Penrod Reunion

July 12, 2014 was the Penrod Family Reunion in Showlow, Arizona.  The reunion was for the descendants Bamps (Flauris) and Nana (Grace) Penrod.  Grandma Great (Velma) is the oldest living descendant, and I'm proud to call her Grandma Great.  Even more special, the reunion took place on Grandma's 86th birthday.  It was really special.  I enjoyed visiting with family I already knew and meeting so many that I had never met before.  (This is the first Penrod Reunion we have had since Brandon and I were married almost 11 years ago.)

   We drove up first thing in the morning and made it there just in time for lunch! After lunch, we had a family role call.  Velma's family was well represented, especially by the Gary Smithson clan.  All but one member of the 41 people in our family was able to make it.  (I don't know about you, but I think that's amazing).  Aaron was the only one that couldn't be there, and he was missed.

Then we sang happy birthday to Grandma!  Check out that giant cake that Ryan Smith made!

Here is a picture with Gary and Kathe with their 27 grand children.  Fun Fact, the oldest and youngest of the cousins are exactly 1 day shy of 17 years apart.

 And here is a picture of the 40 of the 41 of us that were able to make it.

 Following, the kids got to beat up a Minion pinata is honor of Grandma Great's Birthday.

 In addition to just catching up, we got to enjoy a little entertainment.  The kids played some rodeo games.  i had a blast watching them.  They did barrow races and foot races.  Some of them even acted like rodeo clowns (maybe that was just mine... hmmm...)

 We had such a great time at the Penrod reunion.  I hope there will be more family reunions like this in the future.

Hello, George Family! (Day 3 of our Trip)

Saturday, July 5th, 2014, was the George Family Reunion.  This family reunion went back to my great grandparents, Olaf and Blanche George.  My Great Grandparents had 6 children, all of which are still alive, 5 of them were able to make it.  I was sad that my own grandfather, Ray, and my grandmother, Sharon, couldn't come, but it was nice to see everyone else.  The reunion was in Kanosh, Utah, the town that my great grandparents lived their whole married life and raised their children.  My Aunt Helen was in charge of the reunion this year and she did a great job putting together a fun time.

Lori, my cousin, took everyone on a historical tour of the town.  The kids loved it (Oliver went twice).

Fran (another cousin) set up water games.

Oliver made it a little hard for this team to win.  He kept refilling their front bucket.

We also played water duck duck goose, water kick ball, and a huge water fight.  You can't tell, but I'm taking these pictures soaked, thanks to my loving children.

See what I mean!?!

When the water from the buckets was gone, the kids improvised with the water fountain.

And then it rained... providing even more water.  As you can tell, we had a great time.

The reason it took so long for me to post this event is because I was waiting to get this picture.  This is a picture of my Aunts and Uncles...  As I mentioned before, I missed my own Grandparents.  Had they been able to come, they would have been in this picture as well.

From my family, only a small number of people were able to come.  My Uncle Mark and Aunt Jolene came with their two girls and my Uncle Fred and Aunt Tammy was able to bring their 4 children.  But even with that small group, we had fun visiting and representing the Ray George group.  It was a great reunion.  We all had such a great time.

My favorite bits are in pictures.  I got to watch my kids play with new cousins. I enjoyed catching up with "long lost" cousins, specifically my cousin, Jolynn, who I haven't really talked with in about 15 years.  She has two cute boys that Oliver enjoyed playing with.

Thank you, Aunt Helen, for putting together a great reunion.

Salt Lake City (Day 1 of our Utah Trip)

Last weekend we took a trip to Utah!  We loaded up the kids and the car and headed to Kanosh on Wednesday, the 2nd of July.  It was a long trip (12 hours start to finish), but the kids did amazing.  They had a few "hard" moments, but overall, they were great in the car.  We got to Kanosh, more particularly my Uncle Brant's house, at 11:00 pm.  The next morning we woke up, visited a bit, then loaded the kids BACK into the car and took them 2.5 hours to Salt Lake City.  They weren't as happy about this road trip, but still, I feel like they did okay.  We decided to go to the Church History Museum and to Temple Square.  I didn't take any pictures at Temple Square this time, but I did get some from the museum.

Here are the kids bunked up and ready for bed.

They are ready for a wagon trip!

A little exhibit that is like the baptismal fonts in the temples.  The girls have been fascinated by the baptismal font since we toured the Gilbert, Arizona temple.  It was fun for them to see this exhibit.

Upstairs at the museum, they have a really neat children's area.  Everything is hands on.  The girls put on some skirts and tried learning some new dance moves.  It was probably more entertaining for me then it was for them.

Oliver "grew" a garden.

Preston just chilled.

Those poor chickens didn't see Oliver coming.  He man handled them a bit more than they were ready for.  

They built a "Temple"

And went fishing.

Hey... Preston got to catch one too!

As I mentioned before, after the museum we headed to Temple Square.  The Salt Lake Temple is in the middle of some maintenance and was fenced off.  I have been told it will reopen in April, 2015.  The Sister Missionary that I visited with informed me that they had 99 weddings the last day the temple was open!  WOW!  We took the kids into the Visitor Center.  That was fun.  They have a neat display of the Salt Lake Temple that shows what some of the rooms look like inside.  While standing next to the exhibit, a tour of some Korean visitors came by.  A lady spotted me with Preston, and next thing I knew, Preston had a group of grandparent age people doting on him.  It was fun to share him with others, letting him bring joy into their day, even though we had no way to properly communicate with each other.  He just smiled at them from his stroller and they smiled back.

We ended our visit to Salt Lake with dinner then headed back to Kanosh.  When we got back, the kids enjoyed the rest of the day playing with their dad and just having fun.  It was a good day!

The first 2 hours...

When Melanie was born, we joked that she was mischievous.  And, for all we knew, she was pretty sneaky.  Then we had Noelle! Now, Noelle made Melanie look innocent.  Noelle was the mischievous one.  Surely!

Enter Oliver!

This is the adventure that I have been on in just the 1st two hours of today.

5:15 am. his eyes fly open, and it's the beginning of the day.  Ready or not, he is up!  In case you are wondering, I didn't make up that time.  It was 5:15... and it is always 5:15.  I'm not sure how that works, but it is ALWAYS 5:15.  He hits the ground running.  The sound of his feet scurrying across the floor sounds eerily like a small villain in a horror film.  One that I haven't seen, but know that they make.   And where is he off to you ask?  I know the answer.  I ALWAYS know the answer.  It's always the same.  The Kitchen!  Specifically, the counter.  And some how, no matter how fast I am, he is always already on the counter before I get there.  The question isn't what will he be doing, but what will he find and what is he looking for.  Unfortunately, last night I feel asleep really early and didn't finish cleaning up the kitchen.  So, on the counter, there were some knives and glass dishes.  Luckily, he is still safe.  

I inform Oliver that it is too early.  He has to go lay down.  I give him options: a) My bed, b) the couch, c) his bed.  He chooses the couch.  I choose my bed.  Silly Mommy!  

5 minutes later, I hear a noise in the kids' bathroom.  Up and out I go.  There he is, in the sink, trying to paint his nails with the polish he found on the top shelf in the vanity.

Once again, I get him down and inform him that he has to go lay down.  This time we both choose the couch.  We drew pictures together.  Noelle joined us.  And at some point, I dozed off.  Silly Mommy.  

At 6:20 am, I heard a noise.  This one wasn't as easy to pin point.  I realized I had dozed off and jumped up.  I passed the kitchen, noted that he wasn't on the counter, and headed to the bathroom.  He wasn't in there.  I heard the noise again.  It came from the kitchen.  I walked into the kitchen and didn't see anything.  I said "Oliver?" and heard a faint giggle.  That is when I realized that the refrigerator door was cracked open just the tiniest bit (maybe an inch).  I opened it, and there I found Oliver... trying to sneak one of Brandon's mini candy bars.  Wow!  If he had been any skinnier, he would have been able to close that door!  I didn't see that one coming

So, I decided that I'm up for the day.  I am usually up by then anyhow, but I was tired after a bad night of sleep.  I got Oliver dressed for the day.  Then, Melanie got up.  The day has officially started (like it hadn't before?) I went to get Preston (who was also up), and came back down the hall to put him in the living room.  Passing the girls' room I caught a glimpse of the full moon.  A small version of the full moon.  Oliver.  Naked.  Jumping on his sisters' bed.  Nice!  I put Preston down and went back to get Oliver redressed.   Oliver wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of getting dressed, and ran away from me, screaming like a girl.  Eventually, I convinced him that putting clothes on was the best idea.

I got breakfast ready, fed the kiddos. Then went to feed Preston.  Of course, mom nursing is some sort of cosmic sign that more chaos needs to happen.  While I was feeding Preston, Oliver decided to wash his hands... but got distracted when he pushed the plug into the drain.  Next think I know, I hear the water STILL running and splashing.  I got Melanie to turn off the water for me, but there was nothing I could do about the splashing until I was done feeding Oliver.  It's a true test of patience to know that someone little is getting into trouble and you can't stop it.  I called his name, but he was momentarily deaf.

Once I was done nursing, he was out of there and smiling ear to ear thinking of his next adventure.

All that happened by 7:15.  2 hours!  I'm pretty sure today is going to be an adventurous day!

Cashing in on the Summer Reading Program

Something special came in the mail this week.  The mail man dropped off 4 packages, one for each child in our family.  It is summer time, and, as tradition, our family has participated in the Maricopa County Library's Summer Reading Program.  They read all their minutes (or, in the case of the smaller of the small ones, they read and also participated in fun activities to earn their prize), and now their prizes awaited them. 

Here you go:

Before!

 Man... it's almost like Christmas.  The anticipation...  it's just too much to bare.

 "My Olaf Book!"

 Next up...  Rip it open, Noelle!

 Ta-da!  A Barbie book!

 Melanie's turn!

 Nice!  Another Barbie book (dad will be so excited to read those at night!  But not as much as mom when he starts using voices for the characters!)

 And finally, Preston.  Wait, Preston!!! You aren't suppose to enjoy the book that way!

Now for my commercial for the local library!  I have said it before, but I'll say it again:  I LOVE the library!  Maybe it's because our library is just too awesome.  The people that work there are very helpful, patient, and very friendly.  They host at least one family friendly (and completely free) INDOOR activity a week.  And on top of all that, they have a fun summer reading program for ALL ages.  (That's right, people, I got my own free book in the mail a few weeks back).  If you haven't signed up for the reading program, it isn't too late.  Just go to their website (http://mesalibrary.org/) and follow their links.  While you are on their site, check out the events calendar, because, honestly, the Summer Spotlight Series are always so much fun.  I have only ever been disappointed once, and that was last year with a one man skit about evolution and dinosaurs.  Yikes!

Side note regarding the Summer Reading Program: this year it is completely online.  I am not as impressed by this because the kids don't actually see their progress.  They do still have the game sheets and stickers though.  If you go to the library, you can pick them up from the children's desk.  I find that actually putting 

the sticker on the page is a better visual thing for them.  Perhaps if I actually let my kids on the computer, they could "see" their progress that way.  But, alas, I'm not that nice.

Speaking of summer reading programs and deals, check out the "loot" we picked up today from Half Price Books.

They too have a summer reading program.  It is by month (so we will be doing it again in July).  If you child reads or has been read to for 300+ logged minutes, they get a $5 coupon for any merchandise in the store.  So, what you see there is the product of my 3 oldest children's rewards.  You have to use the coupons in individual transactions and the merchandise has to be at least $5 before tax, so when all is said and done, we probably spent around $3 for those 7 books.  Not too shabby.  Barnes and Noble also have a program.  We will be checking theirs out soon as well.  As you can tell, we like books, especially free ones.

Happy Reading!

Camping near Big Lake

We went camping last weekend, just our little (or big, depending on how you define a family size) family.  We left on Thursday and headed up to Big Lake, Arizona!  We love camping up there because it is usually much much cooler and it typically rains.  This trip was rain-less, which was a little disappointing, but we still had a great time.  We camped for a few days and then headed home.  Here are some pictures from our trip.

Preston enjoyed some out door, big boy playing!

 Outdoor camping food is truly the best!  Seriously, nothing ever tastes as good as camp food.

 There was no such thing as clean while camping.  It's amazing how fast faces were covered in dirt.

 I love seeing how these kids imaginations work and what fun ideas they come up with.  I also really love seeing them play well together.  It's unfortunate that it isn't always the case.

 There he is... Mr. Wonderful.  Just had to throw that in there.  I think Oliver "took" this picture.

 Male Bonding Time!

 Preston's first hiking experience.

 And look who carried him!  This was a first for both of us.  He rode, and I carried.  Usually Brandon does the carrying.

 Exploring by Crescent Lake

 I mentioned the dirty faces... right?

 Melanie is truly a monkey.  We traded her in at the zoo a long time ago.  Don't let the zoo know though.  She is too cute to give back.

 More Male Bonding.

 Eating their desserts around the "fire".  (It turned out to be no burn this trip, so they had to imagine their fire, but they still insisted having a camp fire moment).

 Camping bath!  How do you like my awesome socks?  They were my Christmas present from Noelle last Christmas!

 More camp fire moments.

 Okay... the Oreos!  This little man may look so innocent, but let me tell you...  it's a facade!  ha ha!  See, we told the kids the last night that if they ate all their dinner, they could have dessert (which is what the girls were eating around their imagined camp fire).  Well, Mr. Red refused to eat his dinner (which was unfortunate because the aforementioned awesome-ness of camp food).  Needless to say, he didn't earn dessert.  The girls both got cupcakes.  Well, Brandon apparently also bought some oreos, which he informed me were dairy free (I'm dairy free right now).  I'm not quite sure what is in oreos that they can be dairy free, but alas, I didn't want to know that particular night.  I opened the package and ate two.  Then I started to get ready to give Preston his bath.  Next thing I know, Oliver has 2 yummy oreos, one in each hand.  He proceeded to do the most amazing "I stole the Oreos" dance imaginable.  It was quite a thing.  It was too cute that I told him that he had just better hurry and eat his stolen goods before it was time for his bath, or I'd take them away.  And he did just that!

In the end, camping was SO much fun.  We were about 2 miles away from any other campers.  I could let the kids go "free range chicken" and not worry.  As long as I could see them from the camp site, they were fine.  The weather was nice (a little hotter then we had planned, but much cooler than at home).  It was fun to spend time with each other and explore.  I can't wait until we can go again, and neither can the kiddos.