Baby J as an Eagles Fan!

Hootch and Football!

Brown-Knowles Family Reunion

For the 4th of July we headed up to the Salt Lake area to attend the Brown-Knowles reunion. It was so fun to get together with all of my family. There were some that we have not seen in quite a few years. We all really had a great time catching up and just hanging out. Geoff and I got a hotel room so that I could be comfortable and not have to sleep on a couch at someones house. It would have been really hard considering I was not really sleeping well through the night by this point in my pregnancy. I am sure glad that we made that decision because we ended up spending a lot of time there. We took a nap one afternoon that was amazing! We also got to have some pool time with the Curtis family.

This is the whole group. It is crazy to think that we are not even all here. There are so many of us and we just keep growing as people get married and have kids. It is so exciting to get to see where we are going and I cant wait to see how each and every one of us develop and grow!

The Curtis family that was able to attend. We were sad that Megan and her family was unable to make it. With them having just moved to Wisconsin they were unable to make the trip back to Utah so soon. We really missed them and the excitement that her 3 girls bring.

Where it all started! My mom and her siblings! Plus Grandma and Grandpa!

Shelby is such an adorable girl! I just love her to pieces! When we were saying goodbye she was already in her seat in the car and she asked me if I would put my belly in the car for her to hug Allison! It was the cutest thing I have ever seen. Of course I did just as she asked! Who could tell her no!

It was a lot of fun hanging out waiting for the fireworks. We sure did take up a lot of space with all of us there. We had a few sparklers for the kids to do but we forgot a lighter. So I walked around asking people if they could light things for us. I am sure that some of my family was embarrassed by my actions but I am not afraid and the looks on Shelby and Addison's faces was totally worth it.

We spent the day walking around that cemetery looking at old church member graves. It was a lot of fun but it was really hot and I ended up in the car about half way through. It is really hard to get out in the heat and walk around at 7 months pregnant. 

Shelby posing next to a grave that had her name on it. She was so excited that she had found one that had her name on it. She insisted that she get her picture taken with it.

I have such an amazing family and I am so glad that we got to spend the weekend with them. It is always a lot of fun to get together. I wish that we could do it more often but we are all busy and living in different states now so it is really hard to make it work for everyone. I cant wait for the next one!

Camping at Beaver Dam

 I am a huge fan of camping. I bet you didn't know that about me because I don't go that often. That is because my amazing husband is not a fan. He thinks that camping should involve a hotel and a hot tub. That is his idea of ruffing it. But lucky for me, he loves me and will put up with my crazy ideas to go camping.

Earlier this summer I had discussed going on a camping trip with my father in law and my sister in law Nikki. We had decided that we really wanted to try and go over Fathers day weekend. But when checking schedules it just didn't work out that way. So we decided to go the following weekend. Low and behold I came down with a severe case of tonsillitis the same week. I was miserable. Geoff and I had talked about not going if I was not feeling up to it. I really wanted to go but was not really feeling that great when Friday morning rolled around.

Geoff decided that we were not going to go based on how I was feeling. He let his dad know that we were going to have to pass this time and that we would go the next time. Hal being typical Hal decided that if we were not going to go that he was going to cancel the whole trip even though other people were planning on going. I really hate when stuff like this happens because I feel like you put in all the time and effort to get everyone to say that they are going to go and to get everything ready and then because one person cancels the whole trip has to be cancelled.

That did not fly with me. So we called Hal back and told him that we were going to come. When Geoff got off work we got in the car and headed up the mountain. It was a lot longer drive then I had anticipated but it was beautiful. Hooch loved the car ride. But then again he really loves anything that has to do with the car and food! This dog of ours is such a hoot!

When we got up there everyone got settled in on setting up camp and getting dinner ready. Because I had not been able to eat much over the last few days due to not feeling well, I was really looking forward to having some food. But guess what? I still could not really eat. It hurt me to swallow food and then when I could get something down into my stomach it would cause me to have a severe pain in my chest. After talking with a doctor we found out that it was a wound in my esophagus caused by the infection. Needless to say I did not get to enjoy the food I was looking forward to.

Geoff and his peach cobbler. It turned out okay but if he would have done it my way I think it would have been better. He does not agree with me on it though!

Hooch really loved lying in the dirt. He also loved all the human food he was able to have. I am dead set against him having to much of it but it seems that he knows how to get it when I am not watching close enough. I am pretty sure that he got a few things off of Kiera's plate when she was not watching it close enough.

Hal enjoying one of his favorite past times! Eating! Notice Hooch in the background scoping out for food. He was over by the food table waiting for stuff to fall on the ground.

Karen and Braxton made the drive up to spend sometime with us in the evening. They were not able to stay the night but it was fun to hang out with them and chat for a few hours.

Neldon and Randy. Sorry Randy this is the only picture I got of you. I think that you were walking around trying to get Blake to sleep when I pulled the camera out. I will have to do better next time.



Kiera and her "Cheese" face. She was so adorable. I love this picture of her and Nikki. I think that it turned out so good.



Kiera and Hooch off on an adventure!

I didn't get my camera out at all the rest of the trip. Things pretty much went down hill for me after dinner. I was not feeling well and really wanted to go home but didn't want to make the 2 hour trip. I decided to try and get some sleep. Do you know how hard it is to sleep on a cot when you are pregnant? Lets just say that sleeping on your back is the most uncomfortable thing in the world and there was no way to get comfortable on my side. Needless to say I did not sleep much throughout the night. I wish that I would have gotten a picture of Geoff and Hooch. Geoff was on the ground in his sleeping bag and he had it unzipped so that the air could come in. Hooch went over and laid down with him and slept right next to him all night. I bet that Hooch was in heaven because he does not sleep with us at home. He stayed there all night. I didn't even have to worry about him getting up and going anywhere. In the morning I was still not feeling great but wanted to try and make the best of the trip. 

Randy was making bacon and eggs. One of my favorites and I tried to eat some hoping that it would make me feel better. Hal suggested that I drink some milk to try and help make me feel better. I decided that was the worst decision I made the whole trip. I ended up losing what I had managed to get down in a bush not far from the campground. I hate throwing up in general. It is so much worse when you are somewhere that you have to make a split second decision on where you are going to aim. TMI? This is for my records... You are just privileged enough to get to read it. Needless to say I was done and ready to go home. I told Geoff to pack up the car and that we were leaving.

Hal wanted us to go and hike up the river to a waterfall and I am sure that it was beautiful but I could not do it. I just wanted to get home and to get a shower and get into my bed where I could hopefully sleep off the rest of my illness. I am really glad that we went because the memories that we make are always fun to have. But I know that next time I will not be going camping while I am not feeling well.

Quinn Hope Graff

On May 2nd, 2013 my sister Megan gave birth to her third baby girl! Quinn Hope Graff is just adorable and she is such a chunk. We sure do love this little angel!

 Brooklyn is such a great big sister and she loves to smother Quinn and Peyton!

I just love this little lady! Megan you make beautiful babies and I cant wait to see how they grow up! Quinn was blessed on June 16th, 2013. We were able to attend the blessing and it was so fun to get together with all of the family. I being the slacker that I am did not get my camera out to take any pictures.

Rugby in Vegas

 Geoff has been playing rugby with a bunch of guys. He has really been enjoying it. They have been practicing a couple times a week and I never really thought anything about. Every time they would schedule a game it would be cancelled. I was sad because I think that it would be a lot of fun to go and watch them all play.

When the time finally came to play I was excited that we were going to head down to Vegas. What I did not plan on was for the game to end up being the hottest weekend that had hit us this summer. I was dying. It was so hot sitting out in the sun. Even in the shade or with an umbrella I was scorching. Lucky for me, I was able to just sit there. I cant even imagine how bad it was for the guys that were out running around in the heat.

One thing that I learned while we were down there is that I need to learn more about Rugby. I had no idea what was going on and when I thought that I was understanding something then I was wrong. The refs for this game were calling everything by the book. But it seemed like they were really picking on our team. He called a lot of offsides which is something that our team really needs to work on. Because of all the penalties he was calling it seemed like the game was in slow motion. But I guess in a normal situation the game would have gone a lot faster and maybe I would have been able to understand more of what was going on if the game was not stopped every 30 seconds or so.

Either way I had a great time and I know that Geoff did too. He really likes to get out there and try new things and I cant wait for them to have some more games in the future. I am sure that Geoff will improve the more that he plays. He is kinda awesome like that!



It looks like they are all standing around but this was a motion picture.



Geoff got the ball and then they called something on someone else. I was sad he didn't get to run it up and score.

Geoff passing the ball off.

The ball coming right at Geoff. He caught it and then got pounded by the other team.

4 years and a Girl!

Today Geoff and I celebrate 4 years of marriage. I cant believe that it has already been 4 years. It feels like it has just flown by. We started the day off by a trip to the doctors office to find out the gender of our little bean. We were not very surprised to find out that we are having a little girl. We were keeping with the tradition of my side of the family and adding another little princess. However, we are so excited to be welcoming out little Alli-Cat into our family. At this moment in time we have chosen the name Allison Niccole Demke. But you never know if that will change before she gets here or not.

Geoff had to go back to work but before he did that we went over to the Dixie Center to visit Nana and give her the exciting news. We had run to Target and bought some Hershey's chocolate bars and a pink highlighter and then highlighted the She in Hershey's. She was very excited to be getting another little princess. We texted Papa to see if he would be in his office so that we could go and see him also but he was in Salt Lake City on business. So we sent him a picture of the candy bar that we had for him. He is very excited to have a new little lady in his life. We then headed back to Dal-Tile. We were in Geoff's car as mine was in the shop for a flat tire and an oil change. More on that in a bit.

I left Dal-Tile and headed to the park to meet up with Geoff's mom and our sister in law Nikki. They were there playing with the kids. It was a lot of fun to tell Geoff's mom. She was so excited. I decided to just text all the rest of the family. It was so fun to hear all of their reactions. I sent an email to Kathie who is on a mission. I cant wait to hear back from her and see her reaction.
I finally got a call back from the dealership about my car. Would you believe that they had it for over 5 hours. I can just see all the shock in your faces when you think of what it would cost for the labor for those 5 hours not just the parts to repair it. Lets just say that it cost a pretty penny to get it fixed. I swear that the dealership knew that the car was almost paid off and so they made up all of these things that needed to be fixed on it. But I really cant complain. I have had the car for almost 6 years and have not really had any serious problems with it. We will pay it off in October and it will be so nice to have a reliable car and no car payment. I look forward to the day.

Geoff and I were planning on going to a movie and then out to dinner when he got off work but we ended up taking a nap instead of the movie. Geoff has been putting in a lot of hours and not getting much sleep these days. I am so proud that he takes his job seriously and that he is working so hard to provide for me and Alli. After our nap we headed out to Anasazi Steak house for dinner. Can I just say I love that place. We both got the steak on a slate. I think that is what it is called. They bring your steak out to you on a hot plate that is cooking it while it sits in front of you. It is so awesome! You can cook your steak just the way you want it.

Geoff got me a new charm for my charm bracelet from Harley Davidson and a new necklace from there as well. Both are so beautiful and I am so spoiled. Geoff is the most amazing man and I cant wait to spend the rest of my life getting spoiled by him! He has given me more in the last four years then I can even imagine. I don't know what I would do with out him in my life. Thank you Geoff for making me a better person. For making me want to strive to be the best wife that I can be. I owe it all to you! I love you with all my heart!

Memorial Day Ride

On the actual Memorial Day Geoff and I went on a Harley ride with my mom and dad. We rode out to Springdale to have lunch. We went to Oscars. It was a beautiful ride. I love being about to get on the back of the Harley with Geoff and go for long rides. However, my pregnant body would disagree with me. After we got home I was pretty sore. It seems that my body has grown in more places then my belly.

It was a very fun way to spend the day before I had to head into work. I wish that I would have taken more pictures of the day but I was busy enjoying myself. So here is one of me and my handsome biker just before we left for our ride.

Funny story: Geoff put sunscreen on and I asked him if he needed my help with getting anywhere. I don't have the best track record for making sure that I get everything covered so he said that he was good. He seems to think that if I don't help him he will get burned less. And lets be honest he is probably right. Well when we got home he was looking at his arms and in the corner of his arm on the opposite side of the elbow he got burned. You can see exactly where he rubbed the sunscreen on and where he missed. Lets just say that it is not the best place to get a sunburn at.

Papa and his Princesses

Over Memorial Day weekend. All 5 of my nieces on the Curtis side were in town. It was fun to get all of these sweet girls together. They sure do love playing together. It is fun to see how they each have a friend that they can play with. Baby Quinn is still to little to play with them but when we find out what the gender of this little angel is I am sure that she will have a playmate also. It is so fun because they are all not far in age from the one that is closest to them. Shelby and Brooklyn, Peyton and Sian, and Quinn and new baby. It will be fun to see all of these cousins grow up even if they are all so far away from each other.

We thought that we better get a picture will all of them and Papa. Let me tell you it was a huge chore to get all of them to sit there and take a picture for us. There was many attempts and many tears shed by at least 2 of the girls at any given time. But in the end we were able to get a picture with Papa and his Princesses!

I hope that one day we can look back and see how far these sweet ladies have come and get many more pictures like this one with Papa and his leading ladies!

Midnight 5K

I did this race last year and I got my fastest 5k time ever. I was so happy about it. This year I got my slowest time ever. It is really amazing what a year can do for a person. I am hoping that when I do this race next year that I will set a new PR.

Tiffanie was in town so I convinced her to do the race with us. It was a fun race but we had had a busy day and it was a late night. I am glad that she was able to do the race. One day we will do a race that we can run together instead of at our own paces.

Sophia and I have been doing a little bit of walking the last few weeks. Somehow I convinced her to do the race with me. I sure can be convincing when I want to be. I talked a these three into doing it with me.

And who can forget my sweet husband. He was not really looking forward to this race but he did it because I asked him too. He sure must love me because he puts up with a lot of me. It will be nice to have these pictures to look back at because I have not taken many pictures of this pregnancy. But you can see my ever expanding belly. It seems to get larger and larger each day.

Brooklyn's Preschool Graduation

The beautiful girl graduated from Preschool. It sure was fun to go and watch her get her certificate. She was a bit shy and didn't really want to stay sitting up in front of all the people with her classmates. But she managed to make it through. She was so adorable up there singing and doing all the movements to the songs that they learned.

It is fun to see the difference in age. Some of the kids were a year older then Brooklyn and you could tell that they were more comfortable in front of the adults. They were also more vocal when singing and talking. At the end of the program they had all the kids come up and get a certificate of graduation. Brooklyn would not look at the camera while she was up there with her teacher so I didnt get a good picture. I sure do love this little lady. She holds a special place in my heart!

There were many in attendance to support Brooklyn on her big day. Nana and Papa came as did Brittney and Mimi. Kai also graduated with Brooklyn. So they had support on both sides. Brooklyn and Kai are the best of friends and I am sure they caused lots of issues for their preschool teacher. I am sure they kept her on her toes. It was a really fun afternoon and I am glad that I was able to make it!

Color Palooza

The Color Crazy Cuties!

We all signed up to do the Color Palooza. It was a charity color run. I talked everyone into doing it with me. I was getting a little nervous as the race was getting closer because I am starting to get pretty big and my balance is not what it was before. Also I learned that my lungs seem to have more pressure on them and that makes it harder to really run or walk for long periods of time.

I am still glad that we did the race and that I have amazing friends that would walk the whole thing with me! I don't know how far I would have made it if I had to run. We sure had a lot of fun and got quite messy!

Hannah and I before the race.

Me, Nikki, Tia and Michelle! Some of the best women ever!



Bk row: Tia, Michelle, Hannah, Nikki, & Randy

Frt row: Geoff and I

Michelle, Tia, Crissie, Thomas, me and Geoff

We searched everywhere for Thomas and Crissie to get a picture with them after the race. After most of the group had left we found them. So we tried to round up everyone that was still left and get another picture. I really love when we can get a bunch of the family to do the races with us. I really think that when you have something fun to look forward to you are more inclined to get into better shape.

Hurricane Mud Run

I signed up for this race before I even knew that I was pregnant. I was very much unprepared for this race. I had not been feeling well leading up to the race and was pretty much in the worst shape of my life. At least that is how I felt. It was still fun to do this race with Cassie. She was such a trooper to stay with me even though I slowed her down.

There were a bunch of different obstacles that we had to do. One was a log cross over a pit of water. Let me just tell you how much you realize that you have lost your center of gravity while being pregnant when you are trying to get across a log that is off the ground.

It doesn't look that high up but I swear it was like 4 feet!

Geoff came back at the end to find us. He did the last part of the race with us. Cassie and I had to get a picture together at the end of the race to show how dirty we had gotten. We both were saying that we wished there had been more stuff that would have made us get down and dirty. But for a fun run we sure did have fun!

Kathie's Farewell and 2 baby blessings

I am afraid that I did not get any pictures this day. It was a very busy day and Geoff and I had a lot going on. We started the morning off by going up to Dammeron Valley to attend his sister Kathie's mission farewell. She is serving in the Charlotte North Carlonia mission. We are so proud of her. She gave a wonderful talk and the family all was there to support her. Kathie wrote a letter to all of her siblings and I thought it was so sweet of her to send a part of testimony home with each of the siblings.

When sacrament was over we all headed over to Momma Kathie's house for lunch. There were so many people there that we didn't get to talk to Kathie much. I was sad that we could  not spend more time with her because it would be the last time that I would get to see her before she left on her mission the following week. I was able to say goodbye and give her one last hug before we headed out the door. They were having dinner at Hal's house on Sunday but because I had to work I was unable to attend. I had requested work off for the following Sunday but because of some last minute changes the farewell was moved forward a week so I had to miss out on some of the celebrations.

We would have had more time to spend with her except that Bart and Michelle were blessing their baby Reaggan. Tia and Voi were also blessing their baby. It was a fun day but I was exhausted  by the time the blessings were over. Instead of staying to have lunch and chat Geoff and I headed home for naps. I just cant seem to stay awake very long any more.

Spectrum 10K

Running in races is the only reason that I enjoy running. People always  talk about a runners high. I can honestly say that I have never really experienced a runners high while I was training or just running. I get a high when I am running in a race doing something that I didnt think I could ever do. It is so amazing to see how far you can push your body and what it can handle.

When I found out I was pregnant I decided that I was going to run as much as I could before the baby came. It is amazing how quickly your body can change and what once was very easy can become difficult. When I had some friends ask me to do this race I was quick to say yes. It is one that I have done before and I knew the course to be not so hard. Boy was I mistaken on that one.

On the day of the race I caught a ride up to the bus with Michelle, Tia, and Tara. We were running a bit behind and almost missed the bus. We had to run a whole block to make it to the bus. And when I say run I dont mean like a nice jog. I was pretty much full out sprinting to get to the last bus as it was pulling out. When we got on the bus we found out that it was standing room only.

On the bus ride up to the start of the race. I was not sure if I was going to make it off the bus. A combination of the smell, being to close to to many people, and pregnancy I almost passed out and threw up on the bus. I sure was glad that we made it to the start pretty fast and that we were at the front of the bus so I was able to get off quickly. When we got to the starting line we had to wait around for about 40 minutes. It was fun to hang out and chat and get all psyched for the race.

As the race started we all were going to kinda stay together but then Tara and I decided that we were going to run ahead and just do our own thing. As we were running we started to feel bad because we had told Tia that we would stay with her. So we started walking and were waiting for them to catch up. Michelle caught up with us and was walking with us for awhile. Tara decided that she wanted to try and get a good time in the race so she ran off without us.

Michelle and I waited for Tia and her friend Hailey to catch up with us. When they did they said that we did not need to stay with them so Michelle and I did a walk run for the rest of the race. It was so fun to see Michelle push so hard at the end of the race. She wanted to stop and walk because I had been making her run for awhile and I pushed her to finish the race at a run. There was alot of family at the finish line for Michelle so it was so cool to see them all so proud of her for pushing hard to the end. I cant lie I might have had a few tears as I was crossing the finish line with her.

I do not think that I will ever say that running is my passion but I think that it brings out the best in those that run and the people that are around them. I know that it has made a difference in my life. So even though most of the time I hate to run I will continue to do it!
If I can get a picture from someone I will upload it here! Not sure if anyone has one that they can send to me though.

Surprising Courtney!

Sorry these pictures are not the best. But they were taken in a dimly lit room with a cell phone. My cousin Courtney was in a pageant. It was not a beauty pageant but like a Little Miss Scholarship competition. I  had not told Courtney that I was coming up. I had spoken with her mother and my grandmother to make sure that they were okay with taking me in for the night. They were all excited for me to be coming up. Even if it was just a quick trip.

I left Saint George on Thursday at 4 and headed up to Tiffanie's house. She was kind enough to let me crash on her couch. I got to her house late and got up and left pretty early to make the rest of the drive. I woke up to about 6 inches of snow on my car. Leave it to me, a person who has not done much driving in the snow to make an 11 hour drive in the middle of what was said to be a snow storm. Lucky for me the roads were amazing and I didnt have to worry about anything the rest of the way to Boise.

When I got into town, I went straight to Grandma and Grandpas house. I was so happy to be off the road. I had driven for 11 hours in two days. I was so ready to just get out and walk around and not have to sit in the car. My grandparents took me out to dinner before the pageant. It was very nice of them. When we got to the High School where the pageant was held we walked into the hallway and all of Courtneys family was standing in line waiting to enter the room. Of course they were first in line!

Courtney did amazing and I was sad that she didn't win anything. She is such an amazing girl! I was so proud of all the hard work that she did to prepare and preform in this pageant. It was also a lot of fun to surprise her after. She had no idea that I was there. It was a fun surprise.

After sitting around and talking with everyone we said our goodnights and planned to meet for breakfast in the morning before I got back on the road to head home. Pamela, Courtney, Grandma and I all went to this little mom and pop shop for breakfast. It was so cute and the food was amazing. I am glad that we got to sit around a little more and talk. I was sad that it was time to go but I needed to get on the road as the weather was prediciting a pretty bad snow storm. I wanted to make sure that I would for sure miss it. We said our goodbyes and I was on the road again.

The weather was great for the first 5 hours. I was making good time. I called Tiffanie just as I was passing her exit and said that I was going to just head the rest of the way home. We had talked about me staying if the weather was bad but since things were looking good and I had to work in the morning I figured that I would just keep going. Boy was that the biggest mistake I have made in a long time. Not 3 miles past her exit I hit the snow storm. People were sliding off the side of the road and there was like zero visiability. It ws pretty scary. I was going about 5 miles an hour before we came to a standstill. I figured there was an accident ahead of me somewhere. I was looking in my rear view mirror when I saw a red car that was going way to fast in the carpool lane. It must have noticed that traffic was stopped and slammed on the breaks. Not the best thing to do when there is snow on the ground. The car spun around 90 degrees and ended up facing the wrong way up against the cement barrier. I was freaking out a bit. The car was not even close to me but I was still so worried that I was going to get in an accident on the way home.

I thought about turning around but by the time I got to an exit where I could turn around and head back to Tiffanie's the snow had lightened up a bit and traffic was moving at a steady pace. I was worried that if I turned back around I would end up headed back into the storm. By the time I got past Provo there was no more storm and I made it the rest of the way home in no time at all. I was glad that the weather was not bad the whole way home. My shoulders were killing me the next day just from the 2 hours of tense driving before I got through the snow. All in all I am glad that I made the trip and got to spend a small amout of time with my family that I don't get to see that often.