let freedom ring

{ july 4, 2009}

summer vacation 2009

                                          {photos by danny}

i don't know where i was when these moments happened.  i might have been making pasta salad and baked beans for dinner on the 4th.  maybe i was doing yoga in the game room with the girls, or visiting  (and laughing) with family i don't see very often.  i could have been sharing makeup secrets with shauna ( a personal highlight) or taking my turn on facebook scrabble.  i'm not sure where i was, but I know I wasn't there with my camera.  i'm thrilled that danny was.

we are family

my brothers and my sisters and me....

and parents, of course.

we had a great time spending a week at Bear Lake, all 58 of us, together.

Have I Mentioned That We Have Good Neighbors?

        willing to lend a ladder and a hand...or two.  thanks Kevin!

daddy

 

 he encourages us to jump.  he won't let us fall.  he is safe.  he provides and protects.  he holds us up high.  he loves, without a doubt.

girls camp 2009

we came.  we wore purple camo bandanas.  we strung christmas lights in our cabin.  we laughed.  we got dirty.  we sang--alot.  we listened to a fellow camper's rap songs (I ain't your sugar mama, so pick up your own trash).  we prayed.  we cried.  we used aqua net hairspary to make big 80's hair (and to fix anything else that went wrong). we laughed some more.  we sang out in high pitched voices, "we're changing" every time someone came to our cabin door.  we hiked.  we giggled.  we slept--a little.  we screamed because of a swooping bat.   we hugged.  we had a great time.

then, we went home.  we smelled the good home smell.  we showered.  we slept.  we were thrilled to be home.

Fat Guy and an Air Mattress…

A few weeks ago our ward had our Fathers and Sons campout. I love these! Keaton, Weston and I headed up to the pines for a night in nature with a bunch of good friends.

The campfire is usually one of our favorite things. Keaton loves the fire, and always makes sure it stays properly stoked and cared for. Weston is a big fan of roasting marshmallows – notice that I said “roasting,” that is actually miles away from “eating” marshmallows. Although he still manages to get a healthy amount of the stickiness on approximately 75% of his face.

Hiking and exploring is another highlight for us boys. This year we found some good walking sticks (as always), and apparently Weston found an arrow. Yes, he was supervised – occasionally.

The highlight for me is sleeping in a tent with just my boys. Sleeping is kind of a general term – the boys sleep, I am the big guy in the middle of an air mattress which means the boys (because of gravity) roll to the middle and are basically on top of me. Not the most comfortable way to spend a night. HOWEVER, it is a great way to spend a night thinking about how lucky you are that this fire-tender and sticky-face look to you and call you Dad.

the face of 40

Brian's birthday was on a Sunday this year, so we'll stole about an hour of his busy day for dinner and his favorite-mint chocolate chip ice cream cake.

It was an intimate gathering of Brian's favorite people, all within hugging and smooching vicinity. 

After cake, he left for church responsibilities.  The rest of us got busy plastering his bathroom mirror with sticky notes telling him "40 things we love about you".

My favorites:

You let me punch your hands (Keaton)

You let us eat on the floor out of a big bowl when Mom's not home (Shelby)

You can build a good fire (me)

He loves Keaton and me (Weston)

He makes us safe (Kate)

Some kind of 6

A couple of days before Weston turned 6, I asked him why he was so excited for his birthday.  His answer was pretty simple, "My friends are coming over and there will be party bags."

My heart sunk.  We weren't giving him a party this year.

I tried to make it up to him with breakfast in bed.

I hoped that a dinner date with Mom and Dad would help him forget about party bags.

   

He ate ribs, got messy and I didn't even flinch when he squirted half the bottle of  Devil's Spit on his plate and smeared rib juice on my cream shirt.

 

Grandma & Grandpa, aunts, uncles, cousins gathered around at the end of the night to sing him a loud and loving version of happy birthday as he blew out his 6 sparkler candles.

So it wasn't exactly what he asked for, but it turned out swell.

she is

she is my first child, my precocious one.

she is the one who gave me my first kissing hand.

today.

she is ready for junior high.