62nd Ward Reunion & Playing in puddles

When Miles and I first got married, we decided to go to a married, student ward. We thought it would be nice because when else would we have the opportunity to be in a ward with so many couples our age and in a similar stage of life? To be honest, we didn't actually like our ward at first and it took a long time for it to "grow" on us. We had a really hard time getting to know people, it felt really clique-ish, and we didn't have active callings for almost a year. Gratefully, I was visiting teaching this AWESOME girl, and she was really outgoing and friendly and had put herself out there to get to know a lot of people in the ward. Well, we got lucky enough to be invited to her home for dinner one evening. After that, she apparently thought we were cool enough to invite Miles and I to a gingerbread decorating party. It was because of that party, we got to know some of our best friends in this ward. Anyway...long story short, I learned my lesson. You have to make a concerted effort to get to know others and can't write people off too early. You might be missing out on some really amazing friends.

Ok...so all that to say...after that time, Miles and I got to know a lot of wonderful people over the 4+ years we were in the BYU 62nd Ward. In April/May of this year, they did some major changes to the wards which I discussed previously here. And although we don't all go to the same ward anymore, there are still a lot of us in the area. So after talking it over with some other friends, we decided to do a 62nd Ward Reunion.

Sadly, I don't have any pictures of anybody other than Owen from that day. But it was really great getting together with our old friends and feeling that bond we had from our previous ward. It really was an exceptional ward unlike many others I have been in before. (Except maybe the BYU 148th ward from Wymount).

However, I do have some awesome pictures of Owen from our reunion. He, of course, wanted to run around and play. Stupidly, the sprinklers were on and of course he was intrigued. Miles wanted me to watch him and keep him away from them. I told him he would be fine and wouldn't get that wet, as I figured he'd just want to put his hand near the sprinklers. Boy was I wrong...

He ran through them...
He stood in the middle of them...
And splashed in the puddles...
As you can see, he was sopping wet. We basically stripped him down and took him home naked. But hey, at least he had a good time! (And yes...he did happen to get very sick with a terrible fever following this day of playing in the water. But who really knows what's to blame...)
And we had a great time with our friends. We hope to do it again soon!

Old Friends and New Wards

A little while ago, I made some plans to get together with some old friends from my Wymount days. It's been over six years since we lived in Wymount and so much has changed during that time...divorce, marriage, children, jobs, moves, etc. But it's funny because three of us live within two miles of each other. Jean Anderson just moved back to Utah last month, so she planned our little get-together. We all met up at the Scera park for some sun and to let the little ones play.

Carly Andelin with her twin girls, Kate and Lily (Not sure which is which):

Jean with her son, Weston, and one on the way:

Me and Bridget Reed:

Weston and Paige having fun on the playground:

Some shots of the babies:

It was a great morning and a lot of fun to catch up with these awesome women. It's funny, cause I didn't know Jean super well when we lived in Wymount, but through some blog stalking, I feel like I've gotten to know her really well. Gratefully, it wasn't weird or awkward seeing her and instead just felt like I was seeing an old friend. Yay for blogs that bring us together!

On an unrelated topic (kind of), while we were there, we discussed how the church recently changed all of the student, married wards. The previous Sunday, Miles and I attended a big, multi-stake meeting at the Marriott Center. They basically changed married, student wards to only being in Provo, and with boundaries close to BYU campus. So anyone who lives in Orem was told to attend their family ward of record. They said they were making these changes most importantly because they need more strong members in the family wards to help out.

Miles and I happen to live in Provo, in an area that was being absorbed into a different married, student ward. Although we haven't been students for a while, we have stayed in our same married, student ward we've been in for the past four years. We have enjoyed being with people of our same age (relatively) and similar life circumstances. However, with this change, it has caused us to consider making a change to the family ward. All the girls were pushing for us to move on to the family ward and be "grown ups." Ok...so they didn't say that, but that's pretty much how it is, right? Carly was especially pulling for it, since we would be in her ward. So, after some time and thought, we decided we will be attending the family ward. I'm kind of excited to have an actual Primary, Young Men and Young Women programs. It will be especially nice if I can find some cute, nice, responsible young women to babysit! Yay for changes that help us to grow and move forward!