Late Night Visitor

We have had a late night dumpster visitor! Look at the size of this guy! Last night some of our brave staff ventured out to get a picture of our friend.

He is a big guy!!!

There are lots of snacks to be found in a summer camp dumpster, so I think he may be around for a while!! (Scott is hoping he will stick around until bow season in September..but I hope he finds a new place to eat, so he can die of old age!)

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Camp

Summer is such a fun time for our family. We get to be at camp for 10 weeks, with great kids and lots of fun things to do. We hang out at the lake...a lot.

Anna took me for a ride in the lifeguard boat last weekend to see all the huge, nasty bullfrogs.

Here are Anna and cousin Hannah spotring their custom made aprons (the same ones we made for the kitchen and dining room staff, theirs were black though.)

Aunt Laurie was here with the Texas cousins for 3 weeks.(she is Scott's sister, the aunt to the cousins too..the parents were on a well deserved 20 year anniversary trip). It is always a highlight of summer for my girls...and we love knowing that our kids will always know each other because of the effort! (thanks Brian and Lisa for letting us have your kids for 3 weeks, we know you were missing them by the end!)

Here is Shae with her Uncle Brad (Scott's youngest bro). Shae adores him and loves it when he comes up to camp...they make a great volleyball duo too!

Here are Jenn and Shae wearing two of the darling aprons we have been doing this summer. I tried to tell them how dorky the boots are...but it doesn't help when everyone else thinks they look cute~yee haw! (yep, Shae is one tall drink of water...5'10" in case you were wondering!)

It is no wonder Lindsay loves camp so much :)

*We have a bear getting into our dumpster every night! Lots of people have seen him, and we are determined to get a picture of him...I will post it if someone succeeds!!!

Still Here

Redding has had 110 degree temperatures this week! It is so nice to head "up the mountain" where it is 10-15 degrees cooler (but no AC!!). This is the view just before you turn into the parking lot at Lassen Pines!The snow on Mt. Lassen is just about all gone, but it is still a spectacular sight.

And, so you don't think it is ONLY fun and games around here, here is Anna crocheting with Leanne, one of our kitchen girls.

and here is Lindsay Leigh serving ice cream at dinner...

gotta earn our keep around here!

I have been busy with LOTS of projects too..all the kitchen and dining room girls got aprons with their names embroidered on them along with a cupcake applique, the girls all made pendant necklaces when my dear friend Jennifer Beaver came up, cuuuute aprons, banners, bracelets and frames have also been finished! I am almost finished with teacher gifts for 09/10! Yippee!!

I keep telling everyone to call me "Proverbs 31", "P31" for short, but it hasn't caught on yet!
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St. Olaf Sweeties

This week my mom had a fun "reunion" with the 5 girls she so loved while she was in college at St. Olaf in Minnesota. (These girls are all Norwegians!!) They came from San Fransisco, Seattle, Virginia and Los Angeles. Our camp was the perfect setting for the friends who hadn't seen each other in 55 years to meet!! 55 years!They were quite the "hotties" back in the day...

Here they are travelling down memory lane and looking at pictures. At dinner one night they sang their St. Olaf song for the staff...hilarious!! The chorus says "Um Ya Ya, Um Ya Ya.." (those silly Norwegians and their songs..)

They were all so cute, and they took cute pictures too!

Another one of their cute poses.

This next picture is my favorite. So, naturally I forced them to re-create it...

canes and all!!!!

What a blessing to have friendships that last through the years. This week has really made me realize the importance of making time with those who mean so much, and more importantly, making the effort! Life gets so busy, but what could be more important than the friends who were part of our lives and made such an impact on us!

Thank you so much, Joan, Grace, Kay, Ann-Marie and Carol for making the journey for friendship's sake! What a pleasure to meet you all! Thank you for being a part of my mom's life!





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Lindsay's Stroller

A few years ago it became difficult to take Lindsay anywhere. She had outgrown a regular stroller which made it hard to take her along. She wanders off and has even gotten lost in Downtown Disney!!

We have a local organization that funds things for children with special needs. Lindsay goes to physical therapy there and we borrowed a "stroller" one time when we went to Disneyland...and it was awesome! (seriously, it opened up a whole new world for us!) Lindsay tires easily and since she doesn't see well, she runs into things ( like poles, doors, etc.), so it is wonderful to have a stroller for her.

The first one they bought us was Lindsay's favorite color PURPLE (she was able to choose, Anna is sitting in it in the picture). She just outgrew it, so they ordered us a new one! Lindsay surprised us all and chose "Raspberry" !!! It is a little more "special" looking because of its size but Anna said "who cares Mom, we can take Lindsay and keep her strapped in!" (out of the mouths of babes...) We just picked the new stroller up, and Lindsay was thrilled! We are so thankful for the organizations that provide services and equipment for these precious kids. What a difference they make in the lives of the families as well! (Now, if Obama would figure out a way to get California out of debt without messing with these organizations!!)
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Cute Picture Idea

Yesterday Scott planned a big activity (like a mixture between The Amazing Race and Survivor). The staff were divided into teams and had to find clues and complete tasks. At the end of the game we took team pictures inside a picture frame.
Isn't this so cute?

I think it would make a darling Christmas card picture idea!!! 2 posts in one day....woo hoo!!!

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Cousin Camp '09

Every summer "the cousins" come from Texas to spend 2 glorious weeks with us at camp! Aunt Laurie has been bringing them ever since Cooper was a baby. Here is Laurie getting in some good playing time with Gavin, he warmed right up to Aunt "Lala".

Grandma has spent LOTS of time supervising golf cart rides with each grandchild having a turn driving.

We got a new toy for the lake this year...a water trampoline with extra toys attached. Here is one of the staff kids showing the other kids how to run across. This is the most hilarious thing to watch people try!!!

Austin has had a ball with the Texans. He LOVES hanging out with the big kids, especially when they catch frogs or snakes!

This is Jackson, he is one busy boy! Isn't he soooo cute??

Lindsay and Hannah.

The boys taking over control of the trampoline.

This is a giant floatie. It has been the most popular thing to do at the lake this summer...it even beats the water slide!! It holds 15 people!

Scott "blobbing" Shae.

We used to have a huge blob, but this year we are opting for the mini version, which has been almost as fun and less scary.

My wimpy girls always hold their noses when going into the water. {just like me}

IT looks like Shae is torturing Cooper, but the truth is that this is PAYBACK! The girls were laying on the float and the BOYS swam over with a bucket FULL of {nasty, huge} polliwogs and dumped it on them!!! Ewww! You should have heard the screaming!

Jackson is a Gutter Ball champ! {Grandma has played LOTS of gutterball this week too!!}

Here are the rowdy kids in the dining room.

This year Gavin has really enjoyed camp! He is a big one year old now. He loves the water and the sand doesn't bother him either. I think his Mommy and Daddy will be coming up to camp more often this summer!

We have had a fun time so far, but we sure miss Brady and Averi!

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