the one about our camp trailer

We go camping quite a bit and I realized that some of you probably don't even know what our trailer looks like, some of you probably didn't even know we had a trailer, and most of you probably don't really care! But I am going to post about it anyway. It is a pretty big part of who we are so now you can love it just as much as we do! ;)

First, let me tell you how our trailer came into our lives... When we were first married, Aunt Rhonda had an old hand-me-down trailer that we used for a couple of years. It was tiny! It didn't have a bathroom or anything, but it worked for us. We really only used it for sleeping and storing stuff. We camped in it several times and it was just fine for us. Oh! And it was free! Anyway, once we had Quayd, we wanted something a little more comfortable and we wanted to have a bathtub so we could bathe him. Grandma and Grandpa Lane had an old trailer that was PERFECT for us! And free! It had been sitting in storage for awhile so we had to do some major clean up. Brett worked hard to get everything running, but he did it. It still had a few minor problems, but we didn't care. It worked for us, and again, the price was right. Once we fixed that one up, Grandpa decided to start using it again. He took it on a couple of elk hunting trips. We just sorta shared it. It was great. Anyway, when he was coming home one time, he wrecked it. Like, really bad. He somehow crashed it into a big rock mountain or something. It was totaled. And most of the stuff inside was lost in the accident. (Don't be alarmed. Grandpa was fine. In fact, the whole thing was really funny and we continue to tease him about it today! I think that when he crashed it, he didn't realize how bad it was so he just kept on driving. After awhile he noticed things were flying out. Anyway, we never really got the whole story. If you know Grandpa Lane, you just have to shake your head and laugh about the whole thing.) So after that happened, we were pretty sad that we didn't have a trailer anymore and since we had exhausted all of our free options, we knew it was time to buy a new one. Two springs ago, Brett, Quayd and I took a trip to the big city in search of our dream trailer. (We wanted to include Quayd in the decision since he loves camping more than Brett and I put together!) We didn't want anything too big, or too fancy. We are not showy that way. We also didn't want something super heavy and hard to pull. We kind of knew what we wanted so we started looking at the trailers on the lot. We spent hours looking! We would walk in one, and walk back out, not impressed. We were so sad, because we wanted one so bad. We were just getting ready to give up when we saw one lone small trailer on the other side of the lot with the huge ones. We decided we had nothing to lose so we went into it. No joke, the second we walked in, we all three knew it was the one! Isn't that silly? It is a camp trailer! But it was perfect for us. We just loved it. It was a great price and we just knew it was the one. Anyway, we got all of the paperwork taken care of and it was ours! No joke, every time we go camping, Brett and I look around and we are so proud of our purchase






At a family camp out awhile back, I made this to hang on the wall. It hangs by the door.
Our trailer is just so US! It's small, but comfortable. It has everything we need and it is truly our second home.

the one about my bad luck at the Burns reunion

So I have been home for almost a week and still haven't posted this stuff. I have been a little sick-ey and just haven't had the energy to do much.

I was SO excited to go to this reunion. The Burns family is Grandma Galley's side of the family. (Her siblings, mostly.) We get together each year and, thanks to grandma, have a WONDERFUL reunion. We always have fun and get to catch up with all of this fun family. Grandma Galley puts so much time and effort into these reunions and they just get better every year. This year was no different. We had a huge turnout. I think the final number was around 102. Everybody had a great time, even me, despite the bad luck I encountered......

The reunion was held in Altamont at Hidden Springs Ranch. It is a beautiful cabin/lodge set up with tons of fun activities. They have a rock climbing wall, paint ball fields, shooting range, horse and pony rides, basketball, volleyball, pool, hot tub, game room and more! We have been here before and had great experiences. There are 5 private suite type rooms (you have to pay extra for those), 2 rooms that sleep 5 and 6 rooms that sleep 12. We were in a room for 12 with Rhonda's family and Gary and Tara's family. That makes 13, actually. (Brett, Quayd and I, Gary, Tara and their 4 kids, Rhonda and her 3 kids. Our room wasn't the only one full either. We were to capacity. The reunion was from Thursday to Sunday. Brett had to work and couldn't come until Friday, so Quayd and I just decided to ride over with Talia on Thursday. She also wanted to go to a store in Roosevelt and we decided to have lunch at a yummy drive in there. We left town at 12:00, on the way called in our food and headed straight for the restaurant. This is where my bad luck started. (Brynn, Beau'D, Cory and Gleneita joined us too.) We waited and waited for our food. We had been there for over an hour when we finally asked what was going on. They informed us that our food had been sitting there done for a long time, but they forgot to call our name. Well all of the food was soggy and nasty. They did re-cook some of it, but we were anxious to get going. Then we go to the store Talia wanted to visit, and it was closed. Strange. Closed on a Thursday afternoon at 2:00. Ok, whatever. A few wrong turns and a flat tire later, we were headed for the lodge.

Remember how I went to the concert? Well I had only gotten about 3 1/2 hours of sleep the night before, so by now, it was really catching up to me. As we got there, we were unpacking, and first of all, I put my stuff in the wrong room and caused a little panic for a second. We got that worked out, and as I was hauling my cooler of diet Pepsi down to my room, I got intercepted and informed of the "no food or drink downstairs rule." Errrrrrrr..... Ok. So I took my cooler back out to Talia's car and grabbed my last bag. As I shut the hatchback of her brand new Mercury Mariner, the back window shattered! Yes. It shattered and I had sharp pieces of glass EVERYWHERE! The glass actually got stuck all over in my brand new ModBe flip flops and I had to chuck them. I couldn't save them. I also had glass stuck in my legs, my feet and my hands. I tried to pick it out the best I could and then I remembered.... "I still have to tell Talia!" She was pretty cool about it, considering what happened. But to my defense, it was decided that the hydraulic things that collapse to close the door malfunctioned, causing the window to break. I still feel bad though. I was about to cry looking at it, and looking at her. Once the mess was pretty well cleaned up, I went down to my room and hid for awhile. I tried to nap, but there was just too much excitement around me. (Remember, still going on 3 1/2 hours of sleep the night before!)

Now, moving onto day 2. We decided to drive up to the activities center and let the kids ride the pony. I rode up with Tara. As we were heading out to the car, I had my camera on my wrist and went to reach in my cooler (that I ended up sneaking into my room! Shhhhhhhh.... don't tell Grandma!) for a ice cold diet Pepsi. Well my camera dangled down and dipped into the ice water and, well, do I need to finish? So thank Tara for these pictures...

Isn't he just adorable though! I mean look at those big brown eyes and that big smile. I just can't resist his cuteness. And isn't Quayd cute too?

So after the pony ride, Quayd, Amelia, Kaylee and Abby wanted to ride the paddle boat. The wind was blowing so hard by this point that they would just get the boat out, and the wind would blow them back to shore. When they were getting off, Quayd said, "That was the suckiest ride ever."
(Tara. Thanks. Pictures.)

That evening, Darlene did the cutest game for everyone and we all got a prize. They made this cool wheel and we all got to spin for a chance at something awesome! I won some nice hand soap and lotion. Quayd got a nerf foot ball thing and Brett got a $2 bill. Quayd wanted to help Grandpa Galley spin!!
(Tara, thumbs up!)

Now back to my bad luck.... Before we left, I lost the top to my brand new ModBe swimsuit!!! Luckily, I got two suits so I was able to wear the other one, but I can't find this top ANYWHERE!!!

So I know I sound like a total downer right now, and don't get me wrong, this was a GREAT reunion. REALLY!!!!! I just had some bad luck. But on Saturday, it got real "explosive" for me. I mean, it all went down the "crapper." My bad luck was "running" wild and "churning" with "real force." Yes, that's right. I got the stomach flu. I ended up coming home alone a day early. It was terrible, and it really held on for most of this week. I have just felt yucky. I am doing better now and I feel like I have caught up on some very badly needed rest! Everybody had a great time at this reunion, and as always, it was PERFECT. This was just my version of my bad luck. Grandma, thank you so much for all of your hard work! You are amazing and I am personally grateful for your hard work and effort to make these things happen. Thank you for including us and always making me feel welcome! I LOVE YOU!!!!

the one about my personal belongings

Prepare yourself... This will likely be the most boring post you have ever read. You can turn back now and I won't be offended. I did take lots of pictures to ease the pain, but it is still pretty lame. So here goes.

A little over a year ago, Quayd and I went to visit our FAVORITE out of town cousins. Rhonda, Amy and CJ. Us girls spent the entire weekend scrap-booking. It was a blast! Well, Amy made me a super cute checkbook cover. She buys the clear covers and makes a cute scrapbook-ey insert. Well I have had it for all of this time, and yesterday I felt like a change. So I dissected it and made my own. (front)
(back)
(inside)

When I first put it together, my checkbook register kept falling out, so I got a little clip and clipped it in there. Then I thought I would tie some cute ribbons on it and turn it into a decoration, rather than an accessory. (This is the way my mind works, I can't help it!)

Ok, so here is my confession. (Please don't tell Brett!) I actually got a new wallet yesterday. That is what triggered my new checkbook design.
Cute, huh! My old wallet had finally had it! The slots were so loose all of my stuff kept falling out and the stitches were coming apart. I looked at purses too, but I knew that I would be crossing the line if I got a new one. Besides, I love love love the purse I have right now. It is the perfect shape and size and I seriously love it SO much!!!

Why don't men understand the purse thing? Like, I LOVE purses and wallets and stuff. I get so excited over it. Do you?

Well, thanks for sticking with me through that. I know it was boring. And remember, let's keep the new wallet thing on the down low. Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

the one about Grandpa Galley

This is Grandma and Grandpa Galley. Aren't they cute??? This weeked we clebrated Grandpa's 80th Birthday. It was so much fun! All of his kids were here and most of their families. Rod Came down from Wyoming, Chad came from California, and Rhonda's family came from Castledale. (Ty even brought his future bride. Way to go Ty!) Everyone else lives in town so they didn't have to travel as far.
We met at the Church in the morning and we all brought pot luck. We had a big yummy lunch, lots of games, and as usual with the Galley's, lots of laughs. We can get together and play the STUPIDEST games, but have a total blast. Fruit Basket Tip-Over was my personal favorite. It was intense and all but like 3 adults played. Even cute little Grandpa got in on it. He is the best sport of all though, so its not unusual to see him playing the silly games with us. He is the biggest kid in the group. We also played a little Hokey Pokey.


One of my personal favorite parts of the day was the video Gary had put together. It was a bunch of photos from Grandpa's past. And after we watched it, we did a little "This is your life" thing and we all told our favorite storys of Grandpa.

I love these people so much!!!
Thank you Tara for all of the great pictures. Especially the "cupcake" photo shoot! (wink, wink) They are so much fun and I am so glad to be a part of this awesome family. Happy 80th Birthday Grandpa! I love you so much!!!

the one about the Galley party

Oh my heck. Our Galley family party was so much fun. It is always so much fun when we all get together. Rhonda was in charge this year and she had a GREAT idea! We had an ugly Christmas sweater/outfit contest. I made elf costumes for Brett, Quayd and I. They were kinda cute. The only picture I have of us all together is this one of the Lane family. By the time we took this picture, Santa had already come by and brought PJ's for the kids, so Quayd was half elf, half pajama. And I was the only one still wearing my awesome shoe covers. I worked so hard on them, and they were so cool! As you can see, not all of us were as excited to dress up as others. It was so fun though. Gleneita had a lovely sweater and spandex combo, Talia looked like a hostess at a restaurant, and Brynn.... well, Brynn.... I don't even know what to say about Brynn!!! she had a tree skit for a skirt, and HUGE bow in her hair to accentuate her big bangs, and to top it all off, she had lingerie over the whole ensemble.

As I mentioned, Santa came. Quayd was so excited to see him! He ran right up and gave him a huge hug. No fear in that boy! By the way, Quayd is pretty sure that was the real Sant because his beard was kind of yellow-ish, like real hair. Not bright white like the special "Santa Helpers." I think he is right.

We had a wonderful roast beef and mashed potato dinner. It was heavenly. We also played some games. This is the kids playing a fun little game.

Now, I know I have a few faithful readers from the Galley family... so these pictures are for you. The rest of you can look too, and just laugh at our crazy outfits!!! The first picture was my personal favorite.... Rhett. He looks like some hottie from the seventies. And this is Grandma Galley and Rhonda.
This is Amy and her husband McCade. Don't be fooled by his face. He was SOSOSOSOSOSOSOSO excited to dress up for the party! ;)
This is Gleneita with her cute sisters. From left to right, Michele, Marcie, Gleneita, Rhonda and Deanna.
This is Rhett's wife, Emilee. Not the most flattering picture of her, but she is so cute and fun!!!
And Ty and his adorable girlfriend Kelsie.

It was such a great party. Thank you Rhonda for all of your hard work. I love you, really. I am so glad I am a part of this amazing family. I have NOTHING bad to say about my in-laws. I am just so thrilled that they let me be a part of their fun stuff. They rock.