Dear Big Dave

Dave,

We miss you everyday. I still struggle thinking about the fact that you don't get to see your son progress in his life. He has grown so much. I know that you are so proud. We can feel you in our lives. And knowing we can feel you, it brings us to the Lord's house. It is such a comforting feeling to know that we have a temple so close. Thank you for raising such a good boy. He isn't putting your name to shame at all. He has accomplished so much. We know that you are here for it every step of the way, but we sure do miss you. Thank you for living your life so that we can be with you again someday. I hope that I can take care of Dave the way you would like him to be taken care of. Thank you for your example and your love. We love you so much. Please comfort David today. It might be a tough day. I will try my best. Miss you!

Love,

McKenzie

BYU-I 41st Ward 2nd Councelor!

Dave was just set apart as the 2nd Councelor in the BYU-I 41st student ward bishopric! Crazy! We will be attending a singles ward again now! It was a really cool experience to go to church there today and to meet the new people in our ward. We are so excited! He was pretty nervous but he did so well! I am so lucky to have him as my husband! He is just too amazing!

Happy Sweet 16 Carson!

Today is my little brother Carson's 16th birthday! I can't even believe that he is that old!! Then...

and now!

I am just in total shock! 16 years ago today, I was no longer the only child. I was the only child for 5 1/2 years! My little world was totally shaken up, but I was so excited to have a little brother! And now he can drive, date, and everything!! I just want to tell all of you 16 reasons why I love Carson!

1. He never fails to make me laugh

2. He is extremely driven

3. He isn't embarrassed to tell me he loves me when I leave and his friends are there.

4. He is eccentric

5. He is a really good boy.

6. He has a really soft heart. He has toughened up through the years, but he is a softy at heart.

7. He LOVES dogs. It is really cute to hear him talk about how cute puppies are.

8. He is a really good brother to Payton and I. He always invites us to play baseball with his friends.

9. He loves the Yankees.

10. He really enjoys reading. That is one thing I hated at that age and admire about him.

11. He and Dave are really close.

12. He REALLY enjoys food. There is NOBODY in the world I can think of that loves to critic food like Carson. But it is usually always good things he has to say about it.

13. He stands up for his friends.

14. He is a hard worker (when he wants to be of course!)

15. He isn't too cool to have sleepovers at my house.

16. And the final reason...HE IS JUST CARSON!! He is my brother, and I just adore him!

Happy Birthday Carson!

Washington DC

We are finally back from our 2 WEEK vacation to Washington DC! It was so much fun! We definately had some stressful moments but it was a really nice vacation. The first place we stayed was in Washington DC just a few blocks from Capitol Hill. It was really cool to be able to go to the monuments and museums there. The only bad thing was the HUMIDITY! There were record setting humidity percentages when we were there and we were about to die!

Our next place was Williamsburg, VA for a week. Getting there was quite an adventure because we went to rent a car and they wouldn't let us...that is a WHOLE other long story! But after pretty much the worst day of both of our lives, and lots of tears, my wonderful dad found us a way to get there. We got on the Amtrak. It was the first time either of us had traveled by train. It was actually really fun! Williamsburg was really nice because it wasn't so busy as DC. We had really awesome tickets that let us go to Busch Gardens Amusement park and Water Country USA for 7 consecutive days. We went to Busch Gardens one day, and to Water Country USA 3 days. They were both really fun! They had great rides! Our condo in Williamsburg was awesome because it had a lot of free entertainment. It had 2 huge arcades with all free games, 3 swimming pools, and a free mini golf course! We were pretty entertained there!

At Water Country USA we our feet were hurting so bad from the heat and cement, that we finally gave into buying water socks. They didn't have either of our sizes so we had to buy 1 size too small! Quite stylish don't ya think?

When we went back to DC we stayed in Arlington, VA. We got there the day of Ted Kennedy's funeral. Luckily there wasn't a lot of traffic or anything. The day after his funeral, we went to the Arlington cemetery. It is so HUGE! It was really cool to see Ted Kennedy's grave the day after he was buried. For the rest of our stay in Arlington, we just took it pretty easy and had a fun relaxing time.

On our way back, we had been at the airport waiting for our flight for 4 hours when they told us that it was having some problems and that it wouldn't fly out for 3 more hours! We waited those 3 more hours and took a 5 hour flight to Pheonix, AZ. They put us in a hotel there, and we were able to fly to Salt Lake the next morning. We were definately ready to come home by then! After all of that though, we made it home safely and had a great time!