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!