Katie's cat fish

This is Katie's cat fish. Her fish made 22 fish tacos, she made her daddy proud.

Big Sister

Katie is loving being a big sister. She sometimes wishes that Kortney was a little older, but she loves to take care of her sister.
This is what happens when I leave Katie in charge.

Katie also loves fixing her sister up. She was the first to give Kortney a pony. I told Katie that Kort's hair is too short and so Katie just went and did it. Kortney also loves to have her sister put makeup on her.


I do love that even though there are 5 years between my girls they still love one another. Katie is the best helper.

Tri-athlon

As most of you know in January I decided that I need to get back in shape. I started weight watchers and said I was going to do a sprint tri-athlon to help motivate me. So Melinda and I signed up to do the Riverton Sprint Tri-athlon, 300 meter swim, 12 mile bike and 3.1 mile run. I had so much fun doing this, that I want to make it something I do every year. I have a shoulder that slips at the joint and so swimming is really hard on me, but I LOVE the biking. To date I have lost 27 pounds and have about 15 more to go. One thing this triathlon tought me is that I can do anything I put my mind to. I am running 3 days a week now, I would have never imagined that I could run 3 miles at a time. NOw I am just trying to improve my time. Here are a few pictures from the day.
It was so nice, Katie and Sierra were waiting for me to run the last few yards with me. It was fun to see them there to motivate me to run the last few yards.

Melinda and I with our bikes.

Here we are in our twin swim suits. :)

It's so nice having sisters to do things with. Thanks Melinda!!!

Nauvoo, Joseph Smith Jr. family reunion

On June 3rd we went to Nauvoo, IL for the Joseph Smith Jr. and Emma Hale Smith family reunion. This reunion was a wonderful experience for our little family. Katie loved playing with her cousins and Mike and I loved sharing our testimony with distant family. This reunion was focused on Joseph Smith III and his posterity. I think it is a wonderful service to be able to share something that is so important to our Prophet, Joseph Smith. He truely deserves to have his children with him again.
Katie, Tabitha, and Kortney learning about their 5th great grandpa and grandma.


Katie was so happy that she got to go turtle hunting with her daddy. We kept the turtle for a pet for a day then Katie let it go.

The fire flies were a hit. Katie played with them in our little house then put them all in a bottle and took them to bed to use as a night light.

Every morning I got up and went running with Mike's sister Angeline. When I got back this is what I found, Mike sleeping and Kortney trying to sleep, but bored and wanting to play.

We were able to stay in a cute little house with Mike's sister and her family. By the end of the trip all of the Kennedy's were staying with us, we had a blast staying up late playing games every night.

Mike and I were able to break away and go to the temple with a few others. This temple is very special to me. Every time I have gone I have had an out pouring of the spirit. I love all the symbolism in here.

This is Mike's cousin Bob Smith. Bob has had some amazing experiences, he is an amazing man. Mike and I really love him and his company. He was baptized a few years ago.

We did have time to play too, this is Mike and I with family all racing. I think I won :) Let's just say I played dirty, I made a few of them spin out. :) The bus driver jumped in on the fun too.

Sorry this is such a long post, we had so much fun. We were very glad we had our children there and the oppurtunity to get to know our distant cousins.
Here are last 2 pictures of us on the airplane.