Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Summer is Over


Summer is officially over at the Petersen house.  The two younger kids are heading back to school today.  Secretly, I think they are both pretty excited about seeing their friends again and in Jeffrey s case, I think he's excited to be a junior.  He'll be even more excited when I has his DRIVERS LICENSE, and that should happen on Wednesday!   Of course, that means our insurance will skyrocket!  I've told him and the older girls, that he is our best driver so far.  He is very cautious and doesn't appear to be a speed racer.  We will see if he can maintain that good behavior and avoid the same fate as his older sisters.

Sarah got pulled over multiple times, honestly, I can't even remember how many times but she was always able to talk her way out of the ticket, mostly because we lived in a very small town and knew the Judge from working on school things together.  She also hit (very hard) a curb that caused her tire to POP.  Although this happened in front of several of the baseball team so I figured that that was punishment enough.  They teased her for days on that one.

Amanda, on the other hand has "bumped" more things that she should have.  She has bumped/hit the curb causing her tire to flatten and the wheel to bend. She paid to have that fixed...ouch, $70.00!!   She has "nudged" other cars, leaving "love marks" on them.  And bless her heart, she doesn't limit herself to trashing our cars, she has also crumpled our dear friends car, but she swears up and down it wasn't her fault.  There are some truths you just can't ignore...IF YOU FOLLOW TOO CLOSELY TO THE CAR IN FRONT OF YOU, YOU WILL EVENTUALLY HIT A CAR!!!  It's Murphy's law!!  And the kids wonder why we have them drive 20 year old cars....Hummmmm?

Anyway, today Jeffrey returns as a BIG JUNIOR and Becca returns as an EIGHTH grader.  My oh my, how time flies.  Amanda will start at BYU next week and Sarah, Chris and baby Owen will head back North (Rexburg) in about 2 weeks.   Then, after I cry for a day or two, I plan on digging into some house projects like painting, doing a tile back-splash in the kitchen, etc.  A girls got to do what a girls got to do!

Gone are the days of toothless grins, new backpacks and excited faces on the first day of school.  This was all I could get this morning...







Monday, August 6, 2012

Splish Splash!

 Mr. O likes to take baths.  He often falls asleep while 
in the bath.  He soaks in the 
kitchen sink, because he fits...for now.


  This is him falling asleep


And, he's asleep...



 Hangin' out with dad!  Scrub a dub dub...




Feet from Heaven!!

 Yup, he just threw up on Aunt Manda and is now fast asleep.  Life is good!  
We call Amanda 
"The baby whisperer" 
because she can always get him to sleep








Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Girls Camp

Amanda, Becca, Dave and I just returned home from a few days at girls camp.  It was great!!  This was the first time going to girls camp up here in Utah but I was a "regular" at girls camp down in Mesquite.  It's interesting how different, yet similar, each one was set up and run.  

Here's the breakdown:

Mesquite:
Tents for sleeping
Running water and a sink/kitchen at each campsite
Modern bathrooms with toilets and showers
Each ward planned, made and ate their own meals
Large steel frames covering "kitchen area" for tarps to be put over in case of rain
Shooting range
COPE course
Fire ring at each campsite (not usable every year due to fire danger)
Run on a generator
Dirt everywhere
Trees for shade
Bears?...We heard of one being there but it turned out to be Duane in a costume!
Mice

Koholowo: 
Dorm type cabins that sleep 18-20 girls on wooden bunks
Lodge/Mess hall for meal time, complete with professional kitchen and stage
Modern bathrooms with toilets and showers
No individual "kitchens" or place to cook and clean
Nice amphitheater, hardly used because most of our gatherings were in the lodge
COPE course
Run on a generator
Fire rings at each dorm area (not able to use this year due to fire danger)
Gravel/Bark paths and roadways
Bears!!  Really!  They had men patrolling all night, every night.
Mice
Trees everywhere

I've decided that I like some things about each camp and that if I could combine them, it would be perfect!  

Our theme this year was...
Super Heroes! Finding the Hero within!
All of the Stake leaders dressed up as the Incredibles!   So cute!!  


These 2 photos are of our Stake Young Women's Presidency

Each ward chose a superhero mascot...Ours was...Nacho Libre' ??



Oh Grace!!  You look Marvelous!!
Our Nacho Crew!

My Mr. Incredible!  The Stake leaders worked him to death!!

Our Camp director (Amanda) and her faithful sidekick (Grace)
 Super Hero Training:

Bomb detonating...

Balance and Endurance...

One tired super hero!!

Getting some certification done...

Our "super" presidency!
Becca and Dave at the Zipline...or course









Whip Cream Catching...




 
 Pinata!







Bonnie, Me and Krystal

Advisers: Kerri, Becky and Angela





Fearless Leaders...