Gordan B. Hinckley

To most this may appear as a clump of pink playdough, but this is my son's version of our new soon to be completed Oquirrh Mountain Temple. We have been stuck indoors for days due to the mountains of snow we have gotten. I told the boys to build a tower and they decided they wanted to build temples. If you look closely you may even see the Angel Moroni on top. We have been watching them work on the temple for months. It has been cool watching each of the stages. Just recently it got its walls. We are so excited to have a temple so close. Recently we lost our beloved Prophet Gordan B. Hinckley. He lived a long life and most of it was in the service of others. I just can't help to think about all the wonderful works he has done including the building of numerous temples one of which is being built just a few miles away.

I am so thankful for President Hinckley and for the influence he has had on my life and on the lives of my family members!

Snow Day

Today we woke up to a winter wonderland. This is the most snow we have had in a long time. The boys decided to go out and shovel. It was cute watching my boys with their big shovels. They are getting big so fast. Nathan nearly snow blowed the entire street. He tries to tell me that it is hard work, but I think he enjoys it!

LOVE IS IN THE AIR

This is another wedding I am working on. It was snowing this morning so all the outdoor pictures I was planning were quickly changed to indoor pics. We took these in the Utah State Capitol Building. This building has been closed for many years due to renovations so it was fun to take bridal pics there. We also took some pictures in the downtown Salt Lake library which has great architecture. The entire front of the building is glass. With the natural light you can get when you are in the building this makes a great place to take pictures. I didnt take any pictures of it, but there is also a glass elevator. My kids love coming here just to go up and down in the elevator. Great fun!

TAG you're it!

1. What is your Husbands full name? Nathan Ensign Hicks

2. How long have you been together as a couple? Almost 10 years

3. How long did you date? 2 1/2 years

4. How old is he? 38

5. Who eats more? I hope he does

6. Who said I love you first? Nathan. He told me over the phone (we were on the phone A LOT)-- I made him say it again.

7. Who is taller? I think we are the same. He may be a tad taller.

9. Who is smarter? My husband can fix circuit boards--need I say more.

10. Who does the laundry? Me with an occasional him.

11. Who does the dishes? Me with an occasional him.

12. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Nathan sleeps on the right side of the bed because it is closer to the alarm clock.

13. Who pays the bills? Nathan

14. Who mows the lawn? Nathan

15. Who cooks dinner? I cook. However, Nathan makes the best cinnamon rolls!

16. Who's more sensitive? Me. I cry over everything!

17. Who's more stubborn? We both are stubborn

18. Who's the first to admit when their wrong? ME!

19. Who's parents do you see more? Both of our parents live in West Jordan, but I think we probably see Nathan's parents more.

20. Who proposed? Nathan proposed on one knee at Temple Square.

21. Who drives when you are together? Nathan. I don't really like to drive.

22. Who has more friends? I do. Women need other women to stay sane. Men just need a computer and video games.

23. Who has more siblings? Nathan has 4 brothers and two sisters.

24. Where did you meet? We met through Lianna. We served in the same mission, although we didnt know each other in the mission. I left when she arrived. Nathan and I were introduced over a korean dinner. I knew I could love him when he ate kimchi and liked it! :}

25. Where was your first kiss? At his house. He had a house before we got married. So, I would come over make dinner and we would watch movies.

26. What was the first thing you said to him? The first time I saw Nathan was when Lianna had invited him over to our apartment for Korean food. I answered the door and I probably said "Hi, come in."

27. Where was your first date? Our first official date we went boating with his brother Scott and Dale. I think we went to Stawberry Lake. The first time we hung out together he took me on a motorcycle ride.

28. Where did you get engaged? Temple Square

29. Where did you go on your honeymoon? We went to Mission Bay. We had a really cool room on the top floor of a fancy hotel that overlooked the entire bay. Dang I want to do that again!!!!!

MY WORD FOR THE YEAR!

I have been thinking today about my word for the year. Just like Tricia and Nancy I think it would be great to have a one word goal for the year. With one word I don't feel overwhelmed with all the things I need to change. I will just change one thing at a time. Maybe by the time I am 50 I will be doing pretty good. Maybe? So, my word for the year is going to be PLAY. I am going to take more time just playing with my kids. Sometimes things get so busy that I find a lot of time to just have fun with my kids. There are always so many things that need to get done, but this year I am going to make time for playtime and not feel guilty when other things don't get done. I will have to share pics of our playdates.

Wedding Day!

Yesterday I shot my 5th wedding. It was at the Salt Lake Temple. The couple live in California. Her parents live in Idaho and his parents live in California. Oh and they dated at BYU Hawaii. So, you might be asking yourself, "why is this couple getting married in Salt Lake?" Well, she is from Pocatello which is only a few hours from here and she didnt want to get married in Idaho, so Salt Lake was the place. I wished the wedding had been today because we actually had clear skies today, but the wedding was yesterday and it was cold and snowy. I have to say that everything went pretty smooth. I did not meet the couple until they came out of the temple, but both bride and groom were great to work with--very easy going and sweet. As you will see in the pictures the bride has a dress with short sleeves. I kept asking her if she was cold and she kept telling me that she was doing great. What a trooper, especially after flying in from California which I am sure is above 45 degrees. Here are some of the pics. I will post more later.

Happy Scrapbooking!

I love to scrapbook. Most of my pictures still sit in digital folders on my computer and I have a set of plastic drawers that hold locks of hair and tickets to this and that, but that is all going to change because I joined a scrapbook group. We meet every other month to swap pages, talk and eat treats. It is the best getaway to relieve mommy stress! I actually have attended a few of the get togethers so I have a stack now of beautiful pages to add my pictures to.

Tonight is scrapbook group. I have been busy putting my pages together. My cousin Nancy and I are making pages for a baby book. Last group we did year 0 and 1 and this group we are doing year 2 and 3. I finished most of these pages last weekend at a scrapbook retreat I went to. Nancy and I both went. It was held at a nice hotel. They reserved a large conference room and everyone got their own table. So, we got to scrapbook as long as we wanted to. We had a room so we could sleep and then scrapbook again in the morning. It was sooo much fun!

Simple Pleasures

On Sunday we celebrated Morgan's 2nd birthday. We sang "Happy Birthday" and opened presents, but Morgan's favorite part was playing with a bright yellow "bawwoon".