Mini Trip to Moab!

We went on a fun mini trip to Moab a few weeks ago with Dustin's old roommates Josh and Brian. It was a lot of fun! We did a lot of off-roading in the Dakota, rode bikes, and just enjoyed being outside and away from home. I'm a little lazy today so I will go ahead and just let the picutres do most of the talking!

We ate lunchables for every meal while we were there

There was a car show going on while we were there which was nice because it kind of lit up the town a bit! This is Dustin with his favorite car from the show-Dodge Challenger

"Top of the world!" It was breathtaking-these pictures don't do the view justice

I was furious during this picture-I can't believe I even took it! You cant tell but that rock is a big overhang and it is STRAIGHT down for who knows how far down. They went right to the edge so they could "get a cool picture" but they were pretty scared. Ugh they are so dumb..

Us in our awesome bike helmets

In front of the Arches National Park sign-I loved that place! It was really cool!

Balanced Rock

The boys in front of Double Arches

Delicate Arch-it was kind of a long hike to get up to it but it was really worth it in the end! This was my favorite of the arches

In front of Landscape Arch

Now the offroading pics...Dustin was so proud :)

Goodbye pic-What a good trip!

Easter!

Easter has always been one of my favorite holidays. Growing up I always looked forward to our family's annual Easter egg hunt (where the eggs are filled with money as well as candy!), the Easter bunny, coloring eggs, and that beautiful new Easter Sunday dress I knew I would get. My parents were always so good at making sure that we understood the "real reason" for Easter, but honestly, back then that was kinda the boring part. As I have gotten older I have started to appreciate the "real reason" more and more each year; but this year I don't know what I would do if there was nothing to Easter but eggs, bunnies, and dresses. I am so grateful for this wonderful time of year where I can focus on the Savior and the mind-boggling sacrafice he made for me and my family. I love how Easter is always kind of "kicked-off" with General Conference-and this years especially touched my heart. I appreciated Elder Holland's talk that reminded me how much Jesus Christ loves me and how His atonement has impacted my life. As hard as losing my dad was last Easter seaso (and still is), I can't imagine what it would have been like to go through this without the comfort and hope the atonement gives us. I really don't think I could have it if I didn't really KNOW that I would get to see my Dad again. Christ suffered the suffering of the world so that when my family came to this near-unbearable trial, we would get throught because he understood how badly everything hurt. I know He was with my dad and my family each step of the way. I know He is with my Mom and that that is how she can stay so strong. And I know that he is with my brother helping him stay strong while he is so far from home and would otherwise seem alone. I hope I will always remember and appreciate this amazing blessing.

Now for the commercial side of Easter: :)

Well, the last few years I have found the most eggs but this year Dustin "dethroned" me by finding a whopping 49 eggs. I got second place but it was a little discouraging...haha. Well, at least it wasn't my sister.... ;) Sadly, I didn't take any pictures of our hunt, but it was as intense as always.

Austin and Alexis Coloring eggs. I can't believe how big they are getting!

Some of Dustin's and my eggs. Dustin's are on the left and he was very proud of his creativity-haha

Austin and Alexis in their new Easter outfits

Dustin was able to meet his new little niece this trip! He held her for the first time (actually I think it was the first time he ever held a baby....period) and I swear I saw a little twinkle in his eye..haha. She is so beautiful and we just love her to pieces!

Under the Sea!

So Dustin and I love the weekends. As soon as the weekend ends and Monday arrives, i am already looking forward to the next one because for us, the weekend is like one big date. Well this last weekend was one of our more creative ones. Usually we just do the whole dinner and a movie thing but this time we decided to try something new. We had heard a lot about the Living Planet Aquarium and thought we'd check it out. Well i think we were the only ones that didn't have children with us but it was still fun! I think everyone should check it out! They had all sorts of fish, bugs (yuck) eels, sharks, turtles, frogs...everything! It took us a couple of hours to get through it all! Here are a few of the highlight pics:

So I may look a little crazy in this picture but unfortunately, it is the best one that Dustin took of me the whole night...Standing next to Tiger Fish

Dustin and Turtle

So after the aquarium we got to move on to the most important part of the weekend...EATING OUT! I love eating out...no matter where it is. Anyway we like eating at this burger place in American Fork called "Chadders." basically it is a pretend "In-N-Out" for us Utah people who don't get one. Its pretty good! However, the burgers arent as big as "In-N-Outs" and its a little

more expensive. We still love it though!

She is Finally Here!

Soo...the last thing I blogged about was Halloween so I am more than a little behind in blogging. As horrible as it is...I am going to just skip over the holidays! *gasp!* I will never catch up if I try to go into much detail-I will just say that the holidays were great. Dustin's family came all the way up from California to our new place for Thanksgiving and it was a feast for sure! WE then went down to California for Christmas. It was my first Christmas away from home and to be honest I wasn't sure what to expect-especially since it was the first Christmas without my Dad. I just have to say how BLESSED I am to have the inlaws that I have. I love them so much and they make me feel like I have always been a part of the family. So Christmas was great and I am excited for many more holiday memories to come (ones I will blog about)! Now....What I AM going to blog about is MY NIECE IS FINALLY HERE! My sister's due date was Tues, March 3rd but the baby decided she wasn't quite ready yet. Andrea was scheduled to be induced Friday March 6th so I decided I would leave for Idaho Thursday after work so I could be there in time for all the festivities but Thursday afternoon my sister told me her water broke and she was in the hospital! Luckily I work with the best girls ever and they covered for me so I could leave early and hopefully make it home in time! Well I made it just in time and I cannot believe how beautiful she is. Isabella Kadence Wilson was born at 9:39 PM and was a whopping 8.3 lbs.-(I have to give props to my sister-apparently Bella was pretty big and she was kinda stuck there for a while but Andrea was a trooper and just kept pushing away!) It has been such a long time since there has been a baby in the family and I am so happy for my sister and her husband (Connor). You can see how much they love her and it has brought our whole family even closer together! I only wish that I was closer to home!! It is an amazing thing to hold a newborn baby...I had a hard time giving her back to her mom! I dunno...I'm starting to think that I could maybe do that some day...*sigh

Halloween post in December

I know it's December 6th and I should be posting something like us putting up our Christmas tree but Halloween pictures work too! I will probably post Christmas pictures in February...haha. Well there is not a whole lot to say. We didn't dress up or go to any parties or anything like that. We just stayed home and watched some movies on tv. It was fun though. Josh was visiting which is always exciting. Dustin let us go to a pumpkin patch even though they were double the price than the ones from Walmart! Its just so much more fun going to a pumpkin patch...don't ya think? Anyway. Here ya go!

the winner!

Dustin's pick


We are happy with our decisions

Dustin's creation-he likes scary pumpkins

The skull was mine! I was pretty proud of myself!

Josh chose to carve out scooby doo.

Bye Bye Little Brother :*(

Wow-Every now and then you have this landmark event that makes you realize how fast time is really going by and how much you want it to slow down! Well this is one of them. My brother got called to the Dominican Republic Santiago East mission and reported to the MTC a few weeks ago (Wed October 22). CRAZY!! He just left the MTC yesterday and he's really a missionary now! He arrived safely to the DR to hot and humid weather, and lots of food. I am so excited for him and I know he is going to be great but it really is weird! The experience at the MTC was...interesting. It all happens so fast and there are a few different emotions going through you but I guess overall it was good. haha. It was basically a big bawl fest with lots of hugs, kisses, and "I love you's"-(which could be expected from my family!) If anyone wants his address let me know. Good job Kris! We will be rooting for ya!!

We ate at Brick Oven before dropping Kris off at the MTC.

It was so delicious!

Getting the new nametag-Officially Elder Sommer

Bye Bye Little Brother! We will miss you soo much but are so proud and excited for you! He is going to be a great missionary.

Home, Sweeeet Home

Just like all the others, this post is a little belated-but its probably the most exciting one I will ever do (until the "guess what? I'm pregnant!" post that will come someday). Dustin and I are officially home owners! We have been so blessed and couldn't be happier! We put our condo up for sale about six months ago. Our commute to work was about 40 min each way and we couldn't handle it anymore. Also, Dustin wants to go back to school and get his MBA at BYU so we decided it was time to get down there. Well, after six months of being on the market we only had one low offer and it was on like the very first day! haha. We decided to try and rent it out and we had a renter within a week. We immediately found our perfect little dream home in Springville UT. It was a new spec home on a .4 acre lot and has all the works! We moved in two weeks ago so we are pretty much settled in so stop on by! We love visitors!!

Carrying me over the threshold...

Dustin's favorite part of the new home- 2 car garage

Kitchen and Living room

We love it!