Janelle and Bryton are engaged!! 💗

Janelle went to Lake Powell with Bryton's family and it was there that Bryton proposed! One of the evenings they were there, McKenna, Bryton's sister-in-law suggested they all go on a sunrise hike the next morning. Bryton nonchalantly acted somewhat uninterested by mentioning how early that would be. When he came to get Janelle in the morning she was still in her pajamas and he was wearing a nice, white collared shirt. The shirt tipped Janelle off a little, and Bryton tried to cover it up by saying that his mom made him bring this "rich guy boating shirt" on the trip, ha ha.  They went to a pretty overlook point and Janelle walked forward and saw the big light up letters that said, "Marry Me." Bryton proposed and she said, "Yes!" Janelle and Bryton are so great together! We are so excited for them to start this new adventure together! 

Josh, Missionary Photoshoot

I brought Josh to Snow Canyon to take some missionary pictures today! I was glad that we got some good ones!! 

Temple Endowment!

Tonight Josh went through the temple to receive his endowment! All of his siblings came down for this special occasion, which is so awesome! We all went out to lunch at the Golden Corral, and then Josh and Rick went straight to the temple (since they needed to be there early in order for Josh to receive his other ordinances) and the rest of us hurried home to change clothes and drop off the boys to be babysat by Jenna and her friend, Bria, and then all headed over to the temple to meet up with Rick and Josh. We had a really nice session and met in the Celestial room and talked for a while, and then went out to take some pictures. It was a special day! 

While we were gone, Jenna and her friend, Bria babysat the grandkids! 

Fourth of July in CHICAGO!!!

After the church history trip with the cousins our family continued on to Chicago for a couple of days to see the sites. Jared was excited because he served his mission in Chicago and we thought it would be fun to spend the Fourth of July there. We were nervous on the long drive from Nauvoo to Chicago because the rental car had to be turned in before the place closed and we were cutting it VERY close! We made it though!! 

We dropped off the rental car, pulled out our luggage, and walked to our hotel. We were right in the city on an extremely high floor! We walked to a restaurant for dinner. 

We thought that there would be a lot going on in Chicago for the Fourth of July, but there really wasn't much, except for fireworks the night before. We wondered why they had fireworks the on July 3rd instead of July 4th. The fireworks were going to be set off at the pier and so we walked over -- along with thousands of other people. It was SO crowded!! Jenna had her cell phone in her back pocket and I thought for sure someone would swipe it. I kept taking it from her and putting in my sling bag since it is worn in front of me and probably a much safer option. We walked over and found a place to sit on the grass. We didn't have blankets or anything to sit on and our view wasn't very good since there was a tree partially obstructing our view. 

We had headed out in the morning and saw what looked like a parade going on, but it turned out to be an anti-Israel, pro-palistinian protest!! There were cops everywhere! We went into a store only to see a cop apprehending someone in the store. The whole atmosphere made me on feel on edge. I could never see myself living here, haha. 

We walked over to the bean and took some pictures. It was pretty cool! It was also really crowded in spite of the light drizzling rain. It was also very hot and humid!! 

After the bean we went to a nearby mini golf course! 

We walked around the city and went to Chinatown and got something to eat. 

We went to lunch at a Chinese Restaurant! 

Jared really wanted us to experience Chicago deep dish pizza and so we tried out one of their pizza places (that had gluten free options). It was really good! 

July 5: Rick learned that there was a Deaf Expo going on just a few blocks from our hotel and so of course he couldn't resist going and throwing a little work in to the trip so that we could make part of our expenses tax deductible. The kids opted to stay back at the hotel and sleep in. I first I was really resistant to going to the Deaf Expo on our vacation, but it turned out fine. We even ran into some friends of ours there! (Billy Kendrick) 

We went back for the kids and checked out of our hotel and checked in our luggage in the hotel's secure facility and then did some more sight seeing before heading back home to Utah! 

I put this post together on July 4, 2025 a year after it occured, so if there are any inaccuracies to the information, that is why! It is as correct as I remember it though!