Water Fights and PaintBalls

The kids have been missing their Dad this summer. He has been busy working, going on a trip with Mom, and with his calling at church, there doesn't seem to be enough time in the day to hang out with the kids.....until today.

Today James took the day off and has dedicated it to the kids. They were so excited to have him around. The first order of busy......A huge water fight. The kids called some friends up and they all came over to have a water fight against James. As soon as all the kids got here, I made them go to the bathroom and before the door was closed, I ran to every door in the house and made sure they couldn't come back in until they were completely dry. The had a great fight that lasted for over an hour....but the fun didn't stop there.

Then more of Elijah and Ethan's friends started to arrive for a paintball war. We loaded all the kids up on brownies, and homemade ice cream, sent the boys off to war and took all the girls home. I can't wait to hear about all the battles when they come home.

Yeah for Dad!

Rock Climbing, Cooking, and Tie Dye Classes

While Elijah has been busy with his Archery....Ethan and Olivia have been busy with their own things.

Ethan has been busy taking Rock Climbing classes at the College. He loves climbing. He has classes everyday for three weeks and can't wait each morning when he wakes. Unfortunately, while at his rock climbing class on Tuesday, his thumb got kicked and for the last two days he hasn't been able to go. When he wakes up he asks if his thumb is better so he can go....hopefully tomorrow will be his lucky day.

Olivia on the other hand, between play dates with friends, has been taking cooking classes with her cousin Hannah at the Rec Center, and tie dying class at the College. At the cooking class, she has made brownies, cream puffs, Hawaiian bread, cookies, and lemon bars. She loves to cook. At her tie dying classes she has tie dyed handkerchiefs, pillow cases, shirts, and made a cute little butterfly. She wishes she could take more classes like this!

Archery Camp

Elijah went to archery camp last week. He has had a busy summer working on his archery skills. Not only did he make his own bow and arrows, he has spent a few hours nearly everyday at his Scoutmaster's house, shooting. He has become quite the archer. So this last week he went to camp for four days, and loved every minute of it. Here is a clip of him and his leader having a shoot off together. Great job Lij!

Wilderness Survival

As soon as James and I had stepped off the plane from Cabo San Lucas, we drove straight to Southfork where the kids were staying with my parents. The next morning we got up at 5:00 in the morning and went home. James had to be at work, and Ethan had a big Scout overnighter that he couldn't miss.

It was Ethan's camp out that would earn him his Wilderness Survival Merit Badge. This is a huge challenge, especially for an eleven year old boy. When Elijah has done it two years ago, he told us how scary it was and that he didn't sleep the whole night because he was so scared. Each boy has to sleep by himself, in his own tent away from anyone else. We worried about Ethan all night, so much so that we prayed as a family for him several times. I think that we definitely had under estimated Ethan. When he came home the next night, he was very nonchalant about it, and said that it wasn't a big deal. He loved setting up his own camp sight, and going on a seven mile hike.

Great job Ethan, we are so proud of you!

Cabo San Lucas

Way back in December, James signed up to be in a Chevy contest to go to Cabo......and when he puts his mind to something, he always gets what he wants. We went to Cabo on June 12, just James and me. We had a great time.

Everyday, Chevy lavished us with gifts. The first day we got there, we got big huge swim towels, and a bag of goodies that included suntan lotion, lip balms, etc. The next day James was able to spin a wheel to win prizes, he won some money, always a plus. The next day Chevy let everyone choose a pair of Maui Jim sunglasses. I thought that was pretty neat! And on the last day, we were given some Mexican blankets, a bottle of Tequila, and some shot glasses. It was a nice gift, but definitely not one we were too thrilled with!

While we were down in Cabo, Chevy treated us to a couples massage. It was James very first massage and he was freaking out. He was so nervous about it! Within ten minutes he was fast asleep and snoring. I was doing my best not to laugh, but secretly I knew he would love it.

For the majority of the time we lounged by the pool, or the beach, read lots and lots of books, drank way too many pinadas, ate way too much, and overall really enjoyed our time together. We did venture into a small town called Cabo San Jose. James was able to find the gifts he wanted for the kids and bargain the prices down. We had a safe, great time. When we finally arrived home I asked James what his favorite thing about the trip was, other than the time we spent together, it was hands down the massage!