Serious Fun

TRUTH: Learn it, Live it, Love it.

The C. fam. really knows how to put on a reunion! This year's wins the award for:

• Most devotionals (6)
• Hottest days of the year
• Least hours of sleep (that would be the night of camping)
• Best group of people to be around.

It's true! If you can wear them out with fun and heat and everyone's still smiling and getting along beautifully than you know you've got a crowd of winners!

What's the secret to that you may ask? Have 6 devotionals--Morning, afternoon, evening, we were getting spiritual boosts all day long. This year each family was to come prepared with a memorized scripture about the theme, TRUTH, to present to the family. (Ours was James 1;5)

We had an adult discussion one afternoon where everyone could share their combined knowledge and life experiences. I really enjoyed that. And of course with all that upliftment there was some wholesome recreating and a lot of food.

How do I sum it up? I think we kind of accomplished that in the car on the drive home when we asked for everyone's 3 favorite things:

• Adrie: camping * playing with Olivia at her house * singing Happy Birthday to Grandma.
• Brynn: hiking and catching a lizard * camping *Jumpin' Jacks
• Kate: camping * Jumpin' Jacks * minute to win it games at the church--specifically the one where you have a rope tied to your waist and you have to swing it around and try to knock the cups off the chairs....dizzying...

Notice the favorite theme here: camping??... I guess some things we do for the kids' sake.

Dad said his favorite was beating me on the obstacle course at Jumpin' Jacks. Isn't he so competitive ;)

My favorite was listening being up in the canyon, overlooking the valley, and listening to Uncle Brad tell about how he went from having long hair and smoking 3 packs a day to joining the LDS Church. Wish I could insert video here so you could feel the power of it yourself. Awesome. After that we all felt like shouting the gospel from the mountain tops so that's what we did --in a way-- we sang around the campfire with guitar and fiddles.

Oh yeah, and I can't forget my other favorite. That would be peeling off the sticky clothes and taking a cold shower after camping. Oh how I love 21st century commodities!

We painted truth rocks, played water games, watched Shrek 3 on a projection screen outside, ate lots of food, paddled around the reservoir and played on the beach area, had a firework show.

Seriously fun!

Small Town Fourth

Started the day off with a big race! Ran a 5K and got 36th place overall for women...nothing to brag about but 300 people showed up to this thing--and what do you know, one of them was BD's cousin. (JH) came down with a group of work buddies from up North. It took some convincing on my part to prove that we were indeed related but after giving a few names, he nodded. I know an H when I see one?! Anyway, the race was fun. Yes, running can be fun. For some reason, it's moreso when you're running in a herd of 300. Got home and showered in time for the parade.BD and I thought this was the best parade year ever. Partly it was because we arrived in the nick of time and there happened to be room for a couple of chairs on the front row but mostly it was because the weather was PERFECT!! THEN The kids loved all candy throwing and other prizes, including an invitation to Vacation Bible School. Adrie ran the paper over to me shouting, "MOM THIS ISN'T OUR CHURCH!!!!" Taking advantage of the amazing weather we had, we went to the park for the festivities. This is a fish Brynn caught at the "fish grab"--crazy I tell you. The fish have no chance with wall to wall kids in a big plastic pool. Brynn kindly put her fish back in the pond because we certainly weren't going to eat it! We did bring home our first pet. A frog named Lilypad. Now I have to go to the store and see if there is such thing as "frog food" so Brynn doesn't have to keep catching bugs for it.

We also went to the free swimming and coin toss at the pool. Had ourselves over for BBQ burgers. Made homemade ice cream and did invite friends over for that and sparklers then watched the fireworks from their backyard. Good times. I love a small town Fourth.

UPDATE: No need to buy frog food anymore. Little frog went down the drain. The girls were cleaning his little tank (they get messy and stinky after a day) and somehow he was missed the mark. He went down the disposal side of the sink. I don't know the anatomy of a disposal but apparently there must be a hole big enough for a frog to slide down because after some by feel (Brynn only has the guts to do this) he was never found. Oh well, I guess that's that.

How Much Fun can You Pack into 1-Week?

Alas, it was time for Brandon's week-long work conference at the U. in Salt Lake aka FAMILY VACATION for the rest of us. We had a fun weekend, exhaustingly so.
Highlights included being with family, exploring nearby canyons, watching Toy Story 3 (LOVED it! who couldn't???) sunny days in the hotel pool, eating Belgian fineries downtown with my mom and sister, the aquarium, Temple Square, haircuts by our talented BYU student niece, taking walks on Olympus Drive, Costco, Cowabunga Bay, and a Toys-R-Us shopping spree.
Didn't you ever fantasize about what you would do if you won a shopping spree there. I wanted to live the dream through my kids--with some strings attached. 2 weeks prior to the trip I made up a large job list with prices for each one. The girls ...well some of the girls spent the next two weeks working off their little bums. They did things like mopping floor, organizing drawers, even giving me foot massages--those are worth a lot:) It was great fun to let them loose in the store with their money in hand free to run around and choose whatever they wanted. Adrie found a zhu zhu pet. (which we had to shove in the fridge at the hotel just so we could get a good nights sleep!) Brynn got a couple of Barbies, and Kate bought a phone for her room--the kind with a cord. Now she can stay up late calling all her friends and talking about boys.

Lowlights: hours of Disney channel, all of us going to bed too late and waking up too early, sunburns, mosquito bites, and watching Cannon's shoe fly across four lanes of traffic. And not having BD to share in our adventures--poor guy was in lectures all day. He can tell you all about how to treat substance abuse:)

We ended the trip with a sleepover with our super-fun cousins, We found out by all the chatting in the car on the way home that the party included candy bars, Nintendo D.S. and even some pranks into the midnight hours . After the chatting ALL the girls fell asleep for the rest of the ride home. Good times.

Here it is in photos:
Happy Father's Day! Luckily, my sisters and I were all able to be at home to celebrate with our dad. He also just had a birthday and 79. This guy had a massive heart attack earlier this year and we are grateful he survived to be with us a little longer.

I'm the mature one :)

A lovely day in the canyons with family (East Millcreek)

Dirty and Clean: Cannon found a puddle in my parents' driveway and like a good thirsty boy he stuck his head in and sucked in some long draughts. On the clean side, we couldn't let a day go by without taking advantage of the hotel pool.

Hiking in beautiful Little Cottonwood Canyon

Aquarium: penguins, eels, and of course "Nemo" but nothing was more exciting than petting the sting rays.

"Much too good for children." Nana treated the kids to fine chocolates anyway.

An Evening on Temple Square. We toured the Museum of Church History and Art.

Grand Finale: Cowabunga Bay-- Lots of fun in the sun and it is set up so nicely for young families. Moms can lounge on the "beach" while the kids can run off to the slides. The pool was warm and shallow with free lifejackets for the little ones. I think I need one of these in my backyard.

The girls brought new life to my old fort under the pine tree. They fashioned some bow and arrows and piled up some pine needles for a cushy bed. What do you know the aunties had their own special hideaway too. Grandma led them and our other fun cousins to "hammock hollow."

Confessions of a Shopaholic turned Nerd

Summer is wonderful. I love putting the kids to work in the morning (nevermind their complaining), then heading off to swimming lessons, lunch in the park, and coming home for some afternoon reading time. The girls still try everyday to get out of that last one but it is worth the fight. Right now we are reading On the Banks of Plum Creek (book 4 of the Little House series) Sometimes we read outside and the neighbors wander over to listen. Sometimes we have to read loudly because Cannon is whinnying like a horse. But, it works out for the most part and usually ends up as my favorite part of the day.

And as fun as it is to read books it is just as fun to buy books!

The other day we were running errands and we pulled into the parking lot of the thrift store (D.I. for you locals.) The kids groaned. "Mooooom we don't need any more books."

Here is my confession: I love to go to D.I. and buy books. It has replaced buying clothes and is much cheaper! I picked up a practically new edition of Jane Eyre which I read and LOVED, a beautiful hardbound book of the World's Greatest Fairy Tales. For a few months now I've had a book in my Amazon shopping cart The Richest Man in Babylon. Found it for 75 cents at D.I. and bonus--all the important parts were already highlighted for my convenience! Need a new set of scriptures? They've got oodles of them. Isn't this exciting? I must continue...

I have found like-new copies of my favorite children's books like Crow Boy, The Country Bunny, and Blueberries for Sal. I love to find Newberry and Caldecott Winners and I have so much fun reading them to the kids when we get home. We now own a whole set of Roald Dahl classics (Matilda, The Witches, etc.) and I was overjoyed to find 5 volumes of American Girl "Girls from Many Land series" in perfect condition.

I love to OWN books. After I read them I feel like they are part of me. AND they look so great in bookshelves.

So back to the other day. After another successful shopping trip we got back in the car. The girls immediately doused their hands with hand sanitizer. Curiously, the girls have wondered if we have to get our books from DI because we are "poor." For such occasions I am always glad to pick out one of the many lectures I have stored away in my motherly pocket. Let's see should we talk about how kids live in Haiti or the "seek not for riches... but for knowledge"...or should we go for the friends of earth recycling one...? Anyway I'm just glad that the girls have finally agreed to at least READ the books even if it is only while wearing gloves!!! (See picture for proof) Where does this OCD come from????@!!! (me :) That is yet another lecture I will have to come up with....

****NOTE: Just in case you are now wondering, "Hmmm" Laura gave me such and such book for Christmas--I wonder...did she get it at DI?"

The answer is NO. But, if I ever do I will be sure to send it with some gloves.

Work Hard, Play Hard

Things have been going on around here: hard work and wholesome recreation. Let's start with the fun stuff: Camping at Maple Grove. This was our 2nd family camping trip ever. We went with a group of some of our favorite people and had a program and a flag retiring ceremony. The rest of the time was spent running wild for the kids, and some good talkin' and singing by everyone around the campfire. Cannon manned his post at river's edge basically the entire time, throwing rocks and shouting "Awesome!" He only left to eat marshmallows at intervals and then to go to bed.

According to the girls the best part was playing in the stream. The worst? Sleeping. Now that we own a tent, we like to consider ourselves official "campers." Our next purchase will be an air mattress.

We had s'mores for breakfast, more running around, and a craft called "Flower pounding?? The kids gathered purple phlox, columbine, Indian paintbrush and other wildflowers. Instead of "pressing them" they tap between fabric or paper with a hammer. Their boquets actually turned out really well and now we have crafty souvenirs to add to our mountain collection. All in all it was a fun trip that ended with a quick drive home to showers and a nap!

Now for the work, HARD work: A wheelbarrow and shovel have been Brandon's faithful companions the last 2 weeks. First it was hauling dirt. Then it was hauling rock--8 tons of it! All that rock had to be mixed (2 diff colors) and sifted (lots of unattractive dirt came with it) and shoveled and spread. What a project. It is nice to see some progress on the yard and now when I drive in I feel like I'm pulling into the parking lot of a St. George shopping mall. Props to Brandon for all that hard work. He's a good man and I think I'll be giving him a massage every day.

Food and Fun

What a healthy dinner! Of course after, we filled up on BYU Mint Brownies that Brynn and I had made. We just googled "mint brownies" and that was the name of the recipe that came up. Our brownies however, were True Blue because we didn't have any green food coloring.

Anyway, thanks to http://bountifulbaskets.org it has been like summer every day with all this fresh garden produce. Bountiful baskets, in case you don't already know is a food co-op where you get a good haul of fresh produce in exchange for a minimal fee and some volunteer effort. This is our second time ordering. We got avocados, oranges, strawberries, blackberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, romaine, squash, and a coconut. Total cost $15.00. Something about having a basket full of garden surprises makes it way more fun to eat veggies. ( You never know what you're going to get when you show up) We've had salads every day. The bread is ciabatta bread. I didn't know what that was when I ordered it but I thought it sounded fun. It made for some tasty garlic bread. I first heard about this organization from Michelle. Has anyone else joined? So far so good...

We could have lost all our dinner at the carnival which we headed to shortly after. The people on the ride before us did.
The girls absolutely would not let the weekend go by without making sure we took them to the carnival. Kate and Brynn were up for all the wild rides. The carnival workers don't really enforce the height rules so I was able to take them on the whirliest twirliest ride there. Luckily, we all kept our dinners down but there was plenty of screaming! Cannon and Adrie went on the Merry -go -round. At least we didn't lose Bud this time but we did lose Dad. He kept getting sidetracked by people that I didn't know...which could only mean that they were clients.
Fun times for everyone!

Wild Things

This week I am feeling exceptionally grateful for child leashes. You know those cute little restraints made friendly by attaching a stuffed bear or monkey on the back? Here is why.

Earlier in the week we met up with our cousins for a k12 field trip in the big city. Before the event we met for a picnic at the lovely Sugarhouse Park in Salt Lake. Picture a river with a pond on one side, rolling hills and a playground in between and a road on the other. The first big upset to this scene of tranquility was that cousin Z fell off the monkey bars and was screaming in pain. Did he break his arm we wondered? Fortunately Z's mom got ahold of their doc and they made the plan to give him some motrin, put his arm in a sling, and when they got home in a few hours they would xray it. (No bones were sticking out and the screaming had died to a whimper at this point.)

So, it was off to our fieldtrip at the Planetarium. However,when I looked around to gather up the kids Cannon was missing. He was nowhere in eyeshot. Do you know what a sickening feeling that is to lose a kid even for a second? How long had it been? Did he go down to the river or over to the road? Kate , Z's mom, and I divided and ran, asking anybody if they'd seen him. After a minute or so a guy shouted and pointed. About a quarter mile away a jogger was standing with Cannon..or following him rather as he continued to wander.

"I found this kid in the road and called the police." he said, not so compassionately. That made me feel even sicker. Of course I was profoundly grateful to the man for "rescuing Cannon" and especially grateful that he was found and unharmed. The police were called back and told everything was fine. I thanked the guy again and again and off we went to our next adventure...the planetarium...this time with the CHILD RESTRAINT I had packed in the car.

It also came in extremely handy the following day when we went to the zoo. In fact, there were lots of toddlers wearing them. It sure made a world of difference in our experiences. One guy stopped me and laughed as he told me how he used to think those things (leashes) should only be used for animals and then he had 4 kids and realized they were lifesavers. Of course, I quickly agreed.

If you think that leashes are inhumane than either a) you haven't had kids or b) you haven't had kids.

Anyway, we had a wonderful day at the zoo; perfect weather, not too crowded, Cannon on a leash. Sure--he tugged at that thing and sure--we clotheslined a few innocent people but the security of knowing where my little guy was made all the difference.

Now for some happy photos.

The baby elephant was adorable!