THE THOMSENS

Bountiful Temple with Kerri

2011-05-01T21:33:00.001-07:00

Last week, Kerri, one of my best friends and old roomates was able to go through the temple and take out her endowments. It was such a good experience to be able to be with her on such a special day. Kerri and I have been with each other through thick and thin. She has always been such an amazing example to me, and I have been very blessed by the experiences that our friendship has enabled. We have had some crazy fun adventures, and I am glad that we can continue to have those adventures as life continues on.
The Bountiful Temple was beautiful. It was my first time there. It was so fun to be there with Kerri, old friends, and her family that all mean so much to me.

Here we are six years later as old roomates. I swear we have hundreds of pictures like this, and I swear we still look like we are nineteen years old. But.... we are not. Even though I know that we are getting older, I still feel like we are 18, and that just yesterday we were playing crazy games all through the night with all of our crazy friends. It is rare that we are all together like this, and that is another reason this was such a good day. Mandy is married with a baby in Logan. Kerri lives in Bountiful with her sweet little girl London, and I am obviously in Orem. These are rare sweet occasions.

This is Mandy, Klint, and Christine. Klint also lived by us when we were roomates. This is his cute wife Christine outside the temple.

This is Kerri and her daugher London after the temple session. London is getting so big, and so full of personality. Kerri is such an amazing mom. I amazed at her optimism and hard work. But I really shouldn't be too amazed, because I would never expect anything less from Kerri. I am eternally greatful for her example and friendship. I am thankful that Kerri let me be a part of this special day.

Easter

2011-05-01T18:15:00.000-07:00

Jeff and I decided we were going to dye easter eggs this year. I am pretty sure that I haven't died easter eggs since I was a little girl. I know, it seems somewhat childish, but what do you do when you don't have kids. You act like kids, which is something Jeff and I are really good at.
As I plopped the colored tablets into the cups to fizz, the smell of vinegar immediatly took me back to my childhood. I remember as a little girl, my mom would always use the eggs to make a potato salad for Easter. The eggs in the salad would always be a vibrant green, blue, and red. We always had a colorful salad to say the least, but it was always so delicious.
There was also something else I realized. I have not changed much from my childhood. I was sure to keep the eggs soaking for as long as possible to ensure that the eggs reached thier full color potential. I would let them sit for hours as a kid. And you can only imagine that Jeff and I couldn't choke down 18 hard boiled eggs, so I too made a potato salad. It wasn't quite like my mom's. But at least I tried.

This is Jeff and I with some of our finished eggs. Below I am patiently waiting for the eggs to change color.

Jeff got extra creative with his egg dying. He made some awesome eggs. Dying Easter eggs was so much fun, and if you ever think you are too old to do so.... well... YOU AREN'T!

Girls Night, HAAAAY!

2011-04-03T07:44:00.000-07:00

So last Monday we had planned a girls night. 2 for 1 pedicures at Marinello and sushi at Happy Sumo to follow. We had made all of our appointments and our plans for the evening were all set. ... Or so we thought. I got a call from Cass mid afternoon saying there could be a slight change in plans for the evening. Kevin, Cassidy's husband, scored sweet Jazz tickets for that night. So, instead we had girls night with Kev. He was nice enough to take us girls to the game. Again, sweet 16th row tickets center court. How could I not go. I have to admit, I should have felt bad, since techincally they were Jeff's friends first, and he has known them all since high school. But they are equally my friends too, now. It comes with the territory of marriage. So I did not allow myself to feel bad our guilty. Ha Ha. But I did leave poor Jeffy home all by himself. But girls night is girls night right???

Kevin was even so nice to buy us sushi to eat on our way down. We still got our sushi. A pretty fun girls night if you ask me :) Thanks Banks'!

Spring Break

2011-04-03T07:26:00.001-07:00

So... typically when you think of Spring Break, you think of beaches, wild college raves, mtv, and swimsuits. Well, my spring break was the furthest thing from... to say the least. Most of my spring break consisted of relaxing at home, Jazz games, and hitting the slopes. Jeff and I were able to score some sweet lower bowl Jazz tickets during the week of spring break. We got a deal including four tickets so we talked Jeff's sister Teresa and nephew Brandon into going with us to the game. We were on the 17th row in the lower bowl. I have to admit they were really sweet tickets. We scored four free hot dogs with our tickets. There is nothing more delicous than a greasy hot dog at any sporting event. YUM! We topped it off with a giant Coke and a huge bowl of ice cream. Healthy, I know. What do you expect at a Jazz game??? We chose a good game to go to. The Jazz actually won and that is a strange comodity as of late. It has been a struggle these last few months. However, this was such a good game and the Jazzed played really well.

Here is Brando before the game. Love this kid.!

Jeff and I were able to get out of work early a day and hit the slopes up at Brighton. It was a BEAUTIFUL day, and we were able to get a good a amount of runs in. We love snowboarding and we couldn't have asked for a better day. It's not your typical spring break activity, but its what we love and the best you can find this time of year in Utah. I love the fact that it can be spring in the valley and snow in the mountains. We get the best of both worlds here, that is for sure.

This is Jeff and I taking a little break. Don't we look cute with matted down hair and red faces. You have to love the way that snowboarding makes you look. It was a fun filled week and I was grateful for the much needed break from work and school.

Don't laugh. I look like an alien with my helmet and all my get up on.

Jackson's Baptism

2011-04-03T07:19:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe my little Jackson is baptized. It seems like yesterday I was rushing to the hospital to see him. He is such a good lookin kid, especially in his little suit. This little guy is one of the most tender hearted little guys that you will ever meet. He carries a true spirit of love and kind heartedness. I am so happy to have him as my little buddy. I am so proud of him.

Here is Jackson with his parents on his big day. What a good picture. I am so blessed to have such an amazing family.

Twinners

2011-02-27T19:12:00.001-08:00

Last weekend Jeff and I went up to SLC to do some shopping. We then went to dinner up at Market Street Grill. Can I say YUM. !!! I love seafood and it was soooo delicous. On our way back we made a stop at one of our frequents, Cabelas.
Jeff and I have been getting the fishing itch latley. I really can't wait for summer to get here for this very reason....well... and a lot of other reasons too.
I had bought Jeff a new fishing reel for his birthday in October. Well, I started feeling the smoothness of all the fishing reels there, and decided that I might enjoy a new reel myself. We ended up getting the best deal on the exact reel that Jeff got. I got a new rod and we were able to get Jeff that exact same rod as well on a great deal... I am not meaning to bore you with all this fishing pole talk, so bottom line... Jeff and I have TWINNER fishing poles. Yes... we are really BIG dorks, but we don't care. And one thing will be different, I am going to catch a lot more fish on mine. Anyways, here are the pics of our brand new, TWEENER fishing poles. Can't wait until we can get out to use them.

It was a nice long weekend, and we finished it out by snowboarding at Brighton on Monday evening. The snow was AMAZING. We had so much fun. I hope we can hit the slopes a few more times this year. I can't believe it will be March this week.

BTW, I hope I am proving some of you wrong by posting more often on my blog. HA! Didn't think I could do it, Did you????

Love Day!

2011-02-27T19:04:00.001-08:00

Jeff and I went to Sakura grill for Valentines Day this year. We are saving our money up for a big trip... well and a lot of other things too, so we decided to go small on the gifts this year. Valentines gifts are overrated, and I woudn't mind one bit if that was our tradition every year. Dinner was fantastic and I ate so much I made myself sick, but whats new.??? I always do that. Jeff suprised me that morning with the funniest Valentines card I have ever seen. He is always so thoughtful and sweet. He is always prepared with the perfect something. I was scrambling around that morning after my workout to see what I could find to make him a Valentines card. I ended up making him a card in the few moments that I could find at work. He then suprised me with some flowers. They are still alive and beautiful in our living room. We went to dinner and came home and relaxed and played games. That is my kind of Valentines date. If I hadn't have cooked three huge meals in the days prior, I would have actually preferred to stay in and cook our own dinner. But Sakura was really yummy, and due to my own laziness that is what we did.

This is Jeff with his v-day gift. He loves root beer in the bottles, any bottled soda at that. However, he has a bet going with his sister, and he is trying to go off carbonation this next year. If he makes it we get a whopping 100 dollars. I am super impressed with him. He has made it 6 day as of today. I am being serious. In all the years that I have known Jeff, there has not been one day that he hasn't had a caffinated/carbonated beverage. We will see how he fares. He told me that if he doesn't feel like a super human being after two weeks, he is getting back on. Even sweet little grandma Robins told him to just live life and enjoy what you like. She is very wise, and I agree with her. But I also support Mr. Jeffy with whatever challenges he wishes to take on.

This is me after dinner with the flowers that Jeff got me. I have the best husband. So glad that I have the best Valentine... EVER!!!! Thanks for a good day.

Valentines treat

2011-02-13T17:59:00.001-08:00

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I have always somewhat enjoyed baking and cooking, especially around the holidays. However, I have recently become ADDICTED to the Food Network and the Cooking Channel. Some of my favorite programs are: Chopped, Cooking for Real, Giada at Home, Worst cooks in America, Cake Boss, At Home with Pillsbury, and Paula Dean. I know, I know... you are all probably thinking I am the biggest couch potato ever... Not true. I catch maybe a couple of programs a week. Between work, school, and homework there isn't much spare time for tv watching. But when I do have the time, I love to cook.
Since Valentines Day is right around the corner, I figured I would try something new. We were having some friends over for dinner and it made for a perfect excuse to make a Valentines Treat.
In an internet browse session, I came across the recipe for Red Velvet Cupcakes. Needless to say, they were delicious and fun to make. But lets be honest, anything made from sugar and butter with cream cheese frosting is always delicious... and a healthy addition to the bootaayy. But who cares right. There is always the rest of the week to work it off. LOL.
If anyone is interested, I have posted the recipe below, just in case any of you want to try it. Valentines day is tomorrow so you still have time. I found this recipe at http://www.thejoyofbaking.com/.

Cupcakes:
1 1/4 C sifted cake flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 T cocoa powder
3/4 C white sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 C buttermilk
1 T red food coloring
1/2 tsp white vinegar
1/2 tsp baking soda

Cream Cheese Frosting:
4 oz cream cheese (room temp)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 C confectioners' sugar
1/3 heaving whipping cream

I am really going to try to be better at this blog thing, and hopefully post more fun easy recipes at least once a week.

Below are some pictures of us all hanging out after dinner. We have started a new tradition of doing dinner each month at one of our homes. Jeff and I hosted the first dinner. It was so fun to have everyone over to our place. Our little place is tiny and it was a bit of a crunch, but turned out a okay. I made pizza for dinner and then we watched the boys play Soul Caliber on the wii. It is way more enternaining than any movie would ever be. Its amazing how these boys never "really" grow up. I love it. As you can tell by Jeff in the picture below.

Stockton was a little champ, and was so good all night. It is so fun seeing all these kiddos grow up. And if anyone is wondering.... YES! Jeff and I are plagued with the question "So, When are you guys going to have kids??" all the time. Ha Ha. Well, the answer is.... nunya. LOL.

I know. We are getting old. Jeff's mom told us the other day that we need to quit having fun, and start having kids. And my mom is not subtle about dropping hints at all. It makes for some funny conversations. But to put all minds at peace... Jeff and I are going to have a baby.... one day. :)
s
Well it was a fun weekend. As you can see little Stockton is one of the guys already. thanks for the fun time everybody.

1 year

2011-02-13T17:44:00.000-08:00

Friday, February 11th, marked a year since our sweet Leo left us all behind. It has been quite a year filled with much happiness and much sorrow. Not a day goes by that we don't miss his jovial presence, his contagious smile, his quick wit, and kind heartedness. I am reminded often of how blessed we all were to have him in our lives. I am thankful for his example and for him raising such a good son. I am blessed each day in my life because of him. I see so many traits of Leo in Jeff every single day. I am one lucky lady.

On friday we got together as the Thomsen family. It was nice to be together. We went to dinner and then went to an art exhibit at BYU. There is an art exhibit there right now by a Danish artist named Carl Bloch. He was a religious artist from Denmark in the 1800's. My father-in-law immigrated from Denmark to America when he was sixteen years old. It was a good way to spend the evening.

Much of the art is used today by the church. I was suprised. I recognized quite a few of the art pieces. Many of them were large art peices from Lutheran churches in Europe. They were unreal. If any of you haven't been, you SHOULD go.

There was a good feeling there. It was good to be with the family and remember the many good times we had with our sweet Leo. We miss him very much, and love him "all to pieces".

gRovER and PatRiOTic fEstiVitiES

2010-07-07T19:14:00.000-07:00

Every year over the Fourth of July we go to Wayne County and stay in my Uncle's cabin in Grover. This year our weekend was filled with a lot of the usual traditions, such as : fishing, four wheeling, parade, eating, shooting, arrowhead hunting, and of course eating some more. It was so much fun as always. This year, Jeff and I decided to go to the dance at the Big Apple in Torrey. The Big Apple is an outside facility where Wayne County holds thier dances and other festivities. There was a live band, and they were actually really good. They played a lot of Chris Ledoux, Tom Petty, and pretty much just about everything there is. Jeff and I danced until our legs wouldn't dance anymore... and when our legs wouldn't dance anymore, we sat and watched all the interesting things there was to see around us. With the dance being in Torrey, there is a good mix of cowboys and tree-hugging hippies. Ill just put it this way, it made for an entertaining night of VERY interesting dance styles. Ha ha. Jeff and I have already decided that we are going every year.

Every year that we go to Grover, Jeff and I try to make it on our favorite four wheeling trail. It is called Sulfur Creek and it starts just a few miles from the cabin. This trail is so awesome. It takes you through such pretty scenery, where you eventually end at some cascading waterfalls and slick rock. Its the perfect place for a little picnic. Also on your way there, you hit sage brush that is at least ten feet tall. It is the biggest sage brush I have ever seen. These pictures are of Jeff and I when we reached the waterfalls. The pictures don't do justice of how cool these little falls really are.

We went fishing at Lower Bowns on Boulder Mountain. We caught about 20 fish, and they were pretty nice sized. It was so much fun. I have to give thanks to Mike's Glo Bait. It seems to always be the trick, and we always catch ton of fish when we use it. I love fishing, and I even touched one this time. I am getting better. I will usually do everything, but touch the fish. I will get my pole done up, and bait my own hooks, but I will NOT get my fish off the hook. Jeff gets all my fish off for me. Thanks, honey. You are the best.

This is my nephew William and brother Jeramy catching a fish. I think this was Williams first fish, but don't quote me on that. He is so much fun. I love his little smile. Good job Will.

This is me. I caught the first fish of course. I made all the boys sooooooo jealous. What can I say. I always out fish. I caught more than anyone this night.

This is Jeff and I and the Fourth of July parade in Torrey. We go every year. This parade is so awesome, that they go down both sides of the street.You have to love small towns. It made me think of the good old days at the Wasatch County parade in Heber. Parades are good, only when they go down both sides of the street. Jeff made his annual march with the Wieners of Wayne County... at least long enough to get a good picture. People in Wayne Co. must really love thier weiner dogs. The dogs are behind him on a float, which you can't see.

The first night we got to Grover, we went out to shoot our guns. This was James first time shooting a gun, with his dad's help of course. Jeff bought me a 22 this past winter so we were all trying it out. This trip was so much fun this year, minus the fact that we all started to get sick at towards the end of the trip. The Grover plague struck us again, but it was worth the fun trip.

Garden Weeks 5-6

2010-07-07T19:05:00.000-07:00

Week4

Week 5

Our garden has taken off these past few weeks. We are actually into the 6th week now. I watered the garden this morning before I went to work, and there are green beans all over the place. Yum. I am thinking we will be eating those by the end of the week. The beets and cabbage probably won't be ready until August. The cumcumbers are blossoming and will probably be ready for picking in August too. I have loved planting a garden. It is so much fun to go out everyday and see how much its grown. But the best part of course, will be the fresh yummy veggies that we get to eat out of it.

Thomsen Garden Weeks 2-3

2010-06-08T20:41:00.000-07:00

Week Two

The two above pictures are from week two of our garden . We had little sprouts just five days after we had planted all of our seeds. WHo would have known that we Thomsens would have such green thumbs... or maybe just good poopies in our soil. But it is coming along better than expected.

Week 3

Our little garden is really starting to take off. Hello veggies. That massive snow storm that came in to nicely at the end of May took a toll on some our our little bean plants, but we have replanted and replenished. For the most part, the little guys really pulled through.

fancy plants

2010-05-20T22:09:00.000-07:00

Jeff and I decided that we wanted to plant a garden this year. I have always wanted to have a garden of my own. We don't have much space in our yard, so we decided to try a garden box. We started from scratch as you can see. Jeff is making our box out of some lumber we got at Home Depot.

Here are some pics throughout the process. We planted cucumbers, beets, cabbage, and beans. We will have to see how it all turns out. We are first year gardeners so we don't necessarily have many expectations from our first little garden box. We had so much fun planting it. I actually kind-of love digging around in the dirt for a bit.

This is Jeff plantig the beans. We also planted a strawberry plant in a topsy turvy planter. We heard that the planters work really well for vine fruits and veggies. I will keep you all posted on our little garden's progess. If you don't see anything... you can just assume it was unfruitful. Ha Ha. WE are really hoping it turns out though. P.S. I really am trying to be better at the blog thing. I am in school and between that and work there is not much time to blog, but I am trying. Ill keep you all updated.

Jazzercise

2010-05-02T09:15:00.000-07:00

So, I have been completely terrible at this whole blog thing since it has been almost nine months since I have posted anything on here. I really am going to try to do a better job.
So, Jeff and I just happen to be some of the biggest Jazz fans on this earth. When they lost to the Nuggets last Wednesday, I was sure to have my credit card ready to purchase game 5 playoff tickets.
So we didn't have the most incredible seats as you can see from the pics, but they were in the lower section of the upper bowl. And for a playoff game, it doesn't matter where you sit. It is a playoff game, right??? A playoff game that the Jazz just so happened to win and send the Nuggets back to Denver crying due to elimination in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Though there were a few heart breaks in the third quarter, the Jazz pulled off the win. I have been to many Jazz games, but never a playoff game. Let me tell you... there is a HUGE difference. It was so much fun. Jeff and I had sore throats and hoarse voices from yelling so much. I know.... we look like cute little twinners with our green Jazz shirts. Make fun if you must...we don't really care.

Here is Jeff before the game started.

And......... the final score. Eat it and weep Carmello. Well... I promise I am going to update more often. Life has been a little crazy this first part of the year.. but things are slowing down a bit so I'll be sure to write a little more.

Oregon

2009-08-23T18:17:00.001-07:00

THE REDWOODS: The Redwoods in Northern California was the favorite part of our trip... well, at least for me. Some of these trees are over 2000 yrs old. They are gargantuous. I have never seen anything like them. You feel like you are in the Prehistoric Era. These pictures hardly do them justice, but its the best I can do. It is so green and beautiful in here too. We camped in these crazy trees then night before. It was so much fun. We woke up in some of the prettiest scenery that there is. Jeff is like a little boy, and of course found us the coolest camping spot with a little fort made of trees and ferns. He always has the excitement of a little kid, and it makes it so much fun to go places with him. I'm pretty sure we almost ran off the road looking at all these crazy giant trees.

This is one that had fallen over. This is just the bottom of it. Seriously, amazing.

This was definatly the biggest tree in the park. Well... at least the biggest one that we saw. Just to walk around this tree was at least 20 steps.

This place was sooooooo GREEN!

Jeff and I took a Jet boat ride in Gold Beach, OR. They are big mail boats because they were used to take mail up the river back in the day. They still do deliver mail, but not as frequent. These rides are so much fun. We hit some white water and were sure to do some crazy 360's in the water. These rides are crazy. We did an 84 mile ride up the Rogue River. We started right where the river empties into the Ocean. About 30 miles upstream we stopped at a little place for lunch on the river. It was so pretty. It was a little town on the river that literally consisted of three restaurants. I loved it. We were sure to get some berry cobbler with fresh Oregon berries too. YUM! The last part of the trip was white water. It was CraZY! I loved it. After that we headed back. We saw lot of wildlife on the boat trip. This was so much fun.

This is Jeff in front of one of the many lighthouses that we saw along the coast. It was really stinky around here, probably due to the stinky sea lions. But... it was so pretty it was worth the Stench.

This is Jeff and I in Lincoln City, OR. We had the prettiest weather on this day. There were no clouds, no rain, just sunshine. It was so nice. We got a cute little hotel room on the beach and stayed here for the night. We were going to try to swim, but i changed my mind as soon as my feet touched that ice cold water. We looked through all the tide pools for crabs and starfish. Jeff took me out for seafood that night. He hates seafood but sacrificed because he knows how much I love it. How often do you get fresh seafood right out of the Ocean. It was so yum. We had such a good time in Lincoln City. It was a fun little town. ... And staying on the beach... well... there really isn't anything better.

This was my favorite part of the coast. It was so green and the cliffs were insane. It was like this for miles.

This place was called "Hug Point". We took the liberty to take a picture... hugging.... at Hug Point.

This is Jeff and I at Cannon Beach. This is where the end of Goonies is filmed. Look at the rocks in the back, and it will look familiar. This was one of my favorite beaches. The northern part of the coast was definatly my favorite... And don't worry. We totally shouted out our favorite Goonie quotes. Booby Twaps.... I love that movie. Anyways, this place is beautiful.

This is Jeff in front of the huge guitar display at the EMP in Seattle. THis was so awesome. We were in guitar heaven. Jeff and I were so in love with this museum. We both love the mid 90's grundge bands that poured out of Seattle. Who can forget the great Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, and many more. We saw displays of all thier guitars and band instraments. It was so much fun. There was also a huge Jimi Hendrix exibit with tons of his instruments, pics, journals, and cool stuff. This place was so much better than we even thought it was going to be. I definatly recommend it.

This is Jeff in front of the space needle in down town Seattle. This was pretty cool. If you go to Seattle, you have to at least do this once, just to say you have done it. It's pretty crazy going up the elevator. I swear every step I took, I felt like I was going to fall over. Its that wierdy "Im going to fall" feeling when you are up so high. We ate at at the top and then headed to the ferry.

This is Jeff in front of Multnomah Falls in Oregon. The falls are just outside of Portland, and literally across the road from the Columbia river. They are so beautiful. They are the 2nd highest year-round waterfalls in the world. When we passed these we had to stop. We were actually on our first day home, but we had to stop. We really wanted to hike to the top. It was awesome. It set us back a bit, but it was so worth it.

Little League

2009-04-26T20:25:00.001-07:00

So, it is softball season again. Jeff got the Tocos organized for another season of softball. Jeff decided the team needed a new bat so we went and bought one. He was pretty excited about it. When I was at work, he called me to ask me where his softball bag was. I thought to myself, wow , he is really on top of it. Considering the fact it was 5 and his game didn't start until 9:15. When I got home from work, he was all suited up in his softball attire. By 7, We has sitting on the couch with bat in hand, all ready to go. (see above) I could tell he was excited, so I decided to take a picture of him. He looked so dang cute.

Then I decided it would be a good idea to take a little league picture of him. (See below) Even big boys need pictures when they play sports. Don't you think.??? I think he looks pretty cute. Go TOCOS

Moab

2009-04-26T20:14:00.000-07:00

Jeff and I took a little weekend trip to Moab. It was a much needed break for the both of us. We had so much fun, and I didn't want to leave. I am already ready to go back. The picture above was taken after we hiked to Delicate Arch in Arches National Park. I loved how this little arch kind-of framed delicate arch. The weather was absolutly perfect. This was my first time ever going to Arches. I can't believe for all these years that I have been this close to these amazing places and never been there until now. It was so nice to be hiking and outside and have the sun shine. I was in heaven

We hiked on some awesome slick rock trails on our trip. This particular one is in Devil's Garden in Arches. This trail has 8 of the main Arches. It was so much fun. I would do this hike again in a heartbeat.

This is Jeff relaxing in a little Arch in Devil's Garden. I don't really remember the name of it, but it made for a cool picture.

This is Jeff falling off a cliff in Canyonlands. Im suprised he is smiling so big, it really was a long drop behind him. LOL. Canyonlands was beautiful. This was one of my favorite lookouts. It was a mile long cliff walk of these beautiful canyons. These canyons go on forever and ever.

This is the Schaeffer trial in Canyonlands National Park. We went on this trail in our truck. These pictures in no way do any justice to the cliffs we were actually driving on. This trail is nothing but switchbacks and cliff until you get the bottom. It was so much fun. It is one of the most beautiful drives I have ever been on. I was proud of our little "Golden Goat" aka our truck. I was actually thankful that we had a smaller truck. We saw some larger vehicles turn around because they were worried about falling off. But, not us... noway. We went the whole way. It was beautiful, bumpy, and a little scary in parts. But if you want a scenic drive, you have to go on this.

This is an upward picture of some of the switchbacks on the trial to kind-of give you an idea of what its like. .... And awesome is what it is like.

This is Jeff and I after hiking around a bit at Canyonlands. This place is seriously amazing.

This picture was taken at double arch just as the sun was going down. I think its a pretty cool picture, and maybe the slightest bit cheesy too. But I still love it.

This is Jeff and I in front of Mesa Arch in Canyonlands. This was my favorite arch from the whole trip. Its big and frames everything behind it. You can even see the snowy LaSal mountains in the background. I loVeD it!

This is us at the Windows in Arches. This places is so cool and you can hike around tons of arches here.

This is the back side of the Windows.

This is Jeff and I at the infamous Delicate Arch. Those little colorful dots at the bottom, yeah, that's us. I was in awe at how big this arch actually is, and how it was actually made. Wow. This place was awesome.

Me at Delicate Arch. There were so many pictures I had a hard time choosing but this wasour trip in a nut shell. Hope you enjoyed.

Spring and Easter

2009-04-26T20:09:00.000-07:00

These are all the grandkids on Easter. This was the best one I could get. Try to get 10+ kids to look at you all at the same time, while the sun is shining in thier eyes. Its very difficult. They are pretty darn cute though, wouldn't you say? Every year we have dinner and an Easter Egg hunt for all the kids. Sometimes I still wish I was a little girl. Holidays are so much more fun when you are little.:)

This is Jeff and I on Easter Sunday. My eyes are closed as usual, but it was the only picture I got of the two of us. Really, the sun was soooooooooo bright. I am so glad for the time that we get to spend with our families. We are so blessed.

This is Josh and little Kate on her first Easter. She is so cute, and looks like a little easter egg in her jacket. So cute.

Tori's family came over for dinner earlier this month. We ate pizza, played the wii, and Gentry and Presley showed us thier sweet new dance moves that they just learned. Arent they cuties.
This is Presley and I chilling on the couch while we watched everyone else play guitar hero. She is the cutest and she loves to sing Hannah Montana Songs. Love her

FRuiT WrAP

2009-03-30T20:19:00.000-07:00

So with nothing to do on a Sunday night, Jeff and I looked for a yummy snack to eat. We had just bought some Asain pears from Costco that came wrapped in this wierd spongy wrap. So I stretched it out and put it on my head. I then went and grabbed another one for Jeff. Which eventually turned into the following... Rambo pictures. We are slightly cheesy I know, but what else do you do late on a Sunday night.

Kate's Blessing

2009-03-30T20:13:00.001-07:00

This past Sunday we were able to go to the blessing of my cute little niece Kate. She is almost three months old now and just so much fun to be around. This is her on her blessing day, she is so stinkin cute I cant even stand it. The dress she is wearing is the same dress her mom was blessed in. It was so great to be with family, and we feel blessed to have this new little angel in our lives. We love you Kate.

This is the Cochran family with thier new little addition. Proud parents, Josh and Shara, proud big brother, James.. and little Kate.

LoVE and LeARn... CrAsH and bURn!!

2009-03-04T19:17:00.000-08:00

So, right before Jeff and I were married I bought a snowboard and the whole set up. I had never even snowboarded at a resort before in my life until last year. We went once... well twice last year. But the second time we went we were done after the third run due to a hard tumble that I took on the way town. OUCH! So this year we have hit it pretty hard. We have spent our last three saturdays on the mountain. I have to admit... I've definatly made some improvements. I also have to admit I'm kind of a chicken and when I get going fast, I tend to involuntarily slow myself down... which often times leads to a hard crash. My crashes are coming fewer and father in between, and I feel like I am starting to pick up the fundamentals. Its always frustrating when a little kid no older than four flies past me like a little super stud. They are so cute and I envy them for their confidence and skill. My Jeffy has been a super teacher. He has been so patient and has stuck by my side the whole time. He hasn't given up on me yet. He's Mr. Amazing on the mountain. Yes... I'm bragging, but he really is so good. He has had so much patience with me and never leaves me in his dust. Just patiently waits as I carve my way down the mountain. Its been so much fun for us to do this together. I will try to get some video up so you can all see me make a fool of myself. Ha ha. I am really starting to love it.. hard crashes and all.

What a stud. This is Jeff just before we headed to the lift. He is pretty excited about the new board that I got him for graduation. He loves it. It is the same make and board as his very first snowboard he got back in 92, with some definate modern advances. Its kind of sentimental.. I guess !!!????

The third trip up I ran into one of my favorite girlies Joslyn. She's basically an amazing skiier and I was so excited to see her up there. Love you Jos.

...And last but not least, this is me getting ready to strap on and head down. It was such a pretty day that day... and awesome snow. I am really loving snowboarding more and more everytime we go. I'll try to post more often. I have sucked at the blog thing lately.

The Holidays

2009-01-26T21:09:00.000-08:00

Ok, so Im finally updating my blog with our Christmas pictures. I am so bad at this blog thing sometimes. This Christmas season was a busy time for us. It seemed like a day didn't go by that we weren't partying with family, friends, church, or work.
So much happened this December, and I feel like we are very blessed and that we have so much to be thankful for. I am so thankful that Jeff and I both have stable jobs that we can rely on for financial stability. We are so blessed to have such amazing friends and family that constanly love and support us.
Also in December came an occasion that we have both eagerly awaited... Jeff became a graduate of UVU with a Bachelor of Technology/Facility management. I am so proud of him for all his hard work and dedication.. Way to go Jeff!
Anyhow, back to Christmas. Our Christmas' always seem to pan out perfect. Jeff's family always has thier big celebration on Christmas Eve, and my family has thiers on Christmas Day. So it kind-of works out perfectly for us. On Christmas Eve we had dinner at Jeff's parents house with all of his family. The Thomsen family has always had a Danish tradition at Christmas to have Danish rice pudding for dessert. Yum! The funnest part about that is the one almond that is hidden in one of the pudding plates. Whoever has the almond in thier pudding gets a prize. Its so simple, but is always one of the funnest parts of the evening and something that everyone looks forward to. We then did a live nativity with our cute neices and nephews. It is always something that makes me laugh, yet alwayrs brings to life the true meaning of Christmas. Then its on to presents and pjs for the grand kids. Jeff and I had asked for food storage for Christmas. I know it sounds boring, but I am actually really excited to get a little start on it.

The next morning Jeff and I woke up and opened our presents from each other. Our big gift was our new video camera which we love. That is why there is few pictures from Christmas day because we spent most our time filming with our new camera. I also got some new snow boots, clothes, movies, gift cards, and lots of other little things that Jeff decided to spoil me with. I got Jeff some snowboard passes to the Canyons, movies, the new Beck CD, and some other random things. We had a great Christmas and we felt really spoiled. Next year we definatly need to budget better. We went a little crazy. HA!
After opening gifts we went to Jeff's parents and headed up to my parents in the snow blizzard. That was once crazy snow storm, let me tell you! My family is kind-of spiratic when it comes to showing up at Christmas. We all kind-of just arrive whenever. We alway have a really yummy dinner, and I end up stuffing my face the whole day. We were very spoiled on both sides by our families. We felt very fortunate this Christmas, espescially with all the economic chaos that is going on. We feel very blessed, and were so excited to be able to spend time with our families. The picture above is of my dad and my little nephew James just hanging out on Christmas day.

This is one of my Christmas presents from Jeff. I had said something a long long time ago about wanting one of those cute aprons in the mall. He picked it all by himself, and I was very impressed. Here I am Christmas morning making rolls before we went to my parents. You gotta love those Christmas morning snap shots, especially right after you wake up. I know... I look just gorgeous. My color scheme is a little crazy too.

This is Jeff on Christmas Eve with his very creative wrapping job. I thought it was so cute that I made him let me take a picture.

This is cute grandma opening the gift that we gave her on Christmas Eve. We love her so much. Doesn't she look so festive in her red sweater. The best part about Christmas is spending time with family, and we are always so excited to spend time with Grandma.

This is Dana and cute little Dallin after the Nativity. What a good looking shepherd, huh???

Here is our angel Emmy, who didn't have to do much acting in her role of the nativity. What cute kids.

And.... the opening of the pjs!

These next few pictures are from a little earlier in December. Jeff and I had taken some days off of work and just spent sometime close to home. Here we are at temple square and it was so beatiful. Freezing cold.... but very very beautiful.

This was something I hadn't seen before at temple square and I thought it was really awesome. I love the reflection pool. Poor little Jeffrey is freezing if you couldn't tell.

We also spent part of the day at the church history museum since Jeff had never been. Here he is in the pioneer bunks after a little rest. I am always amazed when I go there and see how many exhibits there are there to see. I especially love the room with all the prophet exhibits. I could have spent all day in that room. I loved it. It was fun to spend a couple days together and relax and just go do things that we would never normally make time to do.

We had a great holiday season and hope everyone else did to. Im going to try to do better one keeping up on my posts.

Viva Las Vegas

2008-12-20T20:30:00.000-08:00

We recently went to Las Vegas to go to the National Rodeo Finals with Kevin and Cassity. Her parents have invited us to go down with them for the past two years. We always have such a good time when we go. We actually ended up going to the rodeo two nights this time. It was kind of cool because it was the 50th anniversary year so they had a lot of special events. We saw Reba, Brooks and Dunn, Miranda Lambert, and the infamous Charles Barkley. They were all far away, but it was still cool to see them anyways. This picture was taken at the second night of the rodeo.

Jeff and I took a little walk on the strip in Vegas one night. After a couple hours of hearing the dinging of the slot machines, the smoke filled air, and cocktail waitresses in lingrie, I had had my fill of the Vegas Strip. Vegas is always a good place to people watch though. That was all the entertainment we needed. Vegas is definatly a very cultured place. This is Jeff in front of the Eiffel tower. Its not so much the real one, but the closest we have ever been to it thus far.

Here we are on Rodeo night #1.

This is me, Jeff, Kev, and Cass waiting for the rodeo to start with our American flags in hand. They honored vetrans of Pearl Harbor that day. They did an awesome tribute while we were there during the rodeo. As you can see, Jeff and Kev have big smiles on thier faces. They were just relieved that they didnt have to shop anymore with us girls. :)

This is one of the many shots I got of the arena at the rodeo. They did some seriously cool things while we were there. Vegas is always so fun. Thanks for inviting us Kev, Cass, Mel, and Janet.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-14T13:17:00.000-08:00

This year we had Thanksgiving with my family at my brother's house in Saratoga Springs. It was a usual Thanksgiving, filled with turkey, stuffing, rolls, pies, and fat bellies. What else do you expect from Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving and I always have. There are so many things that I feel that I have to be thankful for. One... I'm so grateful to have the most wonderful husband who is so selfless and loving. Two- for the most wonderful family in the entire world. Three -For good stable jobs in a time of financial chaos. Four- For all of our many loving, supportive friends out there. Yes... All of you. I feel like I have so many blessings to be thankful for, and thought I should share a few.

Jeff has become quite popular with all my nieces. I think they all have little crushes on him. Its really cute, and I can't blame them for doing so. They all call him Uncle Rico to spare any confusion with my brother Jeff. Jeff was known as the the piggy back ride giver, the horse, the bottom of the dog pile, and a great dancing uncle. He was pretty tuckered out by the end of our Thanksgiving fiesta. What a great uncle.

Here are Tori and Daphne on Thanksgiving as we all awaited our Thanksgiving feist.

Here is my cute Mom and Dad sitting int thier assigned seats and thier Thanksgiving Favors. Aren't they so cute.

And again... the free horsey rides that Jeff gave to all the kids.

My brother Josh, his wife Shara, and thier cutest little boy James. We love you guys.

This is my brother Jeramy, with his little boy William. William has it all figured out, and has definatly developed his little personality these past few months and he is hilarious. I love it. I love the holidays and being able to spend some time with my family. It seems like life gets so crazy sometimes that we don't get enough time to do whats really important.

GOING PRIVATE

2008-11-20T11:10:00.001-08:00

So I have heard lots of talk on the news and from friends about scary blog stories, so i think it's time for us to go private. So.. if you want to still be our blog friends, send me your email addresses.

Our Latest Dance Routine

2008-11-17T14:50:00.001-08:00

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1 Year

2008-11-11T18:05:00.000-08:00

This is Jeff and I on the balcony of our room. You can kind of see the sweet view that we had.

I can really not believe that Jeff and I have been married a year now. It seems like yesterday we were on our way to the temple, tummies growling, and clammy hands. We reminisced a lot about our wedding day, and it was crazy how nothing yet so much has changed since. Its weird how after you are married the time flies, but in a way you kind of feel like you have been married forever. Its been the best year of my life, I will speak for myself. Its been a year full of new adventures and newly found happiness. Its like being with your best friend all the time, and who can ask for more.

Enough with all the sentimental stuff..sorry. This weekend Jeff suprised me with the romance suite at Little America in Salt Lake. The room we had was amazing. We were on the 11th floor and on the corner, so our view was awesome. It was all set up for us when we got there, with chocolates, strawberries, and ice chilled Martinelli's. Yum. Also, on the neatly set table with real silver, was also a single rose and a key embossed with our names and the date on it. It was really nice. We had a nice set up. We had a nice relaxing weekend. We spent some time at the Gateway and also at Temple Square. Returning to the scene.. I guess?? It was lots of fun and the weather was great. My mom was nice and froze our wedding cake for us. It still looked like it did the day we got married. I was a little nervous to eat it, but it ended up tasting really good... and neither one of us got sick so I guess it was allright. It was a lot of fun though. We completed our anniversary by watching Harry Potter.. Romantic, I know. We spent the rest of our weekend in Park City at the outlets. Jeff spoiled me with clothes, makeup, and shoes. I will completely admit that he spoils me. We had a great 1 year anniversary, and I look forward to many more ahead. Thanks for the great anniversary suprise Jeff, you are the best and I love you.

Happy Birthday Jeff!

2008-10-27T15:50:00.000-07:00

It was Jeff's 28th birthday on October 25th. Here he is on the morning of his birthday with the cake that I made for him. It turned out okay for my first creative cake... I guess. Jeff was excited about it. This is the first of many halloween cakes to come for us. Happy Birthday babe!

We made it kind of a lazy day, since the cake made the biggest mess and took hours to make and clean up. We then went and saw a movie, which is one of Jeff's favorite things to do. I took Jeff to Texas Roadhouse for dinner on his birthday. I promised I would take him one day since he has never been. It was some good food, and he loved it. Yum Yum!

Kev, Cass, and Brady came over after we had dinner to help us cut in to the spidey cake. And we all took a turn trying out Jeffs birthday present. A brand spankin new red electric Fender guitar. We have had a lot of fun with it. Jeff is learning to play the guitar, and he is doing awesome. Its nice now that we have to guitars. Its always easier to learn and teach with two guitars. Look out, we are soon to have a regular rock star on our hands. Watch out Metallica.

Jeff got to saddle up at Texas Roadhouse on his birthday, and show off for all the drunk people around us. He sports a saddle good, dont you think?

Jeff rocking out like Jimmy Hendrix with his new birthday present.

Drunk Goggles

2008-10-27T14:41:00.000-07:00

Jeff's family had a birthday dinner for him on Sunday. His sister Teresa's husband is a cop. She brought some drunk goggles that he had. We had lots of fun trying out the goggles. And another great reminder why I don't drink. It was physically impossible to walk a straight line. Your perception is totally messed. Giving high five was not even an option. and running was even worse as you can see from the videos. The things you will do for a little entertainment.

In Orange

2008-10-27T14:27:00.001-07:00

Jeff took my on my first hunting trip. It was just a day trip, and it was lot of fun. We woke up at 4 o clock in the a.m. I know it sounds crazy already. We drove and started hiking at around 5:30. The first few hours of the hike were pitch black. With head lamps and day packs we were off. About a half hour into our hike, I heard scamper off into the bushes. So.. I was a little freaked out, but we heard an elk call just a few minutes later and I was a little relieved. At least it wasn't a bear right??? We hiked into a place called the Dipvat up Spanish Fork Canyon. One of my favorite parts of the day was being on top and seeing the sun come up. It was so pretty. My girly instincts still came out when I was up there, and i was more impressed with that than seeing any deer. We saw a few elk, and a couple of does but no bucks. We hiked close to 9 miles there. The weather was perfect and I love to hike so I had no complaints. We then later hiked up hobble creek to this place where Jeff often hunts. Again, we saw more hunters than deer, but it was still lots of fun. We did, however, come across the biggest spider I have ever seen in my life. It wasnt a tarantula, but it was as big as one. It had gross hairy legs, and a large plump body. I saw it jump in front of Jeff and we both froze. EEWWWWW gross! There was no way I was going any further. With spider on gaurd, Jeff tossed a nice sharp heavy rock a top the spider. Problem solved. After my 12 miles of hiking, I was pretty exhausted, but I had such a good time. All in all my first hunting experience was great. I would go again... as long as the weather was nice like it was.

Jeff later that week got a buck. We dont have pictures yet, because he didn't have our camera, but we will try to get some up soon. I was excited for him to get his first buck... and a day before his birthday. Good Job!!

Leroy

2008-10-27T13:50:00.000-07:00

We made a trip to Hee Haws out in Pleasant Grove with Brady and my cousin Stephanie. We had so much fun. The cornmaze took us about a total of 5 minutes. Either I have a really amazing, newly established sense of direction, or we made all the right turns. But they are always fun even if we ripped through it faster than superman. It was suprisingly a very warm night. They had some sweet slides that we each went down at least five times. But it was even more entertaining to stand at the bottom and watch all the people hit the bottom with thier feet at the end of the slide being forced into superman position and flying forward to the dirt ending. It was even more hilarious when people couldn't get up after that. It was one of those moments where you have to turn your head because you are laughing so hard, but you can't let them know you are laughing at them. But those are always the best kinds of laughs anyways.

I'm slightly obsessed with pigs, and I can't wait until we get into a house so we can have one in our back yard. I think that they are so cute. I love thier cute little curly tails and pug noses, and most of all the squeeling sounds that they make. The owner of the pigs was there feeding them and let Jeff hold one. It was starting to squeel and squirm right as we took the picture, as you can see from Jeff's face.

And last but not least... this is Leroy. He was the biggest highlight of the evening. Leroy is over 10 years old, weighs over 1100 ibs, and packs around a heavy set. This pig is gigantic. We were all pretty impressed when Jeff decided to join him in the pig pen to snap this unforgettable shot. Just a side note, I will never own a pig this big.

40 Years

2008-10-27T13:33:00.001-07:00

My parents just celebrated 40th wedding anniversary on October 10th. Its crazy to think that they have been married for so many years. But five children, and 10 grandchildren later, they are still happily married. With my mom's craziness and spunk, and my dad's sense of humor they have kept thier relationship lively over the years. My parents are the greatest and Im so thankful for all thier love and support. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!! Thanks for all you do.

Fall

2008-10-05T20:36:00.001-07:00

Last Sunday Jeff and I drove up Provo Canyon on the opposite side of Hobble Creek. The leaves were incredible and its sad to say, but these pictures do not do justice. Here are some of the snap shots that we got. Good thing we know how to use the self timer, but we actually had to crop the top of our car out of this picture. We always look like idiots as we are strategically placing the camera on our car and praying that it doesnt fall off. But, hey... it got the job done.

Here we are pulled off the side of the road in avoidance of the self timer. You see more of our heads than the leaves but oh well. Often times taking pictures like this resembles a two headed monster. But we do our best with our self picture taking skills.

Rock Band and Tandem Bikes

2008-10-05T20:09:00.000-07:00

We recently celebrated Brett Preist's birthday in September. We all met up and went to dinner, then headed to see their new home. They had recently purchased a Wii and Rockband. So.. of course, we all had to rock out. I think Jeff looks like a hard core drummer, look out!!! I really think he should have been a rockstar. I think my new favorite is the drums. How can you not feel like a rocker when you drum like that. And I might just have to add that I got 100% with my vocals on Radiohead's "Creep". Its always fun to watch the boys because they are totally into it. See above. Watch out Metallica!!

Cascade Springs

2008-10-05T19:53:00.001-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, we decided that we would all meet up at Cascade Springs. We picked the perfect time to go. All the leaves were changing and it was so pretty up there. Besides that fact that Jeff and I got terribly car sick due to the rollercoaster type road, it was a lot of fun. Its always fun to get together with my friends that I don't get to see as often as I would like. Maddie was a trooper to go with us since she had been sick, and did her best to give us a good face in the picture.

SCOOTERS AND HEBER

2008-09-10T21:14:00.000-07:00

One night last week, Lyns invited me, Brady, and Jeff up to her house. We had planned to play her new Wii, but it didn't get there on time. So our evening turned into "Let's play on Lynsee's Scooter" We ate some pizza and headed staight out to try out her shiny black scooter with red hot flames. It's hot. Jeff made the first attempt. He eagerly hopped on and jumped right on the highway. Lynsee lives on the highway that goes from Heber to Park City, so its always busy. Kind of scary when the scooter only goes 40 MPH. Jeff was in love with it right away. He had taken it for a little ride under the little underpass that ends up on the other side of the highway at Lynsee's grandparents house. All of a sudden we hear the engine rev, and screams and yells coming from the underpass. Before we knew it, Jeff was barreling up onto the grass with the biggest grin on his face that I have ever seen. It was hilarious. Then brady took his turn, and eventually I did. I only drove on the grass because I was too chicken to go on the highway. Lyns eventually took me for a ride. We then decided to go and get ice cream at Granny's. Me, being the paranoid wife that I am, made Jeff wear a helmet and take the back roads. I know, Im such a mom. Once we were off the highway on the back roads, Brady jumped on with Jeff and they looked like the cutest couple ever. (See Below). Jeff looks like he could be part of Hell's Angels with that face. Bad to the Bone, right??? They were sure to honk the high pitched, clown nose-like horn at every person who was outside. It was hilarious. Jeff wants us to buy one now. GREAT! We got our ice cream, and then Lyns and I rode it back on the highway. I know, I'm like the mom that is like " Do as I say, not as I do" Anyways, we rode back and it was freezing, but tons of fun. Lyns is a master scooter driver. HA Ha. We had a fire in Lyns' fire pit. It was lots of fun. My husband really does love me despite what the picture below might portrait.

UINTAHS AND MIRROR LAKE

2008-09-10T20:52:00.000-07:00

The past couple of weekends we have spent up in the Uintahs. We had to get up there as many times as we could before they close it for the winter. It is one of our favorite places to go.. obviously. The most recent time being up there, my parents and my cute neice presley met us up there for tinfoil dinners. It was freezing, so we were creative when it came to keeping her warm.. as you will notice in the pictures.Here is one of our ingenious ways of keeping her warm. Grandpas warm fleece blanket and baseball cap. This picture was so cute, I couldn't resist putting it up. Presley was so excited when we caught our one and only fish this trip, and she was completely intrigued with the fire. She was a good sport even though it was freezing and she had to use the scary potties.:)
Here is Presley and Grandpa with the only fish we caught this trip. I know, it's a lunker.
Presley with Grammy and Papa Cochran right before we ate our yummy tinfoil dinners.

The weekend before we were much more successul with our fishing. We were lucky to go up with Jeffs dad, Leo, our cute nephew Carson. This is one of the fish that Carson caught. We kept "uncle Jeff" busy getting all of our fish off our hooks for us. Cars and I both agree that those fish are way too slimy and icky to touch. We leave it to Jeff, and he is definatly a pro now.
This would have to be close to record size as far as fish go. This one was a fatty, I couldn't even fit my hands around it. It fought and tugged the whole way in. And yes, believe it, I am actually holding and touching a real live slippery gross sticky gooey fish. As you can see I'm absolutly disgusted by the look on my face. aka "Hurry and take the picture so we can throw this thing back in the water." Baby steps is what I keep telling myself. One day I just might take my own fish off my hook.
This was Jeff's biggest of the trip. We seemed to reel in some decent sized ones this trip. It was lots of fun.

Here are the boys, aren't they cute. It was fun to have Carson and grandpa along. Carson would get so excited everytime he had one on. That's what made it so much fun. He's quite the fisherman. Thanks for the fun day guys!

YELLOWSTONE

2008-08-17T12:28:00.001-07:00

This past week we were in Yellowstone. It was so much fun, and a much needed break from work for both Jeff and myself. It was my first time ever at Yellowstone, and I loved it. We covered the whole park in 4 days. We literally turned off at every turnout. There is so much to see there. I had a hard time choosing pics to put up since we took over 200 pictures on the trip, so sorry if you get bored. In the picture above, Jeff and I are sitting next to one of the stinkiest mud volcanoes. It was literally boiling mud. It smelled disgusting, even though we are both doing a good job of pretending like it didn't smell in the picture. It smelled a mixture of rotten eggs, and dirty socks. yummmm. But they were a lot of fun to look at.

My parents joined us on our trip to Yellowstone. I think that we wore them out pretty good, but they had a good time. Honestly, I think Jeff wore all of us out. From morning to night it was go go go!! Thats usually how are trips go, so we can fit every possible thing in. This is Jeff and my parents in front of an indain tent and the bear museum. This museum was awesome, it had live bears and wolves to look at.
This bear couch was too awesome not to take a picture in. I think we will buy one once we get a house big enough to fit it in.

These pictures were all taken in front of the Tetons just outside of Jackson, WY. I fell in love with these mountains. There is nothing like them. These pictures do them very little justice.

This is how excited Jeff was to be in Yellowstone. He was our tour guide on the trip. It was if he was a little boy in a candy shop. Every turn he got excited about something new. Our trip was full of lots of excitement. Check out all the Buffalo behind Jeff. This was one of my favorite places in Yellowstone. It is called the Hayden Valley. It is so pretty and there are heards of Buffalo around every corner.

I borrowed my Dad's hat for this picture.
This was one of the five bears that we saw in Yellowstone. This was about as close as you could or would want to get to a bear... At least one that is not enclosed. This was a black bear that we spotted just of the road. He sat and entertained us for a good 20 minutes.
This is Jeff and I in a bear trap that we saw at the Bear Discovery Museum in West Yellowstone. GRRRRRRR!

This was one of my favorite parts of Yellowstone. The colors in this were so bright on this hot pot as you can see from the rising steam. This picture in no way does it any justice. If you look at this from an ariel view, it looks like a gigantic sun.
OLD FAITHFUL!
This is the four of us in the Hayden Valley. We all had so much fun here looking at the Buffalo. We also saw a grizzly and her cub near here. It was such a blast to spend time with my parents. It was definatly a memorable trip.

Birthday Celebrations and Pioneer Day Fun

2008-07-28T20:47:00.001-07:00

So we had quite the busy week with it being Pioneer Day and my Birthday all in one week. We celebrated with a couple of visits to the Spanish Fork Fiesta Days Rodeo, camping, a demolition derby, and eating lots of crap. That’s what birthdays are for, right? I took the liberty of eating crap the whole week. What a good week.

Jeff and I went camping in the Uintahs over the weekend. It was amazing we actally even made it there. We had to go back to our house twice after we had tried to hit the road. It wasnt until half way up Provo Canyon that I decided to ask Jeff if he had gotten our sleeping bags. With panic on his face, we turned the car around and went back home to get the most essential item for a camping trip. We finally made it up there. On our little overnight excursion, we managed to catch over thirty fish. With a fly and a bubble we were knocking them dead. We had yummy tinfoil dinners and marshmallows of course. Half the campsite was closed of due to a bear siting the night before. That made for an exciting night.
Jeff managed to catch the biggest fish while we were up there.

He also managed to catch the smallest.
This is one of my many fish. I made Jeff get all my fish off the hooks for me. I am slowly building up the courage to do it. I did, however, rig my own pole up. I was very proud of myself. If i wanted to change my fly, I did it myself. No more waiting around for Jeff to do it, just had to wait around for him to grab those gooey slimy fish and plop them back in the water. We had such a good time on our camping trip. We had so much fun, that we are planning on going back up there this saturday.

Jeff took me to my favorite mexican restaurant (The Blue Iguana) in Salt Lake for my birthday. He also took me shopping and had suprised me with a bunch of clothes that he picked all by himself for me. I had a great birthday.

Kerri, London, and Laurie took me out for sushi for my birthday. We had a really good time, and the Japanese lady sang happy birthday to me with a gong.

Jeff and I at the Rodeo night #1

The most handsome cowboys at the Spanish Fork Rodeo.

Our cute niece Haley and her friend Garret. Isnt she a hottie!!

Jeff and I at the Rodeo night #2

Dana Brian and Cari at the Rodeo

UTAH VALLEY IDOL AND OLD FRIENDS

2008-07-27T13:23:00.000-07:00

Kerri recently sang in the Utah Valley Idol competition. She did awesome, and it was fun being with old roomates agian. Kerri made it into the semi finals and we are all placing our bets on her to win. If she does, she will open for Boys to Men, how cool is that?? Kerri is also going to be auditioning for American Idol this week . Good Luck Ker.

The Roomies at Utah Valley Idol

Hailey and Jared
Sue, Jeff, and Me at Utah Valley Idol at the Scera

We recently got together with some of the old Kneaders crew. I had not seen the McKee family for honestly three years or so, besides the quick hello at my wedding. I also got to hang out with some of the Anderson family. It was nice to be able to reminice about old times, and kinda crazy to see how all of our lives have changed. We had such a good time. Its been good seeing all my old friends again.

1:06:00 PM
by Jeff and Kellie

Fourth of July

2008-07-19T16:09:00.000-07:00

It is a tradition for my family to go stay in my uncle's cabins for the Fourth of July. We have done it for as long as I can remember. They are down in Wayne County in a little town called grover. And when I say little, there is a larger population of cows than there are people.

The first day we were there, we went fishing at lower bounds with my brothers and dad. Two fish were caught by Jeff and my brother in law Steve. I think I have seen bigger fish in the feeder tank at Walmart. LOL. But we still had a lot of fun. We went on a few rides over Boulder Mountain. We went on quite the bumpy trail in the truck, but had lots of fun finding new destinations. The next day Jeff and I went on a super bumpy four wheeler ride with my brothers. We were on our little Kawasaki. Its little, but it does the job. We found some really cool fishing resevoirs and good camping spots. Too bad we didn't take our fishing poles or a tent with us. Ironic, huh?? That night I asked Jeff if he wanted to go for a walk. He smiled and asked, "Can I take my gun?" I knodded and rolled my eyes of course. We headed for our walk/rabbit hunt. On our walk, within a matter of a 1/2 hour, Jeff had shot over 14 rabbits. I've never seen him so excited. It was my first and I'm sure not last hunting adventure. Saturday, we went to the annual Torrey, UT Apple Days Fourth of July Parade. It is about as po dunk as you can get, but pretty cool to be a part of the "Weiners of Wayne County" (See picture above for details) We then watched my cousin in a four wheeler pull. He got second place. At the very end, someone pulled ahead and beat him by a couple of feet. Do you understand what I mean when I say po dunk. But it was lot of fun. We were also graced with the presence of Fletcher the Camel in the parade. It's not everyday you get to see a spitting camel...right?? After the parade, Jeff and I headed to a place past Escalante called The Devils Garden. It looks like a miniature version of Canyonlands. We saw lots of fat lizards, and explored all over the rock formations like we were on some giant playground. We made it back to the cabin just in time for dinner, and a ginormous fireworks display put on by my cousin. I think we literally lit off more than a 100 fireworks. That night, my cousins had set up a GPS scavenger hunt for all the girls to go on. It was so much fun. There had to be eight or nine of us girls on four wheelers looking for clues in the dark with little GPS units. On our second clue, we were walking through the cow fields headed to an old cabin. I was preparing myself, as I knew that someone was going to be there to jump out and scare me. As I was walking slowly with no light, I heard movment to my right. I jumped and looked, and to my suprise there was a big black cow staring staight at me. Ha Ha. All the boys were laughing at us from the balcany as we drove by on the four wheelers. Jeff of course pulled his shirt up to give us all a nice flash of his sexy abs. :) So on the way back, my cousin gave them a flash of her full moon. It was hilarious. Anyways, it was definatly an adventurous night. Sunday we headed home, and we had ended yet another year in Grover.

Maddie's Birthday Party

2008-07-15T15:47:00.000-07:00

So we were lucky enough to be invited to little miss Maddie's first birthday party. As you can see from the pictures; Jeff and Ryan had way too much fun with the party hats. Its strange how ammused they can get with such simple things. It was fun to hang with my friends, that I wish that we saw more. But life gets busy, so we all do what we can. Maddie threw us quite the party, and it was a blast.