Memorial Day Weekend

Last year, I posted a little bit about Memorial Day. This year, it was great to have Dallas home. Sunday, we went to Preston for Dallas' cousin's homecoming talk.  It was such a beautiful meeting, it made me so excited for my brother, Nathan, who leaves next month for his mission to Florida. We were able to go visit Dallas' Grandpa Abrams' grave, as well of some of his other family members' graves who are buried in Preston. It was really neat, the cemetery was beautiful and there was such a special spirit there. Dallas explained to Amaya that these people's bodies were buried there, but their spirits were in heaven with Heavenly Father. I could tell that she understood what Dallas said, in her own child-like way. Like Dallas said, sometimes we underestimate our children and how much they really understand. It reminded me of one of my favorite quotes by Elder Groberg. "There is a connection between heaven and earth. Finding that connection gives meaning to everything, including death. Missing it makes everything meaningless, including life."

On our way back to Rexburg, we stopped at Pocatello's Field of Heroes. Each year, volunteers  put up a cross for each of our soldiers who have lost their lives in Iraq or Afghanistan since 9/11.

"On Memorial Day weekend, the fields at Century High School in Pocatello, Idaho are transformed into a memorial resembling Arlington National Cemetery located in Washington DC. Each wooden cross is handmade and affixed with the name, rank and the date of death of an American Serviceman or Servicewoman who paid the ultimate price in the name of freedom. The crosses are then carefully spaced and placed into the ground. Once the field is complete it is consecrated as hallowed ground and opened to the public for those who wish to come pay their respects."

It was pouring rain, which was actually very fitting.

It was so sobering to see the rows and rows of crosses. Each one represented an American Soldier. Each soldier sacrificed their life for our freedoms. Each cross represented a family, a future cut short to early. Many of these young men and women were younger than I am when they died. I wish my pictures could express the vastness of the crosses or the solemnness of the spirit there. There were over 6,000 crosses. 

It broke my heart to think of the amount of pain caused by the evil men who are determined to cause pain and chaos in the world. There are so many wonderful people who have had to sacrifice so much to right the wrongs done by those who follow Satan's plan. As Dallas noted, it all began with a war and it will all end with one. As Joseph Smith said, "No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great 

Jehovah shall say the work is done.”

 “Satan wants to claim our souls and those of our children. He want our marriages and our families to fail. He wants darkness to reign. Despite this, we needn't worry or back away from our duty to our family (present or future), our community, or others, for God will always support and bless us in our honest efforts to do His will. He wants us to suceed more than 
Satan wants us to fail- and God is always more powerful.” --Elder John H. Groberg


On Memorial Day Monday, we took the kiddos to my parents' house and Dallas and I went on a motorcycle ride. I've always had a thing for motorcycles :)

Oaklie and Uncle Nate (soon to be Elder Clark!)

Oaklie and Amaya have a thing for motorcycles too :)

While the girls rode on the lawnmower and jumped on the tramp, Dallas and I went and picked up lunch at Gator Jack's and drove up to Heise Hot Springs for a picnic. It was SUCH a beautiful day! We loved riding through the countryside, enjoying the sights and smells of such a beautiful day. We passed almost a hundred American flags blowing in the breeze on our drive up. I feel so blessed to live in such a beautiful country, and to have so many little joys in my life.

Dallas enjoying our picnic. Isn't he so handsome in this picture?

Heise is one of my very favorite places. It's where we went on one of our first dates and Dallas proposed to me on a rock just like this one down by the water.

We're going to have to come back up this summer and camp with the girls up at Heise.

I think a good way to sum up our Memorial Day Weekend would be the lyrics to the song, "Home" by Dierks Bentley.

West, on a plane bound west
I see her stretching out below
Land, blessed mother land
The place where I was born

Scars, yeah she’s got her scars
Sometimes it starts to worry me
Cause lose, I don’t wanna lose
Sight of who we are

From the mountains high
To the wave crashed coast
There’s a way to find
Better days I know

It’s been a long hard ride
Got a ways to go
But this is still the place
That we all call home

Free, nothing feels like free
Though it sometimes means we don’t get along
Cause same, no we're not the same
But that’s what makes us strong

Brave, gotta call it brave
To chase that dream across the sea
Names, and they signed their names
For something they believed

Red, how the blood ran red
And we laid our dead in sacred ground
Just think, wonder what they think
If they could see us now

It’s been a long hard ride
Got a ways to go
But this is still the place
That we all call home

It’s been a long hard ride
And I won’t lose hope
This is still the place
That we all call home

Also, I forgot to take pictures, but I had a birthday last week. I turned 22, but I feel like I should be at least  twice that age sometimes :) Dallas was gone the last two years for my birthday, and I loved getting to spend it with him. We went on a date to the temple, then had sushi at Da Pineapple Grill in Rexburg. Yum! Dallas and I both love, love sushi, and it was delish. We had ice cream afterwards and picked up a new printer for me at Walmart. I know it sounds super boring, but it was my favorite birthday ever. I loved getting to spend the day with Dallas and our little girls. Thanks Tyson and Meagan for babysitting while we went on a date! Later in the week we had a little party for me and Nathan at my parent's house. (Nate and mine's birthdays are only two days apart, so we've had a lot of combined parties over the years.) I was feeling pretty sick that day, so I wasn't the funnest party guest, but we still had a great time.

Wesley's Warriors

Rexburg Motor Sports, Dallas' summer employer, hosted a motorcycle wish ride for an adorable little boy with cancer. You can read more about it here. Dallas rode his motorcycle in it and we had a great time cheering him on!

Waving at the bikers.

There's Dad!

Isn't my friend Kristen the most adorable pregnant girl ever?

All the bikes after the race.

It was so heartwarming to see the amazing amount of support this little boy and his family had. 

St. George

We had a crazy, busy, fun month of May. I finished up my cancer treatment the end of April (you can read more about it on my cancer blog). We've been enjoying the in-between time for lots of fun.

At the beginning of May, we went to St. George for a few days with my family. Holy cow! It was so nice down there, Dallas and I are already planning to retire down there :)
We celebrated Mother's Day and my sister's birthday in St. George. It was so fun!

 The house we were staying at had an awesome park, splash park, and pool attached.

My cute nephew "Paps" and I

Zion's National Park

Oaklie and I looking stylin' in our sunglasses.

Amaya and her Nana

Dallas and Kory with the kiddos

I just love this picture! Thanks Hailey for being on the ball about taking pictures :)

I can't figure out how to get our pictures back in order, but this is Amaya passed out on our ride down to St. George.

Oaklie loved the splash park! She kept kicking her legs and saying "Mo! Mo!"

More pictures from Zion's

Enjoying a nice lunch after a long day.

Back at the pool.

I married him for his fashion sense.

I can't wait to get these little nerds in swim lessons this summer!

Gotta love these Daddy's Girls!

Thanks Mom and Dad for an awesome trip!

March and April

These two are like two peas in a pod :)

Back in March, Amaya and Oaklie got new big girl beds. The mattresses came before the bunk beds were ready, so they stayed on the floor for a couple of weeks. As you can see, Amaya took to her bed like a fish to dry land :) It took awhile, but eventually she figured it out.

She was pretty excited when we got the bunk beds up and loves sleeping on the top bunk of her big girl bed! Thank again Tyson and Meagan :) Oaklie gets bumped out of her crib and onto the bottom bunk when I'm done with all my cancer treatment.

Working out on Dad's pull-up bar.

This picture made me laugh. I went in to check on Amaya one night and her baby (AbbyJo) was sleeping on a pillow with a blanket next to her mommy.

We made the rounds on family Easter egg hunts, and the girls became quite the champs.

Oaklie loved finding the eggs, but half the time she would put them in other people's baskets.

I was pretty sick all through Easter, so I didn't have much fun, but everyone else took great care of the girls and Dallas made sure they had a fun Easter. :)

A couple of weeks ago we got some amazing news! Dallas graduated from BYU-Idaho with his bachelor's degree and we got word he was accepted as an officer in the Active Duty Army! He leaves this fall for Officer Candidacy School in Georgia and after 4 months of training Dallas will be Lieutenant Abrams and we will be a family full of military brats :) It's nerve wracking, but we're excited to find out where we'll be living and the adventures we'll have coming our way the next few years. Thankfully, Dallas was able to find a full-time job working at Rexburg Motor Sports which will keep him busy until it's time to head off to training.  

Tony (Dallas' dad) and I received our associate's degrees this semester and Dallas was nice enough to allow us to share the limelight with him for the day :)

We didn't get a picture with everyone, but we got a good chunk of the crew.

Ok, now I don't want to brag too much but my husband seriously amazes me! At 26 he has served two tours to Iraq, a two-year mission, has a wife with cancer and two children, and is a college graduate. It has been a long road full of delays, but I am so amazingly proud of all that he has accomplished. He tackles everything in life with determination, obedience, and patience. Dallas has such a tremendous amount of diligence it blows my mind; whether it is school work, military assignment, church callings, relationships, whatever he sets his mind to he finds a way to accomplish. I love you Dallas! Thank you for being such a great example to me and our children.

And a bonus picture of our nerds with their Easter baskets.

If you don't follow my cancer blog, I am officially a baldy now. Or, to quote what my husband said after he shaved my head, "Welcome to the Army." You can read more about that here.