Tonight we celebrated my dad's birthday with my Aunt Irene and Uncle Terry and their son (my cousin) Brett Jenkins and his wife, Kathryn, and their son's Landon, Parker and McKay. It was a lot of fun to hear stories about the Monson side of the family, and to see the interaction of my dad with his family. It has been so much fun having him living nearby - and the kids love it just as much as I do! Happy Birthday - we love you so much! 
Some of our dearest friends and their beautiful family! 
Louise Jones was my former Relief Society president in the Corona del Mar ward and she and her husband, Chris, are just dear to my heart.
Matt and my brother, Shaun, got in touch with their feminine side with a little pedicure...
Kristy Dunning and Rowan and Sarah (and baby #3 on the way soon)! Love you, Kristy!
The only photo's missing are of our dear friends, the Goodsells. We love you guys so much and promise to get a picture for our blog when we're back there, next!
Kayla & Jessica and the tiniest dog I've ever seen!
Jessica & Kayla and their music teacher, Mrs. Jones.
Kayla was just walking around the house this particular Sunday and she caught my eye - she's just so pretty and growing up so fast in this last year that I couldn't help taking pictures of her.
Matt adores his girl(s)!!!
Lisa & David Piantanida!
Snowbird, Utah
Cher, Lisa & Caroline at the reception
Jen, Cherstyn, Lisa, Caroline, Rachel at the reception
What fun to have Dad in town (Mom was with him for the whole summer except for the last little bit when she had to get back to St. George, and Dad stayed to watch some grand kids) for his birthday!! We sure love you, Dad!
Of course I don't have a picture of the beautiful bride and groom (working on that...) but we did have a fun time and some family shots turned out. Sam & Sam are friends through my brother, John's family, and they just got married on August 1st... pictures soon.
Nate and Parker up at Solitude for some birthday biking.
Family/Friends/Neighborhood joint birthday parties!
Backyard pyramid - this is their 4th try...
Julie, Cherstyn, Kristen
Of course the girls all congregated off in the corner together... 
Every year the DC girls get back together again at the Outter Banks, North Carolina. I haven't been able to go in the last few years and I'm so happy we made it happen this year. Love you guys!
JJ and Caroline with Jill's pina coladas
Up all hours of the night watching the Olympics!
Hot Matt in the mountains!! On our way hiking up to Red Pine Lake.
Nate, Kayla, Emily and Cher crossing a bridge on our hike.
Pretty pretty Emily.
Family photo, Matt style...
Market Street Grill with Mark Raymond.
Kayla & Nate digging for fresh water shrimp - such fun kids!
August 30, 2008 - Amber Sechrist in town from DC. LOVE this girl!
Wonderful family friends, the Dahlquist's, met us for dinner this summer while my parents were in town. When I grew up in the Sandy Granite South Stake, President Dahlquist was my Stake President and I always adored his family. It was a fun reunion since my parents don't always have an opportunity to reconnect with friends in SLC.
Shawni Pothier was in town and we met for lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. She's still as beautiful inside and out as she always has been, and it was wonderful to catch up in person. Shawni has always been such a wonderful listener and gives great feedback. Wonderful to see you and hear about your life, Shawni!
Doug & Karen McMinn invited a fun group over to Karen's parent's home this summer and invited long-lost friends Liz and Andrew Florence. It was WONDERFUL to see Doug & Karen again (waaaayyy tooo long!) and to reconnect with Liz & Andrew. It will be fun to get together with the Florence's here in SLC, and we look forward to Doug and Karen's next visit!!! Thanks for having us!
On August 30th was Whitney Klomp's bridal shower. SO happy for you, Whit! 
Office party picture of the girls from the UAR! Deanna, Kaci, myself, and Megan.
Nothing like a visit from Traci Rampton and lunch with the girls at Nordy's Cafe! So great to see you, Traci! (August 27, 2008) 
So part of the reason that I haven't posted in so long (all summer!) is because we went on a long and fun summer vacation, and there were so many pictures to sift through that this post became a bit of a chore. Couple that with how much travel our family has done since, and blogging just hasn't happened. But I'm back on the bandwagon and you'll see lots of updates to catch you up on our last few months. Here goes! (this picture above is us being ridiculous in H&M in DC. Ridiculous happened a lot on this trip!) 
One of the most special stops in DC for us was to the Jefferson Memorial. Matt had proposed to me at this monument (learning from my friends that it was my favorite monument), and the kids had been part of the little notes that he lined the monument with during his proposal. They were so excited to actually be where this proposal happened, and wanted us to walk them through EXACTLY how it happened. Very fun.
Cedar Point is an amazing amusement park in Ohio. Nate was talking about it for several weeks prior to and several weeks post our trip. Ask him about Top Thrill Dragster...
The kids were floored by New York City... so fun to experience it through their eyes!
The Albert Einstein statue in Washington, DC.
Max, Noah, Nate & Kayla at the Lincoln Memorial.
Our family at the Jefferson Memorial.
The boat house in Central Park, New York City.
Nate, Max & Kayla at FAO Schwarz in NYC.
My nephew, Daniel. He's so awesome, wonderful, adored, grown up!, and good looking!
Me and Matt with Daniel and my other nephew, his brother, Joe. LOVED seeing these guys. They have always meant so much to me and I'm so impressed with and proud of them.
The whole gang at Lombardi's pizza in NYC.
A highlight of the trip - the whole family in the sacred grove, Palmyra, NY.
This was a common scene every time we got out of the car on the trip... Max and Nate throwing a tennis ball on any strip of grass, at every truck stop, and every park.
Matt and Shane love to fish and thought it was pretty funny that they have a vending machine for fishing BAIT in Palmyra.
Their first view of Times Square.
Bethesda Fountain in Central Park, NYC.
I love this picture...at the visitors center in Palmyra, the kids are so cute looking at this statue of the first vision.
The Palmyra Temple.
Kayla in the sacred grove.
Matt and Cher in the sacred grove.
The kids loved how many states they drove through on this trip (8 total!), but loved even more that they can now say they've left the country by going to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls.
Niagara Falls.
This one is Matt's favorite view of the falls. He's been here before and wanted to walk us all right back to this awesome spot.
The family at the Hill Cumorah.
Cute flying kids.
Max and Nate.
Niagara Falls.
The Kirtland Temple.
Everyone at Niagara.
