David and Juliann: 2015

David and I were able to attend the Saturday afternoon session of General Conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was such a privilege to be in the session where they sustained three new Apostles. It was a very uplifting and spiritual moment for both of us. We are so grateful for prophets and apostles that guide our lives.

Our little princess turns 4

It is hard to believe Clarissa is four years old already. We love her so much and are so very grateful she is in our family!

First day of preschool. She loves it!

Family Vacation

In July, we went on a family vacation with David's family to southern California. We had such a fun time. So many fun memories together.

Lego Land

It was Clarissa's first time at Disneyland. She was so much fun to be with! She really wanted to go on Splash Mountain and barely made the height limit. She liked it until she got wet.

The beach

David and his mom catching a wave.

The Mormon Battalion Museum and the San Diego Temple. Clarissa loved being with her cousins.

Summer sickness

Clarissa was really sick. She got pneumonia and had to go to the hospital for breathing treatments. Poor thing.

Highlights and Family Fun Together
We ran the Ability First 5k run again this year. I believe this is the 13th year my family has been running it. Running this race the last two years has become a little sobering as it marks the 2nd anniversary of David becoming very ill. We are so grateful that David is doing so well and we remember the Lord's tender mercy in preserving his life.
http://davidandjuliann.blogspot.com/2013/10/a-miracle.html

We really like to take walks on the Great Salt Lake Nature Preserve by our home. David and Clarissa went for a walk and saw an Owl. It was so neat to see.

One of the highlights of the summer was being able to go to the Payson Temple open house. It is probably one of the most beautiful temples we have ever been in. We are so grateful for temples and the blessings they bring into our lives.

Backyard fun

My aunt and uncle have four wheelers. They let us ride them on their large yard. Clarissa just loves that they have a little one just her size. She drove that thing around like she had been riding them her whole life. It was remarkable to see. We had so much fun!

We went to This is the State Park. We went to an amazing Native American show. They performed some of their traditional dances. We got to have our picture taken with them afterwards.
Clarissa also got to ride a pony.

Fun times at the splash pad

We went to the State Fair with my brother, his kids and my dad.

Clarissa and the kids got to participate in the Great American Hot Dog Decorating contest. It was a lot of fun, roasting hot dogs and then decorating them. Needless to say her concoction wasn't chosen to win the hot dog decorating contest.

We took a train ride down to see my dad. It was Clarissa's first train ride on The Front Runner. We had a really run ride.

Clarissa loves to collect sticks and rocks. She is getting quite the collection. One day she went outside and filled a bucket full of rocks. Before I realized it, she had brought her rocks into the house and arranged her collection of rocks on the headboard of her bed. She is very proud of her collection.

One of our favorite things to do this summer was go to the park.

One of our favorite places to go is the Great Salt Lake Bird Refuge. It has a mile long boardwalk through the Refuge. We like to take Sunday walks along its path. It is so peaceful and scenic.

We love to go to This is the Place State Park. We like to meet all of the cousins there and have fun together.

The Saturday before Easter, we always have a fun Easter egg hunt at Grammy and Grampy's house. The kids and also the "big kids" have so much fun.

Easter morning is always a special and sacred morning. We are so grateful for the time we get to spend together in remembering Jesus Christ. We usually have to hurry breakfast and rush out the door but on Easter we get to sit and enjoy. The last several years we have had a tradition of having blueberry french toast. It is so yum!

This year Easter was on General Conference weekend. What a special treat! The Monday before General Conference we had a family home evening lesson on facing our "tents" to the temple and the prophets. So during General Conference, we made a tent that faced towards the prophets. It made it more meaningful and fun.

I was asked to make bread for Easter dinner. I made this traditional Italian Easter bread. It turned out really good.

Easter with the family.

St Patrick's day is always fun. Our family name is Irish and Scottish. We like to celebrate our heritage with a traditional St. Patrick's day dinner with corn beef, potatoes, carrots and Irish soda bread. It is always so good. The kids always have fun finding the leprechaun.