Santa Claus is Coming to Town....

Blake knows only three Christmas songs and has been singing them non-stop for the past month. Other than singing, Blake's other preparations have consisted of attempting to unwrap his Christmas Eve jammies.

Doug on the other hand has been a little busier preparing for the holiday. He's been working some, shoveling a lot of snow, and helping me drop divinity when i need an extra hand. We celebrated his birthday on sunday... and i'll have to post more on that later!

I decided to host Christmas Eve dinner at my house, since both sets of parents were going to be empty nesters and we didn't want anyone to be alone. We moved a few things around and there should be just enough room to squeeze everyone in! Now if you know me at all, you know that i'm all about the yummy food on holidays. Needless to say, Doug and I have been cooking all afternoon and will finish the final preparations tomorrow morning before hitting the movie theatres. We are all looking forward to a great holiday, and hope you all have great Christmas too!

Trampoline + Yummy Food +Presents = Awesome Family Parties!

Sorry this post is so late... I was waiting for the pictures to complete the post! Enjoy!

Last month we had a few family parties on the calender. The a.m. of the 13th was the big VanOrden party. They held it down in Pocatello at the Youth Training Center, where Doug's cousin Lisa practices all of her gym routines. She is an amazing gymnast and we had way too much fun watching her perform a little for us and also playing on the trampolines and in the foam pit. We even got Mike and Sheila up on the tramps! Blake had a great time running around and playing in the foam as well! We got to see most of Doug's cousins and aunts and uncles and had a great time! Thanks to Julie and Garth for planning such a fun afternoon!

Doug thinking of a new career as a gymnast! Haha! I crossed my fingers that we wouldn't have to stop at the hospital on our way home!
Lisa showing off her awesome moves! This girl is so talented! Thanks Lisa!

Then we headed to the Willows where both Grandma V.O. and Grandpa Perkes live. Our family put on a small musical program for the residents as our Christmas gift to the Grandmas. We have done this before and will make it a tradition for years to come.

Saturday night we had a small party with just Doug's immediate family. Shane and Jess headed home to SC for Christmas so we wanted to party with them and exchange gifts before they left. We had so much yummy food and played games until we were all exhausted! They also gave us a few of our gifts early... Doug got new work boots and I got a shark hand vaccuum. Exactly what I asked for... seriously. Mike also got Lyndsey, Jessica and I the complete series of Gilmore Girls and I am loving it! There's nothing better than being spoiled by two dads! Blake got a Ball Bopper and it held his attention the rest of the evening! Thanks Dad and Mom for a great party!

Sunday after church we went out to Ed and Linda's for another family party. It was fun to see Grandma and Grandpa Campbell and Joni and Adam. Katy and Eric were there too and I got to see baby Eliza. She is too precious! I didn't get any pcitures, sorry!

I think our muscles are still recovering from jumping on the tramps, but we had a great weekend with our families!

Santa's Sleigh

We have been trying to introduce potty training to Blake and he hasn't been the slightest bit interested. But he did find another use for his "potty seat." Yesterday he had me look at "santa's sleigh and the reindeer." Blake has quite the imagination! He's been draggin this around the house for hours at a time. I'm glad he at least found a use for the potty seat!

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

This one is for you, Becki:

After bringing out the tree and decorations, we decided one tree just wasn't enough... so Blake and I headed out and bought another tree. We have one in the new office with our decorations from last year. And the tree in the living room is traditionally red, green and white. It seems like I got the tree put up so late this year, I can't believe the holiday is only three weeks away!

Doug is headed to Kansas City in the a.m. with Dad and Tim, where they will meet up with Al for the Big 12 Championship Game: Missouri vs. Oklahoma on Saturday. Knowing Dad and Al, they will probably see everything there is to see in the area and drag Doug and Tim around with them until they are all exhausted! I'm sure they are going to have a great time.

Friday night is our ward Christmas party, and Doug and I were put in charge of the entertainment. Since Doug won't be here, I guess its up to me to make sure everything goes smooothly... wish me luck!

Okay, this family picture is actually from Thanksgiving. I just put it up so Amber and Becki can see my new hair color. Its barely long enough for a ponytail... we're making progress!

Yep, stocking are already hung. We are ready and waiting for Santa!

And this is the tree in the office, nothing fancy. Its really just the room lit up with lights that makes it wonderful!

2 Remodeled Rooms!

I finally convinced Doug to hang up my pictures in my bedroom so i could take pictures to put on our blog. This monday we had our carpet installed and we have fallen in love.... with our new carpet! We are both enjoying having carpet in our bedroom, where their used to be hardwood floors. We textured, painted, replaced doors and closet doors and updated the trim in both our bedroom and Blake's old room upstairs, which is now the office. I did most of the painting and prep work and Doug installed the doors and did the trim work. We have learned a lot from just doing these two rooms that will help with the rest of the house and in future houses as well. Although being under construction can be stressful at times, we are always so happy with the finished product and are glad we learned how to do the project by ourselves. Here are a few pics of our updated rooms! For those of you who have been to my house before, you may notice that I got a new bedspread as well! :)

These are the new doors that we installed. They are about a million times better looking than the orange colored wood doors that were there before.

Thanksgiving and Black Friday

We spent this Thanksgiving with both sides of our family. Our day included: 3 turkeys, 5 kinds of pie, and looking through the friday adds about a million times. A few of the Perkes aunts and uncles came for dinner at the V.O.'s and all the regulars were there for dinner at the Campbell's. We enjoyed seeing lots of family on Thanksgiving, along with great food!

We left the house at 5:00 a.m. on Friday to kick off our holiday shopping. We went to Circuit City, Target, Old Navy and lots of other stores at the mall all before 9:00 a.m. We got everything we wanted, and just need a few more small things and we'll be done. I know there are 26 days until Christmas, plenty of time for shopping, but its nice to be done!

We finished all the touch ups today and are ready for carpet on monday morning. We'll try to post pics of our two newly remodeled bedrooms on monday night or tuesday. Hope you all had a wonderful holiday! Here are just a few things we are looking forward to before Christmas!

1. Making candies for the neighbors
2. Family Christmas parties
3. Christmas Movies and Music
4. Putting up the tree and decorating the house
5. Doug's birthday
6. Going skiing... we wish!
7. Doug finishing up this semester
8. The magic of Christmas morning!

Say 8 Tag

My sister in law Jessica tagged me... i thought this looked fun! Carpet is here on Monday and I will post pics from this weekend soon!

8 Favorite TV Shows
1. Friends
2. Biggest Loser
3. 24
4. Gilmore Girls.... and that's about all i have time for!

8 Favorite Restaurants
1. Texas Roadhouse
2. Red Robin
3. Olive Garden
4. Melina's
5. Rupe's Burgers
6. Applebee's
7. Hong Kong
8. Quizno's Subs

8 Things That Happened Yesterday
1. Painted at Rachel's
2. Grocery Shopped for Thanksgiving
3. Helped Doug with Trim and closet shelves
4. Picked up Pizza for Dinner
5. Decided to make Lemon Meringue Pie for T-day
6. Checked my facebook
7. Cuddled with Blake and watched Biggest Loser Families
8. Loaded and Unloaded the Washer, Dryer and Dishwasher a few times!

8 Things That I Look Forward to
1. Christmas Shopping and Decorating
2. A ponytail
3. New Carpet... in less than a week!
4. Getting together w/the girls on Saturday!
5. Doug Graduating from College
6. Blake being potty trained
7. Losing 5 pounds....during the holidays yeah right!
8. Christmas Caroling

8 Things I Love about Fall/Winter
1. Hot Cocoa and Apple Cider
2. Thanksgiving Pies...who cares about turkey?
3. Skiing.... love it but it hardly happens.
4. Doug's month vacation from school
5. Not having to mow the lawn and do yard work
6. Its a great time to remodel!
7. Staying home because its so cold out!
8. Spinning cookies in a frozen parking lot- a little immature i know!

8 Things On My Wishlist
1. Exercise Capris (they are on their way)
2. New necklace
3. Blue/Teal Pillow cases and throw pillows
4. Refinished hardwood floors
5. a larger food storage
6. House Slippers
7. A nephew and a neice
8. Lindor Truffles

8 Friends I Tag:
Amber C., Becki C., Lyndsey V.O., Stephanie K.,Whitney A., Amanda F., Emily H., Katy R.

We Are Grateful

5 Things Doug is Grateful for:
1. Laura and Blake
2. Turkey and Pumpkin Pie
3. Low Gas Prices
4. School
5. My father in laws Power tools: chop saw and nail gun

5 Things Laura is Grateful for:
1. Doug and all his hard work
2. Christmas Music
3. Internet, Cell Phones and Skype :)
4. Awesome Neighbors and Friends
5. Thanksgiving Pies!

5 Things Blake is Grateful for:
1. Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Oatmeal with Raisins
2. Jack, Spencer, Cooper and all my friends
3. Grandmas and Grandpas
4. Cindarella
5. my new bed and room

I almost titled this post "Its Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas" but i thought i better wait till Thanksgiving is over. Even though Thanksgiving is just around the corner, we are already planning lots for Christmas and the whole month of December. I am looking forward to some Black Friday shopping and am hoping to have almost all of my shopping done by friday afternoon! They asked us to put the entertainment/program together for the Ward Christmas party on the 5th so we have been busy working on that as well. Our December list also includes taking treats to neighbors, Doug's birthday, and a few extended family parties! Our family is good at being busy and we are looking forward to a busy, fun filled holiday season! But for now, Happy Thanksgiving!

November Update

I've been slacking on our blog, mostly because there hasn't been much other than the ordinary going on. Doug is super busy with school and is working hard to keep his grades up. He goes to school two hours before class to study and then comes home from work, swallows a little dinner and then he's back working on another paper or project. We will all be glad to have this semester over with.

I have been busy finished up projects that i started before harvest. I finished Blake's tractor quilt and pillow case and his room it totally put together except for curtains over the closet. His room is also storing our desk for now, so i will take pics when its totally finished. This is his third night sleeping downstairs and he's not moving back to his crib, since i took it down today and put it away for a while. Blake seems to adjust to change so well. He has done so great moving from crib to twin size bed, upstairs to downstairs. We are trying to introduce potty training, but switching everything else might be enough for him for now.

Don't worry though, his horse named "Cup" is already potty trained. The other day i was fixing my hair in the bathroom and Blake comes running in telling me his "Cup horse needs to go pee." He puts the lid up and puts the potty seat on and hold the horse over the toilet while he kind of sings the word "Peeeeeee." Oh this kid cracks me up all the time! He has the best imagination.

We also had a new front door put on our house. Not only was our last door real ugly, we had a horrible draft coming through last winter. We will need to paint it next summer, but we are glad to have it put in before winter.

Our next project is the Office (blake's old room upstairs) and our bedroom. We are priming, texturing, painting, replacing interior doors and baseboard trim, and having new carpet installed. We have been aching for an office for a while now and have just been waiting for Blake to be old enough to move downstairs. Our kitchen table seems to collect everything: Cub Scouts, Primary, text books, computer, holiday decor, bills, purses, backpacks, and everything else that doesn't a spot in our house. We are looking forward to having an office to hold all of this randow stuff lying around, so we can use the table for family dinner! We are also excited about the change from hardwood floors to carpet in our bedroom!

We are hoping to have the carpet layed the monday after thanksgiving and then move everything back into the 2 bedrooms upstairs. Oh, and let's throw a couple of Modbe Parties, Enrichment and a Primary Talent Show in before Thanksgiving too! Call me if you want to help paint!

A Cowboy Says: Yeehaw!

I know there are a few of you that have been waiting 2 weeks for these pictures... Sorry it took me so long to get them put on our blog. Halloween was fun for all three of us. Because of Blake's love for horses, get got to dress up as a Cowboy! He looked so grown up and so handsome on Halloween. Doug dressed up as a pirate and I was a witch, just like last year. :)

We stopped by the Willows to say hi to Grandma Perkes and Grandma VanOrden and then we headed to our ward trunk or treat. Blake wasn't sure about trick or treating. He got sick of saying trick or treat, please, and thank you, but he loved seeing everyone in their costumes. His friend Spencer was a ghost and you can tell Blake is a little scared of him in the picture below. There was a Mickey Mouse there as well and lots of other cool costumes. Blake learned the word scary the week before Halloween so he kept saying, "Whoa, Mickey Mouse is scary."

After the trunk of treat we went to our neighbors the Nelsons, who live just on the other side of the park from us. We played Settlers with them while Blake watched Aladdin. He also got a phone call from Becki! Here's a few pics of us at the Willows and at the trunk or treat!

Husband Tag

WHAT IS YOUR HUSBAND'S NAME? Doug VanOrden
HOW LONG HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN MARRIED? 2 1/2 Years
HOW LONG DID YOU DATE? 2 1/2 Years
HOW OLD IS HE? Doug will be 21 on Dec. 21st
WHO IS TALLER? It's a tie.
WHO CAN SING BEST? This one is not a tie- Doug sings better!
WHO IS SMARTER? Are we talking ACT scores or do it yourself projects, oh wait- Doug is definately smarter in every aspect.
WHO DOES THE LAUNDRY? I generally do, except for during harvest when he is home more than i am.
WHO PAYS THE BILLS? He makes the money, i spend the money. It works well. :)
WHO SLEEPS ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BED? Me.
WHO MOWS THE LAWN? Doug does, but i do my fair share of yardwork as well.
WHO COOKS DINNER? Usually me, but Doug is great to help when he gets home from work or with the dishes.
WHO'S THE FIRST TO ADMIT THEY ARE WRONG? Neither. We are both always right.
WHO KISSED WHO FIRST? Doug kissed me.
WHO WEARS THE PANTS? We both enjoy wearing pants!

What now?

We lifted the last sugar beets on Tuesday afternoon and now that harvest is over, Blake and I are not quite sure what to do with ourselves. Blake and i made a huge batch of Grandma Tyler's Raisin Cookies this week and Blake is a big fan of cookie dough. This morning i asked him what he wanted for breakfast and he told me cookie dough! We have been trying to clean up the house after a few months of neglect and we are hoping to get back to normal life soon! This sunday is our ward's primary program and then we are looking forward to a huge Modbe party, Halloween and Election Day. I threw in a few random photos that i wanted to share too- hope you don't mind!
Here is our to do list for the next couple of months, in no particular order:

1. Finish the trim in Blake's downstairs room

2. Finish Blake's tractor quilt for his big bed

3. Move Blake's room downstairs

4. Tear out the den: trim, doors, carpet

5. Texture and paint the new den, trim work, carpet, doors, etc.

6. Paint the back entry way white and finish trim work

7. Sew a "masculine" church bag for Blake's chuch stuff

8. Move desk, chair, bookcase and whatever else into the new den!

Hopefully we can finish our to do list/honey do list before Doug starts his spring semester in January. Wish us luck!

Blake Turns Two!

Blake turned two on the 14th and I can't believe it came and went so fast! I took the day off from driving truck and stayed home with Blake to clean up the house, bake a birthday cake, wrap presents (while Blake was napping of course) and get ready for the big birthday party! Both Grandmas and Grandpas were there along with Jeff, Lyndsey and Curtis. Thanks everyone for coming to celebrate with us!

Blake got a Fridge Farm, a big barn with lots of animals, a Viewmaster with lots of slides, an adorable church sweater, a potty seat and even a potty book! He loved all of his gifts and had the hardest time telling them goodnight and falling asleep after his big birthday party!

Here are a just a few things that we love about Blake:

1. Blake is very polite. He usually says "please" and "thank you" without being promted to. He also loves to compliment people. The other day I was changing his diaper and he looks up at me and says "Pretty Hair, mom." I couldn't belive he would think to even say something like that. He cracks me up all the time.

2. He is a very clean little boy. Blake always likes to have his hands clean (just like his mom) and he is always willing to clean up his toys when mom says its time to put them away.

3. Blake has quite the imagination. The other day he was walking around with some ipod headphones up to his ear talking to his Grandpa on the phone, i guess. He kept saying " Hi Grandpa, ya, i know, i know, okay, goodbye." I hear that he has pretend tea parties with Marcus at Grandma's house too.

4.He dances like a maniac! If there is music, Blake is dancing. It doesn't matter if its the opening hymn in church or the radio, he is always dancing around. He loves to sing, too. He will sing "hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, Cindarelli."

5. Blake loves to learn. He came to ride in the truck with me and loved seeing the beets being loaded in the big trucks. While we would drive he would point out every horse, cow, big truck, choo choo train, sugar beet, and even his new friends Janice and Tamera.

6. My favorite time with Blake is right before he goes to bed. Not only because I love the silence after a day of Blake's non stop talking but because he settles down so easily and he uses his cute wisper voice. He wispers goodnight and that he loves me and usually a few comments about horses before he goes to bed.

We love Blake and are so glad that he is in our family. He makes us smile and laugh everyday and i'm not sure what we would do without him. We love you, Blake! Enjoy being two!

Harvest Time

Yesterday, Sheila stopped by the cellar with Blake and we decided to take pictures. Blake got to sit on my lap while we drove around the cellar and backed up to the stinger to unload. He also got to see Dad, Grandpa, Curtis, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Lyndsey and Curtis all at the cellar. And you can't forget the spuds rolling by on the belts. He would watch them go by for minutes at a time! Here are a few pics- don't mind that everyone is covered in dirt!

For some reason...

This morning our family woke up to the news that Wayne Richards, long time DJ for KLCE Classy 97, passed away last night. For some reason, this news was very hard to take and I am still so shocked. Because my car doesn't have a CD player, I listed to KLCE quite often and even for hours at a time during harvest. I have never met Wayne, but as I was thinking about all the ways " I know him" and I have come to understand why I will miss him. When I was little it was his voice that would tell me that school was cancelled due to a snow storm. And I have only heard his voice annouce about a million times that Odells is once again having another sale. :) But I think the one event that will change the most for me is the 4th of July fireworks. Wayne's amazing voice was an essential part of the freedom celebration and I will especially miss his voice next summer as we watch the fireworks.

Even though I did not know Wayne personally at all, I will miss his humble personality on the radio even morning. This man took a simple gift, his voice, and his talent to know what to say and when to say it. His voice will forever be remembered in this Southeast Idaho community.

Everything you need to know you can learn in Primary

As I am the primary chorister in our ward, I get the oppurtunity to sit back and watch sharing time while I catch my breath for senior primary singing time. Junior primary is my favorite because the things they say just make me grin! Here is what I have learned in primary while we were talking about prayer the last two sundays.

Sis. Primary Leader: Do you think if I prayed for a million dollars Heavenly Father would give it to me?

Visitor: No.

Sis. Primary Leader: Why not?

Visitor: Because all rich people get greedy within 10 days of getting rich!

Sis. Primary Leader: Okay.......... so Heavenly Father doesn't always give us the answer we want, but he always answers our prayers, doesn't he?

WHAT? My friend Rachel, the primary pianist, and I were laughing out loud at this comment! And then today the kids were brainstorming places they can pray and times they can pray. The list was taking up the whole chalk board and some of the places you can pray were pluto, the bathroom, and Disneyland. The following conversation took place:

Sis. Primary Leader: Do you think this is all of the places you can pray or do you think there are more?

5 year old: No. There are at least 3,000 more.

Sis. Primary Leader: That's right. There's at least 3,000 more.


Oh the things these kids say just crack me up sometime and make me enjoy my calling so much more. You might not think these things are funny- maybe you just had to be there but I learned so much this week in primary.

September is Here Already?

Our family is struggling with the fact that summer is pretty much over- we actually had to turn on the furnace last night. No more sleeping with the windows open when there is frost on your windsheild! There is one thing that helps us say goodbye to summer and hello to autumn, and that is the Easter Idaho State Fair! Not everyone loves the fair, but for Doug and I, it just might be the highlight of September!

Blake and I went to the parade on Saturday morning to see my cute Blackfoot Jr. Miss girls and then we went home (to change into shorts- it was so hot) and went to the fair with Doug, Mom and Becki. We saw about everything there is to see and ate almost all of my favorite fair food. Blake enjoyed seeing the big animals and his balloon at the fair and also loved the parade with all the fire trucks and the awesome people just walking around handing him candy.

We are headed back this weekend to go to the Demolition Derby- who doesn't love loud noises and watching old cars ram into each other... and to eat some more yummy food! I can't let the fair pass by without eating a Tiger Ear.... and a cheesecake on a stick, and a teriyaki bowl, and ice cream, and frozen lemonade... oh i could go on and on! Anyways- Happy Fair Week- its practically a holiday at our house!

Laura and Blake at the parade

Its not the fair without a balloon and a Culligan hat.

Had to take a picture with this huge horse to show Jackson!

Long hours + dirt + grain = harvest!

So I wasn't planning on driving truck until the first of Sept. when we started spud harvest, but they needed some extra help, so i've been driving truck for a few weeks now. I really don't mind the work- its good pay, Sheila keeps Blake for us (what a saint!), I get to see Doug in the field, and the worst part is that sometimes it gets boring.... I have been entertaining myself by singing along with the radio (notice the updated playlist of my recent favorites) and I just finished reading Twilight. We enjoy the company of the stars as we do laundry and dishes and it seems like we just crash every night, but knowing its only a few months provides light at the end of the tunnel!

We have also enjoyed visits from some of my cousins, Melissa and Jared and their two boys, Eric and Danny from Texas. Their kids are so smart and adorable. And another visit from my amazing cousin Lisa, her hilarious husband Wayne, and their super cool kids, Emily, Johnny, Carrie, and Benny, who live in Missouri. Blake loved playing with the boys (see the pics below)!

Doug's little brother, Curtis turned 16 a couple weeks ago and he had to spend the whole day in the tractor working. I threw him a surprise party and invited all his friends, mostly girls- what a ladies man, and he seemed to enjoy it. I hope he enjoyed his Sweet 16!

The only bad news to share is that I have had a tooth hurting and got in to the dentist today to find that I have to have a root canal next week. :( Whatever they did today was just a preview of what's going down next week, and I walked out of the office in tears today from the pain!

Besides the discouraging root canal, we are doing fine. We are looking forward to our friends Sherise and Nate getting married tomorrow and then Doug starting school on Monday.

Here are just a few pics of Blake riding in the tractor and combine with Doug and Shane, and having a fun with his cousins -enjoy!

Blake, Danny and Eric ganging up on my dad in a major pillow fight!

Blake applying what he learned in summer swimming lessons.

Any uncle that takes Blake for a ride in the BIG combine is an instant hero!

Shane letting Blake drive the combine. Thanks uncle Shane, you're great!

On the mend...

We went back to Dr. Matsuuras office yesterday and the intern that was working there removed two more pieces of metal. The assistant that has worked there for 16 years said she has never seen so many "foreign objects" in a single eye before. Doug went back to work today and the dialation is almost gone. Now he just has to worrry about antibiotic/steriod drops for the next few days. His eye is looking so much better and the swelling has gone down as well. He should be ready to work a busy 75 hour week starting Monday! We are grateful that everything has turned out okay and we will consider this the first of many "Harvest Blessings."

Right Eye Update

Monday at noon Doug was working on some metal with Curtis at the shop and he got some tiny metal shavings in his eye. Now Doug's eyes are used to dirt, grime, oil and grain dust, but it was hurting real bad so they took him to the clinic in town. The Dr and I both looked at his eye with the dye, black light, and magnified glass and we could see multiple scratches and "foreign objects" in there. The Dr assumed that they had worked their way out and he has fine. He taped his eye shut and sent him home saying it should be 100% better with in 24 hours.

Next day... still red and irritated, but Doug wouldn't agree and he went to work. This morning, it was still hurting so we headed back into the clinic and saw a different doctor. We looked at it again and the Dr said he didn't feel comfortable working on his eye and sent us to an eyedoctor in town. Dr. Matsura took out 5 foreign objects, not just the one we could see and he wants Doug to come back in tomorrow to see if the last one will work itself out a little more.

Poor Doug got gouged in the eye like 8 times at the eye doctor and then they dialated his eye and put a contact in to help it heal, all of which is totally new to Doug since he's only been to the eye doctor once in his life. He's at home resting now, his eye looks pretty bad and he is milking this for all that its worth!

I won't post pics, since his eyes look scary (one dialated and one not) but just think about how Will Smith looks on the movie Hitch after he has the alergic reaction! haha- there's a visual for ya! Other than Doug's eye, we are doing great! They started cutting grain yesterday and we are looking forward to a busy couple of months.

10 Things To Look Forward To

Just a few things our family is looking forward to this next week:

1. Al coming to Idaho
2. Dutch Oven
3. A visit with Angie and Mike (hopefully!)
4. Lloyd's welcome home
5. The Cabin in Island Park
6. The Playmill Theatre
7. Rafting
8. Playing with Cousins
9. The Rexburg Temple
10. More yummy Dutch Oven Food!

Busy Weekend

Don't let me fool you- I enjoy being busy, but these last few days have been out of control and all three of us are exhausted. Amber and the boys arrived late Wednesday night and Blake and I enjoyed a good visit and a relaxing day out at mom's house on Thursday. That eveing i attended Enrichment and a Bridal Shower. Friday Blake and I headed up to Rexburg to help Shane and Jess pack up to move home later that day. They had a crazy week and their place was out of control (no offense Jessica- i love you). After packing up their apartment we headed to Ashton for the Campbell family renunion. Doug arrived a few hours after us and enjoyed golfing with Dad, Tim and Joni. It's always fun to catch up with everyone and the boys had so much fun. Blake and Jackson spent almost the whole day in the bike trailer. (see the pics below) The Scott and Cindy Family cooked dinner- and I must admit that the dutch oven food is one of my favorite parts of the reunion. Dad always says "If you starve at the Campbell Family Reunion its your own fault."

We were exhausted by the time we got home and crashed. Saturday Doug took Blake to work with him and i headed to Sandy, UT for my cousin Katrina's shower with Mom, Sandy, Becki, and Amber. It was fun to catch up with more cousins and I'm glad we could all go.

Sunday was pretty much normal, consisting of singing time (the kids were off the walls for some reason) and then dinner with the Campbell Fam. Sunday evening was the viewing for Doug's Grandpa Perkes. Today was Grandpa's funeral and we had the honor of singing in a few musical numbers. It was interesting to lean more about his childhood and the great life that he led. It was also fun to see Sheila with her brothers. They all take great care of eachother and it was neat to see this experience bring them closer together. Grandpa Perkes has been a great example to us and it is an honor to be his grandchildren. We will miss you Grandpa Perkes!

Memory Game

Here is a fun little game... leave a comment on my blog of a memory that you and I have had together. It doesn't matter if you've known me for a short time or a long time, anything that you remember! Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It is pretty funny to read the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you are playing and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. On your mark... get set... blog those memories!

4th of July

I must admit that the 4th of July just might be my favorite holiday.... We don't have to buy gifts, wrap them, drive on snowy roads or anything like that to enjoy the 4th!

Yesterday was a beautiful day and we started it out with our ward breakfast at the church. Mom, Dad, and Becki came with Blake and I while Doug did a little work on the farm. After breakfast Doug and I went to visit Aunt Myrtle. We had a great visit and we wnjoyed catching up with her. Aunt Myrtle turned 98 last week and is still going strong. It's fun to live in her ward and get to know her better.

We then headed up to I.F. and staked out our spot for the fireworks. It's not like our spot is secret (it was crowded for sure) but i must admit that i think its the best! We had lunch with the Campbell Family for Tim's birthday and then headed to see Wall-E, the movie. I slept through part of it, but i think Blake enjoyed it!

After a little shopping, we made our way to our nice patch of weeds that we had chosen to watch the fireworks from. Doug and I walked around the greenbelt towards the Liberty Festival, as they call it. There was a band playing, a few carival games and lots of yummy food- we enjoyed a funnel cake and shaved ice.

We enjoyed waiting for the fireworks with Shane Jessica, Curtis, Mom, Dad, Becki, and Sandy. Tim and Abby came to see the show as well. The fireworks were awesome and even bigger and better than last year! I forgot how much i loved fireworks! Blake got scared and had Doug cover his hears because he wasn't too sure about all the loud bangs. He fell asleep half way through the show, just like last year....