The Rest Of Thanksgiving Weekend

My family went up to Kiabab to get Christmas trees on Saturday, my mom got this awesome picture of my uncle Jerrol. It totally cracks me up!


I gained weight, holy cow!!! Not really, but it was a funny picture. I was freezing so I was standing on one of the floor vents up at my grandma's and the air went up my jamma pants and made me look like a gained weight, it was pretty funny!


Mandy was standing on the piano bench reading all the piano music sheets that our grandma used to play. Some of them were pretty interesting AND old! But there is this bird that balances on someones finger with it's beak, it's pretty cool, we used to play with that for hours when we were younger. So Mandy thought she'd relive the memory!

Happy Thanksgiving

Here are just a few pictures of our thanksgiving day-


These are our dysfunctional turkeys! They were so cute in the picture I cut out, but I'm not good at decorating stuff and Chris and Madison were helping me. So we called them our dysfunctional turkey family.


Cory is sitting on Dani's lap. It was funny!


Dinner at Shellie's house. I tried to get a picture of everyone. It was fun! But we felt like we were missing someone(s). Wades family.

All in all, thanksgiving was fun. Tons of desserts, a turkey cooked a little differently, apple and walnut stuffing, orange rolls, Potatoes and gravy(I wouldn't let my parents make gravy from the turkey drippings, because I used white cooking wine). It was fun. Tomorrow I will heading up to my grandma's in Junction to hang out with some family for the weekend. While everyone else in my family goes and gets Christmas trees on Kiabab. So maybe I'll get more pictures to post later on!

My last few posts have been downers, so here is a fun post!!!


I match so well, maybe I was trying to match the umbrella(but it didn't work out). But I do remember that shirt!


See how happy my dad is to be spanking me. I must have done something to deserve it!


Me on the back porch. I have no idea how old I was.


Wade, My grandpa Leavitt and me.


See how abused I was as a child and my parents are smiling in the pictures!

Favorite Pictures

We were working on a project that is a secret right at the moment and we decided to find all of our old memory cards and put all the pictures on the computer. Very entertaining! So since I don't have much to blog about, because I promised Edwin I wouldn't tell my family about him, this will have to do for now(because he's afraid they will think he's a bad person before they actually meet him)!

These two pictures are most absolute favorite in the world, I loved everything about them. The first one is in Friday Harbor, Washington(San Jaun Islands). The second one is in Anacortes Island, Washington, gorgeous. For some reason I love the view. The sail boats, the ocean, the smell. I want to go up there again so bad. It's like a homesickness for me! I just need the money!

Ok, a couple of years ago we went on a hike, I know I've posted one of these pictures before, but we lost my moms memory card, so here are some more. The first one is me from the front, my mom took that picture, but you can see my dad in the background, taking the second picture, that was on my moms camera.



This isn't a very good picture, but I was freezing. Then a few minutes later I'd be dying of heat. But the only good time to go on that hike is in the early spring, late fall because it gets SO hot down there and then the sun reflects of the rock, which makes it hotter! I want to go back down there again. Maybe I can get Edwin to go with me in the spring- oh shoot, I mentioned Edwin!!! :) Ha, ha!!

Second Batch of Reunion Pictures-day 2ish!

Here are some more pictures, I might as well put more on here since I'm waiting for the washer to be done so I can take a shower.

My Mom and Dad!


Me, they wanted to do individual pictures of me, since they were doing pics of each family and I was my own family I was thinking "Whatever"!


Kellie and Kyson- they were freezing and sharing a sweater! It was funny!


Lindsay and Madison


Me! We went to Peach Days the night before going to the reunion and I bought each of my nieces princess crowns, I tried them on. Thats how long I WISH my hair was!!!

Sorry, I just had to put this picture on here! Melinda(29) wearing Emily's(10) sweatshirt. With the help of Mike was able to get it on! It cracks me up every time I see it!

Not much to say, but I do want to congratulate my cousins Jessie on her baby girl yesterday. And Chrissie on her baby girl a couple of weeks ago. I'm super excited for them and I know they will be awesome moms!

So, on Saturday night(I mentioned this on facebook, but it's funny) Wade's kids were here(all the way from California) and I was just playing on facebook and my niece Lindsay who is 5 1/2 was talking to me. She had this serious look on her face(here's the conversation)-

Lindsay- aunt Jerolyn, it's time!
Me- what?
Lindsay- to pick a husband
Me(wow)- really
Lindsay- yes, you need to pick a husband now
Me- why?
Lindsay- you need a boyfriend so you can get married
Me- ok....
Lindsay- it's really important that you pick out a husband now and get married like Aunt Katie.

Her aunt Katie just got married the day before so I figured she's like any other little girl who loved all the dressing up and all that went on for Katie's wedding. I just thought it was funny.
I will be her last aunt(or uncle) to get married. Maybe I should wait till she can remember it for later in life! Hmmmmmm!

Those kids are smart! Ella who is I think 2 1/2 has the 10th article of faith almost memorized! Lindsay was saying the 13th. WOW!!! I never memorized any of them!

Anyways, so I am sure I will get more pictures to post over the next few weeks, since Wade's family will be here(Bryce is here in Utah and Wade & Annie and the girls will be back this weekend). And there is the Leavitt family reunion!
And I for sure am taking my camera to Peach Days because I ran into so many people last year, so hopefully I'll see Sarah this year, she only lives like 5 blocks from me and that was the last time I saw her. I need to be a better friend!

First Reunion Post of the Summer!

So we had an Ipson reunion this weekend, it will probably take a few posts to get all the pictures on and tell the awesome stories and hopefully make those who didn't come jealous! This is my cousin Ricky and me. We never see their family, but it was so fun to see them, Ricky was ordained a priest and they got persmission to do it in the Junction ward(they live in Clearfield) so that was totally awesome, he's a cute 16 year old without a girlfriend........

This was TOO funny! John was giving Ronnie(on top) a piggy back ride and they decided to see if he could hold Ricky to, then Justin decided he'd jump on- he didn't, but it was funny! Ronnie's face is awesome in this picture!

We had almost all of my dad's siblings children there, so we got me, Jaqcue, Mandy and Melinda together, we just needed one of my Uncle Dave's daughters(sorry, John is the wrong gender).

DJ is so awesome. He's hot too! Why is he not married yet??? We were twins in this picture, everyone was saying we totally could have been. Check out our hats with our sunglasses, our guns, it was fun. He is such a cool guy to hang out with!

But yeah, so I'll write more later. Especially the funniest story about Mandy being pulled over! That was so funny, the way it happened was awesome! But if you happen to see Mandy or Melinda ask them, they tell it so much better!

Dork is the wrong word!

Ok, as me and Edwin have our texting dates(pathetic huh) I always call him a dork! He told me to look it up! Lovely definition(he has WAY too much time on his hands). So he is now a goober, which means peanut! : )

I know we are weird! It runs in the family(well, mine anyways).

Oh and seriously do they make 80 inch measuring tape(soft measuring tape). I decided to start using a exercise ball(for my stomach) and my tape measure is only 60 inches! Hmmm, maybe I'll have to cut out an 80 inch string or something to make sure it's pumped up enough!

This is a picture of my funky little flower! I can't remember what it is called but I love it!

Happy 90th Birthday Grandma!!!!

I know my grandma died a few weeks ago and you all probably don't want to keep reading about her, but the night she died I absolutely could not sleep and memories of her kept popping into my head, so I started writing them down and they just kept coming. My aunt Linda read some of them at the funeral, but here's all of them(plus I wanted to type them up and put them in my journal).
Anyways, about 2 summers ago I was spending the night up at my grandmas with her, my Linda, Melinda and my Uncle Dave and Aunt Ruth and I think John was there to. It was on a weekend, which was so fun. That was a really good weekend. Anyways, so I took my dad's laptop and the scanner up with me and scanned a ton of pictures.
So here are some random pictures and the things I remember about my grandma(she would have turned 90 this week). (I think these are her parents, but I'm not sure)
She always remembered our birthdays
She always wrote letters back(great pen pal- weekly letters).
She acknowledged- everything- graduations, baby blessings, eagles, baptisms, weddings, missions, all the church achievements(young women's, duty to God, etc)

(her wedding day, she made her dress)

She loved to sew for her family(knitting, quilting)
She always gave us New Years eve presents- notebooks and pens and wrote a note inside the notebook(I think I might have one still, somewhere in storage)
She was very resourceful with wrapping presents(in cereal boxes, cracker boxes)
She was a really good cook

(my grandpa and grandma)

She was a very faithful church member
She loved the temple and loved working there

She loved canning
She had really neat handwriting(unique)
She loved her family so much
She played the piano

(random pictures- wedding, temple work, military)

She made really good/interesting treats to send out for the holidays
She helped her kids in any way she could
She loved writing for the newspaper
I loved her stories about how she met grandpa, her life with her family in Idaho
She was a very strong woman
I loved how she always pinned her hair up before going to bed.

My dad's family- Linda, my dad, Ruethella, Dave

grandpa and grandma, Mary

If anyone can think of other memories, let me know.

Grandma's Funeral

THIS GOING TO BE A LONG POST!!!

This weekend was my grandma Ipsons funeral. The day of the funeral was my grandparents anniversary. I can't remember which one, but it's over 60 years. Everybody was saying they were on their second honeymoon. These pictures are backwards, I haven't gotten this blogging thing down yet. These 2 pictures were at the family dinner, me and Travis in the top one and D.J. and my aunt Mary in the below picture(my parents camera sucks and we forgot to change the date stamp).

This is at the cemetery, Trent and John putting the pallbearer boutonnieres on the casket.

Aunt Linda with my great aunts Mary and Viola(they are my grandpa's sisters- both in there 80's)

Me and my dad.

The casket was so pretty, I was there when they picked it out in Richfield. I was there when my aunts Linda, Ruethella and Mary and my cousin Melinda helped dress her in her temple clothes and put make up on and Melinda did her hair. That was really good for me. To see her that way, for some reason it was healing for me.

We went to lunch with my aunt Ruethella at Wendy's. Then drove to Junction to get dinner ready and get ready for the viewing. Wade called us, saying he was in Hurricane, we had no idea that he was coming from California. That was awesome. And Cory who was planning on leaving at like 4 in the morning to get there in time for the funeral from Arizona, but he was able to leave earlier and got there that night.

The viewing was good, the cousins who were there visited and just enjoyed each others company, Melinda talked me and Emily into spending the night at our grandmas instead of at the hotel, which helped because we only had two rooms and 3 families. So they weren't so cramped in there.

It was really good for me to be able to hang out with my cousins that night, Melinda, Tom & Natalie, D.J., Jacque & Justin, Louisa, Roni and Ricky were all there, we had so much fun. Holy cow, I grew a 3rd boob- actually really funny. My grandma has this Easter chick that cheeps when you touch the two metal circles on the bottom and D.J. and Tom were being annoying, somehow I managed to get it and while they were trying to get it, I stuffed it up my shirt, it looked like I had a 3rd boob, that cheeped! It was funny.

But yeah we stayed up forever, I slept on the porch(my bed, up there).

I went back to the hotel to get ready(so there wouldn't be a million people trying to get ready in that small bathroom). I got to the viewing, Wade was there, yeah! More of my cousins were there. I was doing OK emotionally until each family got up to say a last goodbye before closing the casket, that is when I started crying, Chris even started crying. It was sad. But the funeral was really good. I made a list of things I remembered about my grandma, my aunt Linda read most of it. I looked around while she read it and could see that my cousins remembered those things too. Made a few smile too. I will post that another time.

Being at the cemetery was interesting. It was really windy, it had snowed, the ground is clay, so each step we took added another layer to our shoes and of course I was in open toe high heels, that sunk into the ground, those shoes are still in the jeep, dirty. We weren't there very long, but it was so cold and windy that it wasn't a very fun thing, we were all in a hurry to leave. My toes were white and blue, so as soon as we got some pictures, I hurried back to the jeep, turned the heater on and pulled some thick soft socks on. I had a blanket I started out wearing, but my two aunts Mary and Viola wanted to be there and were cold so I let them use it.

We went back to the church for dinner, that was good. There were a lot of my dads cousins that he hasn't seen in a really long time that were there, from Idaho, so that was fun for him. The dinner was good. The company was nice.

We went back to my grandmas to change, and my dad's siblings had a little family meeting, the rest of us talked and joked around and just had fun.

Being together with my cousins, as much as I was(Friday night and after the funeral) was very healing for me emotionally. And being able to be with them during such a sad time, them being so fun to be with, that was very good for me.

But physically this weekend was hard for me. My boss pretty much forced me to leave Tuesday night( I was crying too much), then he made me take a 3 day bereavement(which is paid). But my allergies kicked in Wednesday(horrible, it was worse that it's been ever), then I have 3 canker sores that are extremely painful, right at the front of my mouth and my braces would rub on them. Then I got a cold sore. Had very little sleep because I couldn't breath, and had other things on my mind, wasn't in my bed, stayed up hanging out with family in Junction, then again at home while Cory and Wade were here. Oh, yeah, Wade stole my favorite pillow, so I had to use another one, I had the worst stiff neck, so that was horrible all day Sunday. So yeah, I was in a really depressed, horrible mood all day Sunday!

I only watched the afternoon session of conference. I was just plain too tired and didn't feel good. I was looking forward to sleeping in today(as LONG as I could), Cory woke me up and made me go to lunch with him and Shellie(wade had left already).

Now I am starting to feel better, my canker sores, don't hurt as bad, I've been taking claretin and Wade says it takes 5 days for it to work, and my allergies aren't really that bad right now. Now I just need to get back to work and get back to my normal routine. Get Easter out of the way and everything will be OK! Yeah!!!

If you read this all, I warned you, it would be long!

Rula Ipson- April 21, 1919- March 30, 2009

We just got a call from my uncle Dave saying my grandma Ipson passed away today. I don't know how to handle death. The only person close to me that has died was my grandpa Leavitt and that was when I was still in high school.

My grandma was awesome. She used to always come down on tuesdays, work in the temple on wednesdays and leave thursday. For years she did that. She's had such a hard life, but she was such an amazing person. She is finally with her husband- my grandpa Ipson(he died in 1982- 26 1/2 years ago) and she never remarried! As soon as I find more pictures of her I will post them. Right now I am just in shock! But it's been a long time coming. I don't know whether to feel blessed to have had her in my life and happy that she now with grandpa Morrill or sad that she will no longer be in my life. The shock will probably hit me when I am at work and I'll probably start crying while I am packing a box. I hope my bosses will be understanding if I have a break down.
It will be great to see all my cousins at her funeral, but I just wish it was for something happier!
I love you grandma!

Montezuma's Castle and Well

Ok, these are backwards! This is the ditch that the water from Montezuma Well comes out of(It comes out of the mountain).

This is Montezuma's Well, it's like a big crater, and water is at the bottom. You can see the little Indian houses(I don't know what there called) on the side of the mountain. There are 3 of them. The water is lukewarm, for winter(it was probably in the 70's), so for Indians to find something like that would be awesome. And it's fresh water, there wasn't any smell(sulphuric-like hot springs have). The water goes through the mountain to the ditch and I guess it went to the castle, I really didn't pay attention to the exact details, it was too neat!

Trent, Dani and Emily. They were being dorks. They wouldn't smile decent, ok, we did get some good pictures of them, but Trent won't let me put them on my blog, he wants to put them on his.

Montezuma Castle, it's on the side of the mountain, it's really cool.

At a distance. If anyone goes to Phoenix or southern Arizona, this is one place to stop and see. It's a really neat place.

The trip was so fun. We originally were going to go hiking in Sedona, but I've never been very comfortable in Sedona(I've heard too many stories), even though it's gorgeous there, I just feel like it's not a very good place. But me and my dad wanted to see the castle and well, and Cory lives in the town named after them, so we decided to do that instead. I really enjoyed my time there. I was afraid I was going to have panic attacks, but I guess I stayed on top of it, even though I was tired the whole time. I had a nap at Corys after hiking, High School Musical woke me up(the most annoying movie ever- not really the musical fan).

Sunday was nice, we went to the blessing, then to Tammy's(Natalies stepsister) for lunch. She has a really nice house. She has this huge chair and I almost fell asleep in it. It was so comfortable.

The drive home was LONG!!!!! I slept from Camp Verde(Tammy's) to Flagstaff, then after that I was too wired. But I love the drive over the reservation. It's so desolate, it's really interesting. Then Marble Canyon is gorgeous. It's just a really pretty drive. We stopped on the bridge and some California condors nesting there. Got some really neat pictures of the kids. Then after that the drive was boring!!!

All in all it was a good trip!

This is what happens during a panic attack!

I know I've posted these 2 pictures on here at some point of time or another, but I never really put them together! I've been talking about my panic attacks a lot lately! So here is what happens! This is before the xanax(I've never noticed the scars on my bottom lip and chin like that before-cold sores and sun blisters suck!!!). Up at grandmas house during the deer hunt.

After the xanax! I look really sad right here! I personally think I was lost in a whole other world! In one world I knew my mom was taking the picture, another world, I was like whatever! Leave me alone!!! Up on Beaver Mountain, camping- our annual Joe Ipson family reunion.

Anyways, that was just for laughs!