Family Reunion part 1

We had a great time...

hiking...

up to the ice...
and camping in Spring Creek, Nevada.
We had over 105 people at the Lamoille Lion's Club camp area.
Some came late and left early,
but we all had fun.
I saw family that I haven't seen in years.
This is Aunt Becky, Travis' youngest sister with all but 2 of the grandkids in his family. Now this reunion included WAY MORE grandkids in the extended family, but that is on another camera and might be appearing later.
This is Shanda and me before she left. I wish I could have spent more time with her and ALL of Travis' cousins. The reunion was really well organized, but I missed that one on one time with all of the cool people in Travis' family (I guess the real solution is to go visit more of them in their home towns).
My honey and me on a hike. I LOVED being with him on this. Agent J tagged along too with lots of cousins, aunts and uncles and geo-caching was involved too!
Becca and me. I got to do Becca's hair two times this reunion. So fun. I will miss this girl and her lovely family.
Sophie and Katie (Travis' sister) playing a cross word puzzle.
Uncle Dan and Cousin Alan (he is single ladies).

Much, much more to come...but that is a good start.

770

This is my 770th post.
It is my 35th birthday.
I feel old.so...I had a swim party???

At 35, doctors start to run "extra" tests on you because you are at risk for health stuff. I think it is rather morbid. I mean yesterday I was fine, but today I am "at risk". As Princess would say, "I'm just sayin'!" I would say, "WHAT - EV-ER!"
PART ONE of my birthday - the kidnapping...
My friends kidnapped me at midnight on the first stroke of June 25th. My doorbell rang, my husband woke me up and told me the door was for me. I think he had to tell me a few times before I understood. He laid out clothes for me and I still think what I saw was a dream(or a nightmare). My friends. At the door. Telling me to go out to IHOP with them.
I had to run upstairs to put a bra on. Travis forgot to lay that out.

I had fun and will always remember this. My friends took pictures and even a video, if I remember correctly. I hope you never see what I looked like tonight. I looked BAD. The funny part was wearing a sign and doing silly things on the list. I had to do 3+5 or 8 things.

• sing your favorite 80s song to the server (he was gay and love my song)
• give 35 high fives
• do the Dorthy skip and sing "Follow the Yellow brick road"
• tell a stranger something interesting about you
• try a new food
• and other silly stuff that I probably won't remember.
  

I hope I can go back to sleep. I am full from my french toast and yummy bacon. IHOP was good.
PART TWO - the swim/karaoke party

Thanks to Amanda for making my first fancy birthday cake. I loved it and it tasted GREAT!

Thanks to my friends who could make it.
I missed all of my friends that couldn't.
I had a great birthday thanks to all of my friends who made me feel loved.
One more thing - I am excited, because my boy comes home from Scout Camp today. Love him. Thank goodness he took 2 showers in the week he was gone. JK.

Part three - the family reunion
Time to pack the car and leave...

BANG! (or was it a POW!)

Either way, something hit our front window.

POW! (or BANG!)

Again. Really?

I go to the front door and check it out. It was a bird. On the ground. Poor bird. It flew into our front windows one too many times.

Princess: (Wondering what's taking me so long...) Hey, Mom! Was it a bird?
ME: Yep.
Princess: That's one stupid bird!
ME: I can't believe you just said that (Looking down at the poor bird).
Princess: Well I'm just sayin'.

Baseball games and early birthday presents are a BLAST!

Make a free slideshow

I was on TV Wednesday night. Don't be too jealous. I was diving, yes, I dove, off my front row seat for a foul ball in the 1st inning. Yep. That was my 15 minutes. Well, there was the time I was on the Today Show in February in 24 inches of snow announcing our 3rd child's birth in August 2003. Good times. Back to the baseball game.

I also got on the jumbo tron at the game. It was a BLAST and freaky all at the same time to see myself so big. Good times. Good friends. Just excited to be out. Who cares that we lost by 1? Right?

What are THOSE?

So besides wearing winter hats in the summer, my Sweetie has discovered female breasts.

Sweetie: What are THOSE? (pointing/poking at my chest, a lot)

Mom: Those are breasts. You will get some when you get bigger. (brushing her hand away, only to have her poke me even more)

Sweetie: Can I get bigger tomorrow?

Last swim lesson with Nancy :(

Sweetie loves Nancy. Swim lessons is Sweetie's first organized class - besides storytime at the library. She has come so far in a short time.

MAY:


JUNE:

dive meet/ softball team party

Princess got 3rd place in the 11-12 girls division. To be far, there were only 3 girls in that age bracket, but still she did great. Gotta work on the jump before the back dive.



RHM, 2nd place in his category out of 4 total.

Dive meets are small and short. Nice.

Afterwards we raced over to Princess' end of the softball season swim party. I was the team mom, but the whole team helped with the party. One parent hosted it at their house. Another brought the cutest cupcakes with softballs on top and were purple like our team colors. Fun night. Too bad my slide show didn't work. Travis to the rescue. He ran home and picked up our computer. I played the slideshow on the computer. Now...to figure out how to make it a DVD. Hmm...

As a child in my house says, "Enjoy it while it lasts."

Wet 'n Wild

Travis had a good Saturday before Father's Day. He played, and played,
and played with the kids. Glad they had fun (despite the scary rides and the long lines). We even got a "surprise" package from Cousin Sam with a "new" swim suit for Sweetie. THANK YOU! Hand-me-downs are the best, esp. from Aunt Debbie!

Marshmellow Shooters

We had fun! We did this on Friday too! Super easy and thanks for Jessika for making it happen and thanks to Skip To My Lou.
Love these kids having fun jumping and rolling in this ball.

Good times. Now that they are made - LET'S HAVE A MARSHMALLOW WAR!

Homemade Glitter Toes

On Friday, our 11 yr old friend Sarrah had one more day to play with Princess before Sarrah was going to fly to her Dad's house for the summer on the east coast. Glitter toes kind of fell into our laps! I was out shopping, when my friend called with an offer I couldn't refuse. Trevlyn tried it on her girl and it worked great. We had to try too.
Here is what I used. But here are a few other blogs to check out about glitter toes.
This one is good.
And this one.
And this one too! It is the best! I borrowed the blue glitter and nail polish from this friend. THANKS! She recently went to Utah and learned that this is all the rage there. She taught me everything I know. I love my friends. Especially ones that like to share!

Here is what I did:

1. wash feet or hands (and other prep work)
2. paint nails
3. sprinkle with glitter while still wet
4. gently shake off excess over newspaper (save extra and pour back in container)
   
5. paint over top with a gel coat
6. seal gel coat under UV light (I bought the UV activated top coat and UV light for $30 at Sally's beauty supply)
   

FINISHED! Make sure to wash off the excess glitter. It gets everyone. I recommend staying in one room and working over newspaper.

Pretty fingers. On Friday I did 10 fingers and 40 toes. It was fun and the little ones loved it, too!
These are my toes. Not perfect, but not bad. Love the effect and I am glad I tried it, but I actually don't LOVE blue. It seems like it is too young of a color for me or maybe it just doesn't go with my skin tone (inside joke). SO... I went to the store today I bought my own Martha Stewart's fine glitter. Can't wait to try a french manicure with my white glitter and hot pink toes and for whatever reason I bought black glitter too. I don't even own black nail polish. Got some? Come over! Let' try it together.

If you are afraid of me touching your feet I have good news:

I am having a REAL glitter toe party in July when a professional will come to my house and do our toes.
I am sure it will be MUCH better than my homemade version.
It has to be better, because someone else is doing it and not me.
(Doesn't food always taste better when you don't have to cook it?
Well, I am sure toes are the same way.)
I can't wait to find out.
If you want to come, let me know.
The more the merrier.