Green River Fest

This summer has been the summer of 'fests.' We seem to find one every weekend to attend! We had such a great time running through the water park, hoola-hooping, crafts and then eating all-you-can-eat...randomly, after we ate, we stopped by the mall in town and ran into pretty much every single person in Eric's family and all of Kemmerer! I literally complained that morning that I had nothing to wear (because all of our clothes are packed in boxes) to which Eric replied, I promise you we won't see a single person you know...famous last words!!!

Hickory, Dickory dock...

Max went to nursery, I took pictures, don't mock!!!
(O.k., that was lame...but today on Sesame Street they were doing Nursery Rhymes and mine was definitely better than Baby Bear's!)
I admit, I'm a little bit of a hover-er and have been a little apprehensive about Max going to Nursery...so, I had to muster all of my self-restraint to not go and check-up on Max at Nursery...but, on my way to the bathroom (granted it was the long way...) I peeped in and saw Eric sitting with Max, singing, as content as can be!!! Eric just happened to be walking by when Max started crying...but you can imagine my shock when I saw Eric in there!!

Max actually missed his first two weeks in Nursery because we were out of town and in other wards and I couldn't bring myself to take him to his first Nursery experience with anyone other than Sister Ellis...this woman is amazing!

She always gives special attention to the 'first timers.' She has so many fun activities...

They stay engaged...and all the while they are learning about the gospel...Max came out of Nursery with this for me all about Christ!

I remember really wanting Carli & Chuck to stay in Evanston one weekend and the only obstacle was their Nursery calling...to which I said something along the lines of, just get your back up couple...like it makes a difference (before you send me hate comments- keep in mind that I was just trying to get my brother and sister-in-law to stay because I love them)!

Well, now that I get to witness, firsthand, how impactful a person can be when they choose to magnify their calling...I am humbled and grateful for the wonderful people who give so much of themselves. If Sister Ellis is reading this, you don't know how amazing you are...to turn a situation that I was dreading into something that I look forward to every week! Thank you!

Eldredge Reunion!!

This is one of my favorite things to do...go to family reunions...growing up second generation Chinese American had a lot of perks; a really close-knit family, lots of extended Chinese 'aunts' & 'uncles' (ah-yi's & tsu-tsu's), lots of unique cultural traditions to blend with American ones, no random second uncles to worry about if I ever win the lottery...but, family reunions were not one of the advantages.This year was the Christensens' turn to organize all the fun...and they did NOT disappoint!

We went down to Provo park and had so much good food!!!! You gotta love that third picture of the 'after eating belly...' actually, that's just Corbin's belly after Becky fed him her milk of gold!!

We played games...Jared & Kristee organized the games under the theme of the game show 'In it To Win it.' Each family was a team...Christensens, Carliles, Michealis & Phillips. With Jim & Julie out on business, Annie & Bryan on vaca, Adam & Camille using the 'we just had a baby' excuse (and seriously, I used that for, like, a year...best excuse out there), Geoff & Jody unable to make it and Carli & Chuck at a Jarvis family reunion our team was down to three (and Max just barely got running down)...but still Eric and I each won our respective events...go team Phillips!!! Represent!!!

Everybody had so much fun and were all willing to be subjected to great embarrassment!

They launched water balloons...cute Cooper...super Coop!!!

They had stilts...Eric was very impressive on them...of course, the most impressive had to be Jay Dale!!!

I have to admit, I had quite a bit of trepidation about Jay getting on those death sticks...until I saw how at ease he was on them...a natural!

Adam's birthday & Grady's blessing

We went to Lander for Adam's birthday and for Grady's blessing. They reserved a local park and we had a wonderful time.
I love this picture of Carli scaring Max...every one's face is classic!

Max is all about 'scaring' lately...here he is trying to scare me.

Everyone knows that Adam loves BYU stuff...but we thought we'd change it up and get him some Cowboy stuff!

I love this picture of Grady...I especially love it because Max took it all on his own!!!!

One on one with Jeremy Evans

Every year the Utah Jazz send a representative to travel around the state to put on basketball clinics with the Junior Jazz players. Max isn't old enough to be a Jr. Jazz player yet...but we couldn't resist going to get a picture. I woke Max up early and got him dressed and fed about half an hour early to meet the Jazz member, who turned out to be Jeremy Evans.

Sadly, Kemmerer hasn't done a very good job in the past years of advertising this event...it was at this point (picture myself and Max alone in the gym watching this poor guy who took out his time to do this walking in) that I called Eric and told him that he had to come down and be a little late for work.

Eric, being the good father and husband and having a kind heart, quickly came over. Soon, a few more people showed up and the clinic could begin (keep in mind, there was never more than a dozen people there at one time).

We had a great time and got to be in their video. Here's Max waiting in line with his mini-basketball for an autograph.

I love how little the ball looks in Jeremy Evans' hand compared to Max's double-fisting.

I got to talk with the Jazz guys and get to know them...they were so kind and so gracious...they were telling me how year after year it is always Kemmerer that has the most dismal turnout.The night before they were in Lander and said they had a packed gym of about 300 kids...it was the first time I felt a little ashamed, Kemmerer is 7.4 square miles and Lander is barely half of that, yet they could show how much spirit and support a little town can have...during the clinic, they spoke of sportsmanship and what it means..I hope they know that I thought they did a great job of teaching that lesson not only with their words, but with their actions, too!

Happy Anniversary!!

Today is our anniversary and I wanted to take the time out to let Eric know how happy I am to be married to him and how grateful I am for our little family. The years have gone by so quickly yet from the first moment we met, it felt as though we'd known each other forever. You are the best father and husband I could ever ask for and I'm excited for all the memories we still have yet to make! Happy anniversary! I couldn't stand anything less than eternity with you!