I smile because we are family...

...I laugh because there is nothing you can do about it!

Since my parents and sister Kirsten, and my sister Lisa and her familiy were here for Tyler and Quintin's graduations, we took some time to take some family pictures. It's been a little while...4 years for my family. Our awesome niece Pene was so gracious to come and take them for us. We were missing my brothers and their families and were sad that they weren't able to make it. They plan on taking more pictures when they all get together this Summer for my grandma's 90th birthday.

 My Parents and Sisters

(L-R: Julie, Dad, Mom, Lisa, Me and Kirsten in front)

 With our Spouses

(L-R: Bob & Julie, Dad & Mom, Chris & I, Jordan & Lisa, and Kirsten)

All the Grandkids

(L-R: Back Row-Zachary, Lauren, Tyler & Brynnly; Middle Row-McKenna, Grandpa, Grandma, Quintin & Brooklynn; Front Row-Adelaide, Braxton, Ivy, Sinjin, LaRue & Matilda)

 The Whole Gang

 Our Family - May 2016

 Lauren - 16 years old

The one of the left was taken in April 2016. She hates it, but I love it!

 Brooklynn - 10 years old

McKenna - 13 years old & LaRue - 12 years old

(We didn't get one of just McKenna)

And, we didn't take any of Tyler because we had just taken his Senior Pictures. But just so he doesn't feel left out...here is the official yearbook picture.

Spring Break 2014!

Blessed, Honored Pioneers

 

Trek - where do I begin??!! What an AMAZING experience. It is just too hard to sum it up in words, but I'll do my best. Chris and I didn't have the Pioneer Trek experience growing up so when we had the opportunity to be a Ma & Pa on our Stake Youth Trek, we jumped at it. We were able to go along with both Tyler and Lauren. The trek was for youth 14 and older but if your parents were coming, you could come if you were 12 or 13, so Lauren was able to come too. 

We all had to dress in pioneer clothing, pack everything we'd need for 3 days (except bedding) into a 5 gallon bucket that weighed no more than 17 pounds, and walk around the wilderness pushing a handcart for nearly 20 miles. Sounds like fun, right? It was. 

Our Stake decided that they wanted the youth to have a more spiritual experience rather than focusing on the harsh physical conditions. Not to say that it was easy by any means, but it was easier than a lot of groups that go.

 

I heard of one group who actually had to catch their own wildlife for dinner! We were spoiled and the Stake cooked most of our meals for us or provided us meals to cook that were mostly done. We ate fantastic! They also had trucks that hauled all of our tents, bedding and cooking stuff from site to site so we didn't have to lug that around in our handcarts.

The weather was brutal, over 100 degrees most of the time or right around there. There was no shade or trees to be found anywhere and everything was covered in dust. The only shade to be had was under the handcart. There was so much dirt! I had visions of sleeping on nice, soft grassy park-like areas each night, but nope, literally dust bowls! We had so many great devotionals, talks, music and a fantastic fireside given by Brad Wilcox.

 

Each day we trekked anywhere from 4 to 8 miles, set up camp, tore down camp, had our meals, had devotionals and vignettes along the way, a hoe down, camp games, lots of visiting, shared pioneer stories and more.

 

 

 

Two of the highlights were the women's pull where all the men "left with the Mormon battalion" and the women were left to pull the handcarts on their own.

 

 

We had to pull them a 1/2 a mile in ankle deep dirt which was like flour. It was so hard. The conditions were so dusty that you couldn't see the group in front of you. We ate a ton of dust being kicked up by the carts. As we neared the end we could hear the men singing softly and it was so beautiful. We couldn't see them through the dust until we were right there but it was very touching to hear them singing. 

 

It was so hard on them to see us struggle so much. We were so relieved when it was over and our strong boys could take over pulling the handcarts again. The other highlight was the river crossing. We had to cross the river in thigh-high water. The boys could carry the girls across but ours didn't because all of our girls wanted to get wet since it was so hot. I think they were kind of disappointed. Again, it was a very spiritual experience.

 

 

 

 I feel very blessed to have been able to participate and hope the kids enjoyed it as much as we did. Tyler and Lauren both had a great time and did fantastic. Tyler was assigned a different family as they mixed up all the kids so that each family group had a variety of ages, wards and about 1/2 girls and 1/2 boys. Lauren was in our family because she was too young. I suspect they did that so that if they struggled or whined that their parents could deal with them. However, she did amazing and would have been fine anywhere. Oh, and on the 2nd day of the trek each family "lost" loved ones, just like during the real Treks. Our family lost Lauren. They got to ride ahead up to our next campsite and hang out, play games and have treats while we all trekked some more. Later that day they got to come back. It was just such a great experience and we totally want to go again next time.

Our Trek Family

 Our Trek Family - the Girls

Our ward kids

 

(L-R: Back - Spencer Miller, Rachel Albach, Tyler, Lauren, Bro. Crismon Lewis, Front - Constanza Cuello, Ryde Casper)

Tyler's Trek Family

 Tyler and his friends

(L-R: Landon Lawrence, Treadon Casper, Ryde Casper, Josh Buss, Spencer Miller & Tyler)

Lauren in her BFF - Kaylee Dial

Happy 4th of July!

We made our annual pilgrimage to Malad, Idaho for the 4th of July. We love going, every year. We had such a nice, relaxing visit this time. My sister Julie and her younger children came up and spent the night which was lots of fun.

 

We started the day out with the parade, then the kids headed into town for the shoot-out while the adults shopped for last minute items for lunch. Then we all headed up to the ranch for the family Salmon bake and tons of great food. People started to slowly leave and the last of us cleaned up in a huge hurry as a thunderstorm moved in quickly and it started to pour.

 

About this time we were starting to get worried as Tyler and Darl had not come back with the 4-wheelers. Grandpa jumped into the truck and headed out to look for them while we finished last minute clean-up. When we were loaded up, Chris and I headed up to look for them as well. We met them coming down the road at the mouth of the canyon. Darl's 4-wheeler had broken down pretty far away and they needed gas and a tow rope to get it out. I took the kids home while Chris, his dad and some of the adult grandkids went back to retrieve the other 4-wheeler. Chris said they were really far away (there is a point where vehicles can't go any further and they were at least a mile or so past that) and it was stuck down a ravine. While they were pulling it out, Tyler was driving and the other 4-wheeler hit a rock snapping Tyler's 4-wheeler back and flipping it over backwards. Luckily he was able to jump off and scramble out of the way with some minor scratches and bruises. We were so blessed that everyone made it out ok. Needless to say the boys had a little "chat" with Grandpa about limits!

Later that evening we watched the great fireworks show that Malad puts on. The kids set off their fireworks while we waited. I am always so impressed at the great show considering how tiny the town is. Way better than our fireworks here where we live in a big city.

The rest of the vacation we relaxed, watched movies, swam, and ate! It was such a nice weekend with family. I was terrible though and hardly took any pictures!

Color Fest 2013

On a whim, we decided to take the kids to the Color Fest this year. We have wanted to do it for years but always seem to miss it. I'll admit...I wasn't that thrilled about the whole thing but every party needs a pooper so there you go. In the end though, it was a lot of fun. We will for sure go again next year. The kids LOVED it. We met up with some cousins and randomly ran into my sister Julie! Next year we'll have to coordinate a little more and plan it better.

Families are a lot like fudge...

... mostly sweet with a few nuts!

The other day, this picture popped up on our digital frame.

Someone suggested that we re-enact the picture since it has been a long time (2008) and everyone has grown so much. So we did!