Wednesday

So all summer I have wanted 2 things. 1) a delicious cool summertime treat and 2) a swamp cooler!!! Well Wednesday night both came true! My dad and Raymond put a swamp cooler up on our roof and Jess and I kind of just sat around. Wow, the swamp cooler feels fantastic!! I made us a big steak dinner and then to top it off we had dark chocolate mousse with berries and a wafer in it. Super easy to make and so good!! Well that was our exciting night!

Tuesday

Tuesday we went 4-wheeling with my brother & his cute family (Steve, Jodi, Madison & Hallie). We also went up with his in-laws, Cindy, Kirby, Jacey & Shelby. On our way up there was a tree blocking the way so the men had to move it off the road. It's a really fun ride up to a big opening with the creek running through. We had dinner up there, romped around, and went further up without the little ones to see a beaver dam. It was really cool, we saw one big guy playing around. Raymond kicked me off and went for some serious playing and ended up getting stuck! So Steve had to pull him out and while hooking the wench up to his 4-wheeler, he got a pretty bad burn on his arm :( I felt really bad cause it is still a very scary looking burn! But we still had a blast and Steve's family is always so kind to us and treats us like their own!! Thanks for the fun time guys!

Porcupine Dam

Over the weekend we went up to Porcupine Dam with my dad, his brothers and sisters and parents. Isn't it just beautiful there! Raymond and I took a canoe up and went down to the dam to test our skills and mine are lacking !!! I only fell out of the boat once and we were very close to the shore so I only got wet from the waist down!! It had been awhile since I had seen this side of the family so it was really nice being able to visit for a little bit!!

Busy Busy...

Life has kept us running lately, work work work and a little bit of fun in the middle! Here is a quick run through of our recent doings!


My birthday celebration...hyrum dam, rainbow chip cupcakes, boating and fireworks! Makes for a great birthday each year! I am now the big 2-3!

We go camping every Independence day to Hyrum Dam with the Whipple's, this year was just as fun as all the past years!



My dear beautiful Jeep Wrangler has been sold, and no I didn't cry. We also sold our little blue spirit and now I drive a Jeep Cherokee. Only 1 extra car at the Whipple house, it's a dream come true!

We have also had a couple family dinners, mini golfing with Stacie & Tyson (we love hanging out with you guys, thanks for going!), moving more gravel for our driveway, poured another cement footing and a little spot next to the house, raked hundreds of apples out of the yard (our tree is forever shedding them, and the birds love our cherry tree so there are pits all over the yard)! Summer has been great, we are loving life and spending time together!

My Most Favorite Place

Jodi's family, my sis in law, has a family ranch up in Star Valley about forty minutes from Jackson Hole. This place is my most favorite place on earth! Seriously, I would never leave if I had a choice! We went and spent the weekend there with Steve & Jodi & some friends. It rained almost the whole weekend but it was still fun to get away! Raymond killed his first bird, sad I know, he felt bad afterwards!! He did have a lot of fun running around shooting things with Steve & Tucker. I feel down an entire flight of stairs and hurt my tail bone pretty bad (1 1/2 weeks later I still cringe when sitting or standing or walking) but still enjoyed the good times, lots of cookies, card games and delicious smoked stone oven pizza! These pictures can't even begin to show the beauty of this place, it truly feels like heaven on earth. If I disappear one day, it's probably because I chose to move to the hills of Star Valley!!

Baby Eliza

Baby Eliza was born a few weeks ago and decided she wanted to give everyone a little scare and have some problems. Thankfully everything turned out to be just fine!!! We decided to take a Sunday drive and well we ended up in Elko Nevada and went to visit our newest niece and her mom and dad, Cammie & Kyle, at the hospital! She is beautiful and we loved the chance to snuggle with a barely one day old babe! The poor girl had oxygen taped to her face, an oximeter stuck to her foot, and an IV in her poor little arm! Raymond was quite nervous to hold her and swears he wasn't doing it right because the machines kept beeping but he did great!

On our way home we saw a complete double rainbow! Total luck, they aren't very common!! We took a million pictures (yes we even pulled over to look)! They both were so bright and you could see every color individually from end to end! Never in my life had I seen a rainbow so perfect!

Happy Birthday Camille!!

Sunday the Whipple's got together to celebrate momma Whipple's 55th birthday which was the previous Monday! Camille is definitely the leader of the family, she keeps the world spinning for the Whipples! She never stops working, never stops tending to the 18 grandkids, never stops worrying about all 18 kids, and never stops encouraging us all to do better!! Camille is very positive and is the peace keeper of the family! We love being in her family! Thanks for all you do mom! So they put all 55 candles on the cake! Before the lighting process began they gathered four appropriate "lighters" and they engineered their game plan for lighting! They took it so seriously! And as family tradition, once we sang to the birthday person we re-light all the candles and sang "Happy Birthday to Nobody" and all the grandkids got to blow out the candles! We do it for every birthday cake that enters the Whipple home! The kids love it!

He finally did it

Saturday afternoon, Raymond decided he was very jealous my brother Cody had shaved his head. Cody shaved his like a week or so ago and since then Raymond wouldn't stop talking about how cool it was! So Sunday afternoon led to this.



Step 1: Too late to turn back

Step 2: Wondering why he let me control the clippers

Step 3: Angry old man look


Step 4: TADA!!

Madison's Birthday

Our dear niece Madison Marie turned THREE today!! We couldn't have been more excited to party with her on her birthday! She has such a big personality that can fill the room with just one giggle or grin! This little girl is totally country but also very girly! She loves to dance and sing, especially to Mamma Mia! She also loves to pose for pictures and give big cheesers! And with those bright blue eyes and gorgeous blond curls she is definitely going to be a heart-breaker! We love you Madi!!

5 tHiNgS i LoVe

So life has been busy with the Whipple's but none of it terribly exciting so I want to share with you five of my currently most favorite things to do...in advance I do realize I am a little dorky! :)

1. I love to Hum. Usually I start out humming anything relatively similar to a song and it ends up as a Christmas song...took me 3 weeks to figure out the song was a Christmas one


2. I love to slice vegetables...we bought a new fancy set of pots/pans and it came with a fancy salad shooter that cuts/shreds everything super fast...i still prefer to pull out a cutting board and knife


3. I love the sound, feel, smell of rain...especially when I am lying in bed and hear it outside my window


4. I love to sing...one song in particular...the star spangled banner...i sing it at the top of my lungs standing at a full salute in my living room at least 3 times a week


5. I love to arrange table settings...my favorite includes centerpieces from scratch and multiple plate arrangements with stemware, flatware and folded cloth napkins


Totally dorky, I know...but now you have had a glimpse into my crazy twisted mind. I would love to hear your favorite things to do! Hope you are all doing well!!!

My husband, the romantic

My favorite thing about people is that they always surprise you. And my dear sweet husband is no exception to that. We hit the Junction in Ogden and got some dinner and then went to the late showing of Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. Very cute movie by the way. The movie got out around midnight and although it was late the top was down on the jeep and it was such a perfect night for driving. He drove up to the look out over North Ogden. We sat gazing out at the stars and the city lights below, danced under the stars, and he even did a little sweet singing. He has been sick and so busy with work and the house that we haven't had a date in a little while so this was a very pleasent surprise! The lookout may not have been Van Goh's Starry Night but any night spent with my husband is truly magical. I love you babe!! Thanks for a great night!

Lexi Turns One!!!

This little gal has stolen our hearts! And now she is one!! We got to play at her luau birthday party and had a great time! We love her curious and adorable personality! She always has cute little bows and dresses on but loves to dig in the dirt and ride her "vroom vroom"! She loves her mommy and daddy but she did warm up to us enough to cruise around with Ray and I! Me and Lex played in the garden digging up rocks and her and Ray went driving on the "vroom vroom"! She enjoyed chowing down on her cake and sharing with whoever was brave enough to eat off her shovel! Happy Birthday Lexi!! We love you!!!

A boys dream!!

My dear husband is in love with any sort of tractors, trailers or anything that is big and drives. His little heart was rejoicing when we rented a backhoe to finish digging out our side yard for the new driveway. He got to drive it up twelfth and Washington through 5 o'clock traffic and and construction which I am sure he didn't mind. Someday I know we are going to own some sort of tractor, he already spends far much time looking them up!

Mother's Day!!

Mother's Day was fabulous...the Winn's spent Saturday four-wheeling and then had dinner at Steve & Jodi's (Thanks for dinner Jo!) and the Whipple's spent Sunday afternoon relaxing and having dinner. It was a great weekend to celebrate our Mom's and all the wonderful things they do for us! Thanks Momma Winn and Momma Whipple! Here's some pictures from four-wheeling! It had been awhile since Raymond and I had been and we loved it! Sorry lots of Pictures!