12 Years Old

 Chloe turned 12 while she was away at girls camp. It was the first year we haven't been with her on her actual birthday to celebrate and it was just a little bit sad. I guess that is life though as your children get older. I decided that it would be fun to make her a birthday cake and surprise her with it when she got home. Thanks to the help of Grandma Marshall we were able to pull off this cute emoji birthday cake. If you know Chloe, then you know she loves emoji's , so it was the perfect cake for her. We also let her chose where she wanted to get lunch. She chose Red Lobster-we were all kind of feeling blah and worn out, so we ordered it to go. Chloe of course ordered the crab legs-those are one of her very favorite foods. Happy Birthday Chloe!!! So glad we have you in our lives. It would get pretty boring around here without it.

Mom and The Boys

While Chloe was away at girls camp I decided I would take the opportunity to do something with the boys. They had both been wanting to see the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie so to the movies we went. Bryce of course got his standard movie theater cotton candy (it is his treat of choice every time we go to the movies). We had fun and afterwards went to Costa Vida for lunch. It was a nice little outing for us. I love that these boys, despite their huge age difference, are such good friends.

 After seeing the movie Bryce became obsessed with the Ninja Turtles. I remember another little boy who used to like them when he was little as well ;)

Girls Camp

Our church does a yearly girls camp for the girls ages 12-18. I guess you would say it is kind of supposed to be a spiritual retreat. It is something the girls really like and look forward to. Chloe turned 12 the second day of girls camp so she was able to go this year. She was super excited, but a little bit nervous cause the day they left was just one week after her surgery.

For a few weeks before she prepared and made sure she had everything on her list, including her secret sister gifts. (Secret Sister-each girl draws a name and they are supposed to leave a little gift for their person each day and also do nice things for them during camp-it is a fun and special part of girls camp).

 Finally the day arrived and we woke up bright and early so we could drop her off at the church at 7. Luckily one of her good friends had just turned 12 too, so they were able to go together.

The last night of camp the young women invite the bishoprics of each ward up to share dinner and testimony meeting with them. It is always a great night. Since Landon is in the bishopric he got to go. Bryce and I went along as well. We had fun seeing all the girls and watching some of the fun things they did. Testimony meeting was great as always, the spirit was really strong. After testimony meeting it was time to head home. Chloe decided she would rather ride home with us that night instead of with the rest of the girls the following morning. She made a wise choice as rain came through camp that night and all the tents leaked and girls got wet.

I'm really glad she was able to go. I think it was a great experience for her and something she will look forward to in the future.

Lily Pad Counting

Bryce is in the water on a daily basis this time of year. Usually I just let him play in the water, but sometimes I try to do things to break up the monotony. I saw an idea on Pinterest to make lily pads out of foam. The foam floats on the water. Then we found some frogs at the dollar store. Now the fun begins. Bryce loved getting the frogs on the lily pads and having them float around. We also worked on some counting "can you put three frogs on this lily pad" or "how many frogs are on this lily pad". It turned into a fun little activity, and now the frogs and lily pads have found a new home in the bathtub.

Apricots

Apricot season is here and between my Grandmas tree and my next door neighbors we have tons. The kids and I all love to eat them, but there is so many that they would never all get eaten before they went bad, so I decided to be productive.

I made about 4 batches of apricot jam. The sad thing is we really don't even eat it, as most of us prefer strawberry, but I figured I could give it away and maybe use some of it for Christmas, so it won't be wasted.

On top of the jam-I dried several batches. They turned out great and I think they were getting eaten faster than I could dry more. Seriously I think I only have a small baggie full of them left, and I dried a lot!!! I guess at least it is a pretty healthy snack right ;)

Well apricot season has come and gone...until next year I guess.

Quilts 8, 9, 10

#8 (for Jeff's son and his wife who are expecting their first baby)

#9 (for my aunt Jamie who is more like my cousin, since she is only two years older than me, and who is expecting her first baby)

#10

(for someone in the ward who had a baby)

First Job/First Paycheck

The day after we got back from camping along with Chloe getting her tonsils out Tanner started his first official job. He is working at Artic Circle. It is fun to get text messages from people we know who go in there and see him and send us his picture. HAHA! He is less than thrilled when that happens. However I have refrained from posting any of them to Instagram or Facebook. Along with his first job came his first real paycheck. The first one was pretty little cause it literally had only about 3-4 hours on it. However, he is looking forward to the next one as it should be pretty good.

Currently she is just running the front cash register, and making ice cream cones and shakes, but he did get his food handlers permit, so when he turns sixteen he can learn to cook as well. I hope he sticks with it. I think it will be a good thing to keep him busy and help him earn extra spending cash and gas money.

Tonsillectomy

The day after we got back from camping Chloe was scheduled for Surgery at 7 am. She was to have her tonsils and adenoids removed. She has been sick a lot in the past few years with Strep Throat and possibly PFAPA (a fever disorder with many strep throat symptoms). One of the main procedures to cure or stop both is having your tonsils out, so after Chloe's last bout of strep and her missing another week of school (her third this year) we decided to go ahead and schedule the surgery. The surgery went well. When it was over she couldn't stay awake for most of the first day. Bryce did a good job taking care of his sister. We had to pretty much keep her on pain pills around the clock for about a week. During that time she slept a lot and complained of starving. We tried to feed her but the foods she could tolerate just weren't feeling her up. I think she did enjoy the smoothies and ice cream and mashed potatoes from KFC though.
One day her BFF Brydee came over to keep her company and we went and got Italian ice for a treat.

 Finally on her first day of girls camp-she turned the bend and started feeling like her old self.

Now we will cross our fingers that this solves her medical problems and she can be healthy.

Maya Lynn

Last Month my niece was born-May 19. She was 8 lbs 13 oz. I was working at the school on the day she was born, so I had wait all day to go and see her. She sure is cute.

When Bryce finally got so see her-he couldn't get over how little her feet and hands were. He didn't want to hold her, but he really liked looking at her and touching her hands and feet. Sometimes he will ask now if we can go see Tiffanie's baby.

Chloe was sad she didn't get to see her the day she was born, and with her busy schedule and tonsil surgery it was a few days before she got to hold her, but she finally did.

Camping at Panguitch Lake

School got out Thursday and Friday we headed out to Panguitch Lake for our annual camping trip with my sister Mandy and her family. It also happened to be Memorial Day weekend which meant we had until Monday before we would be returning home. We were worried that we were going to freeze up there, but honestly overall it really wasn't too bad and we didn't have any bad wind or rain or anything like that. I remember when my Grandpa and Grandma Marshall used to take me camping at Panguitch Lake when I was little, being there brought back memories. I hadn't been camping there since I was little. We have decided that we really like it there and will definitely go back. The campgrounds are nice and have lots of good shade.

The first day and night our neighbors "The Starks" joined us. The kids have been friends with them forever, I guess it's almost like they are cousins.

Bryce was enthralled with the fire. Whenever there wasn't one going he would ask to build one no matter what time of day it was, and then he would gather things from around the camp and throw them into it. Little Pyro!

 Dutch oven is for sure one of my favorite parts of camping.

 We got Chloe this little boat for her birthday and gave it to her a little early. She couldn't wait to get it out on the lake and got it all ready the night before.

 Fishing was the first item on the list for Friday morning. We started out on the bank, but when my Mom and Jeff and his kids showed up they rented a pontoon boat, which we fished in the rest of the morning. We didn't have much luck that morning, but the kids had fun, and Tanner liked driving the boat around.

 Bryce took a little nap aboard the boat.

 Chloe and Saydee thought it would be fun to get towed along behind it. They had fun, but they did get a little bit cold and wet.

Friday evening and Saturday we went back to bank fishing and caught one fish after the other. Most of them were too little to keep, but we did end up catching a few that were big enough.

 These crazy kids decided they wanted to learn to gut and clean their own fish and then cook them and that's exactly what they did. Surprisingly they even ate them after they cooked them. They are true sportsman.

 Before we left for camp I made Bryce these pretend binoculars out of some toilet paper rolls, tape, and yarn. He loved them. He literally wore them the entire time we were there.

 Bryce decided he liked fishing as long as he didn't actually have to touch the fish.

 In fact he liked it so much that he started naming the fish he would catch. Names like "iron-man", "spider-man", etc. At one point we tried to let one of his fish go that was really too little to keep; he was not happy about that idea and actually dove into the lake after it. We ended up keeping it and I striped down the little clown and put him in the truck. He had to ride back to camp for dry clothes in his undies, but he didn't seem to mind one bit.

 Sunday we went on a nice little drive around the lake, and we spotted a pirate ship.

 Here is a group shot of the crazy camping cousins. We attempted to make shirts, but they didn't turn out the greatest.

 Tanner doesn't really enjoy fishing, so most of the time when we would fish he would hang out at the lodge-where there was free wifi. Before we left Bryce wanted to get a picture with the bear that was outside the door.

We really had a fun little trip and our counting down the days until we head on our next adventure to Bear Lake.