Girls Camp

I am still so far behind that I feel a bit overwhelmed with catching up. I will keep plugging along.
Soooo....Girls Camp. We had our wards girls camp back in October. I was called to be the Camp Director. It was a bit challenging because we had a "ward" camp. So I had to come up with everything. I had the most amazing committee to work with. In fact I think this was the most fun...making new friends. We had many long meetings laughing, stressing, figuring it all out. Kelli Bonham was my assistant....she kept me sane! Stephanie Denman and Christi Starks were also on my committee. As it was, stephanie volunteered to be the food person and totally came through! She planned, went and took care of everything! She even played Mary Kathryn Galleger (sp) for one of our skits. Christi wasnt sure if she was going to be able to go or not, but still came and helped us plan. Thank goodness she was able to go because can I just tell you she is amazing! She could remember skits off the top of her head and helped with so many things! We had the best time the night before we left. Christi was teaching us the cup game and we laughed and laughed until we all learned it!
We ended up staying at Brother Busbys family lodge in Heber. It was the perfect place. There were zip lines, swings, piano, basketball courts. So many things to do!
We ended up having our theme be "Just do it....Be your own star!" We made star blankets, necklaces, made name boards with the theme on it. I will post a few pictures so you can see. I really had a good time. I felt bad because the first night we got there...Kim, Emily, myself and the YCL's all went up the night before and I had forgotten that there wasnt any carpet in the place so we had some cleaning to do. Kim and I were walking around and there in the middle of the floor was a dead mouse. We decided we couldnt let the girls see it so we swept it up and threw it in the fire. So that night I was a little bugged and laying there sleeping, or trying to sleep with all the snoring going on. It was dark and all of the sudden I felt something crawl across my face and so I reached up and grabbed and squished whatever it was and like threw it. I was so bugged. Everyone except for emily was asleep...she was like what are you doing. I was trying to quietly tell her but could not sleep after that. So combined with my mind not shutting off with everything I had to do and the thing that crawled over my face I didnt sleep much. The next night I was exhausted and with 20 more girls added to the room there were all kinds of snoring going on. I just sat there and laughed. Stephanie and I were the ones that ended up sleeping with the girls...everyone else either slept outside or in another trailer. I had fun laying there listening to all the girls talking etc. I just laughed to myself at some of the conversations.
I ended up breaking my own rule and pulled out my ipod to try to tune it all out. I could go on and on with so many stories....I learned to love the girls, most of which I had alrady taught in achievement days years before so I knew so many of them already. I was stressed as it was going on, but I couldnt have asked for better girls. They are all gems and I hope they all "just do it and be the stars they already are!" Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Birthdays

I got called in for an emergency earlier and can't sleep now. Story of my life. So I thought I would try to catch up on some blogging that I am so far behind on! So way back in October was my birthday. We went out with our good friends the Johnson's. As you can tell by the pictures we went to the melting pot which none of us had been to. It is something that everyone should experience at least once. We had the best time and the dessert was delicious! Great way to spend my birthday!






So the weekend after my birthday was my good friend patty's birthday. Her husband Al had planned a big surprise for her in San Diego. We had arranged to fly out and surprise patty. It was so much fun! Al rented 2 condos on the beach and we were able to share a special birthday with her. My camera decided to break on me while we were out there so I don't have any pictures to post. I was hoping to get some from patty. I will have to post them another time. We had a great weekend with patty and her family. I hope her birthday was as special as mine! It was nice to be without the kids and do nothing but have fun with friends! So thanks for inviting us Al!

Kyle

I have been meaning to do a post on Kyle for quite awhile and just haven't. So I decided to finally go ahead and do it. Kyle decided to run in Cross Country this year. He has had quite the year! He has either metaled or ribboned at every meet. We have been way excited for him. Kailey who also runs Cross Country has been out injured all season. It has been fun watching him! The city meet was a few weeks ago and he got 17th out of the city. I don't know how many boys were there but there were a lot. Next years season will be fun and exciting for our family!

Cowley Reunion

So at the end of September we had our Cowley Reunion. My mom is a cowley, so it was with all of her siblings and their kids. I think the whole entire family minus my sister and older brother were there. Some of their kids came with my parents so at least they had representation. I think that I heard there were like 98 of us. I LOVE going to these reunions. It is fun to see all of my cousins that I have so many memories of growing up with, playing endless hours at the park, swimming, babysitting etc. We used to get together quite a bit but since the family is so big is just hard. This year our Aunts and Uncles turned it over to our generation, so the cousins. I think that Mindy was really the one that took the bull by the horns and organized and got us all our duties etc. So thanks Mindy! We had a really good time other than a freak accident that happened. All of the sudden out of nowhere a big gust a wind came and picked up a tent cover and it was headed staight towards a lot of people. My cousin Thom saw it and tried to grab it with no luck and it slammed right into my Aunt Jackie. I was clear across the grass when I heard the screams and looked up in time just to see it hit my Aunt. I was so worried that she broke a hip or something because it hit her hard and took her down hard. Thank goodness that didnt happen, but she did end up breaking her elbow and wrist. My cousin Thom that was trying to help also broke his wrist. Can you believe that?! So random and awful. So off went my mom and aunt jackie to urgent care. We all enjoyed visiting and getting reacquainted. In fact when I was driving off I got a little teary eyed and sad that we don't get to see family as much as I would like. I have a great family and feel very blessed to be a part of it!






Some of the guys played horse shoes. By the time I got over there, butch and jeremy were playing against uncle trey and my dad. It was hysterical to watch them all play because it got really competetive! Guess who won....butch and jeremy! At one point when things were winding down my cousin rhett decided to dump a big container of cold water and ice on rob. It was so funny because he was lugging this big cooler around running after rob. They were running and running around...these 2 overweight guys huffing and puffing trying to out run the other. I think the weight of the water was too much for rhett so he pitched the water but it didnt get rob. They were both completely out of breath. My other cousin dustin went after rob to try and help his brother rhett catch him but it was too late the water was gone. It was definately a good laugh!





We had races on the big ski boards. Some of the kids were really good. I think it was Rhett's daughter and Jeremy's daughter that worked great together and walked around like it was no big deal!





This is my cousin winter....she was in charge of the cupcake decorating. As you can tell by the picture she went all out. So many cute colors and candies to choose from. She did an awesome job!


One of the games we played with the kids was a race to see who made the first mummy. The kids are all so dang cute!

Support Chilero's

Rob and I decided to run out to dinner at one of our favorite places...Chilero's. We have gotten to know the owner pretty well since we go so much. We were asking him how business had been and he said it is really down and he is considering shutting it down. I was so upset! Rob and I try to support all the little local mom and pop places around and I am sad that this one might not make it. They have the best red sauce I have ever tasted. SO I am putting in a little plug for those of you who live around the area. When thinking of eating out give this place a try. They have really great lunch specials that are cheap too! Let's try to save a local place. The bad thing is the location. There really isnt much trafic that way. It is on the southeast corner of Ellsworth and brown. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Foxcroft Family Visit

So a few weeks back...I have lost track of time...anyways..Rob's sister Berta came out from california to visit. Her 3 daughters and grandson also came. Her daughters are Rebecca the mom to cute little jacob. Robyn who is married to Eric, and Rachelle who is single and going to college. My kids absolutely adore these girls. There are not that many grandkids on the Foxcroft side and so these older cousins were who my kids grew up with and kyle and kailey love nothing more than to spend time with them...especially rachelle. She is closest to them in age.
So we loved having them all come out and see us! The pictures are of jacob and makenna. Isnt jacob a doll? He is the cutest! Then one of my kids with Rebecca, Robyn, Rachelle and Jacob. Also one of Kade, Makenna and Jacob.
One night we drove over to the dollar store and bought these weird masks. They are freaky and cool. Hence the picture of them all in masks.
For some reason berta wasnt in any pictures that I took so I am posting of her and her husband Mark. Cute couple arent they! So they are the parents of the 3 beautiful girls! We love their family!

Grandma Nielsen

This is my grandma Nielsen. She is my only living grandparent right now. When I went to St. Johns for the fair I was able to go over and spend a lot of time with her. I love going to her house. We can sit and visit forever. She always gives me recipes that she has all in her head. Her house feels so cosey and warm. I believe that she told me she is 93. She has been having a hard time lately with her shoulders. They have been giving her a lot of pain and keeping her up at night. I know that she misses my grandpa more than anything and just wants to be with him again. It makes me sad thinking that her life may be coming to a close. My grandparents have been such a big influence in my life. I know I am being selfish when I want her to stay around a lot longer. I love that she calls me on the phone just to talk. I wish that I were closer so I could spend more time with her. Her mind is amazing....she remembers all of her grandkids and great grandkids names and there are a lot of them! She still makes her bed every morning and lives alone. I hope that my mind is as good as hers is when I am her age. I love her so much and cherish the time I get to spend with her!

County Fair in St. Johns

So a few weekends back I was able to go to St. Johns for the county fair. It is one of my favorite things to do! I love the feel in the air and just the fact of being out of the city brings a smile to my face. I usually buy a bag of apples and some green chile to freeze. I was bummed because there wasnt any apples or green chile. I guess the apples all froze in St. johns and who knows where the chile man was. I guess I am going to have to find it here somewhere.

So we went to the 4-H sale. My niece Jenna and my nephew Levi were both selling their pigs. I will post a few pictures. I can't recall right now how much they sold thier pigs for but they both sold. After we watched horse races, ate yummy food and I even took all the kids to the carnival all by myself. It was so much fun. We also went and watched jenna play in a soccer game. Kade and Kase had fun riding the skate board down the grass hill.