Memorial Day Weekend Fun!

Last Thursday we left to go to Utah to meet up with Mark (Mike's brother) and family to caravan to Idaho for a Nelson Family Reunion.  When we got there we had dinner and my wonderful sister in law made me one of her all time famous Rum Cake's to celebrate my birthday! Happy Birthday to me....I finally turned 27....true story....kinda:) just change one of those numbers to 4....you pick.

Then on Friday we traveled to a place called West Pine Creek Girls Camp just up past Idaho Falls where we stayed in this Lodge.

It was a huge place with lots of rooms and lots of beds. We shared a room with Mark's family. (this just shows a small portion of our room, there were 10 sets of bunk beds just in our room alone) We loved how it had this table where we were able to play some games together.

There's my feet.... laying in our bed ....I just had to show off the hot pink blanket that my sister Regina got me for my birthday....It's so soft!  Love it! (and no smart alek comments about my toes.. Theresa:)

Stephen and Taylor sharing her ipod headphones. Arent they cute?

Kareoke

The night we got there they had Kareoke! And of course we could'nt resist that.
Stephen and I sang "Drops of Juipiter"(stephies choice) with Mike's cousin Stephie and her hubby Ryan.
One of the several times Stephen and I got up there...fun times!

Stephen, Devyn, and Kesley(Devyns friend)

girl cousins

little boy cousins

Mom and Dad just enjoyed listening.

Mike, Taylor and Bryce goofin!

Uncle Keith and Aunt Sandra just danced to the music.

Stephen, Devyn and Kelsey again

Gee I wonder what everyone is looking at???? Well take a look at this!

The Slide

Yup!  As you can imagine this was the highlight of the fun for the kids and some of the adults too.

Unfortunately it rained and even snowed while we were there and the sign said "do not ride the slide if it is wet or after dark".  But of course they did.  It was crazy! 

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Bryce went through about 4 sets of clothes going down this slide. Most of the time there was a huge puddle of mud to land in.

Coleen found out the hard way.  

Me and my sister in law Coleen.  I just love her to peices!....you can see the river running behind us. It was really pretty there.

Twilight Baseball

Preston (Cherie's son) up to bat....he cracked my up!

Brianna (Tami's daughter) quite a ball player.

At the bottom there was this huge field with a gigantic backstop for baseball and a huge swing set.  When it cleared a bit we played some baseball.  The kids said it reminded them of the Twilight movie...vampires could have come out of those trees at anytime!

Playing Games

Inside the lodge there was an ongoing game of around the world ping pong.  There were lots of games being played and crafts for the little ones.

Stephie painted nails...yes, even Jordon had his toenails painted.

Aren't they lovely?

Taylor painted mine....blue with glitter!  Aren't they pretty?

(try getting this stuff off your fingers....my nails were a faded blue for 2 days)

Stephen played a game of "Bones" with some of the other kids including Jordan who gave him this nice little ouchie with his braces....hmmmm what is that game all about?  Coleen has a great video of the brawl between them...so I'll post it when I get it.

Someone(oh, not lil ol'me:) told Uncle Keith to go in and wake up the kids on Sunday morning.  Since his room was right next door and he had to listen to us play games all night....he didnt mind a bit!

Some Family Members

Dad, Andrea, Aunt Sandra, Aunt Joan, Tami, Kara holding Zerik, and Uncle Keith
It was mostly the Hemenway's (Aunt Joan's family) there and then Mom and Dad and us and Mark's families. Then Keith and Sondra and their 2 girls with their families. But it was fun.... those Hemenways really know how to party!  We missed so many other family members who were not able to make it:(

Darin and Mona Hemenway.  Their son Tyler is on a mission in St. Louis Missiouri.  Mona and I spent some time talking about our sons and the gospel and just how wonderful it is.  I love her!

 We really enjoyed getting to know Anthony and his wife Annie.  They were fun and cute and just really nice kids, married almost 2 years.  

Rachel, Kelsey, Brianna, and Devyn.

Brandon & Kym with their littlest.

Unfortunately Brittani got sick on Saturday night and spent a lot of time in the bathroom.  Then we woke up to the sound of her throwing up in the room in the middle of the night...good thing she brought the trash can with her to put by the bed.  Mike held the flashlight up for her so she could see.   So we decided to head back for Utah the next day.

On Sunday afternoon we packed up to head back to Utah to spend the night then head for home on Monday morning...guess who's behind the mask?

Lori and Justin came to say goodbye among some others and I got this picture of them.  They are a very fun couple. (Bryce surprised both Lori and Tami by giving them each a big smooch on the cheek)

I wish I had gotten more pictures of the group.  There were about 70 of us in all.

I am looking forward to getting together again in a couple of years. 

It was a great time!

6th grade Promotion

Bryce was up early getting ready for the day....I think he was excited.

Stephen couldnt attend the promotion because he had finals, so he said,"lets do a photo shoot"!

  

Goof Balls!

                                    

Here is Bryce and his Teacher Ms. Bardon

This is Bryce's 2nd grade buddy "Donovan"

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Some of Bryce's buddies in his class.

A few of the girls in his class.

Us!  

7th grade here we come!!

Dreams

So, Mike tells me all the time that I need to write down my dreams.  I have had some interesting dreams in my lifetime.  I am a firm believer in dreams because I have had so many that have been either direct revelation in my life, answers to my prayers or just a huge comfort to me.  Although most of them dont make a lot of sense just by themselves, I always seem to be able to understand what they are trying to tell me because they always have to do with what is happening in my life at the time.

So, today I was talking with a good friend who was sharing with me some hardships that are happening in her life and I thought about how it seems that so many of us are experiencing these tough times right now and it is so difficult to keep our faith strong and to have hope at times like these.  Then I remembered a dream I had right about the same time that Mike lost his job a couple of years ago.

I dreamed that I was driving down the freeway in my old plymouth voyager mini van and I was listening to some good lds music and just feeling so safe and calm and close to the spirit.  Then suddenly I saw a head of me that there was a big truck that stopped and caused an accident and then it began to ripple and  the cars all around me were crashing into eachother and I knew I was next.  I braced myself for the blow by grasping firmly onto my steering wheel but, it never happened.  In fact I sat there in my car in the middle of the freeway and just watched out my windows as all of these cars smashed into eachother.  I just sat there still feeling calm and safe and close to the spirit.  It was the strangest and yet most interesting thing.  Then I woke up. 

 I immediately started to wonder what this dream meant.  As I thought more on it I realized that this was a warning and a message to me.  I knew from this dream that even though scary things might be about to happen and even though all around me things may seem frightening and hopeless,  if I kept the right perspective and stayed close to my Heavenly Father I would be okay through it all.  This was just the very beginning of so many trials we have had since Mike lost his job but this dream has kept me going so often over the past 2 years.  I am thankful for these dreams that I am occassionaly blessed with that help me in my life and remind me that my Heavenly Father knows me personally, is aware of me and is always there for me.  Dreams are a wonderful thing.

Weekend Chores

Finally a Saturday without baseball games!  Mike worked out of town about 4 days this week so the boys and I decided to get some work done around the house.  Stephen and I did some weed pulling in the front yard close to the house and Bryce did all the lawn mowing and he did a pretty good job too.  We also cleaned the garage out and I found Michael's Australian flag there waiting to be hung again so we did. It was so nice having the whole day to work beside my boys and talk about school and friends and things.  

lovin those purple bushes in the front and back yards....and I love a freshly cut green lawn!
Can't wait to plant our garden.  Life is slowing down a bit as we are completing the last week of school. Bryce promotes from 6th grade on Wednesday and then we are off to Idaho for a Nelson Family Reunion.  Looking forward to seeing the cousins again.  Summer here we come!

Contagious!

Stephen made some good plays this baseball season

playing for the Freshman Eagles team at Pleasant Grove H.S.

 Bryce enjoyed his first season of baseball and had a great time playing

 for Elk Grove's Cal Ripken Major Minor League on the Diamond Backs team.

and I couldnt help it but catch the fever!

and I have no idea what Stephen is laughing so hard about...

Baseball...It's contagious!