Utah Visit Part 1: Cousins!

Our kids were in cousin heaven on our trip to Utah! There are 15 cousins to play with when we all get together. There were visits to cousins houses, gatherings at Mammy & Pappy’s condo (I’m sure their neighbors just love us), a field trip to an indoor Soft Playground, sharing slushies from Mark & Mel’s “Slushy Kingdom” and rides in the big white 15 passenger van. And this is just part one!

Rob and I had a great time chatting and catching up with everyone while the kids played, and the week just flew by. We’re so glad we made the trip, and tried to brainwash all the kids into begging their parents to come visit us next. Click here for the complete set of photos from part one!

Newport Beach

On Monday night, after Rob got home from work, we took the family to Newport Beach. This is Ciel’s first visit to the ocean (not counting Guam where she was born). Everyone had lots of fun chasing the waves and collecting seashells. We’re so lucky to live close to the beach (only a 15 minute drive away). I’m not sure how often we’ll go, though, since we’re still working on getting the sand out of everything! For more pictures of our beach adventure with Ciel, check out our gallery.

Mini Golf

We had so much fun going to play miniature golf together!

The crew pauses for a photo.

Emma got a little frustrated a few times while trying to master her putt.

Hannah just picked up her ball when she felt like she was done and put it wherever she wanted.

Sabrina was a great cheerleader.

Hunter was our dedicated score keeper.

Hero Camp

Last week the kids went to “Hero Camp.” This was the second year of it and last year the theme was “Heroes”, thus the camp’s name. It was organized by two fantastic mothers, Amber and Stephanie, who enlisted the help of all mothers of children participating. Each Mom volunteered for at least one day doing either a lesson, craft, or physical activity, and signed up to bring a treat one day as well. I was astonished at the organization and creativity that went into the week.

This year’s theme was “Mission Possible – Operation: Divine Love.” Every child was given a T-shirt on the first day and spent Monday through Thursday from 9-12 accomplishing various missions. The children were put into groups according to their ages which were named: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, etc. Emma was in Charlie and Hunter was in Foxtrot.

Their first mission was called “Love of God.” They walked along the iron rod toward the Tree of Life past the temptations in the Great Buildings. Next was “Love of Family.” As part of this the moms wrote a letter to each child telling them why they are an important part of their family and about the attributes that make them special. I volunteered on “Love of Leaders” day. The bishops from the wards came and talked to the kids. Then during craft time the children decorated paper hearts and hung them on the office doors of the bishops and stake leaders.

On Thursday the mission was “Love of Neighbors.” All week long the children went through their clothes, pantries, and toys to bring in things they don’t need for those less fortunate. There was also a coin jar where they could donate money to the Wheelchair Fund for children around the world who need wheelchairs but cannot afford one.

On Friday there was a closing ceremony where every child received their “Great Choice Award” and a book with some of the papers from their lessons and also the letter written to them from their parents. There were three impressive songs that the kids had worked on throughout the week to sing for the parents. They were written specifically for camp, amazing!

Every Mom filled out a “Great Choice Award” Certificate for each child and told of a good choice they had recently made. Hunter’s award told how he got up early and did his chores before I got up in anticipation of our trip to Oregon. He was such a hard worker that we were able to leave a day early! Emma’s told how she loves to take care of her sisters. Especially by helping them dress up and do their hair for little fashion shows.

It was a fantastic experience for both Hunter and Emma and we are all looking forward to doing it again next year!

Paintball Shooting on July 4th

Uncle Jed pulled out his paintball gun and a huge box of paintballs on the 4th. The kids all took turns firing at the targets and they got pink paint all over the backyard. Luckily it washes up pretty well! When Owen first saw his Dad shooting his toys pink he said with a frown, “that makes me sad.” But he was ok after we explained that it washes off. Super fun activity for all of the kids, Thanks!

Matt, Rescue Ranger

Hunter got this CD, Another Long Semester by Aaron Durr for his birthday from Nana & Papa. Aaron is a talented friend of my brother Matt from high school. His song Matt, Matt Rescue Ranger is our favorite. Hannah even asked to listen to it the other day. Matt says this song is not about him, but to us it is! The CD is very clever in both the music and lyrics; and I think he does all of the instruments and vocals himself. We always have fun listening to it. It’s very catchy, go to his homepage and click on “listen” at the top. I think he has great promise and wouldn’t be surprised to hear him on the radio soon!