family reunion

last week we had laura's family visit us again from california. we were really happy to see them again and it hadn't been that long since they were out for graduation in april. the main reason for this visit was a family reunion for laura's grandpa's extended family.

laura's mom made the trip with jon, emily, and david from southern california, and laura's sister mary and her baby livia (our favorite -- albeit only -- niece) flew in from the bay area as well. our basement apartment is big enough that we we managed to accommodate everyone -- since they didn't mind waiting their turn for the bathroom or sleeping in sleeping bags! it was great to spend time with them for a little under a week.


all of laura's grandpa's family wore red shirts. don't worry, we won't be wearing these to any byu football games this year. :)


the second day of the reunion could have been called "snake day". here is emily with snake number one. that's right. number one as in there were more snakes. snake number one was a harmless little garter snake that one of the kids found.


this is emily with snake number two. obviously a lot bigger than snake number one. but like snake number one, harmless. we were told it was a bull snake. the kids had fun holding it and showing it off to adults who were less excited about the snake and then they let it go.

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this is emily and some of the other kids admiring snake number three. unlike snakes one and two, this snake was not harmless. which is why it is dead. some of the older boys and adults found a rattlesnake a bit outside of the park we were using (in heber) and decided to remove the risk of it coming closer to the park or in case of adventurous kids that might stumble upon it later.

there was no snake number four because in order to top the rattlesnake we would have had to find a python or a boa constrictor or something. which is not likely in utah unless someone's expensive pet has found its way out of the house. maybe next time.


after spending a couple days in heber with all the extended family, we went with laura's family (including grandparents and laura's aunt and uncle and their kids who are also in orem) to the oquirrh mountain temple open house. there were a lot of people there and it took longer than expected, but it was worth the wait and the long lines.


both of us really liked the oquirrh mountain temple -- both inside and out. we thought the outside seems very reminiscent of some of the older temples like nauvoo or logan, with a modern touch. the interior of the temple was very unique as there was lots of stone tile throughout much of the building, which was a really nice touch. we were also very impressed with some of the choice of patterns on furniture. it's a very nice temple and we'd like to go back after it is dedicated -- when it will be much less noisy and busy.


laura is much too cute in this picture not to include it.

we loved having laura's family around and are glad we've been able to see them so much this year. we also do video chat some sundays and it really helps the time go by between visits too. we're excited to see some of them again very soon when they bring jon out for his freshman year at byu.