Shawnna Lazo

My fun roomie from my college days. She entered a competition with a LDS singer / composer here in Utah. This is the song she sang. She did a fab job and I love the words of this song.

Cooling off

So it's been pretty hot here in Utah the past week, hitting double digits on a few days. Sprinklers are totally foreign to me, but they seem to be a lot of fun for kids to play in........who needs a pool? Samantha has loved running through the spray but Sophie isn't quite so convinced that this is fun yet.

Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House

Here are the current residents of "Hotel Frame." We decided it would be lovely to attend the Open House for this Temple together. The kids were exceptionally reverent the entire time. I really liked the extensive use of stone tile on the floors of the Temple and the "see through" rooms, as I called them - lots of indoor glass windows so you can see into the rooms from the corridors. I just loved that my children where able to walk through a House built for the Lord.

Hotel Frames

This is Jean-Marie with Sophie. She is starting BYU in the Fall and arrived about a week ago with her mom called Anna. They are staying with Mick and Donna until Anna can find work and get an apartment in the area. They want to move their whole family to Utah from Connecticut soon. The girls and Bryce have a great time with them, and I've enjoyed the 3rd person on the cooking rota. There has been TONS of visitors staying with us in this house over the summer. It has been a little crazy a times, but mostly fun with playmates for the girls and adult conversation for me during the day :)

We had a fun 4th of July, but of course I forgot my camera. We spent it with Deldon's brother's family and their neighbours at a BBQ with fireworks in Eagle Mountain. The kids had a fun time getting pony cart rides, playing with goats, and learning not to be afraid of dogs (that bit - not so fun!)

Snack time

I love these wee contraptions. I'd never seen these in Northern Ireland. You can put fruit and veggies in there and they can suck and bite away at them without the worry of choking :)

Our new home (hopefully)

A little dry bar in the theatre room - but I think we'll use this room as a fifth bedroom to put bunk beds in to when family comes to visit. There are 3 bedrooms upstairs that we'll use and then a fourth downstairs.

Basement family room

Front of the house, it look really small, but it's on a hill so most of the house it at the back, with about 3600 sq ft, so plenty of room for family and friends to come and visit hint hint.

The view is fab from the garden and even better from the deck off the family room. It was the view that sold it to me.

Another view of the theatre room

The kitchen area

VIew of kitchen dining from the family room area

We hope to have the keys on Wednesday. These are a few photos we've taken whilst in there. It's a foreclosure, so although the photos do not show it, the house is filthy with animal feces and urine and has been sooooooo beat up. Will some TLC we hope it be living in it within the month and will continue the diy whilst in there. I said we were not getting involved in any "project" houses this time with Deldon going back to school and working fulltime, but here we are again. We can't seem to get away from them, it must be in our blood. Oh and for anyone wondering it, we are moving to Traverse Mountain in Lehi, Utah.

First swing

Bryce's first time on a swing a few weeks ago down in Price, Utah. I was visiting a friend from home who lives there whilst Deldon worked on an investment property in the area. My camera battery died so I only have cell phone pictures and I need to work out how to get them off my phone. It got a little chilly all of a sudden (hence Sophie's jacket on his head) so we had to make a run for the cars shortly after this photo. But, he just LOVED swinging.

Metro Builders Lagoon day

Here goes the underlining again and I am clueless as to how this happens or how to remove it. I am convinced it's a MAC thing becuase I used a PC before moving to the USA and this never ever happened? Anyways, this is just some of the family that spent the day in Lagoon. The construction firm Deldon works for is a family based business. The girls had a blast on all the rides and so did we.

Can I just say it's small world. The girl on the left of the picture with her wee daughter is Claire. She was born in Bangor, Northern Ireland and is married to Deldon's cousin. I guess when they got married she asked where I was from and his Aunt and Uncle assumed it was Dublin so she thought no more about it. But when Deldon stopped by their house a while ago she discovered I was from the North meaning and would indeed know her Aunt, Uncle and cousins the Bleakleys. Who would have thought I'd be connected to them via a marriage half way across the world? We had a great time chatting about Northern Ireland, her family, and some of the other people she and I know from there whilst leaving the kids with their dads and taking off to go on some crazy rides.

What's for dessert Mummy?

Samantha has become way too accustomed to treats. I keep trying to tell her that if she has a treat everyday, then it's just not a treat anymore. They have been having a great time staying with their Great Aunt Donna and Uncle Mick. They adore them both. Donna is so good at baking cakes and cookies with them. She has a patience of a saint and I love and appreciate the little Gospel based conversations that she initiates with them.

Our wee golfer

I am just so in love our wee boy, he is just the cutest ever and has given out family so much to smile about. At the family reunion they had a family golf tournament. We left the girls with the babysitters and just took Bryce. That's one of our nephews, Jaden in the cart with me. Deldon was getting a little inpatient out at our beginner golfing skills. But I am proud to report that by the end of the 4 hours it took us to get around 9 holes (I know we're SLOW.) Jaden and I could at least hit the ball lol and Deldon was feeling a lot less stressed out!

10 year reunion

This is Melissa aka Sister Myers - my MTC Companion. It was this month 10 years ago that we finished out 18 month missions for our Church and parted ways at the Duesseldorf Airport to fly back to our respective homelands. We kept touch for a while, but lost contact shortly after Melissa married. She found me on facebook a few months ago, so when I found out we'd be in the Boise area for Deldon's family reunion, we arranged to call by so we could meet each other's spouses and kids. So fun!!!!!!!!! I just hope it's not another 10 years before we hang out again.

Elder Crump is home!

I can't believe we actually made it to this missionaries' home coming. We kinda half joked when he and his companion Elder Meyerhoffer were in our ward, that we'd be back in the States for their homecomings and how they could come and work on our "house projects" there. Guess it was no joke! It was lovely to meet his family and to see  other missionaries that have served us and blessed our lives in Lisburn. Elder Meyerhoffer gets home in just under a month, we are excited to watch him return home too. I already miss having the Elder's over for dinner every week. Nothing can replace the great feeling they leave in your home.

Back to where this whole adventure began

We've visited Campus a couple of times now and also showed the kids where we used to live and where we met. It was fun to return to Provo. I can remember vividly the morning Deldon and I drove away from Provo, looking at the Mountains wondering when I'd see them again. I didn't know it would be as long as 7 years later. I have often day dreamed about setting foot back on BYU Campus.  I have many wonderful memories of my college life there and  can honestly say I absolutely LOVED my college experience and have nothing but wonderful memories of the experiences and people I met there.

Sophie's latest place to chill (and eat) - the pantry!

Ants

There are ants everywhere around here. It seems everyday they pop up in a different spot and they just pile on top of each other, so gross!!!!

Good times

Sunday evening Rock band with Brian (Deldon's older brother) and our Sister-in-law Trish. They have cows they milk and eat and their neighbours have baby goats. The girls have gotten a real kick out of seeing the animals around. We just need to work on getting them used to their dogs. The girls freak out any time a dog comes within 10 feet of them.

Our first trip to see a Temple here

I have no idea why there is a underline in this post and I cannot fix it for the life of me. One of the great things about living in Utah is the close proximity to Temples. This is the Mount Timpanogos Temple and we will be living in this Temple district. We've been playing spot the Temple on our drives on the freeway to visit friends. I love that we can easily pass 3 or 4 on our trips. Problem is, now Sophie thinks every Church is a Temple and with a Church on nearly every block, her shouting "Mummy! Temple!" every few minutes is beginning to take it's toll on my nerves :)

My first weekend in Utah

I was so glad that these ladies planned a girly night the Friday after I arrived in Utah. It was a rough day and I was nearly on a plane home. They kindly listened to my crazy state of mind and helped me laugh through my tears. They are all from my Church Stake back home. It was, and is good to know that I have friends here who understand what I am experiencing. It was a night of great craic (Irish term for fun banter) at a time when I needed it the most.

California Pedicure

The cutest little ladies run a beauty salon in the wee town of Loomis. Barbara, my mother-in-law very kindly treats the girls in the family to pedicures when you live there or are visiting. I hadn't been there in nearly 4 years with Deldon's parents being on a mission so it was fun to see them all again and catch up. These pedicures are the best, the paint never chips. This was done 5 weeks ago and my toes still look fab!

Fun with the California Cousins

Tuckered out Samantha and Tanner after a long day of fun. 

They are only about 2 weeks apart in age.

 Then below is the cousins playing school. We hardly saw Samantha the whole time we were there, she had so much fun being around everyone.