Our week at Camp Elkanah

This last week we have had the pleasure to serve as staff at Kiids Camp 2009 at Camp Elkanah. We had a BLAST! Levi got to sneak in as a camper and Ben and Sam were there with us also. I was privilaged to serve as kitchen help in charge of the salad bar. It sounds easy, I know, but you have to understand we were serving roughly 300 people! And boy could those kids eat!! Norman got to be a cabin inspector. The kids were rewarded each day if their cabins were clean and up to par. He also helped out in a lot of other areas. God was so amazing and did some awesome things in kids' lives this week. We were able to grow relationships with several of the kids and leaders and Pastors. It was so neat getting to know more people. Highlights of our trip were the trips to the LaGrande swimming pool, the red hooded sweatshirt song that I now get to hear my boys sing at random during the day (Ben loves to sing it in the bathroom!) thanks to Pastor Dan!, the giant slip-n-slide! (Sam actually went down by himself several times!), and the many new games and songs we learned. Even though we returned home exausted, it was well worth it. Sam met a girl at camp. I know what you're thinking, he's only 2, right?? Well, you can't stop love at first sight! Sam met McKayla and loved her instantly. Now when he see's her picture on Facebook his face lights up and he says "My Tayla" Well, as it stands Sam is McKayla's main squeeze right now. Although she does not promise that she won't meet someone else and get married. But she has promised that Sam will always be her main squeeze. I love it! She is an awesome young lady and we are glad to call her part of our family. You can never have too much family, right? So I will have to post pictures of camp later because I didn't have my camera with me and will have to bum pictures from a friend. The pictures of Sam below are the only pictures I have of camp and these were taken by McKayla while she was playing with Sam on the playground. Can you see the love in his eyes??

Pics from our 4th of July trip

Here are some pictures from our 4th of July weekend. I don't have many pictures of our activities because I didn't want to take my camera by the water. I hope you enjoy the ones I did get!

Somewhere between Omak and Tri-Cities

Between Coullee City and Soap Lake

The long road home

Sam getting tired of Levi and Ben invading his space!

The three amigos

The Grand Coullee Dam

Sam by The Grand Coullee Dam

Silly Ben by The Grand Coullee Dam

Spiderman Levi by The Grand Coullee Dam

The Soyster Family by The Grand Coullee Dam

Grand Coullee Dam

The Grand Coullee Dam

Why do these thing amaze boys??

The Grand Coullee Dam......again!

The back of my sister-in-law and one of her 5 yorkies

My hubby

From State to State

Boy do we have a lot going on!! I guess it kinda makes up for the winters being so slow. Well, first things first...Ben is scheduled for a Tonsilectomy and Adenoidectomy on July 15th. I am trying to reschedule so that Ben, Sam and I can participate in Kid's Camp on July 20th-24. If it can't be rescheduled then we are going to stay at home for his recovery time. That will be a big bummer for Ben, he was looking forward to Kid's Camp.
For the 4th of July weekend we took off for Omak, Wa to spend the holiday with Norman's family. His sister and brother in law has a home there. It's only 45 min from the Canadian border so you can imagine how long of a drive that was for us!! But it was worth it! They have a big pool that we got to swim in whenever we wanted and a big trampoline. We all had a great time. On Friday more of the family showed up so we ended up with 3 of his 4 sisters and their families. His mom and her friend. And his Ex-Stepmom. It was quite a crowd!! On Saturday we got everything loaded up and headed to the lake. Norman waterskiied for the first time in 25 years! He did pretty good! I went tubing for the first time. It was great until the tube decided to dive under water because it didn't have enough air in it. And then, silly me chose to get back on it to bring it in and of course it did the same thing again!! That time was scary because the swirl from the boat engine sucked me under water. But I made it out alive!! And I even went out again after we aired it up!! Levi and Ben went out on the tube with Norman. Benny thought it was a little scary but felt better after Norman put his arm around him. Levi LOVED it! He went out again with a couple of his cousins. He held on really good and wasn't scared at all! We ended the day at the park on the Indian Reservation in town. Washington + Indian Reservation = really cool fireworks!! The boys loved them! Then Sunday we spent relaxing and playing in the pool, resting up for our long trip back the next day. It was so much fun! I don't know why we don't get together more often as a family. It was great.
On the way home we stopped at the Grand Coullee Dam. I guess it is the eighth wonder of the world! It was really BIG!! The boys loved it! I have pictures but they are not on the computer yet.
So, there is still a bunch of stuff planned for this summer. Hopefully I can remember to keep up on my blogging it all!!

The perfect Father's Day for Mom??

Yesterday was a GREAT day! The only thing I regret was that I didn't have my camera with me, at all! Grrr...pictures would have been great! We started out the day with a fun Father's day service. Norman actually rode a quad into the church!!! We had a great time of worship after a short sermonette. The worship was our Father's Day gift to God. Then we had a yummy Father's Day BBQ. All the foods that the guys like....plus lots of desserts. Man was it good!. After that we came home and I got to nap while Norman spent a couple hours on the phone talking to family...literally!! HE was suppose to be getting the nap but I couldn't help myself! Okay, then we loaded up the kids and their bike helmets and went to a friends ranch. I had never driven a 4 wheeler before so Norman gave me a quick lesson on a 6X6 and I set off by myself. Norman loaded all the boys onto his 4 wheeler and took them for a ride while I got use to the 6X6 and had a little fun. Then because the 6X6 has a better holding area for the boys to ride, I took the boys and let Norman have a little fun! It was a blast! We took a little road up to the top of the hill and had an amazing view in all directions. It was amazing! I just wish I had my CAMERA!! Then we loaded back up and went down to the ranch where we got to practice shooting the 22 and 20 gage for a little while. Lots of fun. (I know, I am such a tomboy! But I live while 4 boys! If you can't beat them, join them..right?) Then we were invited to stay for bbq dinner. Authentic Mexican style. I hope that was politically correct. The friend cooking is from Mexico and he made some yummy food for us! So not only was it a perfect Father's Day for Dad....it was a perfect Father's Day for Mom, too! I think I had more fun than I did on Mother's day!! SHHHHH Don't tell! :):):)

My life lately......

has been horribly busy. Guarenteed to get even busier as the summer passes us by. Thankfully we have some fun family things planned! My sister Kim just came for a visit on Friday and left this evening. That was fun!! I love having company! We even had a photo shoot. It was raining off and on all day so we set up our little studio in my living room. I kinda like the soft lighting it gave to the pictures when I left my flash off. Anyways we had bunches of fun and I got to have some girl time. Sometimes I feel like all I talk about on here is getting girl time. But you have to remember that I live with 4 boys so girly time is important to me!!

But first, these pictures I'm posting are from our recent trecks down Waterman Rd. You never know what you are going to encounter in that 25 mile stretch down Waterman Rd.!! :):)

The rest of the pictures are from our photo shoot today. I hope you all enjoy.....especially you Sarah!! This is what has been going on in my life:)

Lookin' for wildlife on Waterman Rd.
Ummmm....everything seems so far away!

Buffalo....yes, buffalo on waterman Rd.

More buffalo. Doesn't that look like a tractor operating in the field?? It's the buffalo trying to get the fleas off!! No joke!

And we see elk.....

And we see antelope.......

And more elk jumping the fence...we scared it!

And more buffalo closer up.....

And we also get to see eagles....so cool!

Okay.....these next pictures are from our photo shoot today. These are the MOST recent pictures available of my family. Norman wasn't home so he's not in here. lol!

Sammy Sammers

Three goofy amigos

The three stooges

My baby

Such a cute guy!

My Levi

We'll be beatin' the girls off, I'm sure!

Benny Benners, getting so big and handsome!

Awesome guy!

These guys obviously didn't want to get their picture taken with MOM!! Are we teenagers yet?

Me!

Me again.....

Amberli

Cutie....

Ami....

Kim and Ami

Kim and Ami again

My big sissy, Kim

Ode to my hubby

Well, the title is as fancy as this post gets. It's to late....eerrr....early to go any farther with it. I guess I'm just getting on here to whine about how much I miss my husband. Which I know I have no right to do since he has only been gone since Tuesday. I don't know how you do it Christie!! Especially being prego!! I would have been a mess if I were you! I miss how he bugs me to get up earlier than I want to in the morning, and how he urges me to be in the Word first thing, how he leaves his coffee cup half full on the counter and expects it to still be there in the afternoon, how he tells me he loves me and makes me feel beautiful even when I am at my worst, how he can't leave for the day without having snuggles from each of the boys, how he likes his food HOT....unless he is in the middle of something! lol I love that he loves to snuggle me at night....but when I have had enough he lets me get comfy and then snuggles right back in. Mostly I just miss him being here. I'm awefully lonely tonight as you can tell and probably should just go to bed. I don't know how you do this Christie. You have my respect, girl! Ok, enough blubbering...Good night!

My trip home.....

Traci, Sarah and I getting our nails done.

Yaquina Bay Bridge

The Santiam River

Sunset at Nye Beach

Yaquina Lighthouse at Agate Beach Wayside

Ok, so they say Home is where the heart is and mine is definately where ever my husband is. Right now that is here in Monument. But my heart also longs for the ocean where I grew up and I HAVE to visit at least once a year to keep me happy. Well, this year I got to visit for my birthday and I got to go with no kiddos so I could have "me" time. What is that?, right?? Well, I got to experience 6 glorious days of it! I had so much fun! I got to take loads of pictures and visit lots of friends, it was a blast. I also got french tips on my nails for the first time. I love how they look but not sure how practical it is to keep them. We will see....A big thanks to Traci for letting me crash at her home for a few days and to Sarah for coming down and having a great day with me! I love you guys!!