Family Fun

We had so much fun this week as Taylor and Rachelle were able to visit along with their cute little/chunky Byron.  It was rainy for two out of the three days they were here, so we weren't able to spend too much time outside, but we still had a lot of fun just visiting and spending good quality time together. Byron had a couple of explosions, but for the most part he was always full of smiles. He's such a happy boy. He gets along fine with tennis balls, cardboard boxes, or cell phone covers...easy to please. :) We loved having them here. 

Justin and Jenine were able to come up and have dinner with us as well Tuesday night. We played lots of games which ended with us yelling answers at each other and trying to beat the other team. We played girls against boys, husbands vs. wives. What a disaster. I'm almost positive the sweet little lady upstairs, Darlene, didn't get ANY sleep that night. She said she couldn't hear us, but I think she was just being nice. We were pretty stinkin' loud. It was a lot of fun. Our cheeks were hurting because we had been laughing so hard.

There's something about family that just makes you smile. I can remember times when my sisters and I would be in arguments that consisted of statements such as "I was going to wear that shirt today!" or, "ahhhh, get out of my room, you are so annoying!" or, "I already called the front seat, you can't have it!" even these experiences make me smile. Sometimes we'd be in the middle of fighting when all of a sudden we'd start laughing uncontrollably and then we'd get even more mad because we weren't fighting anymore. It doesn't even make sense, but for some reason, there was still so much love when we would argue. Why is that? 

I remember one specific time when Terriann and Sydnie were arguing and while Sydnie was marching away out of frustration, Terriann said, "Sydnie, don't be a dip stick." Sydnie's reply still cracks us up as we recall this memory, she yelled back, "I ain't no dip for your celery!" Haha. What does that even mean?! Every single one of us started laughing, including Sydnie and Terriann. To this day we still remember resolving that argument through laughter and genuine love. Oh, how I love the memories. 

No, Rachelle and I didn't get into any arguments while she was here. I think we're over that stage in our lives, but we DID spend a lot of time in the kitchen together. We made some delicious homemade bread. I went to a bread class a couple of weeks ago and now I'm obsessed with this bread recipe. It's great! Rachelle and I only made some Italian loaves, but in the class we made a regular loaf of white bread, French bread, and Italian bread. The Italian was my favorite. The bread is so moist and soft. We love it! Rachelle and I had a lot of fun baking bread then enjoying it that night at dinner. YUM!

 Speaking of having fun with the family, even though Logan and I don't have a very big family yet, we still have lots of fun together, with lots of fun plans for the future. We love the outdoors and spending time in nature. So, when we found out REI was having a huge sale this weekend we decided to go see what we could fin. Well, we ended up walking out of the store with a brand new 4 man tent. Now we get to go on little family adventures and enjoy even more of the beautiful outdoors.We were too excited to wait for a camping trip to see what it looked like set up, so the first thing we did when we got home was set it up in our own backyard. It's AWESOME! We love it, and are excited to use it...hopefully this weekend, we'll see!

We're excited for the sun to come out. We miss it. It's been raining a lot. We're hoping for a great weathered weekend. Logan's family is coming from Rexburg this weekend and we want to be able to play outside a little bit. We LOVE having family come. It's always so much fun. We feel so blessed to have such great families on both sides. We love you all, and hope you're doing well!

Love,



Logan and Shanell

Cinnamon Deliciousness!

Well, we did it, we made some delicious treats. We are LOVING the new KitchenAid! It's awesome, and now we just want to bake all the time. The only problem we have is that we want to eat all of our treats after we make them, which means we’re a lot more “jiggly”, and we have to spend a little more time at the gym. It’s a downward spiral that’s 100% worth every bite. What a disaster! (But we LOVE it!)

Friday we made some cinnamon rolls that turned out amazing. I got the recipe from joythebaker.com. These cinnamon rolls have cream cheese folded into the dough; I've never known such a delicious taste! The toughest part for us was waiting for them to rise. We felt so impatient, but knew they'd turn out 100 times better if we just followed the recipe to the "T", so that's what we did...we waited it out. It felt like forever. Once the dough had risen enough, we took off the plastic wrap, and punched out all the air...it seems like every time I do that, I feel like it was such a waste to let it rise for 2 hours. BUT it was all part of the plan. In the end they turned out to be beautiful cinnamon rolls filled with crazy amounts of butter, cinnamon, and sugar; three great ingredients to have in your diet. :) 

 

As I thought about the process of making cinnamon rolls; the waiting time, the yummy ingredients, the punching phase, a gospel application came to mind. Sometimes we think we have to hurry, get everything done and be perfect in this life. Sure, we SHOULD be "anxiously engaged in a good cause," but we don't always need to hurry. Sometimes all that's needed is just a little bit of waiting. I think our Heavenly Father allows us to pass through hard times where he teaches us to be patient just so he can show us that in the end everything works out the way it's supposed to. We might not recognize it at the time, but really we ARE "rising" to our true potential, and it's all part of the plan. Even if we have to get punched down a few times, it’s okay, and it’s going to work out in the end. We too are sometimes brought low, in order to rise again. That's exactly what our Savior did right? He was brought below the lowest of lows so he could rise again...for us! What a blessing!

As we listen to the Holy Ghost and really try to follow the daily guidance to the "T" we receive, we'll end up with a life that is completely in line with the plan our Father in Heaven has created for us. It's perfect, but sometimes it's hard to see the end from the beginning. Just like the cinnamon roll recipe, the pictures looked good, and we knew we wanted the end result, but we had to work through the plan step by step and be patient through the whole process in order to enjoy the rewarding results. 

I know, cinnamon rolls are cinnamon rolls are cinnamon rolls, but I think there's always a lesson to be learned about the gospel, especially when we're trying something new. Isn't the gospel perfect! I love it! And I LOVE cinnamon rolls! Yummy yummy! Life is great. If any of you have a few hours on hand...try the recipe, it's definitely worth it. Love you all!

Click here for the recipe! Enjoy!

Logan and Shanell

Time to Bake! :)

This is my new KitchenAid!!! It just came to my door! Logan bought it for me right after I saw my results from my test. What a lucky woman I am! Now it's time to try some new things! I can't wait!

Shanell RN

I just wanted to tell everyone thank you for your thoughts and prayers as I studied for and took my Nursing Boards. I passed!!! It was amazing to feel the love and strength coming from so many loved ones. I seriously can't even explain the way it felt with every single question. For the most part I was a little hesitant with each question I answered, but in my heart I knew everything would work out the way it was supposed to. (I'm just glad the way it was supposed to work out involved me not ever having to take that test again!) The way the test works is I have questions ranging in number from 75-265. Everyone has to take 75 questions, but if the computer hasn't figured out if you qualify for a passing score, it will keep going question by question up to 265 until it decides if you've passed or failed. So...by 75, if the test shuts off on you, then that means you've either done really well, or really bad because the computer has already made up it's mind about you...if you qualify or not. Anyway, my test shut off at 75, and I think my stomach went straight up into my throat, and butterflies were goin' crazy inside of me. I was so nervous, I put my hands over my mouth and tried not to squeal. (Embarrassing!) I left the testing center knowing that no matter what the results ended up being, I knew without a doubt that I had tons and tons of help in there from our Father in Heaven. I felt it. I was reminded over and over again of all the people who were praying for me. I felt so much love and faith as I hesitantly but confidently answered each question. I was hesitant because I doubted my own knowledge, confident because I couldn't doubt my Father's knowledge. I was blessed.

I wasn't supposed to get my results until Wednesday, but I checked on Monday morning just in case...well, the results were in, but I didn't want to open it. I was way too nervous, plus I knew that if I DID fail I would need Logan to be right next to me so he could hold me really tight and tell me everything was going to be okay. I also knew that if I PASSED, I would want Logan with me to hug me and celebrate with me.

I went to the park all day yesterday, trying not to think about the results and what they might be. That made it worse. I fell asleep at the park, got a little sunburned, then walked home to meet Logan. I typed in all of my information to pull up my results, and then...BAM "pass" it said. We screamed, then hugged, then I cried in gratitude, as Logan and I held each other and prayed to our Heavenly Father thanking him for this wonderful tender mercy. That's what it was. I couldn't have done it on my own, and I recognize that. I was blessed, and I'm grateful for that blessing.

To celebrate, Logan bought me a new Kitchen Aid mixer! I'm sooo excited! It'll be here on Wednesday and I can't wait to open it right up and use it everyday. I have such a great husband who loves and supports me in so many ways. He's great! I'm eternally grateful for that blessing from my Heavenly Father as well.

Thank you again for all your support! Love you!

Shanell

Rexburg/Family Dinner

This weekend was a great get-away for us. It's fun to escape from life for a while and go visit family. We went to Logan's home this weekend in Rexburg, and it was a great, relaxing, fun weekend. The weather was beautiful and it was fun to see everyone again. We had decided to plan a little family dinner for all the cousins who were at BYU-Idaho. We ended up having 14 of us cousins there, plus Logan's family, so there were quite a few of us just hangin out at the Dunn's home. It was so much fun to see cousin's we hadn't seen in a long time. Logan said he had a great time actually getting to know them a little better instead of just saying, "oh, hi, you're another cousin, okay, cool." as they walk through the line at the reception or open house. We laughed a lot, and talked about old memories we had from Grandma's house, or from staying the night at each other's houses. It's crazy to think that we are all growing up and starting families. Three out of the five girl cousins that were there were pregnant. How exciting it is to see the blessings of having such a righteous, good family, being passed down to the next generation.

Sometimes I think we take it for granted, the blessing it is to be part of such an amazing family, but when we take a step back and look at the big picture, usually, for me anyway, it brings tears to my eyes to know that I am so blessed. I can remember one night when I was probably 14 years old, I was just lying in bed trying to fall asleep, as my mind wondered and eventually lead me to think of all the blessings our Father in Heaven has given us. My eyes filled up with tears, and my pillow became wet as I thought about my family; my mom, my dad, the sacrifices they have made to raise me in the gospel. I thought about my grandparents on both sides, striving to serve with all their hearts their children, grandchildren, AND the Lord. I couldn't help but think about MY future children and the blessings they would have because of the faithfulness and example of my parents and grandparents. I prayed and prayer of gratitude that night, and my heart was full. I remember that experience very clearly. That's when I realized I could NEVER EVER let go of the gospel. I loved it too much to ever even think about letting go of it. I realized that's why my parents never let go of it. We can't risk it. It's not worth risking. Sooo many lives depend upon my faithfulness in the gospel. Both physically and spiritually.

I love the gospel and the blessing it's been in my life. I'm grateful for the way that I've been raised. Without it I wouldn't have been lead to serve a mission and bless many other lives in the gospel. I'm grateful for the guidance it gave me in finding Logan. What a huge huge blessing it's been to know him and be married to him. We love each other more and more every single day. I'm grateful for his example of truth and righteousness; always living the gospel.

Anyway, this weekend was just a good experience to see family and be reminded of the blessing it is to be a part of it. We hope you are all doing well and we love you soo soo much!

Love,

Logan and Shanell