Allreds & Drakes in NWA

We just had the best time with our Drake and Allred cousins. 

The Allred started their annual pilgrimage to Arkansas and stopped in Texas first. Then the caravanned to our house to play for a few days. 
Our first stop was "Arkadia- Retro Arcade" It's such a fun place. 
You pay a flat fee and then you can play all the arcade games you want.

The kids were so happy to be all together.

They had a great time playing all the games. 

That night we had to get creative with the sleeping arrangements. 
We don't have the biggest house but we love having family visit so we had to make it work. Aunt Laura and Aunt Julieta shared Bailey's room. Aunt Sarah and Uncle Johnny stayed in Tanner's room. 
That left all the cousins in Tucker and Benson's bedroom. We shoved air mattresses wherever possible and the kids all piled in. It was comical. 

The next morning we went to the open house for the Bentonville temple with Nanny and Papa. 
We followed that amazing experience by getting lunch and ice cream at Braums. 
The kids just love being together and its my favorite. 

After lunch we went back to our house to change and then we all went to Lake Avalon in Bella Vista.

The kids had a great time playing and swimming together. 

We rented kayaks and the kids built sandcastles.

 

We stayed and played for a couple hours before we decided it was time for dinner. 

That night, Nanny, Papa and Aunt Laura left to drive home. Sadly, my house was jam packed and there were no more beds and they wanted to be home for their Sunday meetings.
We went to church that morning and had a quiet Sunday together.

On Monday, Aunt Sarah, Aunt Julieta and I took the kids to the "Redneck Waterslide". 

We drove over and played for about an hour on the huge waterslide.

Hazel was terrified to go down the slide, but I was able to talk her into trying it with me and she ended up loving it. We did it over and over again and she even went on her own. 

 

I took lots of children down the slide and had the best time doing it. 

Even Grant went down the slide with me a few times. The kids were all so brave.

 

Then we had to do a "mom train". We were laughing so hard. Julieta did not ride at all until this point and we were so happy to have her ride with us. She loved it. 

 

I just love these cute cousins. 

On the way home from the waterslide, we had to stop by "Shortstop" grill and get the massive ice cream cones. The kids loved it and a lot of them tried the new cherry flavor. 

Then yesterday we ended our cousin time with a trip to the Roger's Aquatic Center. 
As per usual, the kids had a blast. It's nice as the kids get older they can run off together and do water slides and stuff and we don't have to stress so much. 

These two were the first to call it quits. They got cold and decided they needed to snuggle to stay warm. 

The rest of the kids played hard and had a lot of fun together. 

Then we ate a nice picnic lunch outside and then the cousins left to drive to Mtn. Home. We are meeting them there tmrw but they were anxious to see Nanny and Papa and get some time in there. 

We are all meeting in Mtn. Home for the Drake Reunion and I can't wait. It will be so fun to see all my cousins and their families. We are all getting old and our kids are getting so big. It's going to be blast. 

Until then, thanks for the fun Allreds and Drakes. 

Temple Open House and Volunteering

I can hardly believe this time is here. It's finally time for our temple's open house. 
It's been so amazing to watch our temple be built and get to experience the excitement in our area. 
Tanner and Bailey were able to volunteer at the open house during the very first week, before the temple tours were even open to the public. They got to put booties on people before they entered the temple during the volunteer shift. At the very end of their shift, Elder Bednar came to the temple and Bailey put his booties over his shoes and then he took all the youth that were volunteering through the temple on a private tour. It was such a cool experience. I've never met an apostle, but my kids have now and I doubt they realize how special that experience truly was. 

On another day, Tucker and I got to meet up with his sweet little friend, Ivy and her mom Laura Rose. 
They met us at the temple and we toured it together. It was such a sweet experience. Laura and I have become good friends through Tucker and Ivy's friendship. We often meet up for lunch and we have talked about our religious beliefs more that once. She was so excited to see the temple and get to go inside. 

While we were touring the temple, we entered the celestial room. Laura loved this room so much and we said "I loved that heaven room . If I could I would just come and sit in there all the time."

It was cool to see her reverence and love for such a holy place. 

Tucker and I loved getting to take our friends through the temple for a tour. It was so cool.

Later that same week Laura and  I met my parents at the temple to tour it again. 
They had driven over with my old boss and sweet family friend, Susan Wallace. Her boyfriend came with her as well and we all toured the temple together. 

Again the spirit was able to testify of the sacredness of the temple and our group was able to talk about the holy work that happens in the temple and Susan was really curious about the baptisms for the temple. 

I love our temple so much. It's so gorgeous and I love the blue color scheme throughout the temple. 
There are also dogwood flowers engraved throughout the temple as a salute to our state. 

Here are some pictures from the online gallery- its such a beautiful temple. 

Here is the room that Laura called the "heaven room" and I really couldn't think of a better name for it. 

It's as close to heaven as possible and I love it. 

The blue is my favorite

I really love the dogwood flowers. 

The landscaping around the temple was also really pretty!

Then finally, today, we were able to attend the temple open house with our whole family. We took all our kids along with Aunt Sarah, Uncle Johnny and their kids, Aunt Laura, Aunt Julieta and her boys and Nanny and Papa. 
It was such a sweet experience to have all the grandkids together in the temple. 

I was surprised but thrilled that Julieta wanted to come. 
She later told Sarah and I that she misses going to church and it broke my heart. 

Here are Nanny and Papa with all their grandkids at the most sacred place on earth. 

I felt blessed to have my family together at the temple. 
When I image heaven, it feels an awful lot like this- my sweet family, close to our Heavenly Father and Savior  and together forever. 

These girls wore matching dresses and we didn't even plan it. 
They came out of their rooms wearing the exact same dress and we all cracked up. They are the cutest. 

After the temple we all went to get lunch and ice cream. 
It was such a nice day and I am so grateful for this time with my family!