Jase's River Trip Pictures

Jase's Scout Leader dropped off a CD with pictures from their river trip that went on the Colorado River from Park Moabi, CA to Lake Havasu, AZ.  It looks like gorgeous scenery and I am sure Jase would have had a blast had he not come down with the stomach flu on the trip!  Both his scout leaders called or dropped by to tell me what a trooper he was.  It is bad enough having the flu when you are at home in bed.  But poor Jase was out in 110 degree weather, sleeping in a tent, getting up at 4:00 a.m., and riding a raft down a river.  His scout leader said, "Most kids would have just said -- take me home!  But he kept trying and never complained once the entire time even though he was feeling terrible and was throwing up!"  Way to hang in there, Jase!  We are proud of you!  Jase is the one in the orange swimsuit with the blue baseball cap.  (Can you believe they actually floated down a river on those boats made with pipes and boards?)

 That pink and red oar that looks like a band-aid is Jase's!

Sand Hollow Reservoir!

Perfect way to spend a 107 degree day, don't you think?  The water felt wonderful!  Even our water-fearing Josh got in the water (never past his waste, but that is huge for him!)  The beach looks a little scuzzy in this last picture -- wish I had a rake to clear away that debris!  But actually it really wasn't too bad -- and the scenery all around the lake was gorgeous!  It has been years since I have been here and now they even have a few trees and picnic tables -- which helped immensely!  The only drawback was these flying bugs that were flying around on the beach.  But other than that, it was great! 

Surprise Visit!

Aunt Gerilyn came for a surprise visit this weekend (we LOVE those!)  So I hurried and got another ticket for CATS Saturday so that she could come with us.  She did all of the little girls' hair in cute styles for church on Sunday and after a nice Sunday dinner she brought Janelle, Jaiden, and Josh to the visitor's center.  We all stayed up and watched a Hallmark movie which is the perfect time for snuggling with all of my kids!  Today she took some of the kids to the store for dish soap and snacks and then came back and made "Strong Bubbles."  You make it with 1 cup dish soap and  2 Tablespoons of sugar per gallon of water.  She spread it on the counter and taught the kids how to blow bubbles with straws (yes, they are blowing not drinking!)  I didn't actually get any pictures of the bubbles but there were some BIG ones!  One of the kids kept sticking the bubbles together so that it looked like a beehive.  Anyway, if you get your hands wet then you can stick them right through the bubbles and they won't pop. The kids had so much fun with this activity and it entertained them for almost two hours!  (And I got a nice little nap in during this time).  Then we all went to Sand Hollow Reservoir for the afternoon and evening tonight.  So fun!!

 Josh is bugging Jenna by grabbing her back. If you zoom in you can see his hand.  Notice her dismayed expression and his grin!

CATS

Our little girls were SO excited to see CATS at Tuacahn tonight!  Three years ago, Tuacahn performed CATS and I had never seen it before and was really excited to go.  When I saw it I thought it was the weirdest play I had ever seen -- a bunch of people dressing and acting like cats dancing around, with virtually no story line.  We had a lot more fun with it this year though.  Since I was going to be interpreting the show I had gotten the movie of it out of the library.  My younger kids were so fascinated with it and wanted to watch it over and over again.   Pretty soon Jaiden and her little neighbor friend were playing "CATS" everyday.  They would watch the movie and assign each other parts and dance around the living room copying the ballet moves.  It was so funny to watch!

I also listened to the CD over and over in order to learn the songs and so the girls pretty much memorized all of the songs and knew all the names of the CATS.  I wasn't originally going to bring the younger kids to the show but after seeing how much they enjoyed the movie I decided they would love it.  Of course the boys always  mocked and made fun of the whole thing but when I asked whether they wanted to go see it or stay home, they both wanted to see it.  They refused to have their pictures taken with the cats and wouldn't smile in the one or two pictures I got at the first but I still think they had fun.  My camera was acting up and so while I took pictures of them with each of the main cats, some of them turned out blurry.  But it was a fun night!

Girls camp! (Copy from Jani's Blog)

I admit I wasn't very excited for girls camp. But as usual it was so much fun! From Snipe hunting, to the Ooga Booga dance, to all the crazy games we played, it was absolutely amazing! I got so much closer to the girls in my ward. One of my favorite parts was definitely the skit night. Our ward had the best skit. We even won an award for it. It was so much fun! We went up to Jacob's Lake, which was more like a puddle. It was really cold at night and we all wore about 3 layers of clothing to bed. During the day it did heat up though. I did feel a little bit homesick and very much missed running water and flushing toilets, but other than that, it was great. The testimony meeting was also very good and had us all in tears. I'm glad this isn't like EFY so we will all still be able to see each other all the time. Girls camp is always one of the highlights of my summer and I'm already excited for next year! (Although I don't want it to come too fast. I can live a little longer with running water =D )

Swimming Lessons

Our kids' two week session of swimming lessons ended today.  Jared successfully passed Level Four and can easily swim the length of the lap pool and back.  Janelle successfully passed Level Two Advanced and is doing quite well too.  Jaiden passed off everything for Level Two Beginning except for three requirements.  The note said to re-take the class next year.  Poor Jaiden, that will be the third time in that class.  Of course she doesn't know any different and said, "I get this class again?  YES!"   Meanwhile I would like to see her actually swimming!   Out of all of my kids, she is the one who spends the most time in our above ground pool.  It is four feet deep and she can now touch the bottom of the pool with her feet and barely have her chin above water if she tilts her head back.  She no longer wants to wear a life jacket or water wings and she does fine but I still fear she might panic in a pool with deeper water.  Maybe if I give her some informal lessons throughout the summer she can bump up to that next level!