We Have a lot of Catching Up

So, my parents haven't been able to get on or something, so I will start putting up pictures and stuff! I think I'll start with St George, as we went there quite recently, over Fall Break.

DAY ONE

 This was at the Fremont Indian State Park.

Just chillin' in a kiva! 

There was a canyon we walked down. 

 Mom and Grace are so adorable!

 Yep, I got two pictures of them.

 We had some In-N-Out burgers when we got to St George.

 This was our condo we stayed at.

 We tried to go to the Tuacahn Theatre, but it rained so hard they made us go home.

 But, we got some flavored crust pizza, so it was okay. (The guy even gave us an extra combo for free!)

DAY TWO

Eliza wasn't quite sure if she trusted the offal Jesse gave her.

 This was Snow Canyon State Park, and it was where we spent most our time.

We played on sand dunes. 

Walked on scary fall-aparty roads. 

Went on super lame walks. 

 Saw some actually cool stuff.

 Then I convinced cousins to go with me on a funner hike; the Petrified Dunes.

 These are the dunes, they were really cool.

This is my favourite picture, so I made it bigger. 

 Seth playing on the dunes.

 Jesse almost at the top!

 Seth just standing there.

 Wow! What an incredibly attractive photographer. 

 Jesse and Aunt Cheryl coming back from the Dunes.

 Hamburgers at the condo.

 Seth being Seth... with a potato.

Playing around downstairs.

Okay, I think I'll do the rest in another post, 'cause this one is getting way too long. Adios!

Christmas 2011 Pictures

Kirk was NOT expecting a BYU pillow pet, but me and the girls just couldn't resist!

Yay!  Extra reading time!

Voodoo knows how to relax on a cold winters day :)

Earl family Christmas party at Grandmas house.

Eliza, after her Christmas sing at school.  No that is NOT her boyfriend on the left;)

Christmas day after church.  We couldn't believe how warm it was that day!

Three birthdays in a row!

Olivia, Eliza and Zachary's Birthdays are all between the 3rd week of November and the first of December.  It feels like a non-stop party!  Especially considering Thanksgiving and then Christmas right after.  I really love this time of year and it's even more fun with my three birthday girls and boy!


Mike had to travel to New York for work most of the month of November but came back just in time for Olivia's birthday.  Unfortunately, he missed Eliza's but we compensated for that by dragging her birthday out a few extra days.  She took full advantage of the situation of course! 


Olivia's birthday was on a Saturday, so we went to the mall for a little shopping and lunch.  For Eliza's birthday we went to see the Christmas lights at Thanksgiving Point.  Zachary mostly looked forward to a quick lunch at Thai Drift followed by dinner that night at a noodle house.  We are lucky to have so many international restaurants so close to our home!  Zach was in heaven!

Zach chose the noodle house for his birthday meal.  We all loved it!

Those iPhones sure are interesting ;)

Grace, Cami and Grandma at Olivia's birthday party

Why We Miss China!

Three Years Ago in China...

I can't believe it's been three years since our trip to China to adopt Grace! It's easy to remember because we were flying into Beijing on Zachary's birthday, which happens to be tomorrow!

Zachary has grown just a bit since then...now he looks down at me from his lofty 5'9' :) Of course, Kirk at 6'4" towers over me now! We all have so many memories of China and since we've been there twice around Christmas time, those feelings are always strong during December.

Several times over the last week Kirk or Zach would say to me..."I miss China!" A song we heard playing over and over (I Saw Three Ships) or the bitter, dry air will remind of us our time there and makes us wish we could go back soon. Mike was lucky to have a business trip there this summer, so he has some new memories of China.

China to me, and I think our whole family, is more than just an interesting place to travel. It holds dear memories for us of our first moments and days with both Eliza and Grace. Lives have been changed and required not a little bit of courage, bodies healed and grown in miraculous ways, and love has been given and received.

I am so grateful for the direction our lives have taken and to be blessed with my beautiful family!

Now that I'm back to the blog, I hope to add a few more entries from the last few months and a few more memories and pictures of China.

Grace was SO tiny! She looked more like 7 years old than 10! ( Yes, Zach and I just had to have our eyes closed for this picture.)

Jack and Harry

Our two students from Chengdu, China. We hosted them in our home for about 3 weeks in July. We loved having them with us and showing them around our area. It was a sad day when they had to leave, but we are glad to have new friends!

Harry and Jack at Tucanos. I asked Jack what he liked the best and he said "The Meat!"

The boys at church thought Harry and Jack were so cool!

Enjoying the views and gardens at the Provo Temple.

Playing games at cousins house.

Jack and Kirk playing basketball at our house.

Olivia and Eliza shopping with two other students, Vivian and Nancy. They are our new friends too! Eliza especially loved having new girl friends.

Kirk and the four students playing UNO. Our neighbors were hosting the girls at the time and we took them shopping for the day.

We are hosting two students, Jack and Harry, from Chengdu. We've been having a great time taking them to fun activities and eating great food!

Happy Birthday Grace!

Dinner at Chuck A Rama

Party with friends in the afternoon

Grace at girl's camp

First the reunion, then girl's camp...now we've celebrated Grace's 13th birthday. So much fun in the first few weeks of June!

Earl Family Reunion

The best part of the reunion was being together!

Dinner time was great for gathering everyone together.

Eliza and Olivia at the bridge by the lodge.

Pizza night was a hit! Especially with the pizza oven that was on the deck!

Eliza reading to Roni

Playing games

Trying out the boat on the fish pond

Enjoying the pool with cousins

Zach was the rock wall champion!

Playing "sproutball" at the activities center. Cheryl and I played a few games of basketball too. If there wasn't so much good food, I think I would've lost some weight!

Salt Lake City Field Trip

It was a wet and cold spring day for a field trip, but we had fun anyway! We also went to the Pioneer Museum next to the capitol. There were a few delays with so many things to see and do with a big group of 4th graders. Fortunately, the bus pulled into the school about 2 minutes before the bell rang!

Olivia and I at the State Capitol Temple Square fountains and Salt Lake City Temple in background

Olivia and friends in front of the historic Beehive House, home of Brigham Young.

Zachary's choir festival

I was lucky to be a chaperone for Zach's choir for festival today. They are an awesome choir! I loved hearing them and the other choirs sing such beautiful, uplifting songs. There are some really talented choirs and directors in our area. (Zach is in the middle front, closest to the girls in green).

Conference: LDS leaders emphasize service, families, temple work (Gallery Viewer)

ksl.com - LDS leaders emphasize service, families, temple work (Gallery Viewer) (Click on the link to see the pictures.) We had a great conference weekend. (Conference is a semi-annual meeting of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints).

Some of my favorite talks were about service and the Church's welfare program that is now 75 years old. Part of the welfare principles are about being self-reliant and serving others. One speaker said that when we feel compassion for others, we need to put that compassion into action. In other words, do something!!

There were so many helpful topics, all of which were uplifting and centered on Christ. You can access any of the talks on LDS.org under the conference section.