Away at Camp...

Courtney and Katelyn are spending this week at Girl Scout Camp. We loaded them on the bus Monday morning and they are expected home tomorrow afternoon. We have all missed them. Kylie has stepped up as the oldest and only girl in the family. She and Cameron have been great playmates this week. The girls' camp has a camp website where they post daily pictures of the girls participating in camp activities. We've enjoyed checking the website each day to see what our girls are up to. They look like they are having fun and making a lot of friends. The first three photos are of Courtney who is participating in a camp called Camp Quest. The next three are of Katelyn, her camp is called Trail Signs (yes, Katelyn's the one pulling the girl's pony tails in the last one). We can't wait to see them tomorrow and hear all about it. It's been great to get a few glimpses of our girls while they've been away.

May - Katelyn's Month to Shine!

May was a special month for Katelyn for several reasons. She turned ten years old on May 31. She had a High School Musical 2 Swim Party the week before her official birthday. Unfortunately, the day we had the party was pretty rainy so after only about 30 minutes of swimming, the girls came indoors and played the High School Musical 2 DVD game. The weekend of Katelyn's official birthday she performed four dances in her Ballroom Showcase. She really did an excellent job! Her favorite dance was the Jackie Chan.

In "Buggin" Katelyn danced the Samba.

In "Mellow Yellow" she danced the foxtrot.

In "Jackie Chan" she danced the cha cha.
In the finale, "Neverending Dream" she danced a jump style that comes from Europe.

Katelyn also had her date with Mom and Dad this month. We took her to Funworks where she climbed on the rock wall and played arcade games with Mom and Dad. We also went out to eat at Fuddruckers.

We are so proud of the young lady Katelyn is becoming. She is thoughtful, obedient, and responsible. She is getting so tall and growing up so fast. She also ended fourth grade with straight A's. We're so blessed to have her in our family.

Random Updates

Summer vacation is here! The girls got out of school June 6 and we're enjoying our second week on summer break. This is my favorite time of the year. I usually have more time when my kids are out of school so I'm going to try to be a better blogger. I'm sorry I haven't been leaving comments on all your blogs; I 'm going to try to do better. I also added a few other families to my "Blogs I Read" list. I've been busy with many of my kids' activities that I will soon be posting about on the blog (swim lessons, camps, dates with Mom/Dad, dance recitals, birthday parties, etc.) This week I just finished reading The Host by Stephenie Meyer. I'm also trying to get back in the groove of loosing the last of my weight before we go to Hawaii in 6 weeks. I decided to do a marathon in October so I've started training for that. Last week I did 9 miles and it was pretty tough. I hope it will get easier with time. I have to admit, sometimes I wonder why I am even doing this. I guess I do love the runner's high! This may be my second and final marathon (I did eight years ago). It's a huge commitment and I think I'm more comfortable with a half marathon. I wanted to journal about our Family Home Evenings these last couple months. It's probably boring to read, but it keeps us accountable and we use it for Family History.

*April 21 - Kylie had us play a matching game about Jesus and His atonement.

*April 28 - Courtney told us the "Story of the Ants" The family of ants were named PersistAnt, ObservAnt, PleasAnt, DiligAnt, ObediAnt, and ServAnt.

*May 5 - Lloyd had us look at our food storage starter kit we ordered and talked to us about the importance of food storage.

*May 12 - Courtney gave us a lesson on faith. She spoke about the brother of Jared and talked about how Jesus watches over us.

*May 19 - Our ward did a 40 day fast for missionary work. We watched a video about fasting and talked about its importance.

*May 26 - Memorial Day, we went to the river and had a BBQ with Grandma, Grandpa Jay, Bryce, and Chareen.

*June 2 - We did an ABC worksheet of temples around the world (got it online)

*June 9 - We talked about pioneers to prepare Courtney and Dad for the stake pioneer trek in July.

*June 16 - The big girls are at camp all week so we took the little kids swimming at the gym.

Cameron's Big Day

On May 17, the day Cameron had been waiting for finally arrived. He had anticipated this day for months. He spoke about it to Grandma on the phone and even told strangers at the store that he was going to ride on Thomas the Train. As many of you know, Cameron is absolutely obsessed with trains and loves Thomas. When we learned about "A Day Out with Thomas" we couldn't pass up the chance to let him go. Lloyd took him the day after the Father/Son Campout. Cameron was definitely a lucky boy, camping with Daddy one day and riding Thomas the next. You can just see the excitement in his eyes!

Camping with Daddy was fun!

Cameron even got to meet Sir Topham Hatt after his train ride!

Sixteen Years Ago ...

Sixteen years ago today, on June 6, 1992, Lloyd and I met at a Single Adult Dance in Fremont, CA. We were both 18 years old. We sat down at the same table and I thought he was pretty cute. I thought he had great eyes! Later that night he asked me to dance. We started visiting and I learned he was in the Navy. He lived on an aircraft carrier stationed in Alameda. He got my phone number and we started dating that summer. This is a picture from that summer. I can't believe how young we were. After the summer, I went back to BYU and Lloyd continued in the Navy. After mostly a long-distance relationship, we got married 2 years and a month after we met.

Well, today on the anniversary of the day we met, we have an amazing treat. My brother, Bryce, and his wife are coming to stay with the kid for two nights while Lloyd and I are staying at a hotel in Pleasanton. It's not anything extravagant, but we are so excited to spend the weekend with each other. I am so grateful to my brother and his wife.

I just have to say, I am eternally grateful for my marriage to Lloyd. I don't want to brag, but I think I have the best husband. He is so supportive of me and is so sensitive to my needs. He works so hard for our family both around the house and at his job at SFO. I really don't know how he tolerates driving 180 miles a day just so we can live in a place where we can afford a home. I feel so lucky that after 14 years of marriage, Lloyd and I are still crazy in love. He is my favorite person to be with. Before we got married, he promised he would always treat me like a queen. Well, he truly does! I feel so lucky and blessed to be married to Lloyd. I am so glad that 16 years ago, he asked me to dance. I could not imagine my life without Lloyd.

Scrapbooking Weekend

On Thursday, May 8, a few days before Mother's Day I went scrapbooking at a cabin with six other girls. We stayed there for two nights. It was such a treat to get away and get lots of scrapbooking done. They all thought I was crazy because I stayed up all night long on Thursday night and didn't go to bed until Friday night (Saturday morning) at 3:00 am. Here are my top five from our scrapbooking get away :

#5 - Staying at a beautiful cabin in the mountains (we even went for a walk)

#4 - Yummy food and lots of treats (we all took turns cooking)

#3 - Lots of "girl talk," laughter, and adult conversation

#2 - A break from our kids (between the 7 of us, we left behind 28 kids)

#1 - Completing beautiful, and creative scrapbook pages (we loved seeing each other's creations)

Kathryn, Me, and Starla

This is Stacey (she did all digital scrapbooking) and Lauri (her uncle let us use the cabin)

Katie and Ashleigh

I feel so blessed to have such special friends like these ladies. They are all very talented wives and mothers. I am grateful for their examples to me!

Conner's First Haircut

Conner got his first haircut on May 1. I know it was a while ago, but I've been going crazy with the end of the school year so I'm just posting these now. Well, he's is just the sweetest little boy! All of my kids have cried at their first haircuts, but not him. He sat so still and was the cutest thing. I'm having a hard time with him growing up, and am enjoying each moment we have.

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Daddy and Cameron got their hair cut too!

All done- how handsome!