Bringing in the New Year with a Bang...

 The new year was brought in like all of the other years.  A party at my parents house.  I love getting together with family and playing games.  Family is what it is all about and I love spending time with all of mine.  New Years is one of my favorite times though.  Something about staying up past your bedtime get's my mom and her sisters going.  You are surrounded by laughter which is always a good thing.  We had good food, fun games, noise makers, and fireworks.  Which brought 2015 in with a bang!

  On January 10 I flew out with my parents, Maddie and cousin Nathan to Portland Oregon.  Ashley was getting married that afternoon and my parents kindly let me tag along with them.  It was a very quick trip from Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon.

 This was Nate's first flight.  I had fun explaining to him on what to expect.  He did very well and I only noticed him grab the arm rests a couple of times.

 Two beautiful sisters..

 I love these babies...

 

 I love this photo... that my aunt Joni took.

 cousins..

 After the ceremony we ventured to Multnomah Falls.  It was quite different seeing so much green in January.  Though the fog and skies were gray it was still beautiful.

  Aside from the falls we were quite the attraction in our dresses and suits.  You'll notice everyone else is in coats, workout clothes and beanies.

Beautiful thick green moss..

 

 

 That night we had a lovely dinner party with the newly weds.  They refused to have their car decorated so this was the extent of their car.

 We stopped back at the temple that night to see it beautifully lit.  I love the uniqueness of every temple.  I love to see the temple!!!

You may have noticed my little friend in previous pictures, but if not here you go.  I got a stress fracture on my Talus bone in my ankle from soccer.  It's small enough that I don't need surgery, I just need to where this beauty for a few weeks.   On our way home our flight was overbooked and we graciously gave up our seats in return for $300 vouchers a piece.  We were booked for a flight later that day so we had time to kill at the airport.  Since I moved a bit slower Maddie assisted me through the airport in a wheelchair. 

I was told by one of my friends that we needed to visit Burgerville to get their chocolate hazelnut smoothie that was in season.  It was quite good and I'm glad they had one in the airport.

Several things have happened already this year that apply to bringing in the new year with a bang.  Some good, some not so good, and some awful. My dad turned 60... take that how you want but for us that was good! We lost a sweet couple in our stake to a tragic car accident.  They leave behind 4 young kids 5-2 months.  I took this pretty hard, but I'm so glad my last act for them was providing service to them at Christmas time.  My mom was very inspired! There have been several other deaths that have happened to many that I know.  Yesterday we found out of another tragic death in my Aunt's family which is heartbreaking.
This year has started off to be pretty rough for so many including us.  We continue on our journey with infertility, my broken foot, today Payton is sick throwing up, and Nic will be going in for surgery in the next week or two to have another hernia fixed.
For us these hardships are brutal on us financially which is hard and stressful. But, I will take these over what others are being faced with.  We'll be ok and we'll get back on our feet just in time for something else to hit us.  But that's ok, because I know we are only given what we can handle. 
Here's to the rest of 2015!!!