New Calling

I got a new calling on Sunday.  I am the second counselor in the Primary Presidency.  I love it in the Primary, so I am glad that I get to stay.  I will miss my cute 4/5 year olds.  I really enjoyed teaching them, I loved having Alex in my class.  I also enjoyed teaching the Wolves in Cub Scouts.  It was fun being with Ethan.  I will miss those boys.  At least I still get to see them all in Primary.  It will be fun.  One thing that will be hard will be preparing and teaching Sharing Times.  I don't mind teaching the kids in my class, but it is harder for me to be in front of everyone in Sharing Time.  I will definitely have to put more time in preparing lessons.  I will be out of my comfort zone, but that is what callings are for, right?

Victory is cold.

We had leftover ice water from our cooler.  I was going to dump it out on the grass when Ethan jokingly said to dump it on him.  Ali told him that's what the players do to their coach after they win a big game.  So that got him excited to have me actually do it.  So I did.  It was really cold water because there was still chunks of ice in it.  He's a brave boy.

After I had poured ice cold water on Ethan, grandma got me in trouble by saying that she also had a cooler with some ice cold water in it.  Ethan wanted to get me back by dumping it all out on my head.  I was hesitant, but figured that was only fair.

I let him - and it was so cold I couldn't catch my breath for a while.  It reminded me of jumping into the lake at Camp Steiner to do the swim check for scout camp.

Unsworth Reunion

Today we had a reunion with Peggy's family.  Daniela and I stayed home because Daniela woke up not feeling well.  She ended up throwing up a couple of times.  I'm thinking she is all better now, she has not thrown up since 1:00 pm.  Hopefully no one else gets it.  Anyway, the reunion.  They split the kids up in age groups and ran races.  They had a water balloon toss.  Grant planned some Minute To Win It games, but I think it was a little too windy for them to work.  There was volleyball, football, face painting, dinner and  a talent show.  Peggy and her sister lip synced and played the ukelele to the Hukilau.  They brought people in the audience to come up and dance with them.  I'm sorry I missed it because I heard they had Grant up there dressed in a lei and  a coconut bra.  I hear they got it on video.  It's too late tonight but I'll post it another time.  It was a long day, but it sounds like they had fun.  While home, I did all of the laundry, cleaned the pit, family room, all of the bedrooms (even vacuumed them) and most of the bathroom.  I'll have to finish it tomorrow or Monday.  I missed the reunion, but it was nice to get so much accomplished at home!

First Class

We went to Brandon's Court of Honor tonight.  He got his Tenderfoot, his Second Class and his First Class rank advancements.  He also got a few merit badges.  He got one in First Aid, Family Life, Environmental Science and Geology.  He loves Scouts.  He is excited for his birthday in a couple of months, so that he can be with Grant.  I think it will be neat for them to be together in Scouts.

Happy Pioneer Day!

I'm thankful for the pioneers and all that they sacrificed.  We celebrated today.   The kids watched some of the parade on TV this morning.  We had family come over around 4 pm.  We had so much fun!  We had lots of yummy food.  We played kickball, kids vs. adults!  We even played in the rain.  Then there was a beautiful rainbow!

Next, we played Annie, Annie, Over.  I always enjoy this game and the kids do too.  We played for quite a while.  We played until it was dark enough to do fireworks.

Playing All Day

Today we had a fun day.  We went to Seven Peaks this morning with cousins.  We stayed for a couple of hours.  We had not been home too long when a neighbor texted and said that they were going to have a water balloon fight.  We went over, the kids played and had a great time.  I had a good time as well, visiting with friends.  There were about twenty kids from the neighborhood over.  They all had a great time.

Brandon wanted to go bowling with his friends, so I dropped him and three of his friends off at the bowling alley.  Daniela and one of her friends ended up going as well.  I went in with them and paid, then they just called when they were almost done with their second game.  They had fun, it was a great day.  I told them back to work tomorrow, we all need to get some jobs done around the house.  Of course it is a holiday here tomorrow, Pioneer Day.  We will have family coming over, so we'll see how much we actually get done.

To Be A Pioneer

Today we did something as a family that we have never done before.  Listen to this...(you have to wait about 17 seconds before it actually starts)

http://stealth.circlepix.com/PioneerSacMeeting.mp3

We sang in Sacrament Meeting.  We all sang the first verse.  The kids sang the first verse, then we all sang the second verse.  It was short, which was good.

I did not know that it is against the rules to record something in Sacrament Meeting.  I just found out.  I recorded it on my phone, I just left it recording on our bench.  I was planning on recording it before church.  The lady who was playing the piano for us met us there early to practice.  Of course we did not think ahead. There was another ward there, we could not use the Primary room or the Relief Society room.  Anyway, it was a good experience, I'm glad the kids were happy to do it.  They did great!

Errands

One day we were driving down the road and passed this store....Aaron's.

Ethan asked me what they had in that store.  I told him and he asked me why I always go there.  I didn't know what he meant until he said that I am always running some errands, and he thought this was where I always went.

Our Day in Pictures

Blinding Light

When I turned on the lamp in the boys' room tonight, it flashed twice really bright and never turned on.  I turned it off and then back on again.  It flashed very brightly twice again and then started to smoke.  I unplugged it this time.  When I unscrewed the lightbulb, this is what we found:

It had completely burned a hole in the bottom of the bulb.  It could've started a fire and I'm glad the boys weren't home alone turning it on.  Time to get a new lamp.

Fun in the Sun

Cub Scout Day Camp

Ethan and I had to be at the church at 6:15 this morning.  We were meeting to go to Camp Jeremiah Johnson in Springville.  This was the first time going to day camp for me and Ethan.  They kept the boys busy, but they all had a really good time.  Ethan loved it.  He bought a necklace and a pocket knife at the Trading Post.  This was the schedule of our events...

7:45-8:00 - Opening Ceremony
8:05-8:40 - Lasso's Lair (They made rope and panned for gold.)
8:45-9:20 - Archery Adventures (They learned how to shoot a bow and arrow.)
9:25-10:00 - Shoot Out at OK Corral (They got to shoot BB guns.)
10:05-10:40 - Bozeman Trail Ferry ( They went out on big rafts.  They each had an oar, they collected balls and tried to throw them into a bucket on the other team's raft.)
10:45-11:15 - Lunch
11:20-11:55 - Native American Pow Wow (They made a couple of Indian games and played them.)
12:00-12:35 - Tipi Technicians (Craft time, they made teepees.)
12:40-12:55 - Closing Ceremony

We all had a great time.

Fruit Crisps

A couple of days ago, we bought some Kelloggs Special K fruit crisps, strawberry flavored.

I decided to count my calories, so I tried them today, for a snack, I thought that they were pretty good.  We got them at Costco.  I noticed this morning, when I was at Walmart, that they also have blueberry, chocolate and brown sugar cinnamon ones.  I'll have to try those sometime.  Has anyone else tried these?

Priesthood Preview

Tonight we went to the Priesthood Preview with Brandon.  There are five boys in our ward who will be turning twelve in the next year, so they all came.  They talked briefly about what the priesthood is and about a few of the responsibilities of a deacon.  It was good.  They also had us write a brief spotlight about Brandon.  I've included it below...

Brandon loves all kinds of sports.  He plays basketball, baseball, football, soccer, and golf.  His favorite sport is dancing.  It's really basketball.

He is also a terrific student in school.  He has been in the A.L.L. program at Cherry Hill since 3rd grade and has enjoyed competing in Battle of the Books and Knowledge Bowl.

He has also enjoyed being an artist and has created several different pieces using pastel chalk.

He really loves to read.  He has read hundreds of books and is trying to complete the challenge Sis Sorensen gave them of finishing the Book of Mormon by Aug 1.

Being the oldest of 5 kids, Brandon has many opportunities to help out.  He is a great big brother and will often read to his younger brother.

He is liking the Boy Scouts program.  He has just earned his 1st Class rank and hopes to get his Star by the time he turns 12 in November.

He has been swimming several times this summer - and the last time he got sunburned really bad.  He had us take a picture of him peeling and told people it was skin cancer.

He is such a great son.  We love him so much and are proud that he's in our family.

Friend Day

It was a crazy day for Grant and I, but an awesome one for the kids.  We had just finished with breakfast, the kids were about to start their chores, when there was a knock at the door.  That started it all.  We had kids in and out all day.  I counted sixteen neighborhood friends who came over.  Some were here around lunch time, so we got some Little Caesar's pizza.  They played, then ate, then played some more.  They played the Wii, the PS3, rode bikes and scooters, went to the park, played on the swing set and hide and seek.  By the end of the day, they were calling our house the party house.  The kids loved it.

I had to send them all home around 3:30 because we were having the missionaries over for dinner at 5.  I had to get everything cleaned up and make dinner.  It was fun to have them over.  Grant went to some appointments with them after dinner.  He didn't get home until around 9.

The kids and I decided to go on a bike ride.  We went to the Scera movie theater and bought some popcorn.  Erica started working there tonight, so Daniela wanted to stop in and see her.  Then we went across the street and got snow cones.  I don't think that there is any way that we can try all 32 flavors before Labor Day. (I think that is when they close for the season.)  We have only gone seven times.  We'll see....

One Mile Fun Run

We did this a while ago, but I just found the pictures, so I thought I would post them.

The kids had a lot of fun.  We went for Bryce.  They loved it for the free food, all of the doughnuts they could eat.  I think that they had about three each.  They want to do it again next year.

A Good Hike

Tonight I hiked with the scouts up to the Y on the mountain.  I usually get to take a trip up each year with a different group of scouts.  It's a good little hike, especially in such hot weather.  I'm just glad we had a little cloud cover to keep the sun from roasting us too much.

When we got to the top, we were able to see a really cool sunset.  It almost looks like another fire out there:

Sunscreen

Today we went to Seven Peaks. We were there for a few hours. We got there, I sprayed everyone with sunscreen, we played and came home. I noticed that we all got a little sunburned. Some more than others, I wondered why. I thought about the sunscreen. I just bought a new one, but I found an older can in the closet, so I took them both with me. I decided to use the older one first. I was thinking about this tonight and wondered if sunscreen had an expiration date. I found the can and checked. Sure enough, the older stuff had expired in January of this year. I guess that is what caused us all to be a little sunburned tonight. Did you know that sunscreen expired? I guess that I will have to remember to check from now on.

Fun Things in the Summer

We have enjoyed going on family bike rides.  Tonight we went to the snow cone place.

While we were eating our snow cones Grant asked the kids what their three favorite things about summer were so far...

Alex :	1. Snow Cones	2. Seven Peaks	3. Lagoon
Krista :	1. Seven Peaks	2. Swimming at Terri's	3. Snow Cones
Ethan :	1. Golfing	2. Swimming	3. Seven Peaks
Daniela :	1. Seven Peaks	2. Lagoon	3. Spending time with friends and cousins
Brandon :	1. Golfing	2. Sleepovers	3. Swimming

Burnt

Brandon spent the night at his cousins house.  They have a swimming pool.  The boys went swimming for quite a while.  Brandon came home looking like this...

He's hurting.  Someone at church today told me to put vinegar on it, twice a day.  She said that it makes it stop hurting.  We put some on after church, we'll do it again before bed. We'll see how it goes.

Crankin' the Tunes

We had a neighborhood party tonight in the backyard of our neighbor's house.  2 of our other neighbors are in a band called the 'Hindenburg Pilot' (they're the 2 singing in the front of the picture).  They sounded really awesome.  Ali and I both loved their music.  Alex, Krista, and Ethan all loved playing with all the other kids and jumping on the trampoline as we listened to the band play.  I'm glad we went and if you ever get a chance to hear the Hindenburg Pilot play you will definitely like their stuff.  You can check them out here.

Library

Today, we went to the library.  We actually had to go the Provo Library and the Orem Library to get the books that we wanted.  I really wanted to get a book on CD to listen to with the kids.  We thought of a few, but got Peter and the Starcatchers.  Brandon and I have read it before, but we both liked it.  We came home tonight and watched Peter Pan.  Some of the kids had not seen it before.  We thought that it would be fun to watch the movie before reading this book.  Peter and the Starcatchers is kind of a prequel to the Peter Pan story.  How Peter became Peter Pan, how Captain Hook became Captain Hook....

Some pictures at the library..

They have these fun capes for the kids to play with.

Lego Creations

The kids had fun playing with Legos today.  These were Brandon and Krista's creations.

A couple of other pictures I found on my phone.  These are from Goblin Valley...

The Wednesday Wars

I stayed home from church with four of the kids today.  Daniela came home from the movie last night saying she did not feel well.  I started off the day by reading my scriptures.  I didn't really have any other plans, so I decided to read a chapter in this book, The Wednesday Wars.  I had heard the title from time to time and decided that I might as well get it and read it.  I just planned on reading a little and then moving on to something else, but I finished it.  I really enjoyed it.  There is another book by this same author that I heard is good as well.  It's called Okay For Now.  I got it at the library, I will have to read it next.  I'll let you know what I think.