Posting Palooza!

Warning! Since I've decided to use our blog for journaling/family history I hope to update it more frequently and post more pictures....

Fun with Friends!

It is always fun to visit with our friends Mark and Laura and their kids. They were on a family vacation to Yellowstone and heading back home so meet up with them in Rexburg. The kids had a fun time playing at the splash park. They played until they were all frozen, then we headed to Applebee's for dinner. Mark and Laura were roommates of ours from college. We cherish their friendship and we are glad we are able to visit with them.

Slip 'n Slide

Saturday we woke up early and went shopping for ideas for our home we are building. We spent the morning and most of the afternoon looking at appliances, brick, rock, tile, etc. The kids were awesome so when we got home Justin turned on the irrigation water, set-up the slip 'n slide, and we had a lot of fun. Thanks guys for being so patient! Their smiles show how excited they were to be home out of the van and having fun!

Playin at the Park

The kids have a blast at this park. This is a picture from last Wednesday. I am using our blog to do family history-so I want to keep it updated, but we dont' have internet access at our home. Solution-we come to the park and play while Mom updates our blog. It works! I do the bills, update the blog, etc. and the kids have fun! We found out they have a preschool here at the park on Tuesdays, so next Tuesday Max is going to check out the outdoor learning preschool. I think it will be fun we met the teacher today and she seemed really nice, he is excited.

Chukars Baseball Game & Summer Fun!

Last Tuesday we were able to go to an Idaho Falls Chukars Baseball game. We had a great time. The Chukars lost, but we all still had fun. The kids all received autographs from Charlie Chukar. Max received a nice kiss and hug from him, and Bray danced with Charlie. I didn't bring my camera---nice mom! Next time.

On Thursday we drove down to Malad with Grandma Mecham to watch our cousin Kit play in an all-star tournament. We had a great time! Kit played catcher and did an awesome job, he also hit a double. We had a fun baseball week. Summer is going by way too fast!

Friday night Justin and I went out with our friends Chris and Pam. We went for our annual dinner and movie to celebrate the guys birthdays. We enjoyed dinner at Jakers. We went and saw the movie the X-files, not so good, but I've never watched the show on television either. The kids had fun playing with the Nelson kids and really enjoy our new babysitter Carly.

Hill Air Force Base

To end our vacation in Utah we stopped by and visited Grandma Nelson. We had a really nice visit with her. We were glad we were able to visit Grandma. Justin and I have always wanted to take the kids to HAFB but we are never traveling through when it is open. What a fun afternoon we had. The kids thought it was awesome and so did we.

Happy Birthday Justin!

Happy Birthday to the best Dad and Husband ever! We just wanted to say we love you and thank you for all you do for us. We love spending time with you whether it be at work, on the farm, camping, fishing, or just at home we all just LOVE being with you! Thank you for always making time for us. Thank You! Happy Birthday! WE LOVE YOU!

Steel Days at Grandma Glenda's

This is a picture of my Grandma Glenda and her kids. She is one awesome Grandma! One of the hardest things about living farther away is not seeing my family. Sunday evenings everyone gathers at Grandma Glenda's. I will always cherish all my fun memories with my aunts, uncles, and cousins at Grandma Glenda's. Every year during American Fork's city celebration everyone gathers at Grandma's house for food, fun, and fireworks. This is the first year my family has been able to come and we had so much fun seeing everyone! I love you guys!
The great grandkids ran around non-stop. Lots of fun races and mostly fun visiting. I still picture my cousins younger, not married, and no kids. Time flies!
What a fun day! I am glad we were able to see everyone, and to all my uncles and cousins who are volunteer firemen etc. who set off the fireworks. Good Job!

American Fork Canyon

I just love going up the canyon, and I love the mountains in Utah when we come home to visit. My Dad, Justin, Brayden, and Max all went for a hike up the canyon, while the girls went school shopping for Kenzie. We had just finished a successful shopping trip when we recieved a phone call from my dad, they had locked the keys in the Blazer (which was running) in the canyon at the top of the loop. We skipped getting drinks and ran up the canyon to rescue the boys. It was a beautiful drive and I'm glad we had to rescue them.

Is it done yet???

Some of you have asked to see an update of our home. Here you go. We were hoping to get in this fall, but now it is by December. Patience! Patience! Patience! I have none. I never dreamed of building a home-so I never even thought to picture what I would want. It was stressful enough when we did our bathroom in Blackfoot. Justin and I actually agree on almost everything which has been nice. We just both wish we were in. We've been going to our ward in Grant, and we'll put our kids in school there so they won't have to change again. I actually love going and walking around our property and dreaming of living there someday-it feels good, so until its done we'll enjoy our drives to Grant to see the progress.

Mae & John

Our good friends Mae and John stopped by and visited us for a few hours last week. We had a wonderful visit with them! We adopted Mae and John as our grandparents. We call them Grandma Mae and Grandpa John. They always take good care of us. They brought a delicous cake for us-we had fun time showing them our rental home. What a blessing it is to have such wonderful friends.

Porter Park

Last week we went to a fun splash park in Rexburg. We met up with our friends the Hanson's. The splash park has a fun carousel for the kids to ride. The kids had a good time playing in the water.

Fourth of July Weekend

Our 4th of July festivities began on the 3rd. Justin was invited to a party of a company he does business with. Our family enjoyed a wonderful dinner, and the most amazing fireworks display I've ever seen! The entire time I kept thinking Ok this is the finale, nope more awesome fireworks, we all had a great time. No pictures of this event - I forgot the camera.

On the fourth we drove up to spend the weekend with Grandpa and Grandma Mecham, and Aunt JaNae & Uncle Alan. We had a lot of fun! The above picture is our awesome tent, one day we hope to get an awesome trailer, but until then we will continue to enjoy our tent. We had a fun time full of fishing, fireworks, swimming in the river, and good food.
All of the kids caught a fish! We enjoyed the fish for breakfast this morning. Brayden and Kenzie both caught the biggest fishes we've ever caught out of the river in Mackay and Max caught a little guy. McKenzie proved to be our most succesful fisherwoman, and Brayden of course was the most determined. We had a fun weekend!

Yellowstone Family Reunion!

Due to the very-very slow internet connection I have, I have to limit my pictures. Blogging here in the middle of nowhere aka Roberts takes FOREVER.

We had an incredible family vacation with the Murdoch Family. Haley captured the vacation so much better than I can due to my slow internet so if you want to check out more photos from our trip look at jeffandhaley.blogspot.com.

Island Park was so beautiful this time of year. Fields of flowers everywhere. It was breathtaking! When we arrived at the cabin/lodge we were so impressed. It was beautiful, plenty of room for all of us. Yellowstone was AWESOME! We saw several bears! All sorts of animals and tons of beautiful scenery. The kids and even the adults did awesome driving through the park. Yelowstone Lake was stunning! (once again check out Haley's blog for awesome pictures.) The following day the kids had numerous adventures at the cabin. The next day was our river trip! (also my 29th birthday) :) We had 4 canoes and enjoyed a wonderful trip down the river.

Every day went by too fast, and my kids miss their cousins and Kate. We all had a fabulous time......thank you Mom & Dad, and everyone! We already really miss everyone!

Swimming Lessons

For the past several years we've been taking swimming lessons at the Shelley Pool. It has become a big part of our summer activities. This was the first year Max was able to take lessons. He loved it-----once the weather cooperated and he didn't freeze. We meet our good friends the Nelson's at the pool for lessons, after swimming we have a picnic in the park. Fun Times! Our kids love it and so do Pam and I. This year we started lessons in the middle of moving so it was crazy, but FUN!

This is a picture of Max braving the diving board.
Tyler, Jaime, Max, Kenzie, and Brayden
Kenzie off the diving board.
Brayden working on his dives.

We can't wait till swimming lessons next year!