First off, can I just say I have the most amazing family in the world! (All of us except Chloe who was not there yet) Our family reunion this year was so fun and for the first time for me I was not stressed out at all about any of it. David did the planning of the activities so that left me with the food assignment. That was easy for me since I feed everyone anyway. The only thing that was not quite as I had planned was the foil dinners. But in the end they turned out fabulous - well, at least mine was done and very tasty!
We played on the beach, we took a ferry, we drove on the beach for about 15 miles, we hiked, we explored, we climbed trees, and we ate lots of fun stuff!
This was after our foil dinners and dutch oven dessert Toshia made. Everyone enjoyed just sitting around the fire and hanging out.
I was so happy to see Chloe drive up. She came after work Saturday and I was worried because she had to get herself there all by herself. She was so happy to see all of us!
One of the activities we did was a 5 mile hike. Taylor had to do that as a requirement for girls camp and since she was with us she missed the one the girls in the ward were doing. The boys were not to happy about the idea as they had just got back from their 50 mile hike the week before. They got home and cleaned up and came with Toshia to the reunion. But in the end because it was flat and there were no "cliffs" they agreed to come along. So all of us including the babies hiked the trail down to the beach. We have a special something planned for next year but it's a secret right now - that is if David can keep it!
Girls camp starts tomorrow and I think I am finally ready! I have been working on these craft projects now for a while and I feel good that everything has come together. I am kind of glad that it is late this year because things seem better then they would have been in early June. That said next week when I get home I will post pictures of the projects and the girls having fun making them. The theme this year is the 13th article of faith and "jungle safari" so I had lots of fun coming up with things for them to do. The funnest part of camp this year will be hanging out with Taylor.
I cannot believe how grown up she has become. We have had a special summer this year and it will be fun just spending time with her (and of course, 84 other young girls). We have been reading the Book of Mormon together for her personal progress and it has been an amazing journey for me this time through the book. It has been great to watch her grow her own testimony of the book and of the prophets. We have had some great discussions. Also, I have been teaching her to sew and do some other crafting things. It is so fun to watch her as she enjoys learning these things. So - stay tuned for great pictures after next week!
Our tomatoes are still green - I probably won't have as many as I had hoped to make lots of salsa but at least they lived this year! (Last year was so bad for our garden, it was so sad.)
I cannot believe the size of these carrots. When Autumn brought one in to me today for dinner I thought she was joking and got it from somewhere else. These were hidden among our lettuce and I thought that it was something else - shows how much I paid attention when David and the kids planted this year;)
I cannot believe how grown up she has become. We have had a special summer this year and it will be fun just spending time with her (and of course, 84 other young girls). We have been reading the Book of Mormon together for her personal progress and it has been an amazing journey for me this time through the book. It has been great to watch her grow her own testimony of the book and of the prophets. We have had some great discussions. Also, I have been teaching her to sew and do some other crafting things. It is so fun to watch her as she enjoys learning these things. So - stay tuned for great pictures after next week!
There are some changes coming in my life - some started a few months ago and it has been hard because they are not changes I was wanting to make and some are fabulous and I am so looking forward to them! I had a conversation yesterday with my good friend Carol and from her words of advice and Bro Garrison's talk today I can see "It will all be fine". The Lord once again answered my prayers through the sound words of good people in my life. I am going to post more about some of these changes later but just wanted to put it out there that I know that the Lord is constantly watching out for me.
One last thing about summer - our garden has been so good this year. We have enjoyed watching everything grow and eating from it. We have had fun canning the fruits and making jam as well. As much as I do not like to cook, I do love to can and bottle my fruits and vegetables and making jam. The season is winding down and in a few weeks school will start and fall is just around the corner. I have big plans for the fall - hope I have the energy to get it all done!
Our tomatoes are still green - I probably won't have as many as I had hoped to make lots of salsa but at least they lived this year! (Last year was so bad for our garden, it was so sad.)
I cannot believe the size of these carrots. When Autumn brought one in to me today for dinner I thought she was joking and got it from somewhere else. These were hidden among our lettuce and I thought that it was something else - shows how much I paid attention when David and the kids planted this year;)
Happy summer,
