Art Camp

I just finished teaching my first art camp of the summer. It was the past three days and we really had alot of fun. I think the students really enjoyed it. We got messy and did a lot of great projects. The first day we created paper mache animals, and sculpted with model magic(this stuff is the best because it is not messy at all and it air dries overnight plus you can get it half off at Micheals with one of their weekly coupons). 2nd day we collected leaves in my backyard and did leaf rubbings and then put our leaves and other fun sparkles on contact paper and stuck another piece on top and made window hangings, then we did splatter painting (like Jackson Pollack), and finished up with printmaking using styrofoam plates as our printing plate. The last day we finished the paper mache and scupture by painting and decorating them. The kids created some great work. Here are a few pics of the 3 days.

New Camera and Great photos

After our camera was not working so well at Aspen Grove, Budd's wonderful parents bought us a new camera. The Panasonic Lumix and it is amazing. We love it. Thanks Mom and Dad!! We left Aspen Grove Friday morning and that evening we stayed in Orem with my brother Jeffers. We went to the Summer Fest that night and let the kids go on some rides and tried out our new camera. We had a fun time. You will see some of the fun shots we got below. On Saturday my entire family got together. It was the first time we have all been together in years, since my oldest brother Chris lives in Hawaii. But we all managed to get together for 3 hours in a park. It was so great to be together. It was fun for the 4 cousins to all be together for the first time too.

Aspen Grove Pics

Here are a few of the pics I got at Aspen grove. My camera wasnt working really well so i didnt get too many, so i will be getting more later from everyone else in Budds family. These are of me shooting the slingshot (I had to put it in since it is about the only one of me, since i am usually taking the pics), the mountain early in the morning, Spencer (in orange) playing at his class, Budd and the kids walking down from our cabin, and our family. We really enjoyed it up there. It was beautiful!

A Dream Vacation

We just spent the past week in Aspen Grove with Budd's entire family and it was an amazing week. It is a family camp where all the kids go to classes most of the day with counselors. They even take new babies. So while the kids went and had fun with other kids we were able to have fun with the adults. We played all week. Here are a list of some of the things we did... Volleyball, Wally ball, Racketball, Basketball, Shuffleboard, Pool, Air Hockey, Badmitton, Ropes course, remote control cars, tennis, hiking, napping, talking and hanging out. Wow we had a blast. They made all the meals and did all the dishes. There were family activites every evening and firesides and speakers. It was just the best and I cannot stop talking about it. I will definatly be posting some pics soon. Now back to real life!

Things I enjoy

Sorry for the long break on my blog. Have you ever felt like you are going and going and every day you think the next day you will be caught up and it all starts over again and you hardly have a chance to sit down for 5 min. Of course you have, that is life right. Well, i have just been feeling life lately and forgot about the blog. I have discovered some great things in the past while that i would like to share...

1st, I don't know how many of you like black beans, but I do and I have tons of bags of dried beans that I always said I would get to making and never did because I always forgot to soak them the night before and I never flavored them well. Then a while ago I found a great seasoning in the mexican food area in Walmart. It is called Sazon Goya and it is great. You add 3-4 packets of this stuff to your beans while you are cooking them and wha la, you have some really great tasting beans. The great thing is that a box of the seasoning is only about a dollar and it has 10 packets in it. Budd makes up some great rice with garlic and onions like he had in Brazil and we are set for the week. We make all kinds of things with rice and beans. So if you have never made beans from dried beans or have done it many times, give this stuff a try. You will not be disappointed.

2nd I just read a great book called "Stargirl" It is a short book for young readers with an awesome message. I loved that it was a simple read and that i could get through the entire book in a few days. If you know me, I have a hard time finishing a long book. I have read parts of many books, so i try to find fun, simple books that i can make it through so i can feel accomplished. I loved this book. It was about a girl who is always herself and not trying to be like everyone else. Not trying to impress everyone and conform to their fads. It really made me think about myself and why I do the things I do. Am I comfortable with being myself, or do I try to change to impress others? I recommend it to anyone who wants a great read.

There is my list of recommendations. Hope you enjoy.

Mother's Day

I have been wanting to document my mothers day all week and have not gotten to it and now the wonderful feelings i had are hard to remember. A great lesson in why i need to write things down in the moment.
Sunday really was a great day and probably the best thing about it was how excited Brinlee was to get up in Sacrament and sing. She has always talked about how bad she wanted to go up and sing with the other kids when she get big enough, and now she is a sunbeam so she got to go up. Budd even stood up in the back to help mouth the words for her. I don't think she could see him or that she even sang much, but boy was she cute up there and so happy. When she was done and coming back to us, she started running down the aisle with a big smile on her face and arms open wide and gave Budd a big hug, then she came and hugged me. She was beaming and I almost starting crying being so full of joy myself.
Back to the morning, Budd and the kids did make me French toast. THe kids were so excited about it. THen at church for Relief Society they had us go into the gym for a good surprise and it was the bishopric making banana splits for us. It was fun to eat and just chat with the other women. We really have a great ward. It is fun to start getting to know the other women better.
After church we went on a very long walk. It ended up being about 2 hours. But is was beautiful and we walked by a bunch of fields. Then Budd made dinner by grilling some chicken and even grilling some baked potatoes to die for. It was a wonderful day.

A day with the kids

The other day I decided to take more time focusing on the kids instead of doing my hundred other things I think I need to do. We had a lot of fun. We made sock puppets with a kit that Budd's mom gave Brinlee for her birthday and they love them. They loved trying to help me, but mostly made a mess. We did a little picnic for lunch in the living room on a blanket. I was just thinking how nice it was to be spending time with them, and how good they were being, when all the sudden Spencer decided to start spitting his food everywhere. That sweet moment ended fast. In the end, it wasn't a perfect day and I still yelled of course, but I felt better that i stopped doing my mundane things and spent some quality time with them, and i think they really enjoyed it too.