Mother's Day

My favorite thing on Mother's Day is the homemade cards and letters from my kids.  They are all so sweet and thoughtful and I got lots of coupons for foot rubs and head massages that I will be cashing in very soon.  I love being a mom to each of these kids that I'm lucky enough to have. 

 

New home owners!

Well, its official.  After a busy week of weddings, young women's events and getting back in time for Mother's Day, a whirlwind trip to Puerto Rico made us new homeowners of an amazing fixer upper in the jungle of Rio Grande!  It has been a crazy couple of months getting this all going, back and forth with realtors and lawyers over the rights and deed of the land, finding the right balance between a home we could live in but still work on, and lots of worry and wonder and prayer, we finally pulled the trigger and bought some plane tickets that would get us there in time to sign papers and then get back home after just 24 hours of being on the island.  It. Was. Nuts.  But oh we couldn't be more excited about this adventure and the project we get to be involved in with our kids!  We just feel like we were led here and we're going to take the road as far as it will take us!

 

Keen's school project

Keen has been learning all about the USA and the symbols of our country and what they stand for.  He made so many cute art projects in his American Symbols book.

 

Gracie and Connor's wedding

Our cute niece Gracie got married today!  We loved being there at the temple and spending the day with family.  It was so beautiful outside and literally the perfect day to get married.  The temple grounds were gorgeous!  The reception was fun with lots of good food and time to mingle with friends and family.  And...Liev caught the bouquet!  He was sooo excited although I didn't know boys were allowed to even be in the running for that?  Anyway, he was adorable and put the bouquet in a jar when we got home and took it to his school teacher the next day.  Such a cute gentleman!

Congrats Connor and Gracie! Love you both.

 

Tilly

Our kids are just in love with this little ragamuffin.  We thought they might like her a little bit, but the amount of love directed at her every day is just incredible.  I guess we can keep her...

 

Baby Perri

Our darling Baby Perri has made it home from the hospital after 4 long months!

Andy and Kristi's miracle baby has exceeded all expectations and is doing so well after being born at just 25 weeks and 1 lb. 6 oz.  She has grown and developed and just done amazing and was finally able to come home.  We got to visit this little angel and loved snuggling up with her.  She is a miracle baby and we love her so much!

 

1/2 Marathon

Rease and Rhen have been working hard the past 3-4 months training for a 1/2 marathon. They decided they wanted to do it and they have not looked back!  Training has been hard and time consuming but they have figured out how to fit it into their schedules and are ready!  Race day finally arrived and they were both nervous/excited as they boarded the bus early this morning.  We couldn't wait to see them at the finish line!

They had a big crowd of kids ready to cheer them on as they came down the final stretch.  We saw Rhen first with her long legs and pink shirt.  She looked awesome and was in great spirits as she passed us and crossed the finish line.  

Not too much time later Rease came up the road and she has taken after her mom and cried the minute she saw and heard us cheering for her.  It brought tears to my eyes because I knew just how she was feeling and wanted to help her along the rest of the way.  She finished strong though and made it through to the finish line arch!  

I am sooo proud of these girls!  This is such a big accomplishment and proved to themselves that they could do something that is really really hard.  They are strong, beautiful girls and I look up to both of them in all they do! 

 

Brace Face

We've got a new brace face in the house!  This cute girl has been so excited to get these on and today has finally arrived! 

 

Hale Center Theater

We have LOVED having season tickets to Hale Center Theater this year.  And especially tonight as we got to see them perform Les Miserables!  It was absolutely incredible and one of my very favorites of all time!

 

Dr. Losee's retirement party

My dad has finally decided that it's time to retire!  I have had the privilege of working with him for the past 20 years as an assistant first and then one of his hygienists.  I admit I may be a little biased, but I just think he is THE BEST.  So kind and understanding to his employees, empathetic with his patients and has built an incredible practice treating people the way that they want to be treated.  He is an amazing dentist and we got to spend a whole evening celebrating him and his career.  We had a book made for the event and these are just a few of the cool pictures we found from him as a new doctor.  I'm so proud to be his employee and even more to be his daughter.

 

Costa Rica - Day 8

Today is our last full day here and we head home early tomorrow morning. We knew it and wanted to fit a few more things in before we left. The morning walk fit right into the schedule and so did some time by the pool before we checked out of our house. We had a small friend join us today - this iguana jumped from the tree right into the pool and swam around with josh for a while! It was so fun and crazy to watch. We also bird watched and saw a tucan in the tree right past our house and watched him come and go for a while. The howler monkeys were in the background though we never did see them. 

We said goodbye to this little piece of paradise and promised we would be back again!

We made a stop in Manuel Antonio about an hour north of us to get our covid tests done. We found a cool restaurant looking out over the ocean and had one last Costa Rican meal!

Then made our way down to a small beach in the area. It was such a cute little cove of a beach with small waves and lots of beauty around us. We spent the last of our time hanging out in the salt water and taking in the warmth and the sun. We could not get enough of the weather and don’t want it to end. 

But we are missing our boys and know that all good things must come to an end. This trip has been THE BEST time with our girls and we have loved having them to ourselves for a few precious days. They are funny and crazy and full of jokes and we made it through the week with lots of inside jokes.  Some of our favorites...

Fath

Moth

Baby bitey bugs

The bulls of ramen (remember our mascot)

wYd

Manuel chorizo

Tickus Gaylen 

The feather braid

Consult the book! (I had a book of Costa Rica that we turned to many times for help on what to do and where to eat. The girls thought I was a crazy book lady whenever I referred to it)

Hungry Hippo swimsuit

And many more...

I can’t believe how lucky we are to have had this time with Rease and Rhen. It is a time to be remembered and never forgotten!

Costa Rica - Day 7

Our first day on the coast dawned bright and warm and we couldn’t wait to get out in the gorgeous sunshine! Josh and I got up early and headed out for a walk and to explore the neighborhood. I say neighborhood but actually we are staying up on a hill on a gravel road and not many houses around us. But the scenery is absolutely incredible and the trees and flowers are in full bloom. We made it about a mile and came to a lookout that shows the coast and the ocean below. This is one of my favorite times of all - to walk and talk with josh and take in all that’s around us. It’s seems like we solve all the problems of the world as we walk :) Love this man by my side!

We spent the rest of the morning by the pool and taking in the sunshine. We have a great yard at our house and it’s easy to just get caught up taking it easy and enjoying the quiet. We left about lunchtime and packed up for the beach. In our way down the hill and out to the coast we stopped at a yummy restaurant called Citrus that had such a fun French feel to it and the most delicious food!

We got to Playa Ventanas which is only about 10 minutes from our house and we were in love with our surroundings! The beach was uncrowded, full of palm trees and the water was low enough to walk out far into the ocean without getting swept off your feet. We promptly strung up our hammocks and settled in for a day at the beach! The girls boogie boarded, we read, found shells, body surfed and even swam in the rain when the clouds rolled in late afternoon. If I were to say when I’ve had the perfect day at the beach, I’d have to say this was it. Reading and relaxing and enjoying the water was the name of the game and we stayed for hours! 

After we packed up and it was really starting to rain, we headed north to Dominical about 10 minutes away and watched the sun set. The clouds made for a cool looking sky and it was a fun end to our day! Love this coast of Costa Rica that we finally made it to!

Costa Rica - Day 6

Today we left beautiful Monteverde. But we made one last stop before we left town...extremo zipline park. It was one of the things that Rhen really wanted to do on this trip and we heard the best ones in the country are in Monteverde. On the drive up to the park we made one little detour to snap a quick picture of the Brahma cows that are all over this part of the country and ones that we have lovingly begun to call the “bowls of ramen”. We couldn’t leave without a picture of our mascots of the trip :)

The zip line tour turned out to be AMAZING! We all loved it! Rhen and Rease were a tiny bit nervous not quite knowing what to expect, but the lines started out small and they got the hang of it quickly. We saw some gorgeous views from way up there, got to ride tandem a couple of times and soared like Superman on our last run of the morning. We could hear the howler monkeys in the trees around us and kept trying to actually see them but never did. 

The tour ended with an “optional” Tarzan Swing for anyone that wanted to try it. We of course did and waited in the line watching the others go before us. As it got closer to our turn, we realized that we might actually be nervous about this 300 foot drop that we were about to take. It looked SO HIGH from up there on that platform! Rease bravely said that she would go first and stepped up to the plate like a champ! They got her all hooked up and it was only a few seconds that she hung there before they let go and off she went! She was so cute and screamed in terror at first then quickly turned to a scream of accomplishment as she swung from that huge rope! Josh, Rhen and I followed and had similar reactions but mostly relief that we’d done it and survived! So proud of these girls and their adventurous side that takes them and gets them through all sorts of things. 

Costa Rica - Day 5

Today was one of my favorite days so far...

We are staying in the coolest A-frame cabin in the woods of Monteverde and josh and I got up early this morning and went for a walk around the property. We ended up on a hike that ended up at a gorgeous lookout. We are staying in some of the most beautiful country I’ve ever seen! 

We headed to the Monteverde Cloud Forest right after breakfast before it got too hot and before the afternoon rain could start up. One of the things we’ve wanted to do most on this trip is see some of the plants and animals/birds that are native to Costa Rica. We took a private tour through the cloud forest and our guide Ronald did just that for us! He was the best! He showed us so many things that we would have NEVER seen on our own. He carried a long range scope with him and found birds and creatures and let us see them up close through the scope. I have no idea how he spotted everything so far away but he was amazing. We saw a sloth, a tarantula, a small Tucan and one of the most rare birds in Costa Rica called the Resplendant Quetzal. It was absolutely incredible! We also got to see a land crab and howler and spider monkeys. In just over two hours we saw more creatures than we would have ever imagined and it was so cool. 

The weather was perfect as we walked through the forest and we didn’t get rained on at all the whole day. It was such a fun day exploring and finding things that we will probably never seen again in our life. Thanks to Ronald for being such a great guide!

We ended the day wandering around Monteverde and looking through all the shops. It’s such a quaint little town in the mountains and lived up to the “cloud forest” name. The fog rolled in this evening and it was fun walking around town with a thick fog around everything. We ate a fun restaurant on top of a hill called Tramonti and looked out over the valley as a thunder storm came through. It was the coolest! 

Love these cuties were with on this fun adventurous trip of ours!

Costa Rica - Day 4

Today was our last day in La Fortuna and we wanted to see one last this g before we left town. The La Fortuna waterfall is a tall and beautiful waterfall that’s just a few minutes outside of town and so gorgeous. Today was the perfect day to go with the sun shining and the air outside sooo hot! It was just the thing to cool us off. We got to the top of the trail and started down the 500 steps to get to the base of the waterfall. Luckily the trail is really nice and well kept and it didn’t take us long to get down. We sat down and enjoyed the cool mist that the waterfall sprayed out and then we all jumped in to the cool pool below! It was amazing! The water felt so nice and we just enjoyed every minute of it!

Rease and Rhen goofed off and started mimicking the people around us that were posing for selfies and “natural” shots of them with the waterfall. So hilarious to people watch at places like this! The girls came up with some funny poses and we all laughed and laughed! 

After we were done we made the long trek back up the stairs to the car. Within two minutes of getting to the top it started to rain. And rain and rain and rain! We were so glad to be in our car with the rain pouring down all around us. We said goodbye to La Fortuna and headed out to our next stop Monteverde. 

We had almost a three hour drive to get there but it was one of the most beautiful drives we’ve every been on! Big rolling hills of green, lush fields all around us on a windy country road. We passed big windmills and fields full of cows. Small farmhouses and tiny towns were dotted along the way and we loved seeing the gorgeous country we were driving through. We got to Monteverde tonight just as the sun was setting and know that we are in for a treat in our new home for the next coupes of days!

Costa Rica - Day 3

We signed for a white water rafting tour today and it was a blast!  It was such a fun day on the river.  Never mind that it was pouring rain when we started because it was still 85 degrees outside. And never mind that Rhen was super nervous thinking that she was going to fall out of the boat - she didn’t and none of us fell out either! We all survived and had THE BEST time doing it. Our guide Luis was the best and made our trip so fun and energetic. We laughed and joked and tried to learn some Spanish while working hard to get through the river. We had a break half way through and they served fresh fruit and let us cliff jump a little bit. Such a fun and refreshing day to be in the water. The rain stopped and it turned out to be a great and beautiful day. 

After we got done rafting they served us a delicious Costa Rican lunch of rice, beans, chicken, potatoes and homemade salsa. We relaxed for a while and then they took us on a tour of their organic farm which had pineapple, Cacau, peppercorns, lots of beautiful flowers and some brand new baby goats. We loved snuggling up to those babies. 

Overall such a fun day in beautiful la Fortuna! 

Costa Rica - Day 2

We slept as much as we could last night and woke up later than normal today - but we all feel so rested and ready to take on the day now that we’ve got some sleep in us! The house we’re staying at is about 10 minutes outside of the town La Fortuna and is just absolutely gorgeous. We walked around the house this morning and admired the flowers and all their colors, watched the humming birds flying around and listened to the sounds of the creatures all around us. Just amazing to be here! We got in the car and drove to town in the middle of a complete downpour. We realized we didn’t have enough rain gear so we searched for some rain jackets and umbrellas and were successful in finding both! We decided that lunch would get us through the rain before we had to decide what was next and we found a little local joint called Soda Viquez that was DELICIOUS! We had sea bass and two plates of casados which consisted of rice, beans, chicken and some other potato dish that is authentic Costa Rican. We snarfed every bit of it down and enjoyed doing it! And while we ate the rain did finally let up and we realized that we might be able to do something without getting soaked after all! We walked around the town a little bit and decided to drive up to the volcano national park. The town La Fortuna sits right at the base of a volcano called Arenal. When the rain stopped and the clouds cleared away we were able to see how close it was a decided to hike around and see it even more. 

The hike itself was not super long or hard at all and we had a great time just enjoying the scenery. It sprinkled on us off and on but mostly we stayed dry and just tried hard to dodge the mud puddles along the trail. One point of the trail took us onto some old lava flow which was cool and also a great place to see the Arenal volcano with the clouds clearing out of the way just a bit. 

Our favorite part of the trail took us by and old tree that somehow survived the last volcanic eruption that happened in 1968. This ceiba tree is huge and so incredible to see! They think it’s over 400 years old and reaches so high into the sky. It’s pretty amazing that something that big and old is still around for us to enjoy. Loved it. 

We grocery shopped and found a great fruit stand to stock up on fresh fruit for the next few days. We make tacos tonight and played a mean game of sky jo that Rease won by a landslide! 

Such a fun first day in La Fortuna!

Costa Rica - Day 1

A few months ago Josh and I stumbled across some insanely cheap plane tickets to Costa Rica and bought them on a whim. After a week or so we noticed that the flights were still available and even cheaper! So we bought two more tickets for Rease and Rhen to tag along with us. After all these months, it’s here and we’re off to Costa Rica! 

Day 1 turned out to be a day full of traveling and layovers. With the really cheap tickets came some long layovers and crazy routes. We actually ended up flying out of St George and had a long layover in salt lake which was just crazy. We then had another layover in Atlanta before we finally got on our last plane that took us to San Jose. 

We arrived to a rainy big city with lots of people and cars and we were glad that we could get out of town as fast as we could.  We rented a small suv and drove 2 hours up windy, beautiful country roads until we got to the town of La Fortuna where we will be spending the first 3 days of our trip. We are exhausted, hungry and just worn out but also so glad to be in this beautiful place! We can’t wait to explore!

April running

Two big runs in a row this month and I felt good about them both.  The marathon is just 6 weeks away and I'm getting nervous/excited for it!

 

Rhen's young women's class

Rhen has loved being in young women's this year and has a cute/fun group of girls.  Tonight they had a painting night and made these darling flowers on canvas.

 

Funny teeth

The kids take after their dad in the weird column.  Tootsie roll on your teeth? Oldest trick in the book...

 

Easter Sunday

We got together as a whole family for Easter Sunday and Papa's easter egg hunt.  It was the perfect way to finish off our Easter week - celebrating our Savior with those we love most.  

 

Easter Week