Place Family Reunion (the one and only) Bear Lake 2012!

So, we've never had a Place family reunion, officially. My grandma and grandpa Place (Arthur and Virginia  have both passed away. They only had two children, my dad and my Aunt Star. We have get togethers frequently  but someone is always missing and of course Jeff and Angela live in Kansas, so we are never really ALL together at the same time. 

Truth be told, my family is wonderful but sometimes there are some personality clashes. I think my parents live in fear of getting the entire family together. Well, Jeff and Angela were planning on coming to Utah and going to Bear Lake. We all wanted to go too; so viola, a family reunion. Mom and dad said we could only be there for 24 hours, because all these people was just too much for mom. We divided the responsibilities  games, food, crafts, etc. Ben and I were in charge of all the food for the 24 hour reunion. We packed A LOT of fun, bonding and good memories into our 24 hour get-together!!! 

These were our family t-shirts Heather designed. Whats a family reunion without matching t-shirts right?

We had crafts on the lawn. The kids (and some adults) painted rocks.

Lizzy had just gotten an iPad. She and Aubrey spent all their free time together on the iPad.

We had wheelbarrow races. . . .

Mom and Dad hanging out watching all the fun.

Potato sack races . . . .

I forgot to mention this was the same weekend as the opening ceremonies for the Summer Olympics in London. So all our games were "Place Family Olympics." My mother-in-law had made with awesome Olympic ring thing, so I borrowed it and put it up for our family Olympics. Jeff promptly informed me that I could be arrested because the Olympic rings are a registered trade mark and closely guarded. I decided to take my chances and left the rings up.

Loren and Kali making the "U" for the U of U. (they do this in most pictures.)

We swam. Aubrey showing off her skills with Becca.

The sisters hanging out at the kiddie pool.

Most of the girl cousins swimming together. Left to right: Aubrey, Hannah, Lizzie, Becca, Caroline, Hailey. We are missing Kali, Melia and Ashley.

The rocks we painted. (mine is the pig)

The whole family. This is the posterity of Aurthur and Virginia Place.

The original Fab Five (with our mom and dad). Heather, me, Mom, Dad, Jeff, Kim, Stephanie

Aunt Star and her two daughters. Brittney and Natalie.

Aurthur and Virginia Place's kids. Mike (my dad) and Star

Even the adults got in on the fun. Racing.

Ryan and Spencer's celebratory dance when they won the wheelbarrow race.

The girls painted nails.

We played lots and lots of volleyball.

We played Minute to Win It games . . . this is a good look for Mike Mercer!

Ashley hanging out.

Our volleyball game turned to water balloon volleyball, when eventually turned into a huge water fight. We all had a great time. I love my family so much and had a ball. We are so blessed to be able to get together and have so much fun. Family is really what it is all about!!

The Army of Helaman

Alma 56:47-48 " . . . yea, they had been taught by their ^cmothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.

 48 And they rehearsed unto me the words of their ^amothers, saying: We ^bdo not doubt our mothers knew it."

Two of my favorite things in the whole world converged this summer. 1) The Army of Helaman and 2) The 24th of July Parade.

I love the story of the Army of Helaman in the Book of Mormon. Growing up, I always envisioned myself raising strapping young men. Alas, I have been blessed with three wonderful daughters whom I love with all my heart. When the opportunity to see a reenactment of the Army of Helaman came, I knew I wanted my daughters to be there to see it. I planned some special family home evening centered on the story. 

A stake president in Bountiful wanted to gather 2,000 young men to march as the army. Mike Mercer's stake was invited so he was able to march as one of the warriors. We heard that young men from Idaho were also coming. Stephanie and I knew that the crowd would be HUGE and we wanted a good spot. The parade was Saturday at 6pm. On Friday around noon Stephanie noticed people sitting out waiting. You officially couldn't put chair out until 7am on Saturday. Ugh. If we wanted a good spot we would need to sit with our chairs for 19 hours!!!! Oh we were not deterred!!! We scouted out our spot and sat . . . and sat . . . and sat . . . and sat. For hours upon hours we sat. At one point, the man who has an office in the building by us came out. He offered us the key to the building to use the bathroom in the night if we would put out his chairs too. Deal! So we sat some more. We played games, talked and hung out. Around midnight Ben insisted I come home. I went home for a few hours to appease Ben then came back around 5am. Stephanie and her boys slept there all night. Finally 7am rolled around and we were able to put out the chairs. 

The girls waiting for the parade.

Finally the moment came at the end of the parade. It was so awesome to see them coming. I teared up. They had big sticks that they banged, it was really loud! At one point they all stopped and shouted "We did not doubt" it was awesome. You could see the boys as far as the eye could see. When about half of them passed ALL you could see in both directions were the boys. It was really a great experience and I'm glad my girls were there (on the front row) to see it!

Bear Lake July 2012

"Oh what do you do in the summer time?" For us, it's go to Bear Lake (again and again and again and . . .)

Ever since I was a little girl I have been coming to Bear Lake multiple times a summer. It is so great to me to be able to take my kids here too! And yup, here we are at Bear Lake, again! 

The great thing about going to Bear Lake is that you finally know exactly what to pack. Every trip is similar, and yet offers new adventures and fun! Last month, the Mercers came, this month they couldn't make it and the Rudd/Hudson family came (Heather and I were staples this summer and came every time!) Here are some memories of this months mini vay-cay! (short for vacation if you didn't get it)

Ash, chillin on the beach. I just want to take and post  a lot of pictures of her little because I know they grow up so fast! I like her little teethies in this one!

Ahhh, the blessed coconut trees! This time around we ALL climbed them! I have a relatively severe fear of heights (that has gotten worse over time). I did great going up, then at the top I was overcome with fear and an anxiety attack . . . it wasn't pretty. About 20 minutes later I finally made it down. I have pictures but didn't post them cause, well, yeah. Above: all the climbers. Back row left to right: Brayden, me, Kim, Heather, Skyler. Front row: Aubrey, Hannah, Becca, Spencer, Hailey and Brittany. P.S. if you look closely, I have a big black eye. It was a shiner I got playing pool games with Matt and Mike Mercer.

Brittany, Becca and Aubrey up the coconut trees.

Brittany teaching Aubrey her back-hand-spring. (Aubrey takes gymnastics at USA in Bountiful and Brittany is an AWESOME gym coach in Salt Lake.)

Skylar is obsessed with a LAME cartoon called Adventure Time. He drew these characters from the show. We all did sidewalk chalk, but Sky's was the best. (even if the cartoon is lame)

We played some Minute to Win It games that I found on Pinterest. You put a showercap on your head and put shaving cream on it, then have your partner throw cheese puffs on it. Whoever gets the most puffs stuck to their head wins! It was really fun and funny!!!

Shower-cap-cheese-puff-heads!!

We also did Bendaroos! Here is our "wall art" display of our creations. :)

Just eating some dinner!

Ben brought up our boat and the weather was perfect! Even the water wasn't cold (well as cold as it usually is) Above: James and Rachael Rudd (the twins)

The boys of summer! James, Brayden and Skyler

The Morgan Family. Heather, Mike, Melia, Spencer and Evera. Heather LOVES water sports and boats.

Spencer really wanted to kneeboard, but was scared. Mike (who HATES water sports) said he would do it to show Spencer how. I was shocked that Mike would try. Then, Spencer was brave and did a great job!! If you knew how much Mike hated watersports . . . he really took one for the team!

I think Becca and Hannah look so cute in the picture, clearly Melia is not thrilled!

Karate Kid

After Hailey's Achilles surgery we had to take her out of dance so she could heal. She was never 100% sold on dance and didn't love it. I have a firm belief that children need a hobby or sport or something outside the home to help them with their development physically, socially and most importantly develop a strong self-esteem. Ballet did this for me and football for Ben. We were having a hard time finding Hailey something to love. Hailey asked if she could take karate. How/why she thought of this, I have no idea. At first I thought it would go away. But she was insistent on it. I took her to a few dojos and checked them out. Ugg. I could not imagine my sweet little girl doing karate. I didn't know a lot about it and wasn't feeling that great about it. Then I found Bobby Lawrence Karate in Centerville. From the moment I walked in the front door, I really liked the look, the feel and the way they treated Hailey. Now, 18 months later I absolutely LOVE karate. Not karate in general, THIS dojo and these people who train Hailey. They work on so much more than karate! They work on being a leader, getting good grade, cleaning your room, EVERYTHING. It has been so wonderful for Hailey and me! In order to get promoted to the next belt, you need to have your parents sign off, school teacher sign off and (of course) karate instructor. I love how they incorporate all aspect of Hailey's life into one. They say that a karate mater is balanced in all aspects of life, not just karate. It has been so good. Here are some pictures of Hailey at her first karate tournament.

Hailey getting ready to perform. She has to stand all alone on the mat in front of the judges, introduce herself and do a kata. 

Hailey in her first sparing tournament. She had to compete again all boys that were a belt level higher than her! She did great! Look at her kick him in the gut! Yikes, it does get my feathers ruffled when I see some boy right hook my daughter, but she bounces right back!!! This is a far cry from my ballet days!

Hailey and Jade, the owner of her karate dojo and one of her trainers.

Hailey at her belt ceremony paying respect for her purple belt and moving to her green one.

Bear Lake June 2012

As soon as we got back from Lake Powell, we took off to Bear Lake. We are so blessed to have such wonderful families on BOTH sides. I am thrilled that my girls get to share their lives with cousins, aunts and uncles. Lake Powell with the Powell family and Bear Lake with the Place family, it's a good life!!!

Ben doesn't come to Bear Lake with us (gotta work sometime!), so we miss him dearly, but it gives me a good time to chill with my sisters. Stephanie and Heather were on this trip with me and their kiddos.

Stephanie's daughter Kali, ready to go swimming.

Ashley enjoying the swings!

Kali, Ashley and Melia (Heather's daughter) swinging. I love that there are so many cousins so close in age. Kali is a year and a half older than Melia and Melia is a year older than Ashley.

Every year we love feeding the seagulls, our marvelous State (read: garbage) Bird. We save up old bread and feed the birds for our Sunday activity. Wa-hoo. Here's the girls running after the garbage birds, I mean seagulls.

ALL vacation long, Steph's sone, Mike Mercer spent HOURS with the girls teaching them to rip-stick. Finally Aubrey was able to catch on and do it pretty well.

Hailey and Ash hanging on the steps. I love this picture because it shows how much Ashley adores and trusts her sisters. She loves to lean in and snuggle them.

Ashley and Melia playing in the sand.(Side Note: It makes me so sad that THIS is what my kids think sand is. I can't wait to someday take them to the real beach and show them soft, wonderful REAL sand, not this rocky yucky crap.)

Hailey in the sand.

I brought up Ashley's dolly stroller and she was in love. She LOVED strolling her baby down the long sidewalks. She did everyday. Kali and Melia both had strollers too. They loved playing "mommy."

Ashley in the kiddie pool. We spent a lot of time here. :)

Lake Powell May 2012

This year Lindsey and Ky couldn't get work off to come on the May Lake Powell trip. We needed another family to fill the spot. Luckily, we were able to invite some friends of our from the neighborhood. We invited the Caughlins! Jared and Amber, Darcy (11), Tessa (10), and Gibson (7). They were the perfect ages for my girls to have playmates. Also with Hilary, Quin, Jonas (3) and Rex (1). And of course, Grandma Powell and Grandpa Powell!  The weather actually cooperated for May (which it hasn't done in years). It was 90s all week with minimal wind! We had one of our best trips!!! Here are just a few of the millions of pictures.

 Here is Gibson (poor guy had to wear a pink life jacket the whole trip, but he was a good sport about it!) Tessa and Aubrey. They LOVED exploring in the kayaks. The would paddle around for hours on end!

The would paddle to the other side of our little cove and go exploring. High adventure!!

Aubrey and Tessa kneeboarding.

Gibson really hit it off with Grandma Powell. They were partners in crime. He always wanted to the with "the Grandma lady"

All the kiddos. Left to right: Gibson, Tess, Ashley, Jonas, Rex, Aubrey, Hailey and Darcy.

The Girls: Darcy, Aubrey, Tessa and Hailey

Our little family hiking to Rainbow Bridge.

I love this picture of Ashley and her daddy. I love my family!

Jonas and the girls

Me and my girls going on a rip-roaring tube ride!!

The two little stinkers: Ashley and Rex.

Hailey knee-boarding

Our cliff-jumping adventure! Aub is in the middle of a jump! I love that my girls are brave, they are great!