24th of July

This year we celebrated Pioneer Day by making money and camping with the Coxes.

I had a booth in Fairview the morning of the 24th. It was great! I had high sales and booked several parties... so it was WELL worth it.

Meanwhile, Jeremy and the kids went up to Yearns to set up camp with the Coxes. Grandma and Rich and Wendy had gone up the night before and Larry & Rachel, Brian & Jenn, and Brian & Dana, and Kris & Dave and their families also came up on the 24th. Although he brought a tent, Jeremy decided we were going to sleep in the van instead of a tent so set up was really easy. He came back to get me from my booth.

Jeremy had a rare opportunity to just lounge.

Jeremy, Will, and I ended up sleeping quite comfortably in the van on blow up air mattresses. Unfortunately, some mosquitos had a feeding frenzy while we slept. The kids slept in Grandma's trailor.

Samantha and Brynlie helped the kids make rockets out of Alka-Seltzer and film canisters. Here is Katie waiting for hers to take off.

Ashton was delighted to see his rocket take off!

Braden helping Matthew with his rocket.

Will fell asleep on a 4-wheeler ride and finished his nap in Grandma's camper.

On Friday morning we all enjoyed a hike led by Brian and Larry, chatting, playing games and the kids loved getting muddy.

Ashton jumping in the mud!

Katie and Ashton in "time out" on a rock for jumping in the mud for the fourth time.

The getting muddy was not Jeremy's favorite part... in fact, we left early to remind the kids that they need to obey when we tell them not to get in the mud.

It was fun!!!

Usborne National Convention

Last week I went to the Usborne National Convention in Tulsa, OK. I have to say right now, most of the pictures on this post came from other people's cameras. Apparently, my flash wasn't working properly. Thank heavens I have friends with good cameras!

Me, Bobbi Giles, Amanda Padgett

The Dynamite Gems Team!

Last year, it was inspirational, informative, fun and relaxing. This year, it was still inspirational and informative, but not so fun and relaxing because I was asked to be a speaker and was a nervous wreck!! Well, not the whole time... I did enjoy Wednesday and Thursday, but my workshop (on home shows) and speech (on earning a trip) were both on Saturday so I spent the whole day Friday worrying about it. I wasn't able to fully relax until after the awards banquet Saturday night. On Friday and Saturday people kept coming up to me and asking me if I was okay, feeling well, etc. Apparently, I looked like I was going to pass out or throw up. (Which was a REAL concern because I DID pass out on the 4th of July.)

Anyway... I'm glad it is over and if I did a terrible job they don't have to ask me again (which is fine with me). Although, I do have to say, my during my little speech about the trips I talked about the song Katie wrote about the beautiful things she saw in Alaska and I saw Randall White (CEO) wiping his eyes with his napkin.

Me giving my speech on how/why to earn a trip in front of 500+ people! Yikes!

We love to play the "name game."

I did LEARN some much that I really think are going to help my business. This week Jeremy has been helping me figure out how to implement much of what I learned.

Me and Rachel Jessop getting recognition for earning Alaska!

I was also excited to earn some awards this year. It was pretty fun! I received #18 in Central Group Sales, #3 in Home Show sales, #2 in Central Group Recruiting (recruits have to sell $1000 to count), #1 in Personal Recruiting (recruits have to sell $1000 to count), and New Supervisor of the Year.

Deb Casey, Bobbi Giles, Shauna Zollinger, Becky Parkinson, and Sharee Owings after the President's Club dinner at the Tulsa Aquarium.
This was the limo that picked me up from the airport. My first limo ride... EXCITING!!!

Bobbi, me, Pipkin, Tina, Cindy

Becky Parkinson, Randall White (CEO), and me

As excited as I was about my awards I was even more excited about my family's reaction. Jeremy met me at the airport with a bouquet of flowers. When we arrived home I found out that he had planned a "party" for me with razzleberry pie (not cake, because I prefer pie) and ice cream. (It was just my parents, siblings, and kids... but it was still nice.) Katie and Matthew had made welcome home signs... Katie had even put on the Usborne Books logos (house with books, balloon, and duck) on hers. This week we had the missionaries over for dinner and Matthew told them, "We went to Alaska. My mom earned it from Usborne books. She is the New Supervisor of the Year."

June

This weekend my dear sis-in-law, Jenn, reminded me that I hadn't updated my blog in awhile... So here it goes...!

So... June was pretty much CONSUMED by t-ball!

This was Matthew's second year and Katie's first year and I ended up being "promoted" from assistant to head coach the day we came home from Alaska. Between practices and games I didn't have much time to think about anything else. We did have TONS of fun and the kids really improved. (Especially Matthew... he put WAY more effort into the games and practices than Katie did.)

For some reason, Jeremy mostly took video of the games, not photos... so the pictures we have are NOT that good. But you can see me dragging Katie into position in the photo above. Will is the little kid (in his JAMMIES) trying to sneak onto the field while Jeremy is occupied taking the picture.

Katie also enjoyed participating in Jr. Templar cheer camp for the second year in a row. It is really cute because at the end of each cheer the little girls do these high-pitched shrill screams to show their enthusiasm. (I took this picture.)

Another thing we did in June was attend the Mormon Miracle Pageant and go boating at Yuba with the Coxes.