my new favorite

{This link is having a problem, and I haven't figured it out. It works and then doesn't. Blah! So if it's not working, try this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9KMgg7T_sg

Everything I need to know I learned at Girl's Camp

--Scaring girls who were chasing deer is fun, but catching it on video is priceless -- Chasing deer is fun, but tellicommunicating with them isn't really believable. Sorry, Pocahontas -- Being a Responsible Leader does not include building a mattress ramp down the stairs and then sliding down it on sleeping bags. (Ahem) Moving on. -- While mice can in fact open starburst wrappers, bats are not scared of the said starbursts. Or of shoes. Or of toilet paper rolls. (Does anyone know what bats are scared of? That might come in handy for next year) -- Portable confessionals are the wave of the future -- Your cabin isn't pretty enough? Try glitter! All over the deck--Phase Ten really isn't very fun. It REALLY isn't (sorry, bitter here) -- Beehives get blamed for everything, but only do about half of it. The YCL's do the rest (hee-hee) -- The leaders aren't a bunch of old ladies. And Brandee will prove it -- Snipes really aren't attracted to toothpaste (and don't get it in your eyes) -- Back to the starburts, they are super good roasted. If you need help with the wrapper...well, don't tell Tami what you did -- Camping is so much better with a cook. Named Kathy. And her paparazzi errr Bishop Husband. And lots of camping gizmos. Can we all say Sunday Dinner? --

But seriously:

There is nothing like a mountain for showing you God's handiwork -- We can all do it, because He will help us all -- Tearing someone else down only hurts you, but how wonderful it is to build them up! -- Every girl is your sister, treat them like one (i.e. Love Them!) -- Life is hard, but it helps to share and cry with each other -- "For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee" (and, yeah, that's Isaiah 41:13) -- The youth today are amazing -- Live like you believe!

And finally:

Peanut Butter and Jelly is great for your skin. Oh wait, this isn't Girl's Camp, I better go catch a kid...




One more for the girls...
{This one is having problems, too; Try:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5G8pnLETaM

Joseph is almost five!

Joseph turned four on June 24th. And as if he isn't growing up fast enough when he woke up that morning he asked "Is it my birthday?" and when we told him yes, he immediately said "Then I'm almost five!" This little boy of ours...oh, excuse me, not little! Joseph hates being called little, and everything is all about being big or bigger.

It's been an interesting year for him. He keeps us on our toes, always doing something. Like when he cut his own hair. After putting the scissors back, he stayed very quiet, always a bad sign. As if I wouldn't notice this!:

But that's our Joseph, always exploring, figuring out, sillifying things, defying death. Nicki and I figure he's got about 20 guardian angels, and they are kept very busy. We've almost caught glimpses of them every now and again.

But he always makes us laugh, and we know we need more of that every day!

He makes us smile. And we need more of that every day, too!

He reminds us that even messes can be fun if we just laugh with him.

Oh Joseph, we're so glad your here with us to make all of us, even neighbors, people in the grocery store and anyone who catches your mischievous grin, enjoy life a little more. Happy Birthday, silly boy!

Catch-up...and a little confession

Sooooo...June is gone already??? And with all July has in store, I feel like I'm already under the water and swimmin' with no time to take a break, whew! But June was a good month, filled with lots of good things. An update on our crafts: Kind of petered out. Maybe it was the red paint everywhere, but for some reason I haven't gotten to the next craft. We are hopefully going to make bug cookies (in the shape of bugs, not with bugs) today as a cooking craft, but I don't know if that will get us back on track or not.
For the Forth, we went camping up near Huntsville, where my Dad grew up. This year we went to a new camping site (no more Outhouse Flats for us!) There were lots of beautiful trees, wild flowers, butterflies, relatives, and even a moose! Farris and I took the kids up on Thursday after a morning of furiously packing (I hate that! I always forget something. We did manage to get all four kids, so that's good) we went to the North Park Campground, up above Eden and Liberty. It's a huge campground with enough trees that you can't see the other campers. AND it has flushing toilets so it doesn't smell yucky. We didn't even see Farris' brothers family, we found out on Sunday they were up there, too and had been trying to get a hold of us to see where we were. Oops. Do we need a cell phone? On Friday we hiked up to a waterfall. Caleb has decided he wants to be a mountaineer. So at least we've gotten him out of Antarctica (he's wanted to be a scientist in Antarctica for about 6 months. For a little kid, that's really sticking to it). After a quick lunch and changing campsites we waited for our family to get there. We were pretty patient, except for Felicity who could not wait another minute for Rylee, Taylor and Lindsey! By the middle of Saturday we had my whole family and Aunt Ellen's whole family. We used to be able to fit the two family's into mom and dad's house for Thanksgiving, but that's not happening anymore (I also remember my cousin Amy and I being able to fit onto the bench seat on the balcony together. That's not happening any more, either.) . It was a little crazy with kids all over the place, we had about 60 people and three dogs. Saturday was Huntsville's Independence Day celebration, so we had breakfast at the park, and then watched the parade with Dad's sister DaNece and some of her family. The kids got lots of candy and popsicles and otter pops. Very successful morning. After lunch at the campsite we all relaxed and talked like only families can and some of us hiked back up to the waterfall. Joseph led our group. Not because we wanted him to, but because he was faster than the rest of us. "Come on, Mom! There's no time to lose!" I mostly took up the rear and let my younger and in much better shape nephews chase him. Thanks boys! After a yummy dinner (my younger brother has graduated from only cooking in the microwave to grilling pork loins. Wow.), Farris and I took the kids to Nicki's apartment to get cleaned up and get some sleep before going to the blessing of little baby Charley the next morning. It's beautiful to watch the priesthood in Farris' family surround a little baby. Happy day! And if we think about the little party/luncheon after church we had, Charley's wedding is going to be a party. After chatting for awhile we finally headed back home for SLEEP! Good weekend.
Oh, and as for confessions...You know how I've been blaming Joseph for breaking the computer speakers? Well, we found out that the real problem wasn't the speakers (yes, he had shoved about ten of those marble thingies into the hole in the front of the speaker, so it rattled), but that someone had gone into the start menu, gone into the speaker menu, and turned the main volume down so low we couldn't hear it. Oh. The speakers may have been broke anyway (especially after I extracted the marbles)but now they're gone in the trash so we don't know. It could have been Joseph turning the volume down because he does like to push lots of buttons on the computer. I just can't figure out how he navigated through all those menus and managed to click on the one spot that would do all that. Crazy kids. So let that be a lesson to you all. Don't just assume that marbles rolling around in electrical equipment will break them. Check other ways kids can undo things. 'Cause they're smarter than you think, and maybe smarter than we are.