Springtime FINALLY!!

I was so happy when springtime arrived. It meant I had made it to my 3rd trimester and the end was in sight. Thank Goodness!!!

As usual Eliza was an angel through it all. She spent lots of time with Grandparents and played and played. 

In March, we finally had some warmer days to get outside and breathe some fresh air. 

Matt has been amazing through all of this hardship. He has spoiled me and taken such good care of our little girl. At Christmas time, we were also blessed by the Staceys to get this new car. It was much needed and has been well loved and cared for. We are grateful everyday. Matt loves his car! 

Eliza also had 3 weeks with cousins in March. She loved playing with Sophia... and getting some extra time with her Midway cousins. 

Eliza is basically always delightful and also my biggest helper. I couldn't do much during the pregnancy but when I tried, we would do it together. She has always and still always loves to help.

My one and only activity during my 4 1/5 months of bedrest was going to the Provo City Center Temple open house.  I just couldn't miss it. So I swallowed my pride and was pushed in a wheelchair through the temple. It was breathtaking, as they all are. It was beautiful to see the history along with the new architecture.  I went to the Provo Tabernacle for many stake conferences in high school and it was an incredibly sad day when it burned down. Matt and I also had the privilege of being in the Conference Center when President Monson announced the new Provo temple. There were a lot of gasps and whispers. I think, if we could have and it was appropriate, we would have all jumped out of our seats and started cheering and clapping.  So this is my only picture, sadly, but it was a great afternoon. I love getting to take Eliza to so many temple open houses. 

First 5K Journey

In the Spring of 2015, Matt and I made a goal to train and run our first 5k together. It seemed a bit crazy but as we got going, we were running the 3 miles all of the time. Matt's first 5k run came with new headphones and a mp3 player. I told him I would buy it for him when he ran it the first time. So the nest day, he got on the treadmill and did just that. I was so proud of him!!

A few weeks before the actual 5K, we decided to start running Saturday mornings on the Provo River Trail. I quickly learned how much I almost enjoyed running when outside. (I was disliking the treadmill everyday.) It also was a lot easier to run when you are actually running somewhere that had a destination. 

Our 5k was on July 24, 2015. It was the Temple to Temple run from the Provo Temple to the new Provo City Center Temple. 

Eliza and Grandma and Papa McPhillen waited for us at the end of the run. They had lots of fun of their own.

Matt averaged a 10 minute mile and I was not far behind at about 11 minute miles.

It was an amazing feeling of accomplishment to make, work for, and achieve a goal that really didn't totally seem in our reach when we began the journey. We felt pretty good about ourselves after we finished. It was a great day!

Payson Temple

We got to go to the open house for the Payson Temple. It was exciting to take our little girl and share her first experience inside of a temple. She has been learning about temples since before she was even a year old. We have a picture in her room and we sing the temple song often. So when it was time to get to go inside, we told her it was a special day and she got to go inside the temple. We usually tell her she gets to go inside the temple when she is 12 years old. We look forward to our next open house at the Provo City Center temple in January. The Payson Temple was beautifully crafted. The structure is stunning and the inside is simply pristine. I loved all of the finishing touches and the beautiful artwork that was displayed throughout.  

It was overcast and stormy off and on. It was a great day to visit the temple. 

The pictures turned out great!

I love it when I capture these sweet moments of Eliza and her daddy. 

They have an incredibly sweet relationship.

I, of course, had to snap a picture of Eliza in her super cute white slippers.

The landscape was also so incredibly stunning.

More lovely daddy daughter moments

We were so glad we got to share the experience with Richard's family, Grandma Stacey, and Grandma and Papa McPhillen. 

San Diego Temple photo op

After Matt and I visited the San Diego Temple, we decided it would be fun to attempt a family picture of sorts on the temple grounds. So here is our effort. They actually turned out pretty good.

Eliza loves her mommy

In some ways, I think Eliza had a hard time this week because her mommy-and-me time was very different. So at this particular moment, she decided only mommy could be with her.

We love to see the Temple

We love to visit the temple and are reminded each time we go of the blessings we receive there and the promises of eternity. Matt and I have been able to make it to the temple every month since we were dating. It has been a great goal to continue to attain and has brought many blessings into our little family. 

Matt and I also have decided to try to get back to the Salt Lake Temple every year in February with our growing family as a fun anniversary activity to celebrate our first visit there together to become a forever family.

Eliza and I had a visit to the temple at the end of January while daddy was in meetings for his new job at Zion's Bank.

In February, we made it back with daddy to celebrate 2 years of family togetherness.

We were also able to make it back to the Salt Lake Temple during the month to do sealings. We had a beautiful experience. It was a busy day at the temple, as I'm guessing most Saturdays are, and they allowed us to wait in the Celestial Room. It was so wonderful to sit in there and feel the peace that the Lord's temple provides from the crazy, distracting world we live in. It was nice to have a few quiet moments to ponder the love of our Savior and the power the Atonement can have in our lives. We had the opportunity to participate in the sealing ordinances for the family of a woman that had done all of the research and prepared each of these names. There must have been at least 7 or 8. She was able to tell us some of the history as the names were presented. It was a memorable experience. I was touched by the realization of the power of genealogy and gaining an understanding of how the stories of our history brings each of us to where we are today.