Reminders and memories of friends

Bonnie P. - We ate fig newtons at Nana's on Sunday. That reminded me of you giving some to Kaylyn while we were helping you move. I'm also reminded of you every time I visit with Miss Margaret and Henry. I think of our time as Visiting Teaching companions.

Bonnie S. and Lucy - As I talk with friends who are "young" in the Gospel, I am reminded of you guys who were my Gospel mentors back when I was "young". I also think of you when I hear comments about people getting married young and that those marriages rarely last - thank you for being an example of lasting marriage.

Tom (my cousin) and Megan and Tom (and DJ, even though I don't have your email - hint hint) - I am reminded of you guys each time someone talks about those in the military and their families. I am grateful for your service! Megan and Tom, I was also reminded of you the other day doing genealogy when I found a "Tholen" ancestor.

Tina, Jill and Sarah - I just learned that a young friend of mine spent the summer working in Tampa Bay. It reminded me of our YSA days together in Pinellas County and all the fun we had together.

Denise - How can I not be reminded of you and our friendship since college when every week Kaylyn asks when she gets to visit you guys? But the other day when I looked at your blog and saw the blanket little Isaac was laying on - I wondered if that was the same blanket we bought on our trip to Utah during college. I still have mine too.

Danyelle - Taylor's wedding this weekend made me think of you and your family as we visited briefly with Ashley and Scott. I did look at your blog this week too and followed links to catch up with the rest of your family (at least those who blog). Please pass along our congratulations to Lacey. And I need her address to finally send her a wedding present.

Melanie - On Sunday, Kaylyn gave the scripture in Primary. As I watched the Primary Chorister, I thought of our time serving together there.

Vanessa - Every time I think of vacation, I think of you. I so want to come visit you in Australia!

Toni - Don't hate me for this but every time one of my daughters bursts into tears over something little, I think of you. I love you! But you are the reason I never wanted daughters (until I had one). When you were Kaylyn's age, I remember that you cried over everything, including simply being told no. Kaylyn does this and it always reminds me of you. You owe your mom all that time she gets with little Grant.

Even though we don't talk or see each other often, I love you guys! Thanks for the memories and the examples you all are to me!

Family Acrobat

Family Vacation - Day 1 note

I have to talk about those steaks that Adam grilled. When I was in college and hanging out with the sister missionaries, one night the Beckley's fed them. The Beckley's lived about 45 minutes away (from what I remember). I believe I drove the missionaries there. Bro. Beckley gave us a tour of the farm, which I remember as being fun. Then we had the BEST steaks! They were so good I still remember them - and I graduated 15 years ago in May. How many dinners can you remember specifically from that long ago?

So in June, we went to Naomi's wedding and the Beckley's were there. Knowing that we would be coming back for family reunion/vacation, I told Bro. Beckley my story about his steaks and asked if it would be possible to get some for our reunion. He agreed. And my mouth started watering. Adam's too. Bro. Beckley raises Black Angus cattle.

So we looked forward to those steaks and hamburgers for almost 2 months. And they were as good as I remembered! We just bought a quarter beef earlier in the summer. Otherwise, I'd be ordering as much meat from Bro. Beckley as I could get home safely (it's a 4 1/2 hr drive). But next time we need beef, we're so calling him! (And borrowing coolers from everybody we know.)

Family Vacation - Day 1

We arrived at the Lodge on Monday (Aug 4th - yes I'm still playing catchup). After getting all our gear unloaded, we spent time in the pool. Adam grilled steak and corn on the cob for our dinner. After another pool trip, the kids got into pajamas as Grandpa got into his costume. I'm not sure about anyone else but Grandpa was destined to be a train engineer - he looks right at home in his outfit.

Grandpa brought a string pinata for the kids and filled it with various treats. Each kid got to take a turn pulling a ribbon to release the pinata. It wasn't until the very last ribbon that they pulled the right one.
In March (ish), Matt (Norene's husband) called us all excited. He was at Costco and Greg Olsen was there. Greg Olsen is Norene's favorite artist. We also love his work but he's in competition with Simon Dewey and Thomas Kincade for favorite. Greg Olsen was selling and signing his paintings and they wanted to know if we wanted to get one. He also had the idea of going in on one for Adam and Norene's parents for their Christmas present. Adam and Norene brought the paintings out with them from California. Adam was so excited about the paintings, he couldn't wait for them to receive it. So instead of wrapping it up and hiding it at Alma's, Adam and Norene presented it to them that first night.
Here are some pictures of our painting. I had three goals when choosing our painting, with Adam's agreement. I wanted one that you could see Christ's face bigger than in the Greg Olsen painting we already had (above the fireplace); I wanted the painting to be bigger; and I wanted one of the paintings that we believe looks like Kaylyn with Christ (there are several of them). Kaylyn sees this picture and will tell you that it's her with Jesus!

Not only did Greg Olsen sign the painting, he personalized it. There's also a message on the back.

After all the hoopla, Kaylyn sat on the couch next to Grandma and asked to hold her newest cousin. So here's the oldest granddaughter holding the youngest granddaughter, Ariel. Ariel was born June 23rd so she's about 6 weeks old in this picture.

First Day of School

Kaylyn started Kindergarten today. She is so excited! She likes her teacher and is especially excited that one of her best friends, David, is in her class too.

Girls Camp - the rap

For those who have heard about the rap the girls learned at camp, thanks to Courtney H. who brought it back from Idaho, here it is....

Girls Camp - Platoon Picture

Front - (l to r) Grace, Courtney C., Lydia, Karee
Middle - Kimberlie, Megan, Courtney H., Tiffanie, me, Tori
Back - Amanda, Rhiannon, Amber, Paige and Emily.
Not pictured - Kayla - she had run off to get ready for her lifeguard duties.

Girls Camp - Let's get messy

After I started taking pictures on Wednesday morning, almost immediately I became a camp photographer. I took over 200 pictures and videos over 3 days. Several others took lots of pictures too. On Friday morning, these were all compiled onto one laptop. We had about 1000 pictures from camp that were made into a slide show for Friday night. So what did I take pictures of? Lots of fun!

Our girls were the example of unity - when they weren't doing activites for their year, they were almost always with each other. Only a few are missing from this picture.

Wednesday's Obstacle Course...

After running through tires, each team sent a member through the water crawl.

Then on to the balance beam where you were attacked by temptations and peer pressure (water filled sponges).

Next your team had to find the worm hidden in the cool whip.

After everyone was done, we still had one "pie" leftover. There was talk of letting Joella (our stake director) "eat" the pie but Claudine decided to be nice. Joella wanted to have fun so she let Claudine "eat" the pie.

Thursday was our Nephite/Lamanite war - a water fight combined with capture the flags.

Girls Camp- Drop and Give Him 20.

I'm finally posting about Girls Camp. We had a great time, after we figured all the health issues out. For those who don't know, both my assistant director and I were in the emergency room on the Monday before Girls Camp. I felt sorry for our poor Bishop and his wife who was our Stake Camp Director as they waited to hear if they were going to be finding replacements for us. I was given the clear to go but my assistant was not. So my friend Tiffanie, who had two girls going to Camp, stepped in to cover for Rebecca who ended up with kidney stones. She stepped up on Monday evening so the worry didn't last long.

Wednesday morning we gathered in the Church parking lot and headed out to camp. We had 11 girls with us. We were greeted at camp by ROTC drill sergeants who whipped our girls into shape (and scared them to death). The girls were real thankful when the ROTC team left and camp officially started. And our first activity after opening flag.... Drop and give Him 20. We did this each morning after flag and it was wonderful. Some wards gathered as a group and took turns reading out loud while others found a private spot to read their scriptures.

Here's some of our girls....

Amber

Paige and Amanda, our 2 1st years...

Grace, Courtney, Megan, Emily, Lydia (one of our YCs) and Karee (another of our YCs).

Rhiannon and Tori...Rhiannon is so excited that I started camp off with taking their picture!

Spinning

Fireworks at the Crosby's

For dinner and fireworks, we headed to the Crosby's on 4th of July. They provided the ribs and each additional family brought sides and desserts - we brought grilled corn on the cob, yummy!

For fireworks, we sat in lawnchairs in the driveway as fireworks were set off in the street. Morgan bounced between adults but spent a lot of time with Jeni (below).
Kaylyn followed Bro. Crosby around.
And someone actually took a picture of me!!
Adam and Smithy (Jeni's father-in-law) spent time sanding down a walking stick.
Kaylyn actually relaxed enough to cuddle with the Crosby's dog.

4th of July

So I keep playing catch up with our blog. Not sure why. But here are pictures from the annual 4th of July parade. Sandy, Jo, RuthAnn and Thomas joined us (Joseph and William were at a friend's hosue).

Here's Morgan in Uncle Sandy's chair...
The Care Bears were at the beginning of the parade. This is the only picture I took of the actual parade though.
Jo and RuthAnn with the back of Thomas' head.
Kaylyn being a cute 4th of July kid - we try to wear patriotic shirts and normally find them at Kohl's. But we couldn't find any for Morgan this year so she just wore a red shirt.
And Thomas actually facing the camera.
Sandy holding a political candidate's brochureAfter the parade, we headed to the park for free ice cream, soda and kids' activities. The only one we had time for was this one below. A lady traced the girls onto paper and then they could paint themselves. Morgan got traced but we didn't let her paint.