the perks of home (utah)

One of the things that just makes my day when I am in Utah is to be able to call up a friend in the morning & hang out with them that afternoon! Seriously it feels like a miracle to have such access to friends. I just can't do that in Mexico.

A couple of weeks ago I got together with my HS best buddies for lunch at good ol Tasty's. Chanelle, Mecall & I were really tight our senior year.

It was so fun to chat & reminisce. 

My other favorite thing about Utah is to have my best buddy to do everything with. Yep I love to even run errands with my mom! We were cupcake testing & wasting all our money at Costco the particular day this picture was taken. Man that place is the best!

My sweet Ella Lou

my dear grammie passed away last wednesday the 27th of July at the age of 84. I have been dreading this post & kept putting it off (obviously by the huge gap in posts) because how do you describe the great memories & love you have for someone as sweet as your grandmother? Even though my sweet grannie was old & I knew she was nearing the end, it was still pretty difficult to wrap my head around the thought that she would no longer be here. The thing that gives me the most joy about her passing is thinking about the sweet reunion she is having with her husband (my grandpa) who had passed away almost 30 years ago. I can't wait for the day that I will be with them and my cousin Courtney again in heaven.

The viewing & funeral were beautiful, and it was so peaceful to have all our immediate and extended family there. I love the Potter clan & always enjoy being with them. I hope even though both my grandparents are gone that we will continue to get together as a family.

I kept thinking at the funeral how hard it must have been for my dad losing his father at around my age. I surely hope my parents live to be 101 because I just don't know what I would do without them.

My favorite "crying cousins" Haley & Brooke. I knew I could count on them to cry with me so I wasn't the only one :)

My grandma's favorite color was purple & so it was very fitting that all of her flowers were purple. Pretty sure she would have worn purple everyday if she could :)

I will miss my Ella Lou very much, but know she lives on in our family through all of our fond memories & things she has taught us. My Ella Lou was the kindest person I have ever met. She was as sweet as the candy she loved so much. I always loved to play at her house when I was younger with my cousins Haley & Courtney, & will never forget the memories there. I will treasue all the funny things she said and sang about as she was nearing the end. She was just so happy & cute :)

I love you Grandma Potter!
You will be in my heart, until we meet again..

you can read her obituary here

Family photo fail

Have you have ever debated whether you wanted a large family or a small one? Well the process of pictures with a large family may have you leaning towards a small one! :) I love being in a big family but we found getting a GOOD picture of ALL of us at the SAME time can be nearly impossible.

I kid you not these shots below were some of the best ones we got..

Clearly we struggled. 

Now don't be too discouraged since I won't claim everyone in the Potter clan cooperates. It seems like at least one sibling is trying to ruin the picture at one point or another. Oh well, maybe one day we will get it together.

 For now we will stick with small family photos, because I think that goes a little smoother..

Atlas is doing his monster face here :)

and my personal favorite is to take them of cute little ones

trying to get ones of Hawkes & Atlas

 cute :)

 how cute is his little outfit??

 just posing :)

 Hawkes & Diesel becoming best friends

Obviously Diesel was feeling very comfortable by the end of it..
 It was so nice to have everyone all together!

Family Reunion (Jeremy's family)

So we planned our next gig in Utah so we could attend the Hansen/Neely family reunion. This is Jeremy's mother's side of the family. So we headed up to Preston Idaho on family property for a fun filled weekend!

we rode horses

I have always loved horses. It took me a second to get comfortable, but I would just love to have a horse one day that I could ride around.

we tubed the bear river

attended the famous Preston night rodeo

Can you believe how daring cowboys are!? I love it!

Sandy's whole side of the family camped out on the property while us Kemp's wussed out & stayed at Grandma Hansen's house.. They are way more hardcore then we are :)

The next morning Jeremy had a blast having his first paintball experience!

All those brave enough to play

the battle wounds!

this is Jeremy's leg after we got home!! Can you believe he wanted to play again??

There were so many fun activities, but some people just enjoyed relaxing. One of those being Earl, he enjoyed chatting, sleeping & eating all in his chair :)

they roasted a delicious pig!

Those are not guts inside, it's lemons & flavoring!

there was fishing

and snakes.. EW!

and sweet grandma Hansen :)

The whole clan in attendance.

We had such a blast & can't wait until next year!