And more family....

I thought that things would go a little back to normal this week, but things turned out much differently than I planned! Jayd was going to scout camp for the week, so I was down one kid. I had scheduled for my nephew, Benjamin, to come and spend a few days with us. To my delight, my sister, her husband, and 18 month old son, Collin, decided to join us also. Once again, I had a full house and lots of fun. My sister spent a lot of time with the kids while her husband and I tried to decipher and complete his chemistry class. It worked out wonderfully for all of us. The kids enjoyed going to the park, riding their bikes, swimming and going to the movies. They had so much fun playing together. I am glad that they all came to stay with us for the week.

Gabe's Baptism

We have been fairly busy for the last couple of weeks. We spent a week at Yosemite with our good friends, the Buscos. Then we spent a week on Balboa Island surrounded by family. But the most pivotal event of the past two weeks was very special. Gabe, my youngest child, was baptized.Gabe was so excited for his baptism. He was baptized with his friend, Nathan Jessop, early on Saturday morning. It was a great event. Maddie spoke about baptism. She gave a great talk that was carefully conscripted for her young audience. My mother, sister, brother-in-law, and I sang a camp song, Come to the Waters. Gabe had heard me sing it while camping the week before and requested it for the baptism. We threw it together minutes before the baptism, but it turned out quite well. It was a great day with lots of family and friends. I am grateful that all of my children have made the decision to be baptized. I hope that they will continue to grow in the gospel for the rest of their lives.

The Eagle has been cleaned and....painted?

Last Saturday we began physically working on Jayd's Eagle Project. We have been planning the project for the last 3 months. The time was here, either we did it now, or wait out the summer until the schools opened for the fall.
He wanted to do a project for his elementary school. After talking with the principal, we found a suitable project repainting the handball backboards. The PTA agreed to provide the funding and we supplied planning and volunteer labor.
One Saturday, we had a crew come to clean the boards. There were several years of dirt and grime had accumulated on the boards and a good scrubbing was needed. We were pleasantly pleased that this stage of the project went much faster than we anticipated.
On Monday, Houston Keathley came to help us replace two of the 4 by 8 panels. After we had pulled of the panels being replaced, we found several notes written on the inside. They were from Houston's son, Robert and his friends written when he did his eagle project nearly 20 years ago. We were delighted when we found Houston's signature from 19 years ago! We added our own signatures (Houston wrote that he hoped to be back in another 20 years), then sealed them up for another Eagle Scout to find someday.
Tuesday was the big painting day. It took us a little while to get started, but once we were started, the paint rollers started to fly and the paint went on fast. I was trying to paint the sides, but I could hardly keep up with them. We had just the right amount of paint and the whole project went relatively smoothly.
Jayd did a great job of leading the project. The boards turned out fantastic. It was a fun project, but I must admit, I feel very relieved that it is done!

Day Camp Everyday

We spent the week at Cub Scout Day Camp. It was so much fun!!My sister called me on Tuesday, and I told her that I was at Day Camp. She called me again on Wednesday and I said that I was at Day Camp. She was very confused, she said, "I thought you went to Day Camp yesterday!!" So I explained to her that it is a week long Scout camp. The reason it is called "Day" camp is because we go to our own homes to spend the night. There is really no camping involved at all. So really, it is like you are on vacation, you do fun activities all day, and come home so exhausted that you only have enough energy to watch TV for the rest of the day.
Gabe was our cub scout this year, he went as a Wolf. Allie was thrilled to be with the girls and one cute 5 year old boy in the sibling den. Maddie and Jayd were youth volunteers. Jayd was a little worried about all the work he had to do, but I think he managed to have plenty of fun. I was a den leader. I didn't know many of the boys in my den, but they turned out to be a great group of happy boys. They had plenty of fun activities for us to do. We sent off bottle rockets, climbed a rock wall, shot with bows and arrows, and even found some time to shoot a few rounds of BB guns. We played flag football, and ultimate frisbee. We learned to do the HAKA, a New Zealand Warrior dance. We made crafts and even cooked smores with the sun. It was busy, tiring, and exciting week to kick off our summer fun.

Graduation Day!

This week Jayd graduated from Middle School. He is not very excited to graduate. He has enjoyed being on top of the heap as an 8th grader and is not looking forward to the prospect of sinking back into the depths of lowliness as a freshman. I think he is also a little intimidated. But time doesn't stop it's relentless march forward despite our desires for it to do so. So he graduated, and will move on. After graduation, he found one friend, we took one picture, then we were done, he was ready to leave. We went to In and Out Burgers for lunch, then went home and watched movies and ate ice cream and m & m's. Jayd excitedly commented, "Wow, if this is what I get for 8th grade graduation, I can't wait to see what I get for graduating from highschool!"

A June Wedding in New York

Last Weekend we travelled to upstate New York for my sister's wedding. It is always amazing to me that we can travel so far so quickly. I woke up in California, and went to bed 3,000 miles away in New York. Maddie and Jayd weren't able to come due to issues with school, so it was just the four of us. We had a great time. On Friday, we went to Niagara Falls with my sister, Krissy and her family. Saturday was monopolized by the wedding, although Jeff and I did find some time to sneak away and attend the Palmyra temple. Allie was a flower girl at the wedding, along with her two cousins, Ella and Eliza. It was her job to make sure that they went down the aisle. She took to the job readily, she just loves her little cousins! After an early morning downpour, the weather cleared and the wedding was a nice garden celebration. The party afterward was fabulous with lots of food and dancing. Allie was the dancing queen, dragging everyone she knew onto the dance floor! We stayed until midnight, which worried some of the guests with our little kids, but we figured, what the heck, it was only 9:00 in California! On Sunday, we headed out to Palmyra with the family. It was very fun to see the church history sights again with my family. We had a lot of fun chasing the little ones around, and hearing the tours from a different missionary. We were grateful to be able to visit these sacred sights again. It was a quick trip, but we had a great time seeing all of my family again. I think the best part was having hotel rooms next to each other, we just wandered from room to room chatting, talking and being together.

the City House

Allie is my creative genius. She is always engaged in a project, most often involving tape. We find evidence of her active imagination everywhere we go. For instance, the other day, our house was converted into an entire city. We found "signs" posted all over the house denoting the function of each room in the "city". There was a note on the front door describing the world that visitors were about to enter. She was very creative with her assignments. Here are her transformations:

Living Room = Church
Kitchen = Restaurant
Family Room = Park
Computer Room = Lab
Hallway = Road
Mom and Dad's Room = Governor's house
Allie and Maddie's Room = Gum Factory
Jayd and Gabe's Room = Baseball Field
Bathroom = Apartment
The factory also had a working gum making machine which was later moved to the park when it became too big for operations in the room. It is pictured above. The mess that accompanies all of Allie's projects is often astounding, but I just keep trying to enjoy the ride, love her imagination for what it is, and remember that someday it will be gone, and I will be sad.