A Day At The Air Show

This past weekend Jake and I went to Salt Lake City....(wow, I think 90% of my posts start off that way....hmmmm..... :) ) We went into town last weekend to go to the United States Air Force Air Show. The show was definitely worth the plane ticket and time. The main event that happened was seeing the Thunderbirds perform their air show (the Thunderbirds are the Air Force's Performance team....kind of like the Blue Angels for the Navy). It really is truly amazing to see how closely they fly to each other and all of the different stunts that they do. Our favorite part was when four of the planes flew by the crowd and as everyone had their heads turned watching them fly away, one rouge plane came and buzzed the crowd. The plane was sooooo loud and low to the ground. It scared the crap out of everyone! :) Another awesome moment was when they would fly past each other while one is upside down. Well, I'm sure the pictures can do a better job of describing this than I can. But besides the great Thunderbirds show, they also had a few others shows that happened before the finale. Some included a parachuting group, an F-22, propeller stunt planes, tribute to all of the different planes through the different wars, and tons more. Either way, if you ever have a chance to see them in action, I would definitely recommend it!
I think what made the day really special though was to be at the show with three of Jake's brothers that are all going into the Air Force. The first brother, from the last post, is leaving in October to hopefully fly fighter planes. The other two are in the ROTC program at their school. One of them already has a pilots slot and the other one just started. But we are so proud of all three of them, and are so thankful for their willingness to serve our country. It is because of the military that we are able to enjoy the freedoms that we do....and I am so very thankful for that. Thanks guys!

Enjoy the pictures......there's a lot of them. :)

Yes Ladies, He is Sexy, Single, and Looking!

Well, I don't know if anyone even checks my blog anymore since it takes me so long to post, but here goes nothing. Since it has been so long, I will just post the most recent event which was Jake's brother Jordan's commissioning into the Air Force. We flew into Salt Lake to see his "graduation" from the ROTC program into the full time Air Force. The ceremony was really cool, and much better than any school graduation. It was held at the state capitol, which is actually really beautiful. He was sworn in by his Dad who is a retired Air Force Officer. He was then pinned by his mom, dad and younger brother Mikey, who will be commissioning next year. The whole ceremony went really well and was really neat to watch. Jordan actually had over 30 people show up to the ceremony, which I think was about half the room. :) Gotta love the Lawrence family events! :) The next day a few of us gave him some presents for all the hard work that he has put into the ROTC for the past few years. Jake, Maggy, Kit, Abbie and I decided to go in on a quilt that I made for him. It was only my third quilt and I am so dang proud of it! Overall the weekend went really well, and we are all really proud of what Jordan has accomplished. So if any of you ladies reading this know of any hot single ladies that would like to travel the world with their fly boy, let me know and we can hook it up! :) That ones for you Jord! Keep up the good work bro!

Broadway...Here She Comes!!!!

Jake and I went to Salt Lake (What a surprise :) ) to watch his younger sister Maggy in her lead roll in the play Thoroughly Modern Millie. SHE WAS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!! She could totally be the lead roll on Broadway! Everything about the play was perfect though! When the show started her mic wasn't working...and you could tell that everyone was pretty ticked...but then during the first song when they finally fixed it...the crowed erupted! It was fun! Her dancing, singing and acting were all perfect! Maggy, we will fly in to come and watch you anytime!

Congratulations Abbie and Jordan!

Jake's youngest sister Abbie got married on January 31 to Jordan Stoneman. The wedding was beautiful, and no one killed anyone. They are such a cute couple and we wish them all the best! (and I know everyone is probably getting tired of slide shows....but I like to be able to show lots of pictures....and there just isn't enough room on the blog to do it.....so deal with it! :) )

Also, Jake, Maggy (Jake's other sister) and I went in on making Abbie and Jordan a quilt for their wedding gift. It was a small miracle that I finished it in 1 week. Thanks Jill, Jessica, Jennifer and Jake for helping me out with it!

Grandma Got Hitched!

It's true. On January 17th Jake and I had the opportunity to go to his Grandma's wedding. This is both of their second marriages since both of their spouses died over 2 years ago. The best part of the story is that both couples knew each other when everyone was still alive, which I think is really cute and helps with the whole "second marriage shock." They really are cute together and it is good that they have companionship until they are with their eternal companions again. I am just gald that she has someone to hang out with and watch over her. Congrats Grandma Matheson! (P.S. if I die before Jake and he thinks about getting married again...someone please shoot either her or him....thank you. :) haha.....I'm not very good at sharing. )

Quick Catch Up

Holy Cow! It sure has been a long time since I have done a real post. I almost don't want to do one now...because it seems like it would be easier to not do one than to try to catch up on the past few months of activities....so I am going to do a quick slide show to show everyone all the fun we have been having the past few months. I am going to take you way back to November when we went to Jake's families how for Thanksgiving. Hopefully most of the pictures will explain themselves. I'll try to do better. ENJOY! :)

On Hold for a few more days!.....

I dont like to do posts without pictures....but I'm in California right now, so I don't really have a way to post pictures. But I just wanted to do a quick post to let everyone know that I haven't given up on my blog...I've just been super busy. So when we get back on Sunday...hopefully I will have a few moments on Monday that I can do a massive post starting at Thanksgiving to now... :) So look forward to it!

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Good New Years Eve!

TAGGED......I think?...... :)

Well, I saw my name on the lovely Leslie's Blog...so I am guessing this means me and not another Kim...if it is...Leslie you get two birds with one stone! :) (sorry it has taken me soooo long to do this...I haven't been on forever!)

You take the fourth picture folder and post the fourth picture in that folder. Then you take the sixth folder and post the sixth picture in that folder. Explain the pictures and then send the tag along. Here are my pictures:



This picture was taken back in May when Jake and I went with the Chapman's down to the "Garden of the Gods." It was taken from the observation deck.



This picture is kind of sad... This is Jake's childhood dog Motley. It is Jake's brother Jordan saying good bye to him a few days before he died. :( I am sure he is having a grand old time in doggie heaven with my dog.

You know, this tag has almost made me want to make this a tradition...I feel like I hardly ever post because I dont have anything to post about...so maybe I will just put up random pictures to keep my audience pleased. :) Thanks Leslie!!!

As for those that I am tagging.....
Lisa H., Brittnay R. and Alyssa W.

California Dreaming....

Well, as sad as it is...Winter is coming...and I can't do anything about it. But in the mean time, Jake and I decided to enjoy the short season that they call Fall. We went up to the mountains to look at the aspen trees changing colors. It was a beautiful sight. If only the seasons would skip winter and just go from summer, fall, spring, summer, fall, spring. :) As you can tell, I am really excited for the seasons to change...haha. In the mean time, the trees were awesome...so enjoy!

ALOOOOOOOHA!!

Jake and I had an amazing week last week. We had the opportunity to go to Hawaii with Jake's family. We rented a beach house on the island of Oahu on the North Shore in a town called Laie. The house was right across the street from the Polynesian Cultural Center, BYU Hawaii, and the temple. The house was right by the water with a beautiful view of the ocean from the back yard. The week was chalk full of awesome activities. We started the trip off with our red eye flight from Las Vegas (where we met up with the fam) and flew to Honolulu. We arrived in Hawaii at 5:20am and the whirlwind started right away. After we got the cars, we found a local breakfast place and had breakfast. From there we went to a place called the Punch Bowl. It is an amazing cemetary and memorial for the men and women that fought in WW2 and other wars between now and then. It was incredible to see all the names engraved on the marble. It made me so thankful for the freedoms that we enjoy from their willingness to die for it. The rest of the day we went onto the military base and went on a supermarket sweep for the groceries for the week. I'm pretty sure that the team that I was on (Jake, Sue and myself) killed everyone else. Our mad skills are nearly unbeatable though. After shopping we made our way up to the beach house. The house was pretty nice. It looked like it had been newly remodeled with new tile, kitchens, and bathrooms. The house was 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom, 2 kitchens, and 2 living rooms. Jake and I were able to snag the master bedroom. It rocked! After dinner, we were all sooo shot that we all passed out for the night.
The next morning was a little bit of a late start, but still productive. We went to this beautiful snorkeling spot called Hanauma Bay. The water was gorgous. The swim was a little rough with a few war wounds amoung the group with Jake scratching his back on the coral and a few of us scratching other parts like knees and arms. The water was so warm and clear. We even saw a sea turtle while we were swimming. Since we started a little late, we had a short day...but I don't think any of us were too upset since we were all still a little jet lagged.
On Tuesday we had a very early morning with leaving the house at 4:45 to get to the Dolphin swim excursion. IT WAS THE BEST PART OF THE TRIP! We went out on a boat with a guide in search for the wild dolphins. During the early hours of the day they come in near shore to play....and boy where they having a good time. Once we found them, and were able to get close enough, we slowly slipped into the water and snorkled with them! They were beautiful! We were able to get about 6ft away from them as they swam right below us. After the dolphins they took us to a spot where sea turtles go to have their shells cleaned off by these special fish. They would just sit at the bottom of the ocean, and then would come up every now and then to get some air. They were a lot bigger than I thought they would be. Next, they took us to this area where there were fish galore! They were all so bright and colorful. Some people had some fish food that they were feeding them, which made the fish go wild. They would swim so close to you and so fast. The whole experience was amazing. After the excursion we went on a short hike up Diamond Head Crater to a look out point at the top. It felt like you could almost see the whole island. The scenery was gorgous.
On Wednesday, we went to Pearl Harbor where we saw the USS Arizona, the USS Bowfin, the USS Missorri, and the Aviation Museum. All of it was great. It is truly amazing how large those ships are! Going onto the USS Missorri, and seeing how big the guns are and the length and height of the ship was just insane. Then seeing what was left of the Arizona poking above the water was heart breaking. It was so sad to look at it and know that there were hundreds of men entoombed inside. And after going onto the submarine...the USS Bowfin...I know that I could never be in one for longer than a few minutes...especially submerged! The Aviation Museum was pretty sweet, especially being there with Jake's two brothers and sister that are going into the Airforce. It makes me proud to have military in my family.
Thursday was a girls and guys day. All of the guys woke up early to go golfing down on the military golf course, while us ladies woke up late to have a fun day of shopping on the North Shore. The guys all got their butts kicked by the newly returned missionary that hadn't played in 2 years...haha. They tried not to let that bruise their egos, but they had a good time anyways. The girls, on the other hand, had a wonderful time going to all of the little shops on the North Shore. We probably all spent a little bit more money than we needed to, but there was just so many cute little knick knacks that we all "had" to have. After shopping and golfing, we drove down and met the boys at a beach called Sandy Beach. We went there with the hope of going boogieboarding, but it ended up not being a very good beach for beginers. Sadly enough Kit, Jake's brother, found this out the hard way by getting flipped off his board and smacked into the volcanic rocks that were hiding under the water. His back got really beat up, but he survived. I think we learned our lesson, because we didn't go swimming there again.
Friday was another late start with us going to the Laie Temple for a 9:00 temple session. The temple is beautiful! There are waterfalls in front of it and palm trees that line the driveway up to it. Being there with all of Jake's family was truly a speial experience (even though I'm pretty sure most of them were asleep during all of it but Grandma, Tyson and Me). Afterwards we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. That was lots of fun. Seeing how all of the islands are different and special in their own way was really neat. I loved seeing all of the bright outfits and the beautiful dancing. The show at the end of the day was sweet. It went from island to island showing the different dances of all of the islands. I think the fire dancers were my favorite dance.
Saturday was the last day that we were in Hawaii. :( But, we did make the most of it by going snorkeling at Sharks Cove. Once again, the water was so warm and beautiful. We didn't see nearly as many fish as we did on the excursion, but it was still amazing. It was pretty cool to see how much better all of us got at snorkeling as the days went on. After snorkeling we went and got these icees that we heard were amazing.....and they were. And it is a good thing that they were because we stood in line for them for at least 10-15 mintues! They were snowcones with icecream at the bottom of the cones. I got mine as a shake and it makes my mouth water thinking about it. After getting our treat, we finished the trip with going home and making dinner and then making and eating smores.
Overall, I would have to say that it was one of the best vacations that I have been on. If you ever get a chance to go....GO! (and don't forget to take me with you!!!)

These pictures are for the most part in order as I mentioned them above. ENJOY! :)