FAMILY'S ARE FOREVER!!!

Tonight I'm in Lima, Peru (Miraflores) and things are going really well here as I'm working on building up mine and Dirk's Nikken business and that of some of our team members!  The people here are all very kind and we've been treated with much hospitality. :)

What's on my mind tonight though... my dear family!  I was so torn to leave my kids for such a long time (10 days), but Dirk and I knew it was important so here we are making it happen.  Anyways, just because they are on my mind, I'm going to write a few things about each one:

Ivy:

Little Princess

Laughs

Kittens

Animals

cuddly

comfortable

obedient

cute

fun 

strong-willed

spirited

Eli's bff

stroller

Eli:

Obedient

Thoughtful

handsome

Smart

Funny

"Just Kidding"

tractors

bikes

friends

school

Dirk:

Handsome

Kind

gentle

Priesthood

comfortable

prepared

protector

eternity

Love

BFF

I LOVE YOU ALL SOOOOO MUCH!!!!  

LIMA y Our Anniversary!!

I arrived in Lima, Peru this morning at 1am. ALL of Neil's family was at the airport and they all wanted to go eat so we all piled in three vehicles and drive through Lima... CRAZY!! We eat pollo con French fries. I wasn't supposed to eat the delicious looking salad so I didn't.

Then, they went to take me to my apartment and we couldn't find it for about 2 HOURS!!! I know... Very long time! I was still living off adrenaline so all was good. Asleep by 4:30am and then...

I woke up at 8 and got ready for our presentation at Cafe Mezze at 10. Ithe presentation went really well with a lot of people there who are all very interested. Afterwards, I went with Elias, Jacquie, Elvira, Neil, Rosa (la mama) y Amelia (sister of the mother).
We went and ate and looked at the view of he ocean... Very pretty.

Our next charla started at 4pm and it also was very packed! The Jackson's did this presentation as apparently el cafe had us double booked. It was alright just a bit confusing. Thank goodness Geoff and kimball are here!! I wouldn't have come without them...we are great supports for each other (I think they feel the same).

Anyways, I went with the caballeros a la casa de Juan, un hermano para su cumpleanos. We ate, danced and I rubbed magboys on a lot of ladies... Haha. They all liked it. It was a very fun time the only problem was I started to hit a wall about 11pm... Ayyeyey! Finally I got back to apartment at about 11:30pm and just Skyped with dirk and kiddos. I miss them!!! Plus, it's mine and Dirks 5th anniversary today! I LOVE him with ALL my heart. The next time I come, he better be hhere too... Its almost unbearable without him.

It's 12:30 and I need to sleep!!! Thank goodness tomorrow is Sunday and I can rest! :D!!

Buenas Noches!

Dopp Reunion

Two weeks ago we went camping with the Dopp family up City Creek Canyon above Junction.  It was a lot of fun! This is my most favorite time of year... Lots of time outdoors with family!  :~>!

There was only one unfortunate incident of which sadly I'm to blame...it was when I pulled a pop can out of Ivy's hand and cut her finger pretty bad :~<. I got so nauseous about what I'd done. I'm pleased to report, however, that it's healed very nicely!!

you'll notice we are doing exercises in some of these pictures...my nephew Kevin has a hip problem and has to work out alot more so we were doing exercises with him.

Our four wheeler has been the best investment this summer by far!!  $300 and it runs great...plus, I can start it haha!!!

Idaho / Montana vacation

It's road trip time!!

We left for McCammon, ID on Friday, July 13.

We are now the road to Helena, but let me tell you about McCammon:

Dirk's dad, Arlan, grew up in McCammon, ID and so that's where we held the reunion this year. It was a great time! Arlan's sister Marlene still lives in McCammon and we did most everything at her house, although our fifth wheel was parked in an empty field across the street along with Estella and John's trailer and Herb's trailer (Arlan's brother).

I've never met most of Arlan's family other than Marlene / Bruce and Dean / Brenda so this trip was a real treat. I really like his family! They are all very nice!

Arlan's family has endured some tragedy along the way: His oldest brother Sidney was murdered at the young age of 30 back in 1967. He had 5 kids at the time. Of Sidney's kids there has been tragedy as well, but this weekend I met Tina, Sid's oldest daughter (I think) and she's terrific!!!

Arlan's mom also had a few baby's that died right after birth (either two or three). I'll have to get more information about these. Arlan's moms name was Thelda and she was a nurse by trade. She studied up in Logan. Arlan's fathers name was Ariel and he worked on the railroad an we are not sure what else. I will be happy to meet them someday :-).

Marlene prepared and picture scavenger hunt yesterday and that was fun!! We split up into groups and walked around town finding the things she had given us pictures of. Estella, Emma, Carmon and I were on a team along with Ivy, Adan, Hazel and KayLee ( we were a bit handicapped with so many little ones). Fortunately, Estella knew where most everything was so it didn't take us long. We did meet up with the guy team at some point so Dirk and I stayed at the elementary school to play with some of the kids. I'm SO glad we made it to the reunion!!!!

Proud to be an American!

Happy 4th of July (a couple of weeks late)!!! We had lots of family at our house for the fourth: Julia and her kids along with my parents and little sis Emma! It was such a great time! Joseph city had an event at the park so we brought a salad and ate dinner their. We didn't stay for the fireworks show though as it was windy so we just went home and did some small ones there.

Most of the state was on a fireworks ban because there were so many fires and we were pretty much in a drought! We've since had rain and are doing much better (thank goodness)!!

I'm grateful for our country and hope that Dirk and I can do our best to help keep our country good and moral, great and free!!!

Shaving Cream game

I've learned a new game for my kids... Shaving cream on the counter top!!! My sister in law Estella told me about this and it's pretty fun! More so for Eli and not so much for Ivy. Downside to the game - Dirk was out of shaving cream when he went to shave and it's pretty messy! We will still do it though... I just need to stock up on shaving cream from the dollar!!

Smitten Kitten

My kids are smitten over our kittens!! A few months ago we got two kitties from Devin and Elle Woolsey and neither Eli or Ivy can get enough!! Ivy especially... If she's ever sad, I know exactly what will cheer her up! They never scratch her either. She'll be holding them upside down or squeezing their neck's and they just let her and stay really calm- it's pretty sweet. <3