I know

I know I suck at blogging. The thing is only like 3 people in the whole world will probably read this and one of them is Ron, because honestly he mostly likely wont ever post anything, but he dose like to read it. If this post sounds really scatter brained thats because that is what kind of activity is going on inside my brain.

Ron and I have been really busy, some things that have happened since my last post are:

1. Teal came to live with us in Knoxville she was the best part of my summer

2. I got a job working at Chick-fil-A 

3. We moved from Knoxville to Johnson City from a 2 bedroom apt. to a single room extended stay hotel

4. Teal and I ran every morning like crazy and it was amazing

5. Teal left and I was very sad she is so sweet and one of my best friends

6.We packed up and left to go home

7.We went to Iowa to visit Palmer school of Chiropractics where Ron will be attending this up coming March

8. I am very scared to move to Iowa where we will be far away from family, and dont know anybody or really anthing

9. We came back home and lived in Darcy's basement for 2 and half weeks until we could move into our apt.

10. We went to Ely and saw our family after a long and drury summer, we got to see Jacob play foosball, and I played in the alumni game and was amazing, this I know because everyone told me so

11. We went to Idaho to see Heidi run her marathon (26.2 miles!!!) were she took second and was amazing!

12. Then we went to Boise to see the ever so popular Henze's it was great out on the lake I didnt go to the lake because I stayed back to spend some time with my family who were down for Naani's baby blessing which is missed to spend some time in Boise, but after the lake fun had happened

13. I got a job!

14. We are happy and healthy for the most part Ron has an injured shoulder, and I have an injured knee. Don't worry I didn't hit him too hard

So I will be putting up some more posts with pictures now that I have a place to live and internet that works well. The post will not be put up in chronological order so if you three out there who read my blog get confused, that is why.

The Long Awaited Over-due Graduation Post!

So this year has been very eventful especially with graduation. I graduated with my bachelors degree from BYU. Starr graduated with her associates degree from BYU-I. Teal Graduated from high school as salutatorian. And last, but certainly not least as class president Madison was promoted from eighth grade! Here are some cool pictures of it all! (sorry for the picture overload!)

This is Macy

These are her fans from the Henze clan.

These are some of Macys amazing professors, she likes all who are pictured and did well in their classes. There may be a connection, but I can't say for sure.

These are Macy's fans from the Collins clan.

This is Hallie another of Macy's fans and Ron's pride and joy.

Now on to Teals graduation, we were so happy to go as Levi's smile represents our true feelings.

Lexi even gave her famous princess smile! She was so excited and loves being in the car for hours on end.

Here we are in our very good seats! (Thanks to my dad for coming 3 hours early.....he likes to be prepared what can I say)

Here is Madi pondering life with Teal graduated and gone.

Grandpa, Grandma, and Uncle Rick enjoying the time they get to spend together before the commencement.

Starr is very observant shining for the whole world to see!

Mom and Dad at peace that another will be leaving soon.

Lexi Sandwich! Yum.

Teal sitting on the stage so superior!

Getting her diploma......finally.

Yeah she made it big hugs from Mom and Dad!

Madi so happy that she is going to be the oldest at home. The one thing she has wished for her whole life and she just can't contain her emotion!

Yeah the ceremony is over! (Thank heavens there were only 74 graduates!

The proud parents and their new grad!

Wow look at all these beautiful girls and all in the same family!

We all felt this way when the day was done Levi was the only one to be true and show how we all felt!

Here at Madi's 8th grade promotion we were so lucky to sit behind Luke.

Madi was the class president and won junior elks student of the year!

Madi gave a speech, and only thanked the boy she likes who wasn't there, for letting her wear his jersey. Don't worry taught I Madi a lesson on loyalty.

Carl also was promoted, but I had a hard time getting pictures of him :(

Well thankfully if you did indeed look at this whole post you will be happy to know that I am done for now, and  hope to have some cool and fun things to update in the near future!

Little Bit'O Tennessee Rain

Just a short update!

Summer is here in Knoxville and I have really enjoyed many of the new changes this past month. The first change I noticed after I came back after having been gone for a week is the increased humidity. Next I noticed that in the evening there were fireflies everywhere! I love them so much it is so cool to see them twinkling every night. 

Summer Knoxville Sunset

Little Town of Knoxville

Third the rain here is crazy. Just the other day it was sunny and hot around 1pm within 15min. torrents of rain were pounding the trees. I took some pictures of the rain pounding the trees, but I am not sure it captures the intensity of the rain. I actually recorded the  rain with the ole camcorder, but I don't know how to put videos on here so the pictures will just have to do!

As you can see the rain drops are huge!

For this picture you will notice the color difference from the picture above. This is because the rain was really coming down and you are looking at the trees through more water.

Just one more picture of the trees getting beat by the heavy rain!

Well now you know why the humidity has increased inviting my new firefly friends!

The Rest of May before I left

I will start off saying that I had a wonderful mothers day thanks to my husband being the good man he is. We went to dinner and to the movie theaters the night before to celebrate. 

Mothers Day Celebration!

             Next we celebrated my 24th birthday yeah for me I'm getting old! But, this was the very best birthday I have ever had, it was so much fun. First Ron made me his specialty for breakfast french toast and eggs and it was delightful. Then we went to the mall where Ron spoiled me rotten and gave me a little shopping spree. It was so fun to buy new cloths! Next we decided we were going to go mini golfing, we put the address in our GPS and it took us to a different mall where they sold the brand of stuff for the mini golf course that we had looked up on the internet. So we decided to watch a movie at the mall the new Shrek movie it was really funny.

We were very hungry after the movie so we decided it was time for some Memphis BB-Q at Sonny's and it was sooooooo GOOD! We had brisket, pulled-pork, fried okra, baked beans, salad, garlic bread and coleslaw. The sauce there is amazing and just leaves you wanting for more. Finally we found a golf course that had a batting cage. This was so fun Ron may or may not have beat me at golf, but we really didn't keep count so its hard to say. (I'm making banana bread right now and it smells so good!!!!) Any way we practiced our hitting at the batting cage and it was a blast I had so much fun. Ron took the day off of work which he almost never dose so this was a very special day and I love him so much he takes such good care of me and treats me like a queen.

Me getting ready to hit, I was really nervous, but it was really fun!

  This is my handsome husband he is really good at hitting and looks good doing it.

The first week adventures!

  Ron does summer sales and we go some were new and different every summer. This summer we are in Knoxville TN, last summer we were in San Antonio TX, and the summer before we were in Long Branch NJ. Every summer brings new adventures and new people, along with a new climate. This summer is very green and so far has been very rainy. The people here are very nice and twangy. We are in the south and it is evident in everything around us.

So the first week we had here was full of fun and laughs. Rene Ron's mom came out with us so she could visit Danny Ron's younger brother who is stationed in NC. Ron missed his first day of work so we could go sight seeing with his family. This was fun and a nice break for him between school and work. 

This first week he had back at work was full of funny for me and awkward for him moments. First he was talking with a guy who was working in his garage who was waring shorty short shorts and gave Ron a view that he doesn't care to remember. Second he was called by some guys who were smoking and as it turns out they were all gay. Two of them were dating and visiting the third. As they were talking with each other the leader of the group asked him "were do you work out? the RUSH?" The 'RUSH' is a colorful fitness center here in TN. Ron said 'No, I work out at my school'. The  leader then says to his boyfriend "babe I want arms like that" (reference to Ron's arms). Ron is a buff guy, but felt a little weird by the compliment. Third Ron was out on  a lady's front porch who had a three year old daughter who was autistic. When Ron and the Lady were talking the sweet girl came and hugged Ron's leg. A little later she came up to him again and decided to pat his crotch. I'm sure Ron's eyes were wide with shock and embarrassment. Fourth this story is the weirdest and kind of gross actually. Ron was knocking on a door and a lady was inside on the couch and told him to come in. He was talking with her for a while when he realized she didn't have any pants on. She had a dish towel laying across her lap and a pillow shoved up against her side. So needless to say our first encounters with the people of Tennessee was a big warm up and close friendly welcome! Thankfully I have a great husband who works hard for me and deals with some of the stranger people in this world so he can provide for our family.

Ode to a Mother

           I know this is a little late, but I feel the need to honor my mother. Recently my older sister took a trip to Oklahoma to help my aunt to clean up my grandmothers stuff (she passed away over a year ago). When she was cleaning and going through stuff she found a typed letter written by my grandfather who died almost 20 years ago. The letter was titled 'Ode to a Mother'. In the letter it started off by talking about his mother who died 7 days after his birth, and then he was raised by his grandmother (his fathers mother). When he was 9 she died. There was a lady who had kids and was real nice who my grandfather liked and told his father I need a mother you should marry her. With in time this is exactly what happened his father married the real nice lady, and he had a mother again. He said he was really grateful for all the mothers he has had in his life who have taught him so much and when his real mother meets those other women he knew that she would tell them 'thank you'.

             Mothers make a world of difference weather it is by teaching through love or just by example. So I just want to say to all the women who have taken time to be a mother and help a child thank you. 

           To all the mothers in my life: the teachers who cared, the young women leaders who put up with me, my sisters (including sister-in-laws) who are my examples, my mother-in-laws who I will be ever grateful for, for helping my husband to become the amazing man he is, my grandmothers for their love and kindness in raising my parents and last, but not least my dear mother who has been an example of Christ in everything she has done. She was the light of our home growing up and carries the spirit of love and compassion. She is selfless in every way, and has never put herself before her children. She is the example of what I want to be and to her and all the women who have been in the role of mother to me thank you.

This what we see when we walk out to the balcony!!!

Starting With The SUMMER!

I am starting a blog which is definitely overdue because we travel to a new and exciting place every summer and I am sure our friends and family are very curious about our adventures.