zoo Montana

Yesterday we met up with some Lovell ladies for a day at the zoo!!

Michael asked if we saw any cows and I said we sure did!! Janelle is the cutest cow

We were all so excited to see grandma!  The kids had been talking about it for days.  Kandace was actually mistaken though and thought she was going to stay at gmas so she packed her bag. :)

When he's through with me

We have lots of baptisms in our ward which has been a blessing for me.  I've been to lots of "traditional" baptisms for 8 yr olds but since moving to Billings, Michael and I have been able to see lots of converts get baptized into the church.  Today Stetson and I went to the baptism for Ivy Haynes and her parents.  Michael and I subbed for her primary class a couple of times and Ivy was a treat to have in class because she was very reverent and seemed happy to be there.  Michael has recently been called as one of the primary teachers for this class so Ivy asked if Michael would confirm her tomorrow and she asked if I would speak on the HG.  It was great.  Baptisms are a great "break" from the daily grind I'm in as a mom of 3, especially when Michael's working a 24 hr shift in Powell.

The best part of this baptism though was when the RS president welcomed the mom into the ward.  I've always loved this RS pres.  She is down to earth and genuine.  Noone in my ward reads my blog so I get to talk about them. :)  She talked about the fact that she'd dealt with the ups and downs of depression her entire life and that her husband has stayed true and supportive to her this entire time.  One time she asked him why he's stayed with her this entire time and he said it was his love for her and the fact that he'd seen "glimpses" of what she will be in the next life when Heavenly Father is "through with her" so to speak.  This touched my heart and was something I loved hearing and thinking about.

I know Heavenly Father has very deliberately given us each our set of trials and they will make us great!  They are stepping stones to get back to him and especially to be like him, which is someone so much greater than who we are.  Knowing this doesn't make trials seem any easier and when we're in the thick of them its almost impossible to take a step back and recognize the value of them, but in this moment during this baptism and when I feel the spirit the strongest, I can understand and appreciate my trials a little better.
I loved to see that this awesome woman had a gospel perspective of her trials and was willing to share it with all of us.

Foulger Family Reunion 2014

 Last Thursday (7.3.2014), me, Stetson and Kandace drove to Cody and hopped in with Joel & Kambrie in their car and rode to Park City for our Foulger Family reunion.  I'd actually decided I wasn't going to go because I didn't want to go by myself (Michael had class) but Joel said we could go with him last minute so we bumped Janelle's b-day party up a day so we could do both!  We realized at Thermop that I'd left my bag in the van at Joel's place in Cody (whoops) so we picked up a few essentials at one of the Wal-marts along the way and it worked out fine.  We got there in the evening, said our hellos and went back to our cabin where I shared a room with my 2 HS age cousins, my neice and Kandace.  It was awesome.  The next morning we had a big breakfast at our cabin that Matt fixed for everyone, then me and my kids went to the Park City 4th of July parade with mom, Elizabeth, Fallon and her kids.  I realized I love parades a lot more when they're in my home town and I know everyone on the floats.

 After that, Fallon and I ran to get Cafe Rio and some extra white t-shirts for the kids to tye dye.  I had to bribe Kandace and Stetson to wear theirs for the family pics.  Later that afternoon, me, Laura, Rachel, her boyfriend Tyson, aunt Lisa, Gabi and Tylie went back to our cabin where there's a pool and the kids went swimming.  My kids thought Tyson was the coolest and loved racing him in the water.  Rachel and Laura thought it was so funny to watch Kandace swim.  They said she's just like me because she plugs her nose when she jumps in.  Didn't everyone do that when they were little?!  Whatever.

 Rachel and her millionaire boyfriend.  He won Survivor this year and they were both on the show.  I only watched until Rachel got kicked off which wasn't that many episodes.

 Kandace, Gabi (my uncle Brad's daughter), Tylie (Laura's oldest) and Stetson

 one of the races

 Here's all the grandkids and greats.  We tried to do one with just gma Foulger and the grand kids but a lot of the great grand kids are older than the grand kids (my uncles like to have their babies late:) so we just threw everyone in.  It was awesome.

 L-R: Greg, mom, Jeff, Brad & Matt & Gma Foulger.  I miss the old gma.  She doesn't remember my name but recognizes my face.  My best childhood memories are get togethers with the Foulgers.  When we lived in CA we were close enough geographically to get together with most everyone so we had lots of sleepovers at gmas, trips to Marine World and trips to Pleasanton.  My gpa John died pretty young so I can really appreciate all the effort my gma put forth to keep the family strong and together.  Family was the most important thing to her and she always put family above herself.

4 generations.  Gma, Mom, Kandace, me and another baby girl to add to the generation pic. :)