Memorial Day Weekend

O beautiful for heroes proved

In liberating strife.

Who more than self their country loved

And mercy more than life!

This verse popped into my head today when I visited the Orem Mortuary where three of my grandparents are buried. It was such a special experience to see the entire cemetery covered with flowers and family.

My tribute to my grandparents--

Grandpa Carter

quiet but always kind and talented in so many ways.

Grandma Croft

served everyone and constant in her faith.

Grandpa Croft

honest and helpful to the one no one had the thought to be kind to.

Back to the Boardwalk

Like I said, we went home for the first weekend in May to make a surprise arrival at Anneliese's spring dance concert. I think it's a compliment that my family can't keep a secret -- they are just as honest as Abe. Thankfully, even though Mom and Dad had a couple slips of the tongue, Anneliese was still a little surprised when I popped into her room to tell her goodnight.

My favorite dance was her disco number. I think baby sister belonged in the seventies.

It was great to see all the family that weekend. We stayed with the Whites that Friday and watched Christie win the final rally for the Bonita High Varsity Swim Team! I've got some very impressive sisters.

A Quarter of a Century

Photo courtesy of kara.allthingsd.com

This past Friday, April 15th, Michael turned 25 years old.

OLD.

So after he searched for all his presents, guessed all of his presents, and forced me to even give him one of his presents the night before his birthday... we celebrated.

New White Family Tradition #2: presents-in-bed at 8 am.

That night we all joined up to celebrate Danny and Michael's birthday at none other than the traditional California Pizza Kitchen.

The Boys

I love Michael and I love the CPK tradition. It takes me back to our dating days. I'm so happy to celebrate this man's birth two years in a row, and I'm more happy I'm married to him.

April 15th, 2010

Happy Birthday Michael!

The Carters Come to Town

Fall 2008

I absolutely love my family so much, and I was so excited for them to come visit Provo last week for their spring break! Nothing better than family.

Tuesday:

Michael and I went over for pizza and games at Grandma Anna's.

Wednesday:

All the sisters and mom enjoyed shopping, snacking and chatting around SouthTown Mall. Not to mention Kassidy and I almost got kicked out of Forever 21 because we were trying to get a shirt off a $3,500 mannequin.

Thursday:

We celebrated all the April birthdays! (Mom, Anneliese, Alexa, and Michael)

Oh, and here are the Jackman cousins Sophia and Gracie (Big sister Alexa had her baptism interview that night)

Friday:

Mom and Anneliese met me at BYU's Museum of Art to see the Carl Bloch display. Afterwards we had lunch at the MOA cafe.

I love my mom and seester.

Saturday:

We all attended our cousin Alexa Jackman's baptism and enjoyed brunch at her parents Aliesha and Clarke's afterwards. Delicious! You have to try apple pie filling and yogurt parfaits!

I was sad to say good-bye to Mom, Dad and Anneliese before they headed back to the sunshine state.

General Conference

Despite the snow and early morning drive, we made it to General Conference this morning. It was a beautiful session and being on temple square brought back so many memories of my wedding. Maybe it was the freezing weather, but I like to think otherwise.

Thanks to Ron and Julie for our great seats!

Anna and Brian joined us!

Danny and Lacy headed out before we could snag a picture, but we were glad they were there too.

The best part about Brian and Anna dating is that I get to see Anna so much more now. We've been roomies and best friends since freshman year in the dorms, and it's so fun to be reunited. This picture reminds me of way back when....

Oh freshman year. Oh glasses.

Park City Puzzle

Thank you to Mom and Dad White for getting us this puzzle for Christmas this year. On a cold Friday night, we turned on the itunes and went to work.

If you look closely, this puzzle is of the chair lift off of Main Street in Park City. Not only did Michael and I have our first date at the Sundance Film Festival, but Michael proposed to me at the top of that chair lift on August 17, 2010.

Bliss Happens

Snowbird, heavy on the Snow

Dad came to visit this past weekend! It was fun to have him visit our little apartment on Friday, take us out for dinner at GoodWood(thanks dad), and then out for a huge ski day on Saturday with Kai.

We were up and ready to roll at 4:30 AM. Dad doesn't mess around when it comes to his ski schedule. No, I'm kidding. I was up at 4:30 cause I couldn't sleep and then woke Michael up on accident. It felt like Christmas morning as we drank hot chocolate and watched Sports Center until 6:30 in the AM.

In the picture above we are stuck in the car until 10 am when the resort finally opened. There's dad in the back checking the weather report.

Besides the 3 feet of fresh powder, a highlight was the tunnel through the mountain to the other side. Little did we know but the other side offered us MORE powder and less visibility. I struggled and Michael snowboarded blindly because his goggles kept fogging up.

Conclusion:

I'm officially a "mountain woman" who hiked down a hill because she lost her ski buried 3 feet deep in the snow. Long, fun day.