Micah's Birthday!!

Birthday Breakfast, Menu, package stack, 'to do' birthday plans list, streamers that didn't hang low enough to make it into the picture & Simply Orange OJ (breakfast doesn't get much better than simply orange!)

The Lillroses sent birthday 'cakes' & sang to him over the phone!

He was spoiled because after that he got a second 'cake' (strawberry shortcake)

and a solo sing from yours truly

Here's a funny little birthday story. Micah's not usually spacey, but a few weeks before his birthday he asked me how old he was. I told him he was 25, turning 26 (when in reality he was already 26). Then he said, "It's 2008, right?" Sure is! When I started laughing, his justification was that at work, they go by a fiscal year and it's still the 2008 fiscal year so he sees that date all the time and it messes him up. Maybe next year I can convince him he's turning the BIG 30!

We missed our flight....

to watch these ones.... The Hill AFB Air Show! We decided this was more fun and ditched our own flights to stay & watch the show and drove Jason's car home the next day instead

This new F22 never actually took off, but was guarded by soldiers the whole time!

Jason let the boys on his bike & rev the engine. I wish I'd had the camera in Wendy's, because he let them try on his helmet and they looked like bobble heads it was so big on them!

Say Cheese! Jason on the highway, posing...h0pe Mother doesn't see this one

Besty's Wedding!

Although they are the newliest weds in our fam, Tanner has been around longer than some of the other new in laws. Besty & Tanner have been together since the Fall of 2005 and just got married this year! Hurrah! We love Tanner! Plus, that is our High School Mascot (the Wobin Tannahs) so he fits right in.

What a Brood!

Besty would rather be standing next to her groom than her brothers, I guess

The 2 Js Bond-ing...Jamie & Jayden

Alex & Jax couldn't contain their excitement as Besty & Tanner came out of the temple!

and one of my favs also....Laree somehow got cut off, but I couldn't leave her beautiful face out!

Riverton-Pre Wedding Week

So after Yellowstone & the week before Betsy's wedding, we found an 8 bedroom house on craigslist not far from Tanner's home (her fiance) which was perfect to have ALL my siblings under one roof again! Crazy and so fun! I think these are the only pics I took all week, though. Grandma Dottie had one of her great ideas to throw a tea party. She came up with these 'costumes' for all her grandkids and I think Michelle made all these mini fancy cakes, & mom had all these fancy tea sets.

Soph & Digs-they linked arms without even being asked to pose! How cute is that?

(where do they learn these things??)

Lissie was probably the most into the costume, of the girls.

She wore these gloves & hat the rest of the week & loved walking around all daintily!

I think the boys liked their costumes more than predicted, also!

Jax wore the hat to the wedding, even, I think!

I got to visit with my 2 favorite Heathers! ..& their adorable boys!

(freshman roommates, Little Heather and Knab)

They used to laugh at all the family traditions and things I'd tell them about my family. So the summer after our Sophomore year I think, they came out to visit for a summer. They had a blast having 'the LaPierre experience.' It was even Laree's birthday, so they got a LaPierre birthday, complete with putting your heads down on the table (you have to have experienced it for yourself), went to 4th of July Boston fireworks which are the BEST!, enjoyed the humidity & heat & no AC, drove in the Silver Bullet (moment of silence), took a family temple trip & were awarded "Honorary LaPierres" by my dad-complete with some award to hang on their necks that they wore home. It was so fun!

Here we are years later (6 from that summer to be exact, I believe)

Yellowstone Adventures

The first night we got there we had a weinie roast, which the kids LOVED!

It was mom & dad's 33rd anniversary that night, so we had a little surprise party & made some of Micah's famous pies for the celebration! Sophie started to help, which made all the other kids see what great fun flour can be, so they all helped! I have no idea why this look is on my face (but it's kind of funny) because I was enjoying hogging ALL the present grandkids! except the babies, I guess

Lisa Michelle put together this photo book for Mom & Dad that we all contributed to. It turned out great!

Enjoying the view from the deck of the cabin

Ahh.....Micah doesn't usually hold kids, but I had Trav and he actually took him from me and enjoyed holding him and walking him around. So cute!

This thing actually got up on the board walk and other people were taking pictures right by it, but this was close enough for us! Did I mention their heads are HUGE!

I think this one was called "artist's point". Really pretty waterfall and a yellowish canyon

Micah had an ongoing bet with Mark to find another Tilley Hat wearer...here's his proof!

The same Tilley hat people had a scope/lens thing and we got a great view of this mother owl & 2 babies in this tree! This is all we got with our camera, though

Mom stole our camera to document this. She thought it was really funny that was all happened to sit down next to this 'pie' for lunch

I don't know if this was advertised with the cabin, but Uncle Bryce figured it out and it became a hit with the kids...a singing deer head. Good thing Besty wasn't there...it'd give her nightmares for sure. It had a mic and whatever you said, it would mouth it so the kids had a karaoke party. Or you could just put it on & the thing would sing random country songs itself.

Saturday, everyone else headed back to Idaho Falls (Carrie & Mark's) and Cris, Laree, Micah & I took a detour through the Grand Tetons. I'd never heard of these until Mike & AllyeB came along. Anyways, years later, now I finally get to see them! Cris was a little disappointed, as he had much anticipated this trip, because it was very overcast. I thought it made the peaks look even cooler!

The rocks on this beach were amazingly colorful which kind of made the whole beach have this rainbow-y gravel look. It was wet out, as you can tell, which enhanced all the colors!

Micah can't go near water and rocks without throwing...he wanted to just jump in & go swimming, but I was a chicken. Should have gone anyways for the memory! oh well, too late!

An AMAZING sunset on the way out of the park

Sunday after church, Micah preaching to the multitudes

I

thought this was so funny. Mom & Dad rented a mini-van, which the kids thought was so cool because you only had to push a button for the doors to slide open or shut. Mom & Dad had all the older kids in their van the whole time we were driving around Yellowstone (which was quite a few hours each day). Al & Digs liked it SO much that even when we got home, they made excuses to sit in it: They had Grandpa read books to them...from the back of the minivan. I thought it was pretty cute!

And we took a stroll around IF temple that afternoon....

And just a great happy smiling pic of Tay to end all this!

Memorial Day Weekend

I know...that was a LONG time ago....I've been a little bit slow this summer

So for Memorial Day Weekend, we took a dirt road drive down the Sandia Mountain

Micah couldn't find his sunglasses; I was pretty impressed with his improvisation

Then we went to a Regional BMX tournament. I thought it was funny that this is such a family sport. Kids as little as 5 or so were racing. Entire families were here to compete. Never would have thought to put a child in this sport!

I saw this tent on our way out....apparently everyone's a winner in this sport!
It was fun to watch for a little bit-I'd never seen one before live

and of course, we had a BBQ in the park on base

"The Kite Whisperer"

(yup, he's got 2 up there at once!)

Guess who visited us!!

Probably none of you will really appreciate this picture....you'll either think "Duke visited with his friend" or "Autumn stopped by with a guy" however, the beauty of this picture is that it represents 2 of my worlds coming together! I grew up with Taylor and Autumn is a dear friend of mine from BYU. Thanks to facebook, I saw a picture of them together and was shocked to see friends from 2 different 'worlds' of my life together. Someone had set them up on a date in NY...anyways, totally fun for me. I love it! They were driving up to Salt Lake last night from Dallas and stopped in to see us. We had a great time chatting with them both!

This is another fun weekend we had that I think I forgot to post. Albuquerque seems to be a great stopping point for travelers between SLC & TX so we got some other visitors this past winter. Our friends Erica & Brandon were visiting from Arizona to go on a little ski trip and Micah's cousin Allison was driving through to TX. Another fun match-Micah's cousin married my freshman roommate's little brother (Knab's). We were so excited when we figured that out. Now Knab and I have fulfilled our lifelong dream of being related! We had to take this pic so you could see 3 beds and 3 couples staying the night in our 1 bedroom apartment (Allison & James in the dining area, Micah & Katy's room in the back & Erica in the living room on a mattress with Brandon laying down in hiding).
Brandon & Erica got us to go skiing with them-something I've been totally scared of! Micah and Brandon worked all morning to keep me on my feet, so here I am on my way down the bunny hill. We had a blast!