My First Birthday (29 years ago, today)

Kiki the Cat

I’m allergic to cats. Joe’s allergic to cats. Three neighbor girls brought a cute little orange and black-striped, not-quite-a-kitten-anymore, cat to my house to see if we wanted it. I took it, and we kept it, until we got rid of it when we found out Jared is also allergic to cats.

I knew, genetically speaking, that might happen. I thought a little sneezing, coughing, and runny eyes a small price to pay to create lots of good cat memories like mine – dressing my cat Tiger in doll clothes and pushing him in a stroller, cutting his whiskers off, watching my dad dropkick my cat Susannah out the back door and over the deck like a football (after she dug her claws into his flesh in three solid straight red lines from his wrist halfway to his elbow) – okay, maybe not memories exactly like mine, but still, memories.

Jared, however, went beyond the usual allergy and straight to the extreme – I can’t breath because my airways are closing off – allergy. We took Jared to the doctor for a breathing treatment (which helped) and experienced a rough night of Jared crying to us to please give Kiki the cat to a new home if it would help him breathe.

We tried to give the cat away the next day, unsuccessfully, but finally found a place for her a few days later. I admit it’s not quite the cat memory I hoped for, but at least it’s a memory I’m sure my kids won’t forget.

Happy 10th Anniversary!

Joe and I celebrated our tenth anniversary this year and Joe turned 34 on Monday. Happy Birthday! I put together a slide show highlighting some favorite memories to celebrate both occasions! (If you click on View All Images it will take you to a site where you can click on gallery view which makes the pictures bigger and the slideshow faster - at least it should.)

Saurey Family Reunion

We went up to Rexburg for the Saurey Family Reunion last weekend. We loved seeing our family and enjoyed canoeing down the Snake River; tummy-tickling, I’m-up-higher-than-it-looked-from-below bridge jumping (according to Joe’s mom, 50 years old is about the right age to stop jumping, so I’ve got 20 good years left to enjoy it); roasting hot dogs on a sand bar and torpedoing into the water (you’ll see what I mean in the video below); and all of this in just the first day.

We also got to have a big sleepover with almost the whole family at Arlene’s house (our family slept on the trampoline) before boating, tubing and water skiing at Gem Lake. And then, of course, we ate a lot of delicious food. I can’t describe a Saurey reunion without describing some of the food: Dutch oven chicken (lemon and teriyaki) and potatoes at Pat and Brent’s, a deluxe breakfast of pancakes, sausages and eggs at Arlene’s, and yummy hoagies from Joe’s mom and Holly. We had a great time eating, playing hard and seeing everyone!

Sandbar Torpedos

Canoeing down the Snake River

Jewkes Family Reunion

We enjoyed seeing our family at the Jewkes Family Reunion held at Heber Valley Camp: We climbed up, swung on, and went through ropes at a challenge course; paddled boats; watched the kid’s jump rope; celebrated two upcoming marriages with a girl’s night/surprise shower; listened to touching and funny family stories; and had a great FHE. We loved it!

For our first ropes challenge, Jared tree-climbed 30 feet

wrapped his arm around the tree trunk and hooked two carabiners to a wire (with one hand!)

wobbled 20 feet across a tight rope connected to another tree

He looks a little worried

and then rappelled down to solid ground

I went next. When I finished, Jared asked me if I got scared. I said, "Yes." “Me, too,” he replied. I’m proud of my brave boy.

Rachel's Conversation With Jake

The other day Rachel answered the phone for me so I could finish reading a story to Brock. I listened to her answer the phone and heard her squeal: “Jake,” as she ran up the steps to her bedroom. I couldn’t believe we got a call from Joe’s brother Jake in Iraq. I figured Rachel would soon bring the phone to me so I didn’t mind her taking a minute to talk to her Uncle and brag about how Brock had on his “Big Boy Underpants.” She soon brought the phone to me and I felt puzzled when she told me Jake would call Dad at work and that he’d hung up without saying hello to me.

Joe called me a few minutes later to tell me he just got an interesting phone call. Jake from Jake’s Automotive, the place we took our car to be checked out, had just called to let Joe know what work needed to be done on our car. Jake also mentioned that he called our house and spoke to our daughter before telling Joe, “You must know someone special named Jake. I think your daughter really loves him. Congratulations on those Big Boy Underpants.”

Jim and Liz come to Utah

Jim, Liz, Aidan and Lauren came from Michigan for a visit. We always try to fit as much fun as we can into their once (sometimes twice) a year visits. We rode the Ferris Wheel at the Strawberry Days carnival; watched my cousin B.K. chase after a cow in the cow milking event at the Rodeo (unfortunately the rope around his cow came untied at the beginning of the event and chasing after the cow is pretty much all we saw B.K. do –he did it well, though, he never gave up); helped evolution along by burying and flooding several plastic dinosaurs at the Dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving point; splashed around in the water pooling under Bridal Veil Falls; and, especially enjoyable for the children, started a swim-then-eat-a-popsicle tradition at Grandma’s house.

We love every chance we get to visit with Jim and Liz and watch their kids play: Aidan and all his energy, and who can resist Lauren’s smile? I can’t.

Goblin Valley

We traveled to Goblin Valley last weekend with our friends. I experienced three new things: playing night games, “Name that Show,” and seeing a scorpion.

For 2 ½ days we climbed up or slid down jutting goblin, dinosaur and ship-shaped sandstone, explored and made scary sounds in caves, and wove in and out of slot canyons at Wild Horse. On our third and final night, after celebrating our two friends’ birthdays by eating dutch oven cobblers, we watched the sunset fade and the north star appear and then headed to the valley of the goblins to play night games: kick the can (a new game for me) and sardines.

We set a lantern on the ground and the can a couple feet away and then one person tried to catch the other 17 people hiding in the shadows and sand before they ran out and kicked the can over. After hiking around in 90 degree weather during the day, the cool night air gave some relief to my strawberry and cream splotched skin (I need to learn to apply sunscreen more evenly, apparently). We played one short game of sardines before heading back to camp after midnight.

I don’t remember lines from movies very well, I discovered, as I tried to play, “Name that Show.” I eventually came up with a movie line: “Once there was a magical place where it never rained. The end.” Can you name that show?

I quote three more lines to test your movie prowess.

1. It’s not that bad. Well, I’m not saying I’d like to build a summer home here but the trees are quite lovely.

2. I hate to be rude, but we’re French!

3. Mrs. M, this corn is simply scrumptious. Is it hand-shucked?

On our last day, as Joe and I took the tent down, two lizards flew out from under the bottom of our tent and a half-dollar sized scorpion scuttled out too! I’m glad we found all these creatures under our tent instead of inside our tent. Our group gathered around to look at the scorpion and several of us, including me, screamed when it started moving towards us. One little boy backed up and tripped over our bagged tent and fell over. I didn’t know scorpions move fast like lizards!

We loved our trip: the games, spending time with our friends in such a beautiful, although hot, valley, and we even survived sharing space with lizards and scorpions!