Family Reunion at Lava Hot Springs, Idaho

Since Jesse's dad, Terrel, grew up in Idaho, he decided to hold a family reunion close to my hometown of Idaho Falls. We spent the week at Lava Hot Springs, and then joined my parents 1 1/2 hours away for a day before we made the drive back home. I took a bunch of pictures... and I wanted to post a lot of them (because I like pictures!) so that is why they may seem jumbled together...
There were a total of over 70 people that showed up to the reunion. That included over 40 from Terrel's family... tons of children. We soaked in the hot springs, we floated the Portneuf River in inner tubes, we listened to stories from Terrel and his brothers and sisters, we went on a bike ride one morning, we played ultimate Frisbee, we played card games, we listened to a retired BYU professor talk to us about some of the Bird Welsch ancestors, we went on a hayride and went up to a barbeque, we bought old-fashioned candy and huckleberry shakes, we talked with Grandpa Bird and he told us stories... Overall we had a really good time!

If you want to go to my Flickr account and see all the pictures, click HERE!

Janet & Sabrina Jared & Debbie, Jordan & Megan
Freeman & Cole in battle















Jesse and me





Cohen, Carly, & Elyza

Logan, Nate & Audrey

Hayride...
Terrel telling a story of Grandpa Bird's

Listening to stories and finishing lunch in the Lava Community Center

Ben & Jesse... never can get them to think of anything ...

What in the world?? What is McKay wearing???

Freeman fell asleep on the hayride...

Michael-Anne, Marissa, and Janelle

New Baby! Matthew Thomas

My sister had her baby last Saturday (a week late!). Such a cute baby! Matthew is the 3rd in the family and has 2 older sisters. Congratulations, Angela and Tom!

Here he is with his eyes open... so cute!

Here is Hailey with her new little brother. :)

Memories...

Here are the directions....
1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I have together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember...

2. Next, repost these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty cool (and funny) to see the responses.

If you leave a memory, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave a memory for you!

Rain and Puddle Jumping :)

I love the rain! I love the sun more, I suppose, since I like to stay warm... but it rained today! The sky here is always clear blue, but here's a picture of the storm clouds we got today.

This is me trying to be a little artistic I guess

I tried to get a picture of splashing in the puddles...

This is our place in Oasis Palms (end unit). It looks really pretty with so much green and the reflection. I've always liked the fact that palm trees grow well here...

Swimming

When I think of summer, I think of swimming. I've loved going to the pool my entire life... I'm usually the last one to want to leave. The pool is VERY nice especially in the St. George heat. Here are a couple times I've gone this summer (both at the pool out in Kayenta in Ivins, Utah).

Amy came with me to the pool on Friday.
This is her and her daughter, Abi - I go to school with Amy.

Abi, almost 3 years old, took this picture of me.

We swam and had a BBQ at the Bird's house on Saturday.
This is Gary (he works with Jesse) with 2 of his 4 kids.
He's holding Amelia, and Kaleb is swimming.

Here's Kaleb again...

Sometimes Jesse doesn't like to get his picture taken...

This is Gary's daughter, Eden (cute name!)

This is Gary's wife, Danielle. She's holding her son, Cody.
It's been fun to get to know her since she has been visiting from North Carolina.

Here is McKay layin' out a bit... it was only in the 80's on Saturday so it wasn't too hot to lay out and dry off. My towel is next to his (I got too cold because of the water... I am definitely accustomed to the heat here...).

Ultimate Frisbee

Jesse finding someone...
Jesse winding up...











Cody gets a bunch of people together to play ultimate frisbee about once a week at Vernon Worthen Park. Sometimes I play but it was too hot today (high of 108 degrees... in fact, it is 10pm and still 100 degrees out... but I love not being cold!). Cody, Leah, Matt, Nate, and Jesse all played and so I thought I would take a few pictures.

"ULTIMATE!!!"

Jesse (yellow), Leah (black hat & shorts), and Cody (blue shorts, white shirt)

This is Matt jumping for the catch (he caught it)

Nate catching the frisbee in mid-air (lt. blue shirt), Leah (very right), and Cody (very left).
Gotta love that red rock background.

Cody winding up... (Matt -very left- running after him)

Jesse watching the frisbee (upper-right corner)
Leah looking for someone to throw to...

Looked like they had a good time! Until next week...

"Les Miserables" at Tuacahn

Jesse and I went to Tuacahn (outdoor amphitheater right outside St. George) and saw Les Miserables Thursday night and it was really good. It was warm (high today was 108) and so it felt a little long to me, but Jesse really enjoyed it. It was my first time seeing the musical, so at times I was a little confused about what was going on. The vocalists did an excellent job and I would definitely recommend the show to others! They are also showing The Sound of Music this summer, which I hope we can see as well. Go if you get a chance! Ask me about a discount and I can help you out. :)

New Feedbags - "Hot, steamy food in your face right now!"

Jesse showed this to me awhile ago... it's pretty funny. :)

New Wearable Feedbags Let Americans Eat More, Move Less

Belle Marie - Born June 9th

Congratulations Steele & Sarah! Here's a picture of their new baby girl, Belle Marie. She is the 5th child in the family. We weren't able to see her until we came back from Idaho on the 22nd, but I'm glad we could stop in for a while to say hi and see their new baby!

A beautiful baby for a beautiful family!!

Belle Marie

Jon & Jenn's Wedding - June 28th

Last Saturday we had the opportunity to be at Jon and Jenn's wedding. It was BEAUTIFUL!! They had the reception Friday night, wedding in the St. George temple Saturday morning, luncheon that afternoon, and left for their honeymoon to Boston that night. I'm glad we could be there! At the luncheon, Jonny's dad even asked Jesse and I if we would share the story of setting them up on a blind date (which I was happy to do... Jesse says "There's way too much credit for you floating around this family!"). Congrats and good luck Jon & Jenn!

Right out of the temple

They look so good together!

Jon & Jesse... friends since they were kids

Jenn & Mindy... friends from nursing classes

Weekend at Palisades Reservoir in Idaho June 20th - 21st

This last weekend, Jesse and I met up with a couple of my high school friends and their husbands at a cabin in south-eastern Idaho near Palisades Reservoir. Emily and her husband, Christian, and Susan and her husband Andrew, and Jesse and I all went four-wheeling, white water rafting (a first for Jesse), set off fireworks, cooked tin-foil dinners, went to the square ice cream shop in Swan Valley, and played games. Thanks Susan and Emily for inviting us and helping us have a great time!

Mindy and Jesse in front of the campfire roasting marshmallows

Jesse and Mindy riding on a four-wheeler

Jesse was a little crazy taking me off jumps... look closely at my face...

[Top right corner]: Emily (dark blue jacket) and Christian on the left and Susan (pink jacket) and Andrew on the right

We tried finding our white water rafting pictures on the professional companies' websites... but it looks like they skipped us and didn't take our pictures. So, the best we have is this video of some kayakers going down the Snake River "Lunch Counter" rapid.

Triathlon - June 14th, 2008

My first completed Olympic distance triathlon:

The results:

I had a really good time! It was harder than I thought it would be, but not hard enough to scare me away from doing others. I am excited for my next one... You can see pictures of Natalie, Audrey, and myself above - Natalie's time: 2:48 - awesome job, Natalie! Audrey's bike had problems so she wasn't able to finish, but she finished the swim and bike. The timing company had problems with their timing wires so they just combined my transition times into one (6:44) but I had a hard time with my wet suit so over 5 minutes of that time was spent before I even got on my bike. But I finished! I got 3rd place in my age group (4 total - one didn't finish). :) Next triathlon I will train more in a wetsuit (especially the getting out of part) and train for the run. Thanks for the support to those that came!

My time: 3:45:01

Jonny & Jennifer

They are getting married! Congratulations! One of Jesse's friends from high school and one of my friends from nursing classes- they make a really cute couple. They are getting married on June 28th here in the St. George temple. Their photographer is new, but amazing. Her name is Denise Hoogland and you have to check out some of their engagement pictures & bridal pictures. I would post them here but I don't want to get into trouble with copyright or something... enjoy!

Memorial Day Weekend

Last weekend was Memorial Day Weekend and Matt, Jana, Adam, visit. Everyone (except me - working) went to dinner Saturday night, and on Sunday MiMi and Sabrina, McKay all came to Papa even had a barbeque! If you know them - unless it is roast beef they usually don't cook meat. Everyone was wondering how they were going to "barbeque" and since Jesse and I left our small bbq at their house they decided to try it out. When I say small, I mean like "squat next to" small (something like the one to the right). They also used the broiler to cook the burgers. It turned out well - we all had good food and a good time.

On Monday, we had pizza over at Nate & Audrey's with them and Matt & Lindsay and played some games. Pretty fun weekend! I didn't get very many pictures... in fact Carly took most of the pictures, but here they are!

Triathlon on June 14th!

Audrey and I signed up to do our first triathlon in the Utah Summer Games! The triathlon event is on Saturday the 14th of June and it starts in the Sand Hollow Reservoir (same swim/bike course as the St. George Tri I think, but different run). Anyone is welcome to join us and I think it is always more fun to work out in a bigger group. Wish us luck!

1500m Swim, 25mi Bike and 10k run

Laguna Beach... and the data center

Sunset at Laguna Beach, California

I was lucky enough to join Jesse on his business trip to California a couple weeks ago. I was able to get work off and finish my last tests before he left so he took me with him! We stayed at Vacation Village on Laguna Beach, which is south of Los Angeles. It was very relaxing (for me) but frustrating for Jesse. Some people had to finish things up at the data center (a place that TCN keeps their computers/servers) before we could come home, so we were sort of "stuck" there longer than we anticipated. This is Jesse and Florin in the data center in their "cage" the day we arrived (before installing equipment).


The weather was beautiful and since we were so close to the beach (literally 100 steps from our hotel room) I got to go to the beach every day. I also went on a few hikes in Laguna Canyon Park that had an overlook of the ocean. I spent a lot of time with Florin's girlfriend, Irina, who was there, too. We went to a lot of art galleries, did some shopping, and ate together. This little church on a pole is actually a mailbox - I found that everything in the town was centered around art (besides the beach, anyway).

Overall I had a good time, but I wish I could have spent more time with Jesse. Such a beautiful beach and fun city to visit!

Jesse and Mindy downtown Laguna Beach

Here we are at the beach.

(Irina on the left, Jesse in front, Mindy on the right)

This is the data center after all the equipment was installed.

Good job Jesse and Florin! :)

Tons of pretty flowers and plant life...
crabs, lizards, jellyfish, dolphins...
swimming, sand... Loved it!

Trip to California

So Jesse had a business trip to L.A. that I got to tag along on... which was very relaxing... every day on the beach... but my camera cord disappeared so before I can post pictures I need to go buy a new one. I'll post soon!