Summer Fun!

We went to the Iowa State Fair which is one of the "musts" to do around here.  We had a good time mostly because we had been cooped up for so long because I wasn't feeling so well.  This was about the turning point of my morning sickness!  Finally!  The fair is really big with lots of fried foods which didn't sound too great.  Our favorite part is probably the animals.  Iylie had her first corn dog and loved it!  Last year she had cotton candy for the first time and now thinks it's one of the food groups:)

Farmer Dille:)

Yes I am pregnant but No this is not me:)  This is a boar and it was huge!

We had a great fourth of July with some more visitors!  My Parents came to visit that night which was so nice!  Especially since I hadn't announced I was pregnant.  I knew I was pregnant in Utah but it wasn't a good time to announce with my sister's wedding and all.  So my mom and dad came to visit and I told them they wouldn't regret it!  They found one of Iylie's dolls in the oven:)  and knew right away what was going on!  We went to the parade with our good friends the Cooks and it was so HOT!  Poor little Iylie had a rough time.  We brought a spray bottle to try and cool her down.  She sat in the stroller in the shade and whenever the cars would come by she would try and make her way over but the older kids would get all the candy.  She would cry and I would laugh cause she was trying so hard but was so hot!  The candy was melted that's how hot it was!!  At one point though I stole some candy right out of the hands of some kids:)  I couldn't believe I did it but it was just my motherly instinct I guess, just trying to protect and care for my young, they were in her spot that's okay right?!

Starting a new chapter!

Iylie graduated from her little preschool class!  She was pretty excited and is growing up way too fast!

I love this picture, it totally looks like me at my college graduation just chattin' away!:)

Best Buds!!

My little sister Erin got married this year!  She was such a beautiful bride and it was so fun to be there with her on her special day.  I'm so proud of her and who she's become!  It kills me to be out here away from her but she will always hold a special place in my heart!  She is such a great example to me and even though we're almost seven years apart I feel so close to her.  I love you Erin!!

The church is true!! Kansas City & Nauvoo!!

My friend Ashley and I went down to the Kansas City Temple open house.  We stayed with some great company who go by the name of President and Sister Keyes whom I love so much!  We had such a neat experience going through.  Uncle Don was the tour guide for some of the descendants of Joseph Smith.  Some were members but the majority of them weren't.  The spirit I felt as we walked with them through the temple and as I listened to my uncle bear such a deep sweet testimony of the sacred building was indescribable!  Even though I was a member it was so neat to hear about the duties of each of the rooms from another perspective!  I will never forget that day especially because I felt the spirit so strong and then that night as we drove home we were almost caught in my first tornado!  I have never felt fear as strong as that before it was crazy!  I had such a high and low that day!  As I sat in my closet, helpless, with little Iylie I just prayed that's all I could do at that point.  We were obviously okay but let me tell you that I made sure we had our 72 hour kits up and going the next week!

In May we had some more visitors come to see us and this time we bribed them into going to Nauvoo since we're pretty close.  I love that place!  Brett's parents, Grandparents, and aunt all made their way to visit. It was such a sweet trip especially being there with Brett's cute Grandparents.  They wanted to go on one last big trip and they chose to go to Nauvoo so it was pretty special!  They did their family history and found an ancestor named David Buel Dille who had property right there in Nauvoo.  He was a stonecutter for the temple and we were able to get a four generation picture standing right on his property.  We also took a picture from his view of the temple!  Such an amazing spirit there and priceless memory.  We had such a great time and I keep telling everyone that this has been my mission out here.  I feel there is a reason we were suppose to come to Iowa probably to strengthen my testimony!  There is so much church history out this way and I'm a visual person so to see all of these places and to feel what the pioneers before us went through has truly touched me!

I just love my mother-in-law!  Especially for raising a great guy:)

Joseph Smith's home

Four Generations on Dille property in Nauvoo!

David Buel Dille's view of the temple

Aren't these two the cutest?  Great Grandma and Grandpa Dille:)

These two are best buds for sure!

ST. Louis!

I can tell you that the first year of PA school you might not feel like you have a spouse.  I knew I had one though because there were always socks left on the floor, but don't worry I didn't mind picking them up:)  Anyway our time with Brett is always quality not necessarily quantity but we'll take what we can get.  We did get to go on a couple great trips and ST. Louis was one of them.  We took Iylie to the zoo and a kids museum.  We also got to ride to the top of the arch which was just crazy when you see how skinny it actually is!  I kept asking Brett, now who built this?  Was he sure he knew what he was doing?  I was a little nervous but it was great!

Priceless!!

She loves goats!  They kind of look like they can be related:)

Look at her little face engraved in the wall:)  ha ha

Ya we were in that top skinny part!!

Spring Time!

I love this time of year especially because it starts to warm up!  I can't get enough of this little girl, my friend Danna was able to capture some cute pictures of her in her easter dress!  We had a fun easter at our Stake President's home.  He has lots of land and the kids had a blast, Iylie loved to pretend to fish.  Our favorite past time in the spring is to go to parks, lots of parks and blow bubbles!  We do both of these quite often:)

Love is in the air!

In February Iylie learned the "LOVE you sign" and does it all all the time when she says bye to people.  I mostly love when I say goodnight to her and she just holds her little hands up:)  My sweet friend Tonnie also came to visit us and oh how we LOVE her and are so grateful for her friendship!  We've known each other since 5th grade and she is so dear to my heart!  Oh how we LOVE visitors, too bad there's nothing here to bribe people to come:( Well besides great company!:)

We had such a fun ST. Patrick's Day!  Our friends Drew and Tasha got married and their wedding was beautiful with great food, great people, and fun dancing! I was able to capture a couple pictures and as you can tell my daughter is a splitting image of her daddy:)

2012 in a nutshell:)

I'm really trying to be better at this and I just wanted to give a quick version of the year we've had!  So here it goes!  There's been ups and downs but I'll mostly share the ups:)  So we started the year out right with some sledding at Grandpa Ronny's and Grandma Karen's!