Camp Invention

Okay, so Ethan had a great time at Camp Invention this past week. He made up a new game, made a maze, built a working robot that moves, played a ton of invention games and basically learned a ton about the world. Last Friday we were able to go to his camp and see what he had been up to. He was so proud to show off all he had done. I loved the house he made for his robot and he was so happy to show us how it worked. They even had a camp cheer that he did for us. I'm glad he is curious about the world and not afraid of different situations where he gets out of his comfort zone but learns!

He can't wait for next year.

Oh Courtney

Courtney was showing her friend the tokens we use to keep track of the kid's chores. They are poker chips and Courtney's friend said, "What are those?" Courtney said, "They are our tokens but they are really poker chips...but they won't poke you, really."

I had to laugh!

Camp Invetion

Ethan participated in Camp Invention last summer and loved it, so we signed him up for it again this year. What it is, basically, is a week of activities where they take apart household items to create something new, play invention games, solve problems and have a lot of fun. I drop him off at 9 a.m and pick him back up at 3:30 p.m. and he LOVES it.

Today was the first day and he is on the blue team. (I have to mention that this year there seems to be only about half the participants there were last year.) They made up a team cheer, took apart items, made a structure from marshmallows and toothpicks (see attached picture which I'm glad I took before starting home because he ate the marshmallows in the car), began building helicopters with engines that work, played all kinds of logic games and had a great time. He was so excited when I picked him up and talked all the way home (wonder where he got that from?!?!). He can't wait to go back tomorrow.

We get to go on Friday to see all the things he has invented and so he can show off. I can't wait to see all he does.

Painting Nails

I should have posted this the other day but I forgot, so here it is on Father's Day.

Courtney wanted some "daddy time" and wanted to have her fingernails and toenails painted. Since Daddy is the expert in that field she asked him to do it. And he did a great job!! He is a great dad and I'm so blessed to have him in my life. Love ya Bryan!!

Family Pictures Sneak Peek

We had family pictures last night at Ancestor's Square in St. George. We had the same photographer that did Ethan's pictures (the one in our neighborhood) and she did a great job. She emailed me a few this morning for a preview but I won't get the disk for a few weeks. I will post more when we get them. When we showed up Ethan told her that he didn't want any individual pictures because we did that in May and "I'm done with that." But she got a few of him. Courtney was ECSTATIC to be having her picture taken but quickly became a ham and kept making faces and looking up at the birds. I think we got some good ones but I just have to cross my fingers on the family photos. Hopefully we were all looking good at once. Thank heavens for Photoshop!

Here's your preview:





(I had to buy Bryan some jean for pictures. These are the first pair of jeans that Bryan has owned for the last year, I think. The man lives in shorts, even in winter!)

I love my house!!

I can say that I have always liked my house. Bryan designed it and we built it so we picked everything out ourselves. But I have not loved our air conditioner. We have had problems every summer (4 so far) and twice we have ended up living in the basement for a few days while they try to fix it. Which isn't fun in St. George in July! Last year we had some AC guys out to tell us how they can fix it and they all said we had to get all new duct work in the attic because the original company messed it up. So we saved up and yesterday had the work done (they were two hours late and took a lot longer than they told us they would but it's done)!! And today I am happy. The kitchen is now the same temperature as the rest of the house, the AC is much quieter and I can actually hear air moving through the vents. Life is good and I love my house!!

Pie Cherries

I have standards when it comes to cherry pie. I hate, absolutely hate, cannot stand, etc. store-bought cherry pie filling. It is so gross. I say this because I grew up with a huge pie cherry tree in our backyard. Every summer we would pick and bottle all the cherries and then use them in our pies and treats. They taste wonderful (with a lot of sugar and cinnamon of course) but it made is so I don't like the store stuff at all. This presents a problem since my parents have moved and we don't have the tree anymore.

A couple of years ago I searched all over for sour cherries to make a pie from and found that they aren't sold anywhere near. I finally found an orchard in Santaquin that ships them in, so when my parents went for their next ride they went up and bought a bunch of buckets full of the stuff. I then bottled it (it was great because they were pitted for me) and it has been great. But then my dad decided they needed another sour cherry tree, so they bought one. It takes a few years for it to produce enough for a pie but this year they picked the cherries and brought them over for me to pit and bottle.

I must have blocked out the horrible memories of pitting pie cherries from my youth but they quickly came back when it took me 4 hours of pitting cherries to get 5 quarts of bottled cherries. My shirt is all stained, my kitchen floor is sticky and I'm going to have to ration this batch out so it doesn't disappear too quickly. But it was an accomplishment!! And I can make my great pie again!