The 24th of July

This year for the Holiday weekend we went camping with Ryan's family. Jessica was able to bring up the boat so we enjoyed two full days on Deer Creek Reservoir. It was really cold in the mornings, then all of a sudden it would heat up. The water was pretty cold, but it was fun anyway. We went tubing and wake boarding, then spent Saturday on the jet ski's. We all got SUNBURNED and right now Ryan and I are peeling like crazy! This was our first time wake boarding. Ryan was never able to get up, and every time I got up I would fall, but I did get up.

Enjoying a swim and getting Janessa on the wake board.

Jessica and Ryan on the boat ready to go!

Brianna


Aaron

Alyssa

I had never been fishing before and wanted to go so we went fishing Friday night. We didn't catch anything, but I learned a lot!

Notice Ryan's taped finger. That's from when he cut off the tip of his finger while slicing an onion. Probably needed stitches, but we just super glued it instead...

Zoo

A few weekends ago we went to the zoo for Ryan's Dad's work party. It just happened to be one of the hottest days of the year, but it was fun! It was ice block day so they froze all of the animal's food. We got to watch the elephants crush their ice blocks to get to the melons inside. The cougars, on the other hand, just layed and waited for their food to thaw. Both the elephant and giraffe are pregnant, due anytime. We got to see the new little snow leopard which was so cute! After 5 all the employees and their families got to stay for a few more hours. It was great because as the sun started to go down, the animals came out. As you can see in the pictures we got so close to some of the animals! We went to the bird show twice and got to take a picture with the bald eagle. I just love the zoo, it was a great day!

Cute 'lil monkey

Giraffe w/Brianna

Us with the bald eagle

Twilight Saga

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

I finished the Twilight Saga on July 16th. I must say I didn't LOVE the last book, it got a little weird for me. I think the first book is my favorite. Bella bugged me throughout with all the back and forth heart-breaking stuff, she's a little crazy! Love Edward, but Jacob's a cutie. I loved his TOUGH-guy personality and how he never backed down. Definitely recommend the books to all. I even got on Stephenie Meyers website to read all the edited chapters. I can't wait to see 'New Moon' in November! I gotta say, Ryan loves them and is just as obsessed as me, he even finished reading them before I did! I got 'The Host' from the library but haven't read that much of it yet.

Valassis pulling all RedPlum inserts from Utah newspapers!

Please read the email I received below. I'm a coupon fanatic so I really hope this doesn't happen!

Grocery coupons found in newspaper inserts have become an important money saving tool for Utah consumers. Many Utah families are surviving these tough economic times because of increased coupon use. In August, Utah consumers will lose half of these coupons when Red Plum coupon insert distribution is discontinued in the Utah market. Valassis Communications, publisher of the Red Plum coupon insert, has opted to distribute the coupons by mail. The problem for Utah consumers is that the direct mailing will be in targeted areas only. There are many coupon users who do not live in these targeted areas and will not be receiving the coupons. These mailings will also be limited to one insert per household. Many coupon shoppers currently purchase more than one Sunday newspaper to obtain more than one copy of the money saving coupon inserts. This provides Utah consumers with increased purchasing power and an effective way to combat the economic stress.

Join us in telling Valassis Communications Don't cut my coupons!

Spread the word about this story! Get your friends and family involved. Forward the link to Don't cut my coupons! , blog about it, post it on your Facebook profile, Tweet it, whatever it takes to get the word out. We can make a difference and keep our coupons. Consumer influence has worked in other coupon markets. Let Valassis know that we don't want them to cut our coupons! On Don't cut my coupons! , you can contact companies that advertise with Valassis and let them know that you are not happy about this change. We've made a list of advertisers to make it easier for everyone to express their opinion.

Visit us at Don't cut my coupons! and make your voice heard!

A very special day

My aunt and her family left the church about ten years ago. About the time of my grandpa's death she had started going back to church with her daughter. Despite being frowned upon by the rest of their family, they persevered and met with the missionaries. After a long, hard journey they were both baptized last weekend. We're so happy for them and grateful for the support they received from Bill. We were lucky enough to have Elder Holland there. His wife Pat is my mom's cousin (her cousin as well) and he confirmed her as well as spoke. I've never seen a baptism with so many people in attendance before. The entire chapel was packed! More so than my ward each Sunday. I'm sure it had something to do with Elder Holland being present, but I know they also had so much support by friends and neighbors. All of my aunts and uncles were able to be there in support as well. My uncle baptised Terry and the bishop baptised Tiff. Unfortunately we didn't get a picture with Elder Holland because it was so packed, but I did get to shake his hand and Ryan spoke with him for a few minutes because he knows his dad as well. ( My mom and Ryan's dad are both from St. George, like Elder and Sister Holland) I stole the picture with him from Tiff.. Many years ago Elder Holland gave a blessing to my grandma saying that Terry would return back to the gospel, but it would be a long, hard journey. Our testimonies have grown and we're so glad for the Spirit that truly teaches and testifies.

(The Gentry's minus two siblings. Tiff is in the pink and her mom on the right)

S5-Ep.14 pt.13

This is why I love them...

S5-Ep.12 pt.3

...and this one too because of Vampires of course ;)

SYTYCD

I haven't been too impressed with this season. No one dance has really amazed me or stuck out to me so far. Last week I really loved this dance though. Mia Michaels is amazing, of course, plus I love this song by Sara Bareilles. Mix that with a little modern and voula! INCREDIBLE! Kipono's face is really creepy too. Take a look...

By the way, my favorite dancers are Janette and Brandon...

FHE

Every month we get together with Ryan's family for family home evening. We switch off houses and this month we had a combined FHE and birthday celebration for Jessica. We had a swim party at her grandma's house in Bountiful. It was so fun to enjoy the nice heated pool, great food, and lots of laughs. We stayed up way too late, but that's what summer's all about, right?

(I stole this picture from Debbie's facebook, thanks!)

The 4th

Image by ohad* via Flickr

As per tradition we spent the 4th of July up in Perry. Ryan and his brother had a great softball team this year and they ended up winning the softball tournament! They creamed their dad and sister's team (sorry!) But it was fun! They even got a t-shirt to prove it ;) It was a little cooler all day, but heated up fast AFTER I changed into jeans of course. We randomly saw my aunt and uncle at the Perry park as well! I guess they used to live there twenty some odd years ago. I was a 'lil disappointed in the Brigham City fireworks. At one point there was a really long pause between them and we weren't quite sure if there was a finale or not. Overall, a fun weekend with family.

Juggling

Both of our grandma's live in St. George along with our cousins and aunts and uncles. This last weekend we both had family events there. Ryan's sisters slept over Thursday night and Friday we hung out and went shopping. On the drive down his sister's watched 'Top Gun' while we got to listen to it. When we got to the hotel we went swimming in the nice, warm heated pool while we waiting for the rest of the family to arrive. I read 'Eclipse' while the others watched TV. (Guess what was on!? Top Gun! and they watched it again, twice). The next morning we went to my cousins wedding, then melted in the heat for pictures.

Ryan, Toni, Evan, Brian, Aubrey, Dad

Sioeli And Kanani Nau

The Nau family

We stopped by Ryan's grandma's house where the cousins were just finishing cleaning up her house and yard. We went back to the hotel and everyone went swimming while I layed in the sun to read ;) I got my first sunburn of the year on the top of my knees and right arm. (It must have been high noon) Back at the hotel I finished the book, then we went off to my cousin's luau. (She is half Polynesian and her husband is Tongan) There was lots of great food and entertainment.

beautifully decorated...

Presenting the new bride and groom!

Dancing with both parents..

Then we rushed off to Ryan's grandma's 90th birthday party. There was more food and Lot's of laughs and visiting with his cousins. After cleaning up we drove out back to the luau to help clean up then to see my aunt's new HUGE home. I switched out 'Eclipse' with 'New Moon' then we met up with Ryan's family at Fiesta Fun. We had so much fun playing arcades, mini golf, and bumper boats. We drove out for midnight Slurpee's then crashed. We went to church with my grandma, ate lunch, visited my grandpa's grave and Ryan's grandma's grave, then drove home.

Grandpa's grave

Ryan's grandma's grave

sisters

Debbie, grandma, Mom, Terry

And guess what!? Ryan asked me to read to him! I read 'New Moon' all the way home to him and even before bed that night, what a QT. He loves it. We were constantly on the run between both of our families so I wouldn't say it was a relaxing weekend, but we got a lot accomplished ;)

Softball anyone?

Two weeks ago I did end up going away with Ryan. I ditched all responsibility and Ryan and I drove to Delta Utah with his brother and wife for an all night softball tournament. Ryan's brother had a spot open on his team, so of course, Ryan jumped at the opportunity. Luckily Jessica was there with me to keep me awake. Their first game was at 10:00 PM, then 1:00 AM, then 4:00 AM. We had a good time eating junk food and playing games. They lost all 3 games, but good thing because by the 3rd game we were ready to sleep! If they would have won, we would've been there until the afternoon. We got home around 7:30 AM, then slept until 4:00, went to dinner then went back to bed. I'm definitely getting too old for all-nighters...not in college anymore...