It's Fair Time Again!

The San Juan County fair is something that I have always looked forward to and been involved in since I was in 2nd or 3rd grade. I spent countless hours raising animals for the livestock shows and every year brought either a lamb, hog, or steer to show and to auction. Last year was my last, and I was kind of sad when I went empty handed this year. However, I was able to help my brothers a little bit with their steers and that made it fun.

To start off the week, Easton played on a mud volleyball team so the family went to watch :)


It was fun to see Easton and his friends as they competed in the tournament. They did a great job playing the game as well as getting each other muddy...

On Thursday morning the boys and I loaded up the steers with the truck and trailer and took them to weigh in. We fixed up the pens with water and hay and then helped Easton get ready for the showmanship. Easton did a great job and took 1st Reserve showing his steer! This year is his 3rd with the steers and he has learned a lot. I am proud of what he was able to do!


This year for the concert they brought in Joe Diffie. Easton had a fundraiser of selling tickets for a raffle and bought some himself. Lucky as he is, he won two front row tickets and also asked if I would go as his date! What 13 year old brother would ask his married sister for a date?! I thought it was super nice and there was no way I'd turn down that offer :) The day of the concert I must have had Easton's luck with me because I won two back stage passes and a free autographed CD! Davi came with me and we got to meet Joe in person.


I don't remember the name of the opening singer but he was good! He sang one of his own songs, which I didn't recognize, as well as some other country hits.




The concert was fun to be at, and especially to be there with my siblings and their friends. Davi wanted to be part of the front row action so she came and sat on my lap. We had a great time dancing and singing along and Davi was able to get her hat signed by the band.


Friday was the day to show all the animals. Hunter and Easton spent the day cleaning their stalls, washing their steers, and tidying up for the show. They did well at showing their steers but didn't place as high as they had hoped. The judge said that they needed more finish and covering on their steers. I still think they did a great job and it was fun to be there to watch them show.

Hunter and his steer "Brutus"

Easton and his steer "Tacoma"

Chad & Vayla... Sonderegger

Dallen and I were able to go to my cousin Chad Sonderegger's wedding this past weekend. He met Vayla at a football game last year at college in Cedar City and it worked out for them ever since :) They were married in the Manti Temple on August 5, and as you can tell were very excited to be there! It was a good reminder for Dallen and I to hear the words that were spoken in their sealing and to reflect on the day that we were sealed to each other. We were thankful to once again see our family gathered in the temple together with smiles on all faces. We are very excited for Chad and Vayla and wish them the very best!




*Just on a little side note... Before their wedding Grandpa and Grandma Bowring were able to open their mission calls! They were called to go to the Wisconsin, Milwaukee mission. They have to report to the Mission Training Center on September 12th. Only about 4 weeks left for them to prepare, and for us to spend time with them! We are so excited for them and can't wait to hear of the experiences they are about to have! We love you Grandpa and Grandma Bowring!

Guatemala Missionary Reunion

Dallen and I were able to go to a mission reunion today to see his mission leader and many great companions. I have heard a lot of fun and spiritual stories about Guatemala while Dallen was serving so it was fun to see the people that he served with and put names to faces. The picture above is all the missionaries and their spouses/significant others.


This is Dallen's mission president and one of the companions he served with. His mission president gave a little fireside to start it off and talked a lot about being successful in life. As he spoke, Dallen translated the Spanish to English for me so I could understand and that was awesome to see and hear! The president talked a lot about families and working together in marriage to have a strong family in the gospel. He talked about scripture study and prayer as an individual but also with spouses and the importance of tithing. I loved listening to Dallen as he translated and thought a lot about the hard work it took so he could understand and speak Spanish.

After the fireside, we thanked the president for his message and he spoke to me about the great missionary that Dallen was. He said that if he had something that needed to be done he would go strait to Dallen because he knew he could trust him and the work would be done and with quality work. He said that Dallen was a great leader and that many missionaries came to the president asking how they could be like Dallen. Everything that the president mentioned was sincere and honest and it made me so thankful to know that I married a valiant servant of the Lord. I knew beforehand that Dallen was a great missionary and still is by the way he carries himself and the way he treats me, but it was neat to hear the testimony from his president saying all that he did.



...Well I thought Dallen was pretty tall until he stood by these guys and it made him look a lot shorter. I think I would have made it at least to their elbows :) haha


I am glad that we were able to come to this reunion because I know that Dallen's mission means a lot to him. His whole countenance lit up when he would speak Spanish or greet a companion that he hasn't seen in a long time. It was fun to watch him laugh and smile with everything we did there, and to be able to feel the spirit around all those "Elder's and Sisters". We look forward to the day when Dallen and I can serve missions together as a couple and hopefully influence others to do good.

Tooele Demo Derby

We decided to go to the Tooele Demolition Derby and invited Spencer, Kait, Jason, Courtney, and Cheyenne to come with us. The derby was a little lame compared to the ones we will be going to in Nephi and Spanish, but it made for a good time!

All the cars lined up, the National Anthem was sang, and then the party started.



I was amazed with the massive fork lifts this loader had!
It could pick up the cars like they were nothing



I think I had more fun watching the figure 8 race. I'd never seen it before but it was really entertaining. The little metro car was everyone's favorite and he ended up taking 2nd!



After the derby they did a firework show and it was the first one Dallen and I have watched all summer. I had a great time and I think being here got Spencer and Dallen excited to crash in their derbies!

Handy Tools

With a lot of our wedding money that we recieved, we decided to go out and buy some wood working tools to build projects around the house and for other people. Dallen is really good with building different projects and is in the process of building a treasure chest for our house. There will be more pics to come of the projects we make together in the future.

A Little Time at Home

This is our home in Lehi! Dallen moved in at the first of June while I was gone to New Zealand and packed in my stuff along with his. We had picked out this house together before I left, and when I cam back he had it all put together a garden planted in the back! It has been great to have a place to call home, but more recently we joke that it is a 'storage shed' since we have been gone so much :) Dallen has been accepted for a job with the Union Pacific Rail Road and this week was his first. He left this past Sunday night for training in Oregon and won't be back until next Tuesday so I decided to try and do a couple things around the house to surprise him...

The weeds in the front of the house were a little out of control. They were taking over the driveway and sidewalk leading to our door as well as the garden in the back so I tried getting rid of what I could.


Our squash plant is doing very well for how late we planted and I'm excited to eat what it produces! All 10 of our tomato plants have stayed alive and are doing great! They started getting a little too heavy for themselves so I bought some dowel rods and made part-time tomato cages for them to stand. We also planted a couple of pepper plants and this is our first one that came on. The corn that is planted in the pots is Rulon's (our 92 yr. old landlord next door). Every morning he makes his way over with a watering pot and gives them a drink for the day.



After doing some work in the yard I decided to come inside and work on learning to cook and bake. I had a lot of left over banana's from when Franki and Ian visited so I decided to make some banana bread for the first time. It was also a first in using the new kitchen aid that my Grandma and Grandpa Fullmer gave us for our wedding! I love it!


Everything went great and I thought I made two perfect loaves of bread on my first try!... Until I let it cool down and went to slice me a piece and found that it didn't cook all the way through. More than half of it was cooked though so i ate what was good. It was also my first time using a gas oven rather than an electric so I'll say I did alright for trying. :)