It was cold so Belize wore a swimsuit of course.








My life is truly beautiful. Full of joy- joys like these 3. When Rio grabs my hand with his baby-soft chubby fingers to lead me something he wants and he takes a moment to jump- both feet off the ground. When Belize makes a good choice and then smiles up at me so proudly with that darling dimple on her cheek. When Brannon finds my hand when he's driving (bless automatics) and softly rubs it (I rub you too!) When the Spirit touches my heart when I am anxious and I breathe a sigh of peace and love. Sometimes I weep with wonderment that the Lord thinks I am worthy of all this joy. I hope I can love every moment, good and bad so that I might be able to teach my children about this joy, this joy in our journey. Around every turn, let it catch you off guard, let it soak you up, give it a chance and it will eat you up and hopefully you will never recover.

Brannon had a Sunday off and after rising early (this happens most days in our household) we decided we had just enough time to drive up to the Los Angeles temple before church. The temple is so glorious, and beautiful and peaceful. It was a good reminder that we have eternal goals to aspire to and that we are on this journey together as a family- to teach and grow and buoy each other up in times of need.





Belize has recently gotten really good at poses:
The cuteness.
The ballerina jazz pose.
Uh, chicken pose?



What a sweet pair!

Belize was having a really bad day (translation: huge tantrum/breakdown) and she said she didn't want to be a part of our family any more, she wanted to be a part of Max's (Harmon) family (sometimes I do too! ;)). It took 2 hours to convince her to stay in our family, we finally wrote a list of things she liked about Max's family and then things she liked about our family. THANKFULLY, our family won because we really would have missed our little girl. ;) We love you Belize (drama and all- please let this mean you are going to be an easy teenager!).

Belize shots of a Sunday afternoon.

He liked his haircut just fine at first . . .


This is Rio's second black eye, surpassing Belize's 1. She has awhile to catch up.


Brannon brought his bike up to fix a wheel or something. Rio fresh out of the shower tried to pee on it, I swear, this boy is part dog!
No explanation needed, like mother, like daughter.

(In this picture, Belize is showing off her new Hello Kitty rainboots that she received after completing her reward chart and even though its summer, she wears them to the beach, she also insisted on getting them a size too big. And yes, Rio is still addicted to his bottle, if I have to hear, "Mo Mik Psssss" one more time I might lose it).

For the first part of our trip we stayed with Uncle Want and Aunt Nancy! They are so fantastic! (Thank-you card on my counter still waiting to be send- sorry!) Belize rode her bike and Rio chased the dogs to their little hearts content! I think just to have a yard to play in and animals must be like heaven to them. They also flood their yard every few weeks so they don't need to water and this creates a stream that flows right down the driveway- it was like a water park!!!
The whole St. George gang- Turbo, Jewel and Boots with the most gracious hosts!! Nancy and I even picked pecans right off their lawn and when I got home I used her recipe for the best Pecan pie EVER!!! (A whole jar of caramel topping)!! We love you guys! We also got to see Marie (my cousin) and Chaz Dixon (can you believe this is the first time I've met Chaz and they've been married a year, he is great! Totally passes the Shauna Orton spouse test (I made that up)). We then stayed at Uncle Bryce and Aunt Judy's condo- which was awesome and saw Brannon's mission president and his wife- so adorable!
This is a view of Zion's from Kolab Overlook?
At Kolab lake, Brannon caught a crayfish, I think Belize might be a little nervioso.

He also caught a fish (already dead). He's pretty much the coolest dad ever dont' you think?
We had a blast and can't wait to go back to St. George and visit again!

This trail was called Riverwalk, true to its name after about a mile in we had to forge the river a few times. When the kids are older we can go back and see what was around the river bed but the kids started to get tired so we bailed. We did manage 3 forges, Belize was a major champ and crossed them holding Dad's hand, only need to be carried a few times when the water got too deep.
Rocks. Water. What more could Rio as for! :)