welcome home elder raso!!!

Justin's brother Tyler just returned home from serving his mission in Iowa. It was a really fun event welcoming him at the airport since we hadn't officially met him yet. long story short we met the family just a few weeks after he left to the mtc, we've written him on his mission and talked to him on the phone for christmas and mothers day.

Lots of family came, we missed those who couldn't . Tyler is a jokester just like the rest of the family, so we've been pulling all the pranks out on him while he's still a little rusty from the mission.

A funny thing happened at the airport. These two couples came out before tyler did and immediatly told justin he must be the brother, he looked so similiar to ty. He didn't know what to say.

There were some tears, lots of smiles, we were all glad to have him home. hopefully i'll have more pictures up of ty's homecoming and our adventures this summer.

Just some fun family pics.

baby benjamin allen

We were so excited last week, cute little baby Ben was born May 27th, 2009. For those that don't know, baby Ben is Justin's cousin, on his dad's side of the family. His aunt Christina, was a high risk pregnancy and the same week that the doctor had her come stay at the hospital for most likely the duration of her pregnancy, she gave birth to cute little Ben. He is 12 weeks early, and so far is getting stronger by the day. We keep him and the family in our prayers.

He is so tiny, weighing 1lb 5 oz
He about a week old in these pictures

right after delivery

proud mama

mommy and baby ben

daddy and baby

3 days old in these pictures

in his mom's words....

cute little bug!

fun times

I decided to take some fun pictures while it was still warm out. so enjoy!

I love this picture, because ikaika was being silly and just laughing at me.

He thought it was so cool to be in the back of the truck

We decided to check out jungle jims, and had a blast.

here we are on the carisol

Ikaika even went onthe rollarcoaster with me. Justin took him the first time and sat on the wrong side. Needless to say ikaika wasn't too thrilled about being squashed.

We celebrated justin and carlys' birthday together, since they are close together.

The cake was really yummy, brooke decorated the top very nicely.

Justin and Carly getting ready to blow out their candles. Of course Ikaika had to help. He could hardly wait to eat the cake.

One nice day we went to the park. Ikaika had a blast throwing wood chips at everyone.

Rascal Flatts

Went to the Rascal Flatts concert and loved it!! Thank you Jessica!

We had some good seats, lower bowl to the side. Jessica Simpson opened for them, she did terrific and rascal flatts opened with a bang!

Lots of lights, firworks, great music, jokes...it was AWESOME!!

We even ended up with our own rascal flatt cowboy hats and balloons. Well i brought a balloon home for ikaika, i knew he'd love it.

It has been such a long time since I've been to a concert, I'm so glad jessi won those tickets and took me..thank you jessie!!!

I was really impressed on what a great concert it was.

bowling

So we decided to go bowling with the fam the other night, i didn't realize how long it's been until i tried bowling!!LOL!!! The first two games i maybe made it to 50, though i'm blaming ikaika because i let him help me...ha ha. It was a lot of fun, ikaika loved it but towards the end, he just wanted to run around the place, check out every nook and krany..

happy V day!

So this valentines we didn't do much, in fact we didn't do anything till the next day. It worked out pretty good, Ikaika's grandparents watched him while Justin and i saw twilight at the dollar theaters and ate out at wild wings.(very good wings and excellent onion rings by the way)
It turned out very nice.
In fact, i wasn't too thrilled with twilight when it first came out in November but i think it was much better watching it the second time, i was more prepared for the bad parts. So if you only saw it once, see it again and this time for less. I enjoyed it much more.
We also left flowers for grandma Carlton. It was very nice to stop everything and sit for a moment. Justin told me all the funny memories he has of her, even how she sounded calling his name when he was in trouble. ( which I'm sure Justin was often in trouble...lol)
We even took Ikaika by to visit the next day. showed him the picture of the mountains and the temple on the headstone. He loved that and talked away about his favorite show the backyardigans...ha ha.
it was a very nice day...

facebook

so i decided to open up my facebook again, my family is now addicted to the mafia game on there. So i had to play too...
I love that I can keep in touch with all my family no matter where they are and even friends from high school, wow that seems so long ago.
It's been great reconnecting and seeing all the wonderful pictures. Facebook itself is a bit addicting.

Draper Temple..

Justin and i went to the draper temple with my parents this week. I was so in awe with the amount of love and hard work that goes into such a beautiful place. There were so many people there, checking out the new temple just like us and it was great how quiet it still was and what a peaceful feeling remained there.
I thought about the loved ones who have passed on already and how blessed i feel knowing I will see them again. The whole plan of salvation, having a purpose in life...
In a week, it will be 2 years since Justin and I were sealed together, to our then, baby boy. Can't believe how time has passed. I remember being so nervous that Ikaika wouldn't be able to sit still. He was a perfect angel and my favorite memory was holding his tiny hand as Justin and i held hands. We could be together forever.
The temple truly is a magnificent place...

fun at the park

Tuesday was such a nice day

we decided to stop at the park

while we were out

and snap some great pictures.

I love that smile...Ikaika had so

much fun!

Daddy and Ikaika...Ikaika

looks like he's having

a blast. I love this picture.

Ikaika really wanted to jump

in the water, but i just wouldn't

let him.

need for sun!!!

With all the snow and cold

weather in Utah, I've been missing

the warmth and sun.

As a last minute decision, Ikaika

and I took a trip down to Vegas

with my father in law and

visited Justin's side of the fam.

(our fam, same difference)

We had a lot of fun and i

sat out in the sun as much

as possible and Ikaika

got to play with his cousins

every day.

The pictures are in reverse, starting

with the trip home.

Ikaika was a great traveler

to and from Vegas.

He slept most of the way

there and half of the way back.

Papa Joe and Ikaika, our stop

at carls jr. on our way home

auntie Roselle and ikaika.
ikaika was telling her all
about one of his favorite movies
"Finding Nemo"

It was Papa Joe's birthday. We
surprised him with a cake
Melo, Azh and Kaika
helping Papa Joe out
with that 3 layered chocolate
cake...yummmm


Melo, Ahz and Ikaika, racing
their cars out back

making wishes!

I told him to smile, that's

what i got...LOL!

In front of Papa Max's tractor.

Ikaika just loved it!

On the strip in Vegas. Those are the two

buildings Papa Max is workin on.

racing cars again...