Camping with Friends

We took two families with us camping up at Farish on Monday night. It was a lot of fun for everyone. The kids had a blast roaming the area with their friends. PC's work changed his schedule, so he ended up having to work that day but made it up to the campsite before 5:30 that evening. We got the tents all set up and then rented some paddle boats for an hour. The clouds were rolling in and we wanted to get out on the lake before it rained. We did get a little rain while out there, but it was nice. 

 It felt like a really quick trip and we kept everything simple, but we had a great time!

Rosie turns 1

I can't believe how fast the past year has gone. Our sweet little baby turned 1. She brings such joy into our home. She loves babies and makes kissy sounds whenever she sees a baby. She loves bracelets as well, so we got her a few for her birthday. She loved her chocolate cupcake too! She has so much personality and loves to laugh and be the star of the show! Happy Birthday, sweet girl!

Motorcycle Museum

Goofy needed to go to a museum for his collections and hobbies patch for Cub Scouts. I just recently discovered that we have a free motorcycle museum in town, so we went down to check it out. There were some pretty cool motorcycles.

West Virginia, Part 3

We enjoyed swimming at my brother's pool. The kids always have fun jumping off the diving board.

Aunt Karnsy painted faces a couple times. Shortcake especially loved that!

We did take family pictures. My favorite ones were the silly ones.

We only had one day where we were all together. We had a pancake breakfast, played corn hole, and did a lip sync battle at the end of the day. We had a lot of fun just being together.

West Virginia, Part 2

 On Tuesday we drove another two hours to go visit PC's sister and to take the kids to see my Mom's homeplace where she grew up. It was great to see cousins on both sides of our family on this trip. Uncle D grilled for us and we had such a fun time together. It was so beautiful up there, I loved taking pictures! They named the road after my Grandpa. I had never seen the sign, so I thought that was really cool.

 I wanted to take the kids to Indian Rock (also known as Picnic Rock to some in the family). I always remember walking down to this rock with my Grandma and having picnics down there. The kids all enjoyed it as well. I loved seeing my Aunt S, too.  The kids enjoyed climbing, hiking, and swinging. It was too quick, but so worth it!

We even went down to the "cave." This is where they have found many arrowheads in the past.

West Virginia, Part 1

 After two long days driving in the car, we made it to West Virginia. It was so nice seeing my parents and siblings again. Many of them met Rosie for the first time. We arrived late on a Saturday night, so the first day there involved getting up and heading to church. I had brought my hair dryer and straightener, but after I spent ten minutes trying to dry my hair, I gave up. The rest of the week, I just let the humidity take it to its curly max. Rosie's hair curled a lot in the humidity too, which it doesn't have much curl at all in Colorado. I was able to see two of my brothers and their families at church, which was nice. After church, we went over to see my nieces' new house. They both have Angelman's Syndrome so they will always have care provided for them, but this is a huge step for them to have a little more "freedom." They are growing up and my brother and sister (in-law) are now dealing with being empty-nesters (not an easy feat for anyone!). 

 Sunday evening, we spent on a walk and just enjoying the time together with Grandma and Grandpa. Bucko found a frog which made him really happy. The kids all had fun climbing on the haystacks.

 One thing we miss in Colorado are lightning bugs. (Though I think I saw one here this summer, so maybe we do get them sometimes.) Shortcake was SO excited when she would catch one. You can see her face in the picture holding one, she can barely contain her excitement!

 On Monday, we met up at the park for a picnic. It was so hot and humid. We hadn't adjusted yet at all to the humidity, so we ended up going to the church and eating ice cream to end our outing.

 We did Family Home Evening that night with one brother and his family. That was a lot of fun. We played "Solemn Occasion" with them for games, which the Colemans were not very good at. And the kids all caught more lightning bugs.

Girls Camp

 I was able to go to Girls Camp again this year with my young women. I put together some "pillow treats" for the girls. I had some sunglasses I used and made printables that said "Look for the good in others and in yourself!" I also got some glow sticks and printed out a paper for them to slide into that said, "

This is the view driving up to the camp. It is so pretty up there. I love Camp Joseph. It is such a sacred, wonderful place for the girls to feel close to nature and feel the love of their Father in Heaven.

 We had fun at the archery range. We were so proud when we got the arrows to stick in the bag! One of my arrows hit the top of the metal fence and boomeranged back, almost hitting the girl next to me! It was a lot of fun, though. (Not the part where I almost shish-ke-bobbed a camper, but shooting the bow.)

 One of our girls celebrated her birthday at camp, so we tried to make it special. We sang to her at breakfast and even had a cupcake with candle to celebrate.

 I always try to go on the sunrise hike when I can and this year was no exception. I got up and made sure all my girls that wanted to go were awake, then made my way to the meeting place. We had testimony meeting that night and one of our girls shared a huge testimony building experience she had that morning when she thought everyone had left her for the hike. She prayed that someone would come back and get her, and every single one of the girls in her tent came back! We were all bawling when she shared the story. I believe many prayers were answered that week.

 The last night when the bishops come to camp, it was our bishop's birthday. So we gave him a birthday crown as well. I sure love these girls! It was a great week!