Girls Camp

I have fond memories of girls camp growing up! I just got back from creating a different chapter in my girls camp book, as a leader! It was pretty last minute, as one of the other sisters who was going to go had stuff come up, and she wasn't able to go. I quickly called around, and found some friends who were very willing to help out with Jared and Kayleigh, and I headed to camp! It was a fun week....I especially loved our ward times to spend time with the girls from the ward. Here were the ladies (minus 2) who were up there from our ward! They are so much fun to be around!!!
The cabin I was in would get super stinky by night time....not sure if it was body oder or perhaps some dead rodent somewhere??? Whatever it was, it drove my friend, Angela (other cabin mom with me) and myself outside to sleep under the stars on our "make-shift-beds!"--yes, they are camp chairs lines up that we slept on! Can't say that I had ever slept out under the stars before....you know how bead it was b/c the first night we even saw a raccoon run past/trhough our "bedroom" and i still opted to stay!! Needless to say, I am happy to be home and in my bed with a roof over my head again!--although, it was fun to have had the opportunity to go....it was especially fun b/c Jessica was up there.....we didn't see a lot of each other....just at ward times, but it was fun to see each other when we did!!

A Camping Story....

Once upon a time there were three sisters who decided it would be fun to go camping together. (with their families, of course!)

KeriLyn and her family were first to arrive
with help from all, the tent was up and ready to go.....now we just had to wait for the others.
Before long, they came, a fire was started and we got to cook and eat dinner around the campfire!

It was a lot of fun to camp with cousins and aunts and uncles. We felt bad for cousin Miles because he wasn't feeling to well.....but his parents were good sports and stuck with us! Of course we all enjoyed roasting marshmallows, eating s'mores and other yummy treats.

Even Aunt Alisa and Uncle Ryan came with their 6 month old baby!

After being around the campfire all evening with very nice, mild weather, we headed off to our tents.....at that time, THE RAINS CAME DOWN AND THE FLOODS CAME UP!!! I laid in my sleeping bag (without my air matress....b/c we were really roughing it this time!).....telling myself just like the other 2 times we have camped in the rain since moving here, that we would stay dry....we don't need to worry.....our tent will not leak.....I slept (as well as I sleep when camping). At 5:30 in the morning, Matthew wakes me up and says that we have a puddle in our tent! Luckily it was contained to just our 1/3 of the tent....(it came in handy to have our mansion size tent!)....we moved to the other side of the tent for the last hour and a half of sleep.....we woke up and the rain had let up, so we cooked a YUMMY pancake, eggs, sausage and bacon (with the rain picking up 5 minutes into starting the cooking!).....and, we made a fun memory of cooking and eating breakfast in the rain.

The end of the story.....I brought my sisters and all the kids back to my house (at that point a wet hike just didn't seem fun!), then I went back up to the campsite to help the men clean up the camping stuff!

Moral of this story.....even with rainy weather, with the right company, you can have fun camping! Its was fun, and we would do it again! (minus the rain!!)

Events are telling me that it is summer!!!

Friday was the kids' last week of school. We have had several end of school year events this week.....I keep checking my calendar to make sure it is really that time of the year! The weather for sure is not leading us to believe it.....but looking at the pictures I have on my camera, I suppose summer time really is here!!!.....take a look.....

1. Jessica graduates from 8th grade!!! Tuesday night was graduation! It was a nice celebration, and now I can say that I have a 9th grader???!!!---High School, early morning seminary....here we come!!!

2. 3rd grade has a Nataive American potlatch....they have been studying Native Americans....a potlatch was a special celebration used to honor someone special....so, 3 of the third grade classes had a "potluck-potlatch" to celebrate the 3rd graders. I went to help.....it was a fun morning!!!

(Jared and his teacher, Mrs. Schroeder....we will miss her! She was the best!!)

(Look at all the food they had!!!)

(Jared and his best friend, Logan)

3. Kayleigh's last day of school was Thursday. They brought their lunch to eat in the classroom. They had a fun day!

(Kayleigh with the best kindergarten teacher.....Mrs. Ortner....and, we are excited, because Mrs. Ortner is moving up to 1st grade....and Kayleigh will be in her class!!! Yippeeee!!)

Happy summer....and, here is hoping the sun comes out, so the kids can play outside!!!

Jumping in leaves....

I love it when my kids make their own kind of fun....I suppose with the fall like weather we continue to get, the kids were just in the mood to jump in leaves! This is how they did it.....

1. gather and pile up ALL the blankets and pillows in the house

(call it a leaf pile!)2. JUMP!!!!

3. repeat, for hours of enjoyment!!!

It hit me today...

Today was a nice day outside.....well, I guess coming from the fact that we have had rain for weeks on end, it seems! Anyway, I decided to take advantage of the weather....when Kayleigh got home, we went on a picnic and to play at a playground. It hit me while I was sitting at the picnic table that my days of doing this with her are numbered....my "baby" will be in first grade in September. I have to admit, I have been looking forward to that day....it seems nice to have all my kids at school all day, without the 1/2 day schedule....or at least it has seemed like a nice thought up until our outing today....It hit me.....I will miss my afternoons with Kayleigh!!!

My friend....

I have a friend. When I was a teenager, she was in my ward.....she was a year ahead of me in school/seminary.....but I always looked up to her.....she was full of fun! She was always smiling! She was cool.....I wanted to be like her!! She went out to Ricks College, and one year later I followed! She was married at that point, but she continued to be a wonderful friend to me! I had a hard time being away from home.....my transition into college was hard.....she was there for me....she opened her home up to me many times for me to go and hang out and have a tast of home!!! It was nice.....I wanted to be like her! Now, we are on opposite part of the country, and yet, the blogging world keeps us connected. She is continuing to inspire me.....she is a mother that loves her children, and her children love her. I want to be like her!!

I want her to know that I am thinking of her today....I have been all week.....her son, BEN, passed away on Saturday. He was 8 years old.....I never met him, and yet through the world of blogging, he has inspired me. What a sweet boy! ---Becky, my thoughts and prayers are with your family. Thank you for all you are!!!

the (tv) cord has been cut!

OK, so I didn't cut the cord, but I did call yesterday and cancelled our Direct TV service....that means we are down to the basic local channels that the UHF antenea picks up....i think we can survive! I think it will be nice to go through summer without trying to schedule around TV shows! We will see how it goes!!! I have a feeling Matthew and I may be the hardest to convince this is a good thing....but it feels good to me!!!