I love to see the temple...

Recognize them?....

“I hope that everyone gets to the temple on a regular basis. If we are a temple-going people, we will be a better people, we will be better fathers and husbands, we will be better wives and mothers. I know your lives are busy. I know that you have much to do. But I make you a promise that if you will go to the house of the Lord, you will be blessed, life will be better for you. Now, please, please, my beloved brethren and sisters, avail yourselves of the great opportunity to go to the Lord’s house and thereby partake of all of the marvelous blessings that are yours to be received there” (Gordon B. Hinckley, fireside, Lima, Peru, 9 Nov. 1996).

I love going to the temple. I feel so blessed to have to opportunuty to go, especially with my eternal companion.There's nothing like the peace that can be felt there, especially, compared to such a fast paced chaotic world. We need the temple. I hope this will inspire you to recommit to going to the temple, often.

Seattle with Phil and Summer!

This part weekend Matt and I drove to seattle to spend the weekend with our good friends Summer and Phil. We had a blast. The first night we went to this park and threw the football for a while and then went down to the beach and skipped rocks and just enjoyed the evening. Then we went back to their place and played SETTLERS OF CATAN! We love that game. Then we watched a movie and fell asleep. The next day we had a yummy breakfast and then Phil and Summer showed us around Seattle. We had a blast! We went inside the coolest library I've ever been in. The architecture and color schemes were so cool. We had fun exploring and taking pictures in there. Then we went to the farmers market to look around. Pike Place had the coolest fish market. The guys that worked there were so energetic. They always had a crowd around watching as they shouted out the orders and threw the huge fishes around. We got to ample some smoked salmon...mmm mmm good. Summer had us try these delicious doughnuts that they made fresh right there....sooo yummy. We really enjoyed looking around. After we were done exploring downtown Seattle, we went back and played another game of Settlers before Matt and I got back on the road to go home. What a fun weekend!


The Farmer's market in Seattle.


Summer and Phil took this...it turned out kind of cool.

He's pretty cute.

On our way into the "throat". We called it the throat because it was this big hallway that was all red and dimly lit. It was my favorite part of the library.

He jumped into my arms like a little boy.

Matt was mauling me.

Summer and Phil again. Phil likes to strike a pose...

Matt zoomed in and took this picture of Phil. He showed me the camera and I didn't even know it was Phil so I just kept looking around for him.

I'm just cooler than him, that's all.

Super cool yellow narrow escalators. This library has 5 floors and was sooo cool.

The "look off" pose.

They were cool chairs made of foam.

We saw them playing chess in the library. We thought it was classic. Don't worry, I stood really far back and just zoomed in. I wasn't standing by the table taking pictures of them. haha I'm betting the old man won.

My husband is a monkey. He saw the tree and said it looked like it needed to be climbed.

The best part about this picture is Summer playing on the sea horse toy...she got stuck. haha

oh, isn't he cute. haha

Matt wanted in on the action.

Summer and Phil...so cute.

Me and summer

The boys skipping rocks at the beach

I tried to take a picture of myself with the pretty background.

US!

We stopped at Cascade Locks for ice cream and took some pictures!

The professional wedding pics!

While I was in NY I was finally able to see all of my professional wedding pictures and I must say, they turned out pretty great! They were all taken by Summer Potter and she sure did a fantastic job! I posted some of my favorites below. While I'm blogging, I figure I should keep everyone posted on what's going on in our lives. I mentioned before that Matt got the call to be a seminary teacher...well I did too. We'll be team teaching together every morning. We have 28 students...9th-12th grade. We're really excited to have the opportunity to teach together...what a blessing for our marriage. While it will definitely be a challenge to teach together and not offend or step on eachother's toes, it'll be a strengthening experience for us both. It's just what we need. There's no calling I'd rather have than one with the youth and serving with my husband makes it all the better. We're both really grateful and excited. I actually took a class called "Introduction to Teaching Seminary" during my last semester at BYU-I. I learned a lot in that class and think it will be a great help for me. And Matt, although he's never done this before, he knows a whole lot about the sciptures and he's a really great teacher. Matt's practice is growing and we're so grateful for that...we pray that the growth will continue...starting a practice is a tough thing to do. I am keeping busy with cooking and baking and cleaning and running most of the errands. Soccer is over but I'll be playing again in the fall. I got the chance to go rafting on the Deschutes again this past weekend with Matt's sisters and dad. We're going camping this weekend with Matt's family. We're having a great time! The fall is going to be very busy. I'll be going to school full time as well as teaching seminary...but I'd rather be busy than bored. Life's great!



This is my favorite out of the pictures of the two of us...it's just so sweet and candid. It was taken in the field right next to the temple in Palmyra.

Matt and his cousin Shane...so silly.

I've got better ups than Matt...just call me Jordan.

With my momma and dad

Me and my twin brother Dirk.

me and my sisters...Celeste, Carissa and Kalin

Me, with our dads.

Matt with our moms.

This is my wonderful family.

This is my family with all the spouses and my little nephew Dean.

Everyone (well, almost) that was at the temple with us.

My trip home to NY!

Whitney and her husband came over on my last night in town to visit. Whitney was one of my best friends growing up and it was so so fun seeing her and her awesome husband, Kyle! I hadn't seen them since my first semester at BYU-I.

Tiffany with her baby.

We had lunch at Johnny Rockets!

She is such a good baby. She just snuggled up and slept in my arms almost the whole time I was there.

I went to buffalo to visit my bestfriend Tiffany and her sweet little baby, Madeleine.

Call us immature, but we thought it was funny and Nathan wanted a picture...so I had to take it. haha It's not actually a butt...but it looks like one!

In Canada they have these yummy treats called "Beaver Tails". It's fried dough with cinnamon and sugar and then they have a bunch of other stuff you can add to it. We tried one and it was mm mm good!

This is Crazzy Dave. He's homeless and to make money he write poems on cardboard and people buy them from him. I bought one called "My Warrior Soul". By the way, ignore my hair...I know it needs cut and it especially needs re-dyed...my roots are coming in so light, that from a distance it looks like my hair is thinning...it's not. Ha ha.

Me and my cute momma. My mom did so much fo me while I was there. That woman is a super hero! She does it all!

Me and my sister-in-law, Stef.

Me and my Dirky!

This is the view from the top of the Peace Tower. It was so beautiful looking down onto Ottawa.

We got to go into the Peace Tower. The architecture was so beautiful.

My mom, little brothers and I went to Ottawa, Canada to visit my brother, Dirk, and his wife, Stefanie. Ottawa is the capital of Canada it was such a fun city to explore.

We went Hiking!

We stopped and had some lunch. Dry packed beef stroganoff and teriyaki chicken with rice. It was actually really good.

My dad and the little men.

Me and my little brothers posing before we started our hike. So let me tell you a little bit about our hike. We had planned to take the trail that would lead us on a 4 mile hike. 4 miles, not so bad. Throughout the trail, there were lots of other trails that would cross through it. We missed 1 (just 1!) marking on a tree and got onto the wrong path. So our 4 mile hike turned into a 9 mile hike. Ha ha We were quite tired but we made it and no one died. It was a great opportunity to spend more quality time with my dad and little brothers, and now we have a story to tell...I'm sure one day we could even find some gospel patterns in this experience and use it in a talk or something of that nature. Oh the opportunities! Ha ha.

This is beautiful NY. This is for all those who only think of the city when they hear NY...well it's much more than that.

My little brothers and I like to be silly sometimes...we went to lunch ot Taco Bell and had a little fun.

Back in WA, before my trip to NY.

We went to a water park in Seattle with two of our great friends Summer and Phil. It was actually freezing...but the lines we short so it was almost worth it. It was so much fun spending time with them!

It's hard to see, but our car had just reached 200,000 miles! Woah!

Uncle Matt with Adan and Andres...he's sooo strong!