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Blessings From Heaven

This is a blurry photo but we had a lot of fun at Grandma Peck's pool for FHE last Monday. Allie and Lydia are little fish and couldn't get enough of the water. It was such a fun night with family!


  Last Saturday, the day before Easter, the girls got their baskets from the Easter Bunny. The kite's lasted approximately two minutes before they broke. I think I'll be buying the Walmart brand next time. They loved opening their eggs and Allie downed all her candy in one big mouthful.





  After the girls had enjoyed their baskets, I put them in the bathtub. As I turned the water on to wash their hair, I wasn't getting any hot water. Loren and I looked at our water heater and to our dismay, noticed rust all over the unit. We started researching how much water heaters cost and were a little terrified when we saw some over $2,000. It was pretty depressing and I could feel the stress start to take over. All of the sudden my brother, Cam called. He and his family were up for the weekend, which happened to be Easter and Conference, and he asked if we needed any help. He worked for Standard Plumbing all through college and knows how to install water heaters. I completely forgot he had worked there and Loren and I were overjoyed at having his help.
  We dropped the girls off at my parents to watch conference and play with their cousin, Greyson. Cam, Loren and I drove to Standard Plumbing and got all the parts we would need to install the water heater plus the heater itself. Cam got us a killer deal on the heater and saved us so much in installation fees. Loren and I stood back in awe as Cam started talking "Plumbese" to the clerk about all the parts we needed. We had no idea what was going on but tried to look like it as we nodded in affirmation at Cam's directions. He's seriously a wizard.

  I'm not sure how long it normally takes to install these things, but I couldn't have imagined it would take longer than a couple hours. Loren's dad came to the rescue as well, bringing his sautering equipment. SEVEN hours and SEVEN runs to Standard Plumbing later, we finally had it installed. I never thought a water heater could look so beautiful. We owe these two so much. We truly have been blessed beyond measure with our loving family who will drop everything to help us. It means more than we can express. 



  Earlier that morning Cam and I ran to my parents to borrow some tools. I had my phone in my hand but lost track of it somewhere between there and home. I searched the car and our house four times over but couldn't find it anywhere. Hours went by and I was becoming concerned that I couldn't find it. Cam suggested I use the Find My iPhone feature. I did and it showed my phone about five blocks away from my parents close to a traffic light. I wondered if the GPS was off because I hadn't gone over that way all day. Then suddenly, I remembered I had put my phone on the back of my dad's car while we were grabbing tools and forgotten it. I called my dad and asked if he'd drove anywhere that day. He said he'd gone to pick my brother, Nate, up in Logan. I felt sick as I realized he must have driven off with it. Both my dad and Nate hurried down to where the GPS showed my phone being. I was right behind them and could see them in the middle of the road looking around as I parked. I got out of the car and saw Nate waving something in his hand. They had found it! It had been in the middle of the road for hours and miraculously hadn't been run over. The only damage I could see was a little crack on the screen protector. 
  Both of these instances, our water heater going out and my losing my phone, could be perceived as bad luck. We just had a bad day. But I honestly can't say that's true. I'm embarrassed to say that sometimes I don't pay our tithing with a joyful heart. It's a lot of money that can be used for so many other things. But I paid it, and I truly believe that because I did, we were blessed beyond anything we deserved. Cam doesn't come to visit that often but our water heater "just happened" to go out when he was here. After praying all day, I suddenly remembered where I'd put my phone and nothing happened to it. All just happenstance? I think not! The Lord is so good to us and truly wants to bless us if we are willing to keep the commandments. 
  While Cam, Loren, Dad Peck and I were working on the heater all day, the girls got to hang out with their grandparents and cousin. They had a fun Easter Egg Hunt and enjoyed being together. I'm sad we missed it but glad Mary sent me these cute pictures. 

Allie and Kiana on her electric longboard. It's pretty sweet! 


  The next morning we went out to Avon for norskies and another fun egg hunt. Landon and Aaron did a great job at hiding all the eggs. We watched the morning session of conference and was so wonderful to be together.

  Later that afternoon my family came over to our house and had an FHE together. Even Em and Tyson were there via FaceTime. My mom is so close to the Spirit and prepared a wonderful lesson. She wrote all of our spiritual gifts on a paper for us to keep. She's an incredible example of love, patience and service.
  The next day Cam took the GMAT exam. While he was taking it, we took the kids to The Bounce 'N Slide. Greyson, Lydia and Allie had a blast. Afterwards we went to Pizza Pie Cafe to celebrate Cam being done with his test. I'm proud of the hard work he put into it. I've always looked up to him and tried to be like him since the day I was born.


  After a crazy, fun filled weekend, Allie was out.

 Allie put on this hat and told Loren she was going "outswide". 

 Anyone who knows me knows I'm a sucker for a crazy deal. We've been looking for a play set for awhile and I decided I wanted a Lifetime set. The Lifetime set's are metal and require no upkeep but they're also expensive. I found one in Sandy on KSL for $650, originally $1700! Loren was going down to Bountiful to meet with some clients so we decided we'd just hop on over to Sandy when we was done and pick up the set. We hooked up Dad Peck's trailer to the Tahoe and started on our way. Before we had even made it one block, we realized our Tahoe and the trailer's lights weren't compatible. We didn't feel good about driving without lights so sadly, we unhooked it. We decided to take the Tahoe down anyway because there was a trampoline enclosure we were getting in West Bountiful. While Loren met with his clients, I got the enclosure. Then I drove back up and waited for Loren in the car. And waited. And waited. Annnnnd waited. His meeting went from 2:30 to 6 pm. Good thing I brought a good book.
  We thought since we were so close we'd just go to Sandy and try to put everything we could into the Tahoe and then come back for the rest on Saturday. When we pulled up, the lady who was selling looked dubious that we could fit it all in. But we were on a mission. And we reallllly didn't want to come back again on Saturday. It was a one hour Tetris game to the max. After disassembling the rock wall and a few other parts, we had everything in except the slide. So what does one do? Strap it to the top.


  We celebrated our success with Panda. Loren's fortune cookie was right on. Now I hope we can put it all together.  A huge thank you goes to Mom Peck and Lindsay for watching the girls all afternoon, putting them to bed and cleaning my house. I seriously cried tears of gratitude that night for such wonderful, selfless family. 

  This morning we went to Baby Animal Days at the American West Heritage Center.  It was so fun! We saw so many cute animals and the girls loved petting them.



Lydia was SO excited to ride this horse. I wish I could have captured that huge grin better!



Baby bears from Yellowstone.

It helps to have a tall dad sometimes.

Waiting in line for the wagon ride.





This turtle was adorable! So small and cute!









  We had a fun train ride. Allie and I rode up front while Lydia rode in the caboose in back with all the screaming kids.


Such a fun way to celebrate Spring!

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