Remnants of reminisced reminiscing

Remember that time Sadie went to Disneyland in May? Oh...you don't? It's because I never even mentioned it. Hello! That's a pretty big deal. I've been organizing my pictures and found some beauties that never made the blog, but they deserve to make the blog and Sadie is napping. I think you're picking up what I'm throwing down. So here we go on a reminiscing rampage...

Back in May, my sister Amy's husband came home for his two week R&R from Iraq, and they made plans to go to Disneyland and Seaworld. Fun, right? Well I just happened to be talking to her one day, and I honestly don't know how the conversation went (because...well it was back in April) but basically she asked me if I would like to come with them. I have the best sisters. I got a one way ticket to LA, and they picked me up. It was such a blast...I got to sleep with all the kids in my hotel room so Amy and Jake could have their own, and every day was full of great times. It was Sadie's first Disney experience, and at just over 8 months old I'm sure she didn't have a clue, but we had fun anyway. She loved eating her "1st visit" button that she got at the entrance.
Disneyland May 2009L to R: all tuckered out, riding the carousel, at the front entrance, riding Dumbo, BUTTONS! (mommy's was a b-day one, and Sadie's was a 1st visit), and Sleeping Beauty's castle (I think :)


More Disneyland/CA adventures/Sea WorldL to R: all tuckered out :), Hollywood Tower of Terror, me and Amy on Space Mountain, It's a Small World, the whole gang, Goofy pretending to sleep like Sadie, me and Amy in front of Sea World (we got in free because of the "Here's to the Heroes" thing they were doing for the military)



After the trip to California with Amy and Jake, I drove back to Arizona with them to see some more family. I love the picture (and the story behind the picture) below. While in Mesa, I only had about 4 hours to go and see Bert (Brittney for those of you who are confused. I call her Bert), so what else could we do but take a road trip to Globe (about an hour and a half away), get the most amazing burritos ever made at the Burger House, and then head straight back to Mesa while glutting ourselves on beans and green chili. Best road trip ever.



Fast forward to August. Bert came up for her sister's wedding reception. Obviously we went on a tandem bike ride around the block. And got ice cream from the C.O.N.E. And tried to memorize the Hip Hop Hoedown moves. And went country dancing. Obviously.

Also in August, our friends the Morgans invited us on a super special FHE. Our instructions were to dress as tourists and bring the tandem bike. Woo hoo...that's fun already. Anyway, there was an article in the Daily Universe about the 7 Wonders of Provo, so we all went around town on our bikes to see what there was to see.

The Seven Wonders were:

1. Ripples Limeades
2. Cougar Statue by Cougar Stadium
3. The Bean Museum (it was actually something else, but we changed it)
4. Totem Pole at the Museum of Peoples and Cultures
5. Veteran's Memorial Obelisk
6. Historic Tree (so huge it's branches have to be held up by poles)
7. The Kong Kone from Macey's deli (so huge you have to put it in a cup or it would fall over)
   

Some of Sadie just being Sadie. I love those shoes she's wearing.

We also went to the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point. Sadie basically hated every minute of it, but it was $2 Tuesday so not a huge loss. We went with lots of cousins (Ashley and Konda's families) and got ice cream afterwards. Sadie liked that part.


All of a sudden it was September, and Bert came up again for our old roomate Karla's wedding. I don't know what it is about this girl, but as soon as I hear her voice or see her face it's like life's joys are increased tenfold. Do you know someone like that? I hope you do. We had fun at all of Karla's wedding events (and there were plenty!), and got to see some old friends from EAC.



She climbed into the green chair all by herself. Such a big girl.


First time falling asleep in her highchair. Finished her lunch and passed right out.


October! We made caramel apples with the Morgans. They were yummy...the apples not the Morgans. Sadie loved her apple so much that she wanted it to take a bath with her. And she did not like wearing my super cute apron that Kara got me. But I do.


Donut Day! Every Thursday there are free donuts and bagels for Graduate students (and their families, right?) up on campus. It's a fun weekly family tradition, and it never ceases to crack me up seeing Sadie holding her own donut.


Back when the garden was alive, Sadie couldn't keep herself away from the tomato plants. Green, red, rotten, whatever...she loved to pick and eat those things right off the vine.


October also brought Homecoming parades and free blue pancakes into our lives. We love hanging out with Kara and Jonathan (and all of Kara's family).


When Sadie's cousin Maddison was born, several cousins came over to play. They watched Ice Age 3 and ate Happy Meals (well..."Sadie stole food from everyone else's Happy Meal" would probably be a more accurate statement). During the movie all the big kids were laughing and Sadie thought she should, too. I loved it.


Sadie is my little climber. Here she is counquering the piano and going for whatever is on top of it. She also enjoys getting on the kitchen table when mom isn't watching. Haven't gotten a picture of that one yet. Nice.

And as promised, here is Sadie in her unicorn costume for Halloween. Her friend Jonathan Morgan was a skeleton. Dusty and I did not dress up and I decided I don't want that to ever happen again. This is actually at the ward party the night before Halloween...Sadie didn't even get into her costume on Halloween because I was throwing up my insides all day. Lovely visual I'm sure. You can thank me later.

Here's to feeling somewhat caught up in life. Cheers.

He did it, he did it, he did it...HOORAY!

Dusty, my most favorite boy on this planet earth, defended his Civil Engineering Master's thesis last Friday. It was a big stress on him...something I'm sure he was constantly thinking about...but it's finally done with! Well almost. He passed his defense "with qualifications," meaning that he just needed to make a few suggested changes and then he's good to go. He has until this Friday to get it all done, so there's still that hurdle to get over, but I think the light at the end of the tunnel has done all of us some good.

I'm so proud of you Dusty.

One huge highlight of this weekend was that Dusty's parents were up visiting, and on Friday Dusty's mom offered to take Sadie for the evening so Dusty and I could have some time together and celebrate his big achievement. Wow. We've never left her overnight before, but I was all for it.

Here's the play by play, devoid of any pictures whatsoever (read: feel free to skip over the boring details of our life). Sadie and I said goodbye to each other at IKEA, and I got back to Provo for a 3:30 photo shoot. Afterwards, I picked Dusty up from campus, we went home and got spiffy, and then headed to Brick Oven where Dusty wanted to go for dinner. After a yummy dinner we went on a {short} walk because it was Fa-REEZ-ing outside and my body was literally pained because it was so cold. So we went home for a little bit and just laid in our warm bed and chatted about the many changes, decisions, and things we can't control coming up in our very near future. One of the best hours I've had lately. Then we had an intramural volleyball game, got slaughtered by our opponent, and walked back to our car with heads hung low. Okay just kidding, we really didn't care that much. But to make ourselves feel better anyway, we went to the C.O.N.E. (Creamery on Ninth East...I had never thought of the acronym until last night when Dusty pointed that out...clever), and had a single scoop of Earnestly Chocolate and Bishop's Bash. Mmmm. With our half eaten ice cream in tow, we made our way to Blockbuster. When that didn't work out, we went to the beloved Redbox. Dusty tried 72 times to swipe his credit card and the machine just wouldn't read it. He told me to go get a piece of receipt tape inside Albertson's, and not knowing why in the world that would help, I ran inside and got some. The guy at the register asked if I would also like his autograph. No thanks, funny man. Dusty folded the paper over the magnetic strip of his card, and tried 14 more times. Still nothing. I asked for a turn, and {viola}, first try and minus the receipt tape, State of Play was ours until 9PM the next day. I'm not bragging here, just simply stating the facts. By this point, we were missing Sadie pretty bad. She ended up staying with Auntie Ashley (thank you thank you Ashley), so we called her at about 10:00 and {completely jokingly} asked if we could come get Sadie. We suppressed the urge, and just watched our movie. Then it was midnight and the house was feeling pretty stinking lonely without our little miss there. When my head hit the pillow I just started bawling. I don't remember how or when she did it, but Sadie has complete control over our hearts. Dusty is not exempt. He missed her just as much as I did, but when I accused his eyes of being misty, he denied the whole thing. He's tougher in that way I guess. After some deliberation, we decided that we would go out for breakfast in the morning, but not without first picking up Sadie. She would like that sort of thing, you know. It was 8:30am and snowing outside when our lives felt complete again. Later that night Grammy Tammy came over and put Sadie to bed while Dusty and I went to the temple (thank you thank you Grammy). It was a most wonderful weekend. I love my Dusty, and I love that Sadie Mae.

We are a happy family.

It's back. It's. WAY. Back.

Remember this little gem from February 25, 2008? So do I. It's unfortunately all too clear in my decreasing memory. Maybe I'm just a little space-y case-y anyway, but I regret to inform us all that the problem has tripled in intensity over the last couple months. Will I ever have a full set of brain cells again? Let's just call that a rhetorical question.

Thanks pregnancy.

Itchin' to make something...

On Friday, I just felt the need to make some things. I partly blame some of the blogs I look at...I think it all started when I saw that Jan made something she now calls "The Devil's Candy." She got the recipe from my best friend (her niece), and I felt like I would have a small part of *Bert* in my house if I made it. So I did. Immediately.Here's what it looks like:

and here's where you can get the recipe if you want to make it too: The Devil's Candy
Then, I just had to make another recipe that reminds me of Bert! This is something I had multiple times with her family, or while we lived together. IT IS SO GOOD, and if you're needing a yummy something to put a tortilla chip in, you should try it. Here's what it looks like:

And here's how you make it:

Chili Con Queso

1 lb Hot Sausage

1 lb Ground Beef

1 Medium Jar Pace Salsa (12-16 oz I think. I used about 1 1/2 to 2 cups because I buy the BIG Pace bottle)

1 can Rotel (or generic diced tomato w/green chili)

1-2 cans Diced Green Chili

1 can Cream of Mushroom soup

2 lbs (32 oz) Velveeta Cheese

Directions:

Brown the sausage and ground beef. Drain. Add all ingredients into crockpot and cook on low. If you melt your Velveeta ahead of time, you'll only need to cook for 2-3 hours, but it will take longer if you don't pre-melt.

Then I wanted to make something crafty for Sadie. I remembered seeing something on Kelly's blog about this, and wanted to give it a try. You can see her directions on her non-private crafty/cooking blog here: Wooden Letters
I love the way they turned out, and I still need to add the embellishments like ribbon and buttons.


I had good intentions to keep on creating, but it turned out I just didn't have time. I really wanted to carve our pumpkins (which I actually would have loved to do as a family earlier in the week, but...no), but I was only able to start on one before we had friends over for dinner and then headed to the ward Halloween party. If I had been able to finish, one of the four pumpkins would have reflected something along these lines:

but actually it probably would have just said May 3, 2010 on it, because that's when we're expecting another little person to join our family! You'll really have to excuse the creepy fetus pumpkin picture...it was the only thing Google gave me to work with. But we're very excited and feeling good. I'm 14 weeks along. We actually found out on Sadie's birthday, so that's a fun way to remember.

As a side note, Sadie was a unicorn for Halloween. I'm sure her picture will make it up here sometime!

Quick Trip Home.

So one day earlier this month, a Wednesday I think, my sister Kirsten called me and asked if she could tempt me with a trip to Arizona. Well that's a temptation I can hardly refuse, and I asked her when she was going. "This weekend," was her response. "Oh!" was mine.Well let me talk to Dusty...After some "deals" with the husband and rearranging photo shoots, my trip home was secured. I was so excited because all my family that lives in AZ was getting together to celebrate the safe return of my brother-in-law from Iraq. Woo hoo! I didn't have to miss the family party. That's always good news. Thanks Kirsten for tempting my inner homebody.We ended up surprising my mom with our arrival...we both live in Utah and she definitely was not expecting us. My dad rented a car for us and everything, so no one needed to pick us up from the airport. My mom's face was priceless when she turned around from the dishwasher and saw us standing there. I love stuff like that.Well go figure I didn't get any pictures until our last day there. Sadie doesn't have many pictures with Grandma and Grandpa, so I wanted to make sure we took some. Here we are right before we said goodbye.





Grandma Kovacs and Sadie by Grandma's flowers. Sadie LOVED the flower beds in front of my parent's house.









I love that place. Can't wait to go back!

Doing Different: Cornbelly's for Family Night

Remember that post where I said "YEAH for different. We like different. Why don't we do different more often???" Well I think I'm going to start posting little tributes to "Doing Different." So...I've seen the billboard for this Cornbelly's place a million times, and I noticed the coupon for it in the coupon calendar and really wanted to go, but...go figure...it took Kara inviting us to go with them before we got our act together and went! It was so much fun, minus the not so happy ending, but Dusty and I both agree we're glad we went. However, when Dusty and I said so in the car, Sadie quickly put in her two cents that made us think she didn't agree with us. You might see why if you make it to the end.
Our little Punkin'


Fun shots at the entrance






They had these cute little wagons for free, so we said "Why not?!?"

Role Reversal

Going down the fun slide on daddy's lap. Good experience.

Jumping on the bouncy pillows with daddy. Also a good experience.



Riding with Jonathan in the wagon. Obviously a good experience.


Pumpkin Tower...also good.


Cow Train ride with mommy...good and bumpy.


Corn maze with the whole group...very good.



Going down the three person slide as a cute little family...bad bad bad experience.
Here's why: I counted to three and slid my little rear end off the edge and took off without the other two members of my family. NO...not on purpose. When I got to the bottom I turned and saw Dusty, who also lost hold of Sadie toward the bottom. Then I saw Sadie fall forward...flat on her face...and slide down the rest of the way in that very position. Poor girl! She was crying, and I felt horrible, but I just thought she was scared. Then I saw the blood dripping out of her mouth and felt a whole new level of horrible. She busted her lip reaaaally good. It's like that little piece of skin that attaches her lip to her gums just got detached from it's proper place! Owie. I tried to get a picture of it, but it wasn't really working. Here's the best I got, after we had cleaned her up a bit. We gave her daddy's cell phone to hold to make her happy. It did.

And here she is in the bath...fat lip and happy as a clam!

Reading a good night story. She loves this book Grammy!

BYU Soccer Game...and a picture with COSMO!

Earlier in the month Kara invited Sadie and I so a women's soccer game at BYU. It was cold, and fun to get to bundle up in hoodies and beanies. There were free hot dogs, so obviously we had one of those...even if we had just eaten dinner before we came :) I even ran into one of my dad's first cousins, Robert, who I adore! I don't know why, but I just really like that man. He's like happiness dwelling in a single body.Anyway, here we are at the game!

Buddies...

Picture with COSMO! Do you think the moms or the babies were more excited about this moment?

And in case you haven't seen me in the last few months or didn't notice in any other recent pictures, here's a shot of my newest haircut. It's actually been like this for a while now, but I took this picture and I'm going to post it...even though I look pretty scary in it! I was just concentrating on getting the hair...not really paying attention to my face.
I've been getting many more questions about my "grey streak" since I got bangs...apparently I can't hide it as well as I used to. But just so it's public knowledge: my grey hair is natural. I do not pay anyone money to do this. In fact, I can't understand why ANYONE would pay someone to do that to them. But I've gotten the question several times, and maybe there is someone who was wondering and just didn't have the guts to ask. So there you have it folks!

1 year old shoot. Easier said than done.

Here are a couple of the shots I got tonight from Sadie's one year shoot. Thanks to my friend Kara, we got one of her smiling. Sadie wanted nothing to do with getting her picture taken and everything to do with exploring her surroundings. I can't blame her. It's a cool place. But you can ask Kara...I was getting really really really frustrated. No, really. I felt like a failed photographer, mother, and every other anything I am. That's pretty dramatic. But I was honestly about to give up. I'm glad I didn't. Thanks so much Kara for helping me.

This picture isn't my favorite, but I wanted to put one up of her standing because you can see the outfit better.

Anyone interested in her outfit? I got it at Kid to Kid for a steal of a deal. Except the beanie...not so much of a deal. I think it cost about as much as the whole rest of the outfit. That's a whole blog post of it's own. Suffice it to say that Kara and I spanned the mall for about an hour looking for one, and Sadie would take it off just about as soon as I put it on her head. That may or may not have added to the frustration I was feeling during the shoot.

But now she sleeps peacefully in her crib and I am alone in the house...and looking at these pictures reminds me of how much I can't get enough of this girl...no matter how frustrated I was earlier.

true blue baby...and farm country

In slightly atypical fashion for Sadie and I, we got out and had a couple new and fun experiences this week. Usually our days revolve around pretty much the same activities, but this week was different. YEAH for different. We like different. Why don't we do different more often???

First, my friend Kara told me about "True Blue Football" which is apparently an annual event at BYU where they have giant slip 'n slides covered with blue foam and everyone just goes crazy. I hadn't ever gone, and Kara's family goes every year, so she invited us to join them. Dusty had class and couldn't go, but Sadie and I decided to go get Smurfed.


Here we are before...


during...
and after!

Sadie obviously having the time of her life.

Here I am with the reason I have a life here in Provo. You can call her Kara.

Sadie and Jonathan. Once again having the time of her life.When we got home, Sadie and I took a bath and this is what happened to the water!
Second, we went to Thanksgiving Point's "Farm Country" for Mother's Group. It's just a bunch of farm animals that you can look at, and some of them you can touch, and some of them will bite off your fingers if you try to touch them. Sadie loved it! I had a hard time convincing her to move from one animal to the next. It's fun now that she's into stuff like this.We even got a free pony ride with our admission. Sadie looks pretty concerned here, but once she finally grabbed onto the saddle with both hands she got a little more into it.


In seventh heaven


What is that, Mom?


She seriously could not get enough of the goats. If one accidentally touched her she got the funniest look on her face.


Sadie and her best friend Jonathan

Please excuse the fact that these pictures came straight out of the camera, with no editing applied whatsoever. Let's be honest, if you want to see my good pictures, you can visit my photography blog. The link is over on the right. Today, you get my point and shoot specials. Deal with it! I'm a mom and have better things to do right now. The end.

sadie's big shabang

Let's be honest with each other here. A birthday party for a one year old is really more of a good excuse for family and friends to get together. Oh yeah, and it's for the parents...and grandparents. It's definitely for them. Sadie could have cared less if there was cake, presents, decorations, and a good BBQ. But nonetheless, all of those things were present...in full force.

All I really thought about every time I thought about planning the party was Sadie's smash cake. I knew I wanted to make one of those for her. But that's about where it ended. So here's what I came up with:

smash cake for Sadie...mini cupcakes for the little guests.


Thanks to Grammy Tammy, there were plenty of cute ideas for decorations. Going up the sidewalk we had signs leading to the party...much in the style of "Big Chief" who leads you to Indian jewelry, moccasins, and dream catchers somewhere between Flagstaff and the Utah border.


Very cute centerpieces. Yes, Grammy may have even gone and bought a helium tank so we could have floating balloons. And I loved the Starbursts and Sweedish fish scattered around for snacks.


Daddy and the birthday girl


Faithfully reading the card before opening the gift. Such manners.


Getting lots of help from cousin Colton opening gifts, and Brock playing with the tissue paper.


Here is Sadie very much not wanting to model the cute jacket that the Thatcher Miners gave her.


Cake Time! Sadie loved it.










finger lickin' good


a big ol' chunk of cake


She loved it until it was over anyway!


Getting hosed off by daddy after cake time was over :(


Right after the party we headed back to Tucson to catch our flight. It was sad to leave before everyone else! Thank you to everyone who came. It was SO MUCH FUN to see everyone and enjoy the afternoon with you all. We miss AZ already.

Pictures to Help a Wonderful Family

I'm excited to give every one of you a chance to
{win a FREE photo session}, while at the same time helping a family in need. Before I tell you more about the family, here's what you'll get if you win:

*One 60 minute photo session with me!

*A CD with all the edited, high-resolution images from your session.

*A copyright release giving you permission to print your images wherever you'd like.

Now on to the reason we are doing this... On Wednesday the 19th of August, 2009 this world lost an amazing Husband, Father, Son, Brother, and Friend. On August 19th, Kameron Haban was taken from us by Lupus. 100% of these donations will be going towards the “Jami Haban to Benefit Kameron Haban” fund. For more information about this family and their story, please click here.



Let's all team up and do something good for Jami and little Kason!!

{Here's how}

For every $10 you donate, you will get one entry into the photo raffle. ($20 = 2 entries, etc)

To donate, click the yellow donate button below. You must first sign up for a Paypal account which is quick and easy.

You will be able to enter until September 26th.

When filling out the information,

please include your name, address, phone number, and email address. IMPORTANT: Please write in the "Note" area that you are participating in the
"Miner Photography photo raffle."

***Must live in or be willing to travel to Provo, UT or surrounding areas.

my favorite little girl is one...

I just feel like I have to write this down for some reason, but I'm not at home (well...in a sense I am VERY at home, but I'm not at my current residence) and don't have any pictures of Sadie other than the ones I've taken since we've been here. So instead of giving a long tribute, I'll just say Happy Day to my Little Miss and we will celebrate on Saturday with a big shabang! I'm sure there will be plenty of pictures and videos to come, because our Sadie Mae has finally decided after a month and a half that she likes to walk more than anything else! And she's eating well, so we'll see if she hit the 20 pound mark and can go in a forward facing carseat soon. And she jibber jabbers like a social butterfly. Oh I love her. I. Just. Love. Her.

he's twenty-five?

Yesterday Dusty turned 25!!! Whoa...I mean that's old, right? Quarter of a century...the sad thing is that I'm right behind him. Anyway, last year my friend Jenni did something for her husband's birthday that I really really loved, and I'm going to see if I can do it for Dusty. So, if you're ready, here's 25 random fun facts about the love of my life:

1. Dusty broke his collar bone while he was being delivered. Apparently those broad shoulders just couldn't make it through!
2. He loves the Bourne Identity book series. No really. He loves them and will recommend them any time someone brings up the word "book."
3. Dusty cannot CANNOT run with an iPod or anything like it. He hates the feeling of something in his ears and doesn't enjoy not hearing what's going on around him.
4. He can write an entire talk during the first half of Sacrament Meeting. A mind blowing talk at that...and not because he procrastinated...because someone didn't show and they needed a last minute replacement.
5. The alarm clock on his phone is the craziest thing I've ever heard. If that doesn't get you going in the morning, I don't know what will.
6.Potatoes. For dinner. Any day of the week. Yes please.
7. He is the youngest of 6 and the uncle of 38.
8. He does this eyebrow raise thing that drives me crazy...in a good way...okay in a not so good way.
9. Whenever he's ornery or stubborn he'll just say he's practicing for when he's older and no one will be able to tell him to behave himself.
10. When some people that we went to high school with heard that we got married they said "Mary Anne married Dusty? That guy is MEAN!" They obviously got the wrong impression.
11. One summer Dusty took a break from school and just worked full time. He noticed he was always tired and realized it was because he wasn't getting daily naps during class lectures.
12. Dusty bought our van, the Shaggin' Wagon (named after the green shag carpet that lined its interior), and then sold it to a friend, and then re-inherited it after the friend didn't want it anymore. I think a little piece of Dusty's heart came back with it.
13. Dusty and I play games better if we're on the same team...unless it's Hand and Foot...then he can play on his own team.
14. Dusty is the most solid mass of muscle I've ever met and had a really hard time learning to swim because he would literally sink to the bottom.
15. Dusty loves to make up songs. They are usually completely random, hilarious, embarrassing, or annoying...or all of the above.
16. He owns waaaay more clothes and shoes than me. I swear. It's because of his mom and her amazing deal finding abilities, but still. The maddening part is that day in and day out it's a t-shirt and shorts. "But honey...you have all those nice clothes..."
17. A Snickers bar can go a long way if you're looking to get on Dusty's good side.
18. Dusty will willingly tell you about the technical names of things going on at a construction zone or even just the infrastructure you see driving down the freeway. If you're into that sort of thing, maybe you should take a drive with him somewhere.
19. Dusty has a deep NEED to work hard. Being lazy doesn't suit him well...at all. If we're at a family function and we're just sitting around chatting...Dusty can usually be found playing with the nieces and nephews, or fixin' something that needs fixin'.
20. Number 19 is one of the things that makes me know I married a man just like my father.
21. He's way better at watering the garden than I am. If it were up to me, we might just have a bunch of shriveled plants out in the yard.
22. He still to this day thinks I threw away his beloved SOBE hat because it had a lizard on it and I hate those things. NO I DIDN'T.
23. What kind of cake do you want for your birthday Dusty? Fudge Marble. It's ALWAYS the answer. And the more cake leftover for breakfast the next morning the better.
24. Dusty cut the cord when Sadie was born. He wasn't sure if he'd be up for it, but when the moment came, he was right there ready.
25. I've only seen Dusty cry twice. And no, one of them was not at our wedding. He's one tough cookie to crack, but he really is a sensitive soul.

I LOVE YOU DUST!

Here's some pictures from his cake party:
He insisted on lighting his own candles.


Teasing the little ones...always teasing the little ones.


Here he blows...


He did it! And I think everyone else actually waited to help until they were all out. Hope you made a good wish babe!

the biggest bestest family reunion ever.

The week of the 24th of July was so much fun for us! We had a reunion with my dad's side of the family (my parents and their kids + my dad's brother and 8 of his 13 kids + a bunch of grandkids), and it was so good to get together with them. It's so so sad to admit, but I couldn't have even told you the names of half of my first cousins before this reunion. We just hardly ever get together with them, so this was a much needed reunion to say the least. We kicked the reunion off with the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. It was beautiful. Just beautiful. This isn't everyone who went, but sometimes in my family it's hard to get everyone gathered in one spot at one time. I hope you understand.

Then, we headed up to a place near Ogden to camp for a couple of days. I didn't get my camera out at all while we were there (what I was thinking is beyond me...thank you to everyone who DID take some). It was Sadie's first camping trip and everything. Even though there are no pictures to prove it, let it be known that Sadie ate lots and lots of dirt and has never been quite that dirty in all her life! A true first camping experience. She ended up sleeping between Dusty and I both nights. The first night was a little rough, the second night I think we were all too exhausted to care anymore. Anyway, below is a picture of our campground and also of my family tying a quilt that was part of a drawing for our big "Hatch" reunion. Kirsten was the one who headed up the quilt, and some of us cousins got together to sew it, and then lots of people helped tie it at the reunion. It turned out beautiful!


*Camping Story* It was just about as blasted hot as it could get up there...well okay maybe there are hotter places, but when you're in the heat the whole day it feels about as hot as it can get...so one day a bunch of us cousins decided to go play in the freezing cold river. It felt amazing. After we were done, Dusty and I decided to be as adventurous as Huckleberry Finn and walk back UP the river and then up UP UP a really steep hill (seriously...basically straight up) all with Sadie in her daddy's arms. I was wearing flip flops and kept losing my shoes. Then we saw a water snake. Then there was this big metal cylinder we had to go through, and Dusty starts showing me how to walk through it so I don't fall...singing "Do as I'm doing..." and slips and falls hard on his side. Luckily it was the side opposite from Sadie! She was dry and did not get squashed. Then we climbed up that blasted hill and I think Sadie was pretty sure her parents were crazy. I think she was right.

We got to the big "Hatch" reunion in Heber on the 24th of July. It was awesome up there. It's basically this church owned, giant girl's camp place that groups can use for reunions and stuff. It had everything you could ever want while you were camping...showers, bathrooms, a volleyball court, cabins, an incredible kitchen, etc. Here's the view from the road you drive up to get there.


Here is the funnest collage ever. All of my brothers and sisters had a baby within a 15 month period, and here is the first time they were all together! Sadie will have plenty of cousins her age to play with. On top of these 6 cousins she has 5 others on Dusty's side that were also born the same year. It was a true baby boom in our family! Here they are:

In the middle picture we have all the girls holding the babies. We didn't get one with just my siblings and their babies. We lined up according to baby age. From right to left are Clytie (Jeremy) and Lindsey, Kirsten and Trevor, Amy and Emily, me and Sadie, Allyson and Brock, Heather (Tim) and Gavin and Noel (David) and Kieran.

On Friday night we had a big dance under the pavillion. My dad and I danced the Virginia Reel (thanks dad for asking me to be your partner :), I danced the Macarena with Sadie, mom and dad danced a slow one, and a few of us tried to remember the moves to "Thriller" when it came on. I love my family. The kids ran around like crazy and had a great time too!


On Saturday we had lots of activities for all ages. Somehow I was elected to be on the planning committee of this reunion, and was put in charge of the activities. WOW what a job. Luckily I was able to use what I studied in school to pull it all off...plus I basically have the most amazing family ever for volunteering to help out with all the different age groups and activities. Could never have done it without them. Thank you thank you everyone.

We had a Redneck Horseshoes tournament. This was such a hit with everyone. I think over 50 people signed up to play. My dad MADE all of the sets of horseshoes with his two bare hands. Have I ever mentioned that my dad is incredible? He is. Our family sure represented us well in the tournament. Amy made it the farthest to the final three!


The kids were kept busy all morning with a bunch of different things. They colored signs for the "Family Tree" song that they learned and sang at closing ceremonies, they decorated costumes for the parade, they played 10 Tribe Concentration (my great grandparents had 10 kids, so they call them the 10 tribes), pulled taffy, had story time with the famous Cousin Phyllis, had a fish pond, and played lots of games!


On Saturday we got the big group pictures. First is the one with everyone on the Kovacs side who was there. This is really just my dad's family and my one uncle's family. Not even all of his kids were there. Pretty big group!


The Tony Kovacs clan, minus my brother Jeremy who is in Korea and my brother-in-law Jake who is in Iraq. Missed you both!


The first cousins who were there


First cousins and spouses


The second cousins


My dad and his brother Mike


What a great week. I felt very reunited at the end.

my first tri...FINALLY.

Yesterday I finally got to do a triathlon...and better yet I got to do it with Dusty, my sister Kirsten, and her husband Rob. It was everyone's first triathlon except Dusty. We had such a good time and everyone did great! At the beginning of the year, I started training for one in April (with some friends and sisters-in-law), but then a day before the race my doctor told me that I had Walking Pneumonia and I was definitely NOT ALLOWED to the the triathlon the next day. I started to cry in the doctor's office. Pathetic? Yes. True? Most definitely. Anyway, I decided to just find a different one, and this one up in Logan was perfect because my sister could do it me. I'm so glad she agreed, and so proud of her.

First picture of the day...looking onto the madness that was the transition area.
Oh the anticipation. Dusty is looking manly and handsome if I do say so myself. And I can say that because I'm his wife. Lucky me.


Body markings!


Me and Dusty right before the swim. He had to get over to the pool way before me because his estimated swim time was so much faster and they started everyone 15 seconds apart according to their estimated time. I told him if he shaved he probably could have cut 2 minutes off his swim time :)
*She's even kinda crazy 'bout my farmer's tan...*


*Sisters...sisters...showin' off our numbers in a picture*
What's with the song references? I don't know.


Me after the bike...Dusty was already done so he became the official photographer. Thanks babe.


Sprinting to the finish.


Dusty, me, Kirsten, and Rob

And just for the record, here's the time rundown:

Mary Anne: overall time 1:33:32
Swim (500 meters)- 14:41
Transition 1- 4:10 (what was I doing for so long???)
Bike (12.5 miles)- 45:53
Transition 2- 0:48 (that's a little better!)
Run (5K)- 27:58

I was happy with that!

Dusty was smokin'...overall time 1:08:20
Swim- 9:59
T1-2:38
Bike-34:02
T2- 1:29
Run-20:10

If you want to see pictures of Kirsten and Rob and see what she had to say about it, you can check out her blog. I'm sure she'll post soon.

One funny thing I want to remember about the race...
During the first transition I started to eat a granola bar, and put one more (already opened for easy access if I needed it) in my bike shorts, along with an energy gel packet (that they give you for free in your race packet). When I was done with the bike, I hadn't eaten the chocolate chip granola bar yet, and there was still part of my gel left. I forgot to take them out before the run. Whoops. Well, I just ran like that for a while, then decided to throw away the gel because I didn't want anything to do with the rest of it (they're gross), but to save the granola bar in case I wanted to eat it after the race. As I was running I kept shifting it around and eventually it started to come out of it's little package. So now I was running with loose granola bar in my shorts! Needless to say I chucked it at the first possible chance. No more saving it for later :( When I was getting in the shower I found melted chocolate chips all over my leg. Mmmm.

After the race we went and got some awesome Hawaiian food at Pounder's. They had a special where if you got a lunch plate then you could get a 1/2 pound of frozen yogurt at a different place. We all partook, and were very much satisfied (read: bloated to the max). Here's the only picture I got from lunch:

We went back to Kirsten's place and hung out for a while before we came back home. Ashlee was playing the piano, and Sadie wanted to join. It was pretty cute.

Yeah for a new achievement. I love it.