It's Fall!

It's really starting to feel like fall - weather is getting cooler and the days are getting shorter.  Monday was Labor Day, so the kids had no school and Dan had no work.  We all went to the zoo together and spent most of the day there looking for the babies and having fun!  Eileen and Anna packed our lunches again - they are so cute and sweet!

Tuesday was back to normal.  School during the day.  James had preschool.  Babysitting Adeline.  Swim practice after school.  Piano practice.  All sorts of good stuff!  In the evening, I had institute.  It was great!!  I love the chance to study and learn and discuss!

Wednesday was late start for the kids, then James and I headed home so I could get the meet information put into the computer.  Then after school, we had to stick around for team pictures.  Then we headed over to the pool to get ready for the meet.  We did a great job.  Eileen took second in the breast stroke.  We won the match easily.  I had to watch the water polo team getting ready and getting into the pool on my way out.  I really miss playing!

Thursday, James had preschool again, and Adeline was over visiting again.  It's fun to watch and listen to James and Adeline play together.  After school was swim practice.  It's hard to believe that the season is almost over.

Friday, we watched Adeline again.  After school, we had a short swim practice, I spent most of it working with our breast stroke girls on turns,  pull downs and improving their stroke.  After, Dan and I left Eileen in charge and headed to the Temple.  We had a great time doing a session and then headed home.

Saturday was busy.  Eileen had flute lessons, then Eileen and Anna and I had a Relief Society activity that we went to, then piano lessons and then we spent the afternoon cleaning up around the house.  Dan and I went to go visit Jeremiah and Becca and the new baby!!  I got to hold and snuggle her for awhile!  

Sunday, was church and was wonderful.  We had a great Sacrament Meeting, then Sunday School, followed by me teaching Evie's class in primary.  It was a lot of fun, but exhausting.  After church, Anna and I worked on finishing the barbie dress that we had started making.  In the evening, Dan had a presidency meeting, and after, the Hansen's stayed to play a game and let me hold the baby!  :)

Ugh

This has been a rather long stressful week.  Monday was the usual school day with laundry, piano practicing, grocery shopping, laundry, swim practice.  All that fun good stuff.  In the evening, we had Christina and her boys over for dinner (French Dip Sandwiches) and then we got to work canning peaches.  We worked until she had to leave, then we put the younger kids to bed and Eileen and Anna helped us get them finished.  We finished 3 boxes of peaches!

Tuesday, James had his first day of preschool.  (I was a bad momma and forgot to take a picture)  But he loved preschool and had a great time!  After school, we had swim practice and I thought we would take a fun day and play swimming games in the pool.  I got in with them and we worked hard and swam hard and had a lot of fun.  At least that's what the swimmers and I thought.  The parents all decided that because of that - I was a lousy coach who didn't care about the team....

Because of that lovely Tuesday incident (and some other circumstances), Ms. Moore (the head coach) and I got bombarded with critical emails complaining about how the team is being run.  These emails were not first sent to us - but to Mr Powell who is Dean at the school.  We have now spent the better part of the week listening to parents who have no experience coaching any type of team, let alone a swim team, telling us all the things that we are doing wrong and how we need to fix things.  I can't help but wonder if these parents have even considered that their behavior might be bullying and rude....  After a optional dry land practice, I took the kids home - ran Jen to Walgreens to pick up some medications and then got a ride from Dave to choir.  Unfortunately by this point in the day, I was so stressed out that I hadn't been able to eat all day and so tight that I could hardly sing.

Thursday wasn't much better.  I took James to preschool, then Adeline came to play and we played out side and she watched me get a crock pot dinner going before picking up James from preschool.  At swim practice we were again told repeatedly how we were doing things different from last year - therefore we must be doing them wrong.  We ran trials and times for the Saturday meet and headed home still upset with me still mostly unable to stomach eating anything...

Friday we had Adeline coming over to play again.  She and James had a blast together.  Dan took the day off and got the oil changed in the car.  I took Jen's daughter to the laundromat to dry clothes (James and Adeline loved putting in the quarters and pushing the buttons and especially watching the beginning of Emperor's New Groove.  After school I got the stuff ready for the spaghetti dinner swim party that night.  We picked Anna up from Robotics Club and then headed over.  I was a bit worried about having to be there with some of these pushy parents, but apparently they are only willing to bash me in emails to my boss - not to my face.  So the evening was pleasant and I just spent my time talking to the girls and talking to the nice parents.

Saturday morning, bright and early Eileen had her second swim meet.  She did really well!  She is really enjoying swimming breast stroke and is getting pretty good at it!  After the meet, The kids had quick piano lessons and then we headed to to Logan and Ashley's house for their daughter's baptism.  I got to play the piano for it and it was so good to get to see them again!  After, we headed to their house for lunch and chat and fun with cousins for most of the afternoon.  After we got home, we did a quick clean up of the house followed by putting the kids to bed.

Church today was wonderful but a little crazy.  My head hasn't really felt screwed on straight for most of the week.  I was asked to sub in primary, so after Sacrament and teaching my usual Sunday School class, I also taught a primary class of 4 and 5 year olds.  In other words - I taught the only Jr Sunday school class that I didn't have kids in.  :)  But it was fun!  After Paul and Candace and family came down from Logan's house for dinner and play time in the evening.  Dan had to ditch us for a bit to go to the youth fireside, but it was so fun to see them and get to hang out with them!  Now I just need to get some sleep!!

Crazy Week

This week has been a bit busy.  :)

Monday we got a bit of respite since Swim practice had to be cancelled because the head coach couldn't be there and I wasn't official yet.  So we spent the afternoon getting piano lessons done and laundry and such.  I stopped at the grocery store with James to get some stuff for dinner.  The sister Missionaries came over for dinner and gave a great lesson about the temple and family history.

Tuesday was school for the big kids, except Eileen who wasn't feeling good.  She was throwing up all morning, but with some help from a priesthood blessin and pepto bismal, she started feeling better after lunch and still came to swim practice with me, but she didn't swim.
After she was feeling good enough to go to Skate City, so for once, we all got to go!  We all had a lot of fun skating and being together.

Wednesday was the big day.  I spent most of the morning getting things ready for the meet.  I had to figure out who would be swimming what and then get everything submitted for the meet.  I also made a quick stop at goodwill for their $1.00 jeans sale.  After school, we all got ready for the meet - but because of busing issues, it started late which meant that I was running late for choir.  Dan took the younger kids home to get them fed and then came back for Eileen's last 2 events.  Then I rushed to choir and Dan rushed to young men's.

Thursday was school for the kids, James and I ran some errands - I had to do some things to get myself as the official assistant coach.  I got in the pool with the girls and we worked on some more stroke stuff and did some more work on diving off the blocks.  Then we had one night off from anything but the normal piano practicing and homework and stuff.

Friday morning, Adeline came to play for the day.  I had to run some errands, I had to get my paperwork turned in and finger prints taken and a badge made and I was official!  Then I headed down to pick up our peaches for canning.  After school, we had the dry land work out for swimming and Anna got to do her robotics club.  In the evening, we played some games together with Eileen and Anna then called it a day!

Satrday morning started bright and early, I got up and headed for a chorale concert at the Ralston House .5K run.  I was there all morning, while Dan took the kids to flute lessons and piano lessons and worked out getting the young men to help set up chairs for stake conference.  After I got back, we grabbed a quick lunch, then headed to Ft. Collins to get to walk through the new temple!  I think the kids really liked getting to walk through the temple (except the itchy shoe covers.)  It was a beautiful day and a beautiful building.  Then Dan and I got a quick dinner for the kids, then I went over to the church to practice for stake conference musical number, then Dan and I enjoyed the adult session of stake conference before heading to the grocery store together to grab a few things to get us through the weekend.

Sunday morning, Dan headed to the priesthood leadership meeting, then the kids and I met him there so I could sing with the choir and then we got to enjoy another wonderful session of stake conference.  After the Bishops came over to eat and play games with us.  We had a great time playing and chatting and watching the kids be silly!  After putting the kids to bed, Dan and I played Dominion again and now, I'm about exhausted and ready for bed!!  

Just Keep Swimming

School is back in full swing.  Eileen started swim practice on Monday.  I went to take her and talk to the head coach and found that she had never coached a swim team before and didn't have any parent helpers with experience either.  So I am helping coach the swim team.  The other kids are mostly playing in the seats and I'm trying to help them learn how to swim.  We already have our first meet next week.  So we spent this week working on strokes and turns and starts.  I also found out that they have a club water polo team for all ages that plays at the same pool and I'm hoping to get info on that!
Dan's been sweet and has been finding the US water polo olympic matches for me to watch this week - it's been so fun watching - and the US women's team is VERY good!!

So every day this week after school, we have had swim practice.  James and I have been keeping busy at home then we go, go, go after school until evening.

Wednesday after dropping the kids off for late start, I asked James if he wanted to go to the library and he said he wanted to go to the park instead.  We let a few friends know we would be there and we got to have one friend meet us there with her kids.  The kids had a fun time playing, and we had a great time chatting and having fun.  The evening was the usual insane schedule for Wednesday, Choir, Cub Scouts, Activity Days, and Young Men's

Thursday morning, I met with the other mom's in our preschool group this year.  We got the schedule and stuff figured out and James is super excited about getting to do preschool again this year.  Then we had our now normal crazy afternoon.  Piano lessons are now moved to Saturday morning - so no piano lessons on Thursday.

Friday, was a dry land practice for the swim team.  Eileen wasn't crazy about it since she hates running, but at least we got done a little earlier than usual, so we could go home and do some clean up before our friends came over!  The Nelson's came over for dinner and games and brought a fun game we hadn't played before called Sansoussi.  The kids had fun playing with their little girl and the grown ups had fun playing our game.  :)

Saturday morning, the kids had piano lessons, then we headed over to Dwayne and Nicole's house for Tayanna's early birthday party.  It was so fun to see them and hang out with them again - with all our summer travel, it had been too long!  Then we headed home, Dan went to Natasha's to give her a blessing, then came home to help get ready for more friends!  The Wells' came over for dinner and fun.  They have 4 daughters, the kids all had fun playing with them and I had fun holding the baby!  We had a pizza party and the kids watched Zootopia while the adults played games again.  Then for the girls hour up, after our guests left, we played our new Dominion expansion (it was Dan and I's anniversary present and just arrived that day!)

Sunday started out mostly normal.  Evie's tummy wasn't feeling good (I'm afraid they ate a bit too much junk...)  So we drove to church and when we got there, Evie snuggled up in my lap and stayed there for all of sacrament meeting.  The talks given were wonderful and there was a beautiful musical number.  I had the overwhelming feeling that sitting there being uplifted by wonderful talks and wonderful music while I snuggled with my kids and my husband was the absolute best place in the world to be!!  After church, we had our early dinner, then Eileen and I went to Stake Choir while Dan babysat the Bishop's kids.  After, Eileen and Anna and I got started on making some barbie clothes, just for fun!  Then after scriptures, Dan played games with the kids while I went to the Bishop's house to practice for a musical number for the Saturday Night session of Stake Conference.  It was so fun singing with that great group of singers, we were all enjoying it so much that after we were done rehearsing, we kept singing for a bit just for fun!

Our poor puppy isn't feeling too well - his tummy seems to be bothering him a bit and it's led to a couple emergency baths and more clean up than we would like, so hopefully he feels better soon!

Back to School

This was a big exciting week for us.  Eileen started Middle School - still at Quest - but she's officially middle school with a locker and different classes and electives and such.  As a big - middle - school kid, she started school on Monday - and she was so excited!!  

Tuesday was mostly just hanging out at home and doing a bit of clean up.  The Elders were scheduled for dinner, but were late because of some issues they had with appointments going long.  So while they came and ate - it was after the kids had gone to bed and we had to re-heat dinner for them.  

On Wednesday, the rest of the kids started school leaving James and I to ourselves again.  They also were excited to start school!  This was the second picture I took - the first one they just wanted to show off their back packs....  They had a blast, then after school was piano lessons.  Anna quit lessons - so it was just the 3 kids who had lessons.  We are going to have to move lessons to Saturday now so Eileen can do her swim team after school.  In the evening was cub scouts, young men for Dan, and Choir for me.  We were getting ready for our concert on Thursday.

On Thursday after school, we packed up picnic dinners and I took all the kids to my concert - Dan met us there after work.  And they listened to the fun outdoor concert (with just a little rain) and ate their dinner and had fun playing with the kids of other choir members.

Friday Eileen was going with the rest of the 6th graders to a ropes course.  Eileen however is a little afraid of heights.  Despite that she did all the activities even though they were scary for her!  I'm so proud of her willingness to face her fears and do hard things anyway!  Not even all adults are able to do that - She never complained about it - she just did it!  In the evening, we had some friends from church over for games.  We played a fun party game that they brought (I don't remember the name) but it was all about being silly and laughing at yourself.  Then we played Love Letters and Mille Bornes while waiting for brownies to get done.  Then I made a quick grocery trip for the kids.

Saturday we had our family trip to Cherry Creek Reservoir.  Veterans are free for the month of October, and the girls needed to plan a family event.  So the girls planned and packed and made lunches and snacks for every one and got it all ready and then after Eileen's flute lessons, we headed to the lake!  The kids had a blast - we sunscreened up repeatedly, but still came home with a few sunburns (especially Daddy!)  We all had a great time playing in the sand and playing in the water and eating yummy food and playing together.

In the evening, We got the kids dinner, then Dan and I left Eileen and Anna in charge and finally went out on our anniversary date.  We got dinner at a great little Chineese place, then we went to go see the new Star Trek.  We ran into the Doxy's there and had a great time watching the movie together!

Today was wonderful.  We had a nice walk to church.  Sacrament Meeting was great.  I got to teach both my usual Sunday School class and then the Beehives during 3rd hour - both lessons about the family being eternal.  Both were great discussions.  The beehive class was a lot of fun!  It was a bit hard to keep them on topic, but still a great class and a lot of fun!  The Bishop's stopped by before choir to drop off a water bottle that Christina had borrowed.  Dan watched their kids for them while we were at choir, and they gave me a ride there and back.  Then we read scriptures and put the kids (and Dan) to bed a bit early :)  Now it's my turn too!

Home again - for real this time....

Monday morning, Grandpa and Frankie headed back to Denver area.  :(  The kids and I had fun walking around and playing and hiking and such.  In the afternoon the kids and i headed down to South Park City for the afternoon.  Julia wasn't feeling great so she and Doug didn't join us, but we had a great time.  The weather was great, not too hot and not too rainy.  After we got a candy stick and a souvenir and then headed back to the cabin.  Then in the evening we finished Fiddler on the Roof.  It's been so fun watching these great musicals with the kids!  

Tuesday Doug and Julia headed back to Denver area.  The kids and I stayed for one more night.  We spent our last evening hiking up around the mine and looking for cool rocks.  The kids also spent a lot of time down at outside the Wallace's Cabin with Jill and Katherine.  They had lots of fun sanding pieces of wood.  :)  


Wednesday we headed back to Denver after cleaning up the cabin.  We stopped for a quick lunch on the side of the road and got back to town in time to unpack, and get some piano practicing done and get things in order for me to leave for choir practice.  Final practice before the concerts!  We also found eggs when we got home.  Our chickens have finally started laying!!!  

Thursday morning, we had piano lessons, followed by going to the park to meet with friends and talk about a preschool group for James again.  Then we headed home in time for me to go to sing at the Rockies game with the Chorale.  I took the rail there - with the new stations nearby it's a fairly quick and cheap way to get there.  Plus it was kinda fun!  I got back in time for the littles to be in bed and to still have some fun with Eileen and Anna.  

Friday morning, Eileen had her middle school orientation in the morning, then Anna had an orthodontist appointment and then I picked up Eileen.  Then I dropped the kids off and left Eileen in charge so I could get some grocery shopping done.  We were in pretty desperate need of some basics. I got back and tried to get everything ready to go do my girls night out with Becky.  I left with her around 4 and left Eileen in charge again - just until Dan got home.  Becky and I headed to the hotel and checked in for a fun night of digital scrapbooking!  

Saturday morning while I was still with Becky, the kids and Dan went on the primary temple trip to the Denver Temple.  They all had a great time - I can't believe I have 5 kids in nursery!  When they got home we got some clean up done around the house, then I took Eileen, Anna and Aaron to my concert.  It went well and the kids had fun and made a new friend.  After, we went to Chili's for some dinner and dessert.  When we got home and Dan asked them how it was, they said it was GREAT!  - They got a different dessert and it was yummy - yep all they talked about was the dessert....  

Today was fast and testimony meeting.  It was a great day!  Listening to testimonies made me so grateful for my own testimony.  I had a great time up at the cabin chatting with Doug and Julia and getting their perspective on things - but doing so makes me so grateful for my own faith and knowledge about the Lord's plan for us!  It brings such peace and hope to my life!  After church, we had some friends over to eat and play games.  We chatted with Dan's parents for a bit then put all the kids to bed but Anna.  Eileen starts school tomorrow, so she didn't get an hour up, Anna doesn't start until Wednesday, so she did.  Anna played Suburbia with us!

As much as I have enjoyed the summer, and an much as I'm going to miss all the time to do fun stuff - I'm exhausted from all this travelling and ready for a bit of a schedule and a bit more sleep!!

Busy Again

The beginning of this week was mostly spent getting ready for Dan going out of town and the rest of us heading up to the cabin.  We tried to get some house cleaning done, we tried to get some fun in, and I spent a lot of time trying to get all the food ready.  Monday was laundry and grocery shopping.   We got the kids their school supplies, and they are now all packed and ready for school to start.  

Tuesday, I got some freezer meals cooked up to take with us up to the cabin, and the kids and I tried to get the house presentable.  

Wednesday, we tried to get everyone packed up - did a bit more laundry and then I had choir in the evening.  We have concerts coming up and had our big dress rehearsal with the full orchestra.  

Thursday morning, Dan headed to the airport to go to Chicago and the kids and I packed up the car and headed towards the mountains.  We stopped at Tiny Town, but we couldn't take Koopa in with us, so I got tickets for the kids, and sent them in with their lunches and put Eileen in charge.  They did good and had fun, then rode the train.  The place is small enough that I could keep an eye on them from the parking lot across the street and could even snap a few pictures of them on the train from just outside the fence.  Eileen took pictures of the kids for me with her phone.  Then we all got some ice cream and packed up and finished our trip to the cabin.  It's funny, I remember as a kid feeling like that was a LONG trip.  Now as an adult it seems to go so fast!  In the evening, the girls and I did a puzzle and watched Hello Dolly.  

When we got to the cabin, Grandpa was already there and the kids were eager to start going up to the mine and checking all their favorite spots out.  Friday, we heard about a used book sale near the Fairplay Library.  So we stopped in and looked around.  The kids found some fun stuff and I found a couple books that I had really been wanting - and could now get them cheap!  Friday night Doug and Julia arrived in time for some fun and chat before heading to bed.

Saturday we headed down to Fairplay again to check out the Burro Days fun.  We walked around checking out the artists stalls and such.  The kids had fun for about 20 minutes then they decided that they were hot and annoyed that everything cost money.... :)  So we snacked and headed back to the cabin for more hiking and dinner.  In the evening, we started Fiddler on the Roof with Eileen and Anna - but paused at the Intermission to go to bed!

Sunday the kids and I headed to church in Frisco (not TX - Frisco, CO) Church was awesome.  During 3rd hour, there was a special 5th Sunday presentation by a man who had worked and served all over the world.  He had some amazing stories to tell about the church and it's history in other parts of the world over the last 30+ years.  It was really a neat presentation!  After we headed back to the cabin and stopped at the Continental Divide for a minute or two - I think Eileen and I were really the only ones who found it cool - but at least the other kids enjoyed getting out and stretching their legs.  We spent most of the drive home looking for license plates from other states.  We saw over half the states!  In the evening, Eileen and Anna and Aaron played Killer Bunnies with Frankie and James and Evie watched The Music Man with the rest of us.

More Family Fun!

This week has been rather hot here - no not Texas hot - but we've been in the upper 90's and low 100's so the kids complain about playing outside after 10 in the morning unless the sprinklers are on so they can get wet.  We spent most of Monday doing laundry and such - we were too tired to get a dinner planned so our amazing friends the Guinn's saved the day - They had cooked up some extra ribs trying a new recipe and brought over the extras.  I added a salad and we were good to go.  

The kids decided that they wanted to go to the park one morning, but about 5 minutes after we got there, they started complaining about the heat and wanted to go to the splash park instead, so we went home, got swimsuits and lunches and headed to the splash park/playground.  We stayed until the lightning started, then we headed home.  :)  

Choir on Wednesday was awesome as usual!

Thursday, Dan and I went to the temple.  We left Eileen in charge and things seemed to go smoothly enough.  This was the first time leaving her in charge when she wouldn't be able to get a hold of us.  She had Sister Smith to contact if necessary, but things seemed to go well - I'm not sure they would go as well if Anna weren't also here helping her.  :)  We did sealings then grabbed a quick dessert on the way home.  

Friday, we headed for the Children's Museum.  We got there a little late - but the kids had a blast while we were there, and we can go back any time now!  They had a new area where the kids had a ton of fun climbing all over the place.  They kids always love the fire station area - I was amazed to watch Aaron climb up to the top of the fire pole easily and quickly - over and over again.  

They had a fun Vet Clinic area and of course, the bubbles are always fun.  They loved the bubble chamber - the fun thing is that I have pictures of Sandi and I in this same bubble chamber when we were kids!

Saturday was our big stay at home and get stuff done day.  Dan and the kids worked on cleaning out the garage, I worked in the house and in the afternoon, Sandi and the kids came over for a few hours and dinner while Jon met with employees.

Church today was fun - We had members of the temple presidency visit our ward today.  Their talks in Sacrament meeting were wonderful.  Unfortunately, I didn't get to be there for the 2nd hour question and answer session - I was subbing in James' primary class.  Plus I got to hear him give his talk during primary!  He was so cute!  It was funny - once I told him I was going to be his teacher today, he got excited and wouldn't leave my lap (except for the choir number) The choir's musical number went great!  It's so fun to hear all the talent in our ward!

Fun at Home

We had a fun and busy week!  Dan headed up with the young men for High Adventure.  He was gone with them until Friday - at which point he came home tanned, tired and needing to take his belt in another notch.  We went to the park on Wednesday morning with the Smith's and enjoyed playing outside while it was still cool enough to enjoy being outside.  

Wednesday night I had choir and Sister Cottrell watched the kids so I could go to Choir.  After Eileen, Anna and Aaron got back, I started getting emergency texts from Eileen that the kids were still awake - and by the time I got home after 10, they were all still up and running around.  Poor Eileen - but the kids sure had fun :)  

On Friday, we went to the Butterfly Pavilion and got ourselves a joint membership for the Butterfly Pavilion and the Children's Museum.  The kids are very excited about it.  They had a great time there as always. While we were there, we saw the posted for "Rosie's Birthday Party" which was the next day, so on Saturday, we didn't give Daddy any time to recover, we just dragged him along with us back to the Butterfly Pavilion.  They had tons of fun stuff going on - plus there was a special "Member's Only" area - and the kids were SO excited that they got to go in because they are now members.  :)  We came home with tons of free stuff - lots of junk toys, sunglasses, water bottles, bags, etc.  They all had a great time though!  

They even got to get their faces painted and Anna had her Caricature done.  We headed home at closing time, exhausted, but we had a great time!  Plus it was so great to have Daddy back!  

Sunday morning, our friends the Tolbert's got into town, they arrived just in time to come to church with us and then they stayed the night with us!  It was so good to get to see them again!!  We had a great afternoon playing games and chatting and singing and talking crafts!  There are times I think that I would like to move back to Texas, just to be near them and the Tilton's again...

Family Reunion

Well we started this week off with a 4th of July Pancake Breakfast that our ward puts on every year.  It's put on by the cub scouts and this year Aaron got to help out - early on, he took over making the scrambled eggs - can I just say that his eggs were the BEST scrambled eggs that I've EVER had at a church function (or really any large dining place) In other words - for the first time - they weren't way over cooked and burnt.  He was still getting complements on them at church today!  After, we spent most of the day getting ready to leave the next morning.  

Bright and early on Tuesday, we loaded up and got into the car to head to Bear Lake.  We stopped for lunch at Little America, and made it to the rental cabin by mid-afternoon.  We unpacked - picked rooms, and had dinner before a family home evening lesson and play with cousins.  Bedtimes went out the window this week....

Wednesday we all packed into our cars and headed for the lake.  We rented a Jet Ski, a lake trampoline and a couple paddle boards.  Everyone had a ball - and most of us got a bit sunburned.  It's been so long since I've gotten to ride a jet ski - but I LOVE them!  Someday, maybe I'll have one of my own...  We did lunch at the beach and stayed there for most of the day - only heading back for dinner in the evening.  We had another wonderful family home evening lots of game playing and hanging out.  

Thursday we played games around the cabin.  I brought the left over girls camp crafts and Dan brought paint balls and grandma and grandpa brought candy covered shirts for playing human pinata.  The paint balls were a little rough - some of the kid ended up with some pretty good welts - but we had set an age limit of over 12 to keep littles from getting hurt.  After the older kids had fun, we let the younger kids take over and aim at targets.

This was Evie chasing one of the human pinatas - her cousin Jacob.  It was so funny to watch the older boys run away and eventually get tackled and brought to the ground and mauled by little kids eager for candy.  :)

In the afternoon, some of us stayed at the cabin and rested and played games (including me - i had hurt my toe on Tuesday and I was still hobbling) While the rest got to go hike up and down in some caves.  I wish I'd been able to go - but I don't think I could have handled the stairs...   Thursday night, we had our final FHE/Devotional.  We sang songs, bore testimony and shared the love.  I'm so grateful to be part of this family!  I'm so grateful that my kids get to be part of this family too. Then we played a game of sardines for a bit before sending the kids to bed, while we stayed up playing a few more games and talking for a bit longer.

The next morning, exhausted and happy, we packed up, cleaned up and headed home.  We stopped at Steve and Claire's along the way for a bathroom break and to let the kids see all the animals.  Then we arrived at home and unloaded the car.  Then Dan began his mad dash to get everything ready for High Adventure next week.  Saturday was spent with Dan getting stuff ready and packed for next week, while the kids and I spent the day trying to recover from the past week.  We were all glad to get to pick up Koopa Friday night and spent a lot of time playing with him.

Sunday was church - wonderful speakers and great lessons.  Choir after church, yummy dinner, and playing games with Eileen and Anna in the evening.  Now I'm facing a week here alone with the kids.  :(

Camp

Well - I now have 2 kids in double digits.  Anna turned 10 on Monday!  She was so excited about being a double digit girl.  Unfortunately for her, It was kinda an insane day.  I spent a lot of the day getting things ready for camp - I had to run some errands, get everything packed and get laundry done.  Plus I had to meet the girls at the church to get everything packed into the trailer and sent up to camp.  After, we had Anna's birthday dinner of Burritos and then she opened her presents, then we took the kids down to drop them off with Aunt Tina for the week.  Eileen apparently forgot to bring anything to do and was bored all week (if her text messages to me and grandpa and Sister Smith are any indication....)  We took her ice cream cake to Frank and Tina's and she blew out her candles and we all had cake there before Dan and I headed home.  

Tuesday morning, bright and early we met at the church to head up for camp.  The weather this year was perfect - enough sun to be warm and enough cloud cover and sprinkles to not get too hot.  The girls seemed to have a good time and seemed to all feel welcomed and loved.  Our first day up there, we unpacked and set up camp, then in the afternoon, we headed for the lake and had fun in the canoes.  It was fun getting to see some of the girls trying something they had never done before and loving it!  

Wednesday morning after breakfast was the hike.  I chose to go on the 2nd year hike which is the longest - still not really a hike, but it was a nice walk through gorgeous scenery and even better - I got to see a beaver swimming around his pond!  It was really nice walking around and chatting with amazing people.  We spent the afternoon playing games and doing crafts.  Then tons of fun at the lake getting our skit ready and having fun at the lake.  Finally the evening program was a blast!  

One of the crafts offered was wood carving.  One of the cooks/bishops/awesome guy who reminds me of my dad - brought wood and knives for carving and taught the basics.  I had fun carving myself a "Harry Potter Wand" It took me the better part of all three days we were there to finish it, but I finally got it done and sanded and I love how it came out!  Now the plan is to stain the wood and display it - but first I'm going to have to convince the kids that it's not their toy!  :)

This is me at camp - Eileen was texting me and amazingly I had enough signal to get them and even to be able to chat with her on the phone a bit - so I sent her a selfie of me at camp - it's hard to tell from this photo - but one of the girls from the ward had done my hair for me into braids.

Thursday was more fun time and a service project and finally finishing my wand.  In the evening, we had our testimony meeting and we got some real rain for the first time.  It was such a sweet experience listening to the girls bear testimony!

Friday morning we packed up and headed out.  We were one of the first wards done packing up, but one of the last to leave since the girls were busy serving others and helping get everything done!  They are such amazing girls!  Finally we got home - got stuff divided up and sent home with people and I headed back home where Dan was busy with Newell and Jacob building us a new fence!  They were getting posts in -  I took a shower and a nap before heading to the baptism of one of my girls from camp.  I was playing the piano.  It was beautiful!  After I headed home to an early bed time and slept for nearly 12 hours.  I woke up late the next morning and Dan and Newell and Jacob were hard at work on the fence.  Becky and the girls came over for a bit too - they hung out and had dinner with us.  Hopefully Dan will be able to get most of the fence done tomorrow since we leave Tuesday for the Jones Family Reunion!

Church today was great!  Eileen fasted with us - and while she was a bit grumpy, she did great!  Relief Society was wonderful as always and I think my lesson went well in Sunday School.  After church, we had a nice walk home, then had dinner once Dan got home.  We spent our evening, having fun together and enjoying the beautiful weather.  Eileen wanted to play Killer Bunnies during her hour up, Anna didn't want to play - she said she wanted to scrapbook, but then spent most of the time chatting with us and looking over our shoulders.  Now that we have 2 who get to stay up, the dynamic is changing, we will have to figure it out!

Home Sweet Home

We started home bright and early Monday morning, we made pretty good time and got home around 11 PM.  The kids were great as usual and we had a nice drive back.

We spent most of Tuesday recovering and unpacking and cleaning out the car.

Wednesday after Eileen got home from school, we packed lunches and headed to the water park.  The kids had fun - but they spent more time on the play ground than at the splash park part.  There was a large summer camp group, so the kids had plenty of kids to play with and they all had a great time.

Wednesday evening, we headed to the church building for activities.  The girls had Activity Days, Aaron had cub scouts, I had Young Women's and Dan had Young Men's and Evie and James ran around and had fun.  The kids and I rode bikes and then rode home again.  

Thursday we went for Piano lessons after Eileen was done with school and we had eaten lunch.  This will be the last lessons until August - travel schedules and vacation schedules aren't lining up.  

Friday, I picked up Eileen and Mallory from school so Mallory could babysit while Dan and I went to the temple.  We had a really nice time - though I'm still recovering from this silly cold and still a bit under the weather.  Then in the evening, we let Eileen babysit so Dan and I could go play D&D with Becca, Jeremiah and their friend Chris.  It was fun, but we got home late and poor Eileen was really tired... :(  

Saturday was crazy,  Dan left early to go hiking at Garden of the Gods with the Young Men and I got busy prepping for the baby shower.  Becca and Natasha came early to help set up and Eileen and Anna were big helps too.  The baby shower went well - we did the whole "decorating onesies" thing and it seemed to go really well and was a big hit.  They came out really cute and Eileen and Anna each did one too.  

After, I was so tired, that once Dan got home, I took a long nap.... And was still ready to call it a night pretty early.  

Today was great!  Church was wonderful, I got to substitute on the piano in primary during 3rd hour, which I love doing!  After was ward choir and then camp stuff.  Tomorrow is going to be long and exhausting!

Burnt Texas Toast

We kept ourselves pretty busy this week!  We went with Sandi and the cousins to the Dallas Zoo.   The kids had a blast riding the merry-go-round, 

Climbing and playing on every available surface, 

Feeding the birds - and holding them - and having them land on Aaron's head, 

And of course, playing in the water, seeing the animals, petting the goats and whining about the heat (well maybe not that last one...)

We had our friends the Tolberts come over to play and we walked over to the turtle pond to feed the turtles.  It was so good to see them again!  They were out of town last year and we weren't able to get to see them.  Weather wasn't really good for swimming, but it was perfect for a walk and chatting!

Wednesday night, we finally got to pick up Anna and Grandpa from the Airport.  Eileen came with me and practically jumped on Anna - it's so cute to see that she missed her sister!  Anna is still recovering from Jet Lag - she's been exhausted most nights and getting up early.

Thursday was our only real day for going to the lake.  Weekends are too busy and crazy and awful - so even though Anna was a bit tired and cranky, we headed out to the lake around 10 and stayed until 5 PM.  By the end of 7 hours in the sun - despite numerous applications of sunscreen, we were all burnt.  I got to do some wake boarding, the kids had a blast in the tube and Anna and Aaron even tried wake boarding.  Anna was able to get up and get going, but struggled with balance once she got there, Aaron was almost able to get up - but everyone else was exhausted and we didn't really have the time to give him a full lesson - we tried some more the next day in the pool.  After we got home from the lake, the kids all promptly jumped in the pool again....

Friday, the Tiltons came over to swim and play. We all had a blast (except for the sunburns - though that didn't stop them from wanting to get in the pool.  It was great to get to see and hang out with them again!  I don't miss the Texas heat, but I do miss out friends.  It's fun to watch friendships pick right up where they left off - I just wish we didn't have to leave off...  Evie has finally been wanting to take swim lessons from Grandpa and has made huge leaps forward in her swimming this year!  It was so exciting to watch her finally really start to get comfortable in the water!  

Saturday was nice and crazy busy.  The kids did some swimming and swim lessons in the morning, I did some errands to get ready for the trip home, and then we met up at a nail place to get pedicures.  The girls were really looking forward to this and had a blast (at least until they found that they had to wait for the adults to finish... :)  They still did a good job and had fun.  Kai was deemed old enough to come this year and she LOVED it - she was so cute sitting there pampered and adorable!  

After, Evie went with Sandi to have a sleep over along with James and Aaron and Sandi's kids, while Grandma, Grandpa, Eileen, Anna and I went to Medieval Times.  The girls really seemed to love it.  Eileen's favorite part was probably the Falconer - but she didn't remember to bring her glasses to Texas, so she borrowed mine and I wore my sunglasses.  It was a lot of fun though!  We all had a great time cheering - though Eileen and Anna both got scared during some of the fighting scenes.  

Sunday we went to my Dad's ward which was at 1PM - so before church, we had a bit brunch and a little birthday party for Kai and Anna/Father's Day for Grandpa.  Anna got a scooter and Kai got a cabbage patch doll with accessories.  We all had fun eating yummy cupcakes right after filling up on waffles, eggs, potatoes, and bacon... :)  Church was wonderful, though James didn't want to go to Primary.  The girls went up to sing with the primary and sang beautifully.  Then the kids went to primary, and James came with me, he actually did pretty good at being reverent and snuggly, though by the end he was getting a little more rambunctious and flirty with the ladies in Relief Society.  The lessons were wonderful and the kids made cute little things for Daddy.  We had fun, but I can't wait to get back home to Dan.  

Texas Toast

Monday we packed a lunch and headed to Dinosaur Ridge.  Most of the kids were complaining about the heat before long, so Claire took the kids and headed for the visitor's center and Elise and I did the whole walk.  I've wanted to do the whole thing for a while and was eager for the excuse.  We all had a good time and headed home tired, but happy.  After dinner, we had an evening of packing and playing games and then Evie said she was hurting, and it seemed bad enough that Dan took her in to the ER who ended up having to check for everything from kidney stones to appendicitis, only to find that it was nothing and sent them home around 3 AM.  

Tuesday morning, bright and early, we packed up the car, loaded up the kids and headed for Texas.  The trip was long, but the kids were good and Koopa did a great job travelling.  We arrived around 1 AM then unpacked the necessities and went to bed.  

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were mostly spent in the pool. Some of Saturday was also spent in the pool.  Sandi came over with Taz and Kai to play in the pool with us.  The kids have been having so much fun.  We've been lathering up with sunscreen, but we are still growing more tan every day.  

Today we went to our old Frisco ward for church.  It's always so fun seeing old friends.  It was nice getting to go to Gospel Doctrine this week - I love getting to study and learn about the scriptures - as awesome as teaching youth Sunday school class, it was a nice little break.  We spent the afternoon playing games and having fun together.

Summer!

The beginning of this week was mostly not too crazy.  We've gotten enough rain that I had to mow the lawn twice this week.  Monday was the usual laundry and grocery shopping, The kids played at home and we took it pretty easy.  In the evening, I took Eileen with me to go pick out stuff for the car trip at the dollar store.  She had fun helping to pick stuff and then filling the car carriers.  Evie spent the rest of the week telling me how she couldn't wait to go to to Texas, and James kept telling me that he wanted his "surprise"

Tuesday was the usual summer crazies.  The kids practicing piano, playing outside and having fun together.  Dan and I also spent some time getting stuff ready for the Youth Activity.

Wednesday Eileen started Summer Math class.  It's really strange not having her around during the mornings - and I just think it's awesome that she is choosing to do this. After, we got the house cleaned up and kids got their piano practicing done and such.  In the evening, we had the Youth Activity at our house, we played games, practiced building fires and built a real fire to roast marshmallows and made s'mores.  I think the activity went well.

Thursday was piano lessons,  we headed over after Eileen's math class, then after lessons, we hung out and played so Rose and Evie could have a play date together.  They still weren't happy because all the other kids were there too, but oh well - you can't have everything.  :)  The kids had a ton of fun playing together, then we headed home for dinner and fun, then I headed out for institute.  Class went really well - I was teaching for Sarah and got to talk about some really awesome parts of the OT.

Friday morning after Eileen's class, we headed to the used book sale.  We all had fun combing the stacks and finding treasures.  Now we just need to figure out where we will put another book shelf...

Saturday was mostly spent doing house work and getting things ready for our trip to Texas.  We did laundry, packed up the kids clothes and cleaned out the car.

Sunday we had a great day at church, then after church, Claire and the kids arrived from Wyoming to spend a day with us.  We had fun eating dinner and playing games and hanging out together.  I had fun getting my hair done :)