to eternity and beyond...

Our family was sealed for time and all eternity in the Los Angeles Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on Saturday, July 17th, 2010.

When Mr. B was baptized a member of the church J.T. asked him, "Why do you want to be a Mormon? They don't drink coffee." (we don't drink coffee anyways so no sacrifice there). He told J.T., "I love you and your sister and you mommy so much, if there's any chance we can be together forever, I'm going to take it." And take it we did. 1 year and 1 week after Mr. B was baptized, we took our family to the temple. We were sealed, Mr. B and myself first to each other, then J.T. and Hea Bug to us.

I was a little anxious about going to the temple to do our endowments the night before because I wasn't sure what to expect. People keep saying that no one talks about it because it's sacred, not secret. But to those for whom it's not sacred, it just seems like a giant box of secrets. It was far less weird than I'd imagined it to be and turned out to be pretty special. I know I looked like the giant "newbie" because as we walked through the temple I'm gawking at the beauty of it's interior. Beautiful paintings, lighting and Austrian drapes (which are my favorite) were everywhere and I looked all around wanting to soak up every second of being in there. It was great though.

My favorite moments of the experience of being sealed to my family were:

     Walking into a room filled with friends and family all in white. Some faces I hadn't seen in years and it was a pleasant surprise to find them there. I'll tell you one thing though, as soon as I was kneeling across from my husband, I only had eyes for him. I couldn't have cared less if there were 30 pairs of eyes on me, he was all that I could see. I know every square inch of his face and while after loving him for almost a dozen years it shouldn't surprise me, I found that I re-fall in love with him every time I look at him. Especially at that moment.

     When my kids were brought up from the nursery downstairs and J.T. walked into the beautiful sealing room in his little white suit and tie with such confidence of where he was supposed to be. He told he me he tried to keep Hea Bug awake for the "blessing" but she was just too tired.
     As we're waiting in the lobby for Mr B. who was somehow swept up with the rest of the "grooms" (btw, 17 couples were sealed that day!!) Hea Bug is unapologetically taking off (as fast as one can in adorable poufy white dresses) down long halls that look perfect for straight shot running for tiny people. Instead of nasty stares for inappropriate behavior, we got smiles of understanding and some "how sweet" whispers. I guess the only time pint sized people are in the temple are when they're being sealed to their families so I can only imagine they were so happy for us to even be there that they didn't mind her cuteness.
     At the last moment before we stepped outside into the July heat, J.T. informs us that he thinks he just might live here at the temple. Mr. B told him that there's no TV to watch... J.T. says Heavenly Father could help him build one.

The crazy heat and our family awaited us outside. We were glad to be able to head home where we knew food and cake would be. Normally we throw our parties with a mix of indoor/outdoorsy-ness but the heat kept us and our guests inside surrounding the table of food, occasionally popping over to the portable A/C that Mr B hooked up literally the night before. We had hours of good eats and great conversation. Our kids all enjoyed trampolining, playing and chasing each other and were duly awarded unlimited popsicles. The day was a beautiful one. We experienced beautiful and eternal things and enjoyed amazing company.

Glad to know that we'll have that opportunity in heaven and that we'll all be together.

Visiting Tutu

Every year on July 5th, we go up to Grandma's grave and eat lunch while we sit around and remember just what an awesome woman she was. This year we were lucky to add to our midst as the Imbach's joined us. It's never a sad visit and we rarely cry but she was hardly a sad lady and would rather giggle at silly jokes than cry. My tutu was quite the rascal... It's a chance for my kids to hear about their Great Tutu Kamae. We make her a lei from our plumeria trees and just spend a little time being happy together at the place where she and Grandpa Kamae are resting together.

our 4th

There was no shortage of fireworks this 4th of July. A few were leftover from last year and had... matured a little. lol. We spent our 4th with the other/older Booths (haha). We've enjoyed the last few years eating yummy bbq and blowing stuff up with Tom and D'lene. This year was no different aside from the little Booths getting bigger. We had a great time and we B's enjoyed celebrating this nation and our independence!

Canada, Eh?

We took a family vacation (and by family I do mean everyone... Maga, Tutu, Breeze, Mr and Mrs B, J.T. and Hea Bug) to Canada. My Aunt and Uncle have a wonderful Bed and Breakfast called A Rovers Rest in Blind Bay, BC. We left on Hea Bug's first and J.T.'s second plane ride ever from LAX at 8pm to arrive in Vancouver at midnight.

We rented a van and drove 5 hours toward the interior of British Columbia to the B&B which is right on beautiful Shuswap Lake. The charming property is amazingly beautiful and welcoming. Encompassed by the circular driveway are the apple and cherry trees, benches in the shade and a bed frame flower bed with lady bug lights that glow at night.

We adventured all over every day. Tummies filled with delicious breakfasts every morning we set off for suspension bridges, hot pools, gouda farms, petting "zoos", Margaret Falls, road side fruit stands, a lavender farm for high tea, and so much more.





Mr. B, the kids and I were in the "From the Brush Suite" which had it's own entrance separate from the house. Breeze was in the "To the Pointe Suite" and Maga and Tutu had the "Heart of the Home" suite which featured the giant red heart jacuzzi tub that none but the littlest B's enjoyed.



We spent quality time with my grandparents and Gr. Grandma Wahl enjoyed sewing "I Heart Canada" clothes with Maga for the grandkids to wear to the Canada Day Festival. We decked ourselves out and showed our Canadian Pride for the July 1st Celebration and enjoyed dancing hula to Tutu singing classic Hawaiian songs on stage and watching the AWESOME fireworks show.

We felt so warmly welcomed it was hard to leave but we knew we had to be back in America to celebrate the 4th of July so we hugged and squeezed our loved ones and made the night time drive back to Vancouver to catch our 6am flight.
It was definitely a challenge managing 7 international travelers but the time we had was unforgettable. Our Summer has been filled with crazy fun and crazy love so far.

Camping on the River

To kick off Summer and celebrate our nephew Elisha's 9th birthday, we took the boats out to the river and set up camp. We spent 2 nights and 3 hot days on our own little rocky beach. The lake was completely windy the whole time which made lots of tubing and what not a little difficult but we had lots of fun nonetheless.



The highlights were definitely the night rides... after the sun went down a huge full moon took over the whole sky and everything was so calm. We took the boat out and rode around on the dark water. It was amazing! The kids were so wiped they slept hard, the girls enjoyed the rocking of the water as they slept on the boats. I had a hard time the first night because every sound seemed crazy magnified to me. By night two, I slept like a baby cuz I was just as wiped as the kiddos!


Camp food always seems to taste better than regular food. Maybe it's due to the exhaustion of spending your whole day in the sun or the pride in knowing what you contributed to the meal. It was delicious to say the least.

We had a great time as a family and can't wait to do it again!!

PreSchool and T-Ball are Pau!

J.T. has officially finished another season of T-ball. He really enjoyed playing and we enjoyed seeing his skill level and appreciation for the game improve and evolve. He's got a great glove and a killer swing. At his team party he was awarded the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards. That's our little Dodger! They had a cute team party and we passed out mini photo albums that I made of our team over the season.

School's Out!

June 23rd was J.T.'s last day of Pre-K! He's now a bonifide kindergartner. We were so proud of our little guy. Thanks Ms. Winnie and Mr. Vincent! (I don't know what's up with his weird picture faces today...) He'll miss his best buddy Phoenix. Martina will miss him.