Glines Reunion 2009

We spent the last few days up at our traditional camp spot at Pineview Reservoir for our annual Glines Reunion. The Glines' Family is Corey's mom's side of the family. Few reunions have been held anywhere else since I joined the family. We always enjoy a few days of swimming, boating, eating good food, and just catching up.

We were getting a little worried as we counted down to the day of the reunion. The weather had been rainy and cool lately. And as the week of the trip arrived, storms were predicted for the first two of three days.

Once we got there, got our tent set up, and got everyone ready for some fun in the water, we got maybe an hour at most before the rain came.

It didn't last long, but by then, it was late enough that we were wanting to eat and start getting settled in for the night.

It rained during the night, and the next morning looked really iffy. The skies finally cleared nicely around 11am, and we went down for a while. The water was COLD! Libby didn't last long, and I soon went back to camp with her to get some lunch, and she took a nice long nap in the tent!

Because there has been so much water this year, Pineview has no dry beach. I didn't dare have the camera down there too much, and I unfortunately didn't get any pictures of Libby in the water. But I got some cute ones of the boys.

Johnathan loved riding on the jetski with his Great Uncle Rolan and his Great Uncle Lane, and pretty much anyone willing to take him.

Grandpa Glines and Marje liked the jetski too!

The boys enjoyed a little "rock" climbing on the sandy hill behind us.

Several sand castles were made by Ethan and the 14 other small children who were there.

There was this awesome tree behind our tent that Libby loved to climb on. I got some great pictures from it. I can't decide which I like best!

My niece, Abby, was one of 3 babies that came to the reunion. Isn't she beautiful?

And cousins had fun getting into trouble together. This little monkey that is with Libby is my niece, KoDee Jo. She turned 2 the second day of the reunion.

We were lucky and got a good dose of sunshine. But that night at dinner, we found ourselves scrambling to get something in our stomachs and get the camp put away for the night as a big thunder and wind storm came upon us. I learned something! If you go swimming on a camping trip, it's a good idea to let your ponytail down so your hair can dry just in case of such weather. I ended up getting very cold, even though I was bundled up in a sleeping bag. I finally spent a little while in the car with the heater on. I brushed my hair out, and used the heater as a makeshift blow dryer. I went to bed that night in a pair of sweat pants, two pairs of socks, a t-shirts, one of Corey's flannel shirts, a sweatshirt, and three heavy blankets!

The only thing missing from the reunion was Aunt Laraine, Uncle Jim, and their three grandkids that live with them. Laraine and Jim are Corey's great aunt and uncle. Uncle Jim passed away two days before the reunion.

Everyone packed up and left the camp ground earlier today than we normally do so we could get home for his funeral. No one from the reunion was as cleaned up as we would have liked, but it was fitting, since Uncle Jim loved camping, fishing, and horseback riding.

I didn't know him very well, but I love Aunt Laraine. She has always had a genuine interest in the lives of her neices and nephews, both old and young, and is a wonderful person. From what little I knew of Uncle Jim, he did too.

Forgotten pictures

I forgot to add these in my last entry, and I'm too lazy to edit tonight. These first three pictures were taken at Scout Camp today.

And here he is with some of his baseball teammates, getting ready to ride in a boat for the Terrace Days Parade.

My Hiatus

Sooooo...... it's been awhile, huh?

I've known I've been neglecting my blog, but what can I say? I just haven't really been much in the blogging mood. Not that there is anything bad going on. Nope, all good around here. Everyone is happy and healthy. But we've also been crazy busy, and when I finally get a moment, I just don't seem to be in the mood and would rather read or something.

We are out of school for the summer, and have been for about three weeks or so.

My brother-in-law graduated from high school last month. That seems really weird. He was Ethan's age when Corey and I started dating! It was kind of neat and nostalgic going back to my alma mater to be at his graduation. There were not many teachers there that I recognized. At one point, everyone who had graduated from Roy High was asked to stand. It was really neat to see at least half the audience standing!

Five days later, my little boy, Ethan graduated from preschool. I can hardly believe he will go to kindergarten next year! It doesn't seem that long since I had him. He was such a sweet baby. He came at a time when our families from both sides as well as myself were in serious need of something that symbolized hope and joy. What symbolizes such things better than a baby fresh from Heaven?

We had a nephew from Corey's side of the family and my grandfather both pass away during that pregnancy, as well as a nephew from my side of the family diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. When I first got pregnant, I remember being angry! I was on birth control, and wasn't feeling quite ready for another baby. But it goes to show that Heavenly Father knows what He is doing. My family and I really needed this baby to help us get through the tough times and the grieving period. I think it's only fitting that he was born on my grandfather's birthday. He has been such a comfort to me. He loves to make people laugh, and loves for everyone to be happy. He always seems to know just what to do to help people feel better, has a deep compassion for people as a whole, and he gives the best hugs! I'm going to miss my little guy while he is in school all day. But I look forward to seeing what his future will bring.

Here he is with his certificate and his teacher, Mrs. Clark

We have had some wet weather so far this summer. It's been rainy and cool. I'm not complaining, though. I have enjoyed the cooler weather, and know that it will be really hot all too soon. It's been warm enough that we haven't needed the heater on, but cool enough that we haven't needed the swamp cooler either. It's been comfortable. I also haven't had to water at all! Watering the yard for me means dragging hoses all over all day, since we don't have an in ground sprinkling system (someday!). I hate doing it! So, I appreciate all the rain. It's also given us the opportunity to do some things that we might not otherwise do if the weather was sunny and warmer. We have gone bowling a few times, we've been to the library quite a bit, we've been to the playground at the mall. We've also done a lot of reading! One day, we stayed in our pjs all day and snuggled together with a blanket, a few pillows, some snacks and a big pile of books! It was our own little read-a-thon! The boys are both working on the Summer Bridge workbooks for their grade level this summer, as well as doing a few different summer reading programs. We have a deal that if Ethan completes at least 15 lessons out of the workbook and reads at least 20 minutes at least 15 times, he gets a trip to the Treehouse Museum. Johnathan has chosen a trip to the zoo. They have almost been earned!

Johnathan's baseball season is now over. They played in their tournament last Friday. Johnny's team, the D-Backs, won the first game, which meant they got to play for the championship. They played against The A's. It was a tough, close, and fun game. And when I say fun, you know it's serious, because I don't particularly like to watch baseball games. They are rookie leaguers playing coach pitch, so they play three to four innings, depending on how long the innings take. The first inning they tied with the A's 6-6, and the second inning they tied 9-9. Our team finally won 13-10! It was a very exciting game! The tournament was part of the Terrace Days celebration, so he got to ride in the parade the next morning. The parade was very cool, and it was raining by the time we got down the carnival. If Johnny hadn't been in the parade, we wouldn't have gone, but that's all the kids on his team talked about while they were riding in the parade, so of course, he wanted to go. They had a bunch of bounce houses that were free, so we went and played until Libby started getting cold and tired, and then came home to dry clothes, a blanket, and a movie.

Today, Johnathan went off to Cub Scout Day Camp. Corey went with them too. They went to Camp Fife, for the day and had a great time. They had to meet at the church this morning at 6:45! Needless to say, it was an early morning at this house! At least he got breakfast at the church before they left. They shot BB guns, rode the zip line, listened to some history on Isaac Newton (which is cool because we have good reason to think he is an ancestor of mine, or at least a cousin of an ancestor -- lots of Isaac Newtons back there around the right time period), and got to listen to some info and see some cool pictures of airplanes. He also made it about halfway up a rock climbing wall! He had a fun, but long day. I haven't seen my boy so tired very often.

Tomorrow we leave for Pineview for the weekend. The weather doesn't sound very promising, and for the first time, I am complaining. Camping in thunderstorms is no fun! I hope it stays away until we get back Saturday afternoon. It can come back after that.