Summer Time

Okay so I did not realize just how long it had been since I had posted ANYTHING, not that anyone reads this, but since I am using it as a family journal I figured I better at least acknowledge the past few months! Summer time is my favorite time of year, especially because of where we live. I love our little community and all the fun things that go on in this area. First of all my favorite time of year to live in Rupert is the 4th of July. The food booths around the square are beyond fabulous and (I can't get enough of the spanish booth, I will wait in line forever!) and even though I am not a morning person I wouldn't miss the boy scout breakfast on the morning of the 4th for much of anything. Then the festivities move on to the 4th of July parade, with a fantastic BBQ at my parents house winding up the day. The girls were so fun throughout all the activities and they went to town on the plethora of sparklers their idiot mom mistakenly purchased (I didn't look at how many sparkers were in each box just told the kid I wanted 8 boxes . . . FYI there are 10 in each box - I slightly over bought!).

Girls waiting patiently (yeah right!) for the parade to begin

Family pic at the parade

Using up those sparklers baby!

After things settled from the 4th of July we ventured out to Jeremy's beloved home town of Oakley for their 24th celebration, sorry no photos for this event, but we do have a great time out there. They added a new event the "Bump and Grind", this is a car race/redneck festival. We had a BALL there!!! Some of our friends were racing and lets just day we totally gave into our redneck tendencies for the entire night! Next year I will definitely have pictures of this summer outing in particular.

Finally winding down the summer events is the Cassia County Fair, yes that is right the county fair. I absolutely love going to the rodeos, eating hamburgers and watching my counsins and Jeremy's neices show their 4-H steers. This year I also got to watch my gorgeous and talented cousin run for fair rodeo queen as well, on a side note she got robbed: politics and the almighty dollar decided the queen instead of actual talent and class, whatever. Anyway we had so much fun at the fair, Garrett and two of his friends won the wild cow ride on Friday night and proudly sported his belt buckle to prove it, the girls also enjoyed wearing their boots somewhere else other than our field.

Ready to head to the last night of rodeo action!

Sky and Kens, too cute to leave out!

Sky the photographer in action



Unfortunately I am forced to admit that summer time is winding down whether I want it to or not, but it is nice to reminisce on the good times had by all over the past few months.

Yee Haw!!!

Well it is official now.... we are country folk! Skyler has been saving up every cent she gets and putting it in her piggy bank for a horse and on Saturday Jeremy and I surprised the girls with not one, but two horses for the family. After MUCH deliberation we finally settled on Belle (the red paint mare) and Beast (the dark thoroughbred gelding) as names for the pair of them. Jeremy and I think we probably saved poor Beast from the glue factory, he looks pretty rough and a little malnutritioned but with a some TLC he is going to be a good looking horse. My parents have been thanking Jeremy for fulfilling all my childhood dreams - when I was 8 I made up and signed a contract for my parents promising to forfeit all Christmas and birthday gifts until after 18 (10 long years!!) if they would get me a horse. Some may say I didn't really mean it, but I was a determined child and I really, really, really wanted a horse - I guess we can never really know..... Anyways the girls have been super obsessed (Kendyll keeps telling everyone about the "horshey's huuuge poop!!!") ever since they laid eyes on them and their reaction made it all worth it and much much more.

The moment of realization/utter joy

Jeremy, Skyler, and Belle

Me leading Belle with Sky and Kennys on board

Kendyll helping to brush down Belle and Beast

Sky bareback on her new best friend Belle

Tagged!

So my sister-in-law Bekah tagged me ohhh about a month ago and I totally meant to follow through a lot sooner . . . better late than never, right?! Anyway I loved reading hers so suffer through mine because it is fun stuff for the fam journal!

Here are some questions about you and your spouse. Once your finished tag whoever you want to do this! Come on, play along - inquiring minds want to know!
♥ What are your middle names? Ann and Trent
♥ How long have you been together? Together 10 1/2 married for 9 years
♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating? Saw each other in a class and he would ask me if I wanted a ride home, but we actually met about 2 months before our first date.
♥ Who asked who out? Definitely Jeremy - Mom taught me boys should come to you.
♥ How old are each of you? Jeremy is 32 and I am 28
♥ Whose siblings do/ did you see the most? Since Kyle and Garrett live out of the state and I see Jeremy's sister's at dance every week - not to mention that he works with two of his brothers, I would have to say his.
♥ Do you have any children together? Two gorgeous little ladies
♥ What about pets? Zade our mini horse, just kidding he is our very large house dog and Sassy the cat that I am allergic to, yet got suckered into.
♥ Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple? Money? Who doesn't want more??
♥ Did you go to the same school? Not high school, but we met at college - USU baby!!
♥ Are you from the same home town? Kinda .... He is from Oakley and I am a Rupert girl, FYI they are about 45 min away from each other in small town Idaho - i.e. close enough!
♥ Who is smarter? I have way more blonde moments so I guess him?
♥ Who is more sensitive? Both pretty thick skinned - I think we tie.
♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple? Now that Cafe Rio is in Twin I have to say there.
♥ Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? Mexico.
♥ Who has the craziest exes? Jeremy. Hands down.
♥ Who has the worst temper? I can remain calm for longer, but we both have firey tempers at our disposal.
♥ Who does the cooking? I don't remember the last time I saw Jeremy cook a meal so me, however I wouldn't say I am fantastic at it by any means!
♥ Who is more social? Depends... we both have our moments, but Jeremy has a talent for making friends VERY easily, it takes me a little longer to show my real personality.
♥ Who is the neat-freak? Jeremy. Maybe that is what I should have put on the question about our hardest situation ....
♥ Who is more stubborn? Again I think we both have our moments, but I think I might edge him out on this one.
♥ Who hogs the bed? He does. Legs fling over on me randomly in the middle of the night, but I secretly like it - for a minute!
♥ Who wakes up earlier? Usually Jeremy I am NOT a morning person.
♥ Where was your first date? Dinner at the train station restaurant in Logan, then a movie - honestly best first date I ever had.
♥ Who has the bigger family? Jeremy. He has 3 sisters and 2 bros, I have 2 bros.
♥ Do you get flowers often? Flowers what are those?? Do they actually have places where you can buy those and send them to someone you love, who knew?!?
♥ How do you spend the holidays? We are over eaters, I mean achievers, and we usually hit both parents.
♥ Who is more jealous? Neither one of us are that jealous, but I am friendly with more of his exes, plus we tend to see his more often.
♥ How long did it take to get serious? I was young and not interested in getting serious but after about 5 months he had me seeing what a catch he was!
♥ Who eats more? He has the self discipline thing down a lot better than I do, but he is more of a snacker .... secretly.
♥ Who does/ did the laundry? I load, wash, unload, fold and put away, the last part is more of an eventual thing!
♥ Who’s better with the computer? Most things technical fall to me, which is scary!
♥ Who drives when you are together? If we are late and in a hurry it is up to me, but if grandma speed will due Jeremy drives so I can cater to the kiddos every need!

Whew! I am supposed to tag others, so I tag Alisha, Ashleigh, and Ren. I would love to tag others, but they don't have a blog yet, hint hint....!!

More Mexico Pics

What Swine Flu???

So after some intense deliberation we decided to go on our planned vacation with my family to Mexico despite our imminent death being predicted by several friends and family members. BEST decision EVER!!! We had such a great time, the food wasn't as bad as I worried it would be, the condo was amazing to say the least, fun sites to see, and great company too. No one got swine flu, and the only casuality was my ipod, I'm sure it is currently making some maid very happy (I'm not bitter at all). By the end of the trip we had all pretty much gotten over the whole toilet paper in the garbage can thing (Ewww, Ewwww, and more Ewwww is all I have to say on that!). Since we had Skyler the fish and her mini "me" (Kendyll refers to herself as Me and because we think it is cute Jeremy and I call her me) we spent a LOT of time at the pool and the beach. By the time we left Skyler was learning to knee dive and had swallowed (happily) about half the pool while learning to swim anywhere and everywhere. Kendyll was finally brave enough to back "float" which means she layed back in your arms and closed her eyes. The weather was perfect, and we all came back with fantastic tans. Thanks mom and dad for being married for 30 years so we could have and excuse to go somewhere together - Thanks for a GREAT trip!!!Sky with a few new friends, yes they are real and believe it or not she did actually pose with them with NO bribing!! I can hardly believe it myself and I was there!
Her face says it all!
On the tour bus to see the ruins at Chitzen Itza and Tellum
Smilin' Pretty Baby!
The view from the ruins at Tellum
The Beach. Nothing else left to say.
She wasn't happy at all this trip!
Jeremy gettin' some rays after playing with the girls in the ocean.
Here's the afore mentioned Jeremy and the girls playing in the ocean - Love that view!!!
Swimming with the dolphins, yes that is Skyler and I standing away from everyone else, let's just say that she was soooo excited to do this . . . until she was in the water with them - right there. She did touch one of them and just about the time we were getting out she started to feel a little braver about the whole event. Oh well, building memories, right?!?
Another shot with the dolphins, you can see that one is a little too close for Sky's comfort. She has a death grip when she wants to!
Chummers and the kiddos at Xel-Ha. She and Bampa were nice enough to take the little ones for a few hours so we could enjoy the park as adults . . . although when we met back up I think Chummers and Bampa looked like they had aged 5 years in a few hours!!
Sky and Jer "snorkeling" at Xel-Ha. You would never know that 30 seconds before this pic was taken they were having a come to Jesus moment about Sky being too scared to snorkel - fun times and more memories!

This picture says it all. Exhausted. Maybe it was Jeremy and I that aged 5 years on this trip, not Chummers and Bampa! Despite some of the stress with the kids, I would do this over again in a heartbeat!

Gonna be a soccer playa, She is!

I can't help but hear Adam Sandler saying that line in Billy Madison every time we got Skyler ready for her soccer games! Anyway . . . I am so behind on everything that has gone on so bear with me while I play catch up today!

Skyler played her first official team sport - if you haven't guessed by now it was soccer. She is such a fast runner, but she wasn't sure about the whole mass of children kicking wildly at one ball concept! It was so fun to watch her and our little section errupted in cheers when she finally got up the courage to actually kick the ball ( it took a couple of games to work up to it!). Kendyll was Skyler's unofficial coach on the sidelines, we have had to a few "talks" about who is the mom/boss and who is not, and no one was more vocal than her (she even does actions with her yells). We are so proud of Sky and absolutely loved going to her games, one of the joys of parenthood for Jeremy and I!

Doesn't she look so cute!

Nice action shot - Good job Jer

Giving her coach a high five after FINALLY kicking the ball!

Barn Doors

After church today we noticed Skyler did not have her fly zipped up. This was the conversation between Jeremy and Sky after about the third time of telling her to fix her little problem:

Jeremy: Sky your cows are still getting out . . .

Skyler: I know I just didn't want to shut the gate

Jeremy: You're going to lose all your cows!

Skyler: It's okay they were biting me.

Definitely something to bring up when she is a teenager!

Viva La Mexico!!

So here is an update on the passport/birth certificate saga . . . In case you can't tell by the number of passports in the picture - we got Kendyll's passport!!!!! Mexico here we come! It took some extra effort on my part (and the even bigger efforts of Jerri Cole at the Rupert Post Office - its not what you know but who you know!) to get it done, but it is official and in my hot little hands. As a family we have been praying for things to go well and for us to be able to get Kendyll a passport for quite a while, so as I have been checking the mailbox everyday for the past week Skyler has been right there with me hoping each and everyday. On the day that the passport arrived she was hanging out the pickup window waiting for my yes or no response, so by the time I reached the pickup both girls were yelling and screaming. I asked Skyler if she wanted to call her dad and let him know the good news, but she quickly reminded me what we needed to do first . . . She told me the first thing we needed to do was say thank you to Heavenly Father for helping us get the passport in time. She volunteered to say the prayer and the three of us sat in the pick up in our driveway and one of the most genuine, heartfelt, and grateful prayers I have ever heard was given by Skyler for her little sister getting to go to Mexico. I have to admit I did have to choke back just a few tears because of the simple pure faith shown by Sky. On a less preachy note, we are very excited to go on our trip, especially so I can use my limited Spanish abilities - I know I have no skills, but I am a bit delusional so I will probably embarrass my family (by family I mean specifically Garrett!) by trying to use what words I do know! Ole, Ole!!!

On a side note: No we still don't have a social secutity card for Kendyll, crazy how the same documentation of her birth/adoption can work well enough to prove her U.S. citizenship to the passport dept., but not well enough for a social security office people . . . idiots.

Egg-ie Weekend

Easter is a great holiday for two girls who absolutely love to eat eggs (eggies at our house). Despite Jeremy -eggs prepared any other way then scrambled are an abomination in his crazy world- gagging at our breath (from eating way too many deviled eggs) we enjoyed every minute of our Easter weekend. Saturday Dee and Lynn started the festivities off in Oakley with an over the top egg hunt which must have taken the entire week to prepare for! There were sooooooo many eggs, with designated area for each age group - including a couple of silver eggs for the adults to find. I am proud to say that Jeremy brought home the bacon - I mean the egg - when he found one of the winner egg. That's my man!!! Sunday after church we went to my grandma and grandpa's house in Almo for a big dinner and another easter egg hunt! The food at both places was phenomenal and I ate so much more than I should have, but it was worth it! A big thanks to all of our family for a F-U-N weekend!!!

Kendyll showing off her loot.

Jeremy and Skyler out on the hunt.
Kens figuring out where her beloved eggies "come from".

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She picked her own pose . . . she does look adorably sweet!

Not to be left behind - this is Kendyll's version of the same pose, with Skyler directing of course!

Had to put this in - the foot lift in the back is just too much!!!!

Sunday's Easter Egg Hunt went a little smoother for Kendyll - experience helps!

Her faces sums it all up - Smiles all around!

A homecoming AND a challenge

This past Sunday was Chase Anderson's official Homecoming report. Chase gave a fantastic talk and it was great to hear him talk about the people he met in South Africa. He had a lot of fun stories and experiences to share and believe it or not he took up quite a bit of time, he may be more like Jeremy than I have previously thought! Due to the always unpredicatble Idaho weather we woke up to a few inches of snow on the ground and so a few of the extended family members were not able to make the trip to Oakley. However Jeremy's grandma, Uncle Dan, and Aunt Brenda came the night before and it was great to have them around for Chase's big day. The dinner afterward was sooooooo good, Dee always goes above and beyond in the food area (Yay!!) and there was plenty to chow down on. The highlight of the day had to be Tasha's treadmill challenge - Henceforth known as TTC. In discussing fitness (after we all stuffed our faces) Tasha mentioned that she tries to walk on her treadmill at a speed of 4.7 - yes you all read right 4.7!! For those of you who are not familiar with Tasha, she is 100 lbs. dripping wet and she is about 5'1'' . . . needless to say her legs are not the longest things I have ever seen. After about 10 minutes of discussing whether or not this was actually possible, the TTC was born. We all raced downstairs to test Tasha's skills on Dee's treadmill. Jeremy volunteered himself to be the official speed monitor and sure enough Tasha is the queen of the treadmill!!! If anyone out there wants a challenge - I dare you to try and walk at 4.7!!! Tasha you ROCK!

Kendyll's Hap Hap

So continuing on with this past weekend's festivities yesterday (March 15) was Kendyll's 2nd brithday, referred to (by her) as her "Hap Hap". Since Rhendi's birthday is so close to Kendyll's we did a two for one special and had such a great time with all the family being around. Kendyll has been looking forward to everyone singing to her (she doesn't love attention at all) and of course the presents are always a plus in her book! In honor of her birthday I am going to do a random list of her favorite things (there will also be some pics to illustrate these points!)

All things Kendyll

1. Model in the making - plain and simple the girl loves clothes!

2. String Cheese - heaven forbid we ever run out.

3. Babies, Babies, and more Babies.

4. My little mother in the making - if you have ever seen her boss Skyler around no explaination necessary!

5. Just Dance - the girl loves to Shake It!!!!

6. Books - I am so proud she has developed my love for books.

7. Everything Skyler - Kendyll may like to boss her around, but she idolizes all things Skyler.

8. She can scream - WOW is all I have to say.

9. Eat - one of her favorite words.

10. Bath - another word that is music to her little ears.

11. Lovies - these are her ultimate weapon - she giveth and she taketh away!

12. Peas (AKA Please) - the girl could stop the war with this one word and her eyes.

13. Speaking of those eyes . . . you can tell alot about what she is thinking by her "looks".

14. Nursery - most kids struggle with it, she can hardly wait for Sacrament meeting to be over!

15. Daddy's girl - as hard as I try I can barely compete with her daddy, she loves the men in her life, Bampa included!!

Here are some of my favorite "Hap Hap" pics:

After a shaky start she decided she did like Penny the Pony after all.

Boy are we in trouble with these two!!!

Learning how to golf with Grandpa Lynn . . . we'll keep working on it!

I said it before she loves clothes!

Grandma Dee's first offical blog appearance

So glad to have Chase around again

Happy Birthday Kenzer - you are such a fun little lady Mommy and Daddy love you!!!!! One more pretty smile for the road -