Outdoors!

Our Family has spent more time outdoors this summer and its been fun! Here are some pictures of the great outdoors!

On our way to 5 mile pass (out pass Eagle Mountain) my in-law's motorhome broke down. So here is Brooklyn standing in the middle of no where! We threw rocks and took a long walk along the side of the road before we were able to move on and get to 5 mile pass to ride motorbikes.

Randy (my father in law all decked out in the motocross attire) and Jerry (good friend of the family from Arizona) went and gathered wood for the fire for some yummy BBQ hotdogs and smores!

Vanessa (Jerry's wife) and Brooklyn enjoying the nice night. Vanessa has the cutest home I have ever seen and if you ever want to see a way nice house with the most amazing decoration, her house is the place to see. So look her up if ever you are in Mesa! Matt and I have asked her to help decorate our home in the future when we have the money to decor (if we ever will hahaha). She is actually an interior decorator and great dance teacher. She taught for many years and sold her business which was very successful! 

Can't have a BBQ without the yummy smores! Matt's mom, Dena, brought Nutella instead of the normal hershey bars for the chocolate! I LOVE NUTELLA! Nutella is a creamy chocolate hazelnut spread...MMMMM! The first time I ever had nutella was when I was in Athens, Greece. They serve nutella for breakfast every morning! It's good on pancakes, bread, sandwiches, etc. Soooo good! I brought some home thinking they didn't have it here in America. I told my mom about this great stuff and she said, Oh, they sell at the stores here. I was like... what! I thought I was bringing home some great thing America didn't have! I guess I like it way more than others do or else Americans would be using it in every meal! I posted a picture so you can see what I am talking about... maybe you are one of the few that might have thought only Greece had this! hahahaha

A couple of weeks ago my friend Cindy invited us to have a BBQ up Millcreek Canyon. We had hotdogs, hamburgers, salads, and SMORES! We love this thing called BBQing!  Doesn't Brooklyn look so cute all crouched down and focused on roasting her marshmellow?

Daddy and Brooklyn roasting more marshmellows! Matt is so sweet with Brooklyn. There is not a day that goes by that Matt doesn't say, "Shari... I just LOVE Brooklyn. She is so cute!". We really do love her sooooo much and just love spending time with her and watching her learn new things. She is one heck of a sweet daughter... We love you Sweet Angel!

So there was a pretty waterfall and stream in the background... as you can tell it didn't show up in the picture. Brooklyn had so much fun that night! She loves being outdoors! Half of the time we were around the campfire the smoke seemed to chasing Brooklyn and I around wherever we sat, it does that ya know and its pretty annoying...Brooklyn started saying, "Mom, I don't like a smoke.... I don't like a smoke...", so cute, I just love how she talks.  I don't know what it is but I seem to attract the unwanted things such as the smoke and oh then there are mosquitos! I (excuse my language) HATE mosquitos! They LOVE me but I do not love them. I dunno what the darn silly heck makes them come after me but it can't be the way my blood taste to them because then why would have them come near me in the first place? Do I have some kind of aroma they like? Well I don't like it! Stay away from me Mosquitos! Go bother someone else who never gets bit! :) 

 

I thought I'd add this one in. I stole it from my brother's blog. On the 24th of July Matt and I got together with my brothers Cody and Matt and their family and had a BBQ and lit some fireworks. Mom, Dad and Adam were out of town in Colorado for Adam's baseball tourn. (He played well by the way). Cam and Amie live in St. George so that was too far for them to come up for just the BBQ of course. It was a relaxing but fun night! 

Part 3

Part 3.... I guess it can always be part 4 and 5 and 6 after this blog entry... cause there are always new things to post about so this is the last time I will name the post as "part...." Anyways...

On July 3rd my newest niece was born... Addison Joree Kelsch. She came one month early and surprised everyone! She actually tried to make a few grand entrances in the weeks before and she some how tricked us all and joined the Kelsch bunch early! She is the smallest of all the babies I have seen with my eyes being 4 lbs 13 oz and 16 1/2 inches long! You can't tell in the picture above but she has CUTE curly strawberry blonde hair! We are all so happy and excited for Cody and Kristin, it's their first! We love you Addie!

Helloooo didn't ya know? It's the 4th of July! That's why I am all decked out in red, white and blue with my country flag! I am proud to be an American and grateful for my radio flyer tricycle!

Let's party! Let the good times roll!

On the 4th of July, we got lucky and were able to attend the Bee's Game! Maybe that's not the lucky part, but the lucky part is my sister in law's brother, Beau, surprised with signed baseballs, noise makers, seats behind the home plate and the opportunity to go through the players tunnel and into their dugout and out on the field for fireworks! We weren't expecting all that hype and fun at all! We had so much fun playing on the field and watching the fireworks!

Beau Jaxson.... Need I say more?  HaHaHa... My nephew baby rambo Jaxson and his new friend Beau! Jaxson really wants some of that Dew! Beau has a friend who plays on the Bees Team and he actually is the one who hooked us up with all the fun! Thanks Beau and friend!

My sister in law, Sarah, who is Beau's sister. Sarah's looking smoking hot!

Superstar Danny! Let's get a dance from you!

Danny and Loni were in town for a few weeks and it was good to see them! We were able to have some fun times and one of them was bowling. Loni, I am completely utterly dorkie... I went to save the cute picture of us all bowling and I somehow deleted it! I know you aren't gonna believe me but it's true... Sorry about that! It was a dang cute picture too. At least we got your cute husband! We miss the Theurer's and can't wait to see you guys on Labor Day weekend! We are excited to come out to San Francisco and see your new place! It's blackberry pickin and eatin time!

The other day I was driving and turned around to see that Brooklyn had a bloody nose! I didn't have any napkins or wipes for some reason but found some tampons! I pulled one out, ripped it in half and stuck it up her nose! Tampons sure come in handy!

On the 24th of July (Pioneer Day), Matt and I decided to take Brooklyn up to the Mount Timpanogas Cave. We hadn't been back there since the day Matt proposed to me in the cave 4 years ago on July 6th! Time sure does fly! We ended up hiking in the heat of the day and worked up a sweat! Brooklyn seemed excited at first and wanted to walk, of course we both held her hands so she would veer off the cliff! That was my biggest worry about the hike was somehow something was going to go wrong but we got up to the top in no time (sweating buckets of course!). Matt and I took turns carrying Brooklyn up the trail. It was so beautiful and just awe inspiring... So peaceful.... Ironic for a deaf person to say but it was peaceful.  

Water break! She guzzled down a whole bottle on her own pretty much! (within a few break stops of course)

Daddy and Brooklyn inside the cave, it was pretty cold compared to the 100 degree weather outside. The temperature in the cave was about 40 to 45 degrees. The man who found this cave at the top of the mountain, had been following a mountain lion he had spotted and stumbled upon this cave. He must have really wanted to catch the lion since he hiked way to the top of the mountain almost!

Our first family hike!

Later that day (well with my parents it was the next day) we attended the Drapers Days concert and listened to Beetle Mania! It was a fun time being with family and enjoying the music my parents grew up listenin to!  So many oldies started dancing and it was pretty funny! Some people sure have funky moves!

The same day we hiked Mt. Timp, we listened to a concert in the park with Matt's parents, listening to the band, Herman Hermits. Another oldie for our parents. Grandma Bailey got Brooklyn a pink hair extension (look closely). It looked cute although its something I would only want for a day or for Halloween... :)

Bits and Pieces Part Two

Here is Bits and Pieces part two!

HAPPY "2" BIRTHDAY BROOKLYN!

Brooklyn turned 2 on June 19th! I can't belived how much she has grown since then! Last year we celebrated her birthday in China! Look at how much different she looks from a year ago! She sure is blossoming into such a fun and cute girl!

Last year's birthday in China! She dug right into the chocolate cake the hotel manager prepared for her. Brooklyn was so famous in China, everybody loved her. She was basically being chased by the Chinese Paparazzi! Everywhere we went people stopped to take pictures of her and wanted their kids to be in a picture with her. They practically pulled her right out of my arms... for some reason, I wasn't nervous about that... Chinese people are really sweet. Of course I was still cautious. I think she grew weary of all the attention because people kept wanting her play with her and make her smile. What can a mother say... She is cute you know!

Our family in China, here we are with the hotel managerz(far right) and another worker. The manager is the one who surprised Brooklyn with the cake. He was really sweet and loved holding her while we ate our meals (try bird heads and chicken feet!).

Isn't she such a little grown up girl? I had fun decorating her cake! She actually didn't even eat any because she was so enthralled by all her gifts she got from her family and grandparents. Her favorite toy so far has been Mr. Potatoe Head (thanks G and G Kelsch), bubble gun (thanks G and G Bailey), magic markers and coloring book (thanks DJ, Ashley and Kash), and her red and yellow car (from mom and dad).

Brooklyn looked like she was going to dig into the cake, so cute as she patiently waited... Although she forgot all about it after she gots her gifts!

Brooklyn and Uncle Cody. I just love this picture and had to post it. Thanks for all of our family who came and celebrated Brooklyn's birthday. We had cake and rootbeer floats!

The bubbles Brooklyn loves so much.

We recently went to a wedding that had such  beautiful flowers, bushes and trees outside the building. I just had to get a picture of Brooklyn with all the green in the background. She must have been so happy to go to the family cottage in Bear Lake since that is where we were headed after the reception.

Daddy and Brooklyn getting ready to play at Bear Lake. She loves the water but loves the sand even more!
Mommy and Brooklyn hangin in the sand. The weather was great and we enjoyed such a nice and relaxing weekend. While there, we were able to visit our good friends, Nicole, William and their daughter, Peyton. We had a yummy late night snack eating the famous Bear Lake raspberry shakes. They were sooo good!
Brooklyn loves the wave runner, well most of the time when its not cold. She doesn't seem too afraid of anything that has a motor running in it, but she is afraid of anything that is small and moves, even a fake fish that swims on its own in the water and she does not like cats! Wierd that she likes these big toys... she takes after her dad I suppose! :)
Playing in the water!
Basking in the sun!
Brooklyn and Natalie (her cousin). My sister and her kids were visiting from St. George for a couple of weeks and we were able to hang out with them when we could. Natalie is such a cutie and loves to play with Brooklyn. She actually loves to hold Brooklyn or hold her hands all the time. Its cute the way she cares for Brooklyn.
We attended my cousin's wedding at a church across the street from the state capitol building (I am so silly but didn't think to get a picture of the special couple who got married...) I did get a picture of Brooklyn next to this huge oxen by the general store that was next to the church.
If anyone knows Brooklyn, she just loves to jump off things. Here at the general store she was jumping of this small cliff and landing on her feet every time. Maybe she is practicing for the gymnastics team? I am excited to get her signed up for tumbling. She could use the time to vent all her energy she has everyday. 
The Groen family hangin at the general store after the wedding. It was fun to catch up and see what all of our cousins, aunts and uncles were up to. Of course this isn't all the family. Some couldn't come but would be going to the reception later on that evening. While hangin out, my Uncle Brad who is a state legislature took us all on a tour of the state capital (in the background). The architectural work is amazing! Thanks Brad for giving us a tour!

Okay, there will be a Part 3 since I had more than I thought... Part 3 still to come! 

Happy 24th of July everybody!

Bits and Pieces Part One

Boy, it sure has been a long time since I have posted a blog. Honestly I just never had time and life has been pretty busy. I do have a lot to say but instead of writing such a long novel about all that has happened I am going to do a picture novel with little descriptions about each picture. We have had fun with many of our family and friends so here goes:

We went to a BBQ where the world's best hamburgers are made by Eric! I could eat 5 burgers in one setting if I wanted to get fat! They are so yummy! In the above picture Larsen and I were pretending to be all natural in a picture, hahaha, not sure it looks natural though. It was good to visit with Matt's swim mates from college. We got to see Eric, Cody, Larsen and Andrew. There were others but I can't remember... We sure love our cool friends!

That night after the BBQ we went to a wedding reception and Brooklyn found a basketball to play with....Hmmm is she going to be a ball player like her mom? I love the feminine but sporty look!

Even later that night, we met with some friends, Nicole and William Gough, and played badminton and raced on roller racers. It was an eventful day! Our forearms were so tired and sore the next day! Its funny that something like that would make us sore, but obviously we don't work our forearm muscle as often as I thought!

On our way to Arizona for a funeral, Grandma Lena Bailey, we broke down about two hours outside Mesa where we were headed. Luckily Randy, Matt's dad who was already in Mesa, drove out to help us and get Dena's, Matt's mom, van fixed and started. We really appreciate him helping us even though he was going through a tough time with his mother's passing. The picture above shows Matt and his brother DJ working hard on getting the van fixed... Not really they were just horsing around!

Here is sweet Grandma Lena Bailey... This picture was taken a couple of months before when we had gone down to Arizona to visit with her and all the family. We had a good time and were grateful Brooklyn was able to meet her before her passing. I will never forget the story of how she pronounces the word wash, she says "warsh", a southern accent. How cute is that? She was a great wife to Papa, who never complained and always worked hard. One thing we didn't know about her was that while at open sea with her husband one day, she pulled out a map and charted the course home! That takes intelligence to do that! We love her and miss her but we know she is in a high and glorious place.

After the funeral and graveside service for Grandma Lena, there was lunch provided by the ward in the area for close family and friends. I couldn't help but sit behind all the pretty flowers that were sent in memory of Grandma Lena. Matt had fun taking pictures... I felt like a 

flower girl!

Brooklyn is such a cutie! I was trying to get her to make a big smile and she made such a cute smile! She really makes me happy as you can tell! I love you sweet Brooklyn.

We love Papa! We were all so worried about him because he missed his dear wife, and still misses her tremendously. Papa is a great man and full of energy! It's comforting to know we can be with our loved ones again after this life. I love the teachings of the Plan of Salvation and how families are eternal. Families can be together forever through Heavenly Father's plan. I always want to be with my own family and the Lord can show me how I can, the Lord can show me how I can! 

Also in Arizona lives Grannie! Grannie is Dena's mother. These are all of her grandkids, Kash, Brooklyn and Jaxson. This was the only picture I had of them together with Grannie and the kids were all so tired. Brooklyn may appear happy but she was just tired and hyper, I get that way when I am tired. 

Bailey Boys! DJ, Matt and Randy. Aren't they a handsome three? It's not often we see all three of them together so this is a sweet picture to have. They aren't as innocent as they look!

Bailey grandkids... Like how Brooklyn is trying to keep Kash upright... hahhaha so cute and Jaxson is sitting up straight trying to be all cute like he is! We sure love you three!

Matt had this cool idea to sleep in the tent out on our deck, the tent barely fit! We watched a movie and of course I fell asleep and couldn't begin to remember what movie we rented... It's a good thing we didn't set up out on the lawn because in the morning we woke to some water hitting the tent, the sprinklers came on! I dunno how the water could climb so high and hit the tent but it did! 

Brooklyn enjoying the tent in the morning... She was already asleep in her room when we decided to sleep out on the deck. The deck is next to her window so we were able to keep the window open and listen for her. She loves tents! She has her own smaller version we got from Ikea a while ago but I had to put it up cause it took up her whole room basically. We are going camping in a few weeks in Tabiona, Utah so maybe I will set it back up for her again.

Well, this was part one of my Bits and Pieces entry. Part Two still to come! Any maybe part Three!

Getting Pampered!

For those of you who don’t know, I work part time at Sorenson Communications in the marketing department as a marketing coordinator. I really love the job and love what it entails. I have been with SC for a little over 2 years and have learned so much. Matt even says I have more confidence in myself now in making decisions, which is hard to believe because I don’t like making decisions. Poor Matt he has had to make all the decisions during the first part of our marriage because I just couldn’t make a decision! Crazy but I feel I am better at making decisions now and a lot has to do with working in the marketing department where I HAD to make decisions. One thing I really love about my job is I get to set up and coordinate filming and photo shoots. I love getting everything all set up, finding the talents and meeting lots of new people. The photo shoots are really fun because we work with an ad agency and they provide the photographer, who is a really neat guy by the way. Now to explain the image above, I got to have my picture taken with my co-worker’s cute dog! It’s such a fun and natural picture! I am never one to say that I like a picture of myself but I do think this is a cute picture! I hope I am not bragging… it was just a fun time! Thanks for letting me share!

Matt Swims Again!

I wanted to do a quick post and let everyone know that Matt had a swim meet in the long course (50 meter) pool in Draper on Friday. He swam the 50 meter freestyle and WON! He also got his best time of 24.57! His best time before that was 24.61.  For those who don't know the difference, there is a 25 yard pool and a 50 meter pool (Olympic size). In 25 yard pool you swim down and back, in the 50 meter pool you swim just one way. He has not swam in a long course pool since August of 2006.  He did really well for not having been able to swim hardly at all since he started his new job. Now that he has his series 7 and 63 license there is no more studying and he can focus more on getting back into swimming. He just loves to swim and compete. It's a fun and good way for him to keep in shape like he wants to.  I am so proud of him and of his accomplishments. Way to go swimmer man!

Brooklyn and Daddy stretching before the big race!

Ready... Set... Dive! (Matt is the one in the middle)

Our friend Brent came to help us give Matt support. Matt considers him his lucky charm because each time Brent has come to watch Matt, he gets a new best time. Keep coming Brent!