The coolest park ever

Saturday afternoon, after the lunch at President & Sister Orton's house, we all drove to a really fun park not too far from their house. This park was amazing. It had all kinds of cool stuff for the kids. Rock walls to climb, suspension bridges, lots of slides, and cool things we had never seen before. Our kids had a blast playing with all the other kids that were at the reunion. We also got hang out with the Leathers Family. Nathan Leathers was one of my companions and one of my best buds in the mission. It was so good to see him.

Mission Reunion

What an amazing mission reunion weekend in St. George. My mission President, President Orton and his wife Sister Orton are President and Matron of the St. George temple. Friday night we had the opportunity of going through a temple session with them and a small group of other return missionaries that served in Romania. Christy and I were asked to be the witness couple which was really neat. We also got a special tour from President Orton. What an amazing experience. One that I will never forget, and it gives me chills just writing about it. I never knew the St. George Temple was so beautiful and so amazing.  

This was a banner that President and Sister Orton had made that was hanging out front of their home Saturday for our reunion. It is a Romanian Sheep herder holding a copy of the Book of Mormon in Romanian.

This is the view of the temple from President and Sister Orton's Front yard. They have a very nice home and beautiful back yard where we had really nice catered lunch on Saturday.

This is Calee playing in President and Sister Orton's backyard.

Hiking Slot Canyons in St. George

Friday afternoon, a friend of mine that I served with in Romania, Sister Young, took us to a really neat hiking place with a really cool slot canyon and all other kinds of cool rocks and ledges. Her kids and our kids are the same ages, and they had a blast together. We had fun hiking and taking pictures of the kids. The slot canyon was awesome. Carter and his new friend, John squeezed through and hiked it all the way up. The rest of us watched from down below. I was proud of him for being so brave. It was a lot of fun, and the view of St. George and the St. George temple from up there on the rocks was incredible.

Outside the Condo in Mesquite

Our kids were so excited to stay in Aunt Judy and Uncle Randy's Condo in Mesquite. The Weather was amazing. It is always nice to see green grass and Palm Trees. It was also nice to know that while it was snowing in Ogden, we were in shorts, t-shirts, and flip-flops enjoying the 70 degree weather. Here are some cute pics we took of the kids outside of the condo. They were excited to be there and excited to go swimming and hot tubbing.

Our drive to Mesquite

We drove to Mesquite last night and our kids were so good in the car. It helps to have a dvd player with dual screens. We only stopped a few times on the way down, once to eat some del taco for dinner. We are staying in Mesquite in Aunt Judy and Uncle Randy's condo. It is a super nice condo and we are pretty lucky to be able to use it. This weekend is my Romania mission reunion in St. George. We are looking forward to having a lot of fun this weekend.

Coca Cola taste test experiment

We discovered something really fun at the Coca-Cola store. You can pay to try 16 of the most popular drinks from other countries throughout the world. We payed our money and gave it a try. Some of them were really good. Some of them were really nasty. It was fun to see what people in other countries all over the world like to drink. My favorite was the lime green drink from one of the countries in South America.

Our 16 different drinks from around the world

Bottoms up!

Night on the strip!

I am pretty convinced that walking the strip in Vegas at night is about the most entertaining thing in the world. I think we just about saw it all. We saw storm troopers, Kiss rocker look-alikes, Pirates, and even Edward from the twilight series. one of my favorites was a panhandler that had a sign that read, "Parents killed by Ninjas, Need money for karate lessons". We also saw a few that said, "Why lie? Need beer!" The best one of the night though, was a big man dressed up as a woman in lingerie and tall stripper boots with man whore written across his hairy chest and stomach, shouting at people. I don't recall exactly what he shouted at us, something obscene about viagra, and getting it up, but it was hillarious.

Vegas, Baby!

The last day of our anniversay vacation, we stayed a night in Vegas at the Monte Carlo. We spent the whole day walking the strip, shopping, people watching, and enjoying the shows. We met up with Kyle, Emily, Tom, Derick, and Monique around dinner time. We all sat and shared a great big pizza from the pizzeria in Treasure Island and watched the show, sirens of T.I. We had a lot of fun.

Christy's favorite hotel, "The Bellagio"
Nike store in the Ceasar's Palace Forum Shops

Sirens of T.I.

San Digeo Temple

Saturday afternoon, Christy and I were invited to attend our friend's sealing at the San Diego Temple. We were both reallly excited because neither of us had ever been to the San Diego Temple. It was even more beautiful and incredible than we could have imagined. What an awesome temple. We met a bunch of family and friends that were also there to see Sara, Evan, and Braxton get sealed. The Sealing ceremony was awesome. The sealing room was beautiful and the whole experience was just plain amazing. Thanks Sara and Evan for letting us share your special day with you. After the ceremony and all the pictures outside, we all went over across from the temple and ate at a place called island burger. The food was amazing and we all had fun together.

Sara, Evan, and Braxton

Me, Christy, Emily, and Kyle

outside the temple at sunset