MORE BIRTHDAYS!

Happy Birthday to ME!!!! 

My family got together and threw me a birthday brunch!! They made a bunch of Swedish Pancakes, bacon, hash browns, and eggs.  It was SOO tasty!  

Then we played some shuffle board!

Then we had a cake that Karissa and Kendra made me!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PORTERMAN

We had a lot of fun outside playing baseball all together.  Little Zekers is a good little baseball player!

A couple of action pictures! 

I like the picture where zeke was covering Porters mouth to keep him from blowing out the candles. 

Can't believe Porter is THREE!! Happy Birthday Porterman!

Family Reunion

This summer our family all got away and went camping together.  I can't tell you how excited I was for this! We went back to the same place that we went to every year over fourth of July as a kid.  Trent and Jess had gotten there a few days before us and had to leave just the day after we got there.  Then Devin and Cortney and their cute family came just a day after us! The week was filled with lots of playing at the lake, relaxing, playing games, eating yummy food, and laughing a lot.

One of the days after we all got back from the lake and got all showered up, we decided to go on a bike ride.  Devin, Tyleen, Connor and me took off down to the lake. When we got there the view was soooo beautiful we had to turn around and run back to camp to grab our cameras!!! It was too beautiful to pass up!

I'm always excited for occasions where we get to use our tent!!!

The red head cousins are just too cute.

Zeke LOVED playing at the Lake. But he loves fishing with Popi even more! He skipped the lake day to go and catch some fish!

Zeke and Porter were pretty cute getting pulled in the tube behind the jet skis

At the beginning of the week, Zeke needed someone to catch him.  By the end, he was doing cannon balls ALL THE TIME!

It was a much needed break and a WONDERFUL week! I hope we make camping together a tradition we do EVERY year!!! 

Bad luck for a Lucky Girl

I've always felt like a pretty lucky girl.  I feel like good things happen for me.  I don't know if that sounds bad or spoiled or whatever, but I just feel that way!! If something horrible happens, I figure it out and probably something cool comes from it.  For example, last summer Connor's summer sales job wasn't as ideal as we had hoped. BUT we got to go to Washington DC, and Virginia beach!! Both are super cool places! Soooo,  to have such an unlucky thing happen to us was very out of the ordinary.

Alright I tell you this story hoping that if you speak to us about it, you don't tell us advice of what we SHOULD have done or anything to make us feel stupid.  We have learned our lesson. OOOO boy, we have indeed.  Alright well here it goes.

Well you've probably noticed the awesome beast of a car that Connor and I have been driving around since we've been married.  This car has lots of character indeed and has become part of our little family.  But, it is time we searched for a newer, more reliable car.  I mean, don't get me wrong.  We still love it and all, and I mean, who wouldn't love a car that you could actually get locked INSIDE?!?! Yes, you heard me correctly. Our car will occasionally lock you inside.  But enough about that.  I'm thinking about focusing an entire post about our car because we have grown to love it in all of its weirdness.  But anyway, moving on....

So Connor and I were on the hunt this summer for a new car.  We had saved up enough that we could pay for one in full and not even have to take out a loan for it!  (We weren't looking for some really nice car or anything, just something a little more reliable).  Well anyway, one day Connor found the PERFECT car for us.  It was everything we wanted. A 2000 Honda Civic, good millage, reasonable price, and looked pretty good.  I had to stay at work, but he decides to go check it out.  (In this area if you see something on ksl you have to jump on it RIGHT AWAY or it will be gone!) So, Connor drives up there, checks out the car, takes it for a test drive and decides it seems pretty good.  But didn't know enough about cars to make the judgement on his own.  Oh let me back up.  The guy that was selling the car told him that it had a rebuilt title.  But, he said it wasn't because it was in a wreck, but because it had been stolen and when the cops found it, they had to put it under a rebuilt title because of that.  So anyway, had a rebuilt title.  So THEN Connor tells the guy he wants a mechanic to look at it.  The guy tells Connor of a place just around the corner he could go to.  They take it there, and Connor wanted to make sure, that it was in fact, stolen and not in a wreck, and that if we got it, it would pass safety and emissions.  The mechanic checks it out and tells him that it was lookin good and would pass easy.  There were still some other things Connor wasn't so sure about so he calls a close mechanic friend to ask him about a few things and our friend tells him that it sounds like a good deal.  Soooooo, the people that knew cars said it was good, so he went for it.

We bought the car and decided we'd bring it to our mechanic friend and see if there is any little things we should fix up on it and just get a good check on it.  This is where all the bad luck reveals itself.  Wellllll, turns out the car was in fact, IN A WRECK! It had been rear ended really bad and rebuilt.  Also, a lot of other things that I won't bore you with.  But because it was in a wreck, right away we had over paid by like 1800 dollars.  But, our friend said it seemed like a good car still and should still pass emissions.  So, we put the title in our name and paid the taxes on it (NOT CHEAP BY THE WAY!) and then a couple days later got it over to get the emissions testing done.  Welllllll, ready for some more bad news?!! It didn't pass. Turns out there is a bunch of little things that would need to be fixed and the biggest problem is that the check engine light isn't working. Whether the guy went in and disconnected it or the bulb is out, we don't know. But this horribly evil guy who sold us the car, lied A LOT and knew what he was doing to con us.  So as of right now we just put A LOT A LOT A LOT of our money into a car that we can't even drive in Utah!!! Let me just tell you, I cried a whole lot.  I bet you're confused why the first mechanic said it looked good.  Well, our guess is that they were in on the deal.  STUPID dishonest people, I wish I could kick em in the throat.

Another bit of information, is that our other car's stickers expired at the end of August. Can I just say I am soooo tired of worrying about cars?!?!  But, I have to tell you the good news about this.  So at work I have a request client that I've had for a while now.  Well, one of the really frustrating days, I had told him the story about the car we just bought.  He felt so bad that he said that if we ever look for another car, to PLEASE let him know.  That he will go and look at the car with us, or if he can't, he would send someone else that also knows cars to look at it.  Hahaha such a nice guy.  Well, he gets nicer.  Ready for this?  He then heard that the car that I have been driving won't be able to pass emissions and the stickers expired at the end of August.  So what does he do?! He runs home and gets his machine that hooks up to the car and tells you all the codes of whats wrong with it.  Then he wrote em all down and said he would look for some parts for me.  Well, later that day he called the store to tell me he found the part and that he'd come and replace it for me tomorrow.  So he did. THEEENNN he tells me to tell him as soon as our check engine light comes back on if it does.  Well, it does.  So what does he do then?! HE BUYS ANOTHER PART AND REPLACES IT!!!! Now let me remind you that we didn't know each other at all until I started doing his hair! He's just THAT Nice of a guy! He is doing all this hard work and not even letting us pay for these parts. You see!? Lucky things happen to me! Even in all this car drama.  Well, in case you were wondering, it currently is still not ready to get emissions testing done...but we're getting closer!!!!

This weekend however, well later today in fact, we are driving to Pocatello to see if we can sell the new car.  Me, in Kendra's car (as much as we love our car, its not really reliable remember?!) and Connor in the new one.  We figure since Eastern Idaho doesn't have the safety and emissions testing, we can sell it for a little more than we could here.  We're still going to be losing over 1000 dollars but lets hope we can get SOME of the money back!!! Oh, and if you read this today....pray that the car will get there without any problems!! We don't know what we would do if it didn't make it! ITS JUST GOTTA!!!! Well wish us luck!!! After we get rid of this car, we will NEVER, EVER think of this horrible car again.  Who knew that lessons had to be so stinkin expensive?! Well, we learned ours and am trying to earn that money back now.

Fourth of July

This year was the first year that Connor and I celebrated the Fourth of July just the two of us.  And if I do say so myself, we did a pretty good job at making it lots of fun!! That morning we went and played at Seven Peaks and relaxed in the sun.  Then we came home and got cleaned up and relaxed and made some yummy food that is a MUST to have on the Fourth.  For example, Connor's FAVORITE part of Fourth of July is his mom's seven layered dip.  So, the night before we got the recipe from his mom and got all the ingredients we needed and Connor too it upon himself to make it as delicious as she does.  And let me tell ya what, it was TASTY!!!! 

We also made some shishkabobs- Which is one of our most favorite dinners ever! 

And I made a red white and blue layered jello!!!! You can't really see the layers very well in this picture, but I was very excited about it. 

Connor was a HAPPY boy with all the DELICIOUS food we had that day.  

We also went to the movies AND sat out and watched that fireworks before bed!! Does a day get better than that?! I'd say the Fourth of July this year, was a SUCCESS!! 

Happy Late Birthday

I haven't been on here for a long long time and I need to post a lot! My first couple are a couple of late birthday posts!!!

POPI and  Kendra had a birthday in June!!! And I don't want to miss an opportunity to say a few things about these two AWESOME people!! 

My dad is one of the greatest people in the entire world.  And I don't know what I would do without him and he has taught me SO much!  He has a pretty good reputation of being competitive, but is one of the sweetest people in the whole world.  He will do anything for somebody that needs help, and will go out of his way to help someone that is close to him.  He is such a good example to me of being a hard worker.  I have so many memories of my dad coming home from work and then working away on something for the family until the day was over.  Not to mention the many times I didn't understand or know how to do my homework, and he would take the time to teach it to me in a way that I would get it.  

Also, I can't forget to mention that he has actual, magical power!!  Any time I had a bad day or was in one of my crazy Sunday night moods (the family will understand that one), all he had to do was give me a good long hug.  And suddenly I would feel complete peace and comfort again.  I remember there was a while in college where i was struggling with a couple of different things and all I wanted to do was drive home just to get the magical hug. I also loved how when we were little when we had nightmares, we would go into our parents room and wake up our mom and tell her we had scary dreams.  She would then tell us she was sorry and to go see our dad.  We would then walk over to the other side of the bed and all my dad  had to do was hug us for a while.  I remember most of the time he'd still be half asleep, but the hug really did make me feel better!!! He'd hug us until we said we felt better and then we'd then go back to bed.  

My dad has a way of always making me feel better.  School has never come as easy to me as my other siblings, and I remember one year I got a B in a class and I was afraid I'd get in trouble. Because my older siblings would have NEVER seen such a thing on a report card.  Well anyway, I remember talking to my dad about it and he said, "Did you try your hardest?" I then told him I did, then he said "Then I am proud of you." I can't express to any of you how much that meant to me.  He taught me right then that I didn't have to be perfect, but I DID need to try my hardest.  There are a lot of other really personal lessons that my dad has taught me that are too personal for me to share online, but because of some advice my dad gave me, I feel like I decided I wanted a life with the gospel in my life.  I wanted the happiness the gospel gave my dad and mom. I am so lucky to have such examples in my life.  I also will NEVER get tired of hearing my dad tell us how lucky we are to have the mom that we do.  I love that he always treats her so sweet and helps her and loves her so much. 

I am a lucky girl to have the dad that I do.  I love his advice to "not screw up too bad". I love his hugs.  I love how tall he is.  I love that I can blame how unflexable I am on my dad. I love that I got my BIG bones from him.  I love that he taught me to love camping. (my mom taught me that too). I love when he gives me advice. I love when he makes me cool pens. I love that he is so stinkin good at woodmaking. I love that he likes having bird feeders by the window like grandpa. I love how much he loves and lives the gospel.  Thank you dad for teaching me so much about working hard in sports, school, helping others, in my marriage, and for the church.  You are the best dad a girl could ask for! 

CHENJA had a birthday too!!!  I'm SO glad that Kendra decided to come to BYU for school.  Last year she lived just a few minutes from us, and it was so much fun to get to see her so often.  She's back again for another year but so far, we don't see her as much because I think she's having too much fun to come hang out with a couple boring married people.  But when she does, it's so fun! I love how easy it is to get excited and have fun with her.  Out of all my siblings I feel like Kendra has enjoyed similar silly things as me.  Whether that is watching a music video over and over again until we learn the dance, or getting excited about putting a pink streak in our hair or about cheesy Disney channel shows that we secretly love.  Also, she's always let me get excited and talk to her about hair and make up.  Some of my other siblings just don't understand why I have so much to say about it.  Even when she was little, she'd let me spend a couple of hours playing with her hair and practicing make up on her.  I love that last year she'd come over on the weekends and let me wax her eye brows and highlight her hair and do whatever I thought would be best.  Most people will be really specific what they want.  I love doing Kendra's hair because she just says, "I know i'll like how ever you do it" and just lets me do whatever.  Ok, playing dress up is not the only reason I love Kendra.  It's just an example of how easy going and fun she is.  I love how she will also get obsessed with specific songs and play them over and over and over again. I have so many memories of driving around with Kendra because we needed to escape for a little while and all we needed to do was drive and sing and dance our hearts out.  If you've ever been around Kendra, you have probably noticed she has the most contagious laugh.  She is so good at making someone feel like her favorite and is soooo good at acting appreciative for something.  I don't know how she'd get me to help her out with some stuff, but I just loved helping her because she made it so much fun.  It is really fun to be a "Kendra fan".  While she was in High school I loved coming home and going to one of her games because she was so good! It's fun to have a sibling that is so talented.  When we ran the half marathon last year I think she did the same thing as Connor and only ran a few times to train and then rocked it! She's so talented and so stinkin cute and SO much fun to be around.  I know that since she's the youngest of a big family, she probably gets a lot of parenting from the older siblings and I apologize if I have ever done that.  But I think she handles it very well.  Anyone that gets teased from 6 older siblings deserves some type of award!  Thank you Kendra for being my friend and being so awesome!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE SIS!!