helloooooooo my friends,
this last week was just too darn good. we got to go down to my cute little hometown for FIVE WHOLE DAYS (well, if we are being technical, it was 4 whole days, but whatever) because my little brother
finally
returned from his 3,000 year mission.
i honestly don't remember monday and tuesday from last week, but who really cares because wednesday was when life got super fun!
parker & i both had to work on wednesday, but then right after parker got home from work, we loaded up the car, made a quick stop at our favorite--costa vida-- and then we were on our way to the airport! we got there about 20 minutes before my little brother stepped off of the plane.
this is my favorite picture of my mom. i took it right after she saw my little brother's plane after it landed. that's something special about the st. george airport, it's pretty small, so you know exactly which plane they will be on!
this poster was originally made by my sisters for me. but then when it came time for clancy to come home, my little cousin blacked out the word sister and wrote elder over it.
every person in this picture got to really meet clancy at the airport for the first time, it was such a special time for our family!
we were so excited to see clancy. at the airport, he got to meet all of our nieces (#sweetgirl was born a month before he left, but in baby time, two years is a whole LOT to miss, so they re-met) plus parker and also my sister-in-law cora. we hugged, i don't think there were any tears this round, just lots of smiles. after hugs, we gathered his luggage from the luggage spinny-thing and then we headed home.
on thursday, we had a relaxed day. just kidding, it was my mom's birthday and all she wanted for her birthday was to spend it with her favorites (all of us) and new trees in her backyard. so while she was at work (dumb school doesn't even give you your birthday off... bogus) the rest of us went to the nursery to pick grandma out some trees. when we got back, it was time for naps (some of us even wanted to take rests in the nursery wagons...) by the time everyone woke up from naps, grandma was home, so we got to plant some flowers while the big guys planted the trees.
sweet girl got pretty tired at the nursery and a little bummed out when she realized that this nursery was not like the nursery she goes to at church....
the little girls think uncle parkie is pretty neat and MB thought that seat next to uncle parkie was pretty perfect for her tiny little self, and she was right!
after tree and flower planting, we were all pretty beat, so we rested by watching the newest Star Wars movie, Star Wars: The Force Awakens. unfortunately, after waiting ten months to watch that movie, i did not awaken-- quite the opposite, i was so tired i fell right to sleep about halfway (i think????) through... oops... i'll finish it soon though!
on friday we did a whole lot of pomegranate pickin. it was a little tiny blast.
after pomegranates, parker and i had to head out for a family photo session we had scheduled... it involved horses and i was terrified, but all is well, my friends, all is well.
on saturday, we did more work with the pomegranates. this isn't your typical pinterest salad, my friends. we have rows and rows of pomegranate bushes (fun fact: pomegranates grow on bushes. not trees.) and every year our entire family gets together to juice the pomegranates for jelly. we also started making pomegranate molasses [candy & baking stuff] which is pretty yummy as well. (i secretly like it better than regular molasses candy...)
i had more photos and videos of the pomegranate process, but i realized that they are all vertical videos and that's just not gonna fly, so hopefully when we go back down in a few weeks, we can make a sweet video for all of you to see the whole process. it's pretty country, but it works for our little family. however, i have to brag, this system is seriously the family pet project. my grandpa, dad, and brother-in-law try to make the system better every year to get us more juice from the pummers (that's what our family calls them) and so far, the system we've got this year is one of my favorites. so stay tuned for a video (and pray that we will still be juicing by then so i can actually make the video!!)
after working with the pummers, we all got ready for some family pictures. i had the opportunity to take our family pictures this year and i really enjoyed it. i stressed A LOT about it, but i think they turned out well and everyone was happy because they were quick and simple.
not one person complained about taking a funny picture... so we took a lot...
my cute parents.
ladies, he's single & almost ready to mingle. ... he just got home, give him a date or two to get un-weird. ... okay, less weird...
me: "hey parker, we're going to take a picture."
him:
on sunday, my little brother crushed his homecoming talk & my big brother gave the sweetest blessing to his new baby daughter. and my dad, well he dominated the grill later that day makin those carne asada tacos. i could definitely eat a few more of those... (psssst. dad. my birthday is coming up & we will be visiting ;))
my big brother's cute family after the baby blessing. i die because they are sooooo cute. i mean LOOK at those babies. oh, par and cor, you're cute too... (also, i just realized that their couple name would be parcor... like parkour and that's pretty rad. if you don't know what parkour is watch this video) it was a fantastic week. i loved visiting my family (as usual) but i'm also glad to be home (now that i'm actually home and getting back into my weekly routine... coming home was a teensie tiny bit rough... okay, i cried. it was rough, but we're working on it) i really am so happy to be here with my parker love. having him around makes everything better and okay.
but this is long, so i'll sign off.
love,
the happiest camper,
sadie