'Ehpane!', Ben, family photos

Last thursday night we got to go on the 'ehpane,' as Jaxon calls it with a squeal of delight, to Salt Lake for a family sealing on Saturday. I got Jaxon a new car seat, he could get out of the other one, he sat in it on the plane and did awesome for the flight. Kodee was overtired, cried, and Jordan ended up in the bathroom til he was asleep. Didn't last long. Cried in my arms. Plus he had just gotten a cold. Luckily, it was only an hour and a half flight. My dad met us at the airport and Kim ran up right as we were leaving the baggage claim.

Friday morning the boys woke up way early; Jaxon was so excited to play with the choo choos he couldn't sleep any longer. Kodee didn't sleep the best so he spent the morning sleeping next to dad.


For lunch we headed across town to The Dodo. It's my sister's favorite restaurant of the moment. The food is good because everything is so fresh and light tasting. The real reason to go is for dessert. They change everyday, but the pastry chef of 20 years makes them fresh and he doesn't disappoint. We shared a lemon chess tart and a toll house pie. The tart was gooooOOOd!!! It was the perfect balance of sweetness and tartness and freshness. Lemon has such a wonderful fresh feeling don't ya think? The toll house pie was like a pile of melted cookie. It's great for chocolate lovers. Then we headed to Liberty Park to play in the water feature which was closed the day we went a couple of months ago. Jaxon had a blast. Kodee wanted to get in so badly as well.






We only had time for 15 minutes there, but that's okay because I was not prepared for wet children. Next we headed to Kid to Kid. We love that store. We always find really nice clothes that were originally expensive for cheap. One of Kodee's shirts was 1.75. Woohoo! Jaxon played really well in his diaper while we shopped. And they slept in the car on the way home. Woohoo! again!

Later we had a lovely dinner by mom and fresh peaches courtesy of my sister's tree. Best peaches ever! That night we played games. Jordan and I couldn't play too long because Kodee wouldn't sleep or stop screaming. Plus, I was doing terribly at Settlers so it worked out.

Saturday morning was Ben's sealing. Mom made some yummy french toast and then we got ready. My sweet cousin Kristen and her roommate came up from Provo to watch the boys. By the looks of the basement when we got home they had a blast. We got to the temple a half hour early, got all situated and waited. It felt like forever because I was so excited to go in the sealing room. It was a busy day because it was the first Saturday the temple was open and at one point the waiting room sounded like church before the meeting begins. Everyone had to be hushed. We finally got seated in the sealing room. It was so wonderful to see Kim, Dave and little Ben in their whites. Little Ben stared at the chandelier for a while and then he watched the sealer the whole time with the sweetest face like he understood what was happening. Kim balled through the whole thing, but how can you help it when you finally get a baby sealed to you. Everything was perfect. I love it when we hugged them at the end as we walked out. Kim kept thanking us for being there, but I wouldn't have missed it for the world.


It was a perfect day. Maybe a little windy at the temple.

They are a happy family!


For the luncheon afterwards. Awesomeness! The star of the food was the home made ice cream with the brownies and peaches.

That evening we took family photos since we were all together. That was fun. Interesting. 5 children under the age of 3. Dave's sister Amy was nice enough to come shoot the craziness. After hundreds of shots I'm not sure we got one where every single person was looking or smiling, but we got close. Props to everyone who is able to get family photos where everyone is looking.
Here's the best:





After that we had another standout dinner of crock-pot pizza, homemade bread and fresh veggies, and a strawberry shortcake dessert that was so good! We packed up and headed to Kim's house for the night. While packing Kodee fell off the bed. Only hours before RC Willey installed the bed frame which made the bed twice as tall. Jordan and I were both right there, but he still fell off. He landed on his face, but he was fine after about a minute. Over at Kim's when everything and everyone were settled we started another game of Cataan. It was a good game, but in the end Clay beat us all. He's sneaky.

Sunday morning was Ben's baby blessing. It was great because we were able to walk to church. We sat close to the front and everyone was on time. Kim's Bishop was so sweet in coming to the temple first off and then he said how great it was for them at this moment of finally getting a baby after so much waiting. Dave gave a beautiful blessing. Afterwards we had a brunch at Kim's house. Featherbed Basil eggs, cinnamon rolls, orange rolls, melons, and sausage. Can't get much better than that. It was such a beautiful afternoon just relaxing and being with family. And my good friend Megan came over to visit.



Right before we had to go to the airport we smashed out a couple of games of Ligretto (similar to Nerts). Talk about fast paced. I thought I was a good player until Kristen came along. If you blink, she wins. It was such a wonderful weekend. Thanks to Kim, Dave, and Benjamin for having a reason to come up.