Always on the GO-GO-GO!!!

There was more on my memory card then I thought when I went to post....so this is a long one. We have been nothing but busy this summer, so here is a short re-cap 1st off: FIESTA DAYS!! We did the parade, rodeo, and a quick trip to the cabin we rarely see anymore. I was even lucky enough to meet up with a few old friends and their kids...Thank goodness for air-conditioned fastfood playlands!

You gotta love Utah parades. Complete with missionaries, tractors & rock crawling jeeps. This was pretty cool.

Chase totally loved the rodeo. He can tell you if you are a cowboy, or a cowboy-girl. He has to get bucked off (and me included when he makes me ride on back) of his rocking horse.

Next on our summer trip was our youth temple trip to Twin Falls, Idaho. Unfortunately I was released from Young Womens a few weeks before, but begged to go. Here is a group shot of our youth group. They started the trip out spiritually, as we all should.

Since Chase & I weren't able to go inside to help with baptisms for the dead, we went shopping and hung outside the temple (which Chase called Chad's temple) since we dropped him off. He loved Moroni's horn. He also picked 1/2 dozen flowers, which I tried to re-plant unsuccessfully.

Chad will probably kill me for posting this picture, but the next place we stopped after the temple was a service project to the cannery. They got a tour of the Bishop's Warehouse and how that all works, and then fulfilled a bunch of orders. The youth were surprised they actually had fun doing it!

We camped that night on the snake river. This is a place called 1000 Springs because on the opposite side of the canyon was probably 1000 little waterfalls. It was gorgeous!! Despite the mosquitoes we swam and had some great BBQ.

Saturday morning came the fun!! River Rafting. This must have been at the beginning of the runs because everyone is still dry!! As usual the water fighting & pulling people off the boats were the highlights!

Most recently was our trip to St. George and a trip to St. George is never complete without seeing my girlies: Julie & Dayna. But this time I was extra excited to see Julie's new baby Marcus! He is so so so adorable! I even got to hold him for a minute until he realized I wasn't mommy.

Besides Chase trying to feed & share his goldfish crackers with Marcus he loved to tickle & kiss his toes. He really liked being around the baby....he even got a hold of the pacifier, I held my breath that he wouldn't want his own back!


Besides swimming several times we also hit the county fair. I lived in St. George for 5+ years and never went to the county fair once. But it wouldn't have been as fun without kids. Chase had fun, especially with his good buddy Damian....we call "D". 1st stop was the Bear Show. Pretty cool they can train these big animals!!

I don't know why I thought he'd be scared of the big slide, but he kept going on it, and I was relieved he could walk up on his own!


What you can barely see is Jeremy (D's daddy) sliding down and launching the boys head over feet at the bottom. They had so much fun playing together...it really makes me sad we don't A. live in St. George anymore B. have friends like that here...and that C. St. George is so darn far away! They were good buddies.

Who doesn't love a race car right? Chase just wondered where Mater was.


Of course there is a petting zoo at the fair. D-loving feeding the popcorn to the chickens. Chase-keeping his distance and throwing the popcorn, hoping it makes it through the holes.

The debut of the fake laugh made its first appearance this weekend. Maybe D is just a comedian in the making :) Chase loved to laugh at everyone and anymore....just realize it was fake.

The fair had its share of vendors...this was a pediatric dental office. You could do anything you wanted to Chase as long as he gets to ride in the cars!

I snapped this picture a second too late cuz D sat up. They were both laying down, and just looked exhausted!! Like they had had their fill of the fair!!! It was a great trip to St. George and a great summer so far with all of our mini-vacations. What to do when work is a full 4 days a week again??

New Family Pictures

Summer has been super busy for us, it seems like we are always on the go go go!! But come January we will look back on these days with fondness!!! :) One of the highlights of our Family Reunion trip to Utah in June was a Family Photo Session. Let me just put a plug out there for our photographer, Kristina Ruiz. She also did our wedding pictures. Chad especially loved that she was quick, fast, etc. She takes great shots in a short amount of time. If only Chase would have had a nap that day they would have been way cuter....but you deal with what you get.

For all my facebook friends I posted a ton more pictures on there....or if you would like to see that album here is a link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=109957&id=663201779&l=b2331d4312 (just my little family)

Group link: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2714766&l=3163bc1d17&id=663201779

Did this one look familiar? Yeah its our new header picture on our blog, and really the best one.

We just had to go with what Chase was doing since he was nap deprived that day....as he usually is in Utah with family :)

I was really loving the rock, it was so hot that day I'm surprised you can't see pit stains and sweaty faces!!!!

Our package deal came with mom & dad pictures also....took me back to the engagement picture days.

What a cutie!! He wasn't that happy that day so this is especially a good one!

The next few pictures are from our group pictures, and why not start it off with who got the family started right? I sure love these guys!

Big family eh? Not to mention one more on the way! It's Tricia.

Lovin the rock steps!! Seems like with that many people there is always an eye closed somewhere :)

Chad inspired this photo by being patient and waiting for this big clan to finish!! Why not throw all the men in there and get a photo op out of it right?

No need to make us look at a camera and smile....we were all more than willing!

All the Grandkids.....13 total. 9 Boys, 4 Girls 1 ?????on the way

I've always loved the close up face scrunch shots. We really all do love eacother....and even the inlaws get along well with the bunch of us! How are we so amazingly lucky?

Happy Birthday Trish!!

So glad you were born!!!

We love you!!! ~Chad, Chase & Melis

Must All Good Things Come To An End?

Okay now here is a brief recap of the long awaited Ross Wright Family Reunion:

Quick trip to the Marrott cabin, family pictures/BBQ, Shaun's welcome home, Oquirrh (sp?) Mountain Open House, shopping, camping, canoes, ziplines, great food, more shopping, little rain, 4th of July Parade, 10k run, swimming, (lindon city has a fun new pool), fireworks/BBQ, tons of family games & laughs!!! It was so so good to see as many people as I saw in a short amount of time! It isn't complete without my good friends I was able to see (Cari, Janae) and all my adorable family.....with Trish taking the cake on furthest traveled to get here!! Boy we sure miss her & all our out of stater siblings!! Chase & I headed back to Utah again for a few more days with Trish. It was SOOO worth the extra drive :) We hit a movie and did some hiking to finish it all off! Who knows when and where we will all meet up again...but until then thank goodness for blogs & cell phone texting to keep us all up to date!! Hope everyone had as fun as 4th as we did!! Love, Melissa

The Great Outdoors

One of our favorite places to camp, just a few minutes from our house. Luckily we have been camping in the trailer so all the rain hasn't affected us TOO much. :)

Chase really likes to hike...not like he goes for longer than like 5 minutes but we are breaking him in slowly.

Just a few random pictures of Chase. He came inside and said "mommy, I picked you a flower....wear it in your ear" Pretty sure he has never seen me wear a flower in my ear. Where do they pick these things up??


The one time we had the sprinkler on this year he went and put his face right in it! He is not afraid of much. What a should have got was a picture of his face in the water!! Hope you are all having a great summer!! Can't wait to see my baby brother home from his mission this week!! It's crazy how fast time flies, and I really can't believe its been 2 years already!! Welcome Home Elder Wright!

God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again

A good friend of mine whom I work with in Young Women's had a very sad thing happen this past weekend. Her husband passed away from a heartattack in the middle of the night. Everyone was shocked to hear the news. He was healthy & active, no sign of heart trouble. He was the kindest, nicest man. If anyone was ready to leave this earth at any time, it was Nolen. He left behind a 14 year old daughter who is devastated. It puts life in perspective a little bit, and you realize that God has a plan for each of us, even if we don't understand it. How many times do you go to bed thinking you have tomorrow to make up or tell someone you love them? I want you to hug & kiss your kids & tell everyone you love how much they mean to you! I'm so glad to be a member of the church and have a testimony in Eternal Families. It makes tragedies like this one a little more acceptable.

Nolen J. Marshall
1950-2009
Nolen J. Marshall, 59, loving husband, father, grandpa, brother, and friend passed away Saturday, May 30, 2009, at his home in Spring Creek, Nevada. Nolen was born in American Fork, Utah, on May 27, 1950, to his father Ual M. Marshall and mother Rhonda Openshaw. He was born a young, charismatic boy with a love for family and adventure. His early years were full of life and experiences that would teach him the values of a being a good father and honorable man. His values carried him through life where he met a young, beautiful woman, Shellee Turner. They married April 2, 1976, in the Salt Lake City Temple. Nolen committed himself to her and the LDS church, where he graciously served many callings later being called upon to humbly serve as bishop. His unwavering faith, love for life, family and friends was the spring in his step. He was rarely seen without a smile on his face. Nolen cherished the opportunity to help others and serve a cause greater than himself; even now he continues to serve others as an organ donor passing along a new hope of life and health. He is survived by his wife Shellee and children Jamie, Phoenix, Lyndsi (Josh) , SLC, Jett (Amber), Logan UT, Kylee and grandson Cael. Viewings will be held Tuesday, June 2, from 6-8 p.m. and preceding the funeral from 9:30- 10:30 on Wednesday June 3rd. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on June 3rd. All services will be held in the LDS Stake Center located at 1651 College Pkwy, across from Great Basin College. Nolen will be greatly missed by his family, friends, and all who were fortunate enough to have known him.

Memorial Day in St. George

We were so excited we decided last minute to head to St. George for Memorial Day. If Tyler & Adrienne & their boys weren't going down we might not have been as tempted. 1st night we had to hit the new Pirate Island. Pizza+Arcades=hours of kid entertainment!!! Chase would spend 1/2 hour on each ski-ball game. He could never make the ball over the hill, it just returned back over and over and over!

Did I mention pizza? 24 inches....1/2 of this pizza fed 13 of us with lots of leftovers!!!

The slip-n-slide never gets old!! Children & adults had plenty of turns sliding down the hill. Chase would fly in the air at the bottom and race back up the hill-with no help EVER-and say 'my turn' and slide right down again. Good thing there were only a few of us so there were plenty of turns!!!

On Sunday, Damian, Jeremy & Dayna came over to play on the slip n slide too. Damian LOVED watching the kids slide down, and would slide down the grass, but wanted nothing to do with the slide. I wish I would have had my camera when he was laughing hysterically @ everyone going down the slide. He was soooo funny to watch!!

New to St. George (since I've lived there) are splash pads at a lot of the parks. Chase was a little hesitant at first, but then we couldn't pull him away!

Whats a weekend with the family if you can't catch a fish. Chase loves to poke his pole in the water and try to fall in. Luckily just as we started to pack up Mitchell finally caught something we could take home.

Whats a trip to St. George without playing in the red dirt? Chase LOVED playing with his cousins. Its so fun to see him grow up and be able to play & connect with other kids! Such cute Marrott boys!

And I saved the best for last!!! An added bonus to have JR & Aubree in St. George with their new little baby....YEAH THATS RIGHT!! I'VE SEEN HER! Baby Avenlee liked to sleep when I was there, but she is so so precious!!! Can't wait to see how beautiful she will be!