Ketcheson Family Reunion

It finally came! Our Ketcheson Family Reunion was Aug 14-16. We had so much fun, and we were so happy that so many were able to come. Cheryl and Ryan and their families were unable to come and we REALLY REALLY missed you!

On Thursday, we went to Aunt Laura and Uncle Steve's house in Rigby and we were able to do some weeding and other yard work. Look at these hard workers!

We also had a barbecue that evening, and we had a beautiful cake (baked by Amy and frosted and decorated by Belky) for Cheryl's birthday. We made calls all that day to her and ended by calling and singing happy birthday to her and blowing out her candles for her.

Weston and Megan worked the grill and did a wonderful job with the hamburgers and hot dogs.

I missed the whole bury Grandpa with pillows, but when I was looking through the pictures from the reunion, I found this one, and just had to share it. Grandpa's a pretty good sport.

Day 2 (Friday): We went to Crater's of the Moon, just over and hour west of Idaho Falls. It's a huge lava flow and dead volcano. We did some hiking, and went into some caves.

I'm not sure what they're examining so closely, but it must have been something really cool.

A very cute couple,
Another cute couple (I warned Megan I'd put this on the blog),

Dave, Belky, and family (Victoria is on Dave's back),

Day 3 (Saturday): The adults (except for Scott and Dave and Dad) went to the Family History Center to do some research on the Ketcheson Family, while Scott and Dave stayed home with the kids and made ducks. First they painted the ducks, then while the ducks were drying, they went to the Snake river and fed real-live ducks.

After lunch, all the adults except for Scott and Dad went back to the family history center. Scott, Dad and the kids put the ducks together and walked to the park by our house. They also went swimming.

The finished ducks!

Grandpa and Victoria watching the swimming.

That evening, we played "I Survived a Japanese Game Show" hosted by Dave and Belky. Oddly enough, and sadly, we didn't get any pictures of the first game. Weston and I (Amy) were the guinea pigs. Mom sprayed a whole can of shaving cream onto my head and then the kids threw Cheetos at my head. Megan did the same to Weston. Megan balanced the shaving cream on Weston's head really well, but mine was slipping pretty bad off to the right. I had a hard time keeping it on. Then Weston and I had to run around the swing set 5 times and get back in our chairs. Then they counted to see who had the most cheetos still left on thier head. I won!! By like 40 cheetos or something! So if this ever gets admitted into the Olympics, you all know who should enter!

After that we played a game where you put an orange into one foot of nylons and tied the other leg around your waist, so it hung down between your legs. Then you were supposed to swing that orange and have it hit another orange on the ground, trying to make it go forward. Here's some pictures and videos of the contestants;

Scott won,

I'm so impressed that Dad even tried with his neck still recovering from surgery, but he did alright,

Megan had by far the most unusual technique:

Dad helping Megan.

Here's the cutest video of the two youngest at the reunion, Krysta and Victoria, sharing and playing together:

The reunion was so much fun. It would have been perfect if everyone could have made it. We really missed you Jennifer, Ryan, Mel, Kylie, Jared, Natalie, Josh, Matt, Blake, Cheryl, Kayli, and Bryce. We hope to see you all soon. I just really wanted to thank everyone again for the help they gave me during the reunion. I cried and cried when everyone had to go. I am so thankful for family and the strength and support we can all be to one another even though we all live so far apart. I love you!

My Very Own Super-hero and the Kindergartener

This post is totally dedicated to my two favorite Jensen men. Firstly, to my husband. I don't know how many of you noticed that I have included the Spiderman theme song in my playlist on the left, but that is 100% for Scott. He really is my very own superhero. Not only does he make life worth living every day, but at night he rescues me from danger. Yes, you guessed it, he dreams he's a superhero. Usually spiderman, but the others (Superman, Batman, Wolverine, etc.) work too. I am always the damsel in distress and he always has to save me. Most of the time the rescuing involves his solving some complicated engineering or math problem, so not only does he have the usual superhero talents, he also is a genius.

Who wouldn't want dreams like that? Always being the hero? What a self-esteem booster at night! But you know, it really fits. He's always my superhero.

Dreams, I've been told, usually tell us something about ourselves. So true in this case. Scott is the kind of guy who loves to serve, help, and yes, rescue those he cares about. I think most of the people who read this blog already know that and he's probably done something that was amazing for you too. So the Spiderman theme song is dedicated to you Scott!

In other news, Tyler started school on Monday. Yup, he's officially a kindergartener. After two days of school, he's loving it. Mostly the part about riding on a big yellow school bus to get there, and the kid who cut his nose open with scissors today (really truly, I couldn't believe it either), but whatever the reason, he really loves it. Yesterday was a little teary for me, but he just couldn't wipe the big grin off his face. He was so excited. It made it easier for me that he was so brave. Here's a picture of his first day of school.

Belky told me about a website that gives great hairdo ideas. This one is called "A river runs through it." Just ignore the overloaded garbage can on the counter...

This past Sunday, Krysta had a new tooth coming in, and was understandably not wanting to eat. So we let her get out of her high chair, while the rest of us ate dinner. We were obviously not paying much attention to her, because suddenly I looked over at her (she'd been really quiet, which is extremely unusual for her) and she was a mess! She'd been eating all the food that she'd previously thrown on the floor. I guess I now know how to get her to eat when she doesn't want to. Just throw it all on the floor!

Here's a better picture of her. Her Aunt Belky gave her this outfit, isn't it so cute! She's nine months old already!

Flying Kites

We went kite flying for family home evening a few weeks ago and took this video. For anyone who's visited Idaho Falls before, you know that the wind is ALWAYS blowing, so it's not too hard. In fact, one time when Emalyn's kite fell down, Scott was laying on the ground and kicked it back up with his feet, and it stayed up in the sky!!