Day two

Today we went to the zoo and then up to Park City. It was very hot!
The kids enjoyed the train ride and the carousel. The rest of us loved the bird show where eagles and doves flew so close above our heads our hair moved...it was really a great show. Tomorrow we are off to Mona to see the jousting at the Lavender Farm while I work helping with the 5K run down there for Young Living. Hope you like the pictures :)

Dad's here!

Dad arrived from New Zealand yesterday and we are all having lots of fun together. We attended the little boys t-ball game last night (I have been roped into coaching their team...It's crazy)
Today we have been to the Dinosaur Museum, eaten old fashioned ice-cream sundae's at the Thanksgiving Point Deli, and then went up to the super sporting goods store, Cabela's. The temperature outside just hit 95 degrees (35 Celsius) so we have come home to enjoy some air conditioning and hide from the heat for a couple of hours before heading out again. Here are some pictures for you all to enjoy :)

Keyra's Wedding

If this were a normal year I would say that a safer date could not have been picked. Normally, Utah in June means the sun is blazing hot with endless heat and cloudless skies. But not this year. This year, June has been wet, wet, wet! And June 20, 2009 was no exception. As far as weather went, it was miserable...all....day...long.
Keyra's ceremony was scheduled to begin at 7pm. We arrived early to help out with last minute prep and food etc. It was so cold outside and even colder inside because, for some odd reason, the air conditioning was on full blast! All the people from Hawaii looked so miserable. The wedding coordinator was still about 15 minutes away so we all had to suffer while we waited for her. If it wasn't a torrential downpour outside of the tent we would have waited out there until she arrived....oh well. When she did arrive we had her put on the heat - ah...much better.
Because of the weather the bridal party was running late, but things got underway eventually and the ceremony was just beautiful. The rain stopped just in time for Jay to walk his sister inside the tent and down the aisle. They looked great. Jerry did a wonderful job marrying them. It felt special having it be a family affair. Jerry is very good friends with Wendall's uncle (James/Kina'u) and so he talked about how happy the union made him. Finally he could claim he was related to James - ha.
Something really amazing happened after the ceremony. The clouds lifted and the sun came out. The sun that we hadn't seen ALL DAY. And suddenly we could see why Keyra wanted to be married at that spot. We were perched on top of a hill that overlooked the whole valley of Utah County as well as Utah Lake and the Timpanogos Temple. As the clouds lifted I had the feeling of being at a grand theatre with the curtains slowly being raised to reveal the long awaited debut of something fabulous. The timing couldn't have been more perfect, and to be honest with you, I don't think we would have appreciated the view quite as much if it had just been there all the time. Having it reveal itself like that was breathtaking.
The rest of the evening was perfect. The food was great. The sun kept shining. It got lovely and warm. We ended up needing the air conditioning after all :) Kina'u was so funny as the MC. There were dance items and speeches. Wendall's brother Thomas was able to come over from Hawaii and gave a nice speech. Ruth did a great job on her speech also. Keyra and Wendall expressed over and over their gratitude for all the help getting the wedding and food together. It was just a lovely evening. Keyra and Wendall look so happy. They have both had such sad times in the past. They are due for some good times ahead. Congratulations you two!


The happy couple. See the lovely view in the background?


Brother and Sister


The cake was so beautiful with fresh flowers cascading down the side and all over the table. It was YUMMY!



Nate and Lauren enjoying their cousin's wedding.



Duke Mossman, Jerry, me, Wendy Su'aFilo



Jarom and Anna



In Wendall's defense, Keyra started it - ha!



Jay, Makell(Ron's daughter), Wendall, Keyra, Ruth, Ron(Ruth's husband).



Keyra's friends flew up from Hawaii to be in the line.



There's Lorraine's daughter, Azia, on the left.



Thomas, Wendall, Keyra, Kina'u, Simone, Kanamu

(For the benefit of my family who do not know who Keyra is, she is Ruth's daughter. Ruth is Jerry's sister, and she and her kids lived with us for 2 & 1/2 years when they first came up to Utah.)

It's so much harder than it looks!

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So...
this past week we worked our tails off trying to transform our front yard into something other than the dirt pit it's been since moving here. The task didn't seem too overwhelming, until we actually picked up our tools and attempted to penetrate the soil! We finally figured out that the clay-like dirt is very soft (like quicksand) when it is wet. So we ended up using the hose alot to get the stubborn weeds and rocks out. When it dries out it is as hard as cement but somehow rocks would still make their way to the surface so that even after getting it all smoothed out in the evening, by the time we headed out there the next morning there seemed to be a whole new batch of rocks that had popped up during the night. I can't even count how many wheelbarrow loads of rocks we hauled outta there. Honestly, if we could eat those things we would be set for life there are so many!! So now the sprinklers and grass are in. We even added some lovely rich soil to the flower beds in hopes of putting in some plants later. Stay tuned for pictures of the trees and flowers once we get those added....hopefully in the next few weeks.
Anyway, I think we all gained a great appreciation for the pioneers who cultivated this valley from a desolate desert into the beautiful oasis it is today. That took some hard work!

the Graduates...

We celebrated Nate's graduation a couple of weeks ago. It was a great week full of reunions and celebrations as Xavier, Ella, and a whole host of other dear ones graduated high school. Nate and Anna (Jarom's girlfriend) had their graduation at the BYU Marriot center. It brought back memories of being there to celebrate Jana and Carly's high school graduations. There was also the memory of, YEARS ago, Jerry's graduation from BYU. In a few years we'll be there again for Nate's graduation from BYU. It's all so exciting.

Well it's been a crazy couple of months. We have had lots of fun. Jarom has moved home. People have visited from out of State, even out of the country. The weather was absolutely horrible all of March and most of April. We had Spring Break but just hung around here....took the little boys to the zoo, and to dig for fossils in the sand at the Dinosaur Museum. Can't believe Nate graduated from Seminary and High School already. Time sure flies. Our nephew, Ramon, will be home from his mission this fall, and another nephew Eathyn, as well as my Mum, finish their missions in January. It seems like they all just barely started! Where did the time go? Oh well, hope you enjoy the photos.
Love,
ang