GNO

So last weekend we had a little Kaiser Girl weekend. We headed down to Salt Lake for a weekend of shopping, eating, and playing games...all without the kiddos. Well, we did have 2 little ones with us, but they both are too little and too cute to not have around. So anyway, we did lots of shopping (thanks Tessa and Steph for putting up with us), ate tons of great food (all I have to say is Rodizio Grill and chocolate cake...yum!!), went bowling (I won with a 103), and hung out as Kaiser girls. We were missing one Kaiser family girl, Janell, who lives in Colorado and is busy teaching, but will hopefully have her and the kiddos around when we all meet up again in June! Well, thanks Laurie for a great time! Here's to being a Kaiser girl!!

Number 5

Last weekend we took a road trip to Kemmerer/Logan/Randolph to celebrate Rusty's youngest brother getting married. It was a beautiful day at the Logan temple and Andrew and Stephanie couldn't have been happier! Congrats to the new couple!

This was the last of Paul and Laurie's five children to get married. I'm sure it was a bitter sweet day for them...their baby was getting married and leaving but it was the 5th temple sealing they've attended for their children. Pretty amazing to have all 5 kids make it to the temple. Maybe one day I can grow up and be as amazing as they are!!

Highlights

Since the 4th of July has come and gone, I just want to share a few of the highlights from our FUN weekend!!

Meeting Elder & Sister Kaiser (Grandma & Grandpa), Aunt Amy, Uncle Casey, and Cousins!!! in Lander, WY for one of the best ice cream/watermelon/fireworks shows I've ever seen...plus it was all free!!!

Loving the ice cream cone Grandma & Grandpa scooped for me.

Having front row seats for an amazing fireworks show...way to go Dr. Bills. If you ever have a chance to make up this way over the 4th, Lander is the place to be. This guy puts on this fireworks show all by himself, and it's better than anywhere I've ever been, even Stadium of Fire.

Spending time with Grandma and Grandpa on their P-day.

Walking on the original Mormon Pioneer Trail.

Catching a horny-toad with my cousin Caden.

Listening to handcart stories in the grass (actually playing with Chase while everyone else listened).

Watching dad catch a fish.



Playing with cousins in an original early 1900's ranch school house.

Taking a trek with the family and enjoying a little snooze in the handcart.

Escaping the relentless mosquitoes at the Willie Center and cooling off at the Lander park.

Listening to Grandma & Grandpa share the pioneer story of Ephraim Hanks and Thisbee Reed. Aren't they so cute in their costumes!?!

We had a wonderful time with the Kaiser's over the 4th. Although we were plagued by mosquitoes, it was an amazing trip to spend together as a family.

Happy Anniversary

I want to wish my in-laws, Paul and Laurie Kaiser, and very Happy Anniversary today!! They have been married for 34 years today. These are some of the greatest people you will ever know, I feel so lucky to have them for in-laws. Check out how cool they are on their mission...aren't they just so fun! We will be visiting them on their mission next weekend, and I can't wait to have them share their incredible mission experiences with us. Congratulations to Paul and Laurie, what wonderful lives they lead and what wonderful examples they are to us.

Another one...

So, what is it...everyone is having babies but me!!! Anyway, congrats to Jeremy and Janell on their new baby boy, Jayton Paul Kaiser. He was 20 1/2 inches and 8 lb. 10 oz....whoa!!! This is a long awaited moment for Jer, he has 4 girls and he finally got his boy! This little boy has so many sisters to love him and as he grows up will have no shortage of "mothers" telling him what to do. What an exciting moment for Jer and Janell as the doctor told them it was a boy, I wish I could have been there to see Jer's face. Janell, you're a good woman, I'm proud of you! Congratulations again...I can't wait for B to meet another little man to get into trouble with!!

I Hope They Call Me On A Mission

We were blessed this past weekend to spend some time with Rusty's mom and dad, Laurie & Paul, before they leave on their mission. They have been called to serve in the South Dakota, Rapid City Mission, assigned to serve at Six Crossing. This is part of the Mormon Handcart Visitor's Sites and Martin's Cove. They will be serving there for 6 months, helping with visitors centers and pioneer treks. We are so excited for them to share their testimony of the gospel with others while they serve the Lord. They will be the perfect missionaries because they possess the qualities we should all be working on improving in our lives; humility, kindness, obedience, patience, and service. Paul and Laurie are some of the greatest people I've ever known, and I feel blessed to be part of their family. Thank you for your love. Bridger will miss his "Mas" and "Papa" but he will always have their example of service to the Lord and sacrifice for what is most important. Good luck, you will do wonderful!!

New Arrival

I'm so excited to announce that Bridger has a new cousin! Justin and Tessa had a beautiful baby girl on Wednesday March 12th. They named her Mylie Ann Kaiser. She is a beauty, isn't she.

Here's a shot of the proud daddy. I can't help but see Rusty in this picture just 2 years ago, in the exact same hospital with our little man...boy how times flies. Jus and Tessa, take time to enjoy your sweet new arrival, I can't wait to meet her in person! Congrats!!

Birthday Bash

Bridger had a fun little gathering for his birthday. His cousins, Aunt Amy, Uncle Casey, and Grandma Laurie came for the day. We packed in as much fun as we could in the time they were here. The boys watched a little Shrek when they first got here.

Then we headed off for the new Aquatic Center here in Pinedale. They have a great little leisure area that couldn't be better for kids. There is a 3-story water slide, a lazy river run, and lots of little gadgets that dump, spray, and splash water. The boys had a great time!

After a hard afternoon at the swimming pool we came home and had waffles for dinner. Bridger loves breakfast, so this made a great dinner for his special day! Grandma brought her cool Mickey Mouse waffle iron and sprinkles to put on the waffles. The kids were in heaven with their special treats piled high with peanut butter, syrup, and sprinkles. After dinner we enjoyed Bridger's cake. He had no idea that he was supposed to blow out the candles, and was more interested with the Cars toys on his cake than anything else.

Bridger loved all of his presents from family and friends. He was definitely spoiled! I think his favs were the the miniature Cars, animal sounds puzzle, singing Pablo, and the Cars mitt. He was so thrilled with each toy, that it took quite a while to open up his presents.

After family left late that night, Bridger just enjoyed laying on the floor in the middle of the toys and paper. I think he was in heaven at this moment, just thinking about his family and all his new toys...what a lucky boy!

Wrapping It Up

So, I'm finally back and ready to blog again. I have been home from our little holiday travel for over a week, but I am just barely getting back into my routine, which includes blogging. :) Here's a quick update on the holidays for the Kaiser clan.

We spent a few days before Christmas, Christmas Eve, and Christmas morning in Utah with the Prescott family. It was so much fun to spend time with my mom and the rest of my family...it made me realize how much I really miss them. Thanks to Dean, Maddy, and the kids for traveling to Salt Lake so much just to hangout with us...it really meant a lot to me.




Christmas morning was good with Bridger, except that he wasn't interested in anything that Santa had brought him. All he wanted was the 30 year old Disney dominoes that my mom has in her toys drawers.




We then headed to Kemmerer for the Kaiser family celebration. This always includes lots of wrapping paper, tons of food, and games of all sorts. Bridger was thrilled with the gifts Grandma and Grandpa got him, especially his Elmo Pillow Book. I was so excited to open one of my presents and find a crepe maker, thanks Laurie!! We even tricked Rusty with one of his gifts. Now let me explain this...Rusty has this intuition, or gift some may call it, that he can always guess what gifts he is getting for Christmas. Well, me and Laurie went in on this together and tricked him this year...it was really fun to see his face!!

We spent from Christmas through New Year's Day with the Kaiser's. Rusty had a great time hanging out with his brothers, fishing their hearts out...and I had a great time AFTER I had a complete emotional melt down. I guess I had been away from home far too long, was tired, and emotional. Thanks to Amy for helping me out of the rut and having fun with me...and by the way, I am going to win Phase 10 one of these days!!

So, there's my holidays in a quick minute (or two)!! I hope you all had a memorable holiday. Happy New Year to you all, may 2008 be better than 2007 (even if 2007 was great)!!

What a Difference

Since Thanksgiving I've been really thinking about the difference between little boys and little girls. My niece, Noell, is only 7 1/2 weeks older than Bridger but is completely different in everything! (As noted from the picture above.)

While we were visiting over Thanksgiving Noell wanted to do everything her mom did. If Janell was cooking, Noell had to be on a chair at the counter helping, if Janell was unloading the dishwasher, Noell was on a chair putting the silverware in the drawer, you get my point. After noticing this I have tried to expose Bridger to a little bit more of what I do around the house each day, laundry, baking, cleaning, etc. and today was the LAST STRAW!! I had him up on a chair trying to put the silverware in the drawer and as I handed him each utensil I was lucky if it even landed in the drawer, usually it ended up on the counter or floor. He has no interest at all in doing these things, he'd rather be carrying around a ball, pulling ornaments off my Christmas tree, running up and down the hall, or tearing books off his shelf. What the heck!! It's amazing what a little chromosome will do, isn't it?

Here's to you mother's of boys, my best wishes to all of us, I can't wait until the teenage years when Noell will be the one giving Janell grief and I can sit back and just remember the difference in little boys and girls!!

P.S. Happy Birthday Noell!! You are the big TWO!!

Already Over??

So, since today is the last day of November, I thought I better make at least one post about our Thanksgiving holiday. Colorado was cold, but it was nice to visit with family and do a little "Day After" shopping with the girls! Our feast was great especially the pies, bravo Janell!!

Here's a shot of my guy carving the bird!!

After traveling so far I was happy to be home and have Bridger back on schedule...too bad we ended up with the flu all week long!! Hopefully next week we'll be back to normal. Happy Thanksgiving!!

Full of Thanks

As this week is Thanksgiving, I've been reflecting on things I'm grateful for. Here's my list of a few blessings I am thankful to have in my life.

1. My Boys...
I'm thankful for Rusty and Bridger because they bring such joy and adventure to my life. If I didn't have them, my life would be just like any other average life, but because of them I have memories unlike any other. Thanks men, we have lots of living left to do!!



2. My Family...
I'm thankful for a mom who takes care of me, even though I'm out of the house and far away. I often get small packages with things my mom thinks would be helpful for "her little girl". I love you mom!


I'm thankful for my brothers, sisters, nieces, and nephews. I know that when I go home and see my family that I will always be accepted, no matter what. I love going home because I always find true happiness with my fam. Thanks guys!!






I'm thankful for the Kaisers. This family is a truly GREAT bunch. They have taken me in and treated me like gold since day 1. We have lots of great memories and fun times together, thank you.



3. My Religion
I'm thankful to have a Heavenly Father who loves me and has given his Son for me. I'm thankful for the priesthood, the temple, the Book of Mormon, prayer, repentance, Visiting Teaching, the Holy Ghost, and everything else about the Gospel. I wouldn't be the person I am today without the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. What a blessing.


4. The Small Things...
I'm thankful for the small things in my life too. Like the beautiful sunrises I see each morning out my window, my dishwasher, reading books with my little boy, eating ice cream with Rusty, taking a drive to see the beautiful world we live in. These are just a few of the simple things in my life that I love each day.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, enjoy your great Thanksgiving dinner, and take a second to remember how blessed we are.

TURKEY LURKEY

OK, Justin, this is for you!!

If you're not interested in hunting stories or pictures go ahead and skip this post...sorry. This weekend we made a state-wide road trip to Aladdin, Wyoming for some deer and turkey hunting. It was a LONG DRIVE, 10 hours, filled with Rusty quoting lines from "Jeremiah Johnson" and "The Cowboys". Now, I love Rusty, but you can only take so much when it comes to Robert Redford and John Wayne impressions!! The only compensation for all the movie lines was the beautiful scenery we saw along the way.



The town of Aladdin is like something out of a book. It's population is 15, FIFTEEN!!! The only buildings there are a Post Office/Bar/General Store (all in one building) and a small motel. Inside the store it was like "Little House on the Prairie", it had everything you needed, even candy in big ol' barrels, (I could just see Half Pint asking Pa for some candy). It was fun to take a look inside and we bought Bridger a "wooden nickel" for a little souvenir.

Now, my expectations for this hunt were not too high considering my last 2 turkey hunts and the disappointments I had with them. Some people may say that turkeys are dumb, but I would have to disagree. These birds are pretty smart and won't let you get near them. Hunting these little guys is more difficult than you could imagine. To make a long story short, me and Rusty hid in the trees while his little brother Andrew pushed the turkeys right to us. It was amazing, almost like a cartoon, with the turkeys running down the hill, their heads bobbing up and down!! They came right to us, I stood up, aimed the shotgun, and with one shot I got my turkey!! It was amazing, sort of a miracle. I was so happy and Rusty was so proud of me!




Now, hunting really isn't my thing; I got my Hunter's Safety a couple of years ago because Rusty really wanted me to. Even though I go bird hunting reluctantly with Rusty every year, I always have fun and find myself growing a bit as I do something out of my comfort zone. Thanks for all you do hun, I love ya!

Girls, Girls, Girls

I just got back yesterday after spending a weekend trip with the Kaiser girls. The Kaiser girls are spread out; from Laurie & Amy who live in Kemmerer, Tessa who is in Laramie, Janell who lives Ft. Morgan, Colorado, and me in Pinedale. So we decided to meet in Ft. Collins Colorado for a weekend of fun and shopping!

We started the weekend off with a pedicure. It was nice to just hang out with the girls and chat about life while the technician rubbed all my cares away...as well as some calluses. :)

Then we hit the town with a little shopping and a great dinner at The Melting Pot. None of us had ever been there, but we decided to splurge and have a little fun! Boy it was an experience and I couldn't stop smiling all night! Thanks to the girls for putting up with me and my excitement!







We ended the night in our great hotel room just hanging out in our matching pajamas, courtesy of Laurie.

The weekend was great and well-needed. This was the first time I have left Bridger over night. It was a bit sad at first, and I will admit there were a few tears shed, but I definitely needed to relax and have some "Anne time". Thanks girls for a great time, I love you all and think of you as my sisters!!

Just a minute

Well, I'm visiting the Kaiser's this week and have found just a minute to make a post. I'm going to give a quick Kaiser summer report. It has been crazy, fun, stressful, and everything else, but as I am looking back I'm happy to survived it!!

July ended with a bang! I was able to spend the last 10 days of the month with my mom in Salt Lake. July 24th is our "Annual Turk and Utahna Frantz Reunion" so I was able to visit with my brothers and sisters and their families. It was great to see them all, as well as my cousins and their families. I will admit that it gets a little crazy with all of them, but it is definitely worth it. Thanks to Rex who provided the cotton candy for the event...I think this will definitely have to become a regular treat at the event!!!







Early August was filled with days in Pinedale. Most of my days were spent at the trailer and at the beautiful Pinedale Library. Life in the camper trailer has not been as bad as expected. I think the only thing that I would really wish for out of trailer life is more than 3 minutes of hot water for a shower. Bridger, on the other hand, couldn't ask for anything more. He gets to run around outside as much as he wants and when he is inside he plays with toys or watches "Shrek 2" and "The Backyardigans". We have meet some really nice people, some really weird people, and a couple scary people while being camp host at the Warren Bridger Campsite. All in all it has been a great experience and a little bit inside of me is sad to leave that place. :)

Towards the end of August Rusty was called up for a 10-day wildfire duty with the Elko, Nevada Hot Shots crew. He and the Elko crew were called to the Castle Rock fire just north of Sun Valley Idaho. Rusty had a good time and learned a lot as he was "thrown to the wolves" on his very first wildfire. Rusty was helicoptered up the mountain where he stayed for a few days looking for hot spots and doing other crazy fire stuff. He said it was amazing to see those Hot Shots at work...they were animals packing chainsaws, gas, and other equipment up the mountain on their backs!!! After it was all said and done, Rusty came home with some fierce blisters and great connections for another fire duty next year.

September came and so has the cool weather. The temperature swings in Pinedale are just unreal...we go from high 20's at night to mid 70's in the day. It really has been beautiful and I have actually liked the cool off. Bridger and I are meeting some nice people at Storytime and playgroup, so that is helping with the loneliness. With the cold weather we have been getting really serious with house stuff. Our home arrived September 4th in Pinedale and things have been moving along since then. The house is now on it's foundation and electricity is ran to the house. Our septic system should be done soon as well as our garage/outbuilding. This means that we may be able to close on the house and MOVE IN some time the second week of October!!! All this is tentative, but I am very hopeful.


Thanks to the Kaiser's and my mom for being wonderful and patient with me and Bridger as we have been wanderers since July. Although our families have been great and taken care of us since July, I still can't wait for our own place. Hopefully soon I will be blogging from home, until then enjoy!!

One Fine Day

While in Kemmerer for our 2nd annual Scrapbook marathon we took a quick break for the kids to enjoy the nice weather at the park. The kids loved their picnic and the chance to get out and run around. I couldn't help but get shots of everyone because all the grandkids are so cute!!








Bridger loves all of his cousins and gets so excited when he sees their pictures on the fridge. He is so lucky to have Morgan, Makell, Brookie, Caden, Colby, Noell, and Chase to have fun and gt into trouble with!!