Empty Nest

It is funny to me how you go about your daily routine and don't think much about it until things change a little.
Tyler went to Lake Powell with his friend and his family. He left Tuesday and will get back Saturday night.
Veronica went to girls camp on Tuesday and got back Friday.. She was home for a few hours then went to babysit until 9:00 pm. The next morning she left at 5:15 am to babysit for someone else. She left again this afternoon after being home for a few hours to babysit yet again.
Joe was in and out, girls camp for a night and two days, fixing his car at a friends house, and at work.
What did we do during this time? Well...
Craft, craft, craft. It is amazing how much more time you have to do that stuff when you don't have a full house!
Manicure, facial, and diner out (which is a real treat) for Sam's birthday.
Stay the night in a nice resort hotel in Brian Head (Had a gift certificate for a free night's stay that needed to be used up).
Swim, and swim, and swim again. I think Samantha is trying to make up for lost time not being able to swim this summer. On Thursday she went swimming twice, once with a friend in her backyard and once in the hotel pool. On Friday they went swimming again before we checked out of the hotel. As she was swimming she asked if we could go swimming that night! Crazy water girl.
It has been good to have a little more time to spend on the three younger ones and focus on them a little more but I am anxious to have all of my kids home again and the family all together, we sure miss them.

Happy Birthday Sam!

Samantha turned 10 this week. Since Veronica was gone at Girls Camp, Tyler was at the lake with friends,and Joe spent the night at Girls Camp, it was a quiet birthday!
The first thing she did after opening her presents that morning was go get her cast off.
She opted out of having a birthday party so her and I went to the local beauty college to get manicures and a facial. Since it was just her, Brenna, Braelynn, and I we went to dinner that night and used up some free kids meals coupons I had, then came back home to watch a movie.
We love having Samantha be a part of our family. She has so much spunk and energy that makes everything that much more fun. We love you, Sam!

Heritage

Even after listening to Braelynn feel sorry for herself this afternoon because I make her help with the dishes and tell me that when SHE is a mom she will always say yes to her kids and when SHE is a mom she will buy her kids the things they like at the store I think my kids are very lucky.
They are lucky because not only do they have two sets of grandparents who love them, they also have five sets of Great-Grandparents who they know and love and who love them. Even more so, they not only have aunts and uncles but they have Joe and my aunts and uncles and cousins that they know and love. So many of these people have such a positive influence in their lives.
I am going to introduce you to their 5 sets of great-grandparents.
Great Grandma and Grandpa Waken live in Denver, Colorado. We only get to see them about once a year but since we have been going there since the kids were young, they have a bond with them and many memories of them. When we talk about them they talk about eating fig newtens, playing with Grandpa's robot, Sammy (their mentally handicapped son),their dog, and going in Grandpa's truck to the store.
Great Grandma and Grandpa Haley. They live in Grand Junction, Colorado. They talk about eating breakfast or lunch with them on our way to Denver, meeting in Richfield, Utah for picnics, going to their house with the yard full of rocks and the bicycles they ride there, and how Grandpa rides four wheelers and Grandma loves to golf.
Great Grandma and Grandpa Petersen. Because they live in Austin, Minnesota we see them only every few years. They have never been to their house but they are fortunate to have spent enough time with them to remember that they are great story tellers and most recently how Grandma rode the 4-wheeler with dad at age 91 and Grandpa went for a ride in the Rino.
Great Grandma and Grandpa Smith live in Caliente, Nevada. Grandma passed away while I was pregnant with the twins. The older three remember her candy dishes and the quilts she always made. They think it is cool how Grandpa makes and plays violins, exercises, works hard and knows the names of all the plants, rock formations, etc. that you could ever want to know.
Great Grandma Connors just passed away today. She has lived in Cedar City for the past 2 1/2 years in an assisted living center. We feel so privileged to have had this time with her. While I am glad that she has moved to a better place where she had loved ones waiting for her, I am sad that we won't have our Sunday evening visits with her. We will dearly miss her laughter, her kindness, her stories and our visits. I loved how every time we visited her she would give us each a hug and then tell us that our visits just made her day. I am also grateful to have had her here because we were able to get to know some of Joe's cousins and aunts that he did not know well and had not seen in at least 20 years. I love each of them, I love that they felt comfortable enough with us to come stay with us when they would come out here. They are one more piece of our lives that make it richer and more blessed because of their influence.
Order of pictures: Connors, Smith, Petersen, Haley, Waken

A month in a post

In the last month, in addition to 4th of July, family reunion, and birthday celebration, we have:

Broken an arm (Samantha playing cheerleader),

Helped pour cement (notice my 85-year old Grandfather helping along with my dad, husband and son),








Taken a trip to Lehmans cave with some friends,






Started a primary from scratch. That's right, I was primary president for 3 weeks when they dissolved our ward and made us part of another ward, released everyone from their callings and called me again but this time with no counselors, teachers, music people, nothing. Unbelievably chaotic, stressful and busy. I have to say that it gets better and better each week. I can finally see things falling into place. It is a wonderful feeling.

Had fun with lots of visitors on different occasions (Sadly I only have pictures from one of them and that's because Brenda took them. I am awful about that.)





Gone to scout camp (Joe, and poor guy only was home from the reunion for 3 hours before he left again for scout camp)

Along with various other outings, parks, walks, hikes, parties, swimming, etc. that you do in the summer. Busy but fun!

Veronica's Birthday

A few weeks ago Veronica turned 14! It sounds very cliche but I really have a hard time believing that I am old enough to have a 14 year old. We are grateful to have her as part of our family. She is takes on the role of oldest child so well. She is helpful and eager to serve and fun. She tries to take things on the positive side instead of looking at the negative.
We hope you had a happy birthday, Veronica!

Petersen Family Reunion

My mom's family is huge. Like my maternal grandparents have 12 children, 80-something grandkids and 60-someting great-grandkids. Growing up, every 3-4 years we would have a big reunion, usually held in Montana. Everyone would come, we would stay in cabins, play games and hang out for a few days.
I haven't been to one of them for 6 or 7 years. This year it was held in Duck Creek. People came from all over the United States and we were lucky enough to only have to drive 45 minutes.
We were happy to be able to be in our favorite mountains and take advantage of all the wonderful things that the mountains have to offer but also stay in a "hotel" with beds and a shower.
Everything we did or saw we have done or seen before lots of times but it was (and always is) made that much better when you get to do them with family. We hiked Cascade Falls and explored Mammoth Caves, went on countless 4-wheeler and Rino rides, played games, and enjoyed visiting with cousins, aunts and uncles that we hadn't seen in a long time as well as my parents, siblings and their kids. Some of us girls were even able to sneak in a quick hair-bow making session.
The group picture is only about half of my grandparents' posterity.

Sunday

Just a funny thing that happened today:
Braelynn lost her Book of Mormon at church today. They weren't in her classroom and the library was closed so we couldn't check the lost and found. We tried to tell her we would check the lost and found next week but she was quickly becoming hysterical. We quickly left the building before it got really bad. The meltdown escalated during the short drive home.
She said (well, screamed) three times "I need my scriptures, they are the word of God"
After we got home I got her inside and calmed her down a little bit she wanted to be left alone so "she could say a prayer".
Maybe she does listen after all...

Independence Day 2011

My favorite holiday has for years been the Fourth of July. It is no secret that small towns have the best celebrations for holidays. I grew up sleeping outside the night of July 3rd waking up to the "booms", eating the fireman's breakfast at the park and then going to the parade and the races at the park. I try to go back to Caliente for the festivities because the kids really love it. Because of work schedules Joe has not been able to go very often but he was able to go this year. It is always so much better when he is there.
Instead of sleeping outside, Tyler, Samantha, Brenna, Braelynn, and their cousin Keagan slept in Grandma and Grandpa Smith's tent trailer.
The fireman's breakfast was yummy, as always,
the parade was watched from my brother's yard,
the races at the park, watermelon bust, and money scramble were awesome,
the kids all made around $7 each,
the weather was not as hot as it could have been,
and we made it back in time to watch the fireworks with the Haley cousins and grandparents.
It was a great holiday.

Vacation 2011: Destinations 3 & 4

Since Cristie and Brenda did such a good job of blogging about us being at their places for our vacation, and by now there are so many other things to blog about, I will just link you to their posts! Washington was beautiful and fun-filled and wonderful, Idaho was equally wonderful. I have to say that I haven't laughed so hard in a long time as I did in the bumper boats with Joe, my kids and Keagan.
Thanks Cristie (Graham, Washington) and Brenda (Boise, Idaho)!