4th of july

This felt like 4th of July WEEK! I haven't done this many activities for the 4th in a long time!

In the 7 years I've lived in Provo, I have never gone to see the hot air balloons. They do them as part of the Freedom Festival. It was super fun to see them all go up and learn a little bit about the process. It was too windy though so we didn't get to see them go up in the air, but it was still worth it even if we had to wake up at o' dark thirty.

That night I figured we needed to do a little bit of our own fireworks so we lit sparklers and some smoke bombs. Then we watched other fireworks going off in the neighborhood. There were some big shows!

The next morning we woke up and drove to Midway to go to this cute little restaurant. The Robins LOVE this town because it reminds them of Germany.

We ordered the skillets and they were delicious! It comes with potatoes, eggs cooked to your choice, and then you get to pick three toppings! We also go a blackberry crepe. It was so nice to sit outside and enjoy and fun breakfast!

Then we drove up to Cascade Springs which is this pretty little nature walk. I had never been here before!

We came home, took a nap, and then went to Provo for Stadium of Fire with the Blackners. It was the perfect way to end my favorite holiday! One Republic put on an amazing show and it made me love them even more! The fireworks were great and the company was great!

 I'm so grateful for all the freedoms we enjoy, the opportunity to live in this great country, and to have an amazing day to celebrate it all!

our summer vacation

I'm always dying to be home, but especially during the summer! First stop was Chelsea and James' wedding reception. I love those two!

Then we were home for Father's Day and then left the next day for SEASIDE! One of our favorite places on earth!

TILLAMOOK FACTORY

 CANNON BEACH

 SEASIDE

We still got a few more days at home after the beach. I accompanied the students at Sister Gehring's recital. It brought back so many memories. In fact, I was wishing that I had played something on my violin. I absolutely love the setting of her beautiful home, grand piano, looking over the water. There is really no better environment to experience and play music! I'm grateful for her teaching and support of me! Music truly does fill the soul.

CHAMBERS BAY 

Til next time WA!

MAY

This month went by so fast (it seems like every month is) but with school coming to  close, things were quite busy!

First, we took Jake to birthday dinner! It was fun to celebrate him!

It was also our last book club meeting before the summer! I have absolutely loved having book club every month and be able to discuss the things I'm reading! Plus, it's built-in time to spend with my friends!

These are just a few of the books that we read. You can see the whole list here.

Then it was the last day of school! These little people sure were ready for summer!

Last was Memorial Day. I will be the first to tell you that cemeteries are not my most favorite place on the planet (they really freak me out!) but I was so glad to be part of this family tradition with the Rapps/Robins. Both sets of grandparents are buried in the Spanish Fork Cemetery so we headed down there, wrote notes to them on balloons, and then let our messages travel up to heaven just for them! They all passed away several years ago, so I never got the chance to meet them.  

I also went to a super fun paint night where a local artist came to teach us how to do a piece. I love developing new talents!

It was interesting to see how unique they all were even though we were all taught the same thing!

easter 2018

I think Easter is one of my favorite holidays, not necessarily because of all the fun traditions, but really because of what we are actually celebrating. I've always had this deep love for my Savior and especially for the atonement, but it wasn't until I was in Jerusalem that Easter really became a big deal for me. Walking through the last week of His life was UNREAL, and I just can't help but get so giddy/reflective when this time of year rolls around. I was so grateful we were able to spend it with family this year! Especially attending General Conference.

We didn't have tickets, so my awesome parents got up and ready at the crack of dawn to go stand in line for us! Kenzie lives right across the street from the Conference Center so it was nice that we were able to get up and just walk right over! In the meantime, they met these cute friends and couldn't wait to introduce us!

They were doing this awesome thing on Temple Square where you could take a picture on Instragram using the hashtag #BECAUSEofHIM and #2018EasterMosaic and then you're picture printed out two copies, one for you to keep, and one to add to this mosaic. We didn't know what the mosaic was going to be until they put it all together! It was so cool!

Bryan and I are almost exactly six months apart and our birthdays often fall on conference weekend. I am a BIG birthday person but he's not, and as you can tell, he LOVES taking photos (not really). But I fully believe in documentation of important events, so happy 25th birthday to BRYAN!!