A Week with the Folks

The first week in September my mom and dad made the big trek to Pullman for a little time away. We had so much fun while they were here. We went to a Rodeo, the Palouse Empire Fair, an Antique Show near Ceour D'Alene, and we even canned some peaches. We all relaxed a bit, and we had a lot of laughs. It was so nice to have them in our home. We keep trying to convince them to leave Nephi and move closer to Washington, but who knows if that will happen. No matter what we are so grateful for them and love them loads.

TOM PETTY & The Heartbreakers

So, it has been almost a month since I posted a new blog. And I have to apologize because I did try to blog, but every time I uploaded something, something would happen to our Clearwire. But, Oh well, I am here now. These pictures are a touch dated, but I had to share them with you because the whole experience was so awesome. For Brian's Birthday, which is May 9th, I decided to splurge and buy him two tickets to the Tom Petty concert. I started looking on-line weeks before, but couldn't find anything that I felt I could afford. So my coworker, who is an avid e-bay user, helped me look up some tickets there. We found an awesome deal for two floor seats. So I bit the big one and bought the tickets.
Brian's favorite Tom Petty song is called "Running Down a Dream". So for his birthday gift I bought him a pair of Nike running shoes, and taped the tickets on the inside of the box lid, with a little Poem about "Running". It was so funny because he was so excited about the shoes that he totally over looked the tickets taped inside the lid.

The Concert wasn't until August so we had to wait almost 3 months to go, but it was worth it. The day of the concert we left Pullman with plenty of time to make it for the opening act. Two and a half hours later we entered George, Washington, which is the location of the Gorge (that is the concert arena)...Anyways, we were just going to make it, when we got stuck in traffic. Now the Gorge is on the banks of the Columbia River, which is also covered with corn fields. Apparently there was an accident, so the concert traffic was re-routed through the corn fields. We honestly moved 5 miles in and hour, and completely missed Steve Winword. So when we finally reached the Gorge it was about a million degrees, but we ran so that we would miss Tom Petty. I had been to the Gorge a few time before, but this was Brian's very first concert ever, so he was a little surprised to see how awesome the venue was. We made it to our seat, where we were greeted by many drunk, high, sticky people. The couple who sat next to us had flown all the way from Pennsylvania, just for the concert. CRAZY! Obviously Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are supporters of pot, considering one of there songs is called "Last Dance with Mary Jane". But my heavens, when the lights went out in the crowd and the lights went on the stage- the lighters started flickering in the crowd. IT was so funny. By the middle of the concert, my stomach was growing, so I leaned over to Brian and told him I was SO HUNGRY. He just laughed at me- Maybe I had a non-contact case of the munchies. Anyway, Brian loved the concert. We had so much fun, and The Heartbreakers put on a great show. We hope you enjoy our stories and pictures as much as we enjoyed the concert.

Clara Leon Andrews

We'd like to congratulation the Andrews family on the arrival of their newest family member, Clara Leon. Clara now makes number 17 on the Rupp family grandkid count.

The whole family
Congratulations Jared and Michelle. We are so happy for you.

Hog Heaven

Well, over the summer I was in charge of one thing. The family PIG. That is right a pig. Our neighbors and us went in together on a pig. Since Josh and Amy were both in Utah over the summer, and Brian was away during the week days, I was in charge of Joe the Pig.
Josh built a wonderful pen for Joe in our big barn, and I took on the task of going to the Grange and buying Hog Grower to feed him. Last Monday I came home from the Grange and went down to the barn to feed Joe and this is what I saw.... Now what would you have thought if you saw that. Luckily Brian was supposed to be home that night, so I tried calling him, but got no answer. So in my shock I decided to call Amy in Utah. It took me a while to convince her that he was dead. See, I had only seen his rear end lying there, and Amy wanted me to go back into the barn to check if he was sleeping. There was no chance of me going back in there, plus he totally looked dead. Amy wanted me to poke him with a stick. Finally I explained to her that he looked the the pigs in the game Pass the Pigs. He was bloated and stiff as a board...Poor guy.
Well, Brian finally came home and confirmed that Joe had passed on. I felt like a failure. Here I was in charge of this pig, our winter meat, and he died just week before he was ready. Brian changed his clothes, and then drug Joe out of the barn. He then hooked him up to our little John Deere lawn mower, and dragged him out to one of the fields just south of our home.
We were hoping that the Coyotes would take care of Joe, but Griz, our dog, sure has been stinky lately. Oh well... We are just hoping that poor old Joe is happy in hog heaven. RIP JOE the PIG

My Deep Sea Fisherman

Well, this blog has nothing to do with me, but I just really liked the pictures. My brother Tyson invited all of the boys in the Park family to go deep see fishing, just outside of San Diego. Unfortunately Brian was unable to go, but the boys were nice enough to send us the pics from their trip.
I really have a great family. We have our ups and downs. We fight and argue, but we really love each other. I know Tyson, Shane, and Dad all needed a vacation and this was a great way for them to spend a little time with each other. I am actually jealous that I didn't get to go. Oh Well.
Tyson
Papa Tom
Shane

Introducing Mr. & Mrs. Rodney Rupp

Well, it was an eventful weekend for the Rupp and Routh Families. We had a fantastic time attending the wedding of Rodney (Brian's Brother) and Kami.
They got married at Higgins Point, a beautiful park that overlooks Lake Coeur d'Alene. We ate yummy food and cake, laughed a lot, and even danced a little. It was a really great weekend.
The Original Mr. & Mrs. Rupp

The new and improved Mr.& Mrs. Rupp



The Rupp Boys

Mama's Baby Boy



So, what does the future hold for the new Mr. and Mrs. Rupp? Well, for the next two weeks they will be apart, but then after that they are moving to Pullman. We couldn't be more excited. Brian has always wanted to live closer to Rod, and I am super excited to have Kami around. It has become aware to us that the Rupps, when in each others company, have a tendancy to ignore their significant others. So now Kami and I will have someone to hang out with while our hubbies do what ever they do.
Congratulations Rod and Kami- We love you!

Good bye, Farwell...

The cool thing about living in a college town is that their are always new people to meet who are in the same age group. The cruddy thing about living in a college town is that all those cool, new, friends, you make will eventually move away. And in our case...after eight years of living in a college town, we have had a lot of friends move away.
Mike and Jen Barnes, are quite possibly some of the funniest people we know. They are from the OC (Orange County), and both love to experience life to the fullest. We have had so much fun experiencing the Palouse with them. When Jen first moved to Pullman she hated it. When they decided that it was time to leave, she begged Mike to stay. Sadly she didn't get her way, but while they were here we made a lot of good memories. We want to wish them the best of luck in Connecticut, and hope that they will some day come back to "God's Country". Thanks for all of the fun memories. We love you guys!!