Park City baby!

Anyone who knows me would know that I love Park City! WELL... for my birthday this year Carter surprised me with a weekend getaway to where? Park City! I was stoked! Savannah got to stay with Grandma and Grandpa on Friday and Nana and Pop Pop on Saturday! Carter had that all arranged so I didn't need to plan anything! Other than packing since Mom is the one who would know what to send her with. ;) Then on our way we went! The first night we did some shopping! I had gotten a gift card for my bare minerals make-up so that was stop numero uno! Thanks again Jamie and Jared! Then we went to Old Navy to find matching flag shirts for Carter and Savannah for the 4th of July! We went to dinner, and then decided to go see Maleficent! It was awesome!

The next morning we rushed to get ready so we could make it to Draper for our friends Kelsey and Preston's wedding!

Seriously, look at how gorgeous this chick is! She was a beautiful bride!

This picture gets me every time I look at it... Bahahaha!

We went back to Park City so that we could go change, and get some lunch before we went and did some of the things we had planned. But first we had to Face time our little bug! She's so dang cute. :)

First on the list was the Alpine Coaster!

Next was the Alpine slide. This one I was particularly nervous for since Carter had told me how he and his brother had gotten seriously injured because they were stupid when riding this ride. There were 4 tracks to choose from, I chose this one...

It seemed like a dirty trick to me. 

Needless to say I went oober slow... Haha:)

We went to dinner at Baja Cantina! I loved that chimichanga!

Later I practically begged Carter to take me to Cold Stone for some French Vanilla Cookie dough Ice cream!! My fav! Along with a DP of course. ;)

It was the best birthday present ever! It was an awesome celebratory birthday weekend! Thanks Babe, you rock!

Summer Vacations!

In the last two weeks I've been on two vacations! The first one was to Oregon/ California for my cousin's wedding, and the second was to Park City for my birthday! That trip I'll write about in another blog post. 

Carter couldn't come to Oregon because of work and other trips we're saving for, so I went with my parents and my annoying, excuse me, lovely sister's. ;) The car ride to Oregon sure was a long one, but if you've got Garth Brooks you might save your sanity! Just a tip for any of you future traveler's this summer!

 This is how Savannah likes to travel apparently...

 We made it! P.s. Oregon is gorgeous and I would move there in a heartbeat! Hint Hint Carter King. ;)

This is the Medford, Oregon Temple where my cousin's wedding took place!

This is my gorgeous cousin Alexia who I do not see enough! Thank heavens she moves to Idaho in the fall! :)

The day after the wedding my family traveled to San Francisco to spend a day there before we came home! My sister is sort of inept and didn't take this photo the way I wanted it so you only see part of the Golden Gate bridge...

But that's okay, we stopped at another spot for a closer view! It was to windy to get a good photo of Savannah and I at this spot!

We ate at Fishermen's Wharf (I'm not a fan of seafood but my family is so I had to suck it up and deal with the fishy smell all around me) and this was our view from the restaurant!

We stopped at Ghiradelli's for my sister to get her boyfriend some chocolate and everyone else got Ice cream!

Don't be fooled by Savannah's face in the next few photo's... She chowed down on that Ice cream and loved it!

Next stop on our tour were the Painted Ladies! I love Full House so this was a fun though short stop since there were just too many dang people around...

On the way home we opted to drive by Lake Tahoe, we made a quick bathroom stop and they had this cute little Saloon and Jail out back. Of course we all jumped out to take photos!

Doesn't she look like she's where she belongs? ;)

A fun surprise was that our cousin's came to Utah for another week before flying home to London so I got to spend my birthday with them!

In order: Becca, Ellie, Alexia, Me, Katelyn!

For whatever reason that night Grandma had wanted to snap pictures of our families and they sent me this photo! Aren't we cute? I love my little family!

  It was great to see our cousin's who we so rarely get to see! All in all the trip to Oregon/ California was a lot of fun! I'm looking forward to the rest of our vacations we have planned this year!

10 reasons I love being a Mormon.

Today I saw someone very close to my heart post an article by someone who had written 10 things they loved about not being a Mormon. I must say I was hurt a little. Not offended. I just couldn't understand how someone could take one persons opinion to show how they view the church in its entirety. Some of the article bothered me. I'm not trying to be judge mental of course, this person had their reasons for the way they felt. I however feel differently. I love this church, the people of course aren't always perfect but that's what we're here for. To strive to be better. I decided instead of commenting and starting an unwanted argument, I am going to simply state the 10 things I love about being a Mormon. Call it shouting from the rooftops if you will, because I want the world to know. These are in no particular order because I love them all equally to be honest.
1. The Atonement. What our savior did for us. He sacrificed himself for us, so that when we make mistakes we can be forgiven. We repent, and do our best to change, we're forgiven and we try to be better people than we were before. For most who don't know there have been many hard, and sad things that have happened in my family. I can proudly say we've made it to the other side, things have been taken care of and I will forever be grateful for the Atonement because I believe, and I know that my family will be together forever!
2. I love the dress standards of our church. We teach our girls to be modest. In this world to follow this standard, it's a huge sacrifice, but we do it because we believe it's right. It's amazing to know people really enjoy your company because of you, and not how you're dressed. It feels good to not always be concerned someone is watching me because I'm wearing a low cut top, or a tank top and shorty shorts. I'm not judging you because you decide to wear them, I do it because I feel more comfortable covered up. It's how I was raised, and I intend to raise my daughter with the same standards. Modest is hottest anyway.
3. Love one another. It's literally one of our hymns y'all. I'm not judging you because you have a different lifestyle. I may not agree with it, but I still love you just the same. I was taught to love everyone, not just a few choice individuals because I happen to like them that week. I know I'm certainly not perfect, but I'm trying to be better and more understanding. Give people the benefit of the doubt, learn to agree to disagree, pick your battles and just love all of God's children. Loving everyone is one of the most important things we are taught.
4. Going to the Temple. I love the feeling I have when I'm in the Temple. It's a beautiful, calm, quiet place to just reflect on life, pray and receive answers, and try to become closer with our Father in Heaven. It really just is the happiest place on earth, though Disneyland is a close second. ;)
5. We believe we will live for an Eternity. Forever. I will literally get to be with my husband and daughter to infinity and beyond. This brings me such joy there is simply no other way to explain other than: WOOT WOOT!:D
6. Family. We strongly believe in the importance of family. I love my family, even when we don't all get along. I love that we know we will be together forever. To the rest of the world having a family isn't all that important anymore. It's over rated in their minds. In my mind, it is the most important thing. I always wanted a husband and kids. I love being a Mom, it's the greatest thing in the world. To me, maybe not to others and that's okay, but I love that I was raised to believe having a family is one of the best decisions I'll ever make in my life. Savannah is my heart, my joy, my life, and my smile. I love that little girl. I love my family and they are the most important people in my life. The church, and my mom, taught me that.
7. The Book of Mormon. I've always been taught that if I need to talk to my Father in Heaven I should pray, but if I want him to talk to me, I need to read this book. Anyone who reads this book can't deny it's truth. They'll try but they know in their hearts they are wrong. We have this book to help us understand how we should live, and it's full of many examples of great men who served our Heavenly Father and the blessings they received because of it. We should strive to be like Jesus Christ and God, and this book is literally the worlds How To guide.
8. Seminary. I'm no longer in High School, but I loved Seminary. I thoroughly enjoyed this time each day. I had a lot of wonderful lessons in Seminary, and great teachers who really knew how to teach with the spirit. They knew when we were struggling and needed someone to talk to, and when we needed to be spiritually uplifted. Seminary really is one of the greatest things about being a Mormon.
9. Going to Church each week and taking the Sacrament. Each week we are reminded of what our Savior did for us, and the covenants we made with our Heavenly Father. There is absolutely nothing wrong with trying to be a better person. No one is perfect, but it is a good thing I believe to try. To be more kind, loving, understanding, giving, and to serve everyone. We go to church each week, we learn lessons about our Father in Heaven and our Savior and how to try to be more like them.
10. Missionaries. I have a brother serving a mission in Brazil right now and another one serving in the Dominican Republic. I absolutely love the description of a Missionary: Someone who leaves their family for 2 years so that others can be with their families for Eternity. We believe this church is true, and we are truly happy living it. We want to share our joy and knowledge with the world, and if we're sending our 18 year old boys out to teach others of this truth, we must really know something don't ya think? In my humble opinion, enough said. ;)

Disneyland!

This last weekend Munga (that's how Savannah says Grandma) and Grandpa took the entire King family to Disneyland! It was Savannah's first time ever and I was so very excited to experience this with her. I literally prepared myself for weeks before we went on how I was going to handle Disneyland with a toddler. I read TONS of mommy blogs and advice from lots of parents who go to Disneyland often. It turns out my little toddler could do all sorts of things there!! There were lots of rides she could go on, and there were quite a few characters I was eager for her to meet! 

This was taken right before we left Provo for our trip to Disneyland!

 

We stayed in Vegas on our first night traveling to Disneyland. This was taken the next morning and while the rest of the family packed, these kiddos got to run around and get out all of their wiggles before continuing the long car ride to Anaheim. 

 

The first day in California we decided to go to the beach! It was super chilly but the kiddos loved it:)

Savannah and I collected a few seashells to add to her jar of seashells at home!

We're hoping to visit again this summer with Nana and Papa so we can go when it's warm and keep adding to her seashell collection!

This was the first photo I took when we got to the park. We actually were on her very first ride, the mater ride in Cars Land at California Adventures. Savannah hated it...

Uncle Taylor and Cousin love Tigger so they were very excited to meet him!

Turns out Savannah loved Tigger too! So much in fact that Daddy gave in and bought her a Tigger pillow pet:) Aren't these cousins so cute??

 

Savannah's favorite Disney Princess of all time is Rella (that's how Savannah says Cinderella). She absolutely loves her! The first time we met her she was very unsure but don't worry, we visited her 3 more times and each time Savannah loved her more and more:) Believe me I've got a few more pics to post of Savannah and Rella:)

 

We also met Princess Ariel!

And Princess Aurora!

And Belle!

These pics were taken while we waited in line for Dumbo! It was a ridiculously long wait for such a short ride but worth it. These kiddos had lots of fun!

Savannah had so much fun watching the fireworks with Aunt Jeca and Uncle Jordan!

The next morning the first thing we did was go and meet Rella again!

Munga (grandma) took all of us ladies to Ariel's Grotto for lunch where we got to meet all of the Disney Princesses and they stayed and chatted for a little bit, they signed Savannah's autograph book and we got to take lots of pictures! Have I mentioned how much my daughter loves Rella? I have oodles of pictures of the two of them:)

This photo was taken while we were resting and everyone else was on rides. Isn't she so darn cute?

We took this pic on a carousel in California Adventures! Savannah got to ride on a Fishy! She was very excited and very upset when the ride ended. I promised her we would ride on the one in Disneyland which calmed her down:)  I made good on my promise and the carousel in Disneyland was the last ride we rode! 

I told you Rella was Savannah's favorite Princess! We went one last time to visit her so Cousin could get a picture with Rella too:) While we waited in line Savannah (who was hyped up on marsh mellows, fruit rollups and churros, don't judge me...) kept yelling about how she was going to "MEET RELLA!!!" Everyone around us thought she was pretty adorable:) When we finally got to see her one last time Savannah gave her a hug, and didn't want to let go:) Not gonna lie, knowing it was the last time we would see Rella that weekend almost made me want to cry... But I promise y'all we will go back. Savannah will meet Rella again!

Disneyland really was the happiest place on earth.

Thanks for our awesome trip Munga and Grandpa! We loved it:)