Spending time with Avery

On Sunday evening our family went to Jessica and Chris' house for Sunday dinner. We felt kind of guilty because Chris made the whole meal, we should have been feeding them! After dinner, the rest of the family went home, and Conner and I stayed. It was my turn to help out mommy and baby. Conner ended up being such a great help! He said it was the best thing ever, playing Wii, eating lots of food, and playing with his new niece.

 It was nice having him around when I was trying to do other things around the house. She would fall asleep as soon as she was placed in his arms. I think it was the way he tickled her nose.

 I had such a blast, just spending time with them for a few days. Avery is such a sweet baby. When she's asleep she grins all the time. When she is awake she is so mellow, she just looks around with her big bright eyes. I couldn't get enough pictures. Chris and Jessica are such great parents, they absolutely love her to death, and are so thoughtful of each other as well. It was a joy to be around them.

A different kind of shower

 Jessica's aunt Molly had planned a shower for on Friday, August 5th. Jessica had her baby the day before, which kind of put a kink in the plans. We decided to have the shower anyway without Jessica there. Molly had this cute cake made for baby Avery.

I just love modern technology. We were able to use Skype and Jessica, Chris and Avery participated in the shower over the computer. We could talk to them, and they could talk to us. I ended up opening all the gifts in front of the computer, and we could all hear Jessica's reaction to each of the gifts. 

After everyone went home, Steve, Kaylea, and I all drove to Jessica's house to present her with the gifts, food, remnants of a game, and the balloons we used to decorate the party. They were so excited with everything, and so thankful for the shower gifts. It was a fun night.

Avery is born!

 On Thursday, August 4th, at about 1:00am, Jessica finally had her baby. She was 6lb 12oz 19"long and has dark brown/black hair. Steve and I got to go see her that morning, and we went nuts with the camera.

 Our first grandchild! It's so amazing!

 Here's their first family picture!

Amber's Wedding August 6, 2011

 Amber, my niece has been living with my family for the summer. A few months ago, I introduced them to each other, and the rest is history! I'm just posting a few pictures from the temple. I didn't get a lot, but it is a nice representation of our family.

July 4, 2011

 We started the 4th of July with a 5K run. Kaylea and I ran with my niece Amber, sister Erin, brother in law Brayden, and his family. Erin placed 2nd, and Kaylea placed 3rd in their categories. Amber beat most of the people in our group...except Kaylea!

 I felt better than I have in a long time. I took 3rd in my age group, and got my best time in 10 years!

 This is "Uncle Bump" with his kids, and nieces and nephews, showing off the prizes they won for the 1 mile Kids run, and 5K that the older kids ran.

We went to the parade, and of course I didn't take any pictures... Conner was involved in an "anti-bullying campaign". He and a group of friends dressed up like old grannies, and if people would donate to the cause, they could "pick the granny's pocket". They each wore an apron with lots of pockets, and the pockets had prizes in them that people could take out. They raised over $400, which was really nice!

After the parade we had a barbecue. There were so many people there, again no pictures... I had all my kids there (except my missionary). We were at Erin's house and they had her husband's two brothers and their families all there. My niece, Amber was there with her finace, Marcus.

 Later in the afternoon, we all headed over to the church for games. Those who wanted to play basketball were divided up into two teams.

 This team: I like to call them the Young Team.

 And this team: The Old Team. Although they have the youngest player. The two teams played really hard, and really had a fun time. Kaylea has a friend Tyler, who came a little late, but there are ACTION shots of him to follow. (He's in the light blue shirt.)

Jessica, Chris, and I, and eventually Erin, played games. I think Chris really enjoyed this game, you can see by the look on his face how much he enjoyed it! We went home, the sweatty people got cleaned up and rested, and we played a few more games, laughed until we cried and then went to the AMAZING Grantsville fireworks.

All in all, it was such a fun day. I'm so glad to have family around who like to be together, and have so much fun. This is a day I'll remember for a long time.

Tampa Florida

There are a few perks to having my hubby work out of town a lot.  A few weeks ago he gave up his seat and they gave him a voucher for a free airline ticket. Well, last week he had to be in Tampa for a bid walk and used his free ticket for me to tag along. 

I was able to read, relax by the pool, and then Steve and I went to Busch Gardens. Busch Gardens is the coolest zoo ever. It's a zoo with amusement park rides throughout it. So it's fun for the very young to the very old. I think I'm getting a little too close to the very old end, but we had a blast. We rode on a few wild roller coasters, ate some yummy food in a restaurant overlooking the giraffes, zebras, and other "deer like" animals.

 In front of Busch Gardens

 On the roller coaster (phones and camera's were not allowed)

Watching them feed the elephants. They would put apples in the holes of these huge balls and the elephants would kick them around. Apples would fall out and they would eat them. 

I have to admit, I've been very spoiled already this summer. Steve says he's trying to keep me "stress free". It's been amazing!

Final Day in Germany Flossenburg

Our final day in Germany was spent in Flossenburg, which is a very small town with a castle on the hill, and an old concentration camp in the valley. We decided it wouldn't be right to visit Germany and not get a small amount of WWII history.

 This is the best kind of castle for Conner, he could just explore and climb on everything he wanted. He did get a little close to the edge once or twice, what do I expect from a 14 year old?

 The amazing thing about Germany is that there are castles EVERYWHERE!!! Some ruins, some museums, and others that are just great for pictures that I don't know who uses them.

 

Tera said if we wanted to go to a concentration camp, Flossenburg was one of the most mild. The feeling there was very sobering. it was a very reverent place. Many, many people died there. The people of this town made it into a memorial immediately after the war, in fact, this was the first memorial made after the war, which says a lot for this community. 

 Steve and Conner standing in front of burial grounds, 

and below, Conner and me in front of two guard towers.

 Below is where they held mass executions, and beyond that is a "Pyramid of Ashes".  Behind me is a crematorium (not pictured) where all the ashes came from. There is also a courtyard with plaques for each nation involved and on each plaque it shows a number which represents how many people from each country died in this concentration camp. There were tens of thousands, I can't imagine visiting any of the larger camps. This was more than I could emotionally handle. We are so blessed.

 This little town is where my family spent some days, and most nights while in Germany. This is Weiden, where Tera, Erick, and their family live. There are trails throughout the town, along the riverbank, and anywhere else you might want to go in the city. Kaylea and I ran on those trails, and they were beautiful!! The following pictures are in the downtown, walking area. Everywhere I go in Germany seems like it's out of a storybook.

 The picture below is outside of the Rathausse (Rat house) which is what they call their city hall here in Germany. I thought it was funny. This is actually the old one which is now full of shops. The ice cream shop inside this building is AMAZING!

 Notice Steve holding the umbrella, it didn't matter if it was sunshiny or raining, people were always out walking, and riding their bikes. We probably walked 3 to 5 miles a day while we were here. Loved every minute of it!

 

It was especially fun hanging out with our German family! Erick, Tera, Joey, Bailey, TJ, and David were so fun to stay with.  Here I am with Erick, sporting my teenage mutant ninja turtle look. This vest weighed 100 pounds!! Okay, maybe only 30, but it was really hard to wear, I don't know how soldiers can wear this every day while hiking, and running, and doing everything else they do. Erick also taught Conner some wrestling moves for when he's attacked on his way to school. Thanks Erick!

 This little guy is David. He became my little buddy throughout this trip. He came with us on most of our excursions, and he was such a good baby. He's always smiling.

 Tera was the BEST!! She was always so positive, and just wanted to show us whatever we wanted to see. She gave us such good advice, but was very sweet if we didn't take her advice. I truly don't know how she does everything. She takes care of 4 children, is primary president in her ward, is the (I can't remember the real name for it, but technically...) relief society president of all the army wives, and still takes the time to show her family all the sites in Europe. Her husband works 12 to 14 hour days. 

She's always happy, and so organized. Tera, you're my hero!!

 This is Joey with her mom. Joey is such a good helper, and so smart! She taught me so much about Germany, and was always so helpful to her mom while we were there. She was always ready for school on time, and always had her homework done. She was smiley and fun.

 TJ is on the left side. He got to start German pre-school while we were there. He speaks German pretty fluently, but not at home because, as he put it, "at school we speak German and at home we speak English." He and Conner were buddies. They played so good together. Bailey is on the right. Bailey was so fun. She's kind of quiet, but she is a very hard worker and also very smart. She would always get her homework done as soon as her mom asked her to. She would take charge when friends were over and would make them all feel happy. She played with Conner too, and I think she's so sweet!

I will miss you guys! I hope you will come visit us in the United States this summer!! Aufwiedersehen!