Thursday, July 28, 2011

BBQ and Rodeo!

Last weekend we were able to get together with a bunch of our friends down in Heber City.
A couple of us went down early so the boys could play some golf while the girls just hung out and relaxed. We had a nice BBQ, the boys played football, and a couple of us decided to try out ridin the mules! Jesse and I both have not ridden horses much if any. And lets just say I appreciated the people at the rodeo a lot more..especially the moment it started galloping and I felt like I lost control and it was killin my butt.
It was such a pretty area..I loved the view from the front door and all the cute rocking chairs they had. It made me think for a moment that I could live in a small town, but then I thought about how I love living close to everything.
I don't know if this is a bit inappropriate to share (and I don't know what he would think about me sharing) but it sure made us laugh. Kirk, Jesse's friend, who tends to be called the hulk..has such a sweet sensitive side, as his wife says, and he loves kittens. So we decided to have a little photo shoot!
    

Saturday I did my long run-15 miles. Marathon training coming along...its getting closer. Makes me a little more nervous for it because it not easy running that much and I was exhausted after...and took a long nap!

Saturday night was the RODEO night for the Jensen Family!
I love watching the pre show Mutton bustin'..brave little kids!
The clown I must say had us laughing this year..
As well as this cute little girl Macie Jane.
   
And we enjoyed the after show. A part of me would love to try this but then I think about breaking my neck and being paralyzed...
And I can't forget one of my favorite things....POPCORN! mmm! Yes Jesse and I ate the whole bag and it was delicious!

Now I should probably get back to packing our place up because I haven't done much and we have to be completely moved out on Saturday..ugh I just don't exactly know where to start.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

The River Trip

We had the privilege to attend the annual River Trip with the Bullard family and many others. This was Jesse's 3rd time going, and my first. They said it was the biggest group they had ever taken down the river.
I think there were 49 or 50 of us in 11 rafts.
Kenny was the official rower for our raft and he did a great job. There are no professional guides allowed.
Captain Kenny did manage to hit a rock and tilt the boat just enough to where three of us fell into the river, including Kenny, leaving no one to row the raft. Jesse was amazingly brave and grabbed the oar (one oar fell out and we never found it) and pretty much saved the day and our lives.
On the first night of the trip, Thursday, it's a yearly tradition for the women to stay in a hotel in Mountain Home, Idaho, while the men head down to the river and prepare the rafts. They sleep under the stars and wake up early Friday morning and get everything ready to go. I decided to stay with Jesse and went to the river with the guys.
Jesse and I slept in the bend of his truck, but Alex, with his many ideas, decided to hang the hammocks between the trailers. This seemed like a good idea at the time, but Kenny (on bottom) ended up sleeping on the floor of the trailer.
We decided our raft needed some team jerseys. You may not be able to see us in this picture, but we found some awesome camo shirts for $3 at Wal-Mart. If you look closely, you'll be able to see (from L-R) Alex Helm, Todd Farnes, Marissa, Jesse, and Cap. Kenny, who happens to be single for any ladies out there. I'm just saying...
On Friday we floated the first half of the river and found our camp about half way down. On Saturday, we floated the 2nd half, ate lunch at a gas station, and drove back up to the top. There is a shuttle service that drives your cars from the top of the river to the bottom for you. We then floated the first half again. Sunday was a day of rest, kind of. We enjoyed a long hike up the mountain and hung around camp all day. Monday morning we packed up and floated the second half of the river again.
Captain Kenny, Alex and Todd brought hammocks to sleep in. As you can see, Todd ended up sleeping on the ground. His hammock broke.....twice.....while he was in it. Jesse and I had a nice, comfortable tent.
Before going down Raspberry Rapids, the largest section of rapids we went down, each boat heads to shore and plans out their route, trying to avoid rocks and whirlpools.
Captain Kenny, the goofy gus, let Jesse row down the canyon. It was probably the second hardest stretch of river, next to the rapids. He was soooo strong and soooo brave. His muscles were huge, as always, and I never felt afraid when the oars where in his hands. Even though the oars left him with seven large and bleeding blisters. He fought through the pain and guided us safely back to camp. He's probably the most manly man I know. He's so manly, that one time he killed an alligator just by looking at it.
"The" Lonnie Bullard took a few of us on a nice Sunday hike CLIMB up the mountain. It was literally straight up the mountain. I had to worry about losing my balance because I would have easily tumbled and rolled all the way to the river.
It was a hard hike but a beautiful view. You can tell how much Kenny and Jesse loved it when they reached the top!
 

We hung a shirt from the tree as a flag but it was too high up to see from camp.
Every River Trip there is a volleyball tournament on Sunday. This lovely court has been developed over the years from them playing. We also had a horse shoe competition with everyone.
We enjoyed our free time just lounging around camp and eating the delicious food. Every meal was cooked in Dutch ovens. We were quite spoiled. The next picture was taken at an extremely weird angle and it makes Jesse's neck look MUCH fatter than it really is...
Thanks for the great time! We loved it!

Since we've been back, we have been busy! busy! We've both been working a lot and we're planning to move at the end of July. Wow, that means in less than 10 days I have to be out of here and I have not even started packing...
This is what some people call dumpster diving. My mother told me to get boxes from behind Ben Franklin's. I could not reach many of the boxes, so I decided to just hop in and dig for the good boxes! ha! Don't worry, it was a "cardboard only" dumpster, the kind a homeless man could live in. Pretty clean, actually. Jesse just stood there, embarrassed, as two cars and a police officer drove by. 

This post was written by Marissa and slightly (heavily) edited by Jesse.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

New post coming soon...

Jesse will be posting something new later today/tomorrow. Please stay tuned. Until then, here's a cool picture of a camo-trailer. It's hard to see cause it blends in with the scenery, but you just have to look close.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

The 4th of July.

We kept our tradition going with running the Kaysville 4th of July 5k race this year.
I am glad Jesse was willing to do it again with me. 
 Just Jesse and I and My Mom, Candace, and Matt this year.
It's also fun to see a lot of people you know from around here as well.
We don't race for time..just run for fun. (well besides Candace maybe) But I must say I am pretty disappointed that they had NO prizes at all after the race this year-they have been giving out less each year but now nothing. sad. But still a fun tradition to do.
After the race we went out to Plain City for all their festivities to meet up with the Jensen family for a bit. They chase chickens and catch fish with their bare hands at their fair...
That afternoon we had a small BBQ then met up with friends to play softball and volleyball. It was humid and hot, but of course fun.
That night we headed up to the mountains to watch the fireworks and had a good view of all of them across the valley.

I love this time of year when you get out and spend more time with family and friends!
 and of course celebrate being an American! How grateful I am to live here!


Sunday, July 3, 2011

Birthday Time!

Saturday was my birthday and Jesse made it a perfect day! It was wonderful!
I am getting old..the big 22! ha I loved telling people at my work because they would just laugh and say "oh I am 86, yeah  I am 98.." Goodness that is old. But exciting to think there is a lot more to happen in my life!
My birthday started out waking up at 5:30AM and I ran a half marathon! :) I was determined to do it! It wasn't an official race or anything but I ran over 13.1 miles!
And I have to say if felt great! not that it wasn't hard but I just felt accomplished. Furthest I have ever ran now. But with this marathon training I will have to be saying that a lot more now.
After Jesse's dad took us boating! I LOVE BOATING! One of my favorite things.

I forget how much I love wakeboarding as well. It was great to have my mom and brothers and sisters with us!
Matt-Jesse's brother
Me..I always look goofy
Tyler-My bother
Candace-my sister
Eria-Brother-in-law
Brooke-my sister
Jesse's Dad Scott-Right after skiing and having charlie horses in his leg!
I forgot how many bugs are at Willard-ridiculous! (if you can tell from this picture?)
After boating we came home and took a Wonderful nap! :)
and then Jesse made "reservations" for dinner. We stopped by his parent's house right before we were going to dinner and to my surprise everyone was over there for a little BBQ! It was good to be with family and friends!
One great day!

Sunday is my brother's Matt birthday! He was also ordianed a priest! So proud of him! Can't believe he is getting that old!
Birthday boy and girl!
Grandpa and Grandma Eddy
We also played a game called Koob where basically you throw blocks of wood and try to hit them down-with a little more too it. Sounds lame but it is quite fun. We had to find some shade because it was blazing hot!