Tetons/Yellowstone 2015

This last weekend we went on our annual trip with Chris' family to the Tetons. We always go camping there and spend a day in Yellowstone. We didn't go last year because Chris had started his job in Roosevelt about a month before, but then no one ended up going because Brett's mom passed away. I'm glad we got to go this year. There were 18 of us!

Chris' brothers Robby and Ryan got there Wednesday night to get a camping spot. Chris mom and stepdad and sister Courtney and her husband got there early the next morning. We originally planned to leave early Friday morning but then Chris ended up getting Thursday off a couple days beforehand. I was really excited. But then the night before, he got an email saying there was going to be an inventory audit the next morning that he needed to be at. :( I was so upset! They told him they would be there at 10, and they didn't get there till 11:15, so we ended up leaving at 1:30, and getting there about 7:30 Thursday night. We missed playing on the beach that day, but oh well, there's always next year. 

Nala loved holding everyone's hand.

Friday morning most of us went into Yellowstone. We went and saw Old Faithful since we didn't see it the last time we were there. The kids thought it was great. We stopped at a picnic area to eat lunch and took these pics.

The Girls...and Robby and Calvry

The boys were hilarious. We made them get in order from oldest to youngest while trying to stay on the log after this pic was taken. Even though Chris was on the end, we made him go all the way to the other end. I love Damian in this pic. 

We saw lots of bison. Damian gave the peace sign in almost every pic I took of him.

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

Chris thinks he's sneaky.

It was fun to see Courtney! We only get to see her once or twice a year!

One the way back from Yellowstone we saw a grizzly bear and her two cubs. That same day a hiker was found killed by a grizzly and at least one cub in the same area. We're not sure if it's the same one though. It also started rain on the way back. We ate dinner at the restaurant at the campground and then went to bed. It rained all night. Chris, his stepdad, and stepsister planned to go on a 20 mile hike the next day but decided not to because of the rain. I was secretly glad Chris got to stay with me instead. :) It was still raining off and on on Saturday so decided to go into Jackson Hole and look around instead of staying inside the tents all day. We took this pic right before we left. 

 Since we were going all the way to Jackson, and it was till raining, some of us decided to pack up our stuff and leave from there, instead of leaving the next morning. I forgot to take any pics in Jackson, I wanted a pic under the elk antler arch. But oh well, I have one from a couple years ago. It was lots of fun and so good to see everyone. I can't wait until we can live closer to family again!

Goodbye to the Tetons until next year!

Summer 2015

 We decided it was high time we do something with our summer, we have done a couple things in the last couple weeks that are worth blogging about. A playhouse in Vernal was putting on the play Beauty and the Beast, so I talked Chris into going. It was outside at an amphitheater. We got tickets for the first row so Chris could hear better. It was really fun!

We wanted to go camping a couple weekends ago but didn't have time to do everything that goes along with getting ready for camping, so we just went up Saturday morning and stayed until the afternoon. We had to throw candy in the Myton parade that afternoon for Chris' work or we would have stayed longer. 

We like to play catch when we go up in the mountains.

We had our standard tinfoil dinners for lunch.

Just relaxing.

 We ran into a moose just standing in the middle of the road staring at us.

We have more fun things planned for the rest of the summer!

July 4th 2015

I went and stayed with my mom for the first 11 days of July while my brother Kelby went to scout camp and his wife spent time with her sister who was in town. Kyler and Steph were there the first couple of days, and then Chris came the afternoon of the 3rd and stayed the whole weekend, so we got to celebrate the 4th together. We hung out with my mom during the day, then in the afternoon we drove to Twin and spend about an hour with his mom and brothers. Wish we could have spent more time there! They had lunch at the boat docks on his grandparent's property, right above Shoshone Falls. Afterwards I think they were going to play some volleyball, but we had to leave to get back to my mom. It was nice to see them though.

Love all these little girls so much!

Calvry was kayaking.

That night we went to Heyburn and watched the Burley Fireworks with Chris' friend and old roommate and his family. We basically had front row seats. It was the best view. And it was good to see Garrett and Maddie for a few minutes.

Chris left Sunday and I stayed the whole next until Saturday. I was nice being able to spend so much time with my mom again. During the week I got to go Rupert and have lunch with my friends Carrie and Liz. Carrie and I lived together for a year in college too. Really wish I lived closer. It was so fun, I wish I could see them more. I will get to see them again at my 10 year High School Reunion (gasp!). I know, it doesn't seem like I'm that old. Or maybe it does, I'm not sure. :) I got back on Saturday the 11th, and the next Monday Chris left to go on a 50 Mile Hike with the Young Men in our ward. As part of his calling as a counselor in the Young Men's Presidency, he got to go. He was really looking forward to it for months. They were gone until Saturday. He came back very smelly and very sore, but he had a lot of fun.

I feel like we spent about a month of the summer apart, so now we need to get with the program and do some things together! :)

Girls Camp 2015

Because my calling in church is in Young Women, I got to go to Girl's Camp this year. This was my first time going as a leader. My calling is the Beehive Advisor, meaning I teach the lessons on Sunday to the 12-13 year old girls. I loved getting to get to know all the other girls better too. I have some very cherished memories of Girl's Camp and the wonderful girls and leaders I went with, I hope that these girls will remember me as well and that I can make a difference in their lives. I was impressed with girls' willingness to work and help each other, and it was so wonderful being around their wonderful spirits and hearing and seeing their testimonies.

 I was in charge of 2 crafts for the girls to do while we were there. Surprise! I cut out the words "Be YOU Tiful" on my Cricut and brought them each a piece of 2 x 4 and some paint. They painted their wood and then modge podged the words on. They loved it and they turned out really cute. 

A couple days later we did the second craft. I brought them all a picture frame, a knob, and some lace and they painted the frames, and the glued the knob and lace on, with some ribbon to hang it on the wall. It is a jewelry hanger. They also loved that and I think they had lots of fun.

One of the days the girls did a challenge course. They went through different team work obstacles. We didn't get to go with them, because they wanted to girls to work through them without their leaders' help, but we did get to do that last part while we waited for them, which was a ropes course. We climbed up a pole, walked across a log, and then slid down on a zip line. It was really fun and I was really proud of all the girls who did it. Some even did it blindfolded!

One day we went on a 5 mile hike with the whole stake. It was fun walking and talking with he girls and the view at the top was very worth it.

 There was a moose and her baby wandering around our campground the whole time and we saw it a few times pretty close up. 

These girls are so silly and fun, but so spiritual at the same time. Our theme was about being a virtuous woman, and I know they all already are, and will grow up to be great examples to those around them!

Memorial Day Weekend 2015

Last week there was a carnival in town so I talked Chris into taking me down and riding the ferris wheel. I love ferris wheels, don't know why. I guess I think they are romantic. :) Love my cute husband!

We decided to go home for Memorial Day, and after the fact we realized that no one was really going to be there for most of the weekend, but we went anyway. Chris' mom and step dad went to Yellowstone and came back Sunday night. His dad and stepmom were gone and came back Saturday evening. None of my cousins came and my aunts and uncles were leaving town. But we really needed to get out of town. Saturday we did a little shopping in the morning, and then we saw Chris' brother Robby and his girlfriend. Then I went and saw my friends Sarah and Melissa who I worked with in Twin. I miss them so much. Melissa's daughter was having a birthday was having a birthday party at the new park in Twin so I went down there and hung out for awhile while Chris went and saw his brothers and cousin. I'm mad I forgot to get a picture with them. Later we had ice cream with my roommate Amy who is from Twin and was in town. It was really good to get to see friends who we normally don't have time to see. 

We went to Chris' grandparent' house and visited with them, and then swam for awhile in his Aunt and Uncle's new pool, who live next door. That night we went and had dinner at Chris' dad's. Sunday we went to church and then saw his mom later when she got home. Monday we met Chris' family at the cemetery to put flowers on graves. We stopped in Burley to see my brother Kelby and his family. 

 

 Before we left town for good we stopped at the Heyburn Cemetery and saw my Grandma and Grandpa Hellewell's graves and my mom's three sisters. It wouldn't be Memorial Day if we didn't. 

Definitely not a Memorial Day I am used to, but it was fun anyway. I'm glad we got to spend so much time with Chris' family, and whit people we don't get a lot of time to see. 

Seattle Trip

Well it has been awhile since I have blogged. I wanted to catch up for journaling purposes. As most of you know, back in March my mom was diagnosed with 3 ependymal tumors-two on her spine and one on her brain. She had surgery at the University of Utah to remove the biggest one on the spine. As a result of the surgery, she lost all feeling and movement in her legs. She was in the rehab unit there at the U of U for about a month, and from there she went to Seattle to do radiation therapy. She went there because they have a special kind called Proton Therapy where the radiation actually stops at the tumors. Because she would need it to her whole brain and her whole spine, this was the best option, so that it would not affect her other organs and cause severe short and long term side effects. She was there for about 2 months and then came home. She is currently staying with my brother Kelby and his wife Amy in Burley during the week, and then the rest of us rotate weekends and we go home and take her to her house and stay with her. She is going to physical therapy and regaining some feeling and movement in her legs, and we are hopeful that she will eventually be able to walk again, or at least stand and transfer herself. We have so appreciated the prayers, support, love, service, and donations. They have helped tremendously. She has been in a lot of pain lately, probably for many reasons-nerve pain from regaining her feeling, back pain from a compression fracture caused by the radiation, UTI's, rib pain, etc, so please continue to keep her in your prayers. 

While she was in Seattle, we each took turns staying with her. We rented an apartment from a lady who only rents to people who need to be there for medical reasons. My sister-in-law Stephanie (Kyler's wife) and their little boy Josh, and I stayed with my mom for the first 3 weeks she was there. It took them almost 2 weeks to have everything ready to start the therapy, so we were able to play and see a few things before that. It was lots of fun being able to spend time with them all. Josh learned to say my name and grew to really like me. :) Here are some pics from that trip. 

He kept putting this bowl on his head-he looked like Charlie Chaplain. So cute.

He loved the Aquarium. We couldn't tear him away from this wall!

We went to Pike's Place Market one day. Josh fit in this guy's hand just perfect!

When this pic was taken he actually leaned over and wanted to come to me from his mom. Now that is love!

He loved the park!

At the end of May he came and stayed with us for a weekend while his dad worked and his mom had a girls weekend with her mom and sisters. We loved it!