The 24th of July

This 24th of July was a special one as Jeff, Em and the boys were here with us. They usually are here for the 4th but since they were also here in April for Andrea's wedding they decided to come a little later so we could all go to Bear Lake and fun things like that. It also worked out really well for us too since we spent the 4th of July in Montana. We started out the day at Ken and Lynnette's where they had set up a very awesome slip and slide, a ping pong table, 2 small swimming pools and lots of chairs to relax in. We had a blast playing on the slip and slide for hours!! Oh and I say we not just the kids because pretty much everyone got involved at some point, Kris even went in her clothes!! I'm not sure who's idea it was to bring the balloon launcher into the equation but it sure was cool. You will be able to see what I mean from the pictures below. Even after we implemented "catchers" most of us still ended up soapy, muddy and bruised, what could be more fun?! Several of the big "kids" also enjoyed the little pools with Jordyn and Ashley so all in all the water was a huge success all around! Thanks to Ken and Nett for the yard and the fun and I'm glad your lawn recovered hehe. During all this fun we did squeeze lunch in too, where there is a Minson family gathering food will always be found!! It's like a rule or something. After all the afternoon fun we went home for nap time so I can't attest to what everyone else did but after nap time we all met back up at my Grandma and Grandpa's for a BBQ and some games before fireworks. It was lots of fun and the only bummer was that Brian had to go into work for a couple of hours but he was able to eat and see fireworks (which were awesome!) so it worked out in the end. What can I say it was another super fun day with the family!! I apologize in advance if I missed anyone in the pictures I tried my best to get everyone!! Let me know if you want copies or you can check out more photos on my facebook page!!



Jordyn was having a fabulous time going around squirting everyone

Brian

Josh

Gage

Andrea

Kenzie

Jared

Cole

Jake

Danny

Spence

Neal

Emma

Les

Kelsie

Kris - see she even went in clothes!

Lainie

My dad - see what I meant about the mud *lol*

Craig trying a little skiing

Me - and yes I was screaming...

My mom

Andrew

David

Megan

Seely Lake, MT '09

I apologize to all our adoring fans (if we have any...) for being such a slacker about updating our blog. I know I'm like 3 or more events behind but over the next couple of days I plan to fix that since I have so many great pictures and memories to share with everyone. So here we go... Onward to Montana!!

We left for Seely Lake, Montana on July 3rd in the morning. We decided to just drive straight through without our usual overnight stop in Idaho Falls. Brave I know. Anyway we actually didn't have to bad of a time, we did stop in Idaho Falls for lunch and spent sometime admiring the falls and then we continued on to Montana. Jordyn was as good as you can expect a 2 year old to be on an 8 hour car ride and so obviously we were pleasantly surprised. Once we got to Montana we had a great time!! The 4th of July in a small town is a hoot!! Brian and I took Jordyn, Easton and Dylan to the little parade on Main Street and it was so much fun!! Jordyn waved to like everyone who passed, it was really cute. We had a BBQ that night with all Brian's family then we went to see the Fireworks over Seely Lake with Eric and Michelle and their kids and Paula and June. There was a band playing and tons of fireworks. We loved it!! The rest of the week was spent playing in the river, golfing (Brian anyway), taking walks, playing in the little pool, eating, playing games, visiting, cookie bars and lottery scratchers. Brian won 3rd place for the second year in a row in the 3rd annual Jim Ross Memorial golf tournament (the first year we were evacuated before the game... *lol*) which is pretty awesome. I was not almost eaten by a bear this year so that was good too!! It's always sad to leave our favorite little town behind but very nice to get home!! With a quick stopover in Butte for the Folk Festival, which had a shadow thrown over it due to Jordyn being pretty sick on Saturday, we were on our way home and when we actually got here we couldn't have been happier!! The trip sure seems a lot longer on the way back... *lol* Anyway we had a great time and look forward to next summer!! These are a few of my favorite picture, for a full accounting you can check out my facebook page (if you need the info let me know)!!


Jordyn and Brian down by the river

Us with Grandma June

Daddy with his little monster in front of Lindy's Steakhouse

Just finished floatin' the river

My little J-Bear

Jordyn wearing Conner's sweatshirt

Holding the flowers that Bri and Jordyn picked for me. Do you like our vase? *lol*

Jordyn and Ella doing hugs in the pool

Our annual family picture

Us at the fireworks!!

Herriman Days

A few weeks ago we had our annual Herriman Days get together at Spence & Heidi's house. We bbq'd, played some b-ball, sat around a little "camp" fire and chatted about life. We got to hear some pretty freakin' funny stories, thanks Craig you made Brian's night, and prob Greg's as well!! They also had their little swimming pool set up for the kids but it was a little chilly so I figured once Jordyn got in she would want out... WRONG she and Ashley played until we made them get out because they had turned totally blue. Grace was a little smarter, she only got in for a few minutes at a time then got out to warm up. It was a great night, the watermelon we brought even turned out to be good, YAY!! After it got dark we all headed out to the front yard and watched the fireworks that are launched from the junior high across the street. We get perfect seats and no crowds, it's awesome!! It's always fun to get together with my family and spend a little quality time. They are just as crazy as I am, I love it!! I feel very blessed that I have a whole family full of my best friends. I know how rare that is and how very blessed I am to be a part of it.


Ashley, Grace and Jordyn - the bathing beauties

The troopers, they were shivering like crazy!

My darling little princess mermaid

Thanks Spence and Heidi for a great time!!

Fun Times!!

This last week we have done some fun things including going on a mini hiking (and snow climbing) expedition to Silver Lake which is up by Brighton ski resort and taking a trip to the Living Planet Aquarium. On our trip to Silver Lake we saw a ton of cute little chipmunks, squirrels and other rodents which we had a fabulous time feeding Ritz crackers to. Jordyn thought this was especially fun and would squeal like... well a little girl... every time we found a new one to feed. We also tried feeding some ducks but we got the feeling they didn't really care for Ritz, who knew ducks were so snobby? We hadn't realized there would still be piles off snow like 5 feet high in places but that only added to the adventure, believe me hiking up a few ice/snow mini mountains in flip flops and capris was very exciting. Brian just carried Jordyn which she also thought was pretty cool. Even though it was slightly rainy and pretty overcast it was still a really nice day and we enjoyed the fresh air and time outside. A week after Silver Lake we went to the Living Planet Aquarium to see the new Amazon exhibit. If you have not had a chance to go see this yet you need to take a few hours and check it out, it's very neat and they have some really cool new exhibits like dart frogs and an electric eel. One of my very favorites is still the octopus, I think octopi are some of the most amazing animals in the world. Well on this trip the octopus was very active which was really fun to watch, he was all over his cage like he was showing off for us, Jordyn loved it, she had an octopus on her shirt and was thrilled they were kindred spirits. We had a really fun time seeing everything and finished off with the ray pool. Now Jordyn really likes to put her hands in but isn't sure how she feels about actually touching the rays *lol* and of course since she is nervous they always come right up to her! It's actually pretty neat to see them come right up out of the water to be touched! It's amazing to watch things with the wonder of a 2 year old!! I'm glad we will have these fun memories to look back on as a family and am happy to share them with all our family and friends!!

Feeding the ducks! I love that she is crouching just like Brian!

Where did they go?!

It is so beautiful up there, this picture doesn't really do it justice

One of our cute little friends eating his Ritz

Jordyn loves watching the sharks!! There are lots of cool things in there including the awesome yellow eel!

Cheese!!!

Mom, look at that UGLY fish!

Canoeing in the Amazon!

Hands in the water!!

Here is the ray trying to give Jordyn some fin

Andrea & Andrew's Wedding

Here are the pictures I was planning on doing like a month ago... *sigh* where does the time go? Anyway my cousin Andrea married Andrew Marker on April 24th and these are some pictures that were taken downtown at the Lion House and Temple Square. The super cute dresses that Jordyn, Megan, Ashley and Grace are wearing were made by my cousin, Lainie for a school project. They are the cutest little things (the girls AND the dresses!!)


Ta da!!

I really like this picture, I think it's neat!

Our cute little family

Kelsie, McKenzie, Lainie, Brittany, Me and Andrea

I love my cousins!! We have so much fun!!

Ashley, Megan, Gracie and Jordyn in front of the Lion House

Ethan REALLY wanted to be in a picture with all the girls, what a stud muffin!!

Four little angels... or so they would have you think!

Jordyn loved looking at all the different "waters"... she is still talking about it *lol*

Jordyn with Grandma and Papa Minson

This is one of my very favorite pictures of Jordyn, she is so dang cute!!

The flowers were amazing, some of them were as tall as Jordyn!!

One of THOSE days...

Well I have been meaning to get on here for the last couple weeks to add some pictures from my cousin Andrea's wedding but you know how time just seems to slip away when you get busy. Anyway I am having a day where if Brian doesn't get home from work soon and rescue me I may just murder our child!! Well I WAS having one of those days until I put Jordyn down for her nap and decided to once and for all sit down and update our blog... I decided to read through the recent blogs of my rad people and was quickly humbled right out of my mommy murder mood. I have a very dear friend who is going through some terrifying and unknown things with her new baby girl. Her little one, Lilah stops breathing occasionally while sleeping and they are no closer to knowing for sure what is wrong then they are when it started happening a few weeks ago. I can't even imagine what she and her husband must be going through!! I am amazed she can still function, I'm pretty sure I would be a raving lunatic. Anyway it got me thinking about why Jordyn drives me sooooooo crazy somedays, it's because she is a smart, funny little girl who has the ability to make anyone anywhere her slave... shouldn't I be thrilled? I have a gifted child who just happens to also be the cutest kid in the world, shouldn't I be counting my blessing instead of wishing to kill her? As I said earlier it was a very humbling experience to sit back and ask myself which would you rather be dealing with... not even really a question right? So as I sit her mellowing out on this Mother's Day eve thinking about all these things I feel I need express that I am beyond thankful for the blessing of Jordyn in my life, even all the terrible two things that are happening right now. I also am very grateful to have the BEST mom in the world!! I really do, she is everything I want to be for Jordyn and Brian and everyone else in my life because she is one of those just about perfect people that only come along like every hundred years or so... She'll be so mad I wrote that hehe!! As if that weren't enough I also have a fabulous mother-in-law, Paula who's charity and kindness know no bounds and who am also very thankful for. Oh and let's not forget that I also have the 2 greatest grandma's in the world!! Both my Grandma Minson and my Grandma Pollei (Grams) are such an example of strength and love and also pretty darn fun to be around!! With all these great women, plus the amazing aunts, sister-in-laws, cousins and friends I have I feel like I am the luckiest girl ever! How can I fail with all that greatness around me? So Happy Mother's Day to the all you spectacular women in my life and most especially to my very loved mommy!!