More reunion pictures

I just laugh out loud when I see these pictures, especially the bottom one where Jeff is flying off the bench. Ha! And, just to let you know I was barely tickling him. If you look at Justin, his older brother, you can see him really digging in.

2 family reunions and a partridge in a pear tree

We had a reunion for my side of the family at Island Park this year. We just recently started having reunions for our immediate family (my parents, my siblings and all of our kids). We usually have the huge extended family reunion every two years and in between those years, my parents come up with something fun for us. So, this year they rented a cabin which was right along the river. I was quite nervous that a child would sneak away from us and want to go swimming without the aid of a life jacket. So, after much prayer, I was able to relax a little. It is kind of funny that everything in my life right now is going in the right direction (we've been so blessed), and for some reason it makes me feel like something bad will happen. It can't all be this great, right? Until I have another trial, I will continue to be a worry wart I guess. Anyway, got off track there...the cabin was way cute, food was great and the water was refreshing. My parents took the kids on hikes, shared family history stories, played games with the kids etc., It was a relaxing vacation for me, except for the worrying part. We also rented jet skiis for a day and we had a blast driving them up and down the river. Jeff and I had a lot of time together, which is unusual for us. We (I, mainly) enjoyed beating Jeff at SLAP everytime we played. What can I say, other than that my Dad raised me on that game and Jeff had never played it before. Now, he knows how I feel when he beats me at Stratego all the time. Ha! Anyway, you know how much I love taking pictures and it was so difficult to pick just a few...enjoy!







Just to prove that I did in fact join in all the activities and that I wasn't behind my camera the whole time! Jeff and I got some quality jet ski time and it was way fun.

Ahh...here we all are. Don't look too close, this was taken after a day of jet skiing...we all look about worn out.

We tried our hardest to get a nice shot of all the grandkids with my parents and this is the best one. You can actually see Misty's hand on Case trying to make him stay.

So, this year we had Jeff's family reunion at our house. You can now call me crazy! I admit it, when I signed up for this I really had no idea how stressful it would be. But, when it was all said and done I realized that everything worked out and I had no reason to stress.

One thing that I've learned about Jeff's family is that they like to be active at all times. One way we filled in the down time (besides hours of Rock Band) was a game called British Bulldog. You stand in a row, someone who is in the middle yells "British Bulldog" and you try to get to the other side without getting tagged. If you do get tagged you stand in the middle until everyone eventually gets tagged. It was a lot of fun, especially since the kids could join us. Kamryn is super fast!

We went to Hagerman one day during the reunion and spent the day at the fish hatcheries, museum, eating ice cream and geo caching. This part of Idaho is so beautiful and I never would have seen some of its hidden beauty if it weren't for geo caching. I think Jeff and I will definitely pick up this hobby one of these days.




We also took the whole family to the Twin Falls, Idaho Temple open house.


My sis-in-law is so creative! I asked her to come up with a craft for all of the kids to do and she went above and beyond. They made lei's out of straws and tissue paper (didn't get a picture of the final product, unfortunately) and they made baskets out of ribbon and plastic cups. The kids had a lot of fun.

Jeff and I were able to rent out our local pool for the afternoon and it was so much fun to have the whole thing to ourselves. I would post more pictures, but I doubt anyone wants to be seen web wide in a swim suit.

Then we were able to visit the beautiful Shoshone Falls. It was such a hot day that most of the women/kids sat under a shaded tree while the men and Ash, WAMS and my Kammi went geo caching...again.

Temple Usher, Bushka's and revised, cheap aqua dots

I understand the following paragraph might be confusing to some of you. If you have any questions about any terminology that I have used, or wonder what a temple is...please visit lds.org to find out. They explain it better than I ever would.

We have a brand new temple in Twin Falls, Idaho and before it is dedicated it is open to the public for free tours throughout the inside of the building. A lot of members of the church around the area volunteer to help where they are needed...and believe me when I say a lot of help is needed. Jeff and I had the privilege to be temple ushers. We made sure people on the tours stayed on path. We arrived at 7 a.m. and were taught our assignments. Before our assignment, I leaned over to Jeff and stated that if I were to choose my position it would either be in the celestial room or the sealing room. I was so happy when I got the celestial room...3 hours of heaven. (Jeff pushed people in wheelchairs.)The room itself is so beautiful and peaceful. It was completely silent the whole time because it is recommended during the tour that you reflect on your relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus and that you refrain from speaking while in this room. I guided the tours in and out and watched both members of our faith and others who do not share our beliefs get teary eyed because of the sweet spirit that was felt in that room...and it hasn't even been dedicated yet. I thoroughly enjoyed every second. When I had free time in between the tours, my thoughts would turn to my family and friends who are currently struggling with life. My prayers go out to you! I do get to volunteer again on August 2, maybe I will get the sealing room this time...fingers are crossed!

I was happy to be reunited with my girls after being away from them for 4 hours. I missed them so much. However, it is always nice to know that they are in good hands with a trusted friend. You know you have an awesome babysitter when she makes two babushka pillows for the girls(don't know if I spelled that right). Thanks Emily for spoiling them. Kam sleeps with her bushka every night now!

I promise, this isn't an old photo. Kamryn just really likes wearing her footie pajamas from Christmas 2 years ago. She is too adorable. So, this morning we woke up early (before London) just so that we could spend one on one time together. We had so much fun together! Do you remember those aqua dots that came out during Christmas? Well, I thought they looked so much fun and I knew I wanted to get one for K, but then some kids started swallowing the dots and it made them sick...aqua dots were pulled from the shelves...how sad. That is until I found a cheaper version of aqua dots at IKEA. I spent a total of $8 ($6 for the beads and $2 for the plaques)and Kamryn and I had 2 hours of fun making beaded messes and designs. All you do is place the pretty colored beads in any design you want on the plaques and then press them with your iron, they melt together and then you get a mass of gooey plastic fun. Honestly, it was a lot more fun than it sounds. We barely made a dent in our bead bin and their is many more beaded messes to be made.

Emily tagged me...enjoy!

What I was doing 10 years ago...
I was preparing to leave on my mission to Temple Square in Utah. (Has it been that long already?)

What is on my to-do list...
1. Clean the house! (a future post will explain this more)
2. Update my blog.
3. Play with my kids.

What are 3 habits of mine?
Good or bad, you be the judge...
1. Drink too much soda.
2. Try too hard to please everyone.
3. Play with my kids over housework EVERYDAY!

Things that you might not know about me...
1. I was once a millionaire.
2. I have to be doing something with my kids ALL of the time, or I feel guilty.
3. I cry when I see road kill.

4 TV shows/Movies that I love...
We don't have TV, but have rented a few that I like...
1. CSI's
2. Lost
3. Alias
4. 24

4 jobs that I have had...
1. Mom
2. Babysitter
3. Pea Peeler
4. ?

4 Favorite books that I've read...
1. BofM
2. Bible
3. D &C
4. PofGP
In addition, I enjoy the Maximum Ride series by James Patterson and of course the Twilight series. I Love Edward!

5 Places that I've lived...
1. Wyoming
2. Utah
3. Washington
4. Oregon
5. Arkansas

5 favorite foods
1. Pickles
2. Just the seasoning on Cool Ranch Doritos
3. Mexican
4. Olives
5. Cheese

Memories

I saw this on my friend's blog and had fun with it...

Here is a fun little game... leave a comment on my blog of a memory that you and I have had together. It doesn't matter if you've known me for a short time or a long time, anything that you remember! Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It is pretty funny to read the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you are playing and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. On your mark... get set... blog those memories!

Emergency Preparedness

One of my favorite summer activities is canning. Their are very few things that are more satisfying than working hours in your kitchen preserving food in jars. I love the process, then seeing my work finished and I love counting the jars and figuring out exactly how much money I saved by doing it. I also love feeling the peace that I have knowing I am doing what I can to prepare my little family for emergencies.

We just bought 5 gallons worth of strawberries for $20 and I made several quarts of freezer jam. I think we are stocked up for awhile since we really only use jam on PB & J sandwiches. I have a friend in our ward who just happens to be the emergency preparedness guru. She gave me several ideas of what to do with my extra strawberries. I am really interested in recipes that use my food storage and she has passed on these (if you have any extra, please e-mail them to me).

Granola
Mix:
4 cups regular oats
4 cups quick oats
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 T. Cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 flaked coconut
1/2 cup powdered milk

1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 T. Water
Melt wet ingredients in microwave 1 min; stir halfway through. Pour over dry mixture mix. Pour into two shallow baking pans and bake until lightly toasted, for chewy granola 15 minutes, for crunchy 25-30 minutes (300 degrees). Add dried cranberries or raisins...eat plain or in milk.

Cake Mix Cookies
Mix:
1 box cake mix
2 eggs (dehydrated eggs or knox gelatin works too)
1/2 cup oil

Spoon by teaspoon on cookie sheet, bake 8 minutes (golden brown edges) at 350 degrees. (I haven't tried these yet)

4th of July

What better way to tell about our 4th of July than through pictures.

Homemade skirts made in a flash! If you look closely you can see the bottom of Kamryn's skirt has upside down fireworks. Oh well...they still looked adorable. And, both girls picked out their own fabric even!

Melanie started putting tattoo's on Kamryn when she was a toddler. Now everytime we get together Kamryn always asks Melanie for a tattoo. I am sure Melanie wasn't expecting this tradition to stick, but it did and thankfully Melanie is okay with it. Now London gets in on the action. I actually think it is kind of cool and wish I had something special like this to do with my nieces and nephews. Suggestions welcome!



Jeff playing with Katherine. Thanks Ash for taking such a cute picture!

The girls helped Grandma make homemade ice cream.

Jeff's younger brother Jamie, Malorie, Jamison (2 1/2), Becca (15 months). Malorie is 10 weeks pregnant.

Jeff's younger sister Melanie, Spencer, Kimberley (age almost 3) and Katherine (almost 1).




Scared of a sparkler...wrong. Bah (Becca) is fearless. We didn't figure this out until after the picture was taken, but she stepped on a used part of the sparker and is now sporting a pretty large blister on the bottom of her foot. Poor girl! Though, I do have to mention that she is one tough cookie...after a few minutes she settled right down. London once got a very small paper cut that required several bandaides and she cried for a few hours. Even the day after when she reminded me about the paper cut, she started crying again.


Spaghetti Eis...if you've never heard of it before, join the club. Luckily I have in-laws that have traveled/lived in Europe extensively and have raved about how yummy spaghetti eis is. And, of course I believed them because 1. It just sounds yummy and 2. They were right on when they said that London has the BEST chocolate EVER. I don't plan on traveling to Europe anytime soon (unfortunately), but luckily a new little ice cream shop opened at the mall where my in-laws live and they have spaghetti eis. Spaghetti Eis is gelato (rich ice cream) that is squeezed out of some contraption making it look like spaghetti on a plate. It is topped with shaved white chocolate and a raspberry sauce. Can I just say...mmm, mmm, good. It was yummy even though it was "americanized". I could have used more raspberry sauce, but I can't complain. It was way worth the extra 3 pounds that I gained because of it (amongst other things I ate over the weekend...Jeff's sister Melanie is a GREAT cook).

Summer has been so much fun so far, hence my lack of blogging. I am sure once the snow comes we will be tied up indoors and you will hear much more from me (as if any of you were worried). Last week I was able to take the kids to see my family while Jeff was away on a business trip to Iowa. It was such a nice visit. I had a lot on my mind and it was nice to be able to have some quiet time to just think about things. Kamryn and London both had a ton of fun playing with cousins outside in the water the WHOLE time.