Our wonderful trip to Russia!!

We are back!!!! It's wonderful to be home and to realize how much we as Americans have; we take so much for granted! It was an amazing trip!! We saw and did so many things, I won't bore you with the details. I will just tell you the best and worst of Russia...

The best... was definitely seeing my parents!!! I miss them so much!! But while over there, I saw how much they are needed. They are doing so much good! I fell in love with the saints over in Russia. They truly are beloved children of our Heavenly Father. They have so little and are willing to give it all if it will help build up the kingdom of God. I was inspired by them for they truly are modern day pioneers!! Although I often feel bad for myself for not having my Mom and Dad around on holidays ,I will gladly sacrifice a little of my time with them for those wonderful people!

The worst... was missing the kids! It was hard to leave them for that long! And maybe a really turbulent airplane ride where we had a 30 foot free-fall on our way from Novosibirsk to Irkutsk on a Russian made airplane!!

Jessica and I at our stop over in London!

Shopping at Harrods!!!!!

A shot of Vintage Russia!

Riding the underground in Novosibirsk!

The mission home! (they live on the 4th floor!)

President Mickelsen making fun of my pregnant tummy!!
(taken at 17 weeks)

Feeding the squirrels at squirrel park!

Beautiful Lake Baikal in Irkutsk!!

(interesting fact it holds 25% of the worlds surface fresh water)

Riding on the trans-Siberian railway!!!
(we rode from Irkutsk to Ulan-Ude for 7 hours!)

The wonderful members of Ulan-Ude!!
(they made those hats and ties for us!)

James and I at the Buddist temple in Ulan-Ude!

The amazing Hermitage standing in front of a Monet!!!

In St. Petersburg in front of the Church of the spilled blood!!

Swan Lake!

(there is nothing as beautiful as Russian ballet!)

The third Thomas Turkey coming in January!!!!

From the picture, you may have guessed that #3 is on its way!!! I am almost 16 weeks pregnant!! And no, we are not going to find out the sex again!!! Dorothy said "I hope it's a girl baby, but (with prompting from Mom) I will love a boy baby!" Preston has no clue what's going on and that his baby days are numbered!!!

~~I won't be blogging for a while due to the fact that we are off to Russia for 2 1/2 weeks visiting President and Sister Mickelsen!!!

Dasvedanya

GNO~ ends up Breaking Dawn!!!

The day finally arrived.... Breaking Dawn hit the shelves at midnight on August 2!!!! We were there, ready and equipped with t-shirts (compliments of Maria Ink.) and a brain full of useless facts from all three books (that would be used during the trivia games). A group of "crazy girls" got together dressed up and went out for dinner/dessert. We then went to the (Twilight Moms) social event of the year- the book party at the Tattered Cover. Some girls from our group were even chosen to play in "Forks family feud!" We were wild and crazy, laughed so hard we cried and stayed out till 'Dawn'!!! I guess that's what happens when a bunch of Mormon Moms go for a night out!!

Dressed and ready for the party!!!

Dinner and dessert

Maria and Laura playing 'family feud'
(sorry it's blurry I had a few too many Cokes to drink at this point!)

A close up of our amazing shirts!!

The "crazy girls!"

and... FINALLY it's ours to go home and read ALL NIGHT!!!!

Girls Camp!

For girls camp this year we went to Estes park. It was so beautiful up there! We had so much fun staying up late, telling ghost stories, snipe hunting, and just enjoying the beautiful world we live in!! Our camp theme was "Be like the north star, steadfast and immovable." It was amazing and I feel so blessed that I could go~~ Thanks to my wonderful Mother-in-law who watched the kidlets!!! After all the fun, amazing food, and late nights~~ I can't wait for next year!!!

Heading out for the hike!!

One of the lakes we hiked to!!

The girls went canoeing, paddle boating and bike riding!!