I am going to catch up at some point, but for now...

 

I would just like to say; I am so extremely excited for Thanksgiving. Mostly because of two things:

Samuel Paul Burdick

[in my presence again]

AND

approximately

50 of the World's Greatest Stewart Family members.

What else could I ever ask for?

I already know that there will be a lot of hugging and this scream/squeal thing that my sisters and I tend to do when we are reunited with our aunts.

There will be more laughing than is even fathomable to most people. My family is absolutely, irrefutably, thee funniest family around. Between my dad & my uncle's jokes, and their wives attitudes, there is never a dull moment.

We will play catch phrase. We will tell embarrassing stories. We will eat a lot of scrumptious food. We will smile until our cheeks hurt. We will visit temple square. We will stay up late talking about life, and telling stories. 

And it will all end way too soon.

If I was an artist and could paint a picture of what Thanksgiving was like to me, I would paint big smiles, tears (we laugh so hard & love so deeply that we all cry at some point), hugging, thank yous, kisses, and food. But more feelings and things come to mind when I think of family gatherings that you can't even depict in an image: 

LOVE

Memories

 growth 

 warmth

HAPPINESS

deliciousness

Joy

excellence

UNDERSTANDING

Acceptance

heart

SECURITY

I really can't wait.

PHOTO via

while we were in the salt lake area for eleshia's wedding, my family spent the morning of 8.13.11 at this is the place monument in salt lake city. for those of you who don't know, this is a monument dedicated to the pioneers who came west with brigham young. when they came up over the mountains and saw the salt lake valley brigham young said, "this is the place." and it was here that they settled, finally free from religious persecution. 


my dad is basically a genius and gave us all the history we could ever want as we spent the day walking around hearing different stories of the families who settled the wasatch valley. my great-great-great-grandfather's house was there in the heritage village.

we had a fun day of learning about our pioneer heritage and making crafts. the best part about hearing of other people's hardships is it kinda makes you forget your own. that, or realize that yours weren't so bad in the first place. those great people endured so much. i'm so glad that there is a beautiful monument dedicated to their sacrifices. it was so awesome to be able to spend some time with the whole family together, too.

friday morning [8.12.11] i woke up and my megan sister was there (she arrived at the ranch the night before from reno). i love her so much. i missed her a lot. it was a weird summer without her.

anyway, so we packed up my car and my parents packed up theirs and we hit the road to utah. we were going to salt lake to maybe go to the zoo before nychea, megan, and i went to my cousin eleshia'sbachelorette party at sapa. we definitely did not make it to the zoo. construction delays, poddy breaks, and food stops made sure that it took us like five whole hours to get there. so instead we went and snatched madison from the salon and hung out at the mall.

the four of us hadn't been together for about two years, so it was a fun reunion. lots of laughing and inside jokes. i have the most fun with these girls. madison & megan bring out the best in each other. seriously they are hilarious. so we went to the bachelorette party. eleshia was beautiful & the food was fantastic.

after dinner we weren't done having fun so we went out to see crazy, stupid, love. it was really great. it was everything: funny, cute, ryan gosling...need i say more?

the next day my family had some fun at this is the place monument, and then that night: the wedding. i definitely cried when eleshia started to walk down the aisle. she looked so beautiful. at 19 i can't believe she is the first one to be married of all the grandkids! but i am so happy for her :)

then there was the reception. then there was chili's with my uncle lyndon's family. then there was a much needed visit with the burke family--and how nice, they let us (megan, me, and nychea) sleep over to minimize our driving time. then there was a beautiful talk by lexady in sacrament on sunday. then there was the long drive home.

one of the best things about the wedding: i got to see people that i love more than anything in the world. family is so important. and i got to spend time with madison before she left for texas! oh texas....

here's some pictures from the wedding :) what a day...