Even More Family!

As promised, some pics from the Monroe family reunion! It was so incredibly fun to see all my cousins and aunts and uncles; we really don't get together as often as we should!

Neil, my cousin Britney, and Rachel Lou.

Ali, Rachel, and my cousin's little girl Emily playing in the canal/river thing.

I love this picture of Bree! It's very Winnie the Pooh.

Ali trying not to get her pants wet. :)

This is the coolest thing ever! The little kids got the idea to surf down the river on a big plastic lid. Me and Neil were really jealous that we were too big.

Ali and Grandpa having a conversation on the bridge.

The Ronny Boy after eating an Oreo.

Ronny and my cousin's little boy Parker. They're pretty close to the same age and exactly the same size. They were fun to watch!

The closest thing to a group photo I got. This is only about a third of the people who were there, counting the kids. but it kind of gives you an idea of the proceedings. I had so much fun hanging out with the family, as always. :)

Ah, Family. :)

I have about a billion adorable pictures from the last week or so, and it was really hard to pick, so I had to narrow it down for myself and only use pictures that fit within the theme of "cousins." All six of my nieces and nephews spent a good amount of time at my house the past few days, and it was - shall we say - riotous fun.

Well, at least they're all sitting still, if not looking at the camera and/or smiling. Close enough. This is outside the new Oquirrh Mountain temple if you couldn't tell from the sign.

This picture cracks me up SO much. It totally looks like they're rapping, with Jarrett doing vocals and Bree beat-boxing.
So. Funny.

Ali and Bree, a pair of incredibly gorgeous little girls!

Bree trying to help Ronny walk. It was quite hilarious because she would grab his hand, and then take off at a run and Ronny wouldn't be able to keep up. It frustrated Bree and made my mom nervous because Ronny kept falling, but I was laughing. :)

Grandma with the babies. I love how they're both like, "Okay, we are done with pictures, can we just go home?" Also, if you think THOSE matching expressions are funny, check out the next two.

L . . . O . . . L

Awww, buddies. Actually, Ronny was just trying to crawl over Carson, but we can pretend he was giving him a hug.

Okay, this doesn't actually fit with the cousin theme, but it's so cute that I couldn't help it. Ali got hurt on the swing and needed a cuddle from her grandpa.

These two were HILARIOUS. This started out as a fight over who got to use the beanbag chair, but soon became some kind of weird wrestling game. They did this forever, and you should have heard them giggle!

Bree and Jarrett enjoying some TV. Note the nearly identical hair color, and striped shirts. Cute.

Ronny: "Please, please, please give me some of whatever delicious food item you have up there!"
Carson: "No way, buddy. Go mooch somewhere else."

Okay, this doesn't fit with the theme either, but come on, you wouldn't want to miss the chance to see Rachel as a Tongan warrior would you?

We decided face painting would be a good idea for some reason, and it DID keep everyone entertained for quite some time, but it was a MESS. Especially for poor Grandma. She, very bravely, allowed the children to paint her face. Her whole, entire face. I just like this picture because all six of the wee ones are clustered on the blanket around their grandma. :)

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for. A video of a couple of three-year-olds having a pillow fight! Wahoo! Seriously though, this is way funny. In case you were wondering, this took place soon after the beanbag chair incident.

Okay, that's it for now, but I need to do a post about our Monroe family reunion that was last weekend too, so stay tuned. For the moment, I'm going to go watch House.
Because I want to. So there.

When I Look at the Stars: My Adventures at the Switchfoot Concert

Tuesday night, one of my dreams was fulfilled. I got to see my favorite band in concert! I've loved Switchfoot for a long time, but they never come to Utah. Unfortunately, they were touring with Blue October, so they weren't the main band and didn't play nearly as long as I would've liked. Of course, I could have listened to them for hours. They were so fantastic live!

By the way, I actually didn't take any of these pictures. My friend Nikki, whom Neil and I met at the Relient K concert a couple months back, took them. I forgot my camera! *smacks forehead* Anyway, good things Nikki was there. :)

That's Jerome - who was playing keyboard, tambourine, and guitar at one point - Drew on the bass, Chad back there on the drums, and Jon Foreman as lead singer. Jon's brother Tim is in the band too, but he's too far to the right to see him.

Me and Nikki. And Neil, doing a thumbs-up. Without meaning to, the three of us and our other friend Jon all wore blue!

This is the lead singer, Jon Foreman. He is so awesome with the crowd! I swear he has ADHD or something, because he doesn't stay on the stage. He was running all over the place, and climbing up on banisters and things like that. The BEST thing was, he ran right through our group! We all got to touch him! It was pretty much the coolest thing ever! By the way, he's really short. :)

Just a cool shot of everyone getting into the music.

Group shot! Jon, me, Neilybob, Nikki, her sister Amber, and Amber's boyfriend, Tyler. The concert was at the Saltair, and after Switchfoot performed, we all went outside to a beautiful sunset overlooking the lake. And then, Jon Foreman and the drummer, Chad, came and said hi to everyone! There were high-fives all around, and they were so, so nice and personable. Seriously, they were the coolest guys ever! Basically, it was one of the best nights of my life. :)

Green River Trip!

After me and Neil's week long stay at Tyann's house and kung fu camp, we headed out for our annual camping/fishing trip at the Green River. And I mean right after. We got home from Cedar City Sunday evening, and left Monday morning for the river! It was a little insane, and I probably wouldn't want to plan two trips in a row like that again. I was pretty exhausted, and I tweaked my wrist a little at kung fu camp (which ROCKED, by the way. Kung fu camp, not messing up my wrist) which made it difficult to cast. It did leave me with lots of time to take pictures of the beautiful area, though.

I was pretty impressed with my little camera. It was doing really well with close-up shots. I really like this picture. A lot.

My dad had hooked this fish, and he came right up to my feet, like he was posing for the picture or something. Good fishy! Also, doesn't the water look awesome? The lighting was perfect, and the water in that river is incredibly clear.

Neil casting, and Mom and Dad in the background tying another fly on. Right across the river from here, we saw a mama deer and her TWO babies! They were so cute, but too far away to get a good picture. :(

Dad holding one of the few fish we caught. I think this is actually the same one who swam up to me.

My cousin Katie's little boy Teancum. We invited our family that lives in Vernal to come and visit us at the campsite, and we had SO much fun with them. Teancum was the life of the party, let me tell you. He is adorable!

Our traditional camp meal: sishkebabs. Which, incidentally, is the weirdest word ever. Anyway, the food was really yummy.

Some of the fam. Katie is over there on the left, then Teancum, my Uncle Melvin, Aunt Jerris, cousin Tagan, and cousin Britney. We had a ridiculous amount of fun that night!

And lastly, a picture that I feel belongs in a fishing magazine. For some reason, I just think it's really cool.

Okay, now that I'm done praising myself, I'll finish with this. If any of you ever get the chance to go to the Green River/Flaming Gorge area, do it. I'm a firm believer that there is not another place on Earth quite like it!

Stop Child Abuse!

Okay, folks. This is serious. Look at the pictures below and tell me you don't want to do something about it:


Did I get ya? Okay, I know, I probably shouldn't joke around about child abuse, but these pictures are just too priceless. No, they are not posters for Bikers Against Child Abuse, they are pictures of my nieces with their movie make-up on. They had to fight a dragon. By the way, you should feel privileged that I'm posting these. Exclusive behind-the-scenes production photos, people. For a preview of the movie they are in that my brother is making, Warriors of Destiny, go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nN4IEpgbiNY

Okay, now on to chronicle the week Neilyboy and I spent in Cedar City with the very entertaining Pangan family.

This may give you a glimpse of how crazy these kids can be. I love Rachel's loopy expression, and Ali's crazed, maybe evil, one. We were stuck in a traffic jam coming back from St. George and we were bored. What can I say.

Ronny = water baby. What more needs to be said?

Whoa! A picture with all four of them smiling and looking more or less at the camera!? Someone alert the press! Apparently, you just need to stick them all in water to make them cooperate. This was taken at a really cool water park in St. George. I'm pretty sure it was the best day of Ronny's life.

Rachel courteously standing so Ronny can get a jet of water up his nose. What a good big sister. :)

Let this be a warning to you. Ronny eats everything. If you want to eat something in peace, you have to lock yourself in the bathroom - and he'll probably still find you. This is him "sharing" Neil's Gogurt.

Ali and Ronny playing in a clothes basket. One of my favorite pictures ever for some reason.

Rachel on her big-kid bike. She's decided she's no longer a "girly-girl" and requested a blue bike. I think it's pretty awesome, myself.

Ronny, after his mother played with his hair when he was defenselessly drinking his bottle.

The very handsome Jarrett-boy. This kid is surprisingly good at posing. Of course, you may remember that from this post.


How many people can you get on Tyann's couch? Quite a few, apparently. I really don't know what was on Neily's computer that was so fascinating, but it must have been good.

Jarrett boxing. And that kid CAN box, too. He loves hitting stuff.

Ahh, parting shot. Isn't this pretty much the funniest picture you've ever seen? Cracks me up everytime.

Anyway, a very huge thanks to the Pangans for letting us come and visit. Couldn't have asked for a better time!