Cub Scout Day Camp

Isaiah had is first year of Cub Scout Day Camp last week! I was very excited for him because I knew he would have so much fun but it is always a little bitter sweet watching him get older.

He's always a little nervous at the beginning of new things but quickly finds his place and buddies and has a great time.
Watching the first flag raising ceremony. It was cute to see him stand and salute the flag with the cub scout salute while reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

Here he is learning a little about map and compass reading. I was volunteering this day so I got to see how attentive he really was. I have a pretty good feeling that he was more interested in the sticks on the ground than what the different colors on the map represented.

Archery was of course one of his favorites. The last day we had a BBQ and all the families were able to come and go around to the different stations with their children. I got to shoot some arrows along side of Isaiah and it was super fun. I took archery in Junior High and loved it but definitely didn't retain any skills. Isaiah beat me.

Nothing like the parachute. The Den Leader came up with this game that all the kids would toss the parachute up in the air and then try to make it to the other side and catch it as it was coming down. The first thought that came to my mind was, that was the worst possible thing you could tell these boys to do. I envisioned bloody noses, bumped heads, and teeth falling out. In retrospect I should have listen to that prompting and spoke up but I was only a volunteer for one day and I didn't want to step on her toes. Well as it went the first time through one of the little boys lost his tooth. Luckily it was a baby tooth and one that his dentist had given him a week to lose or it was getting pulled. The sight of it all was still a little frightening.

The obstacle course they had set up for the kids was pretty fun. The rope swing across the pit was Isaiah's favorite....

....but only because it was hot and he wanted to drop in the water.

So proud of himself for getting wet!

Nothing like water fights on a hot sunny day.

Another one of Isaiah's favorites was the BB guns. They got to shoot every day along with archery every day. I was so impressed with all that the volunteers did for these kids. The lady that ran the whole thing did it on a complete volunteer basis and she did an amazing job. By the end of the week Isaiah was happy, tired, and already looking forward to next year.

Christopher

I have been watching my nephew for the last two weeks. My sister has been in Italy with her husband and her two older daughters. I told her about a week ago that I would post some pictures on my blog of Christopher. We have had a fun but very busy time.

The week before last when the weather was nicer we went to Otter Beach. It's an outdoor swimming pool in Corvallis. Christopher loved it! We plan on going again this week before he leaves.

Jumping in at his swim lessons. He loves swimming!






Christopher is making ice cream in these pictures. This was an activity we did for achievement day.

We went to the Corvallis Knights $1000.00 dash for cash. Christopher was a little weary of the Knight at first but Daniel helped him figure out that he was a pretty cool guy. Christopher kept saying, "I don't want to see that baseball Knight guy anymore." I told him that it was just a regular guy with a giant head on for a costume that he could take off whenever he wanted to. After that he seemed fine.

We went clam digging in Newport on Saturday as part of our fourth of July weekend. The weather was beautiful!

This was a long walk down to the area we went clam digging. Christopher was a trooper on the way down and walked the whole way. The way back was a little different. By that time he was tired so Daniel put him on his shoulders.

Later that evening we did some fireworks in front of our house.

Happy Fourth of July mom, dad, Alex, and Lauren! Come home safe to me.

A Little Father's Day Gift

This picture is a little disturbing to me.....

....but not as much as this one! For Father's Day this year Isaiah really wanted to get Daniel a BB gun. They have both been talking about it for a long time but I have been dragging my feet on it. I decided it would be okay since Isaiah is going to cub camp this summer and apparently they shoot BB guns every day.


I am so glad that I have a husband that I can trust 100% with Isaiah's safety. He doesn't always show it on the outside, but every time we have done something potentially dangerous, Daniel is always the one to show and teach Isaiah the safety rules first. Thank goodness for that!

For family home evening the next night we decided to make targets for our activity. This had absolutely nothing to do with the lesson, but Daniel and Isaiah were pretty excited to see how good of a shot they were. Isaiah's target is on the left. He made points for each area on the target. My target is on the right. The bulls eye on mine is a credit card. If I hit my bulls eye I got to use it. No such luck for me though:)

It was hard to tell with the cardboard from far away. Daniel actually almost hit the bulls eye on the first shot! Isaiah and I were a different story. I found most of my bullets lodged into the fence behind the box.

Isaiah doing his happy dance after emptying a round:)

Consumer report: Good buy!

Next target: Pop cans.

Another Baptism!

There were five kids born in the same year in our family. Stephan was the second to be baptized. I am sad that I didn't get any of Connor:( Stephan is my third the the oldest sister Debora's, son. He asked me to give a talk on the Holy Ghost. I felt pretty special because we have a big family and there were a lot to choose from. He is such a sweet boy. He was so reverent and seemed as if he was taking it all in.

Afterwards was a whole different story! We have some goofy boys in our family.



















I finally got them calmed down for a good picture. Now I can say that we have some very handsome boys in our family as well!



















Isaiah, Ethan, Claire, and Evelyn waiting patiently for the baptism to start. Can you guess you the family clown is? She is always doing and saying things that crack me up.

This all happened the day after my little sister was sealed in the temple. Major thank you's to my mom for hosting both gatherings to follow in her home. She is always so willing to do what she can so we can all get together and enjoy these kinds of experiences. I am so grateful for my amazing family!



I stole this picture from my sister's blog of the whole family. I know it is small but I think you can click on the image to view it larger.....if you want:)

Family Time!

It has been a crazy two weeks! Two weeks ago my sweet little sister was sealed in the temple to her husband Daniel. Unfortunately I did not take one single picture of these two together on that day. Like I said it was a crazy time. My ENTIRE family was in town for several family events we had going on. That means 8 families with 22 kids which equals total chaos. Of course we did have a blast. We started the trip off with a sisters night out in a hotel. Nothing fancy just a Marriot Residence Inn stay on 185th in Hillsboro. We just wanted one night to play games and hang out and talk. The picture above was taken at about 1 in the morning. We were all getting a little loopy at this point which is why we started playing Indian Poker. My little sis posted the whole night. If you would like to view click here: http://monicavrtiska.blogspot.com/



The rest of these pictures are in no particular order. They are just pictures of my beautiful nieces and nephew that I love so much. From left to right: Claire 6, Ethan 7, Kate 3, Evelyn 7, and Isaiah 7.


This is my sister Mindy's little girl Kate. She is just about the cutest little thing. My mom says she looks exactly like me when I was her age so of course she melts my heart. She has the softest little voice and she is so lovable.
Left to right: Isaiah 7, Evelyn 7, Ethan 7, and Jack 5. They are all sitting on grandpa and grandma's bed playing. Growing up this is where you could often find my sisters and me as well. We loved being in my parents bed and I think it is so funny that now our children love it as well. Maybe it's because they have always had a water bed and kids think that's fun??

Here are some of the little ones. From left to right: Jeffrey 3, Christopher 4, Jarem 4, Joshua 3, Jack 5, and Dallin 5.

Isaiah playing a little soccer with his cousin Ethan.

Uncle Adam wrestling with all the kids. This is definitely a favorite with all the little boys and thankfully there were no tears this time.

Little Kate trying to pick up uncle Daniel. She loves him!

Highlight of the sisters night; trying to get our husbands to pose for a picture. I love how they all have there arms folded.

Getting a little more comfortable....

...maybe a little too comfortable for our cop Rich!

Now in complete submission to their wives whining. "Puleaaaaze do a pyramid for us!!" What a bunch of sweeties!

After a long day of running from place to place, eating, and playing, the kids were all a little tired which equals silliness.

Teenagers. Gotta love them. I do!

Sweet little Christopher adding his silly face.

Bear with me I have two more weeks of extended family posting to go!