Girls Camp!!!

I went to Girls camp again this year ... I had such a good time! The girls and the leaders in my ward are so incredible! I really enjoy my time with them. I thought that it was really interesting going as an adult because when I went as a youth, it seemed like we just had alot of fun. But as an adult I realized how much work went into making it a very spiritual experience for them. It was very spiritual even for me. It was rejuvenating! I needed it!


We went on this awesome hike. When we got to the top of this beautiful mountain there was this monument telling the story of this YW group that came on this same hike 50 years (or so) ago and were struck by lightening and killed. Can you imagine? It was sobering, I can't imagine being the leader and having to tell the parents of anything that went wrong to any of these girls. It would be horrible. But it was beautiful (and exhausting) hike.



It brought back alot of memories because we had camp in the exact place that I had Girls camp when I was a Young Woman. It has this huge and long slide and I have VERY bad memories of that slide!!! I broke my leg on it, first day of camp as a Fourth Year. So needless to say, I took the stairs.

Happy 4th Birthday!!!

Our baby turned four! I can't believe it has been four years since I've had a baby! He is the funniest kid! We started counting down his birthday at 45 days. Everyday, he would ask me, "how many days until my birthday?" And then we would count down the days...frankly I am glad it is over! It is so impossible to make an "almost four year old" understand time!!:)




Pure concentration...he does not want ANY girlfriends! (you know? The candles that don't blow out?!)



He was looking forward to breakfast in bed most of all! He was so excited! It was his favorite waffles with powdered sugar BUT no syrup! Unfortunately, he spilled his orange juice before he even tasted it! SO we moved to another bed! Thanks E!!!


He helped make his cupcakes! Don't they look great! If you notice in most of his pictures his shirt is wet, he has a habit of sucking on his shirt! It is gross but it could be worse! :D


We got him this toy! I have to admit it is pretty cool. It's called Better batter baseball. The balls are magnetic and hang in the perfect spot for you to hit it, then after you hit it the next ball is raised to the tee so you can hit three in a row! He LOVES it! It's fun to see things through a four year old's eyes!



This is the cutest thing ever! J made a present for D, a homemade bow and arrow! It is more for "looks" but D loves it! She is so creative and thoughtful! She even carved the arrow sticks with a little knife (my kitchen knife :} uh...yeah) Just so they would be smooth! I love it when my kids love each other!



These were some of our guests! Aren't they cute? They are my nephews! I love them...but no kisses until their mom finds them...K?

More....summer fun!

The Big Race...
We ran as a family in a race in our area. A and C ran a 5K and all the kids ran a 1 mile. They were so excited! We started getting in shape back in April. Even our little 4 year old would work out with us! The kids looked forward to our runs and it got me up and off the couch too.


This is A and C starting out. Can you believe that C beat his dad!!!


This is D's big finish... he ran so fast I couldn't keep up with him.

This is M's sprint to end!!! She did great! She really likes it when she beats the boys!

E was a big surprise! He won 1st place out of his whole age division and won a 20 dollar bill!

E and D enjoying their medals! They were so proud!

Beware....summer posting!!

I am so behind! We have been having so much fun this summer that I have not blogged all summer! I made a goal to blog every day this week to highlight some of the things we have been doing. If I don't document it...it all disappears out of my memory!!! :)
Today I am going to blog about my summer chores program. It is working AWESOME! We have been consistent and really do finish our daily chores every day. I decided that in the summer (when I have more time with the kids) I will introduce new jobs and teach how to do them. So far, we have learned to clean bathroom completely, learned to sort and fold laundry and organize their rooms!!! They are getting it. Here are their job charts!


Each child has their own chart with jobs for each day. I have decided that if I give them jobs that can be accomplished within a couple hours (if they actually do them)they won't get discouraged. The key for me is... not to nag. I have found something that ALL my kids want... "SCREENS"!!!! So I tell them that if they want to watch TV or play the computer then they have to do their jobs. I don't nag or ask them to do it. At first some of the kids didn't do their jobs and went without TV/computer ALL DAY! I told them that I didn't want them to waste their time watching TV anyway! :) Soon they realized that I am serious and they decide on their own to do them. IT WORKS GREAT!!! This is the first summer that I have actually followed through with my summer ideas! Another "key" to making this work is ...when you are done with the jobs...really be done! Don't add anymore jobs! JUST PLAY!!!! It has been such a fun summer! I am going to be sad when school starts!

Even cooking skills are fun when your housework is done!!! This is a creation from J! They were so good! It is peanut butter cookies with melted chocolate and marshmallows!! YUUUUMMMMM!


More to come tomorrow!!

Just thinking....

Do you ever think about what happens when we die? What do you do on the other side? I wonder if you are still doing callings, or living in family groups? Do they still go to church? Do they still have struggles? I have alot of beliefs but sometimes I want proof!!! Sometimes when I think of my sister Chelsie I have such peaceful feelings. I think she must be here but its nothing like I thought it would be like when someone you know very well dies. I thought you would be able to recognize their familiar spirit. But it is not really like that for me. Sometimes I feel the spirit so strong and I think that she must be trying to tell me things. But I am not very good at it.

Today in church I sat behind these two sisters. One of the sisters was probably 16 or so and her little sister was about 5 or 6. You could just see how much they loved each other. I had a hard time concentrating on the speakers because the memories just came flooding back. When I was a teenager she was my motivation to be good. Just seeing how much she adored and looked up to me helped me to make good choices. I would never disappoint her! She was my baby! I thought I raised her and my Mom always let me think that. (Even though after having my own kids I realized all the work that you do for your kids) She was such a blessing in my life. She unified our family. She helped me in ways that I never realized until she was gone.
I wonder if she is as lonely as we are for her. I'm sure she has loved ones there but not us. Does she feel the "ache" like we do? Is she with us alot or too busy with other responsibilities. I know she is happy. That much I know! But sometimes I am happy too although the ache just never goes away.




I think I would do just about anything to see her again. I wish I could just talk to her for a few minutes, ask her a few questions, laugh about funny things, cry about some sad things, and just be with her. I miss her so much. Someday....

Wait...I can't find my keys!!!

My little 3 year old is a pack rat! There is no other way to describe it! Every night I clean up his "pile" and the next day there is another one somewhere else. He is so funny! He will put anything he can put his hands on. I have cordless phones and when the phones ring I frantically look for his new stash! Because he always puts them with his pile! It is so funny!

When I pick him up from playdates or grandmas, we always have to find his stash and help put it all away. It is not that he even wants to play with the stuff in the pile, he just wants it in his pile!

I wonder how long this will last...I'll never forget when I dropped him off at my friend Mary's and he had his little backpack with stuff from his "stash". When I picked him up Mary said (as she held up a pizza cutter and a knife) "these were in his backpack"! Remember that Mary? I think he was two years old!

OHHHH! I better go figure out where he hid that EGG!!!

Old fashioned fun!

SO...my Dad is a self-proclaimed red neck! However, I would argue that he is a very ingenius and classy red neck!!! :) He gets these ideas and he creates them out of what ever he has. A fun game we play is "where-did-this-come-from". We talk about these "creations" and try to guess where the parts came from. For instance, there is a picture from my grandpa's house, a window from an old warehouse, a door from the old farm house, etc. He has warehouses full of extra things he collects so when he gets a good idea, he has the stuff already! Anyway, yesterday he invited us to come up to the new summer home at the farm. This house was his parents and grandparents house. They farmed a dry farm and in the summer the whole family would move up there to be closer to the farm. It is really neat because there is no electricity, no running water, or anything. A real pioneer house! But of course my ingenius dad has figured out how to hook up a water tank and hook up oil lite lamps. SO it is really nice.

It was so fun! He made dutch oven chicken, veggies and a chocolate cherry cobbler. It was amazing. He made this cooking trailer which has everything you can think of for cooking outside! Coolers, a grill, chairs and tables, stove burner, gas....everything!!! He likes to pull it behind his pick up and cook for family gatherings. Ingenius! I tell you!

I mean...who has a custom made outhouse? Of course it is red. All my Dad's stuff is red, it is his favorite color! I can't remember where he salvaged the toilet seat from but he saved it from somewhere!

I think my Dad really liked being able to cook us all dinner. We kept asking what we could bring and he just said "I got it all!" It was such good food!!!!

We took a walk down the ranch. I have so many memories of that place from when I was a kid. It is the beautiful part of Idaho. Alot of people have said that Idaho is ugly but I always thought they were strange because this was my memory of Idaho. The kids loved picking bouquets of flowers and seeing the river below! What a view!!!

This morning when my kids got up they asked if they got all their chores done, could we go back to the farm!?