This is Me Having Fun At Blogher

Here's a picture of me having a great time at the Blogher conference. It was actually taken at a Japanese restaurant where I was having dinner with some other food bloggers. It was wonderful to have the chance to attend this conference with so many other smart women bloggers. The mental energy was quite amazing.

The photo was taken by my friend Elise Bauer, who writes the highly successful blog Simply Recipes. In my opinion, Elise's blog is the #1 food blog in the U.S. Elise has been such a great online friend and mentor to me that it was wonderful to meet her in person. She's not only one of the smartest people I've ever met, but also completely genuine and friendly.

I think a lot of you would enjoy Elise's blog. She lives with her parents and shares the things they cook together on the blog.

New Address

For those of you who would like to update your address books, our new address is:

637 Hidden Bridge Lane

Blacklick, OH 43004

We still have our Utah numbers on our cell phones but as soon as we change those we'll post the new #'s. Thanks! Keep posting! We love the blog!

(sorry for the blotches in the picture...those are all the bug guts that were on our windshield after driving through IL, IN, and OH - we even washed our windshield a couple of times, ugh!)

Here's a Food Product I Bet a Lot of You Would Like

I am having a great time at the Blogher Conference in San Jose. I'm meeting a few other food bloggers, including a woman who writes for Slashfood. She wrote about a new product that I'm guessing a lot of you would like:

Root Beer Float Ice Cream

Click on the link to read about it.

More from South Dakota

Here's a few more picutres from the Draper Family's trip to South Dakota. It was fun to see everyone there.

ELDER JUSTIN DENNY IS GOING TO....

Hi everyone,
We are excited to share with everyone that Justin is going to DALLAS, TEXAS (Enlgish speaking). He goes into the MTC on Oct 11th! He is very jazzed, though he very much doubts he'll become a Dallas Cowboy fan. Feel free to call or text at 801-725-7970!

The mission looks like it covers Dallas (not Fort Worth), south almost to Waco, then goes southeast to the Louisiana border, then up to Jefferson, west to Mount Pleasant, a teeny bit into Arkansas, up into Oklahoma and then back down near Denison, TX till you get back to Dallas.

For those that live close, we'll let you know when he'll be speaking in sacrament meeting.

My View of South Dakota

Yes, the Drapers made a trip to South Dakota. Fun time. Lot's to see. Here's a link to a panorama I made of Devil's Tower in Wyoming. Pretty cool place.

Another great shot is this one. On one of the days, Mt. Rushmore had a beautiful blue sky above it. I took a quick picture of it because it was so pretty. When I looked at the pictures on my computer after coming home, I was amazed! I didn't realize they had been working on an addition to the monument...

President Jaxon? Click to enlarge...

Where's Waldo?

The Draper clan just got back from South Dakota. We all had lots of fun. We saw Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, and Devil's Tower. Good sites. Here's a picture of everyone. Can you find Waldo? OK, so he's not in the picture, but a lot of other people are.

what's up with the hagens?

I thought I'd put a post on the blog to update everyone about the hagen family. since most of us know them quite well, I thought we'd all like to know that Butch's grandma Hibler, (donna's mom) passed away on the 24th of july. they think her funeral will be this thursday or friday. I am sending some flowers from the denny family and signing everyone's name to it.

next, (i'm giving the readers digest version here) about 2 weeks ago rick went on a fishing trip with a friend up to washington state and canada. while there he became sea sick. when they gave him a sea sickness medicine, he had a reaction and became disoriented and jumped off the boat. they found him on shore and took him to the hospital. a couple houors later he was feeling better and checked himself out before his friend got there to pick him up. that was in victoria, canada, on saturday the 15th of july. he hasn't been seen or heard from yet!! butch has the police in canada and seattle looking and distributing flyers with his picture on it, but nothing yet. butch and I will probably go up as soon as the funeral for grandma hibler is over and see if we can do anything more. please keep them in your prayers.

Amy's Day.

Today is Amy's Day. It happens once a year and it's a very special day where if your name is Amy Denny, you get to do whatever you want. You get to sleep in if you want. Or eat ice-cream for breakfast if you want. Or shop 'til you drop (and all for yourself) if you want. What ever it is you choose to do on your day Amy, we hope it's wonderful. We love you Amy. Happy Birthday.

Guess Where We Went for Dinner? From Livi, Emma, and Ethan

Memories of the Weeping Willow.....

Mother loved this tree....We have climed it many times....it got too old to stand......
Maybe a new one will replace it some day....

Goodbye old friend!!!

More Photos of Campout!

Some of the Dennys--relaxingKristen and Shane hangin' out
Playing games or eating!!
A lot of Mtn Dew on this table! One unknown gatorade guzzler.
Val started a bowling league---the kids enjoyed it.

Denny Family Campout #17--

We had a wonderful time at Indian Creek!! I think the total number attending was 43. We sure missed the ones that could not be there.
Kelly & Mark preparing to go 4 wheelin'Cooper loved the dirt!!!
Some of the Draper Clan---relaxing
Sophie and Jaxon became friends----can someone let us out now!!
Mitch and Camree trying their hand at "fishing"

Fun times! 

Sandee---4 wheeling pro 

The Denny Family Campout Was Awesome!

Well, I think we've all showered and slept in our own bed by now! We truly, really, astoundedly, ferociously and incredibly missed all those that couldn't come!!!! It just wasn't the same as a couple years ago when everybody was there! Oh well, another time!

I had to smile as I read the top of this blog that says Edgar met Eula and now there are a million of us. We did some counting, and there are 97 of us; 98 if Tashiela has a child. (If anyone can update us on this, let me know. None of us at the campout were sure.)

Then there was discussion as to who would have the 100th Denny! Becca says she's going for 99th and 100th. (Hah! Hah! Hah!)

Wow Dad! What a legacy you are leaving behind! Imagine, we are up to almost 100 Dennys running around. Your legacy will continue. Thanks so much for being an amazing man and for marrying that amazing woman and 'producing' such an amazing family. We love you.

You think you can sneak by?

OK Ryan, so if you're thinking you can squeak a birthday in and have nobody notice you my friend are WRONG. We know there's a possibility that at least one grey hair is a year closer to arriving. We know that a full set of dentures just got a little bit closer. We know that you're one year closer to sitting in a rocking chair on the porch and complaining about Medicare FULL TIME. OK. So that's all a LONG way off, but we do hope that a big cake, some presents and a big kiss from Becca isn't. We love you Ryan.

Two for one.

Isn't it nice when you take a trip to the grocery store and you walk in unsuspecting the wonderful surprise that awaits you: IT'S TWO FOR ONE DAY. You try to contain your excitement as you walk through the aisles grabbing TWO bottles of ketchup, TWO packs of strawberries, and TWO tubes of toothpaste. You even grab TWO bags of Tortilla chips because afterall they do say on the bag: "Zero Trans Fat." Well today is Two for One day in our family. There will be two cakes. At least two presents. Two rounds of "Happy Birthday to You." And two big smiles. Happy Happy Birthday Birthday Everett and Mason. We love you two.

Gunther is Eight!

Here's what would make Gunther's birthday today just the best day ever: wake up a little late and watch cartoons for a hour or so interspersed with a little X-Men play on the PSP. Eat an apple. Play a little Pokemon on the Nintendo DS followed by a little Lego Star Wars on the XBox. Eat a bagle with cream cheese and 18 to 35 pieces of bacon. Then put on his favorite soccer or dinosaur shirt and go to the beach and kick the soccer ball around for 18 hours. Then, after eating an apple, some sour candy straws, and seven entire packs of gum (all swallowed), boogie board for two hours followed by a large shaved ice, watermelon flavored. Take a 9 second bath and then watch a little World Cup soccer on the tivo, again interspersed with time on the PSP, DS, and Mario Soccer on the GameCube. Ask 11 times "What's for dinner" and then give a thumbs up when we tell him "Orange Chicken." Eat a heaping plate of orange chicken (saving all the pieces of green pepper until the very end, and then eating them while holding his breath) and 5 glasses of Sprite. Then he'd ask "Can we go to Ben and Jerry's after I give my tummy a little rest?" After Ben and Jerry's (and on the way watching Harry Potter on the DVD player in the car) we return home and watch an X-Men DVD three full times through (even rewinding certain parts to watch again). After that he would open presents for six or seven hours tossing the shirts into a pile and playing the games immediately. After that he would ask "What's for dinner?" and then he'd say "Oh yeah, we already had dinner, can I have an apple?" He would then draw a quick Pegasus and color it. By this time it would be really late and he'd end the night getting tucked into bed with a PSP safely waiting under his pillow for morning. Oh yeah, and all throughout the day there would be repeated "sniffs" of his silk blankie scrap that he is NEVER without. Happy Birthday Gunther. We love you TONS.

DENNY FAMILY BINGO

Thanks to all those who have responded on sending me a trivia fact about people in your family! I've heard from Jenn, Ang, Pam, Kara, Rand, and Janet. If I don't hear from you, I'll make something up about you - and I'll try to be nice! (He! He! He!)

Also, many of you have been wondering about Justin's mission call. They were in on-line on Memorial Day, but a few things needed to be finished up. We finished the last thing 2 weeks ago, so we thought we'd hear by now. Apparently, it wasn't logged in until July 6, so it hasn't been processed yet. Hopefully, we'll hear in a couple more weeks. We'll call and/or blog as soon as the call comes. Thanks, we love you and are grateful for your support.

KEEP SENDING YOUR TRIVIA FACTS UNTIL TOMORROW NIGHT. We are leaving Wednesday morning reeeeealllllllly early to be able to golf, swim and play with 4 wheelers that along the way!

xoxoxoxo,
LISA

Columbus here we come!

We just wanted to let you all know that we are headin' outta Utah this Saturday. We are moving to Columbus Ohio so that Eddie can start working as an accountant. We're so excited! We will miss the family and the mountains but it'll be a great adventure. The only bad part is that we have to start being grown-ups now...no more campuses for us.

You always have a place to stay if you ever want to take a trip out East...we'd love to see ya!

Also, we have a blog now too... http://mcclellands.blogspot.com

We love you guys!

E & E

A birthday test.

Today's birthday *person* has a very cool city in Texas named after them, and also a film character who is fond of saying "Groovy baby." And...their name rhymes with a city in the East that is home to the Freedom Trail. Talk amongst yourselves, and in the meantime have a WONDERFUL birthday _________. We love you.

Bridger's Blessing

Bridger's blessing was very nice. It was fun to get together as friends and family. Here are a few picutures from today.

Kynaston Update (Brian, Emily, Taylor, Jessie, Lexi and Kelcie)

Hello to all Denny Blog contributors. We went to Nauvoo over the 4th of July and enjoyed a nice family trip together. It brought back memories of trips to Nauvoo in years past beginning with my high school graduation trip. Jeff, Becca and me were fortunate enough to visit the windy city and with that visit Rand and Aly surprised us by taking us to Nauvoo. It was a wonderful experience then and today the spirit of our ancestors lingers there as you travel back through time learning about the joys and sorrows of the early saints of the church. Picutred above you'll find a shot of the "Trail of Hope" where the pioneers crossed the frozen Mississippi February 1846 beginning the long trek West. Also Carthage Jail, the Nauvoo Temple and a statue tribute of Hyrum and the Prophet Joseph Smith.

The kids are growing, life is rolling along way too fast. We are excited to be going to South Dakota in 2 weeks with all of the Draper family. Hello to all. Thanks for being a wonderful family.

The final picture is of Jessie and her first lost tooth. Life is good!

Family Trivia

Hi one and all,
Several years ago at a Denny Family Campout, we played a BINGO game by filling in the blanks with everyone's name and then we read a fun trivia fact about them and everyone would try to guess who it was. It was fun and we learned a lot about others. As I was cleaning out my trailer, I came upon that list and it made me smile. Here's some:

Has a very long tongue (Kenzie)
Has been walking for 3 weeks (Mason)
Pierced her tongue (Nicole)
Is getting married in 2 weeks (Jeff)
Has gotten seriously lost over 20 times in his short 6 years (Travis)
Calls his car Brittany (Brandon)
Went to hit his brother, but hit the bed frame (Stu)
Is a left handed bishop (Carl)
The youngest grandchild to see G'ma Denny before she died (Shaquoia)
Has the longest lashed of any 2 year old (Emma)


ANYWAY - I THINK IT'S TIME TO DO IT AGAIN!!!!

Please send me facts about each person in your family - whether you/they will be attending or not. The blog readers will all know the answers at game time!

xoxoxo, THANKS AND LOVE TO ALL!

Lisa

July 7th how many years ago was it???

It was a hot summer day July 7th Mrs. Christensen was out working on the farm in Richfield, Utah. Then she went into labor with who we know as Angee Draper, you know Darren (the computer geeks) wife. Well there she was giving birth to this little girl in the hog shed out in Richfield. Little did she know what a wonderful person Angee would be. She would go on to play a lot of softball at Snow College (little brigham young university) and try to find a straping return missionary, well she wasn't really looking, but she said if anything came her way she might give him a snowballs chance in heck. Well she found one in the year of 1993 she met him in the computer lab (imagine that) his name was Darren "Darth Vader" Draper, and they got married in the year of 1994. They went on the go to school at bywho, and have a wonderful life together. We just wanted to let her know that since that day she met that guy in the computer lab, she has been fun to have around the family. Have a good day Angee! We love ya.

The whole famdamily.

A letter from Andrew

It has been awhile since you have heard from Elder Ostler. He is a faithful writer, but can not email any more. It now sounds like he will not be able to for the rest of his mission, so I will try to type his letter here from time to time.

Dear Family,
I am now gone from my (almost) hometown of Olean NY! Yesterday was transfers at Greentree Chapel in Pittsburgh, and I was assigned to my new area, Steubenville, Ohio! It is about one hour southwest of Pittsburgh. There is a ward here, and it is a huge area, with a few prospects and possibilities for baptism. I am sad to leave Olean in one way, but happy in another, because I was there for 7 1/2 months, and also because Olean is far away from anywhere else, so we only get to see our Zone twice a transfer. Here, it will definitely be more often because we're closer. Also there are Elders a few miles from us in Weirton, West Virginia, so we will be able to hang out with them on P-Day .
My new companion is Elder Jones, from St. George UT. He and I get along fine as he is a very relaxed Elder. I do worry about him, as he wants to go home as soon as he can, and he is 10 1/2 months out. He doesn't have any desire to do missionary work, yet has baptized 7 people. We did work today, which I am glad for. We went and volunteered at the hospital here in Steubenvillein the morning until 2:30, then we tried to see a media fererral which wasn't home, so we tracted for about an hour. We met a guy named Rich, who is now a new investigator. After dinner we went to the chapel and taught some non-members in the young women's class. We taught them about the restoration, and it was a good lesson. The girl we were focusing on to try to commit to be baptized is named Charity. She is very shy and didn't say anything the whole time, but she knows it is true and has been attending church and mutual a long time now. I also met Bishop Zook who used to be a Seventy. His wife's nephew runs the Pizza Gallery (in Ephraim). I also met a few other members, all of whom were very nice.
Anyway, to go back to Elder Jones. A few days ago he wrote Pres. Francis and his mom a letter about wanting to go home. I definitely still want to be out here and bring people to Christ, but he doesn't have that desire, so doesn't want to waste my time or his. He does have a strong testimony of the church, he just doesn't have that desire to share it. Anyway, pray for us that whatever happens with him, everything will work out alright. He is a good teacher and has good potential, but just doesn't want to be out here sharing the gospel with people. Don't worry about me though, as I will be fine, because as he has written the Pres. about it, and I'm sure he will be calling in a few days.
The good news about this area is that I will get to work with the other Elders on exchanges. Elder Hardlinger from Las Vegas and Elder Dayley from Arizona.
Once we get this situation with Elder Jones worked out, I know this area will take off. If he changes his mind about leaving and focuses on the work or I get someone else, then this area will do well. Thank you so much for supporting me every day, and always being there. I will write my new address here:
Elder Andrew J Ostler
493 Dresden Ave
Steubenville, OH 43952
Have a good week, and always remember to pray. Your Father in Heaven wants to hear from you.
Love, Elder Ostler

4th of July

Hope everyone had a good 4th of July. I love the 4th. How can you beat fireworks and BBQs? Speaking of BBQs, anymore in the works?

Bridger's Blessing

I just wanted to invite you all to Bridger's blessing. It will be held Sunday, the 9th of July (sorry about the late notice). It will be held in Logan at about 1250 N. and 250 W. I understand that it is pretty far to travel especially since the blessing is at 9:00 a.m., but I still wanted to extend the invitation. If you will be able to make it you can either comment on this blog or you can call me at 435-764-2594. I am so lucky to be a part of such a great family! I can't wait to see you all at the campout.

Denny Family Campout T-Shirts

Hi everyone,
It's been awhile since we've had a t-shirt, so I've gone ahead and designed one. If I were techni-smart, I could post a sample of what it looks like, but sorry. I'll try to describe it. They will all be the same.

It is dark blue with white writing on it It's a design that was popular a few years ago in blue and gray tees and it says XXL Athletic Dept. Well above that it says DENNY in big letters and below the Athletic Dept. it says FAMILY CAMPOUT.

They cost $7.00 each, and come in S, M, L, and XL. Their are standard children sizes too, but I lost the list somewhere; I think they are XS (2T ), S(4-6), M ( 8-10), L (12-14), and XL (16-18) - but it might by off.

I mentioned it a little at the Father's Day B'BQ to the locals, and not too many were excited. I still wanted to do them because the boys were excited about them.

Please don't feel you have to, but I don't want you to feel bad if you see some of us wearing them and you didn't have the chance. Also, the company that is making them will keep the design for years, so if you ever want them, you can let me know. The $7 is for at least 12 shirts, so it is better to order them in at least that many. If you're not into t-shirts, but you like the design and maybe want an apron, a bag, a jacket, whatever - anything is available, though it won't be in time for the campout.

If you are interested, please let me know ASAP - I'll be checking the blog, but call if you want some so I can call the additions in to try to get them in time. I have ordered a few extras ( Adult M, L, and XL) and they will be available at the campout.

Hope you have a happy and peaceful 4th of July. Love,
Lisa

Brayden at 6 Months

I'm a Real Writer!

I'm very excited to announce that yesterday I got my first check from Blogher, so now I am officially a paid writer!! WooHoo. (To see some of the things I've written for Blogher, go to Food and Drink in the far left sidebar.)

Also, if you have not seen Kalyn's Kitchen lately, check out the fabulous new look that Rand and Bradley did for me. I appreciate them so much!