5th grade camp

Kyler is off to 5th grade camp!

It made me remember my own 5th grade science camp . . .

Ha! The overall shorts, the glasses . . . hahaha. Fun times.

Anyways, this boy of mine was pretty excited.

It was not easy for me to send him off for three days. He has promised to tell me every detail when he gets back. I hope he has a fun time, but I sure do miss him already.

hammock party

Today after church the sun was shining.

The boys ate huge plates of nachos for lunch because Sunday has been dubbed nacho day.

Then 

Kyler invited everyone to a hammock party in the backyard. He got the hammocks all set up and told us it was time. Everyone, except for the little man glued to mickey mouse clubhouse episodes (in portuguese or french, mind you) on youtube, walked up to the hammocks. Kyler even had music playing for us.

It was quite the hammock party! Probably the best one I've ever been to.

Eric was so smart to put up these posts to create a triangle of hammocks. It's a favorite place around here.

My eyes may be closed, but Kyler sure looks happy.

I wish we had a cake so we could've called it a birthday party for my sweet sister Stefanie. Either way we were sending her happy birthday wishes. We love you, Stef!!

mother's day weekend

Motherhood brings me the greatest joy. I feel so blessed to have these four in my life as my children.

I had a perfect mother's day weekend.

First, I got to celebrate with Layla at our preschool Mother's day celebration. The children sang a sweet song for their mom's and then gave them a vase of flowers, a card, and treats that they made during our class time.

This wonderful dad and husband took care of things at home when I went on a Women's retreat Friday through Saturday.

With some help from a few amazing friends, we organized a women's retreat to Ensign ranch for the second year in a row. I so enjoyed planning this retreat and then seeing it come together and turn into a fun, refreshing weekend.

There were 16 of us who made it up there. These are some amazing women who do so much good in their lives! I felt so blessed to be surrounded by them.

We ate our meals together at the long table.

Mindy led us in a few group games, including the game of measles.

We were each given a name for the evening (I was Mother Theresa) and so we had to call each other by those new names. If you were caught using someone's real name you had to put a sticker on your face. I FAILED at this game. After dinner my forehead was quite decorated.

By the end of the evening, I lost with 13 stickers on my face. I basically just kept the sheet of stickers in my hand. It made for a fun night.

After another get to know you game, we had a discussion about enjoying life. We picked four words and broke into small groups to talk and share our thoughts and experiences. The words were: simplify, optimism, fun, and mindfulness. We came back together for more discussion.

We stayed up late that night talking and playing games and working on a little craft to go along with our discussion.

Many of us started saturday morning with a little yoga (I made another fun attempt at leading the class, trying to fulfill my dream to be a yoga instructor). We spent the rest of the time eating, talking, canoeing, walking, and running. After lunch we cleaned up and headed out.

It was lovely coming back home to happy greetings from my family. The next day I was spoiled and I was allowed to catch up on sleep when my family let me sleep in. They came in to get me sometime after 8am and blindfolded me with a tie and led me downstairs to a yummy breakfast and the sweetest cards.

I spent the rest of the day feeling so grateful to be a mom. I spent one-on-one time playing games with each of my special kids.

Going in for a kiss . . . :)

We ended the day with this perfect little walk through the power line trails.

I am also grateful that I got a chance to talk with my fabulous mom on sunday. She is extraordinary. She raised and taught me and sisters with love, mindfulness, simplicity, and oh so much fun. I always knew she loved and enjoyed being a mom. I can only hope my kids will know that about me, too--I love being their mom.