Jesperson Family Reunion

No, I am not a Jesperson. I proudly proclaim to be a Sadleir (here come the tears). I'm so proud of the family I come from. Specifically, my Grandma Sadleir who passed away last November.
My Grandma was the epitomy of kindness, love, patience & righteousness. Anyone who knew her loved her deeply. She was never afraid to talk to anyone, even the scrubbiest-looking person. She would go out of her way to befriend or uplift a person. She was FULL of service & compassion! Every single memory I have of my Granadma is tender and sweet & we shared such a deep bond & love for eachother. She always called me her "Sunshine girl". When I moved to Utah & got married, I missed seeing her & visiting her home in San Diego but I made it a priority to keep in touch over the phone. I made it known to Tyler that my Grandma was essentially important to me & that I loved her as much as I loved him! He figured out right away that she was a very special lady & my Grandma adored Tyler. She always told me that Tyler reminded her of Grandpa. When we had Preston he gravitated to Grandma right away. She would bounce him on her lap & sing the "Dee do dee do" song that she often sang to us as children. He was always so content with her. I'm so glad Preston got to experience the sweet times with her even though he probably won't remember it when he's older. But I remind him & we sing Grandma's song to him all the time... Grandma had A lot of songs! She would play the piano & sing (she taught herself to play the piano by ear & she could play almost the entire church hymn book. She enjoyed playing the organ in the San Diego temple on wednesdays too). But our favorite was when Grandma would play her ukelele & sing her childhood songs to her grandchildren. She was so adorable. I will forever cherish the sweet memories of my Grandma. Beyond the family ties that bind us, she & I are kindred spirits & I miss her very much. My Grandpa Sadleir was an amazing person as well. He was very quiet but very gentle & kind. He loved his family very much. Grandpa Sadleir died 9 years ago & it was a hard adjustment not seeing Grandma & Grandpa together but it's comforting to know that they've been reunited.

Every other year, there is a Jesperson Family Reunion. My Grandma was a Jesperson before she met Grandpa & she had 5 sisters & 2 brothers. The Jesperson cousins make up about 250 distant relatives! But distant isn't really a good word to use b/c we are close to our 1st, 2nd, & even 3rd cousins. This has been a tradition that I hope will carry on. This year we all gathered together in Walsberg (up provo canyon) at the Ashton's place. Here are some pictures of the activities as best as I could capture them! They had a huge slip n' slide! Preston went down with my brother-in-law Bryce & by the look on Preston's face, i knew he wasn't going to go down again.


My cute niece Britley

Bryce Brennan & Britley

Nephew Brennan, the funniest kid ever!

Preston was quite content holding the hose... As long as he didn't have to go down again.

My sister Lisa & our niece Alex & nephew Jace

Cutest Cousins ever: Evan, Tanner & Preston

My nieces Karly & Britley waiting for the candy cannon. After a loud BANG! A Cannon shot candy in the air!

Caroline loved her freedom of wandering everywhere & even in the buff at one time.


Preston didn't want to leave. With all the activities going on, I hardly saw him! He was running from the water slide to the play set, to the life size chess board, to the zip line. There was also fishing & swimming.

Grandma Jodi (my mom)& Caroline.

Carrying on the musical traditions, my aunt Gwen arranged a family sing along & we sang the old songs of the Jesperson past. Caroline was dancing on the table top to the music. She was having a BLAST!


Then Aunt Gwen opened up the microphone, of course my mom got up! Caroline followed right after Grandma & was eating every bit of it up!

Every single person had to wear a name tag with the Jesperson family member on it as well. As I put on Preston's & Caroline's name tags that read "Wilma", I got teary eyed & realized in that moment that this was their 1st Jesperson family reunion, that it was the 1st reunion without Grandma Sadleir (although I felt she was there), & that we are so lucky to come from such a valient, honorable heritage.

We are so PROUD to say that we belong to Charles Edward & Wilma Sadleir.

My New BEST Friend

This new little LOVE came to my doorstep yesterday & I've been in a cleaning frenzy ever since!


Cleaning my floors has become So much easier! I have really dark hardwood floors that show every tiny streak or crumb that my kids leave behind. I literally have to sweep & mop everyday to keep them looking clean, but in all honesty I don't sweep & mop everyday. I will now because this thing is SO MUCH FUN. As soon as I got it, I steam mopped my floors, cleaned the base boards & then moved on to the vents. I'm obsessed! The only annoying thing is that it makes a ticking noise as it emits steam... but Caroline thought it was catchy & started bobbing her head & bouncing her knees to the rhythm it made, it was so funny. I did my research & bought the "Steam Fast sf-294". It recieved the Good house keeeping gold seal of approval. My favorite thing about it is that it turns into a hand held steamer & it comes with different attachments, including a clothes steaming attachment. It is FAN-TASTIC!

Clyde Family Reunion

The Clyde family has been going non-stop since July 1st. We've finally slowed down now & are slowly getting back to our normal routine again. I have SO, So, so much to catch-up on! Many more posts to come...

For starters, we had a Clyde family reunion & we had such a wonderful time with Tyler's family... Lots of fun was had, cousins were reunited, bonds were strengthened, & memories were made. Usually the Clyde family goes on vacation somewhere like Florida or some place like that, but this year we stayed here in Utah which I was pleased b/c we had so much more planned to do after the Clyde reunion. I was so pleasantly surprised at the many things Utah has to offer! We had a week long "staycation" & it was a blast!! I loved reconnecting with all my sister-in-laws & seeing Preston & Caroline interact with the cousins they don't see very often. My father & mother-in-law, Paul & Jeanette, planned an exciting week of fun for the family & we feel so grateful to them for everything.

The first day we went to Stadium of Fire. It was exciting when the jets flew by & the fireworks were amazing except for when they went of in the crowds of people, that was scary. But the Carrie Underwood concert was awesome!

We headed up Weber Canyon to Tyler's Uncle David & Aunt Sharon's ranch. It is so beautiful up there, wish I would have taken more pictures. We went for rides on Grandpa's new Ranger & Caroline even fell asleep on it despite the bumpy ride. We also did some 4-wheeling, Preston got to ride a horse, & we visited with the Peterson cousins.


We went to Lagoon one of the days as well but I didn't take a single picture b/c we were busy having a good time & chasing kids everywhere. I was surprised with all that Lagoon has to offer, especially for the younger kids. We're going to return for sure & would love to have any friends join us;o) The rest of the time was spent hanging out, eating, playing games, the kids ran amock at Kangaroo Zoo, Jump on it & the park, the men golfed a couple times, the women shopped, the kids went fishing with the Dads. It was a fun-filled, exhausting week! Preston particularly loved playing with Luke. They're only 2 months apart & they play so well together. I got a little teary-eyed when they had to say goodbeye b/c Luke lives in Minnesota, so far away! And Preston adores him. He doesn't have anyone like Luke that's his age, that's a boy & that he plays so well with. The week following the Clyde Reunion we had my family reunion & Preston asked everyday if Luke was going to be there. These 2 boys look like they could be brothers, they are so cute.

Some other pictures of the week: Tyler & Preston

Neices Jessica & Cydnie

Tyler's cousin Brian with Caroline

Tyler's brother Travis with his son Owen

We enjoyed having Daddy all week long...

Cousin Kate with Caroline

Sister-in-laws left to right: Kim Clyde, me, Traci Blackinton, Tami Foulger, Tiffany Hardy, Lindsay Clyde

Jesus & Rootbeer

Lately, some of the funniest things will come out of Preston's mouth. It's So funny how kids think & reason life. I wish I could remember everything he says... I better start writing them down as he says things. On sunday we try to only allow Preston to watch "Jesus Shows" (as he calls them). Last sunday I put a Jesus show on and Preston said,

"Mom, Jesus wikes the Jesus show & Jesus wikes rootbeer"

So random... I love it. Keep them coming Preston... You crack us up boy!

Everything & MORE...

The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new. ~Rajneesh

I've heard it said that when you become a mother you tend to "lose yourself". This can be taken postiviely or negatively, although I admit, in the very beginning when I first had Preston I experienced some of these negative feelings. I had to shift my thinking & it was a learning process for me. Becoming a mom was the biggest sacrifice of my life but I love the quote that says something like, "when you loose yourself in service, you find yourself". Motherhood is Most Definately a service ;o) Giving up my single life with my husband was a challenge at first, but now... I have everything I've ever wanted & More! In becoming a mommy, I've gained more meaning in life, more love, kisses & hugs, laughes & giggles, & more knowledge & understanding about who I am as a person, my strengths, my weaknesses & the eternal role that I play as a Mom. Having kids has changed my life completely but only for Good... It's changed the way I view & live life but I'm still the same silly, girl who loves to have fun!! The only difference now is that the majority of my fun invloves swings, slides, puzzles, swimming pools, to name a few. I still love a good date night or a girls night out! My point is this: We can either loose ourselves in the myriad tasks of motherhood or we can loose ourselves (ie. our selfishness) & live for our children. Be excited about life with your kids ...that way they won't loose excitment in their adult years.

I was shopping with my kids one day & Preston was running around like a wild man. He pointed to something & very excitedly told me what it was. In my concentration of filtering through a clothes rack I very blandly said, "ya that's great Preston". A woman who heard Preston & then my response said to me, "You know they loose that excitement. Enjoy it now while you can". Her words sank in deep as I realized how I responded to him. I'm really thankful for that woman's advice, it was a real wake-up call for me. I love my kids more than life! They are my world.

Some great chidhood quotes:

A little girl is sugar and spice and everything nice - especially when she's taking a nap. ~Author Unknown

Boy, n.: a noise with dirt on it. ~Not Your Average Dictionary

A child is a curly dimpled lunatic. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

In America there are two classes of travel - first class, and with children. ~Robert Benchley

What is a home without children? Quiet. ~Henny Youngman

There are only two things a child will share willingly - communicable diseases and his mother's age. ~Benjamin Spock, Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care, 1945

While we try to teach our children all about life,Our children teach us what life is all about.~Angela Schwindt