Ruedi Reservoir

Family, fishing , breathtaking views, pb&j samiches...

Does it get any better than this?!?

Three... Oh Three!

MY FABULOUS MAY-MAY,

named for the month of her birth,

turned three last month.

She is the best Mother's Day gift I have ever gotten!

I have a feeling that this three year old will be keeping me on my toes long after she is three!!!

Ten Years Down... Eternity To Go!

If you ask any woman, your tenth anniversary is supposed to be a BIG one. It usually involves a weekend away, or a nice gift, or something sentimental and romantic to celebrate the occasion. For some reason my dear husband didn't get the "Do something special for your tenth anniversary" memo. We had many discussions prior to our anniversary about our plans. We wanted to go to California or Mexico but found it difficult to schedule babysitting with our parents so we settled on a trip to Denver. We even had a friend graciously offer to take the kids for us. Well, in the mean time we took a 10% cut in pay and my husband began to freak about finances but failed to include me in his freak out session. I was oblivious to his worries and was still excitedly planning this great getaway for just the two of us. This was HUGE for me! In ten years of marriage we have never been anywhere without our kids. In all of my planning, I was still being frugal in my spending, nothing too extravagant, I got a ritzy downtown hotel room for super cheap and I was even thoughtful of Mike and got us tickets to a Rockies game. We even had money set aside for the trip. So, imagine my shock and disappointment when my dear husband said that we couldn't afford the trip. Boy, was I devastated and a little pissed, to put it mildly. I bawled him out about how we needed to nurture our relationship, how we didn't spend time together as lovers and companions and I didn't think running the dog qualified as one on one time! So in a huff, I canceled our hotel reservations and put the Rockies tickets on Stub Hub, called our friend and regretfully told her that we wouldn't be needing her help. I admit it, I was a bit dramatic but I was hurt and I wanted him to know just how hurt I was. He got the point and asked our friend, Jen to watch the kids while he took me out to dinner and a movie the night of our anniversary. Weeks went by and our Rockies tickets weren't selling, so thanks to another generous friend *cough* Tracey*cough*, we were able to go out to Denver for the night and watch a great baseball game and go to Paris On The Platte for a late dinner (WE were the misfits in a cofee house full of misfits!)before we drove home. The whole night Mike kept saying how fun it was and that we should have just went through with our original anniversary plans!! DUH!!!! Well I am just glad that he finally saw the light!

Ha ha look it's Sara Palin with Mike!

National Velvet statue on the Platte River. Interesting piece of art. I guess it is very contraverial!

In ten years of marriage there have been peaks and there have been shadows but it has been an a worthwhile journey! I wouldn't take this journey through life with anyone else!!! Looking forward to the eternities with you my friend and my loving and patient companion!

I Want to Be A Missionary Now

My mission in life seems to be to take of the missionaries...

Transfer treat!

My favorite missionary of ALL time, Elder Davis!!!!

Elder Voss!

and I like that way!

When transfer day rolls around I get a house full of Elders that come to say good bye, some have transferred on and come back to visit with their new companions in tow. It is a guaranteed good time! I usually end up making breakfast or everyone just helps themselves to the pantry and the fridge!

Elder "Oronjello"

Elder "Lemonjello"

We Heart Jesus~ How We Celebrated Easter

Easter weekend started out with a ward temple day trip with babysitting provided by our activities committee in the Chapel next to the temple. You don't realize how easy it is to get to the temple and what a blessing it truly is to have a temple in your town until you have to travel two and a half hours or more to get to the nearest temple and add in all of the planning and preparation to get someone to watch your children. It definitely makes me more appreciative of the temple experience and I really do think I get more out of it because I have to work harder to get there. Thank goodness for the amazing woman that volunteered to watch about thirty children so that the parents could get to the temple. They planned an Easter egg hunt on the church lawn but the weather was so dreary that they canceled it so we saved our Easter egg hunt until after church on Sunday with our good friends the Boyd family. After our temple trip, we visited my mom and she threw together an impromptu egg dying party for the kids! She has always made holidays fun growing up and now she gets to pass that on to my kids!

Tracy and I in all of our awesomeness!


rick ate a Smurf!

There were Smurfs EVEYWHERE!

Welcome To The Jungle!

One afternoon I got a phone call from Mikie's music teacher telling me that Mikie had auditioned for the first grade musical and gotten the lead part. I was floored! I had no idea that she had even auditioned! She worked extremely hard on learning her lines and her songs. She even had a little solo!

She played Panya the mouse in a mini musical based on Aesop's fable about the lion and the mouse! Let me tell you, my little Mikie rocked the house!!! She was just absolutely adorable! I was just beaming with pride...jungle pride oh ya!!!

Look out Broadway.... Mikie will be making her debut and she will be bringing down the house before you know it!

Together Forever!

The Heavens were smiling as we knelt to seal our Hallie to us for time and all eternity!

It seems like when you are trying to accomplish something of an eternal nature, the adversary does everything in his power to stop you. Mike and I butted heads about the particulars and scheduling, petty and inconsequential things that really didn't matter in the eternal scheme of things, but the minute our children entered the sealing room, the overwhelming weight that has weighed on my shoulders for almost two years was lifted and an unspeakable peace entered my heart! We have been dreaming of this day for so long! It was so incredible to share this experience with our loved ones and have the support of our family in the temple and family that waited for us outside of the temple. It is like a view of what the eternities will be like surrounded by love and support of those that love you most!

Even Hallie was thrilled about her special day!

No pictures of us all in white. The Vernal Temple doesn't do that.

All of the adorable Jones grand babies!

Our ETERNAL family!

Whispering sweet nothings in Grandpa's ear!

I would like to know what my mom was doing to get them all to smile this way!!

Family....Thanks for the love you give us! (I didn't get photos of Denise and Mark, Shawny and kelly, Sara Postma and a few other people that came to be there on our special day but were so glad that they were there!)

Sunday, Hallie was Blessed and given her new name, Hallie DeeLoris Nash. My mom, grandma Deelo, and Michael's parents came out for the blessing! It makes me feel so special that they would drive the extra hours to support our family. I am blessed to have such a loving family!

Four generations!

Grandma DeeLo and Hallie DeeLo!