Britt and Derek's Wedding

(click on the pictures to enlarge them)

Joe and Brittney before the wedding

Walking down the "aisle"

Bonnie, Brittney, Derek, and Joe

Avery, Brittney, Kaeden, and Tyler

Kaeden and Great Grandma Johnston

Kaeden and Great Grandpa Johnston

Bye-bye Ri-Ri

So Riley is all grown up (or at least pretending to be) and has headed off to college. After attending Britt's wedding she headed off to Idaho with Katie & Brian for a two week stay at spa Smith, aka Katie's parents house in Preston, after which Brian & Katie will take her over to Rexburg & get her moved in to her dorm. Classes begin on June 4th and I know she will be a wonderful addition to BYUI. Here are some of the things we will miss most about Ri Ri:

1. Her mischievious smile
2. The wicked glint in her eye when she's up to something
3. Her willingness to help with anything
4. Her company
5. Her sense of humor
6. Her "professional" driving skills
7. Her help in understanding what's funny and what's not
8. Phil
9. Her loving nature
10.Her example

Good luck at school. We love you Ri!

Weddings, weddings & more weddings

So we have now survived our third wedding in 7 months. I would love to say that I hope we are done for the rest of the year but everytime I voice a comment along those lines I am proven wrong! Brittney and Derek's wedding was beautiful. They chose a really beautiful location in St. George UT where we were joined by family and friends. It is always a sweet experience to be with those closest to us on special occasions whether in person or in spirit. Hopefully I will become more competent at adding pictures to my posts and you will all get to see how nice things turned out for both Brittney and Alex.

Something's wrong here

Living in a family with 10 kids 7 of whom are girls you get used to seeing lots of girls and ony a couple of boys sitting around the table. The other night at dinner I looked around and realized that Carinna & I were the only girls at the table with Joe, Brian, Tyler, Greg & Kevin. It felt really strange to be in the minority!

To walk or not to walk continued. . .

So I walked! Yes I actually made the entire 13.2 miles!!! It took me 3 hrs 46 min which is not too bad all things considered. Kevin & Riley ran it in 2.5 hrs, Kaitlin walked it in 3 hrs 30 min, Brian & Katie finished in 3 hrs 40 min, and Joe finished in 4 hrs 5 min. Somewhere between mile 5 & 6 Joe & I split up which left me on my own on the trail. It was a really beautiful area and I enjoyed the scenery but somewhere between mile 8 & 9 I had to start convincing myself I really could do it and if I just kept putting one foot in front of the other the finish line would eventually appear. By mile 10 I was making up silly rhymes to keep my mind off the pain in my hips and legs. By mile 11 I was starting to feel the joy of knowing I was going to make it and nothing was as sweet as seeing the finish line and knowing I could stop and rest! We were all sore Saturday night but we all survived. It is amazing what we can accomplish when we put our minds to it. We had a good time as a family and it was fun (yes I said fun) to do it together. Reflecting back on it and being asked why on earth I would do it I think I just needed something to push me forward right now. It's been a difficult year and I needed to find out if I really could do something hard. Did I still have the ability to get outside of my comfort zone and succeed. It is nice to know the answer is yes.