Traveling

We did a lot of driving in the car this weekend. On Saturday morning we packed up and headed to Idaho for Jordan and Tenley's wedding luau.

Finally, after driving for 5 hours and eating nasty Carl's Jr, we arrived at Jordan and Tenley's house.

We had never been to their house before and it was very nice. The luau was good and it was nice to meet Tenley's family. That night we got some Coldstone ice cream and Natalie introduced us to Words With Friends, which I will now be playing a lot. We also played with Jordan's dogs, Gunner and Ruger.

Isn't Ruger the cutest puppy you've ever seen? He's 10 weeks old and he and Gunner are going to be best buds. So, you know those pics where the dad is holding the newborn baby but all you see is the baby in the dad's hands? Check this out:

Ha, ha!! Anyways, the trip was pretty uneventful, which is good. Layla was an angel and did way better than we thought. She is so much fun. She kept telling everyone at the luau that it was, "a nice sunny day!" I seriously don't know where she comes up with this stuff. And, we played a game like on Dora the Explorer where we listed off two places we had to go to before arriving at our final destination. For example, we'd say, "First we have to go past the big mountain, then over Rattlesnake Pass, then we'll be at Jordan and Tenley's house! Say it with me: big mountain, rattlesnake pass, Jordan and Tenleys' house!" She LOVED it and told everyone about Rattlesnake Pass. It was hilarious. She also made Mitch and I sing songs while we drove, which was also funny.

We stopped at Mitch's parents' house on the way home from Idaho to celebrate Kathy's birthday. We gave her a Kindle and I think she was quite surprised and happy about it. For dessert Kevin busted out some of their home-made Oreo cookies of goodness and Katie and I both let out an excited little yell at the same time. That gave us a good laugh. But really, if you tried their cookies you would yell too.

We finally got to bed only to wake up early to head out again today, this time to the Brigham City temple open house. My dad did a lot of the woodwork in that temple so we wanted to see what he had done. (The three of us, my parents, Mitch's parents, my grandmas, my aunt and uncle Munk, and Brock went.) While I will say it was absolutely breathtaking, I will also add that it was a horrible idea to go on Labor Day. We seriously waited for over 3 hours just to get inside! It was so crowded. Layla was so good though, especially considering it was her nap time and she kept telling us she was tired.

So, in the temple they ask you not to speak, and if you do need to speak, to do so in a whisper. Of course Layla refuses and when we tell her to whisper she says, "No! I talk louder!!!" in a really loud voice.  The best part of the tour was when we were in the baptistery and Layla got so excited about the "cows" (the baptistery sits on the backs of 12 oxen). She kept saying, very loudly, "Look, Mamma! Look at the cows, Mamma! The cow says, 'Moooo!' Mooooooooooo!!!!!" Oh my goodness, it was SO funny. (My initial reaction was panic and embarrassment, but that only lasted 1.4 seconds and then I realized it was hilarious and only half-heartedly encouraged her to whisper. Ha, ha.) Also, she was sure to point out Jesus in every painting we saw of him, which made me happy.

The temple is gorgeous and I would love to go back someday and soak it all in. I love the peace I feel there, even just while walking through on a tour. Each time I go to the temple I leave feeling so much lighter; like I have been given more understanding and a better perspective on life, and I leave feeling so happy and full of peace. It is amazing and I am thankful for a place where I can go and feel close to the Savior and my Heavenly Father. 

I am also very thankful that Layla was an angel this weekend with all of our traveling. She cracks me up. And tonight she went on the potty twice, one of which was poo poo (sorry if that's TMI, but #2 is harder for kids to learn to do in the potty, so I was extra proud). She told us she needed to go, without any prompting from us whatsoever. Hopefully we can keep it going. I also need to let my friend Nicole (Oakley's mom) know that after Layla went in the potty, I told her that her friend Oakley goes in the potty. Layla has now decided that she wants to be "a big girl like Oakley and go in the potty," so next time the little girlies hang out I need to remember to remind Layla of what a "big girl" Oakley is. I'm hoping it will encourage her to become potty trained.