Nothing like family!

So I've just got to take a personal minute here and praise my Dad. (What am I talking about? This blog is all about personal minutes!!) I come from a great family, well, Brad and I both do, but I think you tend to forget that when you live so far away from them for so long. You can talk on the phone and "catch-up" but it's never quite the same as seeing them in action.

My parents have always been big into serving others. As far back as I can remember if my dad would receive a phone call from someone in need he would be out the door in a heartbeat. He'd never asked questions, he'd just go. Well, this weekend we experienced a bit of that.

You see, for the last few years all of our "stuff" has been stored in their basement taking up space and collecting dust. And just yesterday my dad hooked the trailer up to their SUV, loaded them both as full as they would go, and drove 8-10 (well, what should have been 8-10 hours) down to LA just because he loves us. Due to unforseen circumstances the drive ended up taking a lot longer than he had planned. He arrived at our home at 8:00 PM, we (well, the boys) unloaded the goods, Dad had a sleep, and then by 7:00 the next morning he was off and running again to return home because he was worried about my Mom (or so he says. It was probably just my cooking he was running away from.)

Brad and I are still in complete awe of this complete act of selflessness. My dad totally put his own cares and worries on the back burner and came to help us. I am humbled and rejuvenated by this whole experience. You see, you always KNOW that you come from a good family, but sometimes you forget just how good they really are. I have always wanted to be like my dad and this helped me remember the reasons why. Thank you so much dad! You will NEVER know just how loudly your actions have spoken to us. Thank you for the example. We love you so much!

Also, thanks to Mom, Kendal, and Kristen for helping with the loading and to Kacey, Amy, Josh, and Emma for all your help with the unloading! Family really is the best thing in the world!! I love you guys!

Temple Square

This was the same day we got our car. We had to spend a fair bit of time waiting so luckily we got to be in cool surroundings!! Here's a few of our favorites:

She kept calling the Assembly Hall (which is what she's looking at), and the temple "castles." And I suppose for many of us we do consider it our castle where we married our handsome prince.

Best we could get. She was more interested in....

This! The money at the bottom! Her arm was wet most of the way up.

Love these ones!

She was fascinated with this spot. She didn't want to leave. She kept repeating over and over, "Jesus Frist, Jesus Frist." (That's how she says it, not sure why.) And then she'd look at the walls and want to sing "Crinkle, Crinkle, little dar."

And more snow...

Later that same day. I thought March was supposed to come in like a lion and go out like a lamb?! Whatever happened to that?

Snow!

Amelia got to see snow for the very first time while we were visiting Brad's parents. One morning we woke up and this is what we found:

And this is what it did to Amelia:

Giddy as a little school girl!

The greats!

Amelia got to visit with Great Grandma and Grandpa Wilson and one of Brad's cousins homecomings. It was so good to see them again.

And now on to Utah...

This was Amelia's first visit to a "Farm." And she loved it!! Every night she would go out with my dad to feed the animals. A kids dream!

Too cute!

Two little buddies.

And then the game of basketball would ensue.

Well...someone get the ball!

Grandpa tries to block it...

Cheater!

Ebony and Ivory live together in perfect harmony!

"Side by side on my keyboard!" So while we were staying with Kacey and Amy this was a familiar sight after breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Amelia or Josh would sneak over to the piano and as soon as the parents would let them pound on it the other would run over and join in.

Looks like trouble!

Fox Studios!

There is a girl that Brad went to school with in Sydney, named Sara, who now works at Fox studios in the casting department. When she heard that we were in LA, she wanted to meet up and somehow Brad got her to consent to a private tour of Fox studios! We had lunch and she showed us a few things and then she just let us wander free. She told us that if anyone asks, were here casting Amelia for a part. So fun!

The back lot.

The New York set. If you watch "Annie" (the one with the red headed fro girl), this is the set they use. This is the view from the front...

...and this is what it looks like from behind!

"It's a hard knock life for me!"

More park fun.

These are still photos from our first week back in the states while we were staying with Kacey and Amy. They took us to quite a few cool parks in the area. Here are just a few more photos:

Who's the driver?

Teeter-totter fun...or is that see-saw fun?

Seeing the LA temple for the first time.

Still going with the back log of updates for our blog. I've got so many photos and still so far to go!! Oh well, in time!

Here are the photos of our first trip to the LA temple.

(Can you tell who took this photo?)

Amelia on the phone with Grandma Wilson, revisiting the old stomping grounds.

LA photos!

The day after we arrived back in the United states we headed to the park with the cousins!! So much fun.

This slide was HUGE!!! I wish I would have gotten a picture of the full thing. It had 3 twists/turns to it! Every little kids dream!

Uncle Kacey!

Aunt Amy and Emma eating lunch.

Joshie! "That's a good one dad!"

Just hangin' out!

Hmmm...Internal error!

Well, I have like a bazillion photos to upload and share with you all, but for some reason everytime I try to upload them, it says there is an internal error. Hmmm...maybe later. Sorry guys!

We're still alive!!

I know it's been a long time since we have posted anything on here. So here are a few photos to keep you up to speed. Well, kinda, these are almost a month old, but hey, we're still trying to get settled into our new life.

Here are the photos we took on the plane ride from Sydney to LA.

This is how she fell asleep. Poor little thing. She was just too big for the bassinets and too small for the chairs so she just couldn't get comfortable. But at least we all got some sleep.