Cowboy State... Part One.

I can't do a quick blog.. post a couple of pictures, write a few words. I've tried. More than once. Its just not in me. I also don't have time to write such extensive blogs.. which is why I am never caught up. I'm doing this blog in two parts, so I can actually post the first half that I've already spent twelve days on.

Back in the beginning of June (yes, I realize its almost August and I'm just now catching up) Shonni, Addison, Kapri and I headed to Wyoming for a couple of family reunions.

Side note: I would like you all to know that I just about had a heart attack. Here I am writing a blog about Wyoming and my pictures were missing. Phew.. I found 'em. You can stop crying now.

WARNING: I have a lot of pictures to share.. if you're not interested, pretend you are, and look anyway. Pretty please.

We got to Thermopolis pretty late on a Friday evening. When we pulled into our Motel Shonni and I both looked at each other with the look of DEATH in our eyes. It was THAT motel.. you know, the one you see in all of the horror movies!! The sign was even flickering "VACANCY". Of course there are open rooms.. because everyone's dead!! They lure you in with the Free Hot Breakfast.

We calmed down, a little, got the girls bathed, into their pj's and headed over to Grandma and Papa's room to do some motel room "bed jumping".





We didn't stay in a lot of motels/hotels while I was growing up, but I'm pretty sure we jumped from bed to bed (over and over again until the adults locked us in the closet) in every one we did stay in. Thus, it has become tradition.


At one point, quite a few people were sitting on the bed.. then I decided to unload myself (a mere 120 lbs I'll have you know) onto the bed. BOOM. Yep.. I'll say it. Right here on the World Wide Web.. I broke the bed. You can be nice and say it was ALL of the weight together.. but I was the straw (or bale of hay) that broke the camels back (or in this case, the bed). But don't fret, I fixed it.

At some point Kapri kept wanting to wear Shonni's bra.. so I of course helped her. I'm a nice mom like that.



The next morning we had the first of two family reunions. This one was for my mom's immediate family, their kids, and grand kids. So I knew everyone, what a relief. We were supposed to have it at a park, but I don't think it stopped raining the entire time we were there, so we ended up in a church.

Games were played...







Prizes were won...




Fun was had...




Meet my Grandpa Jack.. he's our "Horse Grandpa".
Meet Braeden, and his pants.. that are ALWAYS falling off.

Grandma Hockley, the sweetest lady ever. (But she wasn't always this sweet, hehe.)

Then we went swimming in the hot pools. I didn't want to deal with my camera, so there are no pictures. (Darn, I know you ALL wanted to see me in my bathing suit.) But I'll have you know, it was a BLAST.

That night we did some more bed jumping.. and this time Grandpa Jack was there too.


Addison is the world's best giver of Raspberries.

Next up.. more pictures (surprise), ANIMALS!!, banister sliding and cemetaries.

Camping.. sort of.

Last month Cody came up with a BRILLIANT idea. Camping.. IN HIS MOM'S BACKYARD!!! Lets face it, it was genius. Don't get me wrong, I love camping. However, I do not love bears. Over the past few years (I'm sure you remember the little boy that was killed by a bear up American Fork canyon) I have become MORTIFIED of bears. I hate sleeping in tents, and every noise makes me pee my pants. I think becoming a parent has quadrupled this fear. It doesn't help that last year when we went camping there was a bear sighting and they actually had to set up a bear trap.. TWENTY FEET FROM OUR CAMPSITE!! Really.

Anyway, hunky husband had a brilliant idea.. blah blah blah. We decided to do it the same weekend that Taylorsville had their little town celebration and they were doing fireworks.. even more convenient.. we could see them from the backyard!!

When we got there our niece Taisha was playing on the slip 'n slide.. Kapri was not about to miss out on the fun, so she joined in, clothes and all.




Frank amazed us with his bbq.. AGAIN. Heck, its delicious. Wish I got a picture so you could drool over it. Annie made me a cake.. and everyone was nice enough to sing to me.



27. What the heck. When I turned 26 I didn't feel old. For some reason, this year I do.






After we ate dinner and got into our pjs we settled in to watch the fireworks. Kapri loved 'em, much to my satisfaction.








Poor Ashley was the hot seat of the night.



Frank made a fire, and then pounded on his chest, cause thats what guys do. I think he might've yelled something like "I am he-man, hear me roar!!" Yeah, I'm pretty sure of it.




When Cody and I went to the store to get stuff for s'mores we saw the HUGEST marshmallows you've ever seen, and of course we had to get them.



They were messy, and delicious.

Let me just tell you that fires are almost NO fun when you have a one year old running around. None of us really relaxed the entire time we were sitting there.

At about midnight I decided Kapri was pooped and needed to go to bed. Now, if you've met this little girl, you know that she does not like to miss out on anything. She screamed for a good ten minutes after I brought her in the tent because she was so upset that I was making her go to bed.



She's a fiesty one. Me, Cody, Ashley and Tim stayed up talking until after 3. WHAT? Who does that? Certainly not me, I love my sleep.

The next morning we got up and had breakfast and then went swimming.. Kapri's current favorite thing!!





Sometimes I dread going camping, just because I hate doing all of the clean up. This time, we folded up our sleeping bags/blankets, took down the tent, and we were done!!

30 years.. now thats just crazy talk!!

I have a great friend, her name is Deana. She has parents (obviously) who are also great friends of our's. Gary and Dorothy. Now, they are not your every day couple. They RARELY (like almost NEVER) fight, and have this calm, go with the flow, nothin' gets their panties in a ruffle, relationship. Its refreshing.

They celebrated their 30th Wedding Anniversary in June, and Deana threw a HUGE party in honor of them. She pulled out all the stops: tons of food, lots of friends a BOUNCE HOUSE. This girl knows how to throw a party.



Did I mention it was a SURPRISE!! Nothin' beats pulling off a great surprise party. Deana asked me to capture all of the greatness in pictures. Sadly, I wasn't warned that they had arrived, and in my huge hurry to catch the looks on their faces, the first few pictures were blurry, Disappointing, but what can you do. I should've made 'em cover their eyes again and act surprised.. yep, should've. You wouldn't have known it was fake, except that I told you. Crap.






The bounce house was a HUGE success.

Addison wasn't so sure at first, but then warmed up to it.

Kapri LOVED it, and didn't want to get out.



When the time came to open presents I made sure I was front and center. A couple of weeks earlier we had a family reunion in Wyoming (I'll be getting around to sharing that with you soon, hopefully). Ever heard of the Steelers? You know, that pretty darn popular football team in Pittsburg?? Yeah, that one. Well, we're related to a guy that happens to play for them. Brett Keisel. Yep, he's totally my cousin. (So what if its like third cousin twice removed, or something crazy like that.) Anyhoo, the Matiyasics are CRAZY fans of this so called team, so I thought it only fitting to bring them something, or a few things, signed by him.

I think our football, sports cup (yes, the kind that protects your "junk", and I made sure to get it in the XL size to humor Brett) and a signed anniversary card were a big hit!! Pretty sure we were the coolest people there, maybe.



I took some pictures of the hot couple, and then decided to take a few of the whole family while we were there. They weren't very cooperative. In almost every picture, atleast one of them is looking off in to space. Come on, we're all adults. JUST LOOK AT THE CAMERA AND SMILE!!




I love these people!!


Way to pull off the party of the century D!!

P.S. You're hot!!

Here's to the next 30 years, Congratulations Gary and Dorothy!! I love ya more then my luggage!!