Enjoyments, Appreciations, Good times

Many of you followed me on my mission and looked forward to the weekly email updates about life and the mission. It's been a year since I've come home and much has happened but I haven't shared any of it. That is about to change. I've created a blog. Scary, I know. Follow our little family as we go through the ups, downs, and twists and turns of life. Insights, moments, and things to laugh and cry about are guaranteed! Monday will be the first official post. Preview: smith reunion enjoyments, Hailey's blessing and travel blunders, white water rafting catastrophes, and maybe a little more.

On the drive back from Idaho Falls, Joel and I decided to pass the time by listing the things that we enjoyed about the weekend.  We went back and forth and set a rule that we couldn't duplicate each others answers.  Check out what we came up with!  I was hoping for 50 but we got distracted and only made it to 42.

J- Meeting Ma Moo and family.  Aka Paula, Chris and Alan Burgess.  
A-Meeting Roland Smith.  I'm very grateful for what you did to help us out.  He has a great vibe/heart/spirit.
J- Appreciate the time I got to spend with Sheri at the cabin bbq.  It let me know she cared but also that she was willing to listen and not be judgmental.
A- The Smith Family made sure to make me feel welcomed.  I never felt left out if I didn't want to be.  There was always someone to talk to me and include me.
J- Ben, Randy, and Roland all came up for the blessing.
A- Sherbet with frozen fruit!
J- The second Sloppy Joe at the Friday night dinner.  I was hungry. Thank you!
A- I was surprised and liked that Faith Pyrah came up to me after the baby shower and gave me a big hug.
J- Pleasantly surprised that McKay and Levi asked to be in the blessing.  It meant a lot to me to have them both there.
A- I had fun watching Tana's 2 kids play in the dirt and pour it all over each other and themselves.
J- Watching Omar.  He's the coolest little kid.  Nice, respectful, waits patiently for things, and has a very calm countenance.
A- Playing at the pool/slide wit Kenna Luna
J- Spending time with Wizard and Marcia talking and making breakfast.
A- Enjoyed that Wizard would take Hailey and eagerly wanted to.  "I love Babies!"
J- Thankful Wizard would hold Hailey but was also willing to give others a chance as well.
A- Picking apples with Jaime Luna at the Prices.  It made the girls, Bobby Rae, Robyn, everyone happy.
J- Sitting in the lukewarm, 93*, hot tub at the end of the night talking.
A- Watching Ryan and Hailey both sleep through sacrament meeting and then Ryan offering to take Hailey and change her diaper.  I didn't know he knew how... Maybe he winged it.  Either way it turned out just fine.
J- Visiting with everyone I hadn't seen in a long time.
J- The Friday night Get-to-Know you game.  Everyone got me meet me or Andrea because we were newly wed.
A- Baby Shower, books, name introduction with a parenting tip/advice.
J- Rough housing with Mckay while in the pool attempting to shoot hoops.
A- Making it harder for Joel to shoot hoops in the pool by jumping on hi back and hanging on.  It was a blast trying to get me off.
J- Rough housing with my wife in the pool.  She's not prego anymore!
A- Hailey slept for 7 hours! I enjoyed the sleep, even though I woke up twice to make sure she was still breathing.
J- I enjoyed that we turned off the radio on the drive to Idaho Falls and talked like old times.
A- I enjoyed making a list of things that we enjoyed over the weekend.  It helps us remember and realize all the good things.
J- Sunday afternoon, spending time with my immediate family at wizards.  I'm glad BR got to hold Hailey as long as she wanted.
A- Thankful Jaime took pictures at the house, the blessing, and the baby shower.  Now I have something to remember it all.
J- Hailey screaming when Jaime was trying to take pictures with all of the girls.
A- Staying at Wizards house.  It was nice to be able to have some place to go at the end of the night to wind down and have our own space... not a fan of the full size bed, but we'll make sacrifices.
J- Playing with Abby and having her come with us Sunday afternoon.  I even enjoyed her jumping on my belly after we played pick up sticks.
A- Enjoyed that Abby wanted to hold Hailey and be super helpful.
J- Enjoyed that I was the one to offer to let Abby stay the afternoon with us.
J- Being able to cuddle with my wife because there was awesome AC in the basement.
A- Eating Raspberries, lots of raspberries. 
J- Being able to take time outside of the reunion at Wizard and Sevys.
A- Going through the shower gifts with Joel the morning after.
J- Red making me stop and watch the sunset with her at the elk cabin.
A- Looking at pictures of Hailey in a foofy, pink, girly dress.
J- Sharing tidbits of knowledge on the drive home about trucks, farming, etc.