Bad Attitude

I have to get something off my chest. . . sometimes I get a little bit homesick.

The sickness was particularly strong this July 4Th Holiday.

You see, I knew that back home in California a big family party was underway. Now, I miss a lot of family parties and though I would like to attend them all, they don't all strike such a melancholy cord deep within my soul. But, alas it has been close to a year since I have set foot on California soil. It's not that California has such great soil . . . but I sure miss my family.

And I for sure miss my aunt's fourth of July parties.

We didn't have any plans to celebrate America's birth, (well we did, but they fell through) so I am ashamed to admit I spent a good part of the day wallowing in self pity. Then after a conversation with my mom I decided that I needed an attitude adjustment and if I wanted to have fun and more importantly, if I wanted to provide fun for my family, then I had to snap out if the funk that I was in.


(Independence Day Craft . . . before the funk set in . . . my kids love to paint)

So I rolled up my proverbial sleeves and got to work cooking up so festive food and planning a party for the six of us. The we decided to invite one of friends over because her husband was at work for the night and I figured she might be in the same funk I was. It was a great idea. Just having those two extra people at our house added a little more fun.

I love this handsome little boy:)

Kiera found a piece of pop corn that looked like it was opening its mouth.

Lady Liberty made an appearance (this was my first step to defunking- an outfit can really change your attitude:))

We had good food, a good swim in our little pool, lit off some fun fireowrks and then watched a firework show form our front yard. And you know what, I totally enjoyed the evening. It just goes to show you that your attitude can make a big difference in how a day turns out.

In other news, a drawer broke and Raia decided it was a great place to sit inside. Kiera thought this was hilarious.

And speaking of attittude adjustment, Bubba was feeling like he wanted to hide in a corner after he woke up from his nap, but Raia wanted to say hi. She walked up to him and patted his back, pulled his hair and peeked at him until she won a smile.

I am sure she was the only one who could have pulled him out of his funk.

These two siblings really love each other.

Manti Mormon Miracle Pageant

May I first begin by saying Happy Independence Day! I love this Holiday and I love my country.
(Make sure you take a peek at the post previous to this so you can see the pictures I did of the Manti temple that are similar to the pictures of the Laie temple: click here.)




The summer had been exciting because we have started to go on vacations to knew locations. The first being Bryce Canyon, the second is Manti, Utah. Every year for two weeks the church puts on a pageant called "The Mormon Miracle Pageant" on a large hill in the shadow of the temple.

We stayed in a dorm. It was a good size, three bedrooms 6 beds, 2 bathrooms, 4 sinks a small kitchen, dining room and living room. It was way better that our hotel room at Bryce Canyon.
It was 6 miles away from the temple. We went with our friends the Ellis' and met our friends the Christensen's when we got there.

We played tourist in the city of Ephraim and of course I found a great little store to fall in love with. Cambria found a fun hat:

Kiera found inspiration for decorating her room.

And I found lots of ideas . . . I bought a few things too:)

We explored a museum

Then we headed over to the pageant an hour an a half early. There were street vendors, foodcourts and bands playing on the side walk. There was even a man on a step stool preaching doctrine to save the soul of all the evil mormons.

The cast of the pageant mingles with the crowd before the show starts so we got to meet a few Nephites, lamanites and pioneers.

Raia was trying to make last minute costume adjustments for the characters

This is what the seating area looked like from the top of the temple. Though there was plentyof seating, we sat the farthest away that we possible could so that we could lay out blankets to sit on. If I had to do it over again I would have liked to bave been closer. It was hard to enjoy from such a distance. (we were on the lawn by the house with the red roof) g the fighting scenes and when the volcano errupted.

The pageant started after 9:30 when it was completely dark. It really is an amazing show. It is so well performed.

The next day we toured the Snow College Campus the next day.

Quinn and Ashley were celebrating their 5th anniversary

Cambria and Kiera were overjoyed to be reunited with their friend Saydria. Sometimes friends are just meant to be:)

The next day we toured the Manti Temple grounds. It is truly a beautiful place.

Kiera had a cold and wanted to wear her "breath right strip" everywhere because it really helped her breath.

Bubba declared: "This is where we are getting married" He and Kelsie love each other.

We also found a cute little candy store called "Candy on Main" where we treated ourselves to gigantic ice creams in chocolate dipped waffle cones.

This is where we stayed

This was the biggest pic nic bench I have ever seen

Our balcony on the second floor

Our View

The town of Manti

And a cute little theater where we found . . .

Mator . . .I don't think I was ready for the picture to be taken because I don't look very happy, but I promise you I was. It was a great trip.

If you haven't been to Manti for the pageant . . . you should go next year.