Megan and Skyler

Every one of my siblings has had BIG life changes this year.  First babies, new jobs, big moves, adding sisters to the family, and now adding the last brother-in-law.  Megs got married last week!  Skyler is officially the favorite brother-in-law because he can get the other brothers-in-law sports equipment at manufacture price.  And he's tall.  They like that.

It was a delight to see Megan so obviously excited.  She plays things very close to the chest!  In fact, when they were dating I got an email from her asking me to look at a few wedding dresses and give her my opinion.  I wrote back and said, "Did I miss something?" to which she replied, "It's for the wedding Sky and I are planning."  I said, "For who????"  Ha ha!  The two of them are very sweet to each other, it was fun to see her like that.

And hanging out with the family was an added bonus!  We only had a few days together, but I wanted every second with them.  My nephews and niece were all-stars.  Every time I did a head count for my kids, they were chasing them about, taking them on adventures, and keeping them happy.

(Bennett, Whitney, Abbey, Parker, Spencer, & Hayden)

Megan and Skyler had a dinner and reception the night before, so Saturday was all about the temple ceremony.  It was nice to have the whole morning to get down there, enjoy the temple grounds, and spend time together without rushing to get back to a reception.

Megan has always had a special place in my heart.  And by the looks of the people surrounding her that day, I think she has that effect on a lot of people.  We were laughing about how none of us could remember ever, ever fighting with her.  Allison sheepishly said, "I think I got mad at her once and sat on her."  She still felt bad about it!  I've never heard her say something bad about someone, she is a loyal friend and sister, a talented athlete, and beautiful person.  In a family that is pretty go-with-the-flow, she is definitely the easiest going.  As little hiccups would come up over the weekend, she would just shrug her shoulders and move on.  If there is an opposite of a bridezilla, she's it.  I love being around her, that is one lucky guy!

Up To The Highest Height

This man of mine is NOT EASY to buy for.  But this year I had the perfect idea.  Kites.  Yes.

A few years ago he found a trick kite at a garage sale and it was love.  But it was stolen last summer.  He ran a kid to the bathroom and someone walked off with a six foot kite and 60 feet of unwound kite line.  

We happen to live fairly close to an awesome kite shop.  The owner actually designed most of these kites, so he always has an easy fix if we lost or damaged a part.  In fact, he built a whole new frame for Justin's first kite so it wouldn't spring apart when it crashed.  He (easily) talked me into getting a kid's one as well this time.  It's much smaller but the wind was STRONG that day, so it would just take Abbey for a run every time she got it up and going.

I was just about to head in when I decided to give the big one a go.  I had it up for maybe 30 seconds when I lost control and slammed it into this one, tiny pole in the field.  It was the craziest luck, the pole only stood about 2-3 feet out of the ground.  Anyway, I completely busted it and couldn't help but burst out laughing.  Of course.  Of course I destroyed his only gift right on his birthday.  But our kite magician had it back and running and charged me about $4.

I banned myself from flying in high winds, but this guy has so much control over them, it's really fun to watch him fly all the tricks.  He's adding up in years, but I don't think he'll ever outgrow toys!