Happy B-Day, Jordy

The big "6"! How can it be??? This is a defining age for kids, my kids that is. I'm not sure why, but it's just a big deal so I just go with it. Jordyn had been on the count down for her B-day for approximately 3 months prior to the big day which happened to be last weekend. (I'm late, surprise, surprise. Most conversations with people, even perfect strangers, would go something like this: "Guess what?" My B-day is not this month, not next month, not the next month, but the next month." "I'm soooooooooooooo excited!" (ending with a high pitched squeel) I couldn't help but grin at her enthusiasm. We celebrated the big day in Cokeville with Grandma and Grandpa Teichert. Jordyn's our General Conference baby so we always get to celebrate her
B-Day in between sessions of Conference and we're generally in Cokeville since that's about the only full weekend we can get away to visit. Lucky Jordyn!! She had a great B-Day, loved opening all of her fun presents, loved her castle cake, loved all the attention, and just loved that it was her day.


Anyone who knows Jordyn, knows that she is full of personality! She's full of expression, she's animated and ultra enthusiastic about almost everything (except when it comes to the dinner menu). She likes about 50% of the meals that I cook and chokes down that other half. She loves clothes, hair do's, headbands, stretchy pants, fries, ice cream, candy, school, talking, playdates, drawing, homemade bread, visits from grandparents, movie parties, and the list could go on! She spends hours every day drawing pictures and is becoming quite the little artist. Her pictures are detailed and colorful and usually very symetrical. She loves to draw girls with cute outfits and big houses with lots of rooms but when she's bored with that she'll ask me for ideas or she'll look at books or magazines for ideas. I'm frankly a little alarmed that she already loves clothes, hair, purses, etc. Should I be nervous for the teenage years??


Some of my favorite things about Jordyn is her ability to talk to anyone young or old, she's not afraid to strike up a conversation with the lady standing next to us in the grocery line and usually has them laughing within seconds. She loves to snuggle, gives gigantic choking hugs, and she tries really hard to choose the right. We love having you in our home, Jordyn! We hope you have a great year being 6!!!

Here are some of her favorite things she's drawn:

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Hmmm..do you think we need to get out more?

I can't even do this story justice but I will attempt. I took DJ's mom to the mall for some shopping the other day and Jordyn decided she'd tag along. By the way, I can't stand the mall so I rarely go there except for the occasional trip to Old Navy. We were looking for a Homecoming dress for my niece, Katelyn, so we decided to go to Dillard's. Junior department happens to be upstairs which means a ride on the escalator. I proceed to point at the escalator telling Jordyn we get to ride on it and she's giving me this look like, "what the heck is that thing?" But, she seems genuinely excited and borderline, giddy. We started going up the thing and she's giggling uncontrollably w/ just a tad of nervousness in her voice but seriously excited about her new adventure. Just then it dawns on me that this poor child has actually never ridden on an escalator, at least not that she could remember. We reached the top and all she could focus on was the ride down, she could have cared less about the shopping and kept asking when we could go on the fun ride again. I'm thinking, "who needs Disney Land when you've got the Grand Teton Mall escalator?" Yep, it's official, we really, REALLY, need to get out more!

One more funny side note, Jordyn got the giggles several times while walking through the mall. Something about all the weird styles of clothes tickled her funny bone. One store had the goofiest looking clothes on the mannequin, Jordyn wondered why they were dressed like airplane pilots. (I thought they resembled Amelia Earhart clothing except that instead of long pants, they were bum cheek showing shorts.) Who really wears this kind of thing?? She also wondered who would want to shop in a dark store where you couldn't even see the clothes. (I think that was Hollister) Anyway, I think our next family vacation just may be the mall!

Do you remember spending hours doing this...??

I do..., only I don't remember having the weak bladder problem. I think giving birth to 6 kids might have something to do with it! Anyway, the kids love to jumprope and when they need an extra rope turner, the garbage can comes in really handy.

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I'm afraid our playing outside days are numbered so I'm trying to let the kids enjoy what is left. I love having our long driveway for scooter riding, bikes, jump ropes etc., although the babies have been using it for their runway out in to road. For that reason alone, I'm excited for the change of seasons. Hopefully by next summer, they will get the concept of road danger!

Temple to Temple Race

DJ and 3 of his friends from the college participated in the race from the Idaho Falls Temple to the Rexburg Temple. He ran the first leg which was 6.6 miles and just happened to run right past our street and his leg ended at our church building. The kids were so excited to wait at the top of the street, Regan even called our neighbors, the Berrett's, to join in the little fan club. Despite the unusually hot weather at 8:30 in the morning, he ended up running his best time. Way to go, honey!

I can't believe I didn't take a picture of his fan club....what was I thinking!

Regan and Morgan got a little taste of what the race would be like for DJ because they each got a turn on a Saturday morning to ride their bike along side of him while he trained. Regan made it the full 6.6 miles w/out stopping and Morgan made it half way but her bike chain kept falling off so she and DJ ended up walking the last half of the route. They weren't disapointed though because it gave them time to visit uninterrupted.

Words cannot express

Yesterday, our dear friend, Shellie, passed away after a long battle with cancer. In my previous post, I wrote about the beautiful day we experienced with her in the temple just 2 days before her passing. My testimony, particularly of prayer and fasting, has been strengthened greatly because of what I have witnessed. Shellie wanted to attend the temple, and only through Heavenly Father's help was she able to make it. Whether she knew it or not, Shellie touched my life in many ways. Some of the lessons I learned from her include, live every day to its fullest, forge on even when it hurts, don't complain because someone always has it worse, serve others even when you are in the thick of your own problems, love your kids and husband, laugh (a lot), and don't give up. I'm sure there is not a person that knows Shellie that doesn't love her dearly. Her bubbly, up beat, fun loving, personality was contagious and I will miss her every day!

Heaven on Earth!

Today, DJ and I had the opportunity to be in attendance at the temple with a sweet sister in our ward going through for her first time, she was also able to be sealed to her husband and two beautiful daughters for time and all eternity. This is a unique situation though, this dear sister has been fighting cancer for upwards of 10 years now and has been extremely sick for the past year. She set yesterday as the day to go through the temple and then a couple of weeks ago, she took a turn for the worse, she struggled to even sit up and speak. On Sunday, our ward had a special Fast for her that she would be able to make it to the temple as she had planned. Heavenly Father really does hear and answer prayers, she was there with a smile on her face, looking stronger than she had looked in days. I couldn't control my emotions for the entire 3 hours we were there, it was just so amazing to witness this occasion with so many of her family members and ward family members. I think one of the sweetest things was to watch her mother tend to her every need, making sure that everything was done just right. You could just see the deep love between mother and daughter. I love Shellie so much; her positive attitude has remained even through some of her darkest hours of fighting this battle with cancer. In all my many conversations with her, I never remember her having self pity, she always makes the comment, "well, it could be worse." Yesterday, after coming out of the temple, she kept repeating, "I did it, I did it." This was one of the sweetest moments of my life, one that I will never forget!! I am eternally grateful for my membership in this church and I'm grateful I got to be present in the temple yesterday with Shellie and her family. I love you, Shellie!

She's done it again!

My neighbor, Kara, graciously took pictures of the kids again. Only this time, on the spur of the moment. We'd casually talked about it, but nothing was set in stone. So, one afternoon, the weather seemed absolutely perfect, I called her, she willingly excepted, we borrowed a few items of clothing from her, and we were out the door for a big photo shoot. She does an amazing job, how she managed to capture a darling photo of all 6 kids is beyond me. See for yourself!!


Side note.....Regan did her hair all by herself in about 15 minutes. It was one of those parenting moments where I just had to bit my tongue, but I'm glad I did, because I think she did an amazing job! It's so nice to have one that can finally do her own hair.



These are just a few out of literally 100's. I'm like a kid in a candy store, it will take me days to make up my mind which ones I like best. Thanks, Kara!