Koo Koo Loo Loo

McKay drove down from Rexburg (BYU Idaho) to hang out for a day. What a great sis. She is loving school, making A's, and on 2 soccer teams. Of course, she goes on dates every other day. I didn't go on a single date during my 2 years at BYU. It is fun to see our differences and similarities. Mostly, she is just better.

We have lots of nicknames for each other.
McKay.............................Cheyney
Kay Kay..........................Chey Choo
Koo Koo Loo Loo............ Choo Choo Loo Loo
Crooked Tooth............... Hit the Floor
Kazie Daze

The Wedding

The main reason why we went to SLC was for Josh's wedding. When Josh was 14, he was my favorite patient when I worked at Primary Children's. He has always been stronger and wiser beyond his years and a great example to me. Now he is a return missionary, 21 and MARRIED. Congrats to the happy couple.
Roger and Kaylee


Ammon and Jacob made it RAIN at their reception (rain money)!

Alright, I will tell the embarassing story. I was sure that the wedding was NOT at the Salt Lake temple. So, I told Ryan to go to Jordan River. No one was there, and the temple worker told us the wedding was in SLC. I refused to believe her and had Ryan drive all the way to Timpanogas. In Lehi, I got a hold of the Timp Temple and they said they were closed for cleaning. So, it was in SL. I am so recalcitrant (there is the word for the day for Emily). Luckily, I made it for exchanging of the rings and hugs. Too many temples or I am losing my mind.

The other embarrassing thing was.... I forgot to wear a bra. I wasn't rushed in the morning. I even put on eye shadow and ate breakfast. I didn't even notice it was missing until I was running around. It totally slipped my mind. I did probably the two worst things possible when attending a wedding (late and no bra). Needless to say, I spent the whole day with my arms crossed over my chest.

Jaime Girl is a MOM

What a fun stage of life when lots of friends are having little ones. Actually, Zachary is not so little. He has already tripled his weight at 6 months. I got to feed him and I couldn't get the food in his mouth fast enough. Jaime and I became friends at Zach's age. What a CUTE kid.

Poppy and Bick and kids

This is Madaleine, Rusty's youngest, and Bick. Bick must burn 1000 calories when the kids come to visit. She pushes, holds, runs and even has water gun fights. She also does a great job spoiling the girls. She bought Charlotte a motorized children's VESPA. I wish we had a picture in honor of THE GREAT BLOG. Who gets a Vespa at age 4?


This is Ryan playing cards with Poppy. She is a true card shark. You always know where you are when you enter Poppy's house because you hear cards shuffling. She beat Ryan twice. It was so great to spend time with my grandma. She is so upbeat.
This is Charlotte at 4 1/2 years old. Basically grown up. I remember babysitting her in Los Angeles and hearing her first word, hat. Ryan and I took her to Disneyland before she turned 3. She claims she still remembers it. Hopefully she doesn't remember how we took her on the Haunted House ride. (Not very good parents/babysitters)

Monica and Ruth's Diner

We met Monica at Ruth's Diner. Ryan met Monica at BYU and she is a true inspiration! It is great when you love your spouse's friends. Ryan has a great judge of character. First of all, she completed a masters in Social Work and worked for a while in NYC. After deciding she wanted more than social work, she has started medical school at the U. She is probably the most well traveled person I know. I really could listen to stories for EVER about her trips all over the world. Now we just have to get her to visit North Carolina.

Hangin' with the Gunnells

Right after we flew into SLC, we met Anne, Hannah and Isaac at Hogle Zoo. Zoos are much more fun with kids. It was cute how the kids were scared of the larger than life plastic elephant that made recorded burping and pooting noises.


Ryan HAD to get a cougar shot in honor of BYU and his older wife (by 19 days).


An albino alligator.

It is hard to be so far away from dear friends. Anne and I were joined at the hip all through Westminster. I remember every detail of her courtship with husband Darrin almost better than my own. Now with two kids, she is such a great mom. We had a great time catching up, going out to eat, and taking the kids to Cherry Hill Waterpark.
What great smiles!

Saturday Hiking and Bowling with the Folks

Picture of Salt Lake City from Ensign Peak

We were in Utah this past week and so we will post a bit about that in the next few posts.

This past Saturday Cheyn went up to Cherry Hill and I had time to bond with my parents individually. I went on a little hike up to Ensign Peak with my Dad in the morning. Ensign peak has a great view and is the basis of of the LDS hymn "High on the Mountain Top." The first Mormon Pioneers to reach the Salt Lake Valley hiked this prominent peak shortly after arriving and put up the US flag and a blue and white stripped and starred "Flag of the Kingdom." I am amazed how much Salt Lake is developing right now. It seems to be changing fast with commuter rail, new shops and malls in development everywhere on the East Side. Here is a pictures of my dad on Ensign peak facing the mountain range:

Later that day I went bowling with my Mom at Olympus Lanes, the bowling alley that I used to frequent when I was sluffing (Utah term for cutting class) in high school.

It was fun to see my Mom bowl. After she bowled she would jump up and down and try to steer the bowling ball with her will.





I think it worked. We bowled three games and guess who came out with the high score? In spite of one of the best bowling games of my life, My Mom beat me by two points.


So visitors to our blog, here is a question. Have any of you ever bowled higher than my Mom? Pretty impressive eh?