My Little Brother's Wedding

Okay, so he's not so little anymore, but he'll always be my little brother. :-) Our trip to St. George was brief (we left on Friday and came back on Monday), but Nephi and Aubrey had a beautiful wedding. Unfortunately, Eli played around with our camera too much and dropped it, so it didn't make it to the reception. Still, we came out with a few pictures and plenty we can get our hands on if we want. Let's just say the reception was sugar paradise--so many different sweet treats to choose from, but I'm not sure anyone chose. I think we all just took a little of each. ;-) And for some reason, Eli had a scowl for everyone last weekend. Congratulations, Nephi and Aubrey! Have fun on your honeymoon cruise this coming week!

The Picture He Wanted Me to Take

This picture is one that Eli specifically wanted taken, so I thought I'd post it. He picked up the camera and gave it to me the other day. I said, "Thank you," and put it down. He picked it up again and gave it to me. I asked, "Do you want me to take your picture?" He said, "Jes." So, we went outside, and he posed, and this is the result. Cute!

Entering a New Decade

It's a couple of days after the fact, but I've finally joined the thirty and over group. My birthday was on Thursday (sorry, no pictures were taken), and as I said good-bye to my twenties forever, I thought about what that decade of my life yielded. Here are just a few things that came to mind:

Places Lived During my Twenties
*Ripon, Wisconsin
*St. George, Utah (briefly--for the two summers before and after my mission)
*Dominican Republic
*Salt Lake City, Utah
*Houston, Texas

Schools Attended and Formal Education Received During my Twenties
*Ripon College
*University of Utah
*University of St. Thomas
*Two Bachelor's Degrees (English & Political Science)
*Teacher Certification

Jobs Held During my Twenties
*Student
*Sales Associate (twice)
*Accounts Receivable Clerk
*Medical Records Clerk
*Spanish/English Interpreter
*High School English Teacher
*Stay-at-home Mom

Church Callings Received During my Twenties
*Young Women teacher (Mia Maids)
*Relief Society teacher
*Full-time missionary
*Primary teacher (twice--4/5 year-olds and 7/8 year-olds, which is my current calling and longest one I've ever had)
*Ward missionary
*Relief Society visiting teaching supervisor
*Counselor in the Primary presidency (twice--very briefly both times)
*Nursery teacher/helper
*Activities committee

Favorite Highlights of my Twenties (in order of their occurrence)
*Serving a mission in the Dominican Republic
*Graduating with my undergraduate degrees
*Getting married to Josh for time and all eternity in the St. George temple
*Having and raising my first child--my sweet baby boy, Eli

The lists could go on, of course, but these are just a few of the things I think about when I review the last ten years of my life.

Gig Harbor

Josh had to fly home right after the wedding because he still had a couple more days of school, but Eli and I flew from Salt Lake to Gig Harbor to be with Josh's family for about 4 days before Josh could rejoin us. Unfortunately, we ended up being sick for the first part of our trip up there. Eli came down with a pretty nasty cold and gave it to his mama. I didn't suffer quite as bad, though I suspect I have a sinus infection now with the way I'm feeling. Eli actually threw up, which was a first for him. Even as a baby he didn't throw up or spit up much. I'm glad it was only once, and I'm not sure what it was. Most of his suffering came from a head cold up in Gig Harbor, but last night he had a high fever, so I'm not sure what exactly he's been going through. I know his Grandma Pratt had a fever and was throwing up too, as well as his cousins. Whatever it was/is, it put a little damper on the vacation.

Still, we did have some fun. We went to a bluegrass festival where Eli loved people watching. We went to Wild Waves theme park, which has both water and amusement park rides. Eli went on a few rides, but he couldn't ride many, so we took him in the morning and got a babysitter for him in the afternoon. Of the ones Eli went on--the carousel, ferris wheel, and dry slide--he liked the dry slide the most. Basically, it's a huge slide in which you sit on a sack that helps you go down. Eli loved it. He sat on Josh's lap and would get up and clap when it was over. He didn't like the carousel at all, and he sort of liked the ferris wheel, but it ended up being too long of a ride for him. Josh and I enjoyed the water slides and roller coasters that we could go on when Eli was with the babysitter. Okay, honestly, Josh enjoyed them. I enjoyed some of them, and endured others so that Josh could enjoy. I don't really like roller coasters because I hate the heart-dropping-to-your-feet feeling. I mostly enjoyed the water slides, but some of the other rides were not quite as scary as I thought they'd be.

We also went to Remlinger Farms, which has a lot of kid rides. Eli could ride most of those, and he got a taste of his first roller coaster. I was hesitant to let him ride, but he was clapping and really excited to go. I think it looked more fun than it was, mostly because he wasn't prepared for the jerking around that roller coasters have. He didn't want to get off the ferris wheel though, and he loved petting the animals. He even got to ride a pony. Though it was an incredibly hot day when we went, Remlinger Farms was definitely a highlight of our trip, which is why most of the pictures come from there.

Again, that was the short version of our trip, but we really did enjoy being with family, sick or not, and we had an eventless flight home, which was an added bonus! :-)