A change in perspective, courtesy of Christi

"Motherhood is about raising and celebrating the child you have, not the child you thought you would have. It's about understanding that he is exactly the person he is supposed to be. And that, if you're lucky, he just might be the teacher who turns you into the person you are supposed to be."


-Joan Ryan "The Water Giver"

Butterflies

Early in the summer I ordered a butterfly habitat and thought that would be a fun activity for the summer. I didn't plan it very well though! While we were away to Six lakes they formed their cocoons and they hatched one day when I had sent the kids to play at their cousins so I could have a break. Even I was too busy to witness it! Because of that the kids are begging to do it again!

We were very lucky and all 5 caterpillars turned into butterflies! They only guarantee 3. Maybe we'll do it again next year a be able to better witness this fun event!

Scout camp

The Monday after we returned from Six lakes, and before Millie was home from Vegas, Matthais left for scout camp. It was a really strange feeling not having the two of them home for a day! Matthais loves scouts but really had a hard time getting excited for this camp. When our ward split in April he lost an amazing scout leader and mentor. He also lost the majority of his troop. Even though he is outgoing and friendly, he missed his old friends and leaders terribly. This is a great group of kids and eventually I think he will love them just as much!

Six Lakes

After sending Millie off to Las Vegas we loaded up and headed up to Six Lakes. This was truly one of the funnest places we've ever gone! We had a huge cabin, our own private lake filled with fish and lots of family to share it with! I even caught my first fish! We rowed and canoed on the lake, the kids had tons of fun swimming and caught lots and lots of crawdads! This is defiantly something we will be planning to do again!

Our cabin, the "Loon"

My first fish!

Me and Ian right before I had to throw him overboard. He kept standing and tipping the canoe so I  made him swim.

The boys catching crawdads

We don't usually send our four year old out in the canoe by himself! Funny story, he wanted to go out with grandma but she is a little afraid of water so aunt Missy said she'd take him. A few minutes later this is what we see, Owen in the boat by himself...

...and aunt Missy, fulling clothed, including sneakers, swimming and pushing the boat along.  Being the great auntie that she is she sacrificed her self when the boat began to tip and then pushed the boat (and Owen) to the shore.

More crawdads. They were everywhere.

That didn't deter Owen from jumping in though!

Melissa had planned to take her family horseback riding so Ian and I tagged along. They wouldn't let us ride the same horse and since Ian can really ride a horse by himself they gave him a quick ride. And I do mean quick. He rode about 20 feet before jumping off and saying "I'm done. Thanks"

Really so much fun! I think I already have our friends Suzanne an Richie talked into go with us next year! can't wait!

Tremaine

This year I decided to let Millie attend a dance competition/convention called Tremaine. The only problem? It was in Las Vegas. And, it was the same weekend as an already planned and paid for family trip to a cabin. It was really important to Millie (and to her team) to attend and luckily I had some good friends that were willing to let her tag along. She had a lot of fun, worked hard and did some awesome dancing (so I am told!). Here are some pictures courtesy of Laci an Tricia.

Her team really good placing 1st in one dance and tying for 1st in the other. There were a few melt downs and tears and I felt really bad that I wasn't there to help with that but next year I am planning on it for sure!

Big rock family campout

Posting in September about a camping trip that happened in July? Oh the shame! Still, I don't dare skip over our summer happenings so there will be lots of catching up to do here!


The middle of July we had our annual big rock family camp out. This year was a little strange as not many were able to make it. Some came but stayed at a hotel, others came only for a day (or a few hours in some cases). Even Adam was gone to Alaska during this time. It was still a lot of fun and something we look forward to every year.

 
My Dad was such a huge help to me, I never would have been able to do it without him. The kids had a lot of fun bonding with grandpa!! We had to head out early Saturday so we could pick Adam up from the airport but we found time to stop and play in the SNOW! That's right snow in July! No wonder we froze our little tushies off!

Computer woes

A few weeks ago Adam transferred all my favorite stuff onto an external hard drive and then proceeded to wipe our computer clean. Pictures, links, programs all gone. Not a problem right? I mean they're backed up on that external hard drive. Except, we can get that hard drive to work. I am completely lost without my favorite blogs (you know, the ones I didn't officially follow cause I'm just a blalker), my favorite links, my recipe sites, my PHOTOS! Sigh. Time to do some surfing and saving.