Judy Family Reunion

I've come to terms with the fact that I'm not a picture taker. After every get together with my or Randy's family I'm like, dangit! I didn't take any pictures!! Well... that is what blogs are for, people. I wait patiently for my family to post all of their pictures and I save the ones I want. See what I did there? The only problem is there are usually hardly any pictures of my kids. Rude. Randy's family needs to get on the blogging bandwagon because I'm the only blogger that represents. (Holla!) With no pictures.

Anyway, so we had a Judy family reunion in Ashton over Valentine's Day/President's Day weekend. We stayed in an amazing cabin where all the couples got their own rooms. That, my friends, is a novelty with my large family. Well... ok. My Dad slept in a loft in the master bedroom that my sister and brother-in-law slept in... but I didn't hear him complain. I think he liked climbing up and down the tall ladder 15 times a day.

Front view of the cabin

 

 Back

  

 Inside

  

We kept wondering who would be the first victim to fall down the stairs but unbelievably, nobody did! Just an action shot. My brother brought lots of nerf guns. Nerf or nothin'!

 

On the top floor there is a large space that had 16 bunk beds. Just enough for all the girls in the family! That is where Macey slept. She LOVED being able to sleep by all of her cousins. On the 2nd floor there is a big theater room. That's where we watched some of the Olympics and where my nephews disappeared to for the whole weekend. The kitchen was huge and easily sat us all- and at night... that's where the games came out. I've decided that after 11:30 PM.... the Judy family can get a little rowdy. We played lots of Wackee 6 (or Nertz) and SCUM. I lost my voice from laughing so hard at all the jabs, jokes, competitiveness and family secrets that probably should have stayed family secrets. HA! Nothing beats playing games with my family.

Saturday my brother and sister who have snowmobiles (or snowmachines? I'm so Utah. I don't even know what to call them) were nice enough to let us take them for a spin and I even got to ride with my oldest brother, Rhett. Well... let me rephrase. I didn't "get". I was FORCED. Here I am... little scared old me, on the back of a snowmobile with my sister who doesn't drive fast and doesn't do tricks (Ok... well, she did try one trick and we both fell off going 1 mph. We. were. AWESOME!) enjoying watching my brother (who's middle name should be Arctic Cat) take my other sister out for a ride. He is crazy. He does circles in the snow and I'm pretty sure his ear touches the snow and he DOESN'T FALL OFF! Anyway... so he stops in front of our machine and points at me. Heart attack. I said no way! Not me! I have little kids!! Pretty soon I was pushed off my machine and drug over to my brother. I have such loving siblings. No really.

 Rhett was nice and let me ride up front like a widdle kid and told me where to hold on and keep my legs in (in sing-song voice)! I'm telling you... you haven't experienced life without riding a snowmobile with my brother. Give him a call. Rhett Judy, (208) 52... just kidding. But seriously, it was pretty cool. At one point when we were doing a turn I looked back and was like... are you running behind this thing? It was crazy.

After the adrenaline wore off, my sisters and Dad and I decided to go for a little snow-shoeing jont to the nearby river. It was my first time snow-shoeing. I was so proud that I hadn't fallen the whole trip and then WOULDN'T YA KNOW IT... Face meet snow, right in front of the cabin as we were getting back. There were plenty of pictures taken of that but I will not post such a thing. It wasn't pretty.

 

Ok, how cute is my Dad? Just sayin'. 

 

Later that night we took the crew to Big Judd's, where they're known for their 1 lb hamburgers. Randy and I sat at the cool kids table. We had some good laughs with my nephews and Macey. She thinks that Coelton and "Mate" (Nate) are her boyfriends.

 

  

 

Some random pictures that I still need to post:

Cute Collin just chilazin' outside. 

This one is probably my favorite. My brother Justin was giving us a demonstration of how to use snow shoes. He took off running down a field and looked like a Sasquatch. After he was done with his "show", he did a nice hair flip. Love it. We actually did get a video of this but nobody has posted it! BOO. It is HILARIOUS. 

Just hangin' out:

 

All in all... a fantastic, unforgettable reunion! We had so much fun and shared so many laughs! My voice was gone for days after and I almost cried on the drive home. It's always hard leaving my family.

It really was my fault...

That I tickled my son while he was naked (changing his diaper).

It was my fault.... all over my face.

Don't hate us stay-at-home-moms because of our glamorous lifestyle. I just read on my sister's facebook that there was a diaper in the load of laundry she just washed. I think I'll take the pee all over my face today, Bob.

Just Collin.

 I just realized I haven't posted this on my blog yet and it's just too cute not to.

And I thought I had weird dreams.

This morning Macey woke up like she normally does. We got her dressed, ate breakfast, did her hair while she ate, then waited for her ride to preschool. Same old. When she got back she saw Randy for the first time today and immediately her demeanor changed. She said "Daddy, I am SO MAD AT YOU!" When he asked why this is what she said (yelled):

"Because you put your stinky bum all over our house and on mine blanket! I was so mad at you!"

We had no idea what she was talking about. I mean, I'm sure Randy has a stinky bum.... but I don't remember him putting it all over our house and on her blanket. So we prodded...

"You put your bum here and here (pointing) and on mine blanket! And it was so stinky!! Member? You were doing the ball-a-lay dance?"

Theeeere it was. After I had one ginormous laugh and perhaps a snort, I asked Macey if maybe she was remembering a dream she had. You could see the lightbulb go off and she got a sheepish grin on her face. OH. MY. PRICELESS.

After we were done with our old man laughter Randy turned to me and said, "you need to blog this." One step ahead of ya, big guy. Oh how I wish I could have seen that dream. Mostly the ball-a-lay dance. Ok, and maybe him putting his stinky bum all over the house.

Note to self.

Self, next time you're trying to take a sneaky picture of your "helper".... DON'T call his name hoping to get a smile out of him. Because he may or may not get really excited, forget where he's at and try to crawl to you, and fall flat on his face. And you, watching all of this through your camera peephole may or may not drop your expensive camera on the ground and jump to his rescue. You'll most likely be too late, and will hit your head on the cutting board that was pulled out directly above you.

Just sayin'.

A job update.

 

Graduating in this job market is more than scary... it's a little terrifying. After coming home from Christmas Vacation, Randy and I hit the job hunting hard. After about a week or so, it became apparent that there were next to zero (no, probably just zero) job opportunities pertaining to his major- so we started expanding our search.

I was getting very overwhelmed, very fast. It seemed like having a degree meant nothing in this economy! Randy did have a couple of job interviews, but the jobs never turned out to be what we thought they were and they weren't worth our time.

One day Randy posted his resume on monster.com and within a couple of hours got a few responses from recruiters for insurance agencies. This peaked his interest so he called one of them to chat. He ended up going in for 2 different interviews with Farmer's Insurance and got really excited at the prospect. He hit it off very well with the boss and appreciated the fact that the boss didn't try to sugar coat things.We also called a couple of friends who are agents and got the dirt and asked any questions we could think of.  After a lot of prayer, thought, and consideration, we decided to go with it. The boss is very confident in Randy. He said that he has the personality that it takes. It also helps immensely that Randy has some sales background under his belt. He knows just how hard it can be and what has to be done to make it.

So that's where we're at. He had to take a background check that took a week to clear and now he's working on getting certified. He has to take 2 tests (a lot of studying... it's like coming back home, he said) and then he has to prove himself worthy by obtaining some policies before he is considered a 'go agent'. It'll take a while to get started... but we are both very excited and feel pretty lucky for the opportunity.

So... if all of you could just cancel your current insurance policies and switch them over to Randy that'd be greeeaaat. Mmmm k. Thanks. Haha. Just kidding. He told me the only soliciting he is going to do with family and friends is send out a mass e-mail just letting them know that he's an agent now and I was all whatever! I'm going to call everyone I know every day and hound them until they switch over! Luckily for you Idaho peeps, he is just getting his Utah license. For all you Utah SUCKAS... better answer your phone when I call! ;)

Chompers.

See Collin's new teef? And the drool that is about to drip? It's never-ending.

About 10 minutes after this picture was taken I was on my back playing with him and letting him crawl and jump all over me when all of the sudden he slaps one slimy hand down on my forehead, then slaps the other hand on my chin and plants the biggest, slobbery-est kiss on my mouth that I've ever had. I about melted.

And then he bit me, really, really hard.