Trip to Portland, Oregon

At the beginning of August, my whole family (2 sisters, 1 brother, parents, brother- & sister-in-law, 3 nieces, 2 nephews - total of 12 plus Jesse & me) went on a family vacation/reunion to Portland, Oregon. Both my parents grew up there, so we also got to see some extended family (grandma, uncle, aunt, cousins).

We arrived on Saturday, August 2nd, and left the next Thursday. We went to dinner the first night and later played a game of Uno (and encountered a jolly drunk guy).

The next day we went to church... but our GPS system steered us in circles.. so we were pretty late. When we got there, they were speaking Tongan... Then we went to Blue Lake Park where my dad's side of the family was having the annual family reunion. We enjoyed potluck, visited with family we didn't really know (but were really nice and fun to talk to), played on the playground with the children, and went paddle boating. Our first paddle boat was broken, so I got a pretty good workout (Angela, Rachel, and I recruited Jesse from shore to help us back to the dock). Jackie & I exchanged it and took Hannah, Hailey, and Veronica, who never wanted to get off. I told Hailey we needed more money if we wanted to go, and I didn't have any more money. Hailey said, "I'll ask Jesse for more money so we can go on the boat." Smart girl. She even remembered to ask Jesse when we got back to the picnic area, but it didn't work out for her. After the park we went to Dick & Connie's house. My dad grew up with Connie, and they have stayed in touch. They had a really nice barbeque meal there, and we visited and played. While we were finishing eating, Hannah was playing with one of the cork hot pads and broke it. When I told her we needed to go tell Connie, Hannah said, "I don't want to. I want to take a nap." I thought it was kinda funny.

Monday, we went to the Oregon Zoo which was pretty cool. Some of the most interesting animals we saw were a bald eagle, a polar bear (who stood up and dove into the pool), and some cougars. We went swimming at the hotel pool when we got back, and enjoyed some relaxation time. We went downtown Portland that night and rode the Max train and did some shopping.

Me, Jesse, and Hailey taking a break at the zoo

Hannah, Rachel, and cousin Angela

Riding the Max - cousin Patience, Veronica, Hannah, me, and Hailey

Tuesday we drove to the Oregon coastline. On the way, sort of, we stopped at the Tillamook Cheese Factory. It is pretty tourist-y, but we were able to watch the machines and workers at work, sample some yummy cheese, and enjoy some tasty mountain huckleberry ice cream. The coast at Cannon Beach was beautiful of course, a little hazy, though. We built sandcastles & did some metal detecting while we were there. Water and air temp was pretty chilly at the beach, even though Portland was in the 90's that day. For lunch I got fish n' chips and homemade rootbeer - fish is definitely better when you're by the water and it is fresh. We got back pretty late, but I still enjoyed a little reading/relaxing time by the pool.

Heading to the beach

David tasting the homemade rootbeer

I made Patience and Hannah into mermaids...

Wednesday we hiked Multnomah Falls. One thing about Oregon is that there are tons of tall trees and everything is GREEN. We stopped at some factory outlet stores on the way back, and that evening we went to my Uncle Keith's house for a barbeque dinner. It was good to visit with everybody.

3 sisters: Angela, Rachel, & me

Keeping the kids entertained at the outlet stores... (Jesse: Mindy, do you have 2 quarters? I want them to like me.)

A lot of my family drove... and there was a lot of distance to cover. Here is Patience and Hannah sharing some music in the car.

At Uncle Keith's house - Tom & Jesse always start up interesting conversations...

Uncle Keith at the BBQ

Aunt Leslie & Angela
Grandma, Dad, Jeff & David

Thank you, Mom & Dad for planning a great trip! We had a good time and it was really good to see you and everyone!

Click HERE to see post/pictures on Jackie's blog
Click HERE to see post/pictures on Angela's blog

Goodbye TWC

So some policies changed at work at The Ted Warthen Center... which included me working Sundays... To make a short story shorter, my last day is this coming Tuesday. I am relieved, but sad at the same time. I will miss the residents there and my coworkers. It was a good experience, but time to move on.

Stephenie Meyer

So yes, like a lot of other women (and guys... and younger girls) I have read Stephenie Meyer's series Twilight. The last one came out last Friday night/Saturday morning at midnight (Breaking Dawn - pictured at left), which I waited for an hour to get the 4th of four.

I've also read The Host by Stephenie Meyer... all were good and I would definitely recommend all 5 books. Cody introduced the first book to me when I was still working the front desk at the spa... but I didn't finish reading the book for awhile. Thanks Cody... :)

FaceSaerch

So I came across THIS ARTICLE... which kinda creeped me out. It is mostly about safety of names and pictures online.

So... I took all last names (I think) off my blog.

The article explains what FaceSaerch is and how the system of searching out a name will give you a picture of that person. I thought, "Oh please... this won't show any pictures of me." Here is a picture of my search:

As you can see... I come up in the first 4 pictures... all from my blog! Something to think about, anyway.

Quick Visit to Idaho Falls

After the reunion... we headed up to Idaho Falls. We wanted to see Angela's week old baby boy. My dad, Jesse, and I took Angela's older 2 kids, Hannah & Hailey, on a walk to Tautphaus Park. It is only 5 short blocks away.. but quite a ways when you are only 4 or 2 years old. They have a new play yard that we played on, and a fountain we cooled off on our way back. Pretty fun!

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