Breaking News and Backlog!

So for the breaking news....Ben has taken off, literally. He's training wheel free and loving it!

But he has to pedal twice as much to keep up with the rest of us because his bike is so little.

Earlier this month we spent a few days at the cabin where we hiked...

rode the Yerf Dog with Donna...

And had s'mores. mmmmm this is my favorite thing...roasting marshmallows in the pit up at the cabin. It's not too hot, the smoke follows beauty, and everyone likes their s'more a particular way. Ben likes the marshmallows roasted for him... Addie doesn't mind marshmallow all over her face....
And then there's Paige, who experienced her first s'more.....verdict...?Delish....
Yep... really good, And the Lighting McQueen T-shirt she's sporting is basic neglect. Leaving the pool earlier there was nothing for her to wear so Ben said she could wear his shirt. We roasted the marshmallows about 5 hours later, don't ask me why there wasn't time to find some better clothing options for her, I'll plead: cabin inflicted laziness....

SO...Gooooood.
My mom has a new cat that goes every where with her, even to Maverick to share an ice cream cone... Now Oreo, the cat, being the newest baby in the family (Stuart is old news) he gets carried every where. Bevan is doing the duty now. The grand kids love him, and he really is a fine fellow and friendly, so Stu's not too bitter.

And the smoke was chasing Kim, Emma, and Ali. Ahhh I love the cabin.

San Fransisco!

James is going to an Oracle conference in September and I hadn't considered going with him...until I did a little reading on Frommers about what to do if you only have one day...two days.... three days....

Here's the link to day three....doesn't this sound so fun? Why have I not done it yet? I think it's all the biking I've been doing--but a loop. No Backtracking!

So should I go with him? Have you ever been? Wouldn't it be so fun?

If you know anyone...

Looking for a preschool for this fall, I've had some slots come open! Word of mouth is the best type of advertising so if you wouldn't mind passing along my number... and if you can tear the numbers of this I'll be really impressed.

Gee, I wanna go to O....o...crest!

Bottom row, second from the left. Look at all those pegged jeans! 1994.

I worked at Camp Oakcrest the summer of '94 and I went to the 50 year reunion last Friday. It was exciting to see friends, and have memories come gushing back. It was a shaping time for me--I loved the counselors I worked with!

As counselors we lived with the girls in cabins. I was racing trying to find a cabin that had my name left on the door's edge where all counselors signed their names. It was so exciting -- I was giddy -- a lot of the doors have been painted, but, looky here....There I am. Oskaloosa--that was my name.
I looked over to James who was doing his best to not look bored-- "Did you realize how much fun you were going to have?" He smiled. I should have had him open his eyes when I took this.

Waiting for survivor, the zip line. What's with the glow?

I didn't tell James I was going to go, so he didn't get a shot of me flying through the air, and then slamming into the mattress that's lashed to the tree at the end of the line.

Sushi and Bub-- Bad photo again, but they are soooo cool.

Aspen and Paisley--I had just screamed in their ears at seeing them and was finishing off my second Hello Dolly bar. Talk about memories that flood back with taste.... Bad lighting this time? Nope just the photographer.

Lyric and Minnie--yes and their real names are Tricia and Melissa--I looked it up in my scrapbook. Yep that's right, I've gone on a mission, gotten married, born 5 children, taught school, traveled some, and the only scrap book I've ever put together was 11 weeks of summer when I was 19. Go figure.

The lodge!Going down the water slide with Duckie--I noticed all this dried mud and dirt on the way up--I'm such a grown up! I got stuck too but I'm chalking it up to the water not being turned on.
I stole this off of Sushi's blog, Elmo and 2 month old baby, me, Apodo, Idgie, BooBoo and Sushi.

The current counselors sang for us, in the program, and there was a slide show where we all screamed and sang a lot. I really would have liked to see a guitar but maybe they've moved on from that folksy stuff. It was such an enjoyable night and it made me realize that at one time in my life, I used to like 12 year olds and I used to have fun with them. This week in Sunday school we played commandment bingo with mini marshmallows. See I can have fun.

I pulled out my new guitar on Sunday and taught Addie and Ben the song, Children of the Light. I can't find my capo so we sang really low.... "We are on our wa...a...ay"

Jennifer Hatch comes for a visit!

It was a week or two ago....but totally blog worthy....

We talked and talked non stop just like the old days and Marisa and Tressa stopped by for a hi. These boys were both surprise babies--only 11 days apart. Come again Jenny--I had a great time.

But so cute! Samuel looks and sounds like Elyse when she was a baby. We played with Elyse a lot then.
Addie and Elyse. Jennifer doing some close ups. She's got a photo eye, I tell you...

The posing duo.... Should we take a stroll down memory lane? For me and Jennifer's sake--also because I never gave her these prints--click and save Jenny, and my guilt will be washed away.

Halloween when they were just 6 monthsish--on the pinto bean carpet!
Around 2ish. With Ben and James.... and those rug rats now..... Along with the every other weekend neighbor child....

Another Halloween? I was so sick that Halloween I put Addie in her costume a few days after while Elyse was over to take some pictures. It was a rough photo shoot for Addie, and Elyse was just lending support.And a personal favorite...at Addie's three year old "pink" party. She and Jennifer made Addie this horse--which we still play with. Come again. We'll for sure stop by when we go to Lagoon!

BONUS...

Sunday school lesson test run. Your testimony growing with the Holy Ghost (yeast). I took a larger jar for the real thing but the whole lesson had me reeling...Guest Parents? maybe? for this week? Thank goodness the church is true; this class has me telling myself that over and over and over.....

Hobby....

I arranged this after I posted on Sunday. With my one year (book's) worth of experience (17 years ago) at layouts, it's getting easier...
Did I really graduate from high school 17 years ago? That number seems big and it's also the age that I graduated at....