Exciting video games?

Sunday, August 11

This was MJ after church one day:

Garden harvests

This year our garden was so-so.  Not our best year but also not our worst year.  We ended up getting a TON of tomatoes this year and a surprise success for us was our first large watermelons!  When I was planting the garden I bought a few watermelon plants to try and I thought that I had bought all the same ones.  Well, after the different plants started growing and the watermelons started appearing, I was confused on why two of the plants were putting out much smaller, dark green skinned watermelons without the typical stripes on them.  At one point one of the plants died after a large wind storm that pulled it from the ground.  So I decided to pick the watermelons from the plant and try cutting into one of them.  I was surprised that it was a very nice pink color inside and had a fairly sweet taste.  The only downside to it was that it had a TON of seeds that took forever to pick out!  After looking at my watermelon plants once again I noticed that I still had the plant labels in the ground near the plants and discovered that the smaller watermelons were actually "Sugar Baby" watermelons and they are a round fruit that only weights 8-10 pounds.

Two of our Sugar Baby watermelons

The first watermelon cut open

One of the biggest, most perfect looking tomatoes that we have ever grown!

Sugar Baby watermelon #2

Beautiful sunset??

Sunday, August 11

After church on Sunday I took some of the kids for a walk around the neighborhood.  While we were walking towards the west we saw what we thought at first was a beautiful sunset over the mountains.  Then we realized that it was actually from a wildfire on the other side of the mountains.  In a couple of the pictures we thought we could actually see some flames - although after reading how far the fire actually was from us I am not so sure.  The sky definitely looked beautiful and a little eerie.

Mother's Day flower

For Mother's Day this year, Kitty painted a flower pot in her school class and then they planted some seeds in the pot.  They were apparently just a bunch of random flower seeds so we were curious what would grow from it.  I kept it in the house until it started getting big enough and then I transplanted them outside.  Kitty helped me water them while they were outside and would check on them almost every day.  Two of the seeds ended up being marigold flowers and another one grew into a super tall stalk with a beautiful pink flower on the end of it.  Here are some pictures I took of it in August:

M&M turns 15!

Saturday, August 3

Since M&M was at YW camp on her birthday once again this year, we had a family celebration for her on Saturday.  It's hard to believe that in another year she will be old enough to date and possibly even drive (if she completes her YW personal progress).  She has finally grown some more and looks more average size for someone her age!  I think she is about 5' 2" now.

Yummy ice cream cake with chocolate, vanilla and mint layers!

Kay goes to Kindergarten!

Friday, August 2

So with the wonderful year-round school for the elementary students, in order to get in the required number of school days, they sometimes start school at odd times.  That is why for Kitty and Blondie, school started on a Thursday and for the kindergartners, they got to start school on a Friday...  This just seemed super silly to me, especially since Fridays are short days in our school district.  So the full-day elementary kids get out two hours early, which means that the kindergartners that only go for a half-day get to go to school for a full two hours on Fridays...

So, Kay was super, super excited to start kindergarten and has been talking about it since she turned 5 in April.  She was up and ready super early and was really excited to go and line up for the school bus. After she got on the bus I drove over to the school to meet her and make sure she knew where to line up.  Then the teacher came out and got the class and they all waved good-bye to us.

Posing for a picture with her sisters (it was very bright that morning).

Riding the bus for the first time!  The bus driver had her turn around for a picture.

Lining up with her class!

Still smiling when she got off the bus after school!

YW Camp

July 29-Aug 2

It turned out nice that I was going up to YW camp a day late because two girls from our ward were sick with a stomach flu and weren't able to leave on Monday so they came up with me on Tuesday.  Tuesday was going to be their big hike so I wanted to make it up there in time for that.  It was about an hour and a half drive so we left around 8:00 in the morning.  Our ward went to Heber Valley Campground this year which is a beautiful church-owned YW camp located in the mountains east of Heber.  It has cabins with bunks for sleeping on and awesome pavilions for activities and eating.  Plus a lot of food prep facilities which was really nice too.  There were also flush toilets and showers which are always a plus.

So I arrived Tuesday morning (M&M's birthday) in time for the hike.  We went on the hike and then had some activities later that day.  I ended up not feeling well right around dinner time so I had to lay down for a little bit.  I'm not sure if it was some altitude sickness, dehydration or just general tiredness from the hiking and getting up early that morning.  After laying down for a bit though I felt fine and was fine the rest of my time there.

Wednesday morning we did some service for the camp area.  Some of the girls helped with some wood stacking (the priesthood leaders did the chopping) while the rest of the girls went around cleaning the cabins inside and out.  After lunch we went to an activity course that involved some games of trust and cooperation and a giant rope swing.  The girls were split up into smaller groups and rotated between the different stations.

Thursday morning we hiked down to the lake and went canoeing.  That was a lot of fun!  I left that evening after dinner so that I wouldn't get back too late.  Kay's first day of kindergarten was Friday morning and I wanted to be back in time for that.  After I left the girls had a testimony meeting and then they packed up and left Friday morning.  I'm glad that I was able to go for most of the camp.  It was neat being able to be there with M&M and the other girls and leaders from our ward!

A moose with a baby that we saw from the trail while hiking

A game of partner tag - which was incredibly slippery on the gravel.

These were some cooperation & trust activities that the girls had to work on together.

On this rope one the girls have a partner and they slowly inch their way down the rope as it gets farther apart.  Supposedly if you really trust your partner you can continue to lean on each other until you reach the other side which is very far apart.  I think that M&M and her partner got pretty close to the farthest with the ones that I saw.

M&M waiting for her turn on the rope swing.  She was not looking forward to it being her turn and I could tell as I was watching her sitting there.

M&M on the rope swing.  I wish that I had taken video of her on the swing instead of pictures.  One of the workers at the rope swing was rating the girls on their screams as they went on the swing and he gave M&M a '10' because she screamed so loud and was absolutely terrified to go on the swing!  I'm proud of her that she went through with it!  The leaders were also given a chance to go and it was a lot of fun.  A little scary because they lift you so high, but definitely an adrenaline rush when they let you go.

M&M with the two girls that she canoed with.

M&M's canoe leaving the shore.

A picture of all of the YW after we went canoeing.  One boat capsized so a couple of the girls were soaked.

One of the many deer encounters while we were there.  The deer would just wander through the camp areas anytime of day.

A picture of the camp area as I was leaving.  It was a beautiful sight from up above the evening that I left.

First day of school - Kitty & Blondie

Monday, July 29

Blondie and Kitty missed the first two days of school because of the N family reunion.  Blondie in particular was very stressed out on her first day because of that.  I know that they were not the only ones that were in that position and we have had both of their teachers before and I had contacted them beforehand so I wasn't too concerned for them.  I had the girls take the bus to school and then I drove over there and met them and helped them find where their classes line up.  I even ran into both of the teachers and we talked briefly.  Blondie is in 5th grade this year and has the same teacher that Luke had.  She is a really nice teacher and I really like her.  Kitty is in the 3rd grade and has the same teacher that M&M and Blondie had.  She is a super, super nice teacher and I am excited to have Kitty in her class.  (Her husband was also M&M's soccer coach for a season.)

Monday was also crazy because M&M left for YW camp and I took Kay into school to meet her kindergarten teacher and have some testing done.  She is super excited to start kindergarten and meet new kids!  Because of the younger kids starting school I decided to go up to YW camp a day later and I will only be staying for 2 nights because Kay's first day of school is Friday.

MJ's birthday part 2

Saturday, July 28

On Saturday we went to my parents' house for a little birthday celebration for MJ and my dad.  She got a cute little puppy that barks and walks.  She loves it - especially since this is the closest thing to a pet dog that she will get anytime soon!

Saturday was also filled with a lot of laundry and shopping to get everyone ready for the next week!

Leaving Mossyrock

Friday, July 26

We had to leave early Friday morning to start our drive for home.  It was a little bitter sweet.  We had a great time but it was time for us to go.  Unfortunately for everyone else we had to leave most of the cleaning to them with our long drive ahead of us.  We really needed to get home because by this point Blondie and Kitty had already missed their first two days of school and M&M and I needed to get back for YW camp the following Monday!

While we were driving on some windy roads to get to the main interstates, we came across a beautiful viewpoint of Mt. Rainier so DH and I got out to take some pictures:

Luke took this picture for us

And here is a family shot that DH's brother took for us while we were at Mossyrock that I forgot to post yesterday:

MJ talk

Smashed potatoes - what MJ calls mashed potatoes

My mom has some special dolls that she keeps in a glass case and only allows the girls to play with them when they are older and more responsible.  This is hard for Kay and MJ because they would love to be able to play with them.  One day DH was looking at MJ and just reflecting on how big she is getting so he said to her, "You're getting so big!  What are you going to do when you grow up?"  To which MJ responded, "Play with Grandma's dolls."

Grandma Games

Thursday, July 25

We stayed around the cabin on Thursday and played games together and just had fun hanging out together.  And sometime during the week we also tie-dyed some shirts but I can't remember if it was Tuesday or Wednesday that we did them!

And here are some lessons that we learned this day:
1.  It's hard planning games when you have a wide range of ages.
2.  Beware squirt gun toting girls wearing tutus and shoes on the wrong feet.
3.  If you can't hit something from far away, get as close as you can and the game goes much better.
4.  Mint flavored dental floss and cherries do not go well together.
5.  Kids of all ages love squirt guns!
6.  Hobo eclairs are YUMMY!
7.  When all else fails, improvise!
8.  A hot tub with jets and lights is really "cool" at night.

And now for the pictures: