A great start to a long weekend!

Last night Ben and I took his mom and dad out to dinner for their birthdays. His dads was last week on the 20th and his moms was in July. We had a great time with them. Afterwards, we went up to their house and Ben helped his dad put up their new medicine cabinet in their bathroom. Alan has been remodeling the bathroom, and this was one of the finishing touches. It looks amazing, he has done such a good job on it. I know Connie is happy to have it done also!

When we got home, our friends Tim and Steph Rodarte stopped by as they were on their way into town. It was so much fun to see them. We used to be neighbors and we did everything together! We have missed them so much since they moved to Ogden! We don't get out near as much anymore! They have the most adorable little baby, Gracie, I just love her!! Look at that smile!

Today I'm going to a baptism of a cute girl named Kya. I'm in young women's in my ward and Kya is a friend of one of the girls in our YW named Jaden. Jaden has been bringing her to church and activities every week, and she even went up to girls camp with our ward. Jaden sat with her through all of the missionary discussions, and she has finally decided to be baptized. Jaden called and asked me to play the piano for her to sing a song at the baptism. I can't wait, I know it will be so spiritual and I'm so happy she has decided to join the church. Jaden has been such an amazing example to me, what a great blessing missionary work is in our lives! I often feel like I learn so much more from the girls than they do from me, and I know that's exactly why I have this calling. I am so grateful for them and their sweet spirits, I love them all so much!

Catching up.....

Okay, so I have been the biggest slacker ever lately! I just have not had the energy to blog. This whole month, I have been OBSESSED with the olympics, and now that they are over, maybe I can get back to getting things done. At least I'll get some more sleep and not go to work like a zombie every morning. I have totally ignored my cleaning, laundry, blogging, and the list goes on and on. In fact, I started this post almost 2 weeks ago and am just now getting back to it. I loved every minute of the olympics though, they were so fun to watch! They make me so proud to live in our country. Ben and I have been really busy the past month though, so here are just a few things that have been going on (besides 9 hours a day of olympics)

The first weekend of August we went out to Amanda's for the twins blessings. They both looked absolutely adorable! John did a wonderful job on the blessings, and it was so much fun to see everyone. (We missed you Misti, I wish you guys could have made it). On Saturday night we all went to Journey to the center of the earth in 3D. It was such a good movie. Amanda's daughter Brilynn leaned over to me half way through and said "This is the best movie I've ever seen in my life!" She's only 6. It was the funniest thing though!

My sister MiKell had her 29th birthday on the 7th of August. I'm so grateful to have her as a sister, she is a wonderful person. She has always been there for me and I love her so much. We went out to her house that night for cheesecake and a little birthday party. I gave her the first 2 Twilight books, because I thought she needed to get addicted to them like everyone else. That weekend I had Friday off, and Ben must have known I needed a little getaway, because he surprised me with a trip to Daniel's Summit. We've stayed there a few different times, and I love it. It's such a fun little place. We got there pretty early in the afternoon, and then he goes on to tell me that he had a massage set up for me!! I was in heaven. It was so relaxing and nice. Then we went to dinner and hung out that night watching the opening ceremonies of the olympics. The next day we went out Jeeping on a bunch of trails we had never been on before. I think we've been everywhere there is to go around Vernal, so it's fun to find new trails and explore them. That is until you get lost. What we had planned as a 2 hour ride turned into a 4 hour ride, but it was still so much fun, and the scenery was gorgeous!!

I am so excited that it's a 3 day weekend. Monica and Dewey and Amanda and John are coming out, so it will be fun spending time with family. We're getting family pictures on Saturday with the Monsen's. My mom wanted a family pic before Kyler leaves and while everybody is here this weekend, so I'll have to post some of those later. Have a great Labor day weekend everyone!!

4th of July!

I love the fourth of July! It is by far one of my favorite holidays! I just love getting together with friends and family, enjoying the hot summer day, and watching fireworks! The fourth is also a really special day for Ben and I because 4 years ago, he proposed to me on the 4th of July. That afternoon he took me up in the mountains to a spot that overlooks the whole basin and proposed there. Then we came down that night and watched the fireworks at the park with his family. I can't think of any better way to celebrate the day of our engagement than watching fireworks every year! It's great!! This year was just as good. First we had a BBQ at my parents house with all my family, then we headed to the park to meet Ben's family including his mom and dad, uncle Craig and aunt Rhonda, and Dan and Nikki. Kyler decided to come with us too. We always try to get there early so we can play games and enjoy each others company. We were teasing Kyler during the fireworks to enjoy them this year cuz he sure wont be watching them in Canada a year from now.

The next day Ben surprised me with a trip up to Red Canyon Lodge to go horseback riding. We had a blast! I hadn't ever been so I was a little nervous, but I had a really sweet horse and I had such a fun time! My parents and Kyler met us up there afterwards for lunch, then later that night we had a BBQ at Ben's parents house. We were definitely well fed over the weekend!

One last highlight of my week was my good friend BriAnn coming to stay with us on Saturday night. We have been friends since we were tiny and we don't get to see each other very often anymore. It was so good to have her here and to catch up on everything. It's funny how I probably only see her once or twice a year, but we always just pick up right where we left off. She's an amazing friend! Thanks for coming Bri!!

Elder Monsen!

My little brother Kyler received his mission call in the mail today and invited all his friends and family over tonight to open it. They had a house full of people! I had Monica on the phone so she could hear what was going on and we videotaped it for her also. We were all so excited to find out where he was going to go! He was called to the Halifax Canada mission! He was really excited because he wanted to go foreign but didn't want to learn a language too badly, and this one is English speaking, so it's perfect! He leaves on October 29th. I am so happy for him, I know he will be a wonderful missionary and a great example to the people in Canada. So now all the preparation begins... :)

More Pics of Ellie

My trip to Monica's

I had a few days off work so I went down to visit Monica and Ellie. We had so much fun, she is the cutest, happiest little girl and was so fun to play with and hold! My mom had been out there since the day Monica had her and just rode home with me. My dad and Kyler were able to come down on Saturday and hang out with us. Monica, mom and I had a lot of fun hanging out together for the week and we were all three literally bawling when it was time to leave. We didn't want to go and Monica didn't want us to go. It was really sad. I wish she lived a little closer so I could see her every day! :(