Charity Event Tomorrow Afternoon!

Ever thought of helping someone a little less fortunate out? Well now is your chance. One of my co-workers best friends wife (did you get that?) Julie Neff, a 33-year old mother of two (ages 4 and 8 months), was recently diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer. She was told that the cancer had spread to her spine and ovaries and that there would be no cure, giving her approximately two years to live.
There are few treatment options available and her family needs a miracle in order to save her life. Julie wants nothing more than to raise her beautiful children and grow old with her husband. She is determined to overcome this life-and-death struggle, but she needs your help. Julie is currently undergoing treatment that has left her tired and frail, and the medical bills are staggering. Together we can help her combat this terrible disease and give her peace of mind while she fights for her life.
To meet her financial needs we are raising money in order to provide her with the treatment that she requires.
A fundraiser will be held on August 29, 2009 in Riverton, UT. There will be a raffle, games, food and more. The more people attend, the more money we can raise to help this young family.
August 29, 2009 from 10 AM to 5 pm
Dr. Roi Hardy Park (12400 S 1200 W)
Riverton, UT

Florida

The Colley family reunion was held in Florida this year and my Aunt Renee’s house. We had tons of fun seeing our family, and it had been years since I had seen some of my cousins! Casey was once again missed on this vacation…he did summer school and couldn’t miss…promise Ill take you on a fabulous vacation when you are done honey!!!
We were meeting up in Jacksonville but decided to fly in a couple days early so we could hit up one of the parks. We met up with My Aunt Sonya’s family (my aunt Sonya passed away 1 year and a half ago from pancreatic cancer) as neither Ashley or Adam had been to Florida, we learned that they had never been on a rollercoaster and literally feared them…so we went to Sea World, and had the time of our lives!!! We got there 20 minutes before the Park even opened and were literally the last ones to leave the park! It was so fun…and HOT…and not once did we not have a smile on our faces! We really went to EVERY ‘show’ the park offered, and even saw Shamu twice – they had a rad “Shamu Rocks” show at night with fireworks, it seriously was amazing! As much as I am in love with Shamu, I could never dive into the tank with him…scary!


My brother Bruce, my little sister Alyssa and I did ride the rides Sea World had to offer though…and we were not disappointed AT ALL! They were tons of fun…we did however, finally convience Adam (who is 13) to ride the last ride of the night with us…The poor things was horrified and I honestly thought he was going to cry (or puke) as we sat on the coaster with our feet dangling making our way to the top…But he survived and Uncle Joe just had to buy the $25 dollar picture of the 4 of us as Adam face was in pure shock, freaking hilarious! Good times were had!
The next morning we packed our stuff up and headed up to Jacksonville where the true fun would start…The last 2 years this family had spent our times together attending Aunt Sonya’s and Grandpa’s funerals, so this time, it was nice to see each other in “high spirits” if you know what I mean.
We really didn’t need to spend much money on this vacation as Aunt Renee has a great setup at her house…18 people stayed in her house and the 6 in our family stayed in a hotel down the street, she has a swimming pool in her backyard and then they have 200 yard dock/walkway that takes you out to the Intercoastal Waterway where you could fish…the site from her back patio is breath taking. Here is a picture I took of Alyssa on the dock, just so you can image!

Hours were had in the pool and roasting mallows next to it, to the point where Adams toe started bleeding from rubbing across the bottom of the pool too much…haha!

The boys and Bruce and Zea enjoyed a day long deep sea fishing trip and caught 3 nights worth of dinner for us! I had to skip out on this activity as I found my deep fear for the dark open ocean while in Cancun early this year…no thanks!
We also went to the coolest bar EVER…yes, I did say bar…look at the place – you order appetizers and drinks and play virtual golf! Every single person had fun here as Marks family are HUGE golfers! Guess who won? Yep, my parents!!!


This is by far my favorite picture as this is where most of us "cousins" spent our time...

This is where we would fish in the early morning, but when the tide went down as waterway was left empty with pure mud (obviously) where we are standing, there were hundreds and hundreds of little crabs everywhere! They kept us so entertained! Sorry you pure animal lovers...but we would pick the crab up and throw as hard as we could into the mud and just sit there and wait for it to make its way back up - it was hilarious! Mean right? No...they could get out, they were just stick at first! My older brother Bruce thought it would be "So funny" to jump into the mud, we swayed him otherwise and told him to just try one leg first to make sure he would be able to get out...(that is him doing this in the picture)and sure enough, he could harldy get his leg out as it suction-cuped him!
I unfortunately got diaper rash on my face while there – not really, but that is what it felt like! I got dermatitis on my face, neck and chest the day after we went to Sea World. Dermatitis is caused by intense exposure to extreme heat and humidity for a long period of time – do you think 13 hours in 109 degree + humidity weather counts? I think so – Dermatitis is often confused with Heat Rash and is much worse than heat rash – great! It looked like I had tiny blisters all over my face and I itched like CRAZY!!! It was awful and made for a ‘no-tanning’ week for me, but that’s okay, I still had fun – I still had it when I got home though, the dermatologist promptly knew what it was and told me it can take between 2 and 4 weeks for it to heal – bummer! And sure enough…3 weeks later, it was gone! Other than having diaper rash on the face, we had an amazing time and learned a lot about my family – want in on a little secret? I am the canasta queen, and NEVER play scrabble with my family, they will waste you!

Yellowstone

While my grandparents were in town, my dad and I took them on a little weekend trip to Yellowstone. I haven’t been there in quite a few years, so it was fun to go again. The drive there and back was even entertaining as your scenery is all pastors or crops – my grandparents loved every second of the view.
As we entered Yellowstone, not even 5 minutes in, we saw this HUGE nest and Bald Eagle! It was beautiful, I gained a love for this animal from my other Grandpa who passed away not too long ago and I couldn’t help of think of how excited he would have been to see it. He would have been so proud that I spotted it and hurried out to get a picture (don’t you think Carrie?).
We drove the lower loop of Yellowstone so they could see “Old Faithful” - Papa wasn’t too impressed with Old Faithful, as we were told it should last between 3 and 5 minutes, and it only lasted about 30 seconds…hahaha! Too funny! Grandma however, just absolutely enjoys seeing new things and doesn’t care if it is lame or not, what a good reminder!



The scenery was so beautiful and felt so good to just drive with the windows down and enjoy it! We pulled over in just about every pull-out possible just to “look” and we were always grateful for doing it, not once were we disappointed!


My favorite scenic stop was this…

It made me homesick for Casey, but this lake was stunning and I all I wanted to do was JUMP IN!
When I was doing some research on Yellowstone, trying to find some fun and different things to do, I found that right outside the entrance to Yellowstone and just 2 blocks from our hotel was The Grizzly and Wolf Discover Center – sweet buddy! This place was awesome! And if you have older kids, I highly recommend it! The switch the bears out twice a day and every evening before they switch in the new ones, the get a group of about 20 kids and let them go into the bears ‘cage’ and hide their food. Then they let the bears out and we all get to watch them try to find their food. I seriously sat there and watched for about a hour and could have stayed longer. Then they have an exhibit inside with stuffed bears and it tells you the story of each one. It is kind of sad but so interesting! You need to go!

"I think I could be a Mormon"

I remember the day I entered the MTC (just over 5 years ago, sheesh, that is crazy) and being so excited to go and teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those who may or may have not ever heard of it before. I cried saying goodbye to my sweet family as I walked through the "Missionarie Here" door, and the departed through the "Families Exit Here" door - I didnt have a doubt in my mind that I was doing the right thing, but boy was I going to miss them! 2 minutes later, I walked out the doors to go find my room and guess who I saw? My Casey! My fears quickly faded and he had to quickly remind me that I couldnt hug him! BUMMER! Anyway, its nice to see a familiar face at a moment like that. I walked in and met my "companion" where I quickly learned that I was got to have 2 while in the MTC - I loved these girls, and learned so much from them - Later we met our District whom would all be leaving to Texas with us and that same day, ond Elder shared with us that he was the only 'member' in his family...another missionary said "How did that happen? How come you haven't converted them yet?" I chimed in and said "It's not as easy as you think, sharing your beliefs with your family." The dear Elder who was the only member, quickly agreed with me while the questioning Elder gave me a huge look of dissatisfaction and disgust.
I will never forget that conversation. And for those of you who were born into the convenant, that may be hard for you to believe. But each of us are put here under different circumstances and I truly beileve that one of my tests was to 'teach' what I can by example and faith to my non-member family and pray that one day, they too will see the "light".
Now, my mom was baptized when she was 16 with her mom and dad who asked a missionary (Govenor Levitt) to come to their Bible Study group to help them with some questions about the Bible. He and his companion came, and soon enough - a deep admiration came for this missionary. Soon enough, the entire bible study group was converted along with my mom.
My dad never did get baptized, he doesnt really believe in organized religion, and I respect that. His parents, Papa and Grandma Shirley have gone between the Baptist congregation and Luthern congregation, stayed put for the duration of the preachers stay and then found a new one. The only time they had been in a LDS church, was when I was baptized.
They came to visit last month!

It was SO good to see them, I love hugging my PAPA, it is so sincere. I love his eye and hand wrinkles that show years and years of hard work out in the pasture and field - It makes me smile just thinking of him. I suggested that we go down to Temple square as it was my Grandma's first visit to Utah and she said "I would love to see the Temple" - So we went, we walked around the Visitors Center, took a picture in front of the Temple and I answered questions as they asked, (I am not one to give more information than is necessary, nor do I push anything upon anyone) - They asked wonderful questions about what goes on in side of the Temple, why did Joseph Smith and Brigahm Young not like each other at first, ect - I loved answering their questions. It made more sense to them as we had spent the day before touring the Oquirrah Mountain Temple. I cup was filled as they asked and then pondered...I cant wait to send them the beautiful picture I took of them holding hands at the reflecting pool with the Temple in the background and explaining the symbolism to them! What a great evening that was!
I didnt know what they really thought at the end of the day, until we were driving home from Yellowstone and my Grandma started asking me about my mission, I told her wonderful stories, good ones and bad ones...At the end of the conversation, she said she was going to look up at home to see where the closest "Mormon Church" was to her and go check it out - So I had to tell her that our church isnt the same as the ones that she has, and explained the order or events and how we have different speakers each week, she thought that was very neat. I continued to tell her about Relief Society and how much I love it and what goes on in there - She ended the conversation with "I think I would really like Relief Society, I think I could be a Mormon!" My heart was so full, and my eyes filled with tears. I put my hand on her knee and said "So do I." Next year Casey and I are going down to Nacadoches Texas, where we will attend church with them...I cant wait to see what happens!

HELP!!! Be a Sponsor!!!

My darling little sister made the Volleyball team at Hillcrest High School and we need your help! I know things are tight for everyone right now, but if you know ANYONE that would be willing to help, please let them know!
Each player has the task of obtaining at least 2 player/team sponsorships for the 2009-2010 Volleyball team. The sponsorship fee is $300 and includes a banner (ir it is a company sponsorship) of your company that will be on display in the Hillcrest gym during the ENTIRE school year. Please let us know if you are interested or if you know of someone who may; we only have till Sunday! The donation can be paid via check (payable to Hillcrest High School) and Alyssa and I will be happy to stop by and pick it up!
There is also a 5 question form that you need to fill out (one of which asking how you want your business displayed) and other simple questions. Please call me at 801-953-8761 if you are interested!
Thanks!!!

Birthday Fun.

Don’t worry…I am still catching up on our July festivities. We also celebrated my 26th birthday!!! I never have been scared of growing old or getting wrinkles that just add to my life story. But for some reason, “26” just isnt the same as “25” – I feel like I am actually growing up (yes, it did take me this long to figure it out). But I feel like I look in the mirror all too often now and try to see if any new wrinkles have shown up around my eyes…seriously, what is wrong with me? Casey thinks I am crazy, I think I just need to get over it and get back to my “wrinkles add charchter and add to my life story” feelings…hmmm we’ll see. However, besides the fact that I actually notice my ‘smile’ wrinkles now – whats the big deal about getting old? I recently wrote in my jornal about (now this is just how I feel), if I don’t have any regrets about what I do today, another day older shouldn’t have an impact on me. Do you agree? I honestly think that is true…Live today and a new adventure will begin tomorrow. I am so blessed for the many AMAZING things that I have already got to do and experience. The heartbreaks that have happened within my family has only made us closer and more aware of the love we have for each other. I cant wait for Casey and I to start having kids and share our grand adventures with them! I hope they think they are as “Grand” as we do!
Well, like the past 2 years, my work summer party fell on the same night as my birthday…some may get annoyed with this, but I actually enjoy it. I love and respect so many in my company that spending that evening with them made it even better. This year we went to Clarks Planatarium. We ate dinner, mingled and enjoyed one of the shows…cant remember what it was called, but we had tons of fun…especially wearing these:

HAHA -
Anyway, I came home before the party and was welcomed with this beatuiful bouqet of flowers...Casey always gets beautiful ones!

The next morning Casey made me a small breakfast in bed (although he does this every Sunday anyway) and later in the afternoon we headed out to Tucanos - our little family ritual for birthdays! So delicious!

Dauber Larder

So we moved into our home a little over a year ago now, and when we bought it, construction on it wasnt complete. So we got to go "blue tape" anything on the house that we wanted them to fix...I had noticed from day 1 that in our entryway to our front door that there was some stucco that appeared as if it had not been smoothed out - I didnt think much about it, in fact, I forgot to even mention it to get fixed...Well, a year later...(this happened in July) I was out watering my plants and while doing so, I thought about this uneven piece of stucco and how I wished our ladder wasnt being borrowed so I could go up and chip it off or something. Anyway, I went into the entryway and noticed that this 'little piece of uneven stucco' was now about 3 times it was the last time I got a real good look at it...what the???

So, I went and got Casey to get his opinion on this abnormal growth on our home. (Keep in mind that we didnt have our ladder) - he got the garage broom and started poking at the "stucco" to see if it would just fall off - Hmmm...the front of the bottom half chipped right off, and to my dismay, dozens and dozens of these little black things started falling out of "THE GROWTH" - Casey very calmly but frantically began brushing them off of him as he was standing right under it when he busted it open - "What it is it?" I very worriedly asked him. "Umm, nothing dont worry about it - why dont you just go finish packing the car and Ill finish this up" was his reply. (we were on our way to go camping) - "Casey, what is it?!?" I asked him again, obviously knowing that he didnt want to tell me..."They are all dead spiders he said!"
Pardon my language, but WHAT THE HELL???
I was absolutly disgusted. I hate spiders and have to this day, not seen one inside our home (thankfully). So naturally I got all freaked out, wondering what in the crap was collecting dead spiders and putting them in this fake stucco thing above my door. In my mind I was thinking it was going to be some nasty ace BIG spider, but really had no idea. Freaking SICK!!! Anyway, like I mentioned above, we were on our way to go camping with some friends and didnt have time to do much more. So Casey got the bug spray and sprayed the crap out of the entry-way and hosed off all the dozens of mini spiders off the porch before we left.

Anyway...of course I did my home work when we returned and guess what it really was?
A DAUBER LAUDER...do you know what that is, or have you even ever heard of that? Yeah, thats what I thought!
But guess what? It really isnt as nasty as you think it is...I was actually pleasently surprised to find out that I have a dear friend wasp (A known fact, that this type of wasp is a friendly wasp) that I have named "Nectar".
Nectar, you see is a mud dauber lauder. Nectar is a female and she is known to construct a mud nest, then she goes in search of spiders to fill the chambers of her mud nest with. Flower spiders tend to compose the majority of her prey. She stings those disgusting spiders that I hate SO BAD! and paralyze it - she doesnt kill the spider out right BC then it will start to rot right away. Instead, she just paralyzes the spider, which keeps them FRESH. Then, she carries it to the nest where depending on the size of the spider, she will place up to 2 dozen of them in each of chambers (there are about 20 champbers in each nest)and then she'll lay an egg on them, cap the tube off with more mud and start stocking the next tube. The egg hatches and the baby wasp eats the paralyzed spiders as it grows. Then, come around fall, it pupates and waits for spring, at which time in finishes, pops out of the nest and goes and finds its mother. - Kind of interesting huh?
***I have mixed feelings about my new friend Nectar. I still have half of her nest above my door...dont worry, its empty. I was hoping she would come back and lay her next egg there, but it has been a month now, and I havent seen her.
Its gross that I had a collection of paralyzed spiders above my entryway to my house, but at the same time, Nectar killed dozens and dozens and dozens of spiders for me and has kept me happy in my spider free home and quite frankly - I have only maybe seen a couple spiders on the out skirts of my home thanks to her. Oh well...I guess the remains of her hard work where she was hoping to 'birth' her children will have to come down now. (So dont worry)!
Thanks Nectar for your hard work and I am sorry to distroy the home you worked so hard to build to shelter your little ones.

And so it is...

Casey and I stayed up until 2:00 this morning laughing and watching movies...I love just laying in his arms! I couldn't help but think of the 18 years of memories that we have together. How often does someone really marry their best friend? 3 years ago this week, Casey purposed to me here...(just up on those steps!)

I know you have an incredibly long day today honey, but you still look hot with puffy eyes!

**4th of July**

The 4th of July is by far my favorite holiday, it never ceases to diappointment me! This year marked our 1 year anniversary in our new home! I am so glad we moved into this house. We have the best neighbors and have made some of the sweetest friends!
Our community does a huge 4th of July BBQ and Movie and had set up some different activites for the kids to do...Casey and I only hung out for about 45 minutes with Candice and Jeff and my two favorite kiddos in the whole world, Addison and Raegan and then went home to kick off our own BBQ with my family!

Casey and I.
We had a seriously good BBQ! Nothing better than Burgers and too many side dishes!


This picture is more for you to see what our backyard looked like in July(well, you cant really tell - Its pure dirt and a bunch of weeds...Casey is making some serious progress on it, we hope to have the backyard done by the end of the month!...pictures to come!

After we ate, we headed down to Thanksgiving Point and enjoyed qute the impressive firework show! And, it was SOOOO long!

My family!

Our good friends Candice and Jeff with Raegan (Im pretty sure Addison was loving on Casey at this moment)

Bruce, Alyssa and Zea playing the "Belly Laugh" game.

Dad, Mom and Alyssa.

Kicken off the 4th!

We started the needed LOOOONNNGGG 4th of July weekend off by going to Hollie and Russ’ family cabin down south. We had tons of fun…even sleeping in the back of the Xterra! Everyone else either slept in the Cabin or out in their tents, but seeing that we were the only ones without little ones, Casey and I toughed it out with the seats down and changing in the car with the windows down!
Right when we got there, Casey of course wanted to jump right on the 4-wheelers and head out, which is exactly what we did – I love sitting on the back with the wind and dirt in my hair and eyes! – There really is no sarcasm in that comment, I have always been known as the one that enjoys to get dirty while camping! Oh, and Casey always thinks it is hilarious to go off these jumps, where I swear one day I will be thrown off the back…until then, I will let him enjoy doing so!

Casey and I.
That night we had each prepared a tin foil dinner, Casey did ours. We had steak and amazingly flavored potatoes - nice work babe, it was delicious!

Casey's dad Kendall.
But before dinner, Casey and Hollie needed to take some of the kiddos that wanted to on a quick ride before we headed back out!

- I hate to tell ya, but I truely think Casey is one of little Kendall's favorite people! I think this picture is adorable!

Hollie and Britta.
As we were waiting for our tin foil dinners to be cooked, Hollie and Kristen and Casey and I took off for another ride - It was beautiful watching the sunset and exploring tight trails...At one point we saw this sheep dog just starring at us, it was so bizzare...little did we know and soon found out, that he was rounding up the straggeling sheep to get them back with the herd! A little later we ran in to where hundreds of hundreds of sheep were resting and the two other sheep dogs - i was quite impressed with these smart dogs and their ability to take control of ALL those sheep! However, we could tell that those old dogs were quite diappointed in us as we drove through their herd and becuase of the loud noise the 4-wheelers were making, were scattering the sheep in all different directions...I felt bad for those hard working dogs, oh well. At one point we were on this really narrow path and had to stop becuase of all the sheep in front of us, as we sat there dozens of sheep starting jump from the bushes in front and behind us - they were paniced that we were going to hurt them, it was kind of sad. I didnt have a camera with me and I wish I had becuase of how funny the situation really was...but as Casey and I were leaving the next morning, we saw this...

Now, this picture really doesnt do it justice...but imagin like 5 times this many sheep and being on a 4 foot wide dirt path with them EVERYWHERE!!! It was hilarious!
Anyway, Casey had fun with the bow and arrows showing off his mad skills and killing us all at darts - its funny those little things you find out that your spouse is good at the longer you are together - I was impressed! He was like25 yards away from a bush and put a Dr. Pepper can in the bush and would just nail it with his arrow!

It was a nice 2 day camping trip filled with good eats, card games, one too many roasted mallows and lots of 4-wheeling!
Thanks Hollie and Russ for the fun getaway!

Tuachan!

July has gone by WAY to fast! It is by far my favorite month for MANY reasons…There is nothing better that sitting on a hand made fourth of July quilt watching fireworks, for not just 1 night, but 3. The barbeques with family and friends, my birthday, laying out by the pool and the unexpected “trip” that gets thought out a couple of months a head of time, but always falls in July!
With that said, I better start updating as I feel as if I will never get caught up!
So, I will start with Tuachan...
I was finally able to experience the annual “Edwards” Tuachan trip down in St. George. This is something that Caseys mom Pam, her sister Peggy and Grandma Zenda started 10 years ago. From those 3 families all the girls get together and leave on Wednesday night and come home on Sunday. I did however, get to bring my little sister Alyssa with me and I was glad she got to come! We spent the weekend shopping, seeing “My Sister’s Keeper” (not a good show to see when you just watched someone go through that by the way!), laying out by the pool and eating!
Grandma has a house down in St. George that we all stay in and then she buys each of a ticket to see both of the Tuachan plays that are showing. The two shows this year were Footloose and Annie! They were so good and totally entertaining! I must admit, I liked Annie better. I was totally impressed with the little girls and their acting! Plus, Annie was one of my favorite shows growing up! Thanks Grandma for the fun weekend!



Hmmm...how is it, that I didnt get any pictures of the WHOLE gang when that was going down? Member when Aunt Peg very casually asked me "is that how you are going?" cause i didnt get all dolled up for the annual Tuachan picture? That was hilarious! Maybe that is why I didnt get one! HAHAHA!