The Avery's

Thanksgiving 2011 and Kyler's blessing.

2012-01-11T21:52:00.000-07:00

Chris was wondering if I have abandoned the blog, so I thought I better catch up with a few blog updates.

Thanksgiving we headed down to St.George for the Thanksgiving Festivities and meet baby Kyler (my newest nephew.) Mom put on a wonderful meal and we topped off the weekend with Kyler's blessing. It was a world wind weekend, but we felt such a privilege to meet Kyler and what a cutie he is too. He must take after Andrea...

Dave gave Kyler a beautiful blessing. He is such a blessing in our family.

Mommy holding her precious son.

The Proud New Parents

Dad and Mister Mister.

They say Hayden looks just like my dad, see they both look exhausted.

All the men of the family with their cute baby boys. Who knew this clan of Cornwells would end up out numbering the girls. Dave and Dad have waited so long for this day. Messed this picture up though, Dad needed to be with the boys.

The Grandma's conversing. I love these two ladies.

Look at all of these little kids. The Cornwell grandkids are just so dang cute. I am not biased either.

After the blessing we headed to the local bowling alley for a little Cornwell competition. You know us Cornwell's and our need to beat each other. So we played girls against girls and boys against boys.

Hayden loves his little cousin Kade.

They just can't get enough of each other.

Aunt Kelle teaching Hayden how it is done.

Hayden has the Cornwell/Garner competition. He has a double dose, he is in trouble.

Maggie zoning. Wonder what she was thinking about? Obviously she is deep in thought.

Action Shot!

Tongue hanging out in true concentration. Too bad I stunk it up.

This is mom's nickname. You'll have to ask her what it means.

Yep, we are sisters. A good looking pair too!

I love my brother-in-laws. Especially when the are a little goofy and....

When they look like they can kick my behind.

Unfortunately, this is the only picture I have of Dave and Andrea. I accidentally deleted the good shot instead of this bad one, but couldn't retrieve it. So sorry Dave and Andrea.

Our shot, too bad my dear husband won't take a picture without making some goofy face.

I would like a nice picture once in awhile Chris.

Bringing the Cows Home.

2011-10-26T21:16:00.001-06:00

Saturday with the help of Gene and Kelle we were able to bring the cows home for the winter. And for once in the past several years there wasn't any snow on the ground and the weather was decent even with the light breeze. The fall colors were incredible, so I had to take pictures. Here are a few of my favorite.

At the end of a very long day we all hung up our saddles and went home to homemade chili and cornbread thanks to Gene's mad cooking skills.

Thanks for coming up and helping us out guys and thanks for letting me hold and love on Kader Bug.

Old Nerd

2011-10-25T10:45:00.001-06:00

Too funny not to write down and keep the memory fresh.

Sunday night Chris received a phone call from our niece. She went to explain that this week they had a few activities planned for school and tomorrow (Monday) all students were supposed to dress up like a nerd. She then ask him if she could borrow some of his clothes and glasses to wear. He got a disgusted look on his face. Kelle, Gene and I all busted up laughing. Our 12 year old niece thinks her uncle is a nerd. He followed the question by asking her if she really thought he was a nerd, and she couldn't back pedal fast enough.

This just adds to the blow that was given by our other niece last year.

Johnnie was given a Buzz Lightyear toy and Chris mentioned that he didn't have Buzz as a toy when he was a kid and Taryn reassured him that it was ok, because he had DINOSAURS.

So Coy, even though your nieces think you are nerd and old, I want you to know that I love my old nerd!

I love you Coy!

Much Better

2011-10-24T22:01:00.002-06:00

Remember the post were I mentioned the pro's and con's of being at Doug Andrus and my biggest complaint was my work space or the lack thereof. Well, my boss petitioned to the owners to make some changes and it finally came to fruition. He made a girl that works only part-time (like 4 hours on Friday & Saturday) switch me desks. She had this massive space with plenty of work surface and I had a teeny tiny corner in which I could not extend my arms without touching the entire area.

So here is the new space.

PS. I got a ton done today and so it looks a much better. What a difference it makes to be working in a space that allows you to spread out and get organized instead of having stacks and stacks of papers all mish mashed together. Oh I forgot, they got me a full sized filing cabinet to go along with my new setup, not I just need hanging file folders to get even more organized.

Buddy and Baylee

2011-10-24T21:29:00.000-06:00

Saturday while we were preparing to leave to get the cows, Buddy and Baylee were watching Kelle and I work out the horses. They were sitting in front of our old rusty flatbed truck. Living on a farm gives you all the props you need to have cool pictures.

Poor Tonka was in timeout. He was a naughty puppy. He drove the yearlings from the pasture behind the house up and over the 4 wire fence at out into the adjoining field. He wasn't listening to our commands and caused quite a mess. So he was locked up for the remainder of the afternoon until we got them back into the pasture. Chris and John spent over an hour cleaning up the mess Tonka created. Chris was not a fan of Tonka that day. Poor Tonka, I still love you even when you are naughty. I think I need to invest a little $$ to get him trained properly. I know he will make a great cattle dog, he just gets too excited.

Snowy Day

2011-10-12T22:05:00.001-06:00

It is that time of year again when old man winter is fighting with the beloved summer weather. This particular day old man winter one with great gusto. We had snow down in the valley on Thursday and it snowed heavily in the mountains that night. With the cows still being up in the mountains we had to bring feed to them. When we arrived we found 8 inches of the heavy wet white stuff and dense fog. The cows came running out of the hills with great ambition to eat the sweet treat Chris brought to them.

Chris taking count of all of the cows to make sure they were all there.

They were.

On our way home, I made Chris stop so I could take this picture.

I loved the contrast of colors of the leaves with the white snow and the dark wet muddy road.

I really really miss my old camera.

Chef Taryn

2011-10-12T21:11:00.002-06:00

Last week was teacher inservice, so Taryn had a few days off of school. While her sister and brother went to Boise to visit Grandma, Taryn wanted to stay in Idaho Falls and stay at our house for one evening. Thursday when I came home Taryn was out helping Uncle Chris bring in some firewood since the power had been out and our house was frigid. Shortly after I got home the power came back on, so Taryn and I were able to cook dinner. She loves to cook and bake with me and I love to show her.

I showed her how to make Carbonara (a yummy Italian pasta dish, made with bacon, eggs and cheese.) and helped her make rosemary/garlic croissants. She was fantastic help and dinner was so so yummy. Following dinner, she wanted to make cookies, so I busted out the old mixer and helped her make chocolate chip cookies. I helped her read the recipe and she did the rest. I had so much fun and from what her mom told Chris, she had a blast too. I guess little Taryn likes to cook and bake, and maybe someday she will become a world famous chef.

Carbonara

Garlic Rosemary Croissants

Taryn adding the flour to the cookies.

Couldn't wait until these babies were hot out of the oven.

Bring on a cold glass of milk.

2011-10-02T23:43:00.000-06:00

Football and Boise

Chris and I just got home from a trip to Boise. What a great weekend we had too. It started off attending a high school football game between Eagle and Meridian. Why were we interested in seeing a highschool games, especially for two schools where we didn't attend? We wanted to see BYU's next QB. He is ranked high in all of the country's high school SR quarterbacks. His name is Tanner Mangum and he plays for the Eagles. He is being seeked out by all of the top football colleges, but has committed to BYU. He wants to take over when Jake Heaps leaves, after he serves a mission. He was fun to watch. While we were there, he threw 3 touchdown passes and his throws are incredible. He throws the ball with zip and such gusto. There were a couple of throws that were thrown so hard that you could hear the ball hit the receiver's hands and they receiver would drop the ball. It was fun to attend a high school game, it brought a lot of memories back from my days in highschool. Eagles won the game, but I am not sure what the final score was, we left early since it was a complete blowout.

After the game, we met up with Darwin and Betty to eat dinner. We ate a great dnner of BBQ. It was so good and fun to sit down with the two of them.

Saturday, we spent our time at the Farmers Market down town Boise. While were down there we got the BBQ Sauce booth I found last time we visted and restocked my shelves with the yummy sauce and then we endulged eating this masterpiece. Yummo!!! Can you say fresh strawberry shortcake made with doughnuts made right before your eyes. It was absolutely delicious.

Following the farmers market, we went to the Boise State vs Nevada football game. Chris found 6 great seats, I mean there were great seats. Right on the first row of the south end zone. We got to see a lot of great touch downs. BYU is my number 1 college team, but after the Fiesta bowl a few years ago, I have been a fan. I think they gained a lot of national fans that day, but I will be the first to say that I am a bandwagoner. I just love watching football, so I don't care what people think.

I got all decked out in Bronco garb.

Walgreen t'shirt $5.00 + Bronco ball cap $10.00 + Free face painting = a great time at a football game.

They have a rule for those who have seats on the first row, that you can rush the railing when the ball gets past the 40 yard line. So we were right in the action of the game. In fact, Chuck was able to get into the head of a few Nevada player's heads after they screwed up on a play by taunting them and yelling things to them. It was quite funny that they could hear him and he was able to get to them. The Broncos won 30 to 1, they held them to a single field goal until the final few minutes of the 4th quarter when they had all of their scrubs in.

We had a great time at the game and have decided to make it a yearly tradition. I am ok with that.

Sunday was a mellow day, we went to a great place for breakfast. I guess if you get there after 9:30 you will have to wait a long time to get a table. Chris and were both impressed with our meals. After breakfast we went to Marzene which is west of Boise to get fresh produce at their farmer markets. We came home with boxes of Honey Crisp apples (which are the best), plums, peaches, pears and nectarines. We then went to the park were they had a few more boothes. I bought a jean patchwork quilt for $20, seriously $20. The fabric to make that would cost more than that.

I also bought this cute bag that a lady made out of recycled grocery bags. Seriously, she makes bags and rugs out of them. She just goes around to different stores to get the colors she needs. I also bought bearded irises that will bloom next spring, the bulbs are seriously huge and would have cost me a fortune at a nursery or if I would have bought them at Wal Mart, I would have had to wait a few years for them to get them the size they are. $12.50 to get 20 bulbs. I can't wait to see all of the colors I bought. They should look incredible in my new flower garden Chris and I put in this spring. I also came home with local honey, that have been bouncing from the fruit trees, alfalpha and all the other great things grown there, so I can't wait to eat some toast. All in all, we had a great weekend of 2 really good football games, got to visit with Chuch, Betty and Darwin and got some really yummy food and great finds from the local markets. I would much rather give my hard earned money to the locals rather than big companies. So I can't wait to do this again. What a fun weekend. I love weekends like these.

2011-10-02T22:30:00.000-06:00

Momma Doll and Mister Mister Come to Visit

Last week Mom was able to come and spend time with all of us girls. She spent a couple of days at each family's house. She started at Maggie and Ron's place in Logan and then came to our house. We were so excited to have here come up to stay with us for those few days. I love it when family comes to visit. When she came up she was able to bring Mister Mister (Hayden) with her. (Thanks Moogly and Ron for letting her bring your cute baby.) Hayden remembered our house and all of the farm. He was so excited to be here and was running around like a crazy person. In fact, at one point he was running around the house with nothing but Chris' nasty ballcap on while I was preparing his bath. He even wanted to wear it into the bath. I had to brib him with a wash cloth to get it off his head.

The next morning, I took Hayden out with me to feed the horses and the other animals and he spotted the tractor Chris was using to run the grain auger to move the grain from the tractor's holding bin to the silos. He wanted to go for a ride. I knew it wasn't going to be able to go anywhere since they still needed to move more product out so I put him in the driver seat. I should not have done that. He didn't want to get down. I think this kid is going to be spending a few weekends when he is older on the farm.

The only way I could get him to come off the tractor was to have Chris come and take him on a fourwheeler ride. Boy did that work. He was so excited to go with Uncle Chris to check on the field's watering status.

After a few hours outside on the fourwheeler, running around, playing with the dogs and kitties and he even swung on the swing he played on for a month while he lived here, he was all tuckered out and I mean he was exhausted. We put him down for a nap and he slept for a little over 3 hours. While he did that, mom and I tackled the porch room and bless her. It was a project I have been putting off but with her help we were able to get the porch clean scrubbed and organized. It has made all the difference in the world. She also brought her carpet clearner up and tackled the nasty carpet. Carpet and farm is not a good combination. I have hated the carpet since the day of our arrival, but while her machine and her elbow grease I have a beautiful carpet. Thanks Momma Doll. I so enjoyed having her up here and I am so grateful for the work and elbow greased she contributed to my house. She is such a great help and I loved that she took her precious time off to come up to my house and help me d'junkify my house.

2011-10-02T21:59:00.001-06:00

Fast & Furious But Worth It

A couple of weekends ago Chris and I were able to make a run down to St. George, and I do mean a run, to attend two very important events: Andrea's baby shower and Kade's baby blessing.

We will be heading down again in November to attend another baby blessing, for when Dave and Andrea's baby gets here. I am loving the fact that we have so many new babies coming to our family. Our family has been truly blessed the past couple of years. 5 years ago no grandkids and now there are going to be 7 with Dave's baby gets here.

This is the only picture I got of the whole weekend. But the one I did get was a great one. Mom loving her two grandboys.

2011-10-02T21:50:00.001-06:00

GOOD and BAD

So It has been over a month since my last post and boy has it been a busy month. I started my new job and so far am loving the new challenges that come with new responsibilities and different end of the trucking business. Kingston I was looking for trucks to haul my product across the country, now I am processing new carriers, and their paperwork to keep our bills coming in and trucks paid and organizing the brokers that look for loads and trucks to haul the loads they find. My official title is Logistics Support Manager and I work directly with the Vice President of Doug Andrus. There are things I love about my new surroundings but I miss a lot of things at Kingston. Superficial things like my old desk and computer. My old desk was big and room with a lot of storage room for file and misc. paperwork. My new desk is ridiculous actually. It is about half of what I had and there is not a single drawer in it. It is a cubical and my drawers are the sterolite or rubbermaid pieces of _____, that cost no more that $10. You can't organize anything. I didn't even have a hanging filing cabinet, I went out and purchased one myself, because of the looks I got when I order some supplies. Like (who does she think she is) kinds of looks. My desk has never been dirty/cluttered or heaped with piles of papers until now. I just can't figure out a system quite yet and it is driving me completely crazy. I work much much better in an organized place. I hope to have it contained soon and maybe they will realize that my new digs are not adequate for what they want me to do. Also, the computer systems, emails and their equipment is not what Kingston's had. They get what ever is the cheapest and you can tell. I have to use the free version of Microsoft Outlook and it is horrible. It is slow, doesn't respond with a single click. It is just a mess. The owners have asked me what I have thought and they know my stance and I think they are beginning to come around to new ideas. They also asked my what I thought of how they did things and I didn't hold back. I have found their process old and not efficient either. I think they knew it, but the ladies that have been there so long that they are set in their old ways. They are willing to listen to my ideas and want my help to improve them. All in all, I love my new job and excited for years that are ahead of me.
PS. Did I mention that they put me in a corner and I have to squeeze to get into my cubicle. I guess I was bad and had to be put into the corner. LoL.

2011-08-28T21:22:00.018-06:00

Friday was my last day at Kingstons. I can't believe I left the company after 7 and 1/2 years. I honestly can't believe it has been that long. But as I was clearing my computer of music and pictures I was able to reminisce of all the good times I had, especially with my bestest pal Val.

We were often told we were the heart of the company and always had the ability to keep smiles on our faces and therefore bring smiles to our coworkers. We used to pull things off that should not have been pulled at an office atmosphere but they always were welcomed to help bring the stress levels down. You have seen the posts of our Halloween costumes and it brings me great sadness to know that I won't be going to thrift shops or costume stores trying to figure out our next great costume. The first birthday she celebrated at Kingston brought an unusual cake to the office. My friend Cindy and I had a warped sense of humor and brought that to the table, literally. It was during the Wendy's scandal of the finger in the chili, and Val refused to go to Wendy's for a while because of that. We enlisted the wife of a coworker that makes incredible cakes and told her our plan. She made this big version on a Wendy's chili bowl and put a finger on top of the chili. It was super yummy even though it looked totally disgusting. Val was a good sport and the whole company thought it was hilarious.

Another time Val had a new filing cabinet delivered to her office and had this big empty box in her office for a few days until the garbage was taken out. We had a great idea for me to hide in the box on day, while she called in Travis (worked in the marketing dept with me) and asked if he could help her with something. As he sat in her office I would scratch on the box. Of course Travis asked if she heard something and she played it off like he was just hearing things. So she kept him busy while I scratched on the box again. This time he said he knew he heard something and was walking toward the box. I could tell he was getting close to the box so I burst out of the box. Let me tell you, he screamed like a little girl as he ran out of her office. We were both cracking up and our CFO (Reece) came into see why heard a scream. We told him what had happened, thinking we were going to get into trouble, but Reece just started to laugh and went back to his office. These are just a few of the jokes or pranks we were able to pull off. Never once did we get into trouble, it was almost as if they encouraged us to do it.

I will miss seeing that girl everyday, even if it was just for a half a day. I am so grateful that Kingston brought her into my life when I was missing out on having a bonefied friend in Idaho. I didn't have one up to this point and she was a huge answer to a prayer. Sure I had friends from other businesses, but not one that I knew I would stay in contact with for the rest of my life. I love this girl to death. She is my family in Idaho. She knows my secrets, my worries, my scares. my hopes, she just knows me. She helps me be a better me. She has great faith in me and my abilities. She pushes me when I don't think I can do something. Kingston brought me a great gift and she was the hardest thing to leave behind. As I was saying my goodbyes I walked into her office and we both just started to cry.

Kingston is one of many companies that I will work for in my life time, but I will always look back and thank them for bringing Val into my life.

Some pictures from our wild adventures the past few years.

Love ya Val.

Playing on the Lake

2011-08-13T22:16:00.020-06:00

Last weekend we celebrated Ilyse Sterns birthday on the lake. She was in Idaho for business meetings and since she was her for the birthday, we knew we had to do something fun, it is tradition. So Chris arranged to borrow his dad's wave-runners and boy are we glad. We were blessed with perfect weather. It was 83 degrees with no clouds, no breeze and the water was calm. No wakes insight. Perfect boating weather.

Since living in Idaho, lakes have not been part of my life and it was so nice to be out there enjoying the water, the waves and the sun. I didn't think the lakes in Idaho would be warm, especially for this Ol' Dixie girl, where the lakes are really warm. But I was wrong the water temperature was perfect.

Chris had never been on a wave-runner and was out of his element. Me on the other hand was back on familiar ground. All throughout high school, my friends and I would go to the lake often. So these machines were very familiar. When Chris first got onto the wave-runners he would slow down for boat wakes instead of jumping them, but towards the end of the day he was making me proud by jumping the biggest wakes he could find. In fact, about halfway through the day, after we took a break and ate lunch, us girls decided to soak up some rays. Chris on the other hand wanted to take the machines out by himself. While he was riding he decided to get us wet, or I should say he tried to get us wet. He didn't succeed. He tried for a good 15 minutes. It made us all laugh. After he was finished, I decided to take them out for a spin by myself and I showed him how it was done. While he was sitting on the edge of the dock, I came in as close as I could and then took a hard left. The wave of water that was following me, came right up and soaked him. He was so wet, it looked as if he had jumped into the lake. We all busted out laughing, well except for Chris. He didn't think it was too funny. But we sure did. It was one of those moments that you wish you had a video camera, so it would have caught the look on his face. Priceless. We had a great time. We were out on the lake for 4 hours and we are ready to do it again.

Me and Chris

I tried to wake board, but 15 years of not doing it, it didn't happen.

So I decided to just enjoy jumping the wakes.

Next time I will bring a tube.

Enjoying time together.

Enjoying the sun after eating lunch.

(Me, Ilyse and Chris Taylor)

Chris, me and Ilyse

Chris totally enjoying himself.

I love this man.

Ilyse and Chris.

I was proud of Chris, she usually gets sea sick, but she was able to keep her lunch.

They were wave-runner buddies while Chris and I were.

But they even had the chance to go out on the own.

Chris was nervous but she got the hang of it and was racing past us.

By the end of the day, we were tired and burned but had big smiles on our faces.

We were so glad that we were able to enjoy the Idaho lakes and sun.

Family Reunion 2011 and Two New Nephews

2011-08-07T21:15:00.065-06:00

This year for our family reunion we had plans to go to Blanding, but plans changed. We decided to stick close to home, well close to home for some. We had our 5th (really 5 already, time flies) reunion in Provo and Salt Lake. We are glad we did too, Kade decided that he wanted to make an early entrance into the clan and be a big part of this reunion. Friday, before the we were all to meet, Kelle ran into some complications and was enduced. Saturday, Kelle was in full labor, so Kelle and Gene stayed at the hospital while the rest of met up and went to Seven Peaks for the day. We had a great time. Mom stayed with the kidlets while the rest of hit the slides. My favorite part of the slides was watching Dad and Dave go down the Boomerang. The look on Dad's face was priceless. I think it was because they were like 18 inches from the top of the slide. Even the lifeguard mention that they were the closest she has even seen someone get edge of the slide.

Some of the gang.

Kaleb reminded me of Dave when we lived in Oklahoma. He loves the water as much as David did at his age. He is so darn cute.

And well the Cornwell's can't do anything without having some kind of competition during our reunions and since we didn't have a field to play kickball, we decided to race each other on the slide. It was Dave, Me, Maggie and Dad.

We loved this ride we could have done it all day.

Hannah and Kaleb loved having the attention of Poppi all afternoon.

Hayden loved playing in the water.

We played hard.

Enjoyed refreshing drinks.

But by the end of the day, when we all looked like steamed lobsters

And the kids were worn out.....

It was time to leave.

Uncle Dave and Kaleb patiently waiting for us girls go change.

We all had smiling faces when we left the park.

Sunday we all went up to LDS hospital to welcome the newest addition to our family.

Kade Edward Davis

The proud new papa.

Sure can't tell he loves having his this little guy here.

Auntie Steph got to hold him, and remind him that we had a deal.
I am his favorite Auntie, been telling him this for months by talking to his momma's stomach.

Uncle Chris holding Kade for the first time.

Since the little kids couldn't go in to see him.

They brought the baby to them.

After the hospital, we headed to Liberty Park to enjoy the

beautiful weather and get something to eat.

We noticed that these little girls love the camera.

They can't help but pose.

Monday we headed to Sandy to go to the aquarium.

I loved seeing all of the different sealife.

The jellyfish. I loved this picture.

Kaleb loved looking at all of the different species they have on display.

I love horses as most people know, but I love seahorses too.

It must something about the name.

They are so vibrant in color, I was really shocked.

Seeing them, did bring back a memory I had in Oregon with my Aunt Jane. She took us to an aquarium and they let us put our fingers in the water. A seahorse attached it's tail to my finger.

I can't believe I had forgotten that.

A fish that came up to say hi.

After the aquarium, we met up with Kelle, Gene and Kade for Cafe Rio and Leatherbee's.

Most of us had to roll out of the icecream shop.

We had forgotten how big each dish really was.

Seriously, look at the size of sundaes and banana splits.

(I can't believe I didn't get a good picture of Andrea. Sorry Andrea, love you.)

The kid sundaes were big enough for an adult.

After the icecream, some of us went to a movie and the others went back home or went to the hotels. But we had a great time and hated the fact that our reunion was once again over.

We all left Tuesday morning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On our way home, we knew that Chris and I would be adding yet another addition to our nephews. Chris's sister Tracie was in the hospital laboring to bring another guy to our lives.

Chris and I got there just in time to see him being born. Tracie and John invited us to be in the room when he was born. We gave Tracie her privacy, but it was sure fun to be there when this guy came into this amazing family.

Welcome William Crew VanDyck.

The whole family.

Johnnie holding his new best buddy.

We had a fabulous few days between the reunion and adding not just one new family member but two. We are so blessed to know that even though we don't have children of our own, that we have wonderful nieces and nephews that we can smother with kisses and spoil to pieces.

Helping Uncle Chris

2011-07-21T10:34:00.023-06:00

As I mentioned in my last post, Chris had to change water on the barley field and that consists of moving a canvas dam. But he had helpers this time to make the process a bit better. While Chris walked the fields to see if the lands were finished.

Taryn drove the quad. It was her first time doing it all by herself. And she did a fantastic job.
While we were gathering the dam making supplies, Baylee decided to cool off by swimming in the ditch.As we lugged over the logs. Taryn did her part and hauled a log over that probably weighed half of her body weight.Chris started the process of securing the braces before he placed the canvas sheet across the ditch.Once Chris got the braces secured and canvas across. Taryn was being hany to hand him the shovel so he could secure the sides of the canvas.

Taryn was using her body to keep the edge of the canvas where it needed to be while Chris let the water fill the tarp.

Filling up the resevouir.

Still has a smile on her face, while helping out her Uncle Chris.

I am standing on the other corner to do my part.

Chris anchors the bottom of the tarp down with huge chunks of mud.

Baylee and Tonka were even helping out and very curious of the process.

What good dogs. Have I mentioned lately that I have the best puppies in the world.

Finally got a somewhat good picture of Tonka. He can't sit still for very long. He has dog A.D.D.

After dam was built and the ditch was filling up high. I caught Taryn in the Barley and thought it was too pretty with the sunset, so I had to take a picture.

Last night's sunset over the lush barley field.

While we were waiting for Uncle Chris, Taryn took a picture of me.

I think she did a great job, if I do say so myself.

Random daisy like flowers amongst the flowers from our alfalfa field.

What a pretty combination of colors.

After the dams were built, water moved from one land to the next, it was time to go home and the shortest route was through the wet hay field, so Chris gave Taryn a piggyback so she would not have to walk in the cold water. What a great Uncle.

And the chores were through for the night.

Chris said we were great help and that made us happy.

Buddy and Baylee's Photoshoot

2011-07-21T09:57:00.006-06:00

Last night I went out with Chris to change water and while he was checking and closing off the lands Buddy and Baylee were in the barley field and I could not resist taking a few shots of them. They looked like they were ready for their candid shots for the next Golden Retriever calender.

I noticed that Baylee loves to be front and center. Obviously she knows she is gorgeous.

Sunday Afternoon Activity- Swinging and Changing Water

2011-07-19T12:52:00.007-06:00

This past month the Garners have lived with us. I think we have had a great time together. We helped each other out and played most every night. My favorite thing that I will miss is coming home from work and peaking into the family room from the kitchen to see Hayden look up and smile as big as he could at me. I will miss having contest to see who he would walk to, I usually won those contests. What can I say, he loves me. I will miss swinging him, him chasing the cats, his Dah Doo (dog) and Diddy (kitty) sayings, his growing while eating his food. Growling when he says momma. I will miss him while I mow the lawn. He loved to ride and drive the mower, he loved to ride on the four wheeler. We had a great time watching this little guy grow while being here. I hope he will always remember the love he has for the farm. I know he is still so tiny, but just hope he will remember the feeling of being here or something.

While Maggie and Ron were in Blackfoot unloading some of their stuff, they asked us to watch Mister Mister. We spent the afternoon swinging, chasing the kitties, riding the four wheeler and changing the water on the hay field.

Hayden and Uncle Chris walking along the field to see the progress irrigating of the field.

While living on the farm Mr. Hayden got a farmers tan.

Playing in the water while checking on the fields.

It was nice a cold on a hot summer day.

Hayden loved it.

Maggie, Ron and Hayden, we loved having you stay at the farm with us the past month, but we loved having you live so close to us for the past two and half years. We will miss our weekends together, the many movie nights and games we played. Girls nights with my sister. I will miss having a part of my family here. We are so grateful we got to know Ron and babysit for you while you needed some time together with your sweetheart. We grateful for all of the memories we made while being an Idahoan and secretly hope that you will be back to stay after you finish school. We love you and wish you the best of luck in Logan.

PS. Good thing it is not too far from here or SLC, because you know we will be kidnapping Hayden and crashing at your house after the Jazz games and grabbing you on my/our way down to St. George.

Thanks for your help with our move and getting our house put together.

Love Love Love you lots.

Another Saturday Filled with Fun.

2011-07-19T11:23:00.012-06:00

Saturday was a busy day. I was out and about in town by 8 am. Bought myself a dinner room table and 4 chairs at a thift store for $100 for all 5 pieces. I can't wait to refinish them. Then I got home made panacakes for Johnnie and Taryn and the rest of the gang. After breakfast, we headed to the zoo for Dr. Doolittle Days. The zoo was busy and hot, but we had a great time visiting all of the animal exhibits and booths they had set up to learn more about the animals the kids were visiting. This past year, our little zoo has welcomed quite a few babies. From black swans, a camel, serval kitten, two baby zebras, a cavy and more.

The baby camel had to be taken away from it's mom because she could not take care of her.

But she didn't seem to mind. While we saw her she played with the watering hose and a big block of ice the zookeepers gave her. She had quite the personality.

Black Swan parents herding their goslings. They were quite protective.

They began to hiss at Ron and I when we got too close.
The newest Zebra was born about 9 days before we visited.
Both foals were beautiful and fun to see.

One of my favorite exhibits is the snow leapords and the lions.

Taryn and Johnnie showing off their little frogs
they made at one of the booths they were offering.

All in all, we spent about 3 hours at the zoo. We had a great time. After the zoo we headed for home to have a nice bbq with family and friends. The weather was once again perfect and the food was yummy as usual. One of my favorite things about Idaho is the late summer nights. It will be 9:30 and the sun is just setting. I think it is mother nature's way of making up the short summer months.

Picture of Johnnie eating his mammoth sized hamberger.

Johnnie pretending to be a samari warrior or jedi. I am not sure which, but he was having a lot of fun with the two sticks he found in the yard.

Hayden swinging. I think he is going to miss this swing.

Elizabeth did really good with the swing. She didn't seem to frightened.

She amazes me.

She was ready to be released back up into the sky.

The BBQ was a complete success. We had a great time with everyone and got to meet some of Maggie and Ron's friends from school.

His version of Momma

2011-07-19T11:17:00.003-06:00

While the Garners were living with us we got to see all of Hayden's cute achievements. One in particular totally caught us off guard and made us laugh. He starting to talk quite a bit, but when he says momma it makes our day and is totally unique. How many 1 year olds can growl momma. Turn up the volume to hear it. The first one is me but Hayden says it soon after. Totally cute.
PS. Don't forget to turn off the music below to hear him.

Identity Crisis?

2011-07-18T13:33:00.002-06:00

I went riding the last Saturday (July 9th) and came upon these cows. Didn't think much of it, just a bunch of whitish cows in a pasture, then I noticed that there was one that was a little different.

Do you see it? Look closely.

Yep, a lone sheep is in with the herd of cows.

He is almost the exact same color as the cows, just shorter and furier. I wonder if he is like how Gerdie my goat was. Thought she was a different species. A goat who thought she was a dog and now a sheep that thinks he is a cow.

Mountain Views and Wildflowers

2011-07-12T22:16:00.006-06:00

Tonight, I went and helped Chris get the stinkin' cows back onto our property up at the cabin. Chris got a phone call that the cows were out in the neighboring pastures. When we got there, we found that the guys gate that connects to our land (he has an easement on our land to get to his land) was horrible, completely falling apart. Duh, maybe if he would maintain his gates, the cows might have not gotten into his fields. So we used some of our portable panels and secured his gate. We had a few problems where a moose had ran through the fence so we were splicing the barbed wire, when we saw that those same cows were back into the same pasture we just moved them from. So we started the process all again, looking for the spot where they got out this time. As we drove up the hill to a corner of the property we noticed that another gate was down. Seriously, who takes down a gate and doesn't put it back up. I mean, I grew up in the city, but I am smart enough to know that you should always close a gate after you go through it. Come on people, wake up, there are cows everywhere. So while Chris and John herded the cows back in again, I was busy trying to put the fence back up, as I was doing such, the neighbor guy rode up on his quad. He was the moron that didn't put the gate back up when he went through it. This is the guy that had complained that the cows were in his fields. I swear he wants to have our cows on his grain because it is so pathetic and he wants to get some kind of $$ from John because he won't get much from selling it during harvest time. Seriously this grain looks like it was planted a few weeks ago, not the 2 1/2 months that it has been planted. So we get them back in for the second time and the guy has the nerve to tell me that we should have fixed the fence before bringing the cows up and all I could think of was why he had not worked on it since we share the same fence. He really ticked me off. As we were heading back down the hill we see the cows out for the 3rd time. At this point, I just wanted to get a gun and permanantly take care of these stupid, good for nothing cows. We get them in once again, let me remind you, this is the third time with in a couple of hours. We finally get all the fence fixed and head for home. The only bright part of the evening was spending time with Chris and seeing the beautiful wildflowers that were in full bloom. Here are a few of what was around us, the pictures don't do them justice since they were taken from my cell.

Flower Garden and Great Company

2011-06-26T00:56:00.020-06:00

My tulip bed had finally come to an end and was being over ran by weeds so Friday evening I spent a few hours clearing out the weeds and topping off the old tulip leaves. It took a couple of hours but I enjoyed it. Maggie brought Hayden out and he helped me, while Ron went with Chris to change the water in the grain fields. Hayden is such a boy and loves to be outside and playing with the dirt, gettting all sorts of dirty.

The flower bed before getting the weeds pulled and the tulips being topped.

It was totally neglected.

Hayden weeding with me, I think he ate more dirt than anything.

Another shot of him actually eating the dirt.

After the weeds had been pulled, and a much better

looking flower garden than the weed fillled one.

The final product after all of the flowers had been planted.

It consists of shasta daisies which remind me of my momma, lilies which are my favorite flower plus my momma loves them too. And there is multiple varieties of petunias and allysum.

After the weeding was done, we brought out the small kitties.

Hayden loves them so much.

While I was planting the the flowers on Saturday, Hayden was enjoying the kiddie pool Uncle Chris brought home earlier that morning.

Maggie playing with her favorite kitty Molly.

Meet Max.

The kittens were having a fun time playing in the lillies and plants.

While we were weeding and planting, Ron was hunting magpies

and spied the owl sitting on his perch.

Tabby was interested in the phone no

t so much the flowers or plants as her brothers and sister were.

Buddy was just happy to be around.

He is constantly posing for the camera, he is not camera shy.

Baylee is such a sweetie.

She loves pleasing me and is turning out to be such a wonderful dog.
Tonka is mia, he has dog A.D.D. He can't sit still long enough to get a clear picture of him.

Hayden was a mess by the end of the day on Saturday.

He played hard and ate a lot of yummy food.

We had another great weekend. I loved that we had weather in the mid 70's low 80's. It was perfect. I hate the winters in Idaho, but it makes it all worth it when you can spend the whole day outside and not have go in during the mid day because of the mid day heat.

Family Time = Fun Time

2011-06-07T15:19:00.006-06:00

Sunday was another beautiful day, so we convinced Gene, Kelle, Ron and Maggie to go on a nature drive and picnic. We went up to Grand Targee through Driggs and then up through Victor to Fall Creek. It was so green and beautiful. I love this time of year.

Chris and I at fall creek.

I love this picture of Hayden and Chris.

I think they love each other.

My incredible family

I have thoroughly enjoyed having Maggie, Ron and Hayden in Idaho and have so greatly appreciated the effort Gene and Kelle have made to come and visit. We sure love the support they all give Chris and I. I also love that our spouses get a long so well. We can't wait until the next time we can get together and enjoy each others company.

Branding and BBQ = Exhausted but had fun.

2011-06-07T11:13:00.038-06:00

Saturday we spent the majority of the day branding cows. It took about 4 hours to get all 42 done, which was more than I thought. We had a great crew of family and friends that made branding smooth.

Steve carrying the calf that had been born the previous night.

She was too little to keep up with the rest of the herd as we drove them in from the pasture.

Getting the process started.

(Ron Garner, Steve Avery, Eugene Davis, Chris and myself)

Steve applying the hot iron.
(Kelle watching the process.)

This calf was so small it ran right through the shoot.
Steve and Chris were able to tackle the calf and were able to do
everything right there on the ground.

Shauna (Steve's wife) gave all of the shots.
While Justin was in charge of catching the head of the calf.
Chris turned the shoot to lay like a table.
Gene and Kelle came up to help us.
Gene got kicked in the knee by a pretty big calf. Kelle de-wormed all the calves and cows.

Ron castrated the bull calves.

He is the de-nutter.

He was such a good sport about doing this job.

Supporting group

(Stephanie, Shalawna & Kolston, Maggie & Hayden)

We tagged the new calf and gave her her shots, but she got to skip the branding part.

She was just too small and too new.

But she was reunited with her momma soon after.

After we finished branding we invited all to stay and have the first annual branding barbecue. We had a great time and had great food.

Maggie grilled the hamburgers.

BT (Brandon Andrus) cooked the bacon.

He jumped right in, he could see how exhausted we were from branding

and standing outside in the sun all day.

Mekelle and Harley just relaxing after a hard days work.

Val and Ellie Kay eating the scrumptious delicious food.

Thanks Val for bringing the salads. We loved having you guys.

Shalawna and Kolston

Chris enjoying his burger after a hard days work.

John joined us for some lunch.

Justin showing Johnnie how to aim a BB gun.

Part of the gang shooting the breeze.

(Shalawna, Tracie, Brooklyn, Maggie and Chris)

Following lunch we played a mean game of badminton.

Val and BT

BT and Justin playing against Chris and Ron

(BT hit the birdie and the birdie hit Chris in the forehead, he got a pretty good welt.

It made us all laugh when we realized he was completely fine.)

Me and Hayden

Maggie getting ready to hit the birdie.

Justin and Shalawna playing.

Chris and Johnnie eating licorice.

Kolston, Justin and Hayden enjoying the nice cool grass.

Elizabeth looking such a cutie.

Kolston and his daddy.

Maggie and Ron

Two little love birds.

Hayden loves licorice.

Elizabeth

Chris taking Johnnie on a little ride.

Hayden playing with stick, he is such a boy.

We had a very successful day full of work, play, family and friends. I can't think of a better way to spend a beautiful Saturday.

Friday Night Farmin'

2011-06-07T08:36:00.013-06:00

Friday night we had our final baby calf born and we were lucky enough to have Garners around so we could take Hayden to see the new baby.
Us taking Hayden out to see the new calf,

I was on the phone talking to a trucking company for work.
Found the new calf among the herd, so I picked it up and brought it closer to Hayden.

The calf mooed quite loudly and it scared Hayden and made him cry.

Hayden finally adjusted to the calf and actually seemed interested after the calf just laid there without making a sound.

He sat and petted the calf for a few minutes and then we set her free to go eat from her momma.
Sheeza came by to say hello to all of us.
She is such a friendly horse.

The Garner Family

This would have a been a really cute picture if it wasn't for Uncle Chris making a stupid face.

He has ruined quite a few pictures by doing this.

I think it is an Avery thing, they like to have their mouths open in pictures. I have quite a few examples of his siblings doing the same thing.

Ron taking care of the Magpies that live and poop around the farm.

They leave huge messes on our cars.

After taking a ride to see the cows we built a fire and had tin dins and s'mores.

It was a great way to start off a great nice weathered weekend.

Warm Sunny Day Projects

2011-06-02T10:11:00.011-06:00

We had a very productive weekend despite the cold weather on Monday. We had planned to go to Missoula MT to visit the grave of my paternal great-great grandmother, but when we pulled up the weather on Saturday and saw that it was calling for snow. We decided not to go. Who wants to drive in snow and ice on Memorial Day? Not me! So we decided to take the money we would have spent on gas and hotel and did a home beautification project instead.

Our plan is to turn the grass/weedy patch to the right of our driveway into our garden (we are having the land tilled next week) and I wanted to have a nice transition from ugly garage/driveway to my garden spot so I had the idea to do a castle wall planter bordering the driveway and we will put another one on the east side of the garden so the garden will be framed, but I need to get some more $$ first. But my vision is to have an nice little arch/pergola as you enter the garden, but we will see.

We spent most of the day Monday at Home Depot, Lowes and Walmart getting the supplies to start the mighty planter. When we got our materials we started the work but we were interupted a couple of times by some pretty big thunderstorms, but we were able to finish the planter with the exception of fitting the bricks that needed to be cut down to smaller size.

Tuesday evening, we spent most of the night (4 hours to be exact) chisling the bricks to the correct size. I was exhausted by the time I had gotten all of them cut down to size, but Chris and I pressed on to get them planted. We wanted to see the fruit of our labor. And it was so worth it by the time we were finished. I think it looks great.

Last night, Chris and I spent the evening outside again. We planted a few trees and spent a couple of hours weeding our tulip bed. The past few days have been incredible and we totally took advantage of it. Our yard is beginning to come together and it actually looks like someone cares about their house. We have had a quite a few people compliment us on what we have tackled so far, but I just like adding our own personal touches in an already established yard.

We planted this with purple salvia, dwarf bearded irises and barberry bushes, that will turn into a nice red hedge. I still need to put down the weed barrier and the mulch to prevent weeds but it is done and I think it looks great.

Planted clematis and some trailing white flowers in this plot.

I can't wait until the clematis climbs the trellis and covers the garage in beautiful purple flowers.

This is my vision of how this area will look.

I am hoping it will be as beautiful as I imagine it.
The green circles will be a lilic hedge on the outside of the fence to the pasture.

Coy deadheading the flowers in the flower bed. Yep, all of the weeds on the grass came from the bed. I had been slacking off and not weeding, and I paid the price by pulling huge dandilions out.

Buddy Gold being the gentlemen that he is, with his chubby belly.

Boy he put on a lot of weight this past winter months.

Baylee Jo being with the fam as we cleaned out the tulip bed.
She has gotten so big. She is such a good dog. I just love her to pieces.

Exhausted

2011-05-29T23:32:00.005-06:00

Saturday, we woke up expecting to brand the cattle, but because of the amount of moisture we have received over the past week and the lack of warm weather we went to get things set up and the top dry crusty soil broke through to reveal a sloppy underground and one of the helpers was injuried in an accident with his mules. So needless to say, we didn't brand the stinkin' cows. but Chris and I stayed busy for the rest of the day. We were outside from 10 am to 9:30 since it was the only nice Saturday we have had since Easter. So we mowed the lawn (Chris spent 4 hours on the lawn mower, he did ours, our old lawn and his dad's lawn), weeded some of the flower beds, planted some bulbs (Thanks Val, I can't wait for them to come up), cleaned up the sidewalk, cut some shelves with my new handy circular saw (I love having my own power tools) for one of my kitchen cupboards. I even help John set up the new branding table. I guess the brand has to be on a particular side of the animal and the table was set up for the brand to be on the left side of the cow, but we needed it to be on the right. John thought he could reverse it, but after taking off some of the pieces, he was lost in what was supposed to be where and I was able to reverse it and put it back together for him. He said he was impressed and didn't think he would have gotten it back together himself, and that flattered me. I knew standing around watching my mom and dad do their projects would do me some good. I learned a lot by just watching. Totally reminds me of the time when my dad built a new fence and my mom one evening came out and rerouted the sprinklers to make them work with the new fence line. I knew she could do it because I had seen her to that kind of stuff all of the time, but our neighbor watched her for a good hour seeing if she was doing it right and was quite astonished when she turned them on and they were perfect. I don't think he ever questioned her abilities after that.

So Saturday was a good day, now if we could get more days like that. I might be able to finish the rest of the flower beds and get the branding done so we can take them up to the hills.

We are exhaused but it was a great day!!!

Picture of the new shelves in my cupboard.
I chose to go white since, in the near future, my cupboards will be going that color.

Here are my puppies and kitties watching me sweep and scrap the sidewalk. The way they are laying around, you would have thought they spent all day working.

Cute Animals.

Hayden's First Birthday Party!

2011-05-29T23:14:00.005-06:00

This past week we got to celebrate Hayden's first birthday. It has been so much fun to see him grow up here while he has lived in Idaho. Tuesday Chris and I headed up to the Garner's house for BBQ and cake. The past few months, Hayden's favorite thing to play with at home or my house is the swinging lid garbage can, so I teased Ron and Maggie that was what I was going to give Hayden for his birthday, and guess what, I did. He got a garbage can filled with little balls and a onsie. It was a hit, he played with that garbage can with Uncle Chris for quite a bit of time. The only problem, I didn't think of this until after I bought the garbage can, he might start throwing his toys away in the real garbage. Oops..... After dinner (which was delicious) we opened presents and then watched our nephew take his first bits of his cake. It was so cute and we feel privileged to have the opportunity to have their family around so we can watch these milestones.

Uncle Chris and Hayden and his garbage can.

Video of Hayden playing with his own garbage can.

I need to get some stickers on it.

When I saw this onsie, I could not resist.

I had to buy it to emphisize my position as a cool auntie and that I am his favorite.

Here is the video of his first taste of his birthday cake. He was just playing with the icing until Maggie put some icing in his mouth and then he couldn't get enough of it. He was covered by the time we left.

Sealed for Time and All Eternity

2011-05-22T23:11:00.011-06:00

Saturday we had the great opportunity to be in the temple when John, Tracie, Bruklin, Taryn and Johnnie got sealed together in the Idaho Falls Temple. What a glorious day it was for our family and of course theirs. They have worked so hard to get ready to go to the temple. John and Tracie got their endowments on Friday and sealed on Saturday so we had two great opportunities to be in the beautiful temple. During the sealing, there was not a dry eye in the bunch. And it was incredible to see these children in white and see the great blessings that came from working so hard to get ready for the temple. We are so proud of them.

John with the missionaries that helped their family.

The pink ties were not planned, but it seemed as though it was the theme to go along with the beautiful spring tulips.

Crowd of support.

Flood of 2011

2011-05-22T22:56:00.002-06:00

After church Chris and I took a drive to our local reservoir to see how full it was and why they have such a concern for our local valley. Ririe reservoir is just above our house and is the reservoir that feeds the Willow Creek. The reservoir is at 95 % capacity and they are expecting water to be drained into it with the rising temps. They have been pumping a ton of water out but it is coming in as fast as it is going out. The local officials knew there was going to be a problem back in February and had sent some water out, but they didn't clean out the canals first and this caused severe ice jams and flooded a couple of farmers. They got it cleaned up and then they didn't send out any more water until the end of April. So it was a huge waste of money and complete mismanagement and now there is a great possibility that Willow Creek area will be flooded.

Ririe Reservoir in the far background is the flood gates. They have never been opened, but this might be the year. We hope not, but it is still a reality that we will all have to face with the warmer temps.

Snake River

Snake River just below Swan Valley

Falls from Fall Creek

Chris, Maggie and I would go to these falls every summer and hike down the terace to the bottom. There we would allow the warm water fall into a make shift pool. It was a great way to cool off on those hot summer days. I don't think it will be hiked down for a while, if ever this year.

2011-05-20T08:26:00.010-06:00

This past weekend we were busy. Friday, we finally moved the last of our stuff into our house after 6 months. Ron, Maggie, and Hayden came over and helped. They were such good help. Chris and I really appreciated their help. The stuff that was left in the old house was our food storage and washer and dryer. Didn't want to move them in 2 ft of snow, so we had made arrangements to keep them in our old house. After the moving Ron and Hayden went out to the pasture with Chris to feed the cows. It was Hayden's first ride on a four wheeler.

I just love this picture of the two of them. They look happy.

Saturday, Chris was with his dad checking out the headgate to our canals. We had water in our ditches, and there should not have been. So they went to check it out while I stayed and raked up my side lawn. When they got back, they told me that the head gate had been washed out because of the flooding in the Willow Creek. In all of the years I have lived here, I have never seen it so high, John (my father-in-law) said that in his life time he had never seen it that high either. So we called the water master and told him of the situation and he had it fixed with in the next couple of hours.

That afternoon we headed over to a guy who was selling hay. (We have ran out because of the elk and had more cows than we normally do. We usually sell off some of the previous years yearlings when we bring them home from the ranch, but we gotso much snow so early (remember our Thanksgiving blizzard) , we didn't ever get them to the sale. More mouths to feed more hay used.) Anyway we baught 40 3/4 ton bales and when we went to pick them up on Tuesday, someone had stolen 10 bales while the farmer was at church on Sunday. I guess with the price of hay($200/ton) and the shortage of it, people are getting desperate. So we got only 30 bales.

After we bought the hay, we decided to see if we could get up to the cabin. By this time we have already started repairing the fences, but we could not get up there two weeks ago, so we thought we would try it again. The creeks along the roadway were running full and fast. As we drove along, we came to the big bend of the road and it had a pretty good sized drift. We didn't dare going over it so we drove around it. when we finally got to Avery Acres we found snow in the trees, a full pond, a raging spring and a huge glacier/snow drift up above the cabin. None the less, we concluded that we won't be able to bring the cows up for at least 3 to 4 weeks. We will begin fencing sometime next week, hopefully.

Chris and John out on the glacier. They were 35 to 40 feet in the air.

The ruts from getting stuck in the wet mud and snow drift.

We had to backfill them because they were about 3 feet deep. I thought for sure we were going to high center the truck.

After we got stuck, we decided we didn't want to risk it further and so we headed home.

When we drove past our fields we found some of our fields had been flooded by the creek.

Willow Creek cresting, but you can see the field with the flood water in the background.

More pictures of the flooding.

So we are preparing for more water as the snow pack melts. Luckly our home sits on edge of a hill so we won't have to worry about the flooding reaching our home.

2011-05-13T11:47:00.002-06:00

Before we headed down to Provo for Grandpa's funeral, Chris and I decided to hop onto the quad and check on the calves. We have had several sick the past few weeks because of the rain and the well below average temps. They all looked pretty good and Chris noticed that the one born the other day was still down the field though her momma was with the rest of the herd. So we headed down and picked her up. She didn't move a muscle while I held her and Chris drove. They usually squirm around so much that I have to hold on pretty good, but not her. I think she enjoyed being on my lap and I don't mind holding them when they are clean and so little. Just wish Hayden was around so he could pet her. If they just stayed like this forever, I might like cows more.

I am a child of God!

2011-05-03T08:04:00.007-06:00

I AM A CHILD OF GOD

This past week as I stayed with Grandpa. I had the privilege of serving him one last time before he passes into the next life. This was my way of showing my gratitude and love for him. Though he was the one being taken care of, I feel like I got more out of it than he did. I got to know him better.

I learned the title of his and my Grandma's song and also learned that "I Am a Child of God" was the first song he learned when he became a member of the church. Maggie and I sang a couple of songs to him to help him relax every night we stayed, but on Friday night while we were sitting there Mom, Maggie, Aunt Amy and I, Maggie and I decided to sing to him to help him sleep. We asked him what song to sing and he requested "I Am a Child of God."

It was the most spiritual rendition of the song I have ever heard. All four of us started to sing and within the first line of the song Grandpa joined in. He didn't miss a word and his speech was not slurred the entire 3 verses. It was such a great moment that I will cherish the rest of my life.

As I look back on my memories with him, I have many. Most involve the little black triumph car that my dad now has possession of. Grandpa would take us to breakfast in this little car and we would always order strawberry waffles. Still to this day, I get those when I go out for breakfast. He also would take us to get shakes and then go off to Salem to show us where he grew up.

Oh I loved going to his house in the summers. He had this massive backyard and it was the perfect place to play croquette and have summer barbecues. He love the small succulent plants called Hens & Chicks, he loved to garden. I still have a spider plant off his massive plant. He would teach me all about plants and how to take care of them. He had a garage that he turned into a small green house full of geraniums. Also, when we would stay up there, he would show us trains and we would run to see the trains coming up the street. He loved trains.

After I got married, he took Chris in as if he was his own. Chris loves Grandpa and his naughty streak, which is not so naughty. He also got to witness Grandpa change. We had opportunities to stay with him and learn about his family history. We learned of his childhood and how sad it really was. We learned about his dad and his grandmother who raised him. He even took us to their graves so I could document them.

I will miss my Grandpa, but I am excited for him to see his beautiful wife after 48 years of separation and his son when he goes. I am also excited that he will be made whole again, after having to live with the after math of his childhood polio. I will miss his walk, though he had not been able to do so in a while. I will miss his hands. I noticed this past weekend as I held his hand, that I had his hands. I will miss his love for animals and people. He welcomes everyone and had brought so much to those he lived with in Jamestown Retirement Home.

I witnessed lines of people on Sunday, giving him their respect and heard stories of how he made that place the place it is. They said the whole meeting on Sunday (Fast Sunday) was about my grandpa and his impact on their lives. My grandpa is an amazing person and a huge example of the atonement. I'll miss you Grandpa but it won't be long before I will see you again.

Last good picture I have with Grandpa.
I have a couple from this weekend, but this is how I remember him. Not sickly in bed.

Love You Always Grandpa!

Grateful

2011-04-28T22:16:00.004-06:00

As Maggie and I have sat in the hospital today with Grandpa, I have been thinking a lot about the plan of salvation and the incredible testimony I have of it, the Church and the Holy Ghost..

Walking into the hospital this morning was one of those events, that I will never forget. Seeing my precious grandpa lying in bed helpless. It made me reflect back to the day when he broke down to tears in front of me and my mom saying that he need to get his act together. He knew that he needed to get back active in the church in order to progress and have the opportunity to be with my grandma and uncle in the next life.

How grateful I am to have witnessed that transformation. What an awesome knowledge I have to know that when he is gone he will not be far. He will be on the other side of the veil waiting for each one of his children and prosperity with open arms with Grandma and Alan standing beside him. He is okay to go home to his family on the other side. He is worthy to be with them.

How grateful I am to my Savior for His willingness to suffer so that I can repent of my sins and someday be clean enough to come back into His presence.

How grateful I am to have been raised in a strong religious family. I often think, would I have chosen to become a member of this great church if I had not been born into it? I am so glad I didn't have to worry about that.

How grateful to the Holy Ghost and for the warning I received yesterday about Grandpa. I had a very vivid impression of him yesterday morning as I was getting ready for work. When I saw Dad calling I already knew that something bad had happened and I was prepared. Though it still hit me with a ton of bricks. But I knew by the whispers of the Holy Ghost that there was something wrong and I needed to get down to Provo to say my goodbyes.

How grateful I am for the opportunity to serve him as he lays here in the bed. Though it is not much, other than stroking his head, holding his hand or putting moisture in his Saharan desert of a mouth. He knows I am here and he knows that I love him so so much.

I have often regretted not getting to St. George before Grandpa Cox passed away and I didn't want it to happen again. I know Grandpa Cox understood my reasoning, but I still have such a hard time with it 11 years later. Chris had the opportunity to spending a great day with Grandpa Bird and he said goodbye to Grandpa Avery, and I have always envied that. I want that with my Grandpa Cornwell.

I am so grateful for my family and the love they show. Thankful for Maggie for coming down to Provo with me so I didn't have to drive by myself. I am grateful for my job for allowing me to be gone during this event.

Easter Weekend of Family and Fun

2011-04-24T20:56:00.023-06:00

This weekend we had the great opportunity to have my family come and stay with us for the Easter holiday. Mekelle & Gene came up on Friday while Ron, Maggie and Hayden stayed with us too, even though they don't live too far way. We had a great time together and I finally feel like I know my newest brother Gene. So that was a great bonus to them coming up.
Saturday we got up had a great breakfast, played a little Wii and saw that the weather was actually really nice so we headed out. Gene and Ron wanted to clean up some wood and build a bon fire. I think they were sick of being couped up in the house all winter and saw an opportunity to clean my side yard and build a huge fire while doing it together as a family. It took us most of the day, but we took a break to have lunch, which Maggie you rock with your turkey burgers. They were scrumpious. And then we all went out again. My side yard looks amazing. Thanks again to my wonderful family. What you did in a single day would have taken Chris and I 3 or more weekends. Thanks Gene for bringing you chainsaw, I need one of those. Ron thanks for getting the whole thing started. I don't believe anybody has better brothers than I have. After it was , said and done, my yard looks amazing so we set off to have pizza as a fun way to end the day.

Sunday, we were really lazy and it felt so so good. We made breakfast and lounged around for about an hour, then we decided to have an Easter Egg hunt. Us girls hid the goodies while our men ran around like crazed men looking for the yummy goodness. It was so much fun to watch. Next year we will do it again, but be better organized and harder to find.

Hayden laughing at his parents.

Gene working his skills on the old wooden fence.

Baylee and Tonka

They love each other. I am starting to feel bad for Buddy, he lost his friend Baylee.)

The tractor of many uses.

Garner Family

Hayden being Joe Cool giving his best smuldering look.

Hayden is my passenger in the wheelbarrow.
Hayden would cry when I stopped moving. It reminded me of Grandpa Cox, except my wheelbarrow was not full of grass clippings.

Daddy and Son.

Hayden being kissed by Tonka. He didn't like it.

Chris took Hayden on his first tractor ride.

Ron and I building our big wood pile. We still have several trailers worth to burn.

Can you say summer cook outs.

Baylee and Buddy. Isn't she getting big.

Chris and Gene working hard to get the old farm implements lined up. That includes getting rid of all the old barbed wire that is lying around.

Look at him, he just melts my heart.

Kelle & Hayden.

(I can't wait to have another nephew or niece, but I think she is having a boy. So excited)

The men of the hour disgussing something.

I can't help but smile when I see him smile.

Hayden loved being outside.

I don't know why he thinks he can walk in the middle of my flower garden, just because it is Easter doesn't give you free pass.

Ron searching for easter candy. He found all of the big good stuff.

The finished results. This is where our garden is going to be this year. We are so excited. Thanks Ron, Maggie, Gene, and Kelle for coming up and over to spend the weekend with us and especially for tackling this major project. It would have taken Chris and I several weekends to accomplish what we did in a day. I wish I had a before picture.

Hayden was exhausted from all of the activity. This is how I found him when I went in to check on him. He could be on a Hallmark card, he is so stinkin cute.

I feel bad that I didn't get a picture of Kelle and Gene. But I want them to know how much fun it was to see them. I sure miss having Kelle around, maybe I can find a job for Gene up here as a Fireman and have them here all the time. Sure love my family.

Weekend in Boise

2011-04-17T21:54:00.023-06:00

This past weekend we had the opportunity to go to a warmer climate for business and pleasure. We had to go Boise to do Easy Way Taxi stuff and did a delivery on the way, which paid for half of the trip. We were originally supposed to do a deliver to North Fork Id, but Chris did some calculations and decided it would be too expensive to do that load in our delivery truck since we could not fit it in the van. It would have been 500 miles on slow mountainous highways. Much too long. The night before we left, we got notification that we needed to take movies to Sun Valley Friday morning and so that is what we did. We got up early and loaded the van with a stow-away and headed out to Sun Valley.

While in Sun Valley, we stopped and got some good healthy food, since donuts and juice was the only thing we had time to get for breakfast. Johnnie the good healthy food. He had a banana, blueberries, strawberries, kiwis and raspberries and a sandwich that was to die for. It was a good lunch. One thing about resort towns, though it is expensive, they have incredible produce.

After the delivery we decided to go on a road that Chris and I have never been on rather than back tracking to get to Boise. The route was to go to Stanley (which I love that place) and then go on State Hwy 21 up through Pondarosa Scenic Bi-way. On the road from Sun Valley to Stanley, there was still a lot of snow especially for being the middle of April. We are going to have some serious flooding issues. The trucks in this picture above were headed up to Red Fish Lake. They were tanker trucks full of fish from the National Hatchery. We had to follow behind these trucks all of the way up the pass. It was a slow going process.

Just 10 feet of snow on the side of the road, not too bad.

More pictures of the snow in Stanley. I took this just for Maggie since she was headed back to cold country after 2 weeks of blissful sunshine in St. George. I will never forgive her for leaving me that long for warmer, greener pastures. When I see the Stanley Mountains, I always have to take them in. They are breathtaking even much more so than Grand Tetons, since it is a whole mountain chain of rugged mountains instead of a few peaks. When got on the turn-off to the HWY 21, I saw the incredible homestead that Chris and I delivered to this past fall. As we drove, we just kept climbing the mountains and the snow just kept getting deeper. On top of the pass, were they close the roads during the bad conditions we took this picture. I had to climb about 8ft of snow to get on top and then the bathroom was covered with another 5ft of snow. The picture doesn't do it justice but it was a lot of snow. Our lakes and reservoirs will be tested on their holding capacities. The mountain pass/hwy was switch backs and slow going with all of the frost heaves. It was absolutely gorgeous, but I am not sure we will got this way again. It took us close to 3 hours to go 126 miles. We arrived at Betty (Chris's Mom) and Darwin's home on around 4. From there she showed me around since I had not been there since she married Darwin (Johnnie calls Darwin -Darlin'. Isn't that the cutest thing)and moved to Meridian. It was beautiful. The leaves on the trees and blossoms were budding, tulips and daffodiles were bloomed and green pastures and grass every where. Spring had definitely made it over there. Saturday morning we (Me, Betty and Aunt Geri, Darwin was working) got up and headed to Chuck's apartment in downtown Boise. He lives in a great spot. Close to the capital, close to his work, grocery stores and just great entertainment areas. While we wanted for Chris and Johnnie to get ready for the day (They stayed over and played games until late, while I stayed in Meridian. I had the whole bed to myself without snoring. It was nice, don't get me wrong I love my hubby, just not his snoring.) Charles made us incredible breakfast burritos. From there we head downtown to walk their street market. It was heaven. I wore flip flops and carpi's while it was 65 degrees. They had homemade food, crafts and veggies everywhere. Chris even picked up some good authentic ingredients to make his homemade pasta and white sauce. After the market, we took Johnnie for a hair cut at his dads request. John likes Johnnies hair short while his mom like the Justin Beiber long hair look.

Johnnie before his hair cut. It was really long. Poor kid kept sweeping it out of his eyes.

During his hair cut. He looked so good and the barber kept commenting on his thick hair and what he called a Hollywood calic.

Sunday before we headed home we decided to explore some surrounding areas. So we all loaded up into the van and headed to Leslie Gulch in Oregon. It was beautiful, it reminded me of Southern Utah, minus the red rocks.

My super good looking husband.

Chris and Johnnie by the reservoir. You would think these two were dad and son. They look so much a like it is crazy.

Some of the rock formations. We as in Darwin, Betty, Johnnie, Chris and I actually hiked to this cool formation, while Chuck and Geri stayed below. It was an incredible view from the top and it was fun to see Johnnie go on his first hike. He was really proud of himself. We took pictures of us in the formation, but it was only with my cellphone. I should have brought my better camera. But oh well. We still got some great pictures and we had a great time.

Darwin and Betty.

We headed home around 3 and arrived home to cold, not so green Idaho Falls. We had a great time with Betty, Darwin and Chuck and can not wait until we do it again.

Much Needed Update

2011-04-15T23:28:00.002-06:00

Life for Chris and I has been pretty busy. It seems like we get something under control and something else go skew-wampus, but I think that is how life is supposed to be lived. It provides growth, I think. Chris has been busy with the cows, and Easy Way. He had to spend some time keeping the meandering elk out of our hay, but they still managed to destroy some of the stacks and making us short on our supply. It doesn't help either, that we have had below average temperatures, delaying the greening and growing of the grass in the pastures. The past few Wednesdays he has been loading up some cows and taking them to the cow sale, to cut the cost of the hay. Did you know hay is about $200/ton. That is outrageous, and I am sure it will continue to climb with the cost of fuel going up. He sold about 24 which is a lot but we still have about 40 heifers and 20 are still expecting babies. The good thing though is, the cost of beef is up too. So the farm got a nice chunk of change, it helped buy another 33 ton of hay. Hopefully it will last until we take the herd to the mountains for summer grazing. I have been super busy with work and school. Can not wait until May 5. This will be my last final of this semester. I am burned out. I don't want to do anything. Don't want to go to work or school. I just want to sleep, and play in my yard and with my doggies. I want to be able to go outside and plant beautiful flowers and enjoy the beautiful Idaho sunsets and not have to worry about what homework or paper I have to prioritize for that night. My life is work, school, come home, do a load of laundry/housework, and homework, and sleep. But that is just barely sneaking into my routine. For the farm other running out of hay, it has been interesting. The cows seem to have had a hard time this winter. We have lost a momma cow (died in her sleep) and a few calves. We had to put one down on Wednesday and it made me sad. We tried to save its life but there was nothing we could do for him. He would have died a slow painful death, so it was good that we were able just to euthanize the poor little guy. I guess bad come with the good. Tonka (new blue heeler puppy) has adjusted well to life on the farm. He is still so small but has tripled his size. I think he was too small when we got him, even though he was old enough to be away from his momma. Baylee has taken him under her paw. I swear she thinks she is his momma. She has loved him from the moment he was brought home. Buddy loves him too, I can tell. He is so patient with him. He lets him play on him, jump on him and even bite his ears. I knew there was a reason I loved Golden Retrievers. They are so mild mannered and so so patient if it is will puppies or children.

Tonka out with me feeding the yearlings. He is so tiny,

My favorite part of feeding cows is sitting on the bales of hay and having my animals swarm me. It is so cute to see, but the dogs and the cats come out to help feed. It is a nightly ritual, except on Thursdays. I get home too late.

Baylee is so much like Buddy. She loves the mud. Only bad part is that she is so much lighter than he is and she looks super dirty. Almost time to take them in to have their spring bathes.

The other night Chris wouldn't be home until really late and the cows needed to be fed. So I went out and fed them. Here are a couple of pictures of the newest calves. This little guy looks like a Panda Bear. He is strong and so curious. He actually bolted down the pasture, under the barbwire fence and into a grove of trees on day, while we were feeding. I had to go down and chase him back in, never ever had to do that with a calf that was barely a day old. We will have to watch out for this little guy. He is full of mischief.

This little guy was born about an hour before I fed. He was still wet when I came out. He allowed me to come right up to him and pet him. I love it when they are this small. Now if we could just figure out a way to keep them like this. I might like cows again.

So that is an update on life so far. We can not wait to get spring here and start some of our house projects. We will be putting tile in our entry way. Pulling up the carpet in our family room to reveal the beautiful wood floors under. They will need to be refinished, but I can't wait. I hate the old faded carpet that is in there. I also want to redo my cabinets in both the kitchen and laundry room. We also have to fix a few fence posts in the yard. One which have been knocked down by the stupid cows. I can go on and on about what needs to be done. Just hope I can win the lottery so I can do everything I want to do. I will take pictures of before and after so I can see the progress and know that we accomplished it.

Not So Good Week.

2011-04-08T11:10:00.005-06:00

So this week didn't start of the best and sure is not ending very well either. Sunday and Monday I had a horrible pain in my jaw, and nothing was touching it. I even took as much as 1600 mg ibuprofen. (I know, not good to take that much, but I was desperate.) Monday I made an appointment to meet with my dentist, and they really could not see what was giving me my problems, but thought it could be involving a crown that was placed about 5 years ago. But the only way they could be sure was to drill into the tooth and redo the root canal. Fun right... So I went home and tried to make up for the lack of sleep from the previous night, but I had to go to class that evening because of a math test. Each chapter my instructor gives us a practice test and so I took some time to do it, but that was really the only studying I did for the 2 chapters this exam was going to cover. I was a little worried, about taking the test, but it had to get done. When I got there it only took me 20 minutes to do the test, which is less time it took to drive to take the test. So that could be bad or good, either I knew what I was doing or didn't have a clue. But all I wanted to do was go home and veg. Tuesday, woke up and made my dentist appt. at 7 am to do my emergency root canal, and they had informed me that it shouldn't take more than 1 hour and 25 minutes to do, but nope not this time. The specialist had a hard time getting the drill through the cement of the crown. It was really bonded to the ceramic crown and my tooth, so he spent 2 hours drilling away with my jaw pride open. Following the appt. I had to go to work with a sore jaw and mouth being numb. Not good. Wednesday, was a good day to begin with. Work went well, got a lot accomplished. Went to school received my test from Monday back and saw that I got a 100% on it. Good right..... Called Chris to let him know that I was on my way home and he informed me that he was going to try to feed the cows by himself so we could make dinner appt. we had made. But when I pulled down into the drive way, all I could see was Chris trying his hardest to get the cows back into the corral. (Have I mentioned lately, Cows are dumb and I hate them, no I despise them!) We spent the next hour trying to get them in while it was raining and sleeting. We were dripping wet and frigid by the time they were where they needed to be. So we cancelled our plans. Thursday morning, I woke up to a head cold and saw that it was snowing. It snowed all day. Not just little snowflakes but huge ones, but they melted on impact. So head cold was bad, melting snow is ok, would be better if it didn't snow at all. Today, I woke up to this........

4 new inches of beautiful white snow. ( I am being sarcastic here.) The snow made my trees look good, but that is about all it has done.

So now you know what I mean when I say that this week was not so good. Maybe I shouldn't publish my good weeks, so I don't have bad weeks to bring me back down to reality. Oh well. Brighter side, school is over in about 4 weeks. Wahoooooooo!!!!!

A Good Weekend.

2011-03-20T18:38:00.010-06:00

This weekend has been so nice. I am not sure if it is because we had a great time with friends and family or if it is because it was the beginning of my spring break. Maybe it is a combination of them all.
Friday night, we got Chris a new dog. He had to wrestle with the cows a couple of times this week. I came to the conclusion that we better get him some help and it should be sooner than later. I thought if we got the puppy now, by the time he really needed help this summer, the puppy would be big enough to help Chris out. Last year, we surely missed having Maverick on the farm. He was such great help, though Chris's dad had gotten a couple of older dogs, they were more of a nuisance than help. In fact, they were killing cats and calves, and that just doesn't fly on a farm.. So they are no longer here.

Here is Tonka

After we got Tonka we headed up to Ron and Maggie's house to have dinner. They let up bring Tonka with us. Hayden loved the puppy, but lets say the puppy was a little scared. But we had a great time and they made us some amazing bbq'd hamburgers.

Tonka and Hayden

Saturday evening, we had the Garners (Maggie, Ron & Hayden), the Fullmers (Justin, Shalawna and Colston) and Mike and Michelle (Maggie & Ron's friends, don't know their last names) over to watch the BYU vs Gonzaga game while we ate yummy pizza. We had a great time, and Colston and Hayden were able to interact with each other. Hayden at some points of time, didn't like it, because he had to share, but they liked watching each other.

Colston & Hayden playing the piano.

So we had a great weekend, and I hope next weekend with be just as good.

Update Really? What is that.

2011-03-07T15:09:00.004-07:00

The past few weeks have been crazy. We went down to St. George for Kelle and Gene's wedding, which was absolutely gorgeous. We are so excited that they found each other. While down there, we all caught the flu, and boy it was a nasty flu. The boys (hmmm, Ron, Dave and Chris) were keeping scores between the three of them, to see who puked and went to the bathroom the most. So, that wedding will probably be remembered for that.

After we got home, two days delayed due to the illness, I had to work like crazy to get my school work caught back up since Chris and I were heading down to Salt Lake for the Jazz game and I would be missing Monday and Tuesday in school as well. I had gotten Chris the tickets for Christmas, before Kelle had gotten engaged so it made for 2 quick trips to Utah and missing a total of 7 school days, which is never good. Chris and I had a great time. It has been awhile since we had done something like that just the two of us. We usually have someone with us; (though we enjoy everyone's company) it was still nice to be just us two.

Coming back from that trip, I had to strap myself down to do a ton of homework since it was midterms last week. Before we left for Utah, I spent all day, and I do mean all day (noon to midnight) doing a practice test for my math class and oh boy, I am so glad I did. The instructor said a few questions would be pulled from it for the midterm, but they all came from the practice test. I got a 100% on it. I came out of the class elated. Following many nights of 4 hours of sleep or less, I was caught up with homework, studied for 3 midterms, and wrote 5 papers. I was so relieved when last week was over.

Saturday Chris and I headed up to Montana again. We had to purchase another bull for the herd, so we got up early on Saturday and headed out. The bull auction was a success for those selling the bulls and not so much for those of us on the buying end. Bulls this year are much more expensive than last. Some went as high as $6000 while I don't think last year they were higher than $4500. I told Chris that we were in the wrong business. We need to be selling bulls. So that is pretty much all that has happened to us the past few weeks. I am hoping for a quieter weekend this coming weekend, I just want to stay home.

PS. Chris tallied up the miles he has driven the past 3 weeks. Can you believe it, close to 2600 miles. He needs a breake too.

The new bull, he looks pretty mellow. I hope he stays that way.

Hayden

2011-01-30T19:35:00.008-07:00

This weekend, we had a little visitor come and stay with us for the night. Friday night Maggie and Ron were going to celebrate their anniversary and they needed sitter for cutie Hayden. Of course Chris and I jumped at the chance, we love that little dude. We had a great time with him. He was so good and just a gem to have in our home. Uncle Chris and Hayden bonding over a ball game.

Getting ready for a bath, he had breakfast all over himself.

I just love his little smile.

Chris and I learned alittle something about this little guy. He growls when he eats. He sounds like a baby bear. I was feeding him and Chris heard him growling and had no idea it was Hayden. It made us both laugh, so we had to capture it on video.

2 Weeks Down.

2011-01-23T15:11:00.004-07:00

So our life has been somewhat boring as always but we had done a few things worth mentioning. I started school 2 weeks ago and starting the third week tomorrow. Chris has been staying busy working on the farm and making deliveries.

Two weeks ago we had little visitors for a week. Chris's sister and her hubby went away for the week and left their three cuties with us. I was busy with work and school so Chris had to pick up the slack. He was a mister mom for the week. He got them up every morning feed them and took them to school and ran them around to all of their activities. He was constantly going. So I am very grateful that he was so willing to that. While we had the kids, I took Brook, Taryn and Stephanie to see Tangled, while Chris and Johnnie stayed home to play the Wii. The movie was great, which I already knew because I had seen it for my birthday, but it was fun to listen to all three girls giggle and laugh. We had a great time.

Last weekend I left Chris home. Maggie and I headed down to Provo/Salt Lake City to celebrate Kelle's engagement with Mom, Andrea and Rachel. It was a girl weekend without any kids. Don't get me wrong, I love having my nieces and nephews around but it was fun to have just us older girls. We went shopping for a dress, by the way she looked great in everything that she tried on. Then we had a small bridal shower for her, thanks to Rachie and her hard work. She really knows how to through a party. It was a fast and furious weekend but it was so worth it to be with Kelle as she shopped for her exciting day and my sisters and mom. I love moments like those, they just don't happen as often as I would like.

2011-01-12T09:23:00.002-07:00

I had a little excitement this morning when I came to work. The Kingston office building caught fire.

When I arrived, they had the roads blocked and crews already in the building. They said that the fire was on the 2nd floor, which is the floor I work on, but it was in a smaller suite, so I knew it was not our office, which was a relief. You always look for ways to get out of working, but this is not what you want. You still need a job, especially now, where there are no jobs around. After waiting outside for about 45 minutes and having the fire chief offered me a warm place to sit, we were finally allowed into the building.

I guess, Christie was the first one in and thought the office smelled funny but didn't think anything about it since there are two massage therapists that rent suites here, that burn incense all of the time, so she didn't think anything of it.

Mikey was the one who found and put it out. Because of this quick thinking, the damage is minimal and secluded to just the one room of the suite and it kept the sprinklers from coming on a soaking the whole building. (that could have been a real mess) He is the office hero.

Now here I sit at my computer thinking I stink and I will have to go to class smelling like a campfire. Great!

2011-01-06T19:41:00.002-07:00

Christmas vacation has been very nice an relaxing even though I was sick for 2 of the 3 weeks. With the extra time in the evenings I have fallen back in love with cooking. I didn't think I missed it, but the past few weeks I have enjoyed it, plus we have saved a ton of money from not eating out. What a concept, huh. I have made dinners that I have not made for a very long time, which are tasty and delicious,and a nice change from our regular meals, but they are also bad for the waste line. Good thing I go back to school in a few days.

Picture of me in my cool new June Cleaver apron that Mom and Dad gave me for Christmas. Its funny every time I put it on, I feel like I need to be in a dress with pearl necklace and in high heels.

Mini Christmas

2010-12-19T12:47:00.010-07:00

I can't think of a better way of finishing up a week of finals, than to spend the weekend with my parents and having a mini Christmas with them and Maggie's family. Friday day Dad and Mom made the trip up to spend the weekend with us. They came up for Maggie's graduation and thought it would be fun since we will not be going to St. George for Christmas to have our own mini Christmas. We a Christmas Eve type dinner and then finished up with our gag gift exchange and then exchanged gifts with each other. And to top it off we played cards for a couple of hours and finished up with chocolate mint cake. All in all we had a great weekend, though it was short, but we are so grateful that my parents were willing to make the long drive for such a short amount of time spent in Idaho and stay with us in our new house. Thanks Dad and Mom, we sure love you the Mostest...

Nothing says Christmas more than a lite tree and a roaring fire with stockings hanging from the mantle..

Maggie and Ron eating our pre Christmas dinner.

Thanks mom for making such a feast. It was so delicious.

Mom and Hayden after dinner.

Hayden taking a bath in our tub after enjoying his own little feast.

Mom and Dad openning some gifts.

Our new piano that Mom and Dad gave us and brought up to us.

We love it and are so excited to have music in our new home.

Sunday we woke up to a winter wonderland, this is the view from my hall window upstairs, it looks like a park.

Thanks Mom and Dad for coming up and making our Christmas that much more special. Can't think of a better way of spending this weekend. We love you so much and are so grateful for your love and continual support. We can't wait for you to come up again and spend a little more time with us.

Baylee Playing

2010-12-19T09:26:00.003-07:00

I took this video of Baylee playing her own version of ice hockey. She is using an old butter bowl and the freshly scooped snow to play. I love that she is still a cute little puppy.

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-26T08:47:00.007-07:00

With the blizzard that swept through Eastern Idaho we decided it was not worth the drive to go to Boise for just a day. So we celebrated Thanksgiving at home in our new house with just Chris , myself and Alex (Chris' brother). I woke up early and got to work on our feast. It was nice to have a quiet relaxing holiday. I spent the morning cooking while Chris and Alex took care of the animals outside.
We were able to cook up quite the feast and made plenty for 10 people not just 3, but who doesn't love Thanksgiving leftovers.

Snow the blizzard dumped on us on Tuesday

(New Old House)

Devilled Eggs

(First time I have ever made them, and they turned out perfectly and were so yummy.)

Cletis the turkey
(family tradition to name our dead turkey, warped I know, but Rachel and I have been doing this since we were teeny tiny.)
My turkey, it was a little darker due to the seasonings I put on it, but it was so juicy.
(I put garlic cloves, chopped onions, apples, butter and apple cider in the cavity, turned out so good. Chris was impressed.)

The fixings

(Dixie Salad (a must), stuffing, mashed taters, devilled eggs, olives and cheesy celery sticks, croissant rolls, and yams (personal favorite).

Chris and Alex waiting for the opportunity to dig in, but I had to take a picture of the first Thanksgiving out our house.

After dinner we cleaned up and took the ritual naps after eating, to help our poor tummy's digest the heaping amount of food we ate. Later John, Tracie and their kids came over for pie and to play games. We had a great time laughing and just hanging out. We ended the day playing hide and seek and having a sleepover in our big family room with the little kids.

Even with having our thanksgiving plans cancelled, I think we had a great holiday and can not wait to do it again next year.

Blizzard 11-23-10

2010-11-23T17:12:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of what Eastern Idaho has had to endure during this crazy storm.

Thanksgiving Blizzard

2010-11-22T20:33:00.002-07:00

Eleven years I have lived in Idaho and this will be my first blizzard in November. In my previous post, I had mentioned that we had great weather just a few weeks ago. Well that is all in the past. We have had 3 days of snow and now the National Weather Forecast has issued a blizzard, and they expect it to last until Wednesday. After the storms leave we are supposed to hit single digit highs and in the negatives for the lows. I am not sure we will make it to Boise for Thanksgiving, I am sad about that, but I would rather be alive than injured or dead because of an accident.

Fall vs Winter

2010-11-18T08:09:00.003-07:00

Last week we had 65 degree days and then old man winter decided to roar his ugly head into Idaho Falls. It was a true battle between Fall and Winter. Eventually winter won, but during the struggle, it sure made our city look beautiful. Fall leaves were scattered across the white canvas of freshly laid snow.

Farm life and all that brings

2010-11-08T20:05:00.007-07:00

Living on a farm keeps you on your toes, especially when your spouse is the man in charge. The past few days the cows have been getting out and creating havoc. We had to cut off the electric fence in order to get the automatic waterer up and going again, but when there is no juice running through the lines, it is like an automatic green light for the cows to get out, and that is just what they did tonight, and to make things worse, we have been hammered by a winter storm, that was only to last for a few hours. But I guess mother nature didn't get that memo. We have had a convergence zone right on top of Idaho Falls all day, creating a circular motion so the storm just stays put and doesn't move out. We have about 6 inches of sloppy wet snow on the ground and still snowing because of this circular motion.

Well this evening, we got a call that the whole herd was out and over at a neighbors haystack. Never a good combo, they will keep going to that spot, since they know that is easy food. So Chris and I scrambled to get our winter clothes and coats out, we were so unprepared since yesterday it was in the mid 60's.

We found and chased the missing cows and as I was waiting for the cows to get back over the fence, I saw a dark animal a few feet away and was scared thinking it was coyote but I watched it a few minutes and realised that it was a brand new calf, still wet from being born and the cord was still moist. This poor calf was shivering in the wet snow and would have been left behind if I had not looked over the opposite direction of the on coming cows. The mother cow was no where to be found, so I scooped up this calf and carried a few 100 feet and she followed me the rest of the way behind the house until we were with the rest of the herd. Once we got there, her momma found her.

So the good part of is finding and reuniting this new born calf with it''s momma and the bad was, that we spent over an hour looking and chasing the escapees.

But I realized that I am so thankful for our 4x4 Xterra and our 3 in 1 lantern. Driving in the snow was a breeze, even with semi bald tires. Having the lantern made it easier for me to keep an eye on Chris as he chased the cows from one field to the next. Having these modern conveniences made this little event a whole lot easier.

Giddy Up Cowgirls!

2010-11-01T22:04:00.010-06:00

This weekend we brought the cows home. I could not believe how fast the time came. It seemed that we just took them up, but that was 5 months ago first part of June. Kelle came up to play cowgirl with me and at first we didn't think we would be able to bring the horses, since the truck that we would have used broke down, but late Friday night, John and Chris pulled together to get us a trailer and truck to haul the horses up. And boy we are so glad we did. Saturday morning, we got up early and took off for Avery Acres. We began sorting the cows and thought all cows were there. A few minutes later, we found out the semi that was hired to haul most of the cows home, had slipped on the icy road and jack-knifed, blocking the road to the cabin. Kelle and I almost had to drive the entire herd down (which would have been a lot of work for just 2 horses), but the guys got together and decided that we would haul the cows down truck load at a time and transfer the cows to the semi down in the valley. It looked like Kelle and I were not going to herd cows, which made us sad. But as hauled out about 3 loads of cowsChris noticed we were missing about 6 cows and their calves so he sent Kelle and I to find them. We rode for about 3 hours looking for those cows. We covered a lot of ground, but we were able to finally find them. The horses were getting tired but as soon as they saw those cows, the got pep in their step and drove those missing cows to the corals at the cabin. We were glad we found the cows, the horses were glad they were finished for the day and we were glad we were able to bring all the cows home.
Last year we were not so lucky, we actually could not get a wandering cow and calf and they became the meal for a mountain lion. So we are glad that we had better luck than last year. We had a great time, warmer weather than the past years and had great help

Thanks Kelle for your help and willingness to come up from SLC. John was happy to have you helping. Chris and I enjoyed having you stay with us even if it was for less than 48 hours.

Random Pictures of the Day.

Chris sorting the calves from their mommas.

Chris and I discussing the situation after the semi jack-knifed.

Riding out to find the stray cows.

Taking a breather after we found and drove the cows back to the cabin.

The frozen pond and the view of what is about to come our way.

Frozen water and snow on the ground.

Brrrr, makes me cold just looking at it.

Sassy getting a well deserved drink after her hard work.

Red truck hauling one of many loads of cows down to the semi.

The view after all of the cows were home.

Enjoying the pasture land behind the house.

It's sure nice to have the cows home, but with that comes regiment of feeding them when it is 20 degrees below zero.

Halloween 2010

2010-10-29T14:37:00.006-06:00

Happy Halloween

Tavern Maidens.

(Thsses were the most modest costumes in the store, how pathetic is that.)

It's rootbeer!!!

Random

2010-10-24T13:41:00.004-06:00

This weekend we enjoyed just being home since we had our first cold wet weekend. Though Val and I got our Halloween costumes (you'll just have to see what we are) and then Maggie and I got together and made Candy Corn Wreaths. Thanks mom for giving us a visual example. We had a great time glue candy everywhere and just chit chatting about life. Alex and Johnnie hanging out at our house.

I think they turned out so cute and it was so easy to do.

PS. Mom, we even made our own bows.

Fall in Yellowstone 10-9-10

2010-10-12T10:32:00.013-06:00

Saturday we headed back to Yellowstone Park, one more time before the snow flies. It was so mild and so unlike any October weather we have seen in a very long time. We puttered around the park and noticed that most of the trees are pines so you could not find the fall colors to indicate that it was truly October, but we did notice the bounty of animals grouped together preparing for the harsh winter approaching.

Our past visits you would see the males off on their own being solitary but not this time, they were with the herd of females. We also came across bears. So far we are 3 for 3 in the bear count. I love seeing them and Chris has really enjoyed it as well. He was telling me that growing up he never saw bears and the past few years we see them almost every trip. So this is the last Yellowstone trip until Spring but we have enjoyed the park this year and feel blessed that we live so close to it and get to take advantage of that.

I love Yellowstone and am kicking myself for not taking advantage of Zion's Park when I lived close to it.

Check out that rack on this elk. He was bugling prior to this picture. Not sure if he was trying to warn off competition or just announcing that he has his harem of females.

I loved the bleached wood bogged down in the muddy hole. It almost looks like a buffalo skull.

I loved the contrasting colors in this picture, plus the it is just beautiful scenery.

The difference in environment is incredible.

Every where you look it is different.

Chris looking very stern for some reason.

A small geyser that has beautiful tropical like plants and moss growing around.

Bull buffalo that surprised me. I was walking on a path and he came up a hill and was directly in front of me. I had to come up with an escape route just in case he charged after me. But, I think I intimidated him on my brut size and strength, because he looked at me and continued to climb the hill.

Just love the color difference in the muddy geyser.

We found this black bear in the exact same spot as the black bear we spotted on our last trip in August. We are curious to know if this is the same one and if it is, he sure put on the pounds. His fur was fluffy and looks really soft, but I am not willing to test that idea.

Nice buck we saw as we stopped at tower. We always see does and fawns but this was a treat. Check out that rack. (I know some hunters that would love to have this trophy of a deer) Thank goodness he is in the park and the mean old hunters don't have access to him.

A momma grizzly and her two cubs following her. She was trying to cross the road to get to Yellowstone Lake. We have never seen a bear by the lake so it totally caught us of guard, it was a nice surprise.

Conference Weekend at the Cabin

2010-10-06T09:22:00.021-06:00

This weekend we headed to the cabin to enjoy conference, beautiful weather and breath taking scenery. We invited some of our friends to join us and in between sessions we would go four wheeling and just be outside in the 85 degree weather.

Saturday when the whole gang was here, we ate Crème brûlée Toast (thanks Mom for getting me the recipe) with bacon and sausage and fresh fruit on the side. Lunch was had good old fashioned sandwiches that were mighty tasty. Then for dinner before everyone head out we cooked pasta with garlic bread.

Sunday Chris and I enjoyed our time together. We were lazy. We got up listened to conference while we ate omelets for breakfast. Took a nap between sessions and then packed up after the last talk was given.

This weekend was so relaxing and very needed since I had been stress about school. We had a great weekend with dear friends, got to listen to inspirational messages, enjoy God's beautiful countryside and spent some time together as a couple.

Yep, a very successful weekend.

View of the cabin with the leaves changing to a brillant gold.

You can tell Mia adores her momma.
Just love this picture.

BT and Coy haning out at the old stupe.

Cute Andrus Family
(I felt bad that I didn't get a picture of the Crockett family.

Robb playing with Elizabeth while BT and Val took a quad ride by themselves.

Baylee and Mia playing tug of war with a stick. Mia prevails in the end.
Baylee loved having someone small to play with. These two were best buds all day.

Best friends forever.

This is why I love golden retrievers.

They are great with kids, you could do almost anything and they just love the attention.

Golden Aspen trees around the cabin.

Here are my well behaved puppies waiting for a treat at the foot of the door.

They know they can not come into the cabin.

Val looking official in the helmet. She is ready to do some ridin'.

On the road again.

This was Kim's first time driving a fourwheeler.

She did great, especially since the quad was not automatic.

Val and Kim modeling their nifty fourwheeling moves and gear.

Kim and I on top of the hill.

Baylee got a taste of what it is like to be on the quad.

She was not able to keep up with the quads and Buddy,

so she got to ride instead.

BYU Weekend

2010-09-30T15:27:00.002-06:00

This weekend the Cornwell clan was able to get together again and have a mini reunion weekend. The boys wanted to attend the BYU football against Nevada, so us wives and sister were more than willing to let the boys get together. So, on Saturday we all headed to Provo. The boys attended the blowout game where BYU lost. (They said they could not believe they paid good money to see such a horrible game.) Us girls headed up to Sandy to pick up Kelle (the birthday girl) and go to Gardner's Village. We came back, us sister headed to our hotel to settle Hayden down. It was close to his bath so he was a little grumpy, but if you put him in front of a mirror he changes his attitude. After the bath, we headed to Rachie's house to have pizza and enjoy the many cakes mom made for ever ones birthday. We have a ton in Sept and Dave's in Oct. So we had a mini birthday party. Sunday, we all headed over to see Grandpa before we headed out. I love this man, and so enjoyed our time with him.

Hanging out at the hotel

Chilling while Maggie gave Hayden a bath.

Playing with Hayden at the mirror.
He just adores himself.
Wonder where he gets that from, Moogs.

Group shot.

Grandpa looking good.
I look pink....

Girls Night plus 2 Adorable Babies

2010-09-20T19:40:00.009-06:00

Saturday I invited Val, Maggie and of course their cute little ones over for a girls night out. Yep, I kicked Chris out for a couple of hours, while I enjoyed my girlie friends. I felt like since school started, I needed some R&R with them. So they came over for dinner and a movie. We had a great time, saw a great movie and just enjoyed having girls to talk to, no offense boys, but us girls need girl talk. I think we are in an agreement that we will do this once a month. I can't wait to do it again.

Us girls and the babies

Trying to calm Hayden. Poor little guy didn't like being the only boy at a girl night out.

2 very cute gals. Love them both so much.

Elizabeth was enchanted by Chris, for whatever reason we don't know.

Elizabeth and Hayden

Elizabeth was born the first part of Feb and Hayden end of may,

and look they are about the same size.

Farm + Clothes = Not Good!

2010-09-20T19:27:00.003-06:00

Here lies 3 pairs of jeans once owned by my dear husband. For some reason, he has been really hard on his clothes this year. I mean he was hard on shirts last year, but those are a lot cheaper than jeans. As you can see he has ripped them not just a bit where they could be patched, but not my husband. When he rips something, he goes all out.... So, as you can see, I need to replenish his wardrobe.

PS. Chuck came over last night and he had the same issue. His pants were ripped from pocket to thigh. Its a curse I tell you...

Home Sweet Home

2010-09-14T21:52:00.004-06:00

Came home from school tonight and this is what I come home to. Two very cute happy puppies. They miss you when you are gone, even if it is just for 5 minutes and they are always happy to see you.

Tremonton Picnic

2010-09-11T18:50:00.010-06:00

We met with the family on Sunday to get Maggie her car and we made a fun afternoon of it. We had a little picnic and just enjoyed each others compnay.

Baylee started to growl and bark at Kaleb, which got me a little nervous. Then I saw Kaleb crawling to Baylee and Baylee was coming to him. What I got was a cute little video of their first interaction with each other.

Baby Kaleb

Baby boys of the Cornwell clan.

So dang cute.

Moogly looking so cute with her little Hayden

Our cute Hannah laughing at her Auntie Kelle.

Kelle, Hannah and Brynna playing.

Dad and Baylee enjoying the lush green grass.

Mom rocking Hayden to sleep. I think she misses him since they left St. George.

Ron and Hayden.

(Hayden looks adorable in his golf hat. Thanks Val)

Darlin' Baylee Jo

2010-09-08T21:58:00.008-06:00

Introducing:

Darlin' Baylee Jo

7 weeks old.

As we can tell so far she is completely different from Bella. Bella was very quiet and reserved while Baylee is the complete opposite. She is a rambunctious little puppy that loves to play and chew. I think that is why we picked a name that is not as petite or feminine. She has been a great addition to our family.

Only time she is quiet is when she is sleeping.

Baylee's first bath. She was filthy. When you patted her a cloud of dust would appear in the air. We could just call her Pigpen.

Checking out her new surroundings.

Isn't she tiny.

Video of her playing in the family room with her new toy lion.

Washington DC 8/28/2010

2010-09-08T21:39:00.021-06:00

8/28 Rally

Saturday was our final full day at Washington and the reason why were even there. We woke up really early like 4 am and headed down to find a seat. As we arrived, we were quite shocked to see how many people were already there. We waited 5 hours for the rally and watched more and more people flow and pack into the parks. By the time the event started, they had people all the way back to the Washington Monument and over flowing into the side parks of the Washington Mall. They estimated about 250,000 just in the Washington Mall and another 200,000 in the out lying parks.

The 8/28 rally was great, I thoroughly enjoyed the message that Glenn Beck brought to this mass of people. He spoke to us about bringing this country under God once again and to raise up families of great people. He asked who would be our next Abraham Lincoln or George Washington. He also stated just because it is an inconvenience we should still do it. George Washington wanted to be a farmer not a soldier or a President, but he did it because he loved the people in this great country. He was a great speaker and won me over even more for his love of this country.

Front view of how many people attend.

View of the Lincoln Memorial at 5 am. As you can see people were gathered already for the
rally at this early morning hour.

John waiting for the rally to begin.

After the rally we decided to see the last Smithsonian of American History. As we were walking we got a perfect view of the White House.

World War II Exhibit

When I saw this tribute to the mechanics of WWII, I could not help but think of my dear Grandpa Cox. The caption they had with this display, basically said, that without these men and women that worked on the machinery, the war would have ended early. But because of their hard work and knowledge they made it possible for all the machinery to run and work accordingly, enabling them to win the war.

I also took this picture because I don't think as a nation we give much thought about the women behind the war. Especially the nurses that cared for the fighters. Also, it reminds me of the great work my mom does as a nurse down in St. George.

Washington DC Temple

After we were finished with our touring of the National Monuments, we decided to go have dinner with the Jenkin's family. It was fun to spend some time with our wonderful hosts. Following dinner, we decided to see on last tourist trap the Temple of Washington DC. As we drove on Highway 495 it just appeared as if it was floating on the clouds. It was remarkable and I could see why they had to dim the lights of the temple because of it causing accidents as you drove up the hill. Visiting the temple was a great end to our trip. We had seen everything we wanted and now we got to put the cherry on top by visiting this beautiful, peaceful temple.

We didn't think we were sunburned until we saw this picture.

We look like ripe raspberries.

Sculptures in the visitor center up on display depicting our Savior's service.

Sunday we arrived home after a 2 hour delay at Minnesota. We had a great whirlwind of a trip at DC and in St. George. I actually needed a vacation from our vacation.

Washington DC (Aug 27th 2010)

2010-09-06T21:22:00.014-06:00

Our second day in DC was started out late. I am not sure if it was because we had slept in the dark basement, the 2 hour time difference, or if we were just exhausted. It might be the combination of all three. Friday was our museum day. We spent the majority at The National Gallery of Art. It was the type of place that you could spend all day looking at each masterpiece. I ditched Chris a couple of times just so I could enjoy the paintings. That museum was incredible, I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. After we spent a few hours there we headed to over to the Native American museum where we spent an arm and a leg on a disgusting mid-day lunch. It was so over rated for what you got, but enough of that. Following lunch we headed up to the actual museum, and I have to say, I was really disappointed. A lot of the displays were replicas. Really, they could not find authentic time period pieces? I have seen better museums back at home. So I felt like this was a waste of time and good taxpayers money. The building was huge and they didn't have it filled. It was so sad, I really was excited to see what they had for each of the incredible tribes that are here in America, but it didn't live up to my expectations. Following the bad museum, we headed over to Thomas Jefferson Memorial. I loved this memorial just as much as the Lincoln one. I over looks the Potomac River, and I guess they are having issues with it sinking due to weight of the memorial. But I really enjoyed being able to sit with my back up against the columns and watching the hustle and bustle of the city. We finally ended our day by eating incredible pasta, though, I tried some of Cheryl's food, and it tasted just like Chris's pasta without the $25 price tag. I guess I am lucky that my hubby knows how to good pasta. We had a great day and was so excited to experience some of the Smithsonian Museums DC has to offer.

Chris reading the map at the Navy Memorial.

National Archive

(it is incredible to know that our Church has more info than the USA)

The Navy Memorial

Skyline of some of the Smithsonians and the Washington Monument

Courtyard of The National Gallery of Art

Voyage of Life by Thomas Coles

(This is a series of 4 paintings that depicts the journey of a man)

I am a huge fan of this artist now after seeing and reading the story
of these paintings. Seriously, look him up and read what each painting symbolizes.

Remarkable, it leaves me breathless every time I think about them.

Just some of my favorite paintings.

The infamous George Washington painting.

US Capital

Washington Monument in the mid day.

Chris sitting on the steps of the Jefferson Memorial.

I would have taken more pictures but my camera's battery died.

I was able to get enough battery juice out to take this picture of Chris standing in front of the WWII memorial. I loved this memorial. As you walk up to it, they have 3D bronze murals depicting the process of how we entered the war. The first is a family sitting by the radio as the news is aired of what happened at Pearl Harbor. The second is a picture of the men enlisting and so forth. I really felt love and honor to be standing at the memorial. It makes me sad to know that this generation is leaving this world and makes me think about my Grandpa Cox and all of the stories he told of his experience.

Washington DC (Thursday Aug 26th 2010

2010-09-05T22:33:00.016-06:00

Thursday was our travel day to Washington DC. We arrived at Ronald Reagan International and began our whirlwind tour of Washington DC. Our first stop was the Pentagon and it's 9/11 Memorial. The memorial was a very reverent place. It was a reminder to me that terrorism doesn't know age. Following the Pentagon was our visit to Arlington Cemetery. There we were privileged to witness the amazing ceremony of the Changing of the Guard. It was very precise and a perfect way to honor those men that have fallen for me and my chance to be free person. When you walked into the cemetery, you know it is a very special place. The reverence was incredible. Our next stop was dinner. We ate a wonderful southern meal at Georgia Browns. I had crab cake stuffed flounder and bacon wrapped stuffed date. It was incredible. Chris at fried chicken with what he says was the best mashed potatoes. So obviously it was an incredible first meal to eat in DC. After dinner we wanted to see the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument at night. So we grabbed a taxi and headed over there. We spent time reading the murals on the wall of the memorial. It is amazing to know what kind of great men lead this country. As we are about to catch a cab to head back to the metro, we see a black car and SUV pull up. Out of the car appears Glenn Beck. Excited of knowing that Glenn Beck was there, we headed back to the Memorial. Glenn Beck then said a few words about the 8/28 rally and went over his set for Saturday's rally. Chris and I headed back to where we were when we saw him exit the cars. This is when Glenn walked up to Chris and shook his had and then mine. Chris expressed to him that, we are very proud of what he is doing for our faith and for our country. It was incredible meeting him and we felt bad because John (Chris's dad is a huge fan and the reason we were there for the rally.) missed meeting Glenn by just a few minutes. We finally ended our day at Chris's cousin's home in Silver Springs MD. She invited us stay with her and her beautiful little family. Heather and Colby were incredible. It was the first time I had met them, but I feel like we will be really good friends, because we hit it off really well.

The Pentagon Memorial

Arlington Cemetary

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Lincoln Memorial

While seeing the Monument, the moon rose in a brillant red color.

Hogle Zoo (Aug. 25th 2010)

2010-09-04T17:38:00.057-06:00

Wednesday, Chris, Brooklyn and I headed back up north to spend the day at Hogle Zoo with Tracie and her little family and Kelle before Chris and I flew out to Washington DC. Tracie came down to take Brook back to Idaho, so we thought we should do something fun while we are all there in Salt Lake. Chris and I thought that it would be fun to kidnap Rachel's little girls to come with us. So we all met up at Hogle Zoo and had a great time with everyone. I especially loved being able to spend some good time with the nieces I don't get to spend too much time with.

~~~Warning~~~

Photo overload

She loves her Aunt Kelle.

Cooling Off

Johnnie and Hannah sure enjoyed the misting machines.

They could not get enough of the wet cool air.

My Groundhog Mimics

Ice Cream Break

We all were getting hot and tired so we headed over to the ice cream hut to cool off and rest their tiny little feet.

Hannah reaching for her ice cream.

I love how the sun is showing off the color of Hannah's beautiful red hair..

The Carousel and Train Ride

After our ice cream cones were gone we headed over to ride the rides. The kids loved it and it was so much fun watching them choose which animal they wanted to ride.

Exhausted!

Within just a few minutes of being on the road back to Provo, the little girls were asleep.

I think we wore them out.

McDonald's Fun Land

Chris and I decided that we better feed them before we had them back over to there parents. Not knowing what they would like we took them to McDonalds. Not my first choice, but what 2 years old don't love Micky D's? Plus it was another excuse to play.
Little Miss Hannah was not scared of this monstrous slide. She was up to the top before Brynna climbed the second step. Rachel is going to have her hands for with this one.

Brynna would not go down the slide, so Kelle found here inner child and went down with her.

The Animals of Hogle Zoo

Monday's Happenings (August 23rd)

2010-09-02T21:18:00.008-06:00

Monday, Chris and I decided that we wanted to do different things. So we came to the consensus to part ways for the day and just enjoy doing what we wanted to do. I went to lunch with Mom, Grandma Cox, Kristen Lotz and kids, and Elisa Edwards and her little ones. We ate lunch at the Pasta Factory. We spent a good hour laughing, talking and just enjoying each others company.

Chris and Brooklyn headed over to the dinosaur museum at Johnson Farm. Chris' favorite part of the museum was seeing the tracks of the dinosaur that walked along the now dried up ocean. These tracks are the longest set of prints in the world and they were found right in my backyard. Chris and Brook had a great time, while Mom and I enjoyed just being with each other on her day off. I love it when my parents have time off when I am down.

Chris and Brooklyn went to a movie, while Mom, Andrea and I showed support to our favorite softball team. Dave and Dad play in a softball league along with one of our old family friend Danny Yates almost every Monday night. I miss St. George's warm pleasant evenings.

Hey batter, batter, batter, swing!

Videos of some batting and base running. Unfortunately, Dave and Dad seemed to get out every time I had the camera rolling. But I still found it fun and rewarding getting video of my family playing ball.

I am so blessed to have parents, after 34 years of marriage, who are still so in love with each other.