Joining the rest of the World

Well, I thought it was about time to join the rest of the blogging world and have one of my own. This is for all those loved ones that might want to be involved a little bit more in the daily activities of the Payne's. I will warn all now that our lives aren't that exciting, but I promise plenty of photo's of the best looking Payne.....me! No, I'm kidding, we all know that the best looking Payne is Kiera. She is much more exciting and enjoyable to look at than Jason and I. I will start by telling everyone of the exciting summer we have had...

Jensen Family Reunion

At the end of June Kiera and I got in a car with my Mom and three sisters and headed west to Idaho. We started out on a Sunday after church and were able to reach Idaho by Tuesday night. I felt so lucky that for the most part Kiera was very good. The worst was when it was time for bed at the end of the day, and all she wanted was her bed. I can't blame her though, I was feeling the same way. :0) When we reached Idaho we got to join up with everybody and Kiera got to meet everyone, some for the first time. We even were able to make it to her Grandma and Grandpa Payne's for a few hours. By Sunday morning my brother Jason and my Father had reached Idaho and we were heading up to McCall area to a 4-H Camp on Cascade. For the next few days we were able to enjoy the water with Jet Ski's and Boats. I enjoyed the Jet Ski's personally, but I made sure that Kiera got to play down by the water. Other activities of the family reunion also consisted of playing games till 2 in the morning, making crafts, and playing Rock Band. We all had so much fun! Kiera enjoyed being outside. She was also able to receive some stuff animals from Grandma Theresa, along with all the other younger grandchildren and great grandchildren. I believe all the kids had a lot of fun.

We left McCall on Wednesday, July 2. On July 4th the entire Jensen clan got back together at my Aunt Bonnie's for swimming, food, and fireworks. Kiera enjoyed the water in the pool a lot more than she did the water in the lake. She also enjoyed spending some quality time with Grandpa, aunts, her uncle, and cousins. My Cousin Jeremy's kids loved Kiera, we had a lot of fun hanging out with them!

July 5th everyone but Kiera and I left to go back to Indiana. Kiera and I stayed and spent almost two weeks with my Aunt Charlotte, Uncle Ray, and Cousin Jessica. We really enjoyed our quality time there, talking and watching Jane Austin movies. Over the weekend Jessica, Kiera, and I went to Provo, UT to see Marianne, Katie, Jeff, and Aunt Rosie Bell. We got to watch Katie perform and went shopping with the girls. I was so grateful for the time I had to build my relationships with some of my cousins.

Camping with the Payne's

July 17th Jason flew in to Boise to see Kiera and I. After four weeks of being apart we were happy to be a family again. We then went to see Grandma and Grandpa Payne to finally spend some quality time with them and the rest of the family. While there we all went camping. We went up to Hazard, where we all were able to fishing, hiking, and play games. Kiera was able to help Mommy and Daddy fish a little bit. We had a fun time fishing and were even able to catch a lot of fish, but most of them were to tiny to keep. This was okay by me, since I don't enjoy eating fish anyway. We did keep some though and those that like fish were able to enjoy a good meal. The biggest story of course is our hiking trip though. Kiera was able to go with us, she got to ride on daddy's back. The hike was...an experience. The hike was up to Upper Hazard Lake. The first part wasn't so bad, there was a nice trail. But once we got to the Lake, Jason decided that he HAD to get a picture with the snow on the opposite side of the Lake. To get there, he thought it would be cool to take the path less traveled, so we went to the side of the lake no one goes to. By the time we were half way there we were all upset and ready to hurt Jason seriously bad. There was no good trail and the mosquitoes were HORRIBLE. I spent half the time swatting the stupid things away and the rest of the time worried about my baby being eaten alive! Luckily we made it through and we even got our picture with the snow in July! After this hike though, we all decided that we were never going to trust Jason to lead a hike again, and that the rest of this camping trip, we would take it easy and enjoy the fishing and the camp fire.

After camping we enjoyed a few more days in Boise with the Payne side of the family. We enjoyed hanging out and seeing each other. We took some time to go see Great Grandma Payne as well. The last picture is Kiera playing with the laundry basket, she got herself caught underneath it, I just had to include it. All in all, it was a very enjoyable experience and we look forward to seeing everyone again.