Introducing Tace!

While we were at the reunion we got the email with the picture of our new puppy! The breeder assigns the puppies about a week before they go home so that she can determine which one will fit best with each family. We said that we didn't care what color or gender our puppy was, but we really wanted a calm, easy-going dog. She did a great job picking a sweet, playful, and friendly puppy. We fell in love instantly with this picture!! We had Dallin give us some suggestions of Kiribati names - Tace means "lightning".

Fun Tree Pics

The last night before we returned to the cold, we enjoyed walking around and looking at the Christmas decorations. I like standing in front of a Christmas tree in shorts!!

Family Pictures

Paddle Boats

Happy Moment

While in Orlando I had one of those moments. One where I realized my husband and three kids were all together talking and laughing on the hotel bed. No one wanted to go to bed and we were happy just to catch up with each other and laugh about silly things. I felt happy. I felt grateful. I appreciated the moment.

The Melting Pot

We decided to have dessert at the Melting Pot as an official celebration of Grammy and Papa's anniversary. The chocolate was amazing and we had a great time. For some reason, Papa wasn't there, but we toasted him anyway :) We love having time together - especially when chocolate is involved!!

Orlando Temple

We got to spend the day as a family at the temple. It's not very often we all get to be together and it was wonderful. The day was beautiful and so was the temple!

Pool Time

We left cold weather to go to Florida and were excited to have some relaxation by the pool in the sun! It wasn't quite warm enough for me to get in the water, but the sunshine was very welcome! The cousins are always up for splashing around together.

Florida!!

We celebrated my parents' 50th wedding anniversary with a reunion in Florida. We also didn't tell anyone in our family that Dallin was coming home only days before the reunion so that we could surprise them!! It was SO HARD to keep it a secret, but worth the happy surprise. I did finally tell my sister so that she could help keep everyone awake until we arrived late the first night. Dallin was so happy to see everyone and it was a fun surprise for Grammy :)

The video is too long to load on the blog, but here is a grainy picture of him walking into the hotel to see everyone! It was a great start to a fun week of cousins and family.

Dallin's Homecoming!!!

He's Home!!! I don't think there are words to describe how grateful we are to have Dallin home! The Meises and Olsons came to meet him at the airport. Taylor flew in from BYU just minutes before he arrived and was tearfully relieved that she was in time. Cami and I had created a banner to welcome him and we we thrilled when we finally got to hug him after 2 long years!!!

He flew from Tarawa to Fiji to LAX to Philly. Ed's brother, Tom, decided to drive to LAX and wait outside the international terminal to see if he could find Dallin before his flight to Philly. Dallin was so relieved to see him when he came out into the crazy mass of people and cars. To say he was overwhelmed is an understatement. Tom took him to get food and made sure he got his bags re-checked for his domestic flight. We are so grateful he was there for Dallin.

As we arrived home, our whole driveway and sidewalk was lined with beautiful luminary bags to welcome him back. We have the best neighbors. Truly wonderful.

Dallin had been traveling for about 36 hours and had a pretty good headache by the time we got home, but he still showed us some of his treasures from the islands and enjoyed seeing Hudson again. After some much needed sleep we spent the next two days getting his hair cut, getting some much needed glasses, and getting his energy up for the trip to Orlando for my parents' 50th wedding anniversary. It was so wonderful to have all my kids under one roof. Really wonderful.