Check Out This Site

This is my buddy's website. It's great for all you Utah County Lovers

www.utahcountyreviews.com

Gotta Love My Father-in-Law!

Take care of yourself out there people. Is that Greg Gumbel?

http://www.alpinespinalrehab.com/

for your enjoyment....

(i don't know how to rotate it..but it's great nonetheless)

love,

amy lynn

Introducing the Newest Member of the Vanchiere's..

"The Beast"

After our Lake Powell fiasco we opted for the better option.

It even has a blue "v" for Vanchiere :)

Bryce's one request was a boat with a tower.

Even though he won't be using it for another year and a half,

he got his way.  Obviously he's a loved child by my parents.

Tomorrow is our first real outing.

Keep your fingers crossed :)

love, amy lynn

can't wait!

Look who's coming to see us?!

Ethan, Liddy, Grant...

& Caleb (who most of us have never officially met!)

We are so excited, can you tell? Ashley & Ben are bringing all the kiddos to LA for a week. They arrive Saturday. Woot!

lake powell.

*LaKe PoWeLL*

Since I was 7, the Vanchiere family and countless numbers of friends, families, relatives etc. have ventured down to the beloved Lake Powell a few times each summer. It is one of our favorite family getaways and we look forward to it each year. Some of our greatest family memories include our Lake Powell trips. June 11-14th, 2010 was no different... a trip we will definitely not forget. Bare with me people.. this will be a long one. I tend to tell full detail.

Guests of this trip included..

Mike & Rhonda

Jenn and her kids..Gabe, Zoe, Noah

Rachel and her kids.. Tanner, Oaklee, Mason

Mike and Amber.. Jaxon, Belle

Jeff and Chelsey.. Alli

Me

Tracy (Cousin)
Caitlin (Bryce's GF)

Tyler Schade (Tanner's friend)

As you can see it was a full trip..and with only one boat we had to take shifts.

Day One:

We left bright and early on Friday morning with the intentions of making it there by noon.

key word being INTENTION.

My car was following the boat down in case of any problems. Good thing.

About ten miles outside of Price the trailer tire started smoking big time. I called my dad to tell him just as huge tire chunks start flying by my car window. Naturally he pulls over and we get out to take a look at the damage.

Luckily my dad has learned patience through the years when it comes to boating. We got the stuff to change the tire and began cranking the jack to lift the trailer. Me and Tanner begin cranking and the wrench snapped..metal wrench busted. So we sat for a minute trying to think of what to do. Luckily Caitlin's jeep had a working wrench and we were able to get the tire changed. We hobbled into Price, stopped at a tire store and got two tires replaced. Set us back about an hour.

(waiting on the side of the road)

We arrived at Lake Powell an hour later than expected. Some of the other cars were there waiting loading things onto the houseboat. We park all the cars, get the boat into the water, then Me, Caitlin, & Mike wait on the dock to be picked up by the boat.

Dad's driving the houseboat. Jeff Driving the boat.

Comes to the dock at full speed. Boat won't go in neutral, won't go in reverse, will only go fast.

AWESOME.

haha so Jeff is coming at us full speed and here me and Cait are geering up to stop it. Instead he turns really quick and kills the boat. Round two we come up with a plan. He'll come in full speed, kill the boat far away from the dock, and then coast into the dock and we'll catch it.

Bless this dear lady who was trying to be helpful..she catches it and then ties us up, not knowing that we can't reverse and can't go forward on account of a giant boat ahead of us and shallow water.

Once again we come up with a plan.. walk the boat to the end of the dock, shove with all our might hoping it will flip the boat around so we can go forward, and dive into the boat praying we make it in. haha

our plan was successful.

As we venture off to find the houseboat we realize that we won't be able to ski, wakeboard, knee board etc.

But that didn't stop us from some tubing.

Tubing was cut short due to weather. We were faced with quarter sized hail, strong wind, and rain.

That night as we slept it rained randomly throughout the night. but we all still stayed outside.

Day Two:

Saturday

Wake up to nice weather.

Take the kids out tubing.

Finally gets hot enough to get in the water.

Ice starts melting, time to take a trip to the Marina.

Like I said there were too many people, so Me and Caitlin stayed back with the 8 little kids while everyone else went for a quick trip for some ice.

3 hours later the boat arrives back at the houseboat.

Me: "Nice quick trip.."

Jenn: laughing..."You have no idea.. we had quite the experience."

Everyone walks in looking haggard and proceeds to tell us what happened.

First, they decide to do a little touring into the canyons.

stop for a nice swim, and then decide to head to the Marina.

one problem.

boat won't start.

stranded in a random canyon.

After some time my dad fixes some wires and the boat starts.

phew

They head on to the Marina

(keep in mind the boat doesn't do slow too well)

They are trying to tie onto the dock with a boat on one side and two waverunners on the other.

no reverse.

It started lookin bad, my dad was going to have to hit something.

Amber was standing on the back getting ready to catch us on the big boat.

At the last minute he changes his mind and turns into the wave runners,

throwing Amber off the back of the boat into the carp infested, gross Marina water.

SICK.

So, our boat rams into the two waverunners.

Jeff stuck his arms out to soften the blow and thinks he breaks his arm.

Boat continues to go forward.

Wave runner people screaming "come back, come back, hit and run"

EVERYONE starring.

Meanwhile Amber is just swimming in the water.

hahaha

i'm just sad i wasn't there to witness it all.

needless to say that night we had a family meeting.

verdict.

sell the boat.

so long lake powell.

Day Three:

Sunday

Dad and some of the boys take the boat in to see if it is fixable.

A few hours later they come back, dad now knows how to get it in neutral and start manually.
We decide to go touring again.

Somewhere close by.

First boat load to go:

Amber, Mike, Chelsey, Alli, Jaxon, Belle, Amy, Caitlin, Tyler, Tanner

Dad drops us off in this canyon with some tubes, noodles, and various other flotation devices.

we swim for awhile, do some cliff jumping, but the water is freezing and the sky is becoming overcast.

Second boat load never comes.

40 minutes later and boarder line hypothermic the boat drives into the canyon.

All of us were ready to go.

Turns out a huge wind storm came up where we were camped and they had to secure everything.

Now 22 people in one boat wasn't going to fly
(Last year we got a ticket for having too many people in the boat)

so we had two tubes hooked on to the boat.

Tanner, Tyler, Mike and I on one tube.

Tracy on the other.

It was super windy, super choppy, and freezing.

but we were already wet so we figured what the heck.

We get into the main channel and are cruising back to camp.

All the sudden the boat is headed straight on into a huge mountain rock thing.

everyone is slightly panicking.

My dad kills the boat.
steering is completely gone.

Here we are stranded AGAIN this time with a boat full.

won't call the rangers cuz we don't want another ticket.

not a boat in sight cuz of the bad weather.

AWESOME.

Luckily this little fisher looking boat stops for us.

agrees to tow us back to camp,

so we hook up.

I'm sure it was qutie a sight.

small boat towing huge boat with 238954 people pulling 2 tubes.

going 5 miles an hour for 45 minutes.

It was FREEZING!!

Thankfully because of those nice people we made it back to the houseboat safe and sound.

only further confirmed the selling of the boat.

As we get ready for bed it starts to rain and rain and rain and rain.

Some of us still slept outside in the rain. others slept in the houseboat.

Day Four:

Monday

boat out of comission.

supposed to stay until Tuesday.

Decide to leave Monday evening.

The great thing about my family is that even when thing after thing goes wrong we just laugh and make the best of it. We still managed to have a good time despite our set backs.

some of our "packing up" experiences included:

*towing the boat, making sure it didn't hit anything when we went to the different docks

*missing the water taxi

*finding a potential buyer of our broken boat

*one of the cars not starting resulting in jumping it

*rolling into hanksville on fumes

As you can see, we had quite the trip.

farewell "field visits" you were good to us.

Let's hope Lake Powell August 2010 treats us better.

Love,

amy lynn

a little late!

These two celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary last Thursday!

I am so bad about dates and didn't even know it was sneaking up on us so fast!
Mr. Rocky & Mrs. Donna,
I know I am not alone in saying, I am so glad you two made the choice to get married to each other! We love you and look to you as examples of what it means to be husband and wife and to truly love and put your spouse first. Thank you for all you have done and continue to do for all of us! Hope you had a wonderful day!

santa claus is coming to town...

ok, not santa but look who is coming!!




We can't wait!! Love you guys :)

Also baby Caleb is being blessed tomorrow.

11:00 AM
Ashley and Ben's church.
Call them for directions.

p.s. Lake Powell in 6 days.. woot!

The 1987 Crystal Light National Aerobic Championship, team competition T...

This is just too good not to share. Summer is coming up and if you need a good workout, Jeff and his friends provide a fast, fun, and totally awesome workout for you all to enjoy!

sword practice

Happy Birthday Jenn!

If you are here reading this then you must already be aware of my obsession with my cousin Jenn. Let me say here and now, Ben is my Best Friend and I love him more than anyone on this earth...although...it is hard to imagine a life without Jenn. I mean, I can't give him the other half of my heart shaped "Best Friends" necklace. He totally wouldn't wear it. I know I'm killing you so if you aren't interested in my "Jenn Tribute" on her birthday then begin bloghopping now.

Jenn was born 32 years ago today to goodly parents who I am glad to have in my life. I hear she was all chub and you just wanted to squeeze her. (I still give her a good squeeze now and again so I can just imagine.) When I was born a few months later our story begins...but she was torn away from me at 9 months and we had a long distance relationship.

Here's how I picture Jenn's pre-Ashley life:
She was a smart, cute kid. She filled the emptiness she felt by losing me with two imaginary friends named Marty and Smarty. (You could tell even then how much she needed me.) She danced well, played the piano well, did everything well from what I heard growing up. Any news I got of her from Maw Maw or my parents was always, "Jenn is so good at this! Jenn did awesome at that! Jenn got straight A's. Did you hear what Jenn's ACT scores were?" You might think that this would cause some unhealthy competition or even resentment but it didn't. I knew it was all true. I thought she was so cool. Everytime she came to visit Louisiana I was so surprised at how fun and happy and confident she was. In between visits she would write me letters about going to Movies 8 and getting a ride home with random boys (SHOCKER to me who would not dare hang out with boys for fear of being KILLED by my parents!) or explaining the drama of her best friends and their boyfriends. (I totally thought they were cool like the Babysitters club or something.) I still have some letters...

So enter college life. I moved here and really got to know her and her family. Love them. Jenn and I didn't hang out that first year much but then we moved in together and realized we shared the same brain and were soul mates so there you go. We both went through some crazy weirdness during those years. I call it my "dark days" of dating when I refer to this time period. We even lived in a bat infested apartment at one point so just let your imagination run wild with that. I guess that sort of taught us we could be exactly ourselves and neither of us minded. Did you know we talk to each other about 20 times a day? Not exaggerating either. Thank goodness for cell phones.

Here are some things I've learned about Jenn:
She is so smart (doesn't that mean I am if we share the same brain? but she got more of the memory and logic section.)
She is a perfectionist.
She does not like big buildings and industrial type things...scary (picture costco)
She can seriously break it down (cue music, enter Jenn hip thrusting in rhythm to "til the break of dawn!")
She is witty and fun.
She is a scaredy cat.
She thinks someone lives in her basement and that teenagers are in her garage stealing her soda.
She is a thoughtful and giving wife.
She loves her children and knows how to meet their particular needs--a great mother.
She has to hold her face about 1/2 inch from the cereal bowl as she is pouring milk to tell where the milk level is when she hasn't yet put on her glasses or contacts.
She always wears her contacts.
She is awesome at journaling and saying her prayers.
She is great at helping you make decisions. She can use reason and faith so you feel good about it.
She is the perfect person to watch a DVR marathon with while eating the delicious brownie sundae she made for you.
She is a good listener. Sometimes she has to say, "Wait. I wasn't listening. What did you say?" and always listens good the second time.
She loves you even when you're an idiot or ugly or dissappointing or if you interrupt her mid-sentence to get off the phone because your hubby just got home. She gets it.
She's just the best.

I love you Jenn! Happy Birthday!

Happy Graduation Dan!

Years in the making, the big day finally arrived! Dan graduated with his Masters in Nurse Anesthesia. Goodbye Erie, Hello Cali!

He still has to take his boards to get his license so keep us in your prayers!

The Ironman Should I or Shouldn't I?

Since I know you all care I need advice.

I have been training for the Boise Ironman for quite a while. I then decided I wasn't going to do it because of a knee injury and the cost. I took several weeks off to heal my knee and during those several weeks I figured the Ironman was out of the question because of the training I missed.

Well, two weeks ago my buddy Todd did the St George Ironman. It got me so pumped that I decided to give the old knee a try. These last few weeks of training I have felt great and I am still able to keep up with the training schedule even after several weeks off.

The thing that really sucks is the family will be in Lake Powell the very weekend of the race, so not only would I miss Powell, but I would be doing the Ironman with basically no support which is kind of demoralizing and it would suck to do an Ironman and hug strangers at the finish line.

I know none of you really care, but what should I do? I have woke up nearly every day at 5am for the last year and put in countless hours for this, but to do it coming of an injury and with no family there is kind of a bummer. Let a brother know what you think. Also, I think Boise would be a lot more fun than Lake Powell!

Mike

Celebrate People

DAN IS GRADUATED!!!

(pictures coming soon)

Also a good Mother's Day gift....

Can be purchased here or visit J. Todd at 161 S. 1380 W., Lindon, UT and tell him Chelsey sent you. He'll know what it means. (will result in a discount)

These are the best. I am currently burning Lemon Tree, very fresh, sweet lemon. And I have a Vineyard car air freshner, very strong = very good! And then in my candle warmer, Fresh Linen. It's creates the illusion of clean and/or fresh laundry. I have been known to fire up some of these when I need Jeff to think I spent the day cleaning and doing laundry.
Anyways, you won't find a better candle. Really, you won't.

A little shout out...

Poppy and Pearls has the latest and greatest jewelery. Amber and Rachel (Amber's neighbor) are the masterminds. "But Chelsey, I thought you were making necklaces with Amber?" It's true, at one time we were, but we had to separate due to creative differences. Not really, I just don't have the time to dedicate to a new venture. Anyways, back to Poppy and Pearls, they offer a variety of necklaces for all styles. They just finishing up their site and they are also on Facebook. And they are highly endorsed by the VIP so check them out!

Time to Weigh in...

I love the Biggest Loser. I know it's a day late, but did anyone else watch it Tuesday? I don't want to talk to much about it in case you haven't wathched it yet, but let's continue the discussion in the comments...

To all the Gentlemen:

Mother's day is Sunday, don't let it sneak up on you this year! Be sure to make the ladies in your life feel special, whether it be your mother, wife, grandmother, sister, etc. And nothing screams thoughtfulness like homemade gifts. (Except this year a Shark steamer mop with 3 different attachment heads, screams it even louder. For me at least ;)
I found a site that is a hot spot for all things homemade, Mother's day gift ideas included:

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

I got this recipe from my sister Tara. It's quite tasty. I think we'll be having this for dinner tomorrow.

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas


6 tablespoons honey
5 tablespoons lime juice (1 large lime)
1 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 pound chicken, cooked and shredded (I use 2-3 chicken breasts)
8-10 flour tortillas
1 pound monterey jack and Colby Jack cheese, mixed and shredded
1 1/2 - 16 ounces cans green enchilada sauce
1 1/4 cup heavy cream

Mix the first four ingredients and toss with shredded chicken. Let it marinate for at least 1/2 hour (I tossed mine together in a Ziploc bag in the morning and let it sit in the refrigerator all night). Pour about 1/2 cup enchilada sauce with 1/4 cup heavy cream on the bottom of a 9X13 baking pan. Fill flour tortillas with chicken and shredded cheese and drip about 1 tablespoon of the mixed sauce (green enchilada sauce and heavy cream) and roll. Fill pan with rolled enchiladas. Save about 1-2 cups of cheese to sprinkle on top of enchiladas. Mix the remaining enchilada sauce with the remaining cream. Pour sauce on top of the enchiladas and sprinkle with leftover cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes.

It's Only Your Health: Seasonal Allergies

Many of us suffer from the annoyance of seasonal allergies. May is the month were things are starting to bloom again. Along with the beautiful flowers and trees come pollen and other various allergens. There are several ways you can keep you and your family a little more comfortable this allergy season.
Tip 1: Leave you shoes at the door! Our shoes can track in all kinds a crap including allergens. By leaving the at the door, outside is best, we can minimize the amount that is tracked into our home.
Tip 2: Wash your sheets! By washing your sheets regularly, you're getting rid of dust mites that aid in allergy attacks. Plus it’s just good hygiene. Win Win.
Tip 3: Buy washable toys! Plush toys can accumulate dander, dust, dirt and dust mites (the 4 D’s). Wash toys in hot water once a week and wipe down other toys with a damp cloth.
Tip 4: Over the counter medications only help aliviate the symptoms like runny nose, itchy eyes

Welcome Welcome

Welcome family and friends to the first online edition of the VIP. Articles, stories, recipes, limericks, announcements to come. If you would like to be a contributing member to this fine online publication send me an email jeffandchelsey@hotmail.com.

NOTE: To be a VIPP (vanchiere information publication publisher)you must be able to genealogically track your Vanchiere lineage, or live with a Vanchiere(s), or draft a 1-2 page essay making your case on why you should be considered. The Board will vote on such matters.

NOTE: Jenn is on a 14 day probationary period for her inability to get me her birthday spotlights in a timely manner. (Sorry Jenn, I don't make the rules)