Our New Pet, Gertrude (Gertie)

We did not buy this lovely pet and in fact never thought we would have this sort of animal as a pet. This evening we had a knock on our door from a kid we did not know. He said that a female turkey flew into our backyard. Seriously?!? We had to check this out! The kid went around the back and said that he's been chasing this poor thing for awhile. He saw it when he was coming home from school. Poor thing! It just kept pacing back and forth, back and forth. Jake got a bowl of water for it and it actually drank from it. It also went right over to our citrus trees and got a drink from them too. For now, it's our pet until it decides to "fly the coop". I hope they don't make a lot of noise. Anyone want to come over for Thanksgiving????

A Fun Tag

This is a fun tag! I know I was supposed to do links, but everyone is on my sidebar...

The rules are as follows for this chain letter:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Write six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
5. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.
6. Let your tagger know when your blog entry is up.

Six Random things:

Jake and I met on a blind date kind of set up by the mother of a girl he dated a few times and who I grew up knowing and living on the same street as.

I share the same birthday (April 17) as Jake's father, brother Heber and an actress that Jake finds attractive (Jennifer Garner) and Jake shares the same birthday (June 1) as my sister Crystal.

I'm starting my 11th year of teaching and at the same school (Benjamin Franklin Charter School) in 2 weeks. I can't wait; I love teaching!!!

I've lived in Arizona for almost 33 years!! and I still HATE the heat!

Before I die, I would like to visit all the temples in the US and as many as I can outside the US. So far, I've been to 17 of them. 16 in the US and 1 in Santiago, Chile.

My new physical goal is to be able to run the entire time in a 5K on Thanksgiving Day!

Well....I tag anyone who hasn't done this yet! Have fun.

Something New

Well....being home over the summer has been hard as far as the eating/exercising goes. I've gained some weight back that I had lost. Not all of it thank goodness, but enough to make me sad. So......after hearing some girls chat about it at Bunco night, I have set a new goal. To be honest, I have actually thought about this goal before but never went into action. I'm going to enter and run in a 5K on Thanksgiving Day. I have researched it and have made a 16 week training schedule for myself to get into shape and ready for this race. I'm also planning on some other 5K races, but my very first will be Thanksgiving Day. I'm posting this so that I can hold myself accountable and not quit. I'll keep you updated here and there. I started today. If any of you would like to join me, let me know. It's more fun in numbers. However, I'm running on a treadmill until the weather cools off more. I hate the heat!

4th of July in Idaho

Jake and I traveled on up to Idaho from Utah to a family reunion on Jake's side of the family. We first stayed with Jake's sister Lorraine's adopted father in Idaho Falls. We then went to a fireworks show the night before the 4th. The next morning, we traveled up to Rexburg for a 4th of July Parade. This was my first parade that I remember attending to other than one I helped build a float for in college. It was nice to be in cooler weather for once.

Some Veterans at the beginning of the parade

Way cool bagpipers

(l-r) Ryan, Jake, Lorraine, Ron, and friend Jackie

Demolition cars-they even crashed into eachother a few times

the crowd getting sprayed by some military vehicle

When the parade was over, we ate lunch and then headed on over to the reunion. It's Jake's biological family/cousins on his mother's side. The Briscoes. We went to a lake in Rigby (that's in between Idaho Falls and Rexburg.

We started out with a water balloon fight

Then had some canoe races

Here's my cutie, Jake

Jake and his nephew Devon paddling away

We played MANY hands of a card game called SCUM

Time for the family pics

Jake's cousin Karla and husband Tony

(l-r) Jake's aunt Lorna and her sister/Jake's bio-mom, Donna

Jake's cousin Melody and her family

Jake's sister Lorraine and her family

Funny fishing for doughnuts game, this is Devon

How big can we open our mouth

You're suppose to eat it Lorraine, not lick it

We had a wonderful time!! Thanks for all the hard work and preparation you did. It turned out very well. See you all down here Thanksgiving 2010!!!

Utah Temple Hopping

After Jake and I visited my sister, Vanessa, and her family in New Mexico for the weekend, we traveled on through Colorado to Utah. We decided to do what we call "temple hopping". We attended 5 temples in 3 days. On Monday, while traveling to Utah, we were able to take pictures of two of the temples, but because they were not open on Monday, we weren't able to attend. We saw the Monticello temple:

Then we moved on to the Manti temple:

We stayed with Jake's sister, Lorraine and her family for a few days. On Tuesday, Jake and I were able to attend a session in the Provo temple:

Then we attended another session that same day in the Mount Timpanogos temple: (This one is my favorite so far!) It is BEEE utiful inside.



On Wednesday, we attended a session in the Jordan River temple:

Then we did another session in the Bountiful Temple:

We stayed with Jake's parents and then on Thursday we attended our last temple, the Ogden Temple:

We saw two more temples, but weren't able to attend due to the July 4th-5th closing for holiday weekend. This is the Rexburg, Idaho temple:

And on Sunday, on our way home, we visited the St. George Temple:


We had so much fun!!! It was a great experience attending so many temples. I hope that we'll be able to do it again sometime soon.