August thru December 1st

We are not very good at taking pictures or posting on our blog. So I will give a nice little condensed version and including some photos. When we first become settled we decided to go to the Mt. Timpanogas Caves. It was a fairly steep climb, but well worth it.

I feel that my style is getting better with age, stripes and plaid. I think it works.

The view from the mouth of the cave was beautiful. It overlooks I believe Highland/Alpine.

Next we had a journey to the pumpkin patch. You can tell that Kipp just can't contain himself. 

The happy little O'Connor family found a few keepers pumpkins.

Wheres the baby?

I forgot to get a picture of our finished jack-o-lanterns. Kipp made his into a general face, and then I attempted a ninja turtle. Mine wasn't a success. 

Alex opened Kipp and mine eyes to the wonderful sport of Roller Durby. There a couple of woman's teams in the area. So we made a date night out of the experience. It was kind of hard to follow all of the rules, but it was fun to watch.

My cousin Lisa and her husband Neil joined their kids Corey and Jennifer in Provo. We all got together for dinner. It was wonderful seeing them. 

Our latest adventure was going to a Christmas tree farm and picking out our tree. We came home with a Blue Spruce. We enjoyed decorating it and I think it looks pretty darn good. It actually looks like Christmas in our home. 

We have even finished our Christmas shopping so there are presents under our impressive tree. 

August 2012

Part 1: North Bend

After our vacation with mom to the church history sites we took the time to go visit Dad and Sherri at the coast. It was great. Grandma O'Connor was there as well as Rory, Emily, and there cute little Madelyn.  Here is the generational photo of the O'Connors ( plus Kipp). Many of the following pictures also appear on their blog (this is because I don't take pictures). 

On this trip we went to Florence and walked around on the boardwalk, and had yummy clam chowder in a bread bowl for lunch with Grandma and Dad. 

On our way back from Florence Rory, Emily, Madelyn, Kipp and I stopped for a game of disk golf. Kipp was impressive, and won the game. I on the other hand like to bring up the tale end...I lost terribly every game we played that week. And that is so sad since Emily had a  handicap of a baby strapped onto her as she threw the disk.. I will not be defeated next time. 

We also spent a morning going and looking at tide pools at  Sunset Beach. Kipp found a hermit crab and then tried to kiss a starfish while Rory started to get hungry and try to eat a crab. 

And Emily just took her time wondering around with Madelyn, she was so well behaved at the beach.  Madelyn, not Emily...Well Emily too. 

One night we had dinner with Megan and Daniel and his girlfriend (Sherri's kids) It was good to see them, we didn't have much time to talk to them though. They only stayed for a short time. 

The next day we decided we were going to try to sandboard. For those that don't know what that is, it is practically a snowboard that you put wax on and slide down sand dunes. I am not one for speed, but Kipp looks really graceful.

Part 2: Reno

I didn't take any pictures in Reno but we went to Pyramid Lake. Here Kipp got to show his skills on the wakeboard, and taught me how to use a paddle board and surf the wake behind the boat. I was successful on the paddle board. And the surfboarding was a little harder. I only got up once for a ride on it. An accomplishment was that on the wakeboard I got up, went toe-side over the wake and then went heel-side and stayed up... That was a first going over the wake twice. All thanks to Kipp. 

Sunday we had a delicious dinner that Laura prepared. Monday to go shopping for some new clothes to get Kipp ready for a new school year. Tuesday and Wednesday we had the opportunity to both work for a photography company who was going to middle schools to take school pictures. That was great. And on Tuesday night we say the new Batman movie for the second time, with Rusty and Laura. I enjoyed it more the second time! 

Thursday was our 1 Year Anniversary! Time has flown by! For this special day we slept in. Then drove up to Lake Tahoe to walk along a beach and have a yummy lunch. After lunch we went back to Reno where Gay, Laura and I went and had manicures and pedicures. Lucky Kipp didn't mind watching baby Chuck. 

For dinner we went to the Macaroni Grill, and then headed to the Silver Legacy Casino. We rented a Spa room, so we had a nice relaxing night watching Men in Black 3 in our room. 

All in all our trips were great. It was so nice to see family! We love you all, and thank you for all that you do for us! We have an amazing family.  

July 2012

So since we last blogged, I have graduated from BYU-I, Kipp received an associate degree and we have moved to Orem Utah. But here are some precious memories from dear old Rexburg.  Our first apartment, its the one in the bottom left corner.

 Then even though I did not walk, we took a few graduation photos. Good memories at BYU-I come to a close. 

In July we also got to meet and welcome our newest niece into the family.

And our summer fun didn't stop there. Mom then took Kipp and I on a trip to the church history sites over in and by Nauvoo. It was so much fun. Thanks again Mom.  But here are some of my favorite pictures. 

This is our picture in front of the Mississippi River. Really muddy. 

 Since we were in the area we swung by Hannibal Missouri to visit Mark Twains hometown, below is a statue of Huckleberry Finn.

Next stop was Nauvoo. Here we went on a wagon ride into the county to listen to stories about the Saints.

We also found a marker of a family members property Theodore Turley. The house in the background is Joseph Smith's Mansion. 

Mom and I took some time in the Woman's Garden behind the visitor's center. In the garden are beautiful bronze statues of women in various stages of life. 

This is the end of Parley Street where the Saints would have loaded up there wagon on a little boat and cross the Mississippi River when they were driven out of Nauvoo.

This is the Smith's Homestead. You can see the different add-ons the family did over the years. Just to the right is the Smith family cemetery, and behind is the river. 

 This of course is the Nauvoo Temple. Amazing! 

This is Carthage jail, were Joseph and Hyrum Smith were martyred 

 Next we stopped by Adam-ondi-ahman. It was a breathtaking valley. So pretty and peaceful.

Then we saw Far West. All that is here is this monument, and then the four corner stones of the temple. It's out in the middle of no-where. But very amazing to think the cornerstones are still there. 

 Here is the Liberty Jail replica. There are a few actual stones from the original jail used in this replica. To think of how dark and cold it would have been in the bottom. I would not have handled it so well, and with very little light entering the prison would have been terrible and disheartening. 

This is the monument of Zion's Camp. Not the most impressive, but still interesting to read.

We went to several other sites, but we are still not great at taking pictures. But this is a good summery of the trip. We were able to go inside the Smith homestead and mansion, among other buildings in Nauvoo. Also, we got  to experience the Nauvoo pageant. It was a fun way to start our summer, and makes history come alive. 

The Spring Semester So Far...

The past few months have been pretty rough for us. We just got through midterms and we are both burnt out. But we have found some time to enjoy our last summer in Rexburg. We have eaten many snow cones, we have ridden out bikes, we have hung out with our neighbors a lot, and a whole bunch of super cool activities.

 Mesa Falls

I joined a co-ed soccer team, and Kathleen is my only fan.

Spring Break

Last week was our short spring break. We first started our adventures going to Ontario and hanging out with Mama Jolene, Rory, Emily, and soon to be baby O'Connor. We had an easter egg hunt in which EMily showed off her incredible climbing skills even with a baby. (she climbed up a tree) We also played bocci ball and golfball-on-rope toss, and enjoyed the sunny Easter weekend. We enjoyed relaxing and watching War Horse. What a magnificent creature. (I think the movie was based on a real horse)
Sorry we don't have any pictures from being in Ontario...Rory and Emily have pictures posted.

Next we made the trip down to Reno for a few days. We went to Circus Circus and played a little skeeball at the arcade/carnival there.

We also had Ryan, Whit, and the boys there so we got to hang out with our hilarious nephews Will and Tru. We have been quoting them since we left Reno. William loved my phone and Truman never let go of his golf club the whole time.

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I think the greatest moment of our trip was Kathleen's attempt at riding a bike. She was lucky and got to ride the classic schwinn we have had forever. All in all it was a great trip and today was the first day of the new semester, so we had to have Kathleen's picture of her last semester. Way to go Kathleen!
And a little shout out to Rory for officially getting into the masters program at BYU. and a little shout out to Rusty for getting into the medical program at UNR. Congrats and may the Shwartz be with you!

Kathleen's Birthday/ March

So for my Birthday we decided to travel down to Provo to hang out with some family and seeing BYU's campus. It was a great weekend, and Laura was so great and made me a wonderful dinner and Kipp helped make a delicious chocolate birthday cake. Thank you!

Everyone spoiled me with with so many wonderful gifts. Thank you so all so much. I am so grateful!
( Left to Right, Top to Bottom- Jacket, cardigan(type thing), M&Ms, Yoga mat, MaryKay Satin Hands lotions, Ladle, Liquid measuring cups, Purse hook, Earrings/Necklas, Shoes, Shirts and a little cash.)

So after many weeks of trying to figure out where to go after I graduate, Kipp and I decided that we will move to Provo. Kipp will finish his Bachelors degree in Exercise Science from BYU Provo. This will be a great opportunity.  Even better Rory and Emily and their little peanut will also be in Provo going to school. So it will be a Party.

Valentine's Day

We just celebrated Valentine's Day together, and celebrated 6months of marriage, all in one week. I can't believe it has already been 6months. So for V-day Kipp went out and got me my favorite flower... an orange lilly. And a pair of olive green shoes. He knows how much I love my shoes and flowers.

 

I didn't have many classes on Tuesday so I blew off homework to make a yummy dinner for us. I made chicken pillows, with a salad, and corn and orange passion juice. Not the classiest dinner ever, but it sure was yummy.

And for dessert, Kipp made chocolate pudding, with bananas and ready-wip. DELICIOUS! 

All in all it was a busy night with school, but we still had a nice dinner, and a chance to relax, before doing some homework.

Winter fun

Well winter has still hasn't really hit. The snow just doesn't want to stay. So we decided to go throw Kipp's Christmas present....the tomahawk. It was fun walking around trying to find a good stump to practice on, but after a good Sunday walk-around in nature, we found one. 

While he was playing outdoorsman, I was playing with my camera that I received for Christmas.

I like that on my camera I can change the color setting to let in different light and change the colors the picture picks up on. It is a very nice camera. But of course I too had to have my chance in throwing the tomahawk... I wasn't as successful as my mighty hunter.

All in all, it made a wonderful Sunday afternoon activity.