Memorial Day Camping 2009 @ Lk. Wenatchee

Ahh yes, our favorite part of Memorial Day weekend - the traffic

Are we there yet?

We did finally arrive, and had a very good time

Lookout - there's a Redd (Calley's maiden name) alert!!

The splash you see is Tyson and there's Chad following. The water was VERY cold so we mostly enjoyed the weather on the beach

The brave/crazy ones ")

Paigey with Free Willy.

Jen, Em, Billy, Lucy and Kaisa

Calley and Abby

We had a hot dog roast Saturday night

Calley MADE Abby wear this bib - she was soooo embarrassed! Ha ha! Her Mom IS hot!!

We had homemade ice cream for "big D" (Calley's brother Luke's saying) Saturday night - here's some of us girls enjoying some (please excuse my sick picture)

We didn't have sewer hook ups here, just water and electricity so we had to be careful about how much water was going into our holding tank. Summer had a nice warm bath outside using our auxiliary shower (in Em's "rubber tubber")

Nellie washing her hair

matching shirts :)

We had a baseball game too. Druschba hit the ball so hard that she broke it in 2!!

Lee was the "naughtiest" pitcher - here's Billy running to the 1st base tree while Lee gives direction.

Addison riding Lucy, who had an unfortunate accident; notice the "white trash" bandage job on her left hind foot

There was also some paint balling that took place - here's Billy in his Gilly suit. Some lady saw his and actually asked him to pose for a picture.

before the games began

Then while they were gone we had a "dance party" headed up by Jen

Braden has quite some moves as well.

The dance party ended with Bailee fanning her Mom with a fir branch. There's a video of Jen trying to get Billy to dance with her after the paint ballers got back, but for some reason it attached at the bottom of this post - make sure to watch it :)

And of course the s'mores

MMmmm

?

Here's the "peculator". Grandpa had to get it out and "peculate" the water over the fire for some hot chocolate for the grand kids

Here they are enjoying the hot chocolate, complete with spray whipped cream

We had a great time. Sorry to put so many pictures up - if you can believe it I've got LOTS more :). Hope you had a great weekend.

Picture Tag

Jen tagged me so here it is: 6th folder, 6th picture (on THIS computer anyway) - This is obviously Scott and I last Summer at the ocean. Now I'll tag 6 people: Crystal, Sarah, Ciera, Amanda, Kate Belton and Kaisa! :)

Debbie Downer . . . with a little hope :)

So this is how I'm feeling in my career as a Mother right now . . . a little "wilty". It's ironic that these flowers were fresh and beautiful a week ago for Mother's Day - sort of like I felt some (nearly 31) years ago when I first became a Mom - full of hope, optimism, enthusiasm, confidence and etc.. Lee and I went to the adult session of stake conference last night and the topic for the evening was "healing", meaning that we heard from several people of hardships they had gone through, how they had managed, and what they had learned from their adversities. One man talked about how they had just enjoyed a visit from a daughter with her 1 year old who was just learning to walk. They had taken this little one to the park, and because he was still wobbly on his feet, he would fall over sticks, rocks, inclines/declines, and etc. and how they allowed it to happen - knowing that he would "learn and grow", become stronger/more capable, and eventually be able to handle the terrain without difficulty - but we have to be patient and willing to wait for the learning to occur . . . and at times it's painful to watch our little ones get hurt. When you think about it - no matter how many times the parents (or grandparents) would have showed this toddler HOW to step over the sticks and etc. without falling, this little guy still HAD TO LEARN ON HIS OWN. I guess patience has ALWAYS been a struggle for me, so the waiting for the "fruit to ripen" is a difficult and painful thing - but as conveyed last night, we need to be cheerful in our disappointments, mindful and thankful for the good things, keep a sense of humor, do our best to be obedient, do all WE can, . . . and wait. A while ago I heard a saying that I'll always remember and TRY to go by; "Life isn't about waiting for the storms to pass - it's about learning to dance in the rain".

Senior Prom 2009

So tonight is Chad and Emily's Senior Prom - who would believe they started out being a Prince and Princess for Homecoming some 3 1/2 years ago? Where has the time gone? Here's the handsome couple (with Chad on a step so he doesn't feel like he needs to tell Emily to "scrunch")

Chad with friend, Jake. I missed the next shot where they were holding hands as if posing for a professional picture

Here's a patriotic shot for you . . . red, white and blue!!

There were all kinds of "outfits", if you will, in the group that they went in; a red tux,

. . . all types of dresses - some long, some short . . .

Trying to get a picture of all the girls was a joke.

And here's Zack with his cool glasses, and Dave with "tails".

Dave, Chad and Josh

Josh, Tony, Corey, Montana, Erin, Chad, Zack and Dave - all lived in the same area, originally - most still do

Some of the guys by the limo

OOhhhh, aren't they cute?

So for your next Prom, if you're ever in need of a limo, here you go :).

A Little Trip Down Memory Lane For Mother's Day

I was fortunate to attend a Mother's Tea in Gracie's 1st grade class (in Jen's absence while she was in Hawaii) on Friday. It was a very nice occasion and the "busy bees" in room 22 were all "a buzz" (sorry, I couldn't resist). I sat there trying my best to choke back the tears during the slide show where every student shared why their Mother was their "cup of tea". I miss those days as a Mom, when your kids thought you were the greatest thing, loved spending time with you, and thought you knew EVERYTHING (rather than absolutely nothing)! The 1st grade students especially loved their Mothers for: 1) comforting them during thunder and lightning storms 2) comforting them after bad dreams, being good cooks, making "steaming hot dinners", snuggling with them, having movie nights, and just plain loving them. their thoughts were such simple expressions of love and admiration - it was touching. After each child's thoughts were shared there was a slide of that student with his/her Mom.

So I've decided to share a few thoughts myself both for MY Mom and AS a Mom, myself.

My Mom is my cup of tea because . . .

Sometimes she would play the piano or organ when I was going to sleep as a child - it helped me get to sleep so much better/faster and gave me such comfort. That was truly a treat for me, and still is - I LOVE music.

I also loved it when we could coax her into doing some of our drill team and cheer leading routines :) - those are fun memories.

I love that she taught me to sew and made me "pick it out" over and over again; "you'll ALWAYS know that mistake is there and it will ALWAYS bother you, so just pick it out and do it right".

I still love sharing things with my Mom - she's always been a good "listener/counselor"

I love that she taught me the value of work - how to work hard, and have joy in a job well done

I love her fun personality - and the fact that she pretty much always laughs at my jokes and etc.

I love that she "thoroughly embarrasses herself", or looses her teeth some times when we laugh too much ;).

I love that she LOVES my kids . . . no matter what.

I love that she's proud of me and always tells me that I'm doing a good job - even when I feel like giving up.

I love her "spunkiness" . . . I think I inherited that from her ").

I'm constantly amazed at the great job she did, and still does, as a Mom - even though she's had to do some very hard things at times.

I love that she taught me the value of family and how that's more important than material things.

I love that she was home with us kids growing up and put value/importance on that.

I love her "can do" attitude however I must admit, I started to wonder a few times when she would start tearing out walls before my Dad knew about it.

I loved coming home to homemade cookies - gee, I STILL do!!

I'm grateful she taught us to be respectful - it was a difficult lesson for some of us, more than others :)

And last but not least, I love what a good Grandma she is to her Grandchildren & great grandchildren.

AS a Mom, I treasure certain things about each one of my babies:

Jennifer: How sweet she was to her siblings - doing things like saving her candies so if someone was having a hard time in the grocery store or whatever, she would pull out her candy and share it with them - always a peacemaker . . . Mom's LOVE peacemakers!! I also have always loved her musical abilities as well.

Emilee: She also inherited the "spunky genes" :). I mostly love the memories of Emilee as a toddler in her yellow Bugs Bunny swimsuit (it had fruit on the bottom) with her cute round buns that would dance about when she walked . . . AND when she and Jen would do the "Solid Gold Dancers".

Tyson: singing "I just called - to say - I yove you . . . ", the biggest ever hugs and kisses, and his taking pride, to this day, in holding the biggest baby record for our family.

Kaisa: Whenever I would say "I'm tired" she would pipe up with "I tired too - I hung-ey too!". She never missed a beat and still doesn't :). She would also spank herself, followed by a stern "no no", when she would climb up on the end tables.

Scott: explaining to his Dad " This - is a Tuttlesau-us", and singing as a toddler (with an upside down hymnbook in front of the fireplace as if he were performing) : "Doo way, doo way, doo way, doo way, doo WAAYY!!"

Chad: Again, singing (I TOLD you I loved music - especially when little kids sing) "Arabian NIGHTS" at the top of his lungs.

Nellie: singing "You are so beautiful to me - can't you see - you're - ebrysing I HOPED for - you're - ebrysing I ne- ee-ed - you are so beautiful to MEE-EEEE!!!

So even though I may not be my children's "cup of tea" anymore, they are still mine :)

Good Times And Great "Oldies" (Me) With The Stokes Kiddos!

Things have been going quite well during this last (almost) week, having the grand kids and all . . . but the other night (Monday I think) after TRYING to have an FHE, even with brownies and ice cream, I was struggling to get the little "cherubs" to settle down, so the mean Mom in me reared her ugly head and ended up calling an early bed time.

The rules were:

1) you can take a book to bed to read/look at

2) you can have your light on

3) no talking or getting out of bed

It got VERY quiet, and after about 15-20 minutes both boys were asleep and Gracie was on her way as well - Hmmmm just MAYBE they were all tired!? ANYWAY, the last couple of nights we HAVEN'T gone to bed early. We've played this crazy made up game up in the play room - sort of a dodge ball type of (made up) game where we take their little basketballs and a soft little football and toss . . . okay THROW it to/at each other, except you're not out if you get hit - it's just your turn to throw it at someone else "). It's a perfect game for Braden and Tanner, but even Gracie joined in and was having a good time (protected by the pillow fort she had made, of course. You see there was apparently an unfortunate accident at school this week, and she's PRETTY sure that she sprained her ankle - is she her Mother's daughter or WHAT?). She said to me tonight, "this is fun . . . is it fun for you too, Grandma?" It was SOOOOOOO much fun!! I hope they remember our crazy game nights, roasting marshmallows, going for walks, playing with cousins, and NOT the night that their mean Grandma sent them to bed early :) I LOVE my grand kids!

THE END

"Fun Visits" . . . and Hawaii!!!

On Thursday Cedarcrest (Chad) had a soccer game up in Coupeville, so since my parents live close, I decided to make a day of it. I went up early to spend some "Q time" with them (I made them watch "Marley and Me" with me . . . sniff sniff), and then went to the soccer game. My nephew Jeremy, came along too - it was fun to spend some time with them.
. . . THEN the next morning we drove a suburban FULL of people to the airport, because four lucky people were headed to a vacation in Paradise!

Billy, Kaisa, Ryan and Jen with BIG smiles . . . I wonder why? "). This means that we get to have the grand kids with us for the next week :)

Braden waving from the car

Kaisa's lovely Hawaiian pedicure

And Jen's sparkles too.

Tanner making his new "rocker face".

Now there's a few things that we just HAVE to do when the grand kids come and this is one of them - a tractor ride! Paca/Grandpa came home for a few minutes (he was working close that day) and provided some fun times.

Then we decided to go out front and make some hopscotches

Braden decided that we should make an "EXTREME hopscotch" so the one below numbered up to 27 spaces!

Our next event since it was SUCH a nice day, was to give "good old Daisy" a long overdue bath. Braden controlled (?) the hose, and Gracie helped with the scrubbing, drying off and brushing.

EWWWwww YUCK!! Since Daisy was all clean now, we thought we should wash her big bed too, so she wouldn't go lay on it and get all dirty/smelly again - this is the water. Now, there have been a lot of dog visitors too so it wasn't just Daisy that caused all of this, but she did her fair share. With all of our "wet" weather and her being an "outside" dog, that's just the way it goes I guess. It's a good thing we had a nice enough day to give her a bath and wash her bed - even though she didn't really like her bath, I hope she feels better being clean and having a clean house.

Fort making was important too. Here's Miss Nellie playing along.

Don't tell Nellie but I think she's a little too big for this fort ")

Elmo is BUSHED!! We started early and had a full day so by the time we went to bed we ALL felt like this.

We had to run Nellie up to the HS so we stopped at the "green park" by Bailee and Paigey's house to play. They were supposed to come too, but Addison was sleeping so we ended up going to their house for a little trampoline party!!

Paigey came home with us to play with her cousins. We had dinner, and then went to Bailee's baseball game at the Elementary school. Then Emilee and girls came over to roast some marshmallows - YUM!!

Nellie and Addison - the "swingers"!