A Deacon in the Family

My little boy...I guess I can't say that anymore...Zack turned 12 a few weeks ago. He is now considered a "Young Man" in our church. This past Sunday he received the Aaronic Priesthood and was ordained a Deacon.
We met in Bishop Peterson's office right after church. Mom and Pop were there, the girlie girls, Steve and Myself and Bishop Peterson and our friend Ryan Duve. Zack sat in a chair in the center of the office. I was sitting directly in front of him and had a clear view of my son's face. It was lit up and he was smiling the largest, most joyous smile I have ever seen. He was genuinely excited about this new phase of his life.
Steve performed the ordination and gave a blessing to Zack. It was absolutely beautiful. As I listened to his words my heart swelled and I could not hold back the tears. I just love my little guy so much and am so proud of the young man he is becoming.

GIRLS CAMP

Last week was my wards's Girls Camp. We drove to Hanna and stayed at a place named Warm Springs Retreat. We got all the girls setttled in their assigned cabins, organized the food and supplies and then had lunch. Following the lunch the painted their faces in preparation to have a marshmallow gun war (Nephites vs. Lamanites).
The leaders even got into the act and made guns for themselves and had as much fun shooting the marshmallows at eachother as the girls seemed to have.
Later that evening, we all gathered around the firepit fo camp songs. Nanette played the guitar as Emily serenaded us with her beautiful voice. It was quite a sweet moment




The girls sent some of their time at camp making crafts. They could make pinecone necklace and a wooden picture frame. It was great to see the girls creativity using paint and a wood burning tool.


Later that day all the girls participated in our version of "THE AMAZING RACE" The girls were divided into teams of 6. The obstacles were as follows:

1. Putting the 13 Articles of Faith in their correct order
2. Collecting 5 live bugs in a bag
3. Each member of the team, kayaking around the lake
4. A demonstration of their 1st Aid abilities by demonstrating a carry down the road
5. Starting a small fire, and then roasting a marshmallow and eating it.
   
   

That afternoon the girls particpated in Crazy Hair night. They had brought hair products along with them especially for this and then they were given 2 black garbage bag to make their "gown" Many of they girls were quite imaginative.



We also participated in a service project of weeding along the road that lead to the cabins we were staying at. It was nice to see all the girls working together on such a HUGE job.


It was nice for everyone to get a back rub after working so hard pulling weeds.



One final hike before heading home.

Spring Soccer

Yesterday was the last day of spring soccer. Katie and Becky had been playing on the same team (they have the bright yellow jerseys on) that was named the Golden Tigers. This was the first season that they really seemed to have caught on to some of the strategy of the game. It was a bit more fun to watch.
This was Belle's 1st time ever playing soccer. She has devoted much of her time to dance, but this year I thought it might be fun for her to try something new. Her team was the Dalmatians (they wore white jerseys and red socks) and she got to play with a few of her classmates: Megan and Savannah, from school. She enjoyed soccer so much, that she is considering spending next year playing sports rather than dance.

ZACK'S 12th BIRTHDAY

A few weeks ago, Zack turned 12 years old.

This was quite a momentous birthday. He is experiencing his final days in elementary school and will be beginning Middle School the end of August. He will enter the Young Mens program in our church once he turned 12 and also received the priesthood. He has been so excited about all the changes that will be occurring.
We did not have a HUGE celebration. His birthday was actually the day after we returned from Rhode Island and we have just been crazy busy. Steve got him a fishing vest which he opened while we were in Rhode Island. he also received various gift cards from his cousins and a cool book about making things from batteries.
Once we were home I gave him the suit , white shirt and tie that I had been planning on giving him for months. Mom and Pop gave him Guitar Hero and Pokemon Diamond Version for his DS. He was quite excited about the "fun"toys from Papa and Grandma, but he was genuinely excited about the suit I gave him, which I thought would just be passed by without a second glance.
Since the gifts have been opened and wrapping paper thrown away, I have tried to figure out where these 12 years went. It doesn't seem like it was that long ago that we were just a small family of Steve, me and baby Zack. I am somewhat afraid to blink...afraid that I will find he is about to graduate from high school and thinking of his mission

Papa's Hair

Mom and Pop came for a visit last weekend.

After breakfast I cleaned up the dishes and the girlie girls decided that Pop needed a little "something" in his hair. So they got out the box of hair accessories and clipped about 2 dozen of those small butterfly clips to his hair. He was such a good sport to allow them to do that, but then they dared him to wear his hair that way to Target, which we were leaving for in a few minutes.

I thought for sure Pop would nicely say, "NO!!"

But much to my amazement he agreed.

So we all loaded into my van and mom's (mom told pop to drive with me) van. We got to the store and I got out of the van and walked ahead of my dad about 10 feet and mom walked about 10 feet behind as Katie and Becky walked with Pop holding his hand an giggling. He got a few stares as he walked into the store, but I have to admit, I was pretty proud of him...even though I didn't want anyone to know he was with me.

Our New England Trip (May29-June 3)

36 hours after returning from our camping trip to Goblin Valley we were on a Delta Airlines planes heading for Rhode Island. The kids had been looking forward to this trip. Every morning Zack would announce how many days it would be until we would be in Rhode Island.
We are so lucky at Aunt Sandy her children Alex and Will are living at Grandma's house. It was so much fun for the kids to have buddies to play with the whole time we were there. We attended Alex's birthday party, went to her soccer game and even took a walk with them which included a marshmallow roast.
We did get the chance to visit with our other cousins (Abby, Tyler and Eli) during Alex's birthday party. The kids got the chance to run around with them outside and play tag and chase bubbles.
We also took a day to go to Scarborough Beach. The water was not incredibly warm yet, but the kids seemed to still have a good time. Zack and Katie made sand castle and dug in the sand. Belle and Becky ventured out into the cool water and managed a little body surfing


Steve even took a little time to turn the kids into sand sculptures. Belle was turned in a chubby monkey holding a club, Katie was transformed into an octopus and Becky was made into a bat. This tradition is one that doesn't seem anywhere near close to dying.

I initially had not planned a trip to Maine to visit my friends, but Tuesday before leaving I got a phone call from Sarah saying that a huge tragedy had occurred to our friend's the Guerrettes. They were victims to a home invasion that left Willie (the father) and Nikki (the daughter) in the hospital, critical. After the initial shock of what had happened to people who have been so important and kind to my family, I knew I wanted to make my way to Maine and visit them.So Sunday, Belle and I got up at 4:00 am and drove to Augusta, where we planned to attend their sacrament meeting. Belle was able to see her best friend Lucy and sat next to her during the church meeting while I sat with my friend Michele who I had not seen in nearly 4 years. It was good to sit with my friend and let her know we are there to support she and her family through this.
Before leaving the Augusta area, Belle and I drove by our old home. The yard has not been kept up, but we could see the tree house that Steve made for kids and the old log cabin that time has been a little hard on. It was a bitter sweet trip down memory lane.
My trip would not be complete without stopping at The Red Barn where I purchased a lobsta roll. It was YUMMY and tasted like home.
The kids also took some time out to swim in the next door neighbor's pool. It was a great way to get the kids wiggles out. It was fun to have a little down time. Steve and I sat on the edge of the pool and watching as the jumped, swam and dove for torpedos.


Just like all vacations, the trip was over way too soon. It was a great trip and we are already talking about what we want to do the next time we are back there.