Wednesday, June 19th

Gah! It’s been over a month. This year’s blog book is going to be one sad story. There’s been so much that has gone on, and I feel sad that I don’t remember it all. But I feel it’s important to at least highlight some of the big stuff and try not to let so much time pass by until my next post. I need to make this my Sunday routine or something. Anyway…

June has been filled with activities.  Family reunion June 1st in St. George with the Hansen side – more like my mom’s dad’s parents’ posterity reunion. We were able to go up for the day and have a nice time. We left Logan behind since he would be missing his nap and is in between being able to walk and crawl, so he’s not much fun at outdoor 4-hour events.  We met at a lovely park in St. George and spent the afternoon “reunioning”, if you will. Which meant we didn’t talk to anyone we didn’t already know, and I guess we’ll do that same thing in another 3 years. The children had lots of fun. All of my family went up, except for Anthony’s family and Adam since he’s in North Dakota. But Amber came up in his place. Even my pops had a good time listening to stories of Mormon pioneer heritage, which is typically not his thing. My aunt Rise put the whole things together, and we love my aunt so that’s why we all went to this family reunion that we’ve never been to before. It really was a good time!

My Grandpa Hansen’s sister Aunt Joyce thanking Aunt Rise for all of her hard work and presenting her with a handmade vase by her husband

 

My mom’s family and my Aunt Rise’s family – the only ones we talked to at the reunion

These two are always all over each other, like newly weds or something :)

Jacob and Teagan exploring

 

The park view overlooking Washington, UT

My favorite cousin friend Trish and her hubby, my cousin Brad (she shot our family pictures and wedding and seal pics – love her)

I’ve been busy with weddings this past month as well, on the 24th of May, the 31st of May, and June 7th. Cousin Erin got married on June 7th in Mesa, so Jacob and I left Vegas Thursday and were there for her Friday morning sealing and reception that evening. We had SUCH a good time, just the two of us. My mom had the kiddoes since I was shooting Erin’s wedding, so Jacob and I were able to be alone, hang out at the hotel, sleep in, and enjoy Brad’s and Trish’s company at the sealing and reception. Trish shot the pictures with me, and it is really so fun to shoot with my favorite cousin friend. But it was super hot in Mesa, 113 degrees the day Erin was married, so we didn’t stay outside long. It was like an inferno. We would have liked to do more pictures, but Erin and Austin weren’t having it, so we had to listen to them since it was their wedding. But I’m so glad we were able to go! It was like a little love getaway for me and Jacob. Love him.

Trish and her daughter Tessa. Trish is also 16 weeks preggo here.

After we got back from Arizona I was home for about 5 days before leaving for a “Me” trip to Boise on the 13th.  I flew all by myself, just little ol’ me, to spend 4 days with Susan (ex sis-in-law, but mostly one of my favorite friends ever) and to see some old Meridian friends. I had such a good time and fell in love with the Boise area all over again, especially those looong summer nights where it isn’t dark until 10:30 pm. I arrived Thursday, and Susan and her kiddoes picked me up. I ran some errands with them, ate some dinner, and then headed off to see some of my favorite neighbors, the Buhlers. It was so good to see Annette and Christian and their beautiful kids. They built a deck off the back of their house and we sat out there and chatted in the cool summer air, and that’s when I started remembering how beautiful it is there. Annette and I were the type of friends that could sit and do nothing at each other’s houses and not feel like we had to entertain. It’s hard to find friends like that, but I’m grateful when they come. I miss her! I stayed for a few hours before realizing it was 10pm since it wasn’t dark yet. Crazy!

On Friday, I tried to sleep in but Susan’s five kiddoes were up running around so I could hear their footsteps since I was sleeping in the basement. It is so nice to wake up in her lovely home. She’s in Middleton (Shiloh is just 2 houses down), and she has a gigantic lot that overlooks cows and a stream and just prettiness. I loved looking out her windows and walking out onto the balcony to enjoy those beautiful summer mornings with the pleasant sound of birds chirping and the kids feeding the chickens and gathering the eggs. It’s just a different life they live – slower, simpler, and more beautiful than what I’m accustomed to here in Vegas. Vegas has it’s good points, like warm winters and plenty of sunshine, which is good for my soul, but there seems to be an abundance of simplicity and wholeness in places like where Susan lives. I feel like people take time to enjoy life. Neighbors talk, kids run around playing outside, stores close, people work in yards that they actually have, and trees and plants grow. Maybe I wouldn’t be sad to someday end up there again with my little family and with our parents and my siblings, but especially my sister. If Becca’s little family went with me, I could go in a heart beat. I need my sissy.

This pic was taken at 9pm. As you can see, the sun is still in the sky and was for another hour. If you can’t tell, I’m amazed by this. I remember it when I was there, but I thought it was later in July or August.

 

Friday I spent the day with Susan, Shiloh and Jen. We sorta had one long girls’ day. We left about 1pm, headed into Boise to pick up Jen and then went to lunch at Kneaders. After Kneaders we drove around kind of wasting time, and finally decided to get pedicures. After pedicures we drove around some more trying to decide what to do, and finally decided to do a progressive dinner thing – appetizers at Outback, main dish at Cheesecake Factory, and dessert at the Melting Pot. Well, we did the first two, but after calling and having the host tell us that Melting Pot closed at 11pm drove all the way back to downtown Boise to arrive and see that Melting Pot actually closed at 10pm. I’ve never eaten there, so I was pretty sad about that. It was going to be the highlight of our dining. So we ended up finding a frozen yogurt place instead.  Super fun day with some good friends/ex-in-laws.

The kids were all as sweet as can be, both Shiloh’s and Susan’s, leaving me notes on my pillow and picking fresh flowers to put by my bedside. They were sad I didn’t bring the boys, but I think Jacob and I are planning a trip back up there with the kiddoes in July or August sometime. I had so much fun, but I kept wishing they were with me to see all the beauty that I was seeing.

Saturday morning Susan and her family left early to head to Utah for a reunion, so I stayed at her house all alone. It was nice, though, because I did get to sleep in at least one day. I hung out at Shiloh’s for a bit Saturday morning before meeting some friends in Boise for lunch. I met Mal at her house in my old neighborhood and then we headed to downtown Boise to eat lunch with Kim.  It was really good to catch up with them and hear about their lives – they are great girls! Kim has this dream farm life I read about on her blog, and I always wish I could live more like that and tackle projects the way she and her husband do. Mal came into Vegas earlier this year to do a marathon, so we got to eat lunch together when she was here too.

After lunch Mal and I walked around downtown, got some froyo, ate a few chocolates, and then headed to see our friend Summer at the hospital. She had a little baby over a week ago, and he was born with Hirschsprungs , so he’s been in the nicu. I absolutely love Summer! She and I were visiting teaching partners for a while, and she is just a genuinely warm person. I love her. She’s so real and just awesome.  Her baby was doing much better and was recovering well when we went to see her, and even though it was a quick visit, it was nice to catch up.

After the hopsital, I headed back to Susan’s to take a nap, and then off I went to visit Jami. I love Jami! She helped me so much with my divorce, and has been such a good friend. She’s come to Vegas a couple times, and she and Jon and the kids stayed at our house one night, and Easton always asks when he’s going to see his cousins again. We chatted for a few hours before I headed back to Susan’s to sleep. I was exhausted after a few days of going going all day. Sunday morning I slept in, washed my hair, and headed to Shiloh’s to hang out for a couple hours until she took me to the airport. A quick trip, but long enough to miss my boys like crazy! Sunday was Father’s Day, and I hadn’t known that when I booked my trip, so Jacob was so sweet to cover for me while I was gone on his day.

Today I went to Wet N Wild with Becca and Sadie and met Andrea and her sis-in-law Emily there. We stayed for 4 hours and had a great time. The babies were pooped by the time we left, and we were all starved.

Jacob and I on his Father’s Day Monday.

Well, it’s late. Logan is walking though, just not all the time. He’s still wobbly, but he now walks all over the place. Just needed to journal that little tidbit. Oh, and Jacob got a new job that he started Monday, and he wants to go into computers now. He’s working a normal M-F 9-5 job now. I don’t like it :(.