Mother's Day Camping Trip

We asked my mom what she would like for Mother's Day and she replied that all she wanted was for her kids to get together and go camping on Mother's Day weekend. So that is exactly what we did. After weeks of trying to make everyone happy, it ended with staying in the Quincy area and going to Evergreen at the Quincy Lakes. Why it's called Evergreen.... I really don't know because it's all sage brush and lakes! I really had my heart set on Swan Lake, but I was up for camping anywhere and make my mom happy. I couldn't get Friday off and so I headed to Quincy right after I got out of work. We made it there around 7 pm.

When we first arrived, I laughed because Landon was like a magnet to those four wheelers.
Here he is with his helmet on...



Jenny took him out for a ride and so did Uncle David.



Jenny and I took a turn on the 4 wheeler too!
I don't trust myself driving one of those. They are nice and expensive, and I know how I am on just my 2 feet, let alone someone else's recreational vehicle! So I left the driving up to Jenny.



I love this photo of Leah and I. She is my younger sister, but she has always been thought of as older than me by everyone that has met the two of us and didn't know us personally. So she is supposed to be my little sister, but sometimes I find myself looking up to her a lot more than I should think an older sister is supposed to. She's my best friend though.



The lovely sunset view from Evergreen Lake in Quincy. It was beautiful. As you look at this you can't tell that there were hundreds and maybe even thousands of Frogs croaking everywhere. I love to hear frogs and crickets at night, so it didn't bother me any. It was a beautiful sunset though.



These are the kiddos that night besides Landon. It was Linzey, Nicolas and Devon (Nic's friend) who were trying to catch the frogs by the water. They did get some too!



And here is just one of the many they found together.



Here is the clan of family and friends gathered around the campfire.
Misty, David, Samantha, Nicholas, Abby, Jenny, Sam (standing up), and Victor's boot. :)
Then there is Jenny, Sam, Victor and Niko.
You can find this group together all the time and especially on the weekends doing something.



And here is a shot of myself. I totally don't match, but it was cold and I only brought one pair of close toed shoes... so this is what you get! Can you tell I'm not one to bring outfit after outfit camping? I just bring the bare necessities.



Here is Mom or Grandma Therese with Landon and Linzey.



Landon and I... except Landon was tired of the camera by then and way past bedtime!



The next morning (after very little sleep for ALL of us) the kids set out playing with the frogs from the previous night in the dirt.
And yes... Landon is still in his pajamas and laying in the dirt... enough to make you cringe... but that is why there are loads of laundry to do after camping.
Then Nicolas and Landon posing in the back of Victor's truck.



Leah making a HUGE breakfast to feed us all. She made eggs, sausage, and a fruit bowl.
It was very delicious and she did an amazing job because NONE of it was burnt!



My mom and I finally got our FIRST fishing licenses and wanted to fish some. So we set out to find the boys out in the very remote part of the lakes. I thought Jonathan was leading us on a wild goose chase with how far out we were going, but thankfully we HAD to stop and take a picture of this crane we went by on our way. It was beautiful and HUGE.



Then we made it to the boys as they were headed back to camp. So we didn't even get to go fishing, but they stopped and showed us how they bow and arrow carp in the lakes. They already had pulled 3-4 out of this lake on earlier, but I decided to capture them in action since I wasn't going to get to fish right then. Below is my brother-in-law, Thomas, and his cousin, Eric.




Eric got a carp within the first 10 minutes. This is him getting the carp off the arrow.



And this is how big the carp are down there... as Jonathan shows us below. They are about 20-30 pounds. Thomas had a weight pulley in his tackle box, but the fish maxed out the weight and fell right off... so it shows you how big and heavy they were!



We made it back to camp and Landon was wanting to go 4 wheeling again...



The boys were target practicing... poor mocking birds.
Eric, Thomas, and Sammy.



Picture of me next to this stump by our campsite.
You could tell that a beaver or something had attacked the side of the stump.



This was the beautiful skies we had on the second day in camp.
There were a few clouds, but it was a NICE day!



Leah and I hiking with the kids. The boys didn't want to come with and so we trekked off by ourselves.



We went fishing later that day and Eric caught a baby stergion. It was awesome. Very cool looking and they are huge fish when they get to be an adult. We just captured and released this one because it was too small to keep... and we want him to get bigger and catch him again. :)



Mom finally went fishing and found that she liked Leah's pole more than the one that she had.
Mom could actually cast out with Leah's and was about to throw her's in the lake...
so Leah rested and watched.



So we moved to another spot and then as we were packing up there, Jonathan, my nephew, decided he was going to throw a peanut (orange candy thing) at my head... which he did and it hit me square in the forehead. I wasn't going to let that go... so I chased after him... he ended up going around a turn and falling into the water. Little do you know how gross smelling that water really smelt like. It makes you smell like dead carp... and we had been trying this entire camping trip to avoid going in the water or touching the water as they hopped from island to island to get a better fishing/hunting spot. So when this happened and I didn't have to do anything to have Jonathan get wet.... I was so happy.



We went to one more spot and this is me and Jonathan (and not pictured is Sammy) sitting on the canoe in the back of Thomas' truck going to the fishing spot. The last one of the night... no one had caught anything (except the Stergon that we couldn't keep) and so we were determined!



This is the night sky and darkness that was settling. You can tell there are rain clouds coming and that night we ended up packing up and heading into town because we didn't want to get rained on. But not before Sammy caught a Bass at this very spot! It was pretty big and I learned (not through experience) that Bass have extremely sharp teeth and fins that you have to be careful of. Thankfully there were others that knew that and no one got hurt, but I saw those teeth and cringed.



So our camping trip went extremely well. We all had a blast and were extremely tired from not getting much sleep the previous night. Hopefully we can do it again next year too!

YW Events to Note

This is a photo of the Camp Certification that we did for the YW to pass off their fire-making and cooking activities they needed to have signed off before we went to camp. I thought I had left my camera at home until I went to my car to get in and found it on my front seat! So this is a photo of the rest of the people (mostly leaders and only 1 YW) who were still there with the Brother from the Stake Scouts that helped to teach us and use his barrels for the fires.



Mia Maids were in charge of the Combined activity with the Young Men called Human Foosball.
My mom had done this activity as a ward activity in Quincy, but I didn't know what to do because they used PVC pipe and we didn't have the funds or resources to replicate that. So I went to the Dollar Store and found some clothes line that we used to "anchor" the kids to their lined team. We used lines on the gym floor to keep them in place. I was the referee and we kept score... although with every point the lines moved, so keeping score was hard if not impossible.



As you can tell there were some who got "out of line" but for the most part it was fun for everyone. Except if you were waiting for the ball to come your way... Sarah is looking pretty bored in the photo below.



The lines were made up of a variety of YW and YW from different ages.



There were 2 goalies at the ends of the gym and we switched them out too.



This Rachel... she is the amazing young lady who watches Landon for me when I was doing Mutual or Mary Kay Parties. She is so good with him. She plays, reads, digs, and sings with him. I loved her watching Landon because I knew he was always going to have a fun time.



This was just part of the crowd watching on...
My niece, Linzey, is the one in the striped purple shirt.



The event was fun and even though we were stressed beforehand, it turned out well and everyeone had fun. Only one person got hurt by being beamed in the eye from the ball... so if you replicate this make sure you're not using a soccer ball, but a soft ball.

Union Ward YW Car Wash

This was the day that we did the Fundraiser for the Young Woman to earn/raise some money for girls camp this year in the Union Ward. We had an busy, long, and sunburn filled day.

The girls started out thoughtful and strong.
Thoughtful with how many cars we might actually get to help them out...
and strong in motivation and determination to get more cars in there somehow.



They worked car after car and didn't even stop to get an ice cream!
Most went without lunch too... they were awesome. No complaints from our customers!



Of course during the day there were some silly and crazy moments...
but what activity isn't complete without those times when the Young Woman get together?



The signs and sign holders of the day were amazing.
Their arms were weary by the end of the day and their faces hurt from smiling too much at drivers who were passing by with an occasional encouraging honk from their cars/truck/semi.



Then when the afternoon was about to wind it's way up, the water wars began.
The water was flying...
Soap was dripping....
And the foam was plentifully planted on most of the YW there.
But after a hot, long day... couldn't expect to end the day with anything else.



These were the last few cars done and then we packed up and were out of there.
Here are all my MiaMaids: Hanna, Kristen, Chelsea, Sarah, and Ami.
These girls rock it and make each day fun-filled and memorable. I love them so much.



That evening the Laurels attended a "Mormon Prom Night" at the stake center and the decor was amazing. I took Sarah there where her mom was just finishing up on the details for that night.

The entire day was so much fun. We had to run to the store for a few things and were working in Teams in the end... Team 1 and Team 2. We had leaders with the hoses because we were meticulous that ALL the soap gets rinsed off the vehicles. Plus when the girls got the hoses they got distracted... and it meant we didn't have to bend/kneel down as much which is the lazy man's way. :) I love the Young Woman's Program and the leaders I served with. They were amazing.

I Love My PaPa!

So I went to see my dad a while back and didn't get the photos from the computer until last night, so that is why I'm going crazy with the blogs. I FINALLY have the photos to put along with them. I usually upload my photos and fill in the spaces with words and stories... so this is going to be a regular thing now I hope.

Anyways... I went to my dad's house in Othello and Landon and I got there when Dad and Ruth were still working. So we walked to Ruth's work to say hi! We had to pass through a park to get to the building... so here is Landon in the park saying, "Up mama, Up!"
If you didn't get that... he wanted me to carry him. :)



There is a stuffed crane in the entry way to go see Ruth and Landon thought it was very cool!
He's pointing to a picture of more cranes!



I don't know if it's just with Landon or all boys at about 2 1/2 have a fascination with drinking fountains... but with Landon it's a BIG thing to go and push the button on the drinking fountain and to see the water gush from the faucet. This is immediately followed by Landon actually drinking the water or trying to play with the water.



There's Grandma Ruth!



On the way home we play at the park and playground.



Below Landon is telling me to sit down next to him... cute little stuff!



Then on our way back to PaPa's house he found a stick... but it wasn't just a stick!
It became a cow herder, sword, gun, instrument, and I think a horse for a second.
The mind and thoughts of a 2 year old entertain me immensely!



I thought that these blossoms were gorgeous so I tried to get Landon to pose, but can you tell that he's in a daze... yeah... it was getting passed due for a nap!



After the nap, PaPa was home and Landon helped him to get the planters built in the backyard so that Grandma Ruth can plant her garden.



Anytime the toilet flushes out in a restaurant or gas station or anyplace, Landon ALWAYS places his hands over his ears because its loud... apparently PaPa's hammer makes loud noises too! lol



Grandma Ruth brought out some toys for Landon to play in the dirt with... I didn't know until afterwards that it's nicer to do gardens in planters because the dirt isn't packed down so much as the ground... but I don't think that's the case with Landon running up and down that thing!
Whoops!



Helping PaPa drill some screws into the boards. Landon loved this part!



This was the next day, Sunday. We went to church with Ruth... it was interesting. I liked the talks, but I think I will stick to my sacrament meetings I'm used to.
Landon loves PaPa's garbage and is very adament that he throws his stuff away by himself.



When the day was said and done, Landon was passed out in the back of the car on the way home.
Next trip maybe I'll try to fit in a nap... if I'm lucky. :)