The Weekend

I have a love hate relationship with Jackson Hole. I spent every birthday there in my adolescence and probably before that, but when you're a little kid you don't care. When you're a big kid you do. It's funny how from the ages of 14-17 I wanted little to do with the family. Parties, friends, phones, etc. were way more important than bonding in the forest in a huge RV. At around 17 I started enjoying my family a little more and now that I'm older I was happy for the opportunity to have some good ol' family time. Except one of my brothers has not outgrown his adolescence (even though he's almost 30) and he ditched us. Weenie. That's right Nick, I'm talking to you. I even brought my tripod for a family photo.

Anyway, we spent the weekend with Big Al and Di, Big Dog and Ash, Fred, Tine and Grace. Wade
almost lost a thumb, I ended up with a UTI (TMI I know), and Jason caught a nine pound fish. Good times.

The hosts

The Boat

The grandkids

The friendly one


The handy one

The ornery one

The downtown location

We enjoyed our weekend in the mountains, but I don't think we'll be heading back anytime soon. I'm becoming a fan of the staycation. Yes I really did just type that. I think leaving home should be reserved for when the weather here is crap, which is a good six to nine months of the year.

If you give a boy a stick. . . . .

He'll turn it into a gun.


If you give a boy a gun. . . .Chances are he'll shoot his eye out.

I am off to the Tetons folks. I love Jackson Hole and Jackson Lake and especially Mt. Moran, but I'm afraid the place has become too yuppified if that is even a word. Oh well. The lake is nice. Hopefully all the kids will sleep. Ah who am I kidding, my kids are angels, they'll sleep anywhere.

Hope everyone has a fabulous holiday weekend. I'm a little bummed that I'm missing the Three Dog Night concert here in CV (and also the Al Lewis narrated fireworks), so party on without me. I'll be in mosquito and moose heaven.

I'm not sure why I just typed all of that, but I did so I am posting it.

Pure Marital Bliss

Nine years ago on this fine sunny day Wade and I had a date with a marryin' man. The previous week we were watching the weather and the man said if you wanted to have an outdoor wedding June 28 was the day. It hadn't rained in over sixty years. Wade and I looked at each other and I said, it is going to rain buckets. It didn't and it still hasn't.

2000

2001

2002
(I realize I look like hell in this one, but childbirth will do that to you)


2003


2004


2005


2006


2007


2008
(I'm preggers in this so don't judge the belly harshly)

2009

We've had a helluva good time these last nine years. Thankfully we were married not in the 80's or 90's so my hair is normal and so are my clothes. Well normal to me anyway.

In nine more years I will be 38 (HOLY CRAP), Wade will be well into his forties, Holden will be 15, Owen 13 and the baby will be ten. This blows my mind. Hopefully life will still be good. We're pretty happy which is nice, because who wants to live a miserable life?

A couple of my favorite cousins turned thirty on Saturday. If I was on the ball I would go and scan in all the pictures of us when we were little, medium and now extra large (them, not me). I kid, I kid, they'll never be extra large, too short. Poor little buggars.

Me with the birthday boys.

The hostess

Me and cousin Susie (notice our matching chins).
I had a lot of fun with these three
growing up every other weekend and
a few weeks in the summer.
They made me love Ogden, bass, gangsta music and Arby's.
Oh and butt metal.
We Wallis' are classy.

*thanks Erin and Mel and Mel's mom and sister, it was lots
of fun and the food was fabulous.

Today a little culture. And sunshine.

I brought the Northwest home with me. Yes I am all important and control the earth's weather patterns.

Today it finally dried up a bit so I decided we needed to leave the safety of our neighborhood.

We headed to Summerfest. An art fair or something that happens annually in Logan. My cousin Sean was the featured artist this year.

I think this kid might be in the running for it next year though.

Speaking of cousins, my brother's kids and wife joined us for the festivities. I told Ashley that she is going to have to be my new Amy and Grace is going to have to try to fill in for Fin.





I have found my new favorite baby to photograph. If she isn't the prettiest thing you've ever seen you should get your eyes checked.

Visitors from the Northwest and a wedding

I am trying to talk these guys into moving here. I doubt it will happen, but hey, I can dream right?

When I started blogging and also facebook, I would walk around the house talking to myself in the third person. Jenny is not cleaning her house, Jenny is wiping a bum, Jenny is wondering why it never actually rains in Oregon, etc. Also, everything I did I tried to formulate into a post. Trying to make my life a little more interesting than it was.

Tragically my brain is starting to function on a normal level (Nathan has slept through the night five times in a row) and I am turning into a boring person again. I need to be a tormented soul. Okay, not really, I like being happy, but I'm finding that having things to do in the day make me a terrible blogger. That and my internet connection sucks. I feel like I'm using dial up. I know, it's hard to be me. I will try to be less happy and quicker on my feet.

Anyway, my plan for these two to get married would work much better if they lived in the valley.

And speaking of weddings, I attended my cousin Peter's this weekend. He is a dashing young man who was raised a mile from the place I lived in Beaverton.
This is his brother. I took about twenty shots of his family and this was the best. I've decided that as long as the mom looks good, it doesn't matter. I hope they feel the same way.

This is my littlest cousin. He is a doll. I would be a member of the four boys club if he was in it.
My littlest brother has a thing for himself.
We got a little carried away with the camera.
You can thank this one for raising us. Hopefully the baby will turn out alright. I wouldn't bet on it though.