And we are off to Texas!

Tomorrow I leave for Texas! My sister ManDee is tying the knot and we are going there to celebrate her big day. Brittany has been there since Tuesday helping my mom bake cookies and goodies for the reception since catering is ridiculously expensive. I stuck around and worked so I didn't have to take so much time off. I enjoyed a little time to myself but now I am ready to see my kids once again. I will post more upon return!

Youth Conference "Book of Mormon"

Brittany and I just got back from a 3 day Youth Conference where we were able to be "tribe leaders" of a little family of 7. We really enjoyed our time together with our 7 teenagers as we tried to help them feel the Spirit of the Book of Mormon. We had some powerful experiences together. We would do it again in a heart beat. Enjoy some of the pictures below.





This was the first day of Youth Conference where we were able to meet our family and do a service project together before we departed to the camp





This is our humble famliy "The Army of Helaman". We had to construct a tower like the one that King Benjamin spoke from in the Book of Mormon times.

I Think we make a pretty good looking Nephite Couple!

Brittany tried to hunt like Nephi in the Wilderness. She actually had one of the highest scores of the group.

This was our Journey to the Promised Land. Our city was named Shazer. We had to find it with a map and compass.

Arches National Park

We just recently went to Arches National Park for a weekend getaway with my sister Sharae and her husband Brady. We had a blast. This is a picture of me at Turret Arch.

This is me at Window Arch. My sister and I went hiking to a few Arches while our husbands rode part of Slickrock on their Mountain Bikes.





This is me and Shad hiking in Moab on this trail that mostly the locals know about.

This is Shad and me with my sister Sharae and her husband Brady while hiking to delicate arch.

This is Shad and I looking through an arch to Delicate Arch.

This is Delicate Arch. That is me and Shad at the bottom, to give you an idea of how big it really is.

Shad and Brady packing up our stuff. This campsite was so tiny. We barely had room for both tents (only because we put one half way onto the road) and there wasn't even a fire pit. Dumb!

We got to talk to Bryce this last weekend since his call was cut short on Mother's Day (time ran out on the phone card because he didn't but enought minutes). It was so fun to hear how he was doing. He is grasping the language better and better and is feeling more useful as a missionary. He is with a native companion right now so that helps him with the language. We were so glad that we got to talk to him for a while. We sure miss having him around.

Easter 2008

We had a great time (as you can tell by the Look on Shad's Face) coloring easter eggs with the kids. We made tie-dye easter eggs and like always the coloring gets everywhere.

The Gifford Girls in their beautiful new Easter Dresses. Shad bought Brittany's and Nani (Grandma Harrison) bought Brooklyn's.

The handsome boys looking good for Easter Sunday. I love Chandler's tie.

The boys getting a little R and R after a long day at church. We have 1pm church so it makes for a long day with the kids.

Chandlers 1 Year Birthday

We celebrated Chandler's one year birthday in February. We were happy to see lots of family there. He had a lot of fun trying to figure out how to eat his own Cake. Shad made him a cake that looked like a baseball and did a pretty good job for his first cake decorating experience. Definitely nothing like his mom's talent but he'll get there someday.