Braces

Just after returning home from California, the girls had a consult with the orthodontist about braces. Paige has finally gotten her permanent teeth in and so it was time to get started on braces. There was a cancellation in an appointment the day before she left to go to girl's camp. Paige was very excited to get started so she went for it. I figured when she was in pain then someone else could listen to her complain. She figured out what color bands she wanted and was all set to go.

In front of the orthodontist office ready to get started

A very attractive position to be in. Since Paige has only had cleanings and x-rays on her teeth she is not familiar with the many torture devices dentists/orthodontists can come up with. This was just the beginning.

Brackets and wire in place and now for the pink and green alternating bands Paige chose.

All done and still smiling. It was a few hours later that the soreness kicked in. She was pumped up with ibuprofen and from all reports did okay at camp. I just sent the medicine and soon she was back to regular eating. Little does she realize that soreness reoccurs whenever the wire is changed. Oh well, she'll learn.

Honesty is the best policy

One day I took Lexi and a friend to Walmart to pick up some things before heading out of town. I needed to do a return and so I sent the girls to get the needed items while I took care of the return. As I was walking towards customer service the girls came running up to me very excited and told me they had found a $100.00 dollar bill. They showed it to me and I decided to take it to customer service and let them know it had been found. When I got there, there was a couple of customers ahead of me. A man did his return and was digging in his pocket and then was very upset as he said he had lost a $100.00 dollar bill. Being that it was pretty early in the morning and not a lot of customers I figured it had to be the owner of the one the girls had found. I told him they had found it and he was very grateful to have it returned. He left and I did my return and he had come back up to the desk with a bouquet of roses. He paid for them and then gave them to me for the girls along with some change. While the girls were disappointed not to have gotten the original money they thought the flowers and change was pretty nice.

Girl's camp 2010

The 2nd week the guys were gone was when Paige went to girl's camp for church. The thought of camping in Texas in August is not something I would attempt but the girls have a great time. They go to a local Girl Scout camp which has cabins. There is a air conditioned lodge and some classrooms but for the most part it's you and the heat. And during the week the temperatures were around 105. Luckily there is a lake and swimming pool and during that week there was quite a bit swamping of the canoes. Thurs the 11 yr old girls were invited to come for the day to participate in different activities and see a glimpse of what camp is like. Lexi was very excited because she would be going up for the day.

Paige and Lexi at camp


The girls in the lodge before skits/singing

Paige and her BFF with their matching bandanas and t-shirts.

cabin mates.

With the boys off to Philmont for awhile it was just girl time. We kept ourselves busy with many activities.

The girls with a mani/pedi time


Paige made some sleep shorts to get ready for girl's camp

Lexi had her big Girl Scout party at ITZ, a indoor amusement park venue. Kind of like Chuck E. Cheese but for older kids.

Lexi and I rode on the bumper cars.

Lexi and I repainted she and Paige's room

In preparation for jr. high, Lexi got several inches cut off her hair.

Before the cut.

Beginning of Philmont trek 2010

It's hard to believe this time had finally arrived. This trip has been 3 years in the planning and preparation. The day after we returned from Ca. it was final shakedown for our Boy Scout crew's Philmont trek. The boys & leaders all had their packs, to check and double check equipment and make sure everything was ready to roll for the next day. They would be leaving to head to New Mexico for the next two weeks on a 11 day trek in the mountains of Philmont. Some were prepared, some not quite as much as they could have, but all were excited. There were 3 leaders and 9 boys. And all were ready for the adventure.

The boys checked the weight of their pack



They checked the equipment list one last time. Some made a quick trip to the sporting goods store for the forgotten item


Packs lined up ready to go.

Probably the most essential piece of equipment, a good pair of hiking boots. I don't even want to think about how much $$ is lined up there. If your feet aren't properly taken care of it can make or break the experience.

The crew all ready to go. we were missing two of the boys, they would meet up with the others in Dallas.

Our 80's reunion

A few years ago when we were in California visiting family and friends we were sitting around talking about the things we did when we were in high school. Someone made the comment of how good it would be to get together with friends from high school. I know high schools have their reunions, but this was different. There were quite a few LDS kids when we were in high school and we all ran around together. We went to two different high schools and were friends with some younger and some older than us. We did early morning seminary and they did the classes by our year in school so we got to know many of the kids in the stake, not just our ward. Well fast forward and several people that still live in the same town we grew up in got together and got a 80's reunion together. We had it the last weekend in July and it was so fun to get together. there were some people that came that I haven't seen in 20+ yrs. Most had not changed that much. A couple were shockers, but despite the extra wrinkles and wider waistbands we looked pretty much the same. We had great food, music, and loved visiting and catching up on what our lives were doing. There are some great pics I saw on Facebook but I don't know how to hijack those so these are just a few that I actually snapped. Not the greatest but a great memory.

These were "the guys". My good friend and I were in another ward and we used to hang out with these guys and head to the stake dances, skating at the skating rink, hanging at the beach or someone's house. There were 3 VW bugs between the them that we would put as many people in as possible, this was before seatbelt laws. So many great memories, so many stories we could tell on each other. We keep them under cover since our kids are too eager to learn of our past deeds.


this was everyone that came on Fri night for the reunion. these are the actual graduates. Interestingly there are many couples in there.

Ken doing his part in "YMCA"

Ken and I with good friends from high school and BYU days. Their oldest son is just 1 month younger than Jordan and comes home from his mission in just 3 weeks. Amazing how far we've come.

Me and my sisters and mom. We're just missing one that falls in the lineup between my two sisters. We missed you Amy!!

Ken and his mom and brother Lemuel

California

This is a long post, but I need to move the vacation along to try and get caught up here. Sorry for the many pics, but they tell the story better than my writing. The girls and I headed to California with my parents and two nieces. We were there a week, then Taylor flew from Houston to Utah and drove to Ca. with my other niece coming home from BYU-Idaho. Then the end of the month Ken flew to Ca. when we had a 80's reunion. We enjoyed the beautiful cool weather and had a good time. At the end we all flew home together.

The girls had spa times, when they fixed each other's hair and did pedis for each other. Lexi and Tori


A moment of calmness after a rousing game of tags with cousins and friends. Lexi is the ringleader. She loved it.

The community center just redid their playground and the girls had to check it out. Paige was not cooperative with having her picture taken. Obviously the ring was not a big challenge for her.

Lexi, Tori and Mackenzie in the spider web.

The local public library has a wonderful kids section. We spent some quiet time there.

The girls making crafts on the back porch and yes it was cool enough for a sweatshirt.

Grandma and Papa celebrated their 49th wedding anniversary

The kids at the children't museum. They had touch tank that the kids enjoyed. They got to hold starfish and sea urchins. My parents are only about 15 miles from the beach.

Everyone loved the tiki hut restaurant where they took turns being the customer or the cooks. No one wanted to be the waiter until they found out they got the money.

Swimming with cousins

Even though we never saw the sun the kids had a good time at the beach. A friend let them borrow the wetsuits which made the frigid water a bit more tolerable. Not warm enough for me to get in though. I am a wimp anymore to subject myself to that.

Everyone jumping the waves

The girls having a fight with a piece of seaweed

We even went to the beach for dinner one night. a fun tradition we do every year. You better have a jacket because when the sun goes down it's cold!!! And not just to us Texans.

My parents and I. We were laughing because we were so cold we were shivering.

The cousins at the beach

We went to the beach with friends during our reunion. This was a friend's daughter from AZ that we hooked up with in April and Lexi and she were fast friends.

Paige burying herself in the sand

Taylor doing a little skimboarding

We actually got a family shot. A rarity.