YW Camp Kick-off 2011

Well, Camp is coming up and I am serving on the stake Camp committee with 2 other amazing women!!  We were so excited to get the YW ready and pumped for camp this year, and i think we were successful:) 

The theme for this year is B.O.O.T Camp - building on our testimonies...  So the YW started off by making a boot print on a backpack....  Always gotta have crafts:)

We then did other things like skits, songs, and of course, boot-camp exercises!  This picture above says it all - Frederick leading them in a cadence run, and all the YW smiling and having a great time - although I think the Marine had more fun pretending to be a drill instructor:)  Even Abby is smiling!!

Abby is pretty excited to be at camp this year - I love this girl!!  Wish us all luck - as we are tent camping in South Texas in June!!

My First Little Garden

I never would have thought such a tiny little red ball could be so delicious!!  This little cherry tomato is the first fruits of my garden!  I have been wanting to plant a vegetable garden for years!  I always had excuses for not starting one - and finally this year, I really felt the need to learn how to grow vegetables... 

and here is the fruit of my labors!

During Conference weekend, I decided to go ahead and buy the materials and just put it together.  I had done a bit of research, so I went to the garden center and bought the supplies.  What I didn't realize was how hard it was going to be to get the dirt and 4x4's in to the back yard:)  Luckily a friend saw the job ahead of me and called her hubby and brother to come over and help - 20 min later I had the supplies ready to go (Thanks Libby, Josh and Jeremy!).  I cut the 4x4's to dimension and went to building the container (just like big lincoln logs!)  The next day between Conference sessions, Frederick, Jack and I went out and put the soil and compost in.  Jack loved dancing and stomping on the soil....  We then planted the veggies and herbs.  I am excited to say that I have had fresh flowers, I have cooked with the basil and dill and have eaten 1 cherry tomato!  Pretty soon I will be able to share it with someone:)  

But for now - I am happy with tasting the one bite!  

And as Jack said - 

"We will NEVER have to go to the store again!" 

Catching up!! September 2010

When I started this blog - I really wanted to post every month, at least - kind of like a family journal...  well, I am falling WAY behind on that!!  So here is a little fall 2010 Catch up:)


September 2010:
We decided to take Labor Day weekend and travel up with our trailer to our favorite spot - Bandera, Texas!!  (Yes, it is the Cowboy Capital of the World!!)  We took Abby's friend, Jamie, for a good-bye trip (Jamie has moved on to better places!!)  We really miss Jamie and the laughter she brings!  Both Abby and Jack love being with her!!

Labor Day weekend in Bandera is packed full of Cowboy and Old West activities - "Pa" was in heaven!!

They have a saying "Only in Bandera..."  Well - Only in Bandera can you see long horn parades!!  Obviously the kiddos were totally bored waiting for the parade to start!!

Mimi and Papa met us there to watch the Parade and celebrations.  Thanks for meeting us there!!

Pretty cute buckaroo!!

The last night we went to an Indian Pow Wow - it really was amazing - the outfits were beautiful.  They had a circle and invited all veterans to participate in the ritual.  They all marched around the circle and it is believed to relieve the people participating of all their wounds, both physical and spiritual, of war.  It was really cool - Frederick had a good time.











When we got home from our trip - we celebrated Frederick's birthday - he is getting old:) 

I don't know why they can't all smile nicely for a family picture!!  They better watch out - this may be our Christmas card:)

Cousin Sadie came!!!!

Sadie (and Cory and Tiffany for paying....)  THANK YOU for coming to visit us!!!!!  Mimi and Papa - thank you for bringing her down here!!

Ms. Abby goes to Washington!

 

This year, Abby saved enough money to pay for half a plane ticket to go to No. VA to visit her Grandma and cousins.  She flew all by herself for the first time.  Needless to say I was a nervous wreck - but Abby's text when she got there was "I made it in one piece!"  

Abby had a great time with her g-ma and cousins for a week and then Jack and I flew out for a second week.  We really crammed in the sightseeing this time!  We went to Hershey Park, PA with Takemotos and McMullin kids - a great amusement park.  Thanks, Grandma!!  Both kids loved the rides!! 

Mount Vernon

Abby is not happy to have her picture taken, once again!!

Abby and I drove to all the big monuments on Sunday evening!

We also were able to go to several museums, Mount Vernon, monuments, etc....  The weather was gorgeous!!!  We loved driving around in Grandma's convertible as we toured the monuments downtown:)  

Girl's Camp:)

This year was Abby's first year to attend Girl's Camp for our church.  She was pretty nervous about going - she is not exactly an outdoor girl:)  But she did great and loved it!!  Way to go Abby!!

Tour of Texas

To start summer off this year - we took off 2 weeks from "life" and embarked on our "Tour of Texas"!! We were so excited to travel in our new travel trailer and discovered a new world of traveling!! We started off visiting a small town called Bandera, Texas - in the middle of the Texas Hill Country. About 45 miles west of San Antonio. It is BEAUTIFUL!! The RV park was called "The Farm" - we loved it!!
We then headed west to Muleshoe, Texas for the Lange Family Reunion. It is always fun to be in Muleshoe. Tons of cousins, farms, games, food, and good people!! I don't know who was more excited to drive the tractors - Jack or Frederick! Thanks, Noah, for a fabulous ride!! Frederick also got a chance to fly his cousin Edward's plane.

After the reunion, we headed to South Oklahoma to a Bluegrass RV park:) Needless to say that Frederick was in Heaven:) While Frederick played all day and all night.... I took the kids and we explored the area. We found a wildlife rescue zoo - it was... let's say... interesting:) The pictures say it all!! (read the sign!!)




After Oklahoma - we headed to Clifton, Texas to visit with Mimi and Papa. We love Clifton!! We even had a visit from the local police as we lit off fireworks in the driveway - gotta love it when the Mayor gets in trouble - sorry, Papa!! It was a great trip! We are hooked on the RV world!!