Cousin Camp 2010

Remember a few months ago when I posted "Visions of Cousin Camp Danced in My Head". Well, last week visions of cousin camp danced right in my living room with the help of my sister Heidi and Grandma Gerri. We really had so much fun. Who wouldn't with 15 kids between the ages of 7 and 11, wink wink. They were so well behaved. I am just hoping they had as much fun as I did. Here are a few pictures to show you some of the things we did. They are kind of in random order, but here are some of my favorites!


Feeding 15 hungry kids turned out to be no small chore! In this picture they are making fruit kabobs.


Tyler and the other boys had fun hanging out on the bikes and ripsticks.


One tired grandma and must I add, a very good sport!


We did sand art, they made bracelets, little castles and necklaces.


We also made candy lei's. I am not sure any of them got home, but it sure was yummy!


These kids have the best parents EVER, they are reading letters that their parents left for them.



The girls tied water balloons on their flip flops and had manicures and pedicures, yes, they loved it!


It is amazing that these four girls survived those eleven boys!


All dressed up after the relay races because it was so fun!


The water slide was the best attraction!


Josh on the climbing wall at the park. We visited a couple of parks and even ate breakfast at this park. We did a scavenger hunt here, played soccer, and frisbee.


All the kids at the Air Force Museum, we even got to go into one of the helicopters!


Roasting marshmallows for smores was a huge hit. It was a momentous occasion, that is the day Levi invented the "Rake Roaster". We cleaned off a rake and roasted 7 at one time. It was brilliant!


We went to see "Diary of a Wimpy Kid".


For the talent show, Nick rode his unicycle.



Kate did gymnastics for her talent. We had some other interesting talents such as creations, artwork, musical solos, paper airplane demos, and a personal favorite ... whip cracking!!! Yes, not everyone can do this you know!


We decorated pillowcases and they did a great job.


At the Castle Park there was a stream down below and of course the boys wanted to go check things out!

These are just a few of the memories we made last week. One of the other favorite moments that I don't have a picture for is our visit to Grandma Sandalls. The kids asked her how she survived as a little girl without game systems and tv's, somehow she managed! Thanks to all the great parents of these kids, I couldn't have cousin camp without them!

My Bountiful Baskets....

Someone in my ward told me about Bountiful Baskets. It is a produce co-op. You purchase online and choose a location to pick up at. There are locations all over Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, and Washington. This is what was in my basket today. There were 6 ears of corn, 2 large tomatoes, 1 bunch of bananas, 1 romaine lettuce, 10 little heads bok choy (I have no idea what to do with them), 1 small carton blackberries, 1 honeydew, 8 gala apples, 1 bag grapes, 6 potatoes, 4 red peppers and 8 small peaches. An amazing value for just $15.00 plus a $1.50 handling fee. It is so simple and delicious.

*When you get something you don't know what to do with get on Bountiful Baskets and people post recipes for unusual things.

Passions....

When I think of each of my kids sometimes I have a certain image in my mind. I was going through some pictures the other day and I thought I would share some of my favs!

Kimball is has found a passion in running. He ran cross country last year and did track long distance this year. He has already ran two 5K's this spring and has a couple more he is looking forward to. He is a great long distance runner!



Nick, the candy man! Everyone in our family knows about his love for candy, treats, cookies, well lets just say anything with sugar in it! (I secretly share his love and its hard to say no when he begs to bake something even if I know I will probably eat the whole batch all by myself.)



Kate, loves people and more specifically family. This picture just reminds me how intently she loves to talk and listen to what people have to say. She is a very genuine person.



Sophia recently learned how to ride her bike without training wheels, she rides it wrecklessly whenever there is a chance. I must say this is her passion right now!



Hope has become our little singer. She loves to sing Little Mermaid, Princess and the Frog, and other somewhat inappropriate songs for a two year old that she hears on the radio. In this pic she has adapted the meraca as her microphone!



What can I say, I love these kids!!!

Mother's Day...

Well, I must admit that this is not my favorite holiday. I do love that my kids like to make a big deal out of it though. Kate made 3 cards for me throughout the day. She told me she just can't stop thinking about what a good mom I am! What more can I ask for. I love that Kimball secretly sent me a note and reassured me that he does think that I do the things I do because I DO love him. This really made me smile. Of course Hopes telling me "Happy Mother's Day" is just cute as can be. Sophia gave lots of hugs and I had to chase down Nick to give him lots of mommy loves! Mark's yummy dinner, flowers, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and Granny B cookies, what more could I ask for. I have the best husband EVER!

Life is interesting, since my mom has passed away I find myself still trying to do things that I know would make her proud. I try to support my kids in all their activities and have the other kids support them as well. This was very important to my mom when we were kids. We went to everything of each others, dance recitals, piano recitals, soccer games, baseball games, everything. I have since realized what a priority it must have been to my mom because I find myself not wanted to drag everyone along when they really could stay home.

My mom was really big on visiting teaching and I have to recommit myself each month because it is not something that I love to do. I love to visit with the ladies, but the coordinating of schedules sometimes makes me a little crazy. But when I think of my mom I know she would be disappointed to know that I am not as faithful in this as I should be.

My mom was all about family! I know that she loved me and that she always will. I hope that I am being that daughter that she hoped I would become. I love you Mom!

46:10

Oh yeah baby, that is my time for the 5K I ran or should I say ran, then walked, and then hobbled, and then ran to the finish line. Even though I am not a runner, (in fact, I really hate to run) this is something I have wanted to do for a long time. I praise all my friends who valiantly run races and kick butt! This all started because Kimball ran the Knights 5K for his school last year and he wanted us to join him this year. Well, this year he talked us in to signing up. Kimball ran it in 21:16, Nick came in at 27:46, and I came in at 46:10. I had told Kimball that if the clock passed 45:00 and I wasn't there yet to come looking for me. Just as I was rounding the last corner I saw him coming! He encouraged me to run to the finish line and he even ran with me. I must say I felt an ounce of achievement (seriously the time doesn't mean anything does it)!

One Year Ago....

*One year ago, we left our home of 9 years and began a new adventure.
*One year ago, we left some of the best people we have ever known and have had to make new friends (who are also great people).
*One year later, we still look for reasons to go back and visit those old friends of ours.
*One year ago, we were sitting in our basement after it was empty talking about our best times in that house, and there were many!
*One year later, we still are grateful for all the times we spent sitting on the green box visiting with neighbors and all those passers by.
*One year ago, we didn't have a basement finished and now we do Yeah!
*One year ago, we were up to our eyeballs in boxes.
*One year later, many of those same boxes that have not been unpacked! (Perhaps we can get rid of some of it!)
*One year ago, we discovered the Krispy Kreme donut place not to far from us!
*One year later, we are trying to get rid of those unwanted Krispy Kreme pounds! (Ironically, Mark came home with Krispy Kreme donuts to celebrate our 1 year anniversary in this house!)
*One year ago, Mark was released from his calling of bishop.
*One year later, I am amazed that we made it through close to 6 years of a very busy life!
*One year ago, I was relieved to be released from being the Cubmaster. (I don't like being in front of people.)
*One year later, I am the second counselor in Relief Society. (Maybe after all being in front of a bunch of kids was better than adults.)

How grateful I am for the changes in life. Thank heavens that Heavenly Father knows best because it was hard to leave. One year ago we were sad, today we are grateful for everything we left behind and everything that now lies ahead.

Happy 11th Birthday

I think we are one of the luckiest families EVER!! We have a Nick, everyone should have a Nick. Nick is a fun, loving, happy, excitable, friendly, and a helpful boy. He is very tender at times, this is a very endearing quality. This is one of my favorite pictures of Nick, even though it is a couple of years old, this is how I think I will always remember Nick. Those big brown eyes have melted our hearts many times. Thanks Nick for being a great son, one that we love with all our hearts!!!