Ipson Reunion

Finally, the Ipson Reunion has been reinstated and was completely successful. We set the time and the place and the family showed up! This reunion is centered around Kevin's Grandpa Ipson since he would take his family up to Timid Springs on Beaver Mountain for his birthday, which is around the 24th of July. They would make ice cream and bring it up and hand crank it in the ice cream maker using the ice from the "ice caves" next to camp. His grandpa died when Kevin was almost 4 and the families tried to keep going but they stopped. I had never heard of the reunion and how sentimental it was until this year and that is why Kevin and I set the date and invited everyone to come. Not everyone showed up but hopefully those who missed this year will come next year. Kevin and I made ice cream on Saturday and we invited everyone who wanted to come to go get the ice from the ice caves. His aunt gave us some strawberries and so we made a batch of vanilla and one of strawberry and then we plugged our ice cream makers into a generator. The kids watched a movie since the generator was on until the ice cream was perfected! Obviously, Kevin enjoyed cleaning up the ice cream hopper. I dished it out throughout the afternoon since the family came at different times. We spent the weekend riding 4-wheelers, hiking, playing in the dirt, and enjoying the Ipson family. Mandy decided to double piggy back with KayDee and Samantha. Grandma sandwiched our kids on the 4-wheeler for a ride too. We also walked around the pond they shoot cans on to sink. We had bantered with Jerolyn to put her hand gun on her belt and told her we would take a picture if she put it on. She came back after a while with her gun on so we gathered everyone who was wearing a hand gun, and put a gun on some of those who were not, and took a picture. Oh the fun we have when we camp and while we are waiting for ice cream. On Sunday we went to the Junction ward in Circleville and Kevin's cousin was ordained to the priesthood after sacrament meeting. We were impressed at how large the bishop's office was. After, we went back to the Ipson home in Junction and had a potato bar dinner. Jerolyn had found some old photo albums and so we went through those, and she decided that Kevin looks a lot like an Ipson. Grandpa Ipson gave a real silver dollar to his grandma for their silver anniversary and I took a picture of it. It was even in the original paper that he folded it in to give to her and the date is 1922. The other picture that I took was of the house that Kevin's mom grew up in until her teen years. She says she has the most memories in that house.

Lomax Visits

We visited LeAnn for the first time since they moved to Las Vegas at her "temporary" apartment. They will be buying a home as soon as they find the right one... Anyways, the kids went swimming and it was really fun, even though the water was chilly. Samantha swam without floaters and Derrick and Mason were trading floaters with each other. Maryn was at home in the water and in contrast we got KayDee to swim around a bit. The drive was really great since we didn't have to go on I-15 through the mess of traffic. We went on I-215 which had stops since it isn't quite finished yet, but it is still really nice.
LeAnn came to our house a couple weeks later and the kids enjoyed our sprinklers and kiddie pool. We made pizza and picked really big zucchini that I forgot was growing and gave some to LeAnn. We also showed them our chickens and cows. The kids also requested to watch "Pop-Eye" so they laughed together for that too. We are so excited that they are close and we can do fun things together. Kevin has requested that we visit when he is around sometime too, so we will be visiting again soon!

Fancy Nancy at the Reunion

The Laub's have their family reunion over the 4th of July, so we are busy during this weekend. Kevin's cousin read the Fancy Nancy book to all the little girls and then had them dress up fancy for a fun party.
Derrick and KayDee rode on the barrel train hooked up to the 4-wheeler and Samantha rode a 3-wheeler by herself. Kevin's cousin only taught her to use 1st gear, which was a good thing because she likes to go fast!
The food was good. Kevin's cousin made lunch for everyone and then his grandma had dinner catered with dutch oven.
I played softball with most of the cousins and Kevin slept a lot since he was lacking sleep from the rodeo (he finishes each night around 1:00 am). They also played the "Deal or No Deal" game his aunt made.

Parade

Everyone was in the parade this year except for me and KayDee. Justin and Rachel drove the white brush fire truck and Kevin drove the red fire truck. Samantha and Derrick rode their bikes, which we decorated with Rachel's help. There was really no competition for candy this year, since all the kids collecting it were younger than KayDee. She brought her pink backpack to be sure to get enough for Samantha and Derrick. People threw candy, popcicles and fifty cent pieces.
Our town has some neat traditions for the Forth of July. Of course we have the Rodeo, and on the 4th the fire trucks drive up and down the street with their sirens on to alert everyone to come to the flag raising ceremony, which is followed by breakfast at the park. The breakfast is really good too, it includes pancakes, eggs and potatoes.

Rodeo

The rodeo has come again and the weather was exceptional this year. Usually we are watching in sweltering heat but this time it was overcast and threatening rain for the three days, dropping the temperature dramatically.
We did a fundraiser for the fire department by selling shirts. Rachel figured out how to do screen printing and we sold shirts we successfully screen printed by ourselves, super cool!
We made enough to host a better fundraiser. (I know, it's funny to fund raise to pay for another fundraiser.) We had to start somewhere.
The kids enjoyed the usual chicken chase and boot race. The most exciting event occurred when Kevin and I finally got to do the Donkey-Watermelon Race. It was something you just have to experience to understand. Just watching it is an experience, but we actually did it! Our donkey set off running immediately and we both fell off just as immediate. We then chased the animal across the whole arena and Kevin finally grabbed the rope and I grabbed a watermelon. Kevin then proceeded to plow the dirt as the donkey did not want to stop. I followed as he kept telling me to get on the moving animal. I just couldn't do it until he stopped the donkey in the fence. I made it on but the trick was to get Kevin on too, which did not happen and I fell off with the melon as it cracked but was still intact. He made that donkey go in circles as he pulled the rope to make it's head go into its shoulder. Finally, SOMEHOW we got on again right when someone crossed the finish line. There was still no chance for us to finish since our donkey had decided to go the opposite direction with no hope to turn it around. We were both happily exhausted and the watermelon was especially good.
Rachel took the donkey race pictures for us. She did great especially since everything moves pretty quick! Thanks Rachel!

Farewell Jeep

So the Jeep Grand Wagoneer has served us one last time. We just bought a 1999 Ford truck and used the Jeep as a trade in to make the price fit our budget. It is such a memory vehicle, since we brought Samantha home from the hospital in it and used it for our many adventures. It really was an awesome off-roader but as our life has changed in the past years, we must change cars too! Kevin finally understands this concept and he is very pleased with the truck. (I'll add the picture of the truck to this post when I get it.) We wanted the truck to pull the camper and it definitely does that.

8 1/2 Years Later

My family took pictures at a park next to the Timpanogas Temple, which is the same temple Kevin and I were married. We decided to take a quick picture before we hurried home (however you hurry 4 hours of pure drive). The sun was near setting so the lighting is awesome on the temple.

More Photographers

The kids wanted to take some pictures, so they took turns using the camera. They did pretty good I think.

Playing Photographer

I was able to take pictures for my friend Monica for her wedding. We went to SUU's campus and took her bridals and her kids and fiance came later to
take the rest of the pictures. I did take pictures during the ceremony and reception but they are yellowish because churches are yellow.
Monica likes her pictures and we had fun. I am by no means a professional but I do like it!
Everyone was dancing and having a great time at the reception. Kevin danced with his girls. I danced with Derrick whenever he would let me, he had a lot of little girls he needed to dance with. Kevin and I enjoyed the dancing as well and the memories of our own wedding made us smile. I guess that is what we are supposed to think of when we go to other people's weddings.

KayDee is 3!

KayDee is three and we are so excited. Time is flying and I am glad to say we are having fun. She had a fun little birthday. I curled her hair and took her picture next to the flowers and in the ladybug shirt (as requested) after breakfast (I was still in pjs). Then she had a friend come over for cake and to play. She requested spaghetti for dinner and Justin, Rachel and Grandma Laub enjoyed that and cake and ice cream with us. She adored all of her gifts. Thanks everyone! She is such a fun 3 year old.

Laub Family Picture

Kevin's family typically gets family pictures when babies are blessed. Baby Jaxon made this possible this time and it is a good thing because there are quite a few new members since the last one 3 years ago. I love how the 2 year olds each wrapped their arms around their mom's necks! Kevin's family is growing!

Ice Cream Beards

Samantha received coupons for free ice cream to Iceberg from her school and she shared with her brother and sister. They each received a very tall, wide cone and started licking but they melted quick. I'm glad I didn't get one because I ended up with my fair share just controlling the drips. I can't imagine how bad it would have been if it had been 100 degrees like our normal June's are.

Party In Vegas

My niece had her birthday at the end of may and they happened to be visiting in Vegas so we went to her party. Maryn turned 2 and had a pink elephant party. The kids played at the park, did a pink elephant pinata, and had cake. I took a picture of the kids pretty quick and then saw all the adults lined up taking pictures so I just couldn't resist getting their picture as well. The kids loved the massive frosting balloons, and there were just enough for each of them from the cake.

Escargo Anyone?

This is one of the disgusting things we have to do when we garden. Kevin noticed there were several snails on one side of the garden, so we grabbed a drink bottle and started collecting. The kids had already been collecting snails during the spring but it was nothing like this. They must have just finished hybernating! We just didn't stop finding them, and they completely filled the bottle as you can see. DISGUSTING! Love the lable "Focus". There had to be over a hundred snails in there! The picture merely proves that we filled a 1 quart bottle completely with snails.
We use the bottles because we were told that snails eggs can still hatch after the snail is killed, so we put them in bottles with a lid and throw them away.

Eagle Rock

We found an amazing new campsite! We have been down most of the dirt roads around our house and we were surprised to find an amazing campsite. There was plenty of soft sand for kids to play in, the camp was surrounded by gorgeous red rock and had many places to explore or hike! The dog loved it too! We cleaned the site up so the next time we go there will be a lot less garbage. I just don't understand people trashing perfectly GREAT campgrounds! As we hiked around we found the rock that looked like an eagle's head and as a family we decided to call the place Eagle Rock.Derrick enjoyed catching things in his net and hauling it around. We had to convince him to discard the trash.Samantha loved hiking all around by herself and with the dog and we could see her from our campground. We had to keep reminding her to not worry about the dog and make sure she kept herself safe when hiking. She did really well.KayDee was okay as long as no bugs were around, otherwise we'd hear about it and have to hold her until she recovered. It is hard to help her recognize that she is bigger than they are and she can just squish them! She loved the soft sand.

Couple Get Away

Kevin and I were able to have a little get away and we were really grateful since it just doesn't happen often. We stayed in a really old hotel and merely had an experience there (next time we'll upgrade). We went to the temple and walked in the Virgin River. We're real party animals! The river was so fun and deep. The current was difficult to walk against and the bottom was always unexpected! I love that we can have so much fun together and do such simple things! It was also nice to go to the temple and not have to rush home to the kids.
As always, we were grateful to get home to the kids at the end of our stay. Kevin's mom and sister did such a great job with babysitting them. We are so happy they could do that for us! Thank you!

Aesop's Fables

The first grade put on the program Aesop's Fables and Samantha had two parts. She did really well and we could understand her. She was a lion in Androcles and the Lion and also part of AEIOU.