A blog post about scout camp by Ryker

This is Baiden on the left and Ethan on the left. This, I think was the first day of our camp out at Camp Morrison.

This was our smoky fire which for some reason everyone but me liked. They coughed, and coughed, and coughed, but for some reason they loved it. (especially Kaleb, he is on the far left)

This was the name of our awesome camp site.

That back there, if you can see him, is Ethan lifting a log (show off)

There he goes again :(

This is me in my hammock.

Ooh, aren't I stunning :)

That is my hammock without anyone in it, I love that hammock

That is the rock wall on which i got my climbing merit badge. We got to climb and repel.

That is the top of the rock wall.

This is my friend Tyler at the emergency preparedness merit badge station.

and Malachi at the same place

Now this picture is interesting. That morning we needed to get up but Baiden wouldn't get up so I threatened to take a picture but I heard no objection so look what happened.

This is at pioneering

same place (by the way i forgot nathan hates pictures, boy in the middle left).

me before i went swimming

if you can see it, a mule deere walked by our camp site

there it is again

This is Nathan  :)

This is Tyler and Kaleb: first day

This is in me and baiden in his tent before it flooded

Same (Baiden can be a little silly ;)

Some of the things I likes about scout camp are,

*the polar bear challenge: We got to the lake at five in the morning and it was not too cold, for the challenge we went into the water step by step, ankles, knees, waist, stomach, and then all the way and dunk. Then we had to sing a really weird repeat after me song. What was funny was the water was  actually warmer then the air outside.

*Climbing: They had a rock wall and the first night we stayed in it because it was raining like crazy. But the last four days it was really fun because the first two or three days we got to climb the wall and then the rest of the days we got to repel off the wall. It was a fun and easy merit badge to get. I really liked the rock wall.

*The mess hall: there was a lot of boys and so it could get really confusing in there but we figured it all out and they had really good food. My favorite was when they made cheeseburgers served with ice-cream, milk an apple and fruit salad.

A sad day

For the past month or so we have noticed that Avynlea's Hamster, Trinity, was not looking so good. She had the big growth on her bum and has really slowed down a lot. We talked about it and let Avy know that her time was just about done. Saturday morning we got up and realized that Trinity had died during the night. Avy was a bit sad but she had been prepared for this and knew it was going to happen and so she seemed ok with it. Kefford went outside to dig a hole in the backyard and I found an envelope box so that when Kefford came back in he could put her in it.

Everyone but Kenedy, she was at a cheer thing, went in the backyard for the burial. Kefford told the kids that Animals go to heaven too and that Heavenly Father is aware of them all. I told Avynlea she should say some nice things about her Hamster which she didn't really do and then Kefford covered the hole with the dirt and lawn square. 

Avynlea marked her grave with some leaves in the shape of a T and then we were done. Short and sweet. After three hamsters in a row we are done with them for a long while. Trinity lasted the longest which was about three years and Avynlea had some good years with her and her other hamsters so, that is that.

Braces!

Ryker finally had braces put on his teeth on Friday. We have been talking about it for quite a few months and the day had finally arrived. Kefford took Ryker to work with him so Kelsey could put his braces on and Ryker got to choose the color of the bands. He chose blue and green in honor of the Seattle Seahawks. He did good but has been complaining about his gums hurting. Poor kid! Still cute though!

Hunger Games!

After I posted about the decorations I did in Emily's classroom, Kefford's awesome cousin Taylor was super impressed and asked if I would help her out in decorating her husbands classroom. Of course I was totally onboard and more then willing to help out. I love doing creative stuff! Talon will be teaching 6th grade math this year and after I said yes I started thinking and panicking a little. Decorating a female elementary teachers classroom is super easy and the skies the limit. A middle school math classroom for a male teacher? A little bit harder to come up with things. Luckily I have Kenedy who is Pinterest obsessed and she sent me a pin that sparked my theme. Hunger Games, May the Odds be ever in Your Favor! Perfect for a math teacher. I ran the idea past Taylor and Talon and they liked it so I ran with it. These past two days I have spent decorating his classroom and I have to say it came out pretty cool. 

I knew I wanted to put flames up but my first attempt were an epic, ugly fail. So I looked up some ideas on Pinterest and found the perfect idea for some way cool flames.

Taylor had the idea to do a Panther Pride board and so we cut up the PRIDE poster and made a cool board. The middle school was sorely lacking in supplies in their workroom. We were able to find some borders to use but for the letters we went to the Elementary school and used their die cut machine. They also had a paw print die cut which was fun to use and a panther head die cut. That one we put over the door.

The kids all have to spend time during their advisory period reading a book which would explain why there was a bookshelf of books in the Math room. Once I saw that I knew we had to do something cool above it. This is what we came up with. Taylor put the letters up and I did the flames. I love it!

Finally the door. The saying on the door came from the original idea Kenedy pinned for me. It was a bit tricky with the window but I think we did a great job. 

Back to School

Avynlea and Rylee started school today, this summer has been the fastest summer on record for us, I cannot believe how fast it has gone! Avynlea is now in fifth grade and Rylee is a third grader. Avynlea has Mr. Ceniga who was also Kenedy's fifth grade teacher. Kenedy had him when Avynlea was a Kindergartner across the hall and now Avy has him which is awesome! Rylee got Miss Hixon who was also her first grade teacher. After that year Miss Hixon switched to third and Rylee is excited to be in her class. 

My girls really wanted Disney Vans and since they were a little more spendy then what I would normally buy for their shoes I told them I would, but, they only got one new outfit for the first day of school. They were fine with that since they just got a big bag of new to them hand me downs from Isabelle. Avynlea got Belle shoes and Rylee really wanted the Jasmine ones but they only had those in adult sizes so Rylee got some super cute Minnie ones. Bonus, she matches Heathers Minnie shoes!

Before school the girls were admiring their shoes and were so excited to discover hidden Mickey's on them! I can see Avynleas in the picture but the angle of the picture makes it impossible to find Rylee's.

I am carpooling again this year with a friend but my girls wanted me to take them on their first day. Oh they are so cute and so excited for a new year!

Weekend Adventures

Kefford let Avynlea ride around the yard on the motorcycle. It would be nice to have more space for the kids to ride the motorcycle and four-wheelers but we make do with what we have. I am now noticing the lack of helmet and next time must insist on one even if she is only riding around the yard.

Saturday night we went mini golfing with Jeremy, Gwen and their kids. It was fun to hang out with their family and we spent a lot of the time laughing which is always great!

Ally, Avynlea, Makayla and Kenedy

After we got back Kefford barbecued some chicken I had prepared and we hung out in the backyard for a little bit enjoying the beautiful weather. 

Friday Kefford and I took the girls on some errands with us and when we were almost through I noticed we were color matching. Its funny how those things happen.

Earlier in the day Avynlea and Rylee asked if they could ride their bikes to the church. I was fine with that and told them to stick together. A little bit later I heard Rylee crying and she came in looking like she had been to war. Turning into the subdivision from the church while riding a bike there is a blind curve. Avynlea went around it at top speed and told Rylee to do the same thing. Avynlea survived fine, Rylee did not. She went head on into a bush and scratched herself up pretty bad. The poor kid was in a lot of pain and after giving her some ice for her face she laid down on the couch and fell asleep. We woke her up to go mini golfing, which she did not want to participate in even before the accident but I told her she needed to come and she could hang out with me. She was not feeling so great but was being a pretty good trooper until about 3/4 of the way through when her sick stomach had enough and she threw up. I took her inside to rinse out her mouth and wipe her face down and we sat inside enjoying the air conditioning for a little while. She was feeling better and we went outside just in time to watch the others hit their last shots. She will have quite the story to tell when she starts school on monday and already plans on telling people she was attacked by a raccoon. I said that's fine as long as she tells the truth pretty quickly afterwards.

After taking pictures of her Rylee wanted to take a picture of me.

Petersons in McCall

We got home from California Sunday night and on Monday we unpacked, did laundry and then repacked. Kenedy left for Girls Camp Tuesday morning and after I went to the Temple, Ryker, Rylee, Avynlea and I left for a couple of days in McCall for some Grandma and cousin time. Kefford had to stay in Meridian to work. 

It is always fun and relaxing to be up in the mountains. I always love when my kids can be with their cousins and they had a lot of them there to play with. Alison brought Jeremy's kids, Brit came with her kids and Mikell was there with her kids. Whitney came up on the day we left but we got a couple of hours with her and her kids. 

Ally, Brooke, Makayla, Jenna, James and Avynlea

Rylee, Jenna, Grandma ALison, Kelly and Brooke

It was really great for Bailey to be there so he and Ryker could have a chance to hang out. They have not seen each other all summer with all the traveling going on between the two families and so I am glad they finally had the chance to be together.

Asher, Bailey and Ryker

James was cracking me up with his shyness. He could barely look at me the first day or two but by the end of the week I had him won over.

Qiana and Rylee

Avynlea loved riding on the four wheelers and Alison got these fun shots of her and Ally

Alison bought a little propane stove so that we could roast hot dogs and marshmallows. I really love cook outs and eating outside, the kids had fun with it also. Because of a fire ban we could not have a big fire pit but this little stove got the job done. 

Ryker decided he did not want to finish his hot dog and was not thrilled when I made him. Too bad, so sad!

Holding Kelly was a fun pastime and James was so cute with his little sister.

Rylee, Elizabeth, Xander and Brit

I decided to leave on Thursday. We wanted to get back for Meet the Teacher night that was going on that night and also I just wanted to get home since I feel like we have been away forever. I told Alison I was thinking about leaving after lunch and she recommended that we stay after lunch long enough for us all to go into town and have some ice-cream at ice-cream ally. Sounded good to me!

James decided to sit next to me and at one point was feeding me some of his ice-cream. Love this kid! We are pretty much best friends now ;)