Thursday, May 28, 2009

Wedding Weekend: May 15-17th

So, two weeks after our (HUMONGOUS) road trip ;-) where we spent 6 of the 9 days we were gone driving, we left to drive to northern Utah for Tom's younger brother's wedding. It was a really quick trip, leaving on Friday and returning home on Sunday, but we had a great time getting to see our whole family and the wedding. I think our were sort of numb to being in the car for long extended periods because they did quite good. Even still, we've decided that we are done with long drives for a long while. Here's many, many pics (as usual, but I am going to publish my blog into a photobook, so pics are good) from the trip...they're out of order....it actually starts from the bottom. yeah, midway through the drive, we let our kids take over.... :-)

Wyoming pit-stop



Max and Grandpa.

Tom and Jensea, his great cousin friend.
Max LOVED the punch!


This is a Jensen family tradition where all the grandkids pose for a picture while eating Krispy Kreme doughnuts (so they'll mostly be happy) Max still isn't very happy though. Neither is his closest in age cousin Sam (below Max).
Taylor's closest (in age) cousin is Sam too, or Sammi
our family at the receptionour funny, little nephew Jared...
Taylor and her cousin Isaac rolling around playing together.

Tom's older brother John cracking the kids up. These two nephews are Max's age. The one in front was born on the same day as Max.
Sammi and Taylor...they're just 3 weeks apart and we learned on this trip that Sammi is quite the dancer!

big family shots...

This is an immediate family shot...Tom has 9, yes nine brothers and 1 little sis. The funny thing about this picture is that, since his family is so huge, they were actually missing a brother here (he and his wife were getting their kids dressed) but, they didn't realize it until he showed up about 10 minutes later! ;-) Cracks me up!


I made Taylor's dress.....okay, so I tried too. The day before we left, the kids were napping and I had about an hour and a half of free time, so randomly I thought, I should make Taylor a dress for the wedding! More than 5 hours later and after a 2 hour help visit from a friend with a degree in home economics (therefore, unlike me she actually is good with a sewing machine), The dress got done! Hopefully, I won't forget that personal lesson....if you're going to make clothes, invite Andrea to help and don't start the project the day before it needs to be worn! ;-)

Sunday, May 24, 2009

One HUMONGOUS road trip...the farm

Seriously, this farm in Mississippi was the most beautiful, peaceful place! I talk to my brother Jon very often and he always telling me about his animals and the goings on at the farm; it was so great to be able to see everything he's been telling me about. We had so much fun playing outside, Tom and I went on a nice, long run, Taylor LOVED all the animals, especially the big black lab named Max, riding horses, shooting guns, eating fresh food right from the farm! It was just amazing! My brother has always been so hardworking and so talented at making things beautiful (he's a very talented painter and gardener) so it was so great to see all he could do with 14 acres! It was inspiring too and I've got my own little 'garden' growing on our front porch...I even took horticulture classes in college, but have always considered myself a quite pathetic gardener, but Jon really inspired me to keep practicing and working at it...anyway, he are a bunch of pictures of their beautiful farm...

this is way back behind the farm house....


on the back porch...

us early in the morning on the back porch...we'd been driving so long and Tom was so tired so I got up early with the kids and we followed Jon around as he fed the animals...I've really come to love the serenity of early mornings.
this is the front porch...there's a nice big swing on the other end of it. I LOVE porches! I think it's a big southern thing. This house of his is over 100 years old and was actually moved from it's original location. It was actually an old hotel! It looks quite rustic, but it was SO nice! I wish you all could go see it for yourself! It was all just so charming and beautiful!

after our run...my hair just goes crazy in humidity...okay, it just goes crazy all the time... ;-)

the vegetable garden....
Jon running on Shade...
Taylor and I with Shade...
She was quite the poser! ;-)
here's a side view of the farm house...

me riding Lady...

Tom, Taylor and I going for a ride...


Taylor was just in heaven getting to pet and feed all these animals!


the baby horse...isn't he a cutie?
Taylor's first ride on a tractor.

Max standing up...something he still rarely does!

getting ready for dinner....you can see a little of the inside of the house in this pic. I wish I would've taken more pics of it.

ready for bed!