Week in Review 8/12/10

Wow! This was a while ago, but I'm so glad I have the pictures as a reminder. I took the girls and #5on a mini fieldtrip to Red Butte Gardens one morning for a sort of photo safari. The girls and I are all click-happy and we LOVED walking around the garden picking out cool shots. We also had a Scout Court of Honor with the boys in our ward. I'm so proud of #2 and his accomplishments. We're just a few requirements and an Eagle project away ... Yay!

Because we're such mean parents, we've made the Eagle rank a pre-requisite for his driver's license.

That's how we roll.

Week in Review 7/8/10

The reality of what has happened is starting to settle in now. We tried to have a normal day Friday and #1 and I did some running around together. We popped in and out of a few shops and I even gave blood at a local drive. It struck me as we were walking by the Red Cross trailer that it was the smallest way I could help someone in need that day - but may really save someone's life. It felt good to make some kind of contribution to the medical world after last week.

Saturday morning we stood by family tradition and attended the neighborhood 4th of July breakfast in hubby's home ward. My father-in-law, Sam, had actually been serving in their bishopric when the breakfast was first initiated some 30-ish years ago. We picked Mom up on the way knowing it would be difficult for her to be there - knowing it was another tribute to Sam to go. She did great though. She was able to catch up with a lot of old friends and seemed to talk about the events of the week with ease. She is my hero.

The afternoon was spent at D's memorial services and we were really touched by the stories that were shared about him there. It was actually a celebration of his life and focused quite a bit on the music he loved. The highlight of the service for us was getting to see Little D ... not sure when we'll see him again. I sure love that little guy.

The rest of the weekend was getting hubby and #2 ready for Scout camp. They left for the Carlisle Ranch in Wyoming early Monday morning for a week of fly fishing, whitewater rafting, horseback riding and aviation. You should have seen the stack of waivers we had to sign away on. Yikes. I can't take another tragedy right now. No sir!

Week in Review 6/17/10

June 11 through the 17th was ALL about camping. It started out with Webelo's camp in Millcreek Canyon, admittedly a nice change from my Bear troop. There was a 2 mile hike and lots of classes on things like how to shoot a BB gun and the fine art of archery. The weather cooperated and the boys were great - can't complain too much about that. Of course ... Saturday, dear hubby was kind enough to drive me up to our girls' camp site to see if it had flooded with all the seasonal rain. It was a mucky mess and I wasn't sure how we'd get through the next week.

Of course, we got the final word that camp was on, regardless of the muddy conditions, so I started piling all our gear in the living room while dearest went to pick up the trailer. The 4th years went up Monday morning and the rest of us followed on Tuesday. Lucky for us, the sun worked some magic and really dried out the area a lot before we got there. Hubby came up with us to help us get all set up. He picked the best spots for the tents, we needed 5, and the girls did most of the tent pitching themselves. The Nepali girls who came with us were beautiful and a pleasure to get acquainted with. Of course there was an immediate issue between my own daughters, complete with tears, but it wouldn't be camp if everyone got along the whole time, would it? We did our best to resolve it and got on with the day.

We started our series of devotionals, which would take us on an imaginary cruise starting in California and ultimately ending at Christmas Island. Each day the girls answered a series of questions about standards to find out the next destination. We talked about things like music, movies, modesty and dating. Each island we stopped at also had a craft to learn. The first day we made hemp bracelets, then beaded fabric necklaces and the last day we made wire rings with stone embellishments. I'll try to post more pics of the crafts with instructions soon - just remember that time flies around here.

For the most part, the weather was on our side ... but there was one morning when all the tent zippers had frozen closed. We actually had to poor hot water on one of them to get the girls out. Good times. Great memories!

Week in Review 5/27/10

Oy to the vey ... how can it get any more busy???

It seems like things should really wind down at the end of the year, slowing down to a nice easy pace ... things I could handle with my eyes closed. Why then did I end up double booked with kid activities almost everyday??? So not good. So hate to pick which even to go to first and which I would only catch the tail end of. Uck. OK. Here's the recap.

We started out the weekend with the big guys leaving for a scout camp out at the sand dunes, followed by several loads of sand-encrusted laundry. Fun. After that, hubby left for Idaho on a business trip and I got slammed with the rest of the week. There was a one-night-only cross country parent meeting for the oldest scheduled at exactly the same time as the pack meeting where #4 would be receiving his arrow of light. Luckily, his mommy was able to attend ... so we sat impatiently through all the cross country mumbo-jumbo and then raced down the hill to Scouts. We missed the presentation by about 3 minutes. Dang. #2 was able to snap some photos for me though.

Next, there was a full day of Airports Training for me followed by ... the mixed chorus concert and mother/daughter church activity ... scheduled at the same time again! So, I high-tailed it up for the concert and then raced down the hill to the church just in time for refreshments. One of these days I'm going to get a ticket on that hill - knock on wood. Thursday started off with a double whammy. There was the 9th grade awards assembly and 8th grade SBO skit assembly ... same time. At least this time they were in the same building. #2 opted to skip out on his own ceremony to come to watch the skits and cheer for his little sis with me. We also let big sis sluff morning classes to come and scream with us. Let me tell you, my 8th grader has got some serious moxy. She performed her own rendition of The Evolution of Dance ... solo. If you don't know it, you should definitely watch it here. Her courage paid off too. She was the only girl elected!!!

So I ran from the assembly, home to pack for my weekend trip to Washington. Got the last bit of laundry done so hubby would be all set. Waited for #1 to get home from school and we were on our way. We made a quick stop at hubby's office as he'd just gotten back into town from Idaho. I saw him for all of 4 minutes, 2 hugs and 3 kisses, then off to the airport, in the air, into PDX, whizzed back to my mom's house where we shoveled down her delicious Korean food and raced to my nephews' baseball games. Yep, 2 games ... same time. What the heck???

Busy, crazy-crazy busy. Whew!

Week in Review 4/1/10

The play and my training both wrapped up the same week. Whew! Not a lot actually happened the last week of March. I went to Jen Gochner's spring boutique with a couple girlfriends, which is always nice. I had my first few real work days on my new desk ... a little touch and go, but I survived. We had a special guest speaker at pack meeting and learned a lot about helicopter pilots in the armed forces. Everybody loved it, especially the dads who were there. It was cute to actually see there ears perk up as they came to life, not a normal occurrence for parents at scouts. Then there was more spring snow ... just in time for the beginning of spring break. Joy. 5 kidlets at home and crap weather. Yikes.

K, just 2 more weeks and I'm up to date with these bad boys. Tomorrow should be another full day. Stay tuned ...

Week in Review: Double Whammy 3/4/10 & 3/11/10

Time is flying and I've been neglecting my posts ... (bowing head in shame). I'm sorry. Even this will be a short post, but I will get back on track. Promise.The first week of March was filled with a wide variety of events. There was the Blue and Gold Banquet for the cub scouts. I was in charge of decorations and went to town with the balloons. (tip for all: for large quantities of balloons always use an air compressor; it's dreamy) Then we had a fireside and learned about the lives of Joseph and Hyrum Smith from two of their descendants. We sold the family van, watched the box elder bugs come back to life (shudder) and spent hours and hours at parent/teacher conferences ... 24 teachers in 2 days. Fun. Our two oldest daughters ended up grounded for the upcoming weekend as a result of the conferences. Ah, the joys of parenting.The second week was a different variety altogether! First, there was lots of sewing for items that I donated at our service auction. I made two more appliqued baby blankets (so fun) and two sets of appliqued burp cloths (adorable). The auction in itself was a blast; it was hilarious watching these sweet women go at it for the good buys. The Uruguayan empanadas were by far the biggest draw. Then there was an exciting trip to the Apple store to buy hubby dearest a new computer ... oh how I love my Mac. I was also taught a new technique for taping up my daughter's feet for track. The picture is only about half the process. We had spring snow and spring sun and it was all beautiful! Oh, and I interviewed for a new department at jetBlue! Results will post later this week.

Week in Review 2/4/10

I really mean to post these every Friday, but that just hasn't been happening. At least I have the pictures. I haven't missed a week in review yet ... so this is going a lot better than my commitment to the gym. ;)It was a great week. We had the Raingutter Regata, a baby shower for our neighbor, driving time with Izzy, shopping time with #2, mixed in with practicing for the talent show tomorrow and getting the older kids ready for school registration next year. This week's off to a great start too. Can't wait to post the pictures.