettysburg as well as uniforms and some of the items that a soldier would have used during their time in service.

Confederate Uniform

 Union Uniform

 Braden was a Union Soldier.

 Carter too.

 The Gettysburg Address

 Honest Abe.

At the bookstore we purchased a CD that took us on a guided tour of the battle field. I did not realize how much I didn't know about this battle and it's significance in history. I loved hearing about how the battle moved and what happened at different places of the field. I think I could have spent days there reading and seeing the ever so many monuments erected all over.

Pickett's Charge at the High-Water mark of the Confederacy.

Father's Day Sunday was a really special day. Kam was asked by our bishop at the end of sacrament meeting to share his testimony and thoughts about Fathers. It was a really nice tribute to Keven and I'm sure the bishop only asked Kam to do it because Keven was there with us. After church we relaxed, trying to recover from our busy weekend and shared a yummy steak and crab dinner.

The boys were really excited to give Grandpa his gift.

 A masterpiece by Braden

 Daddy got special gifts too, but he opened his all early.

We had such a great time with our visit from Gram and Grandpa. It really is "always fun when Grandpa (and Gram) comes!"

what do you do in the summertime?

The weather out here has been super hot and super humid! We've also had some crazy thunderstorms and spurts of our famous "Hollywood Rain." When it's not raining we have done the only thing you can do to cool off...swim, swim, swim. And what more fun than to have a water fight too!

The water fight was getting out of hand so I had to take cover behind the glass!

 Although the next day they got their revenge on me!

 I just love their naked bums!

the rest of the worst

Our trip home from Utah was another round of CRAZY. I will say that at least we didn't have to make any emergency landings, but we did do a lot of back and forth travel just to get home. I mentioned in my last post that my dad and Heidi had to come home from their trip early due to illness on the ship. Heidi unfortunately got really sick and coming home early was a must. Since they did get back early from their trip they offered to change my plane ticket so that I could get back to see Kam a day earlier. Normally I wouldn't hear of it, wanting as much time with my family as I could, but knowing the quality time I got to spend with everyone I decided that I was ready to go. So we packed our bags and got ready for our trip down to Vegas to catch our plane home.
At the airport I decided to check my bags curbside so I didn't have to mess with them and the boys by myself. Unfortunately we were informed upon arriving that our flight out was delayed and because of the delay I would miss my connecting flight. The sky-cap, who was amazing, carried all our bags and car seats for us inside and directed us to a line where we were to wait to see if they could arrange for us to get on another flight. We waited and waited! Finally after about 30 minutes an attendant came out and gave me a phone number I could call to make the switch happen. Then, once I got a hold of someone, I was told that the earliest they could get us home was to leave the next day; the same day our other flight was to leave! I was bummed. I had to call Heidi to tell her to come back and get us. I thought about staying in Vegas overnight, but being by myself there was no way I could do it and feel safe about it. So, back to St. George to do it all over again the next day.

Before heading back we did stay in Vegas for a little shopping. We took Abi to get some new summer clothes and I got new shoes and the boys got to pick out an outfit from Build-a-Bear. Thanks, Gramma!
Luckily for us, everything went fairly smoothly the next day (if you don't count the ticket Heidi got for taking too long to help drop us off at the airport and the really turbulent flight home.) We were so excited to see our Daddy. We missed him so much!

After this trip I've decided I don't ever want to get on a plane again...at least not soon.

the best of times

May 15-17
Our visit to Utah (once we arrived) was so much fun. The first couple days were a bit of a blur as I adjusted to the time change and overcame one of the worst head-colds ever. We (me, the boys, and Abi) hung out and spent most of our time at Abi's dance rehearsals and working on some last minute school projects.

May 18-20

On Wednesday evening I picked up my sister, Ashely, and her 2 girls from the airport. I didn't realize that they had built a new airport in St. George so here I was waiting at the old one wondering why it looked deserted until I saw the sign saying the airport was closed permanently. I felt really dumb but luckily found the new one; with some help. Later that evening my sister Megan also arrived in town.

The next day my momma and Gooey drove down to take me and the boys to Las Vegas. Before heading out we went to Abi's school to see her 5th Grade Patriotic Program where she sang in a special group solo and then afterwards we all had lunch together. We ordered our food and sat down but for some reason Braden decided not to eat with the rest of us (he was in a bad mood; don't know why though).

While we were in Vegas we visited the DI and the 99 Cent Store (per Braden's request). The boys got to pick out a special toy at each place thanks to Grammy. Braden got this stuffed alligator (yes I washed it before letting him play with it) and Carter picked out a little toy car from the DI and both boys got golf clubs and putters at the 99 Cent Store. They were thrilled! We also treated ourselves to a molto squisito lunch at an Italian restaurant.

 Carter fell asleep on the way there but after 

waking up ate more than the rest of us!

May 21-22
Saturday morning the rest of the gang met us in Vegas. The boys were really excited to finally be spending some time with their cousins. Gooey gave us girls a real treat and stayed behind at the condo with the kids while all the girls went shopping!

The kids watch Tangled while Tay had a nap. 

Not sure what K was thinking about this part of the show.

When we got home from shopping we swam and swam and swam! I was really impressed with Carter's swimming abilities in the pool. Braden is a confident swimmer as long as he has a life jacket but Carter, although he loves the water, gets a little clingy. At first he was nervous but as time went on he got more and more confident to the point that he could swim by himself without too much help.

 Carter's favorite thing to do was climb in and out of the pool.

 Eventually his confidence allowed him to jump in!

 My little Fishy!

Braden practiced swimming without his life jacket. He did not like it at all! He did really well, but I think it was a little scary for him.

He was definitely much more comfortable in his life vest. He wore it all the time and wouldn't take it off. Even while playing on the sidelines with his new friend.

Braden was quite the dare devil, so long as his vest was on. He learned a lot of new tricks including:

Standing on Grammy's shoulders with no hands

and then jumping off!

 And doing flips and backwards jumps into the pool!

 He was very proud of himself.

We left Vegas on Sunday but as part of our drive home we took a little detour to see the Hoover Dam. I remember going there as a kid and thinking it was really cool. It still was and much more grand than I remember it. It was really windy and the boys were tired so I was worried that they wouldn't appreciate it, but they both thought it was NEAT!

 Looking out on Lake Mead on our drive to the Dam.

This is the state line marker in the middle of the bridge. Carter and I are on the Arizona side while Bo, Pappy and Brady were in Nevada. Crazy to think we could be in two places at once!

 This picture doesn't do this bridge justice. It it just HUGE! 

I am amazed that they can build these kind of things; Crazy!

May 23-24
I was sad to have to say goodbye to my momma after the quick Vegas trip but was really excited to spend some time with my sisters. We did some shopping and Ashley talked me into being her first victim of her new Body Pump Class that she has been training to teach. It was almost brutal! The best part was having her almost bust up laughing at how atrocious my form was. Too bad I don't live closer to her so she can fix my body...maybe one day. We also spent some time listening to a Veggie Tales CD of Abi's and goofing off. We even started a new bedtime routine by playing the "Roll-Over" game on the bed. From oldest to youngest we would take our turns steam-rolling over each other while singing the song "...and the little one said, Roll-over. Roll-over..." 

 When it got to Carter he would roll the opposite direction into the middle of the bed!

We then would say prayers together and then share a family Hug and Kiss.

May 25-26

Tuesday evening meant saying goodbye to Megan, Ashley, K and Tay. It was sad to have them all go. But it also meant that we would see my Dad and Heidi soon. Their trip was supposed to go until much later in the week but everyone on the ship got really sick and Heidi who only 7 months ago had a kidney transplant had to get off immediately. It was a really serious situation. Heidi later told me that had the ship made port in the US it would have been quarantined! As much as I hated knowing their trip was ruined I was excited because that meant I got to spend more time with them. We did a lot of swimming and then on Thursday Heidi had to spend a whole day in the hospital getting fluids so my dad and I took the boys to have a "Jack" day. We went to Jumping Jacks and then out to lunch at Jack in the Box!

 Carter wasn't sure about going down by himself so Brother helped.

 I didn't pack any socks for the boys because I knew it was going to be warm so we had to borrow socks from Abi to wear. I did find a good size for Braden and I thought I did for Carter but one of the socks was really big. It worked but he did have to keep pulling them up so they wouldn't fall off!

We had so much fun with everyone on this trip. Lots of good talks, good fun, and tons of silliness (my favorite!) This trip was especially great because I feel like I got some real quality time with each person. Normally I dread the thought of having my time with my family end, but I felt like I had such quality time with them that I was okay saying goodbye and I was ready to go home. Although, little did I know that we would be facing troubles with our flights again. But that is for another day...