Creative Cat

Caroline's so cute and creative. The other day, she showed me her fingers saying, "Guess who this is? It's our family!" Her use of red marker for the hair threw me off, but she couldn't find brown. Anyhow, I thought it was so sweet of her to be thinking of her family. This morning, Scott said, "I love everyone" before he gave hugs and headed out to the bus stop. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I cooked grits/eggs/bacon for breakfast instead of pouring a bowl of cereal. Scott loves me for my cooking... I figured that out several years ago when all his Mother's Day card said things about my fixing his breakfast, his lunch, his dinner,dessert, etc. Being the food source around here has its benefits I guess. Some days, I do feel like all I do is plan meals, grocery shop, prepare/cook food and clean up the kitchen, so it's good to be appreciated for my efforts. Children are such a blessing. My neighbor was telling me that she's SO busy cooking/cleaning/running errands/taking kids to school, activities, doctor appts. etc. and followed up by saying it's such a blessing to be living the life she always wanted: having a family. It's more work than a young girl could have dreamed of, but to realize the blessing of it all is the beauty of it all. Enjoy each phase!

Hyco Lake

Another family fun weekend at the lake. It's so nice to spend some down time with my siblings and their growing families. Above: Cherre with 2 of her 3 children (Mackenzie and Scott) on left, Chuck with his wife, Linda, and 2 of their 3 children (Adalaline and Hayden).

Cooling off in the lake: Chuck plays water basketball with Caroline & Adaline while Chad helps Sada do the back float. Fun times!

Eric had plenty of little helpers driving the boat this weekend. Hayden drove with his eyes closed when the sun was too bright. Watch out!

Cherre caught the cutest little fish while swimming around.

Daddy didn't make her throw it back. Yea!

Here's a picture from last month's lake weekend with Clet/Alice & Christian/Kristy and their children. I told Eric it will take 3 summers to get all my family down to the lake as the boat only holds 14. It's great fun for the kids to get to spend time with their cousins, aunts and uncles. This picture shows how typical it is for the kids to wear themselves out in the sun & on the water, but the seating and awning on the pontoon boat are perfect for naps and there's always someone who's game for tubing while the others nap/snack/tan/listen to music or just watch. As a mom, it's a real joy to sit back and watch my family have fun together. My new phrase is "Work hard, play hard." The latter comes easy, so I have to teach and remind my children that their playtime comes after the family gets their work done. It's a great thing to work and play together.

Cherre got a new best friend at the lake... little Adaline LOVED swimming with her! Now that my children are getting a little older, I can enjoy not only being a mom, but being an aunt as well. I didn't get a picture of the kids on the new paddle boat, but needless to say, it was a big hit with all the kids. I think they like being able to be on the water by themselves... declaring their independence already.

Cousins Camp 2009

Mother & Daddy with 21/23 of their grandchildren,
as Chad & Jessica had to leave early with Kip and Sada.
With 23 children under the age of 10, there's no way we
could get even half of them to look at the camera at the same
time. It's surprising that Spencer was the only one unhappy
about getting his picture made.

We gathered together to recite & practice the 13 Articles of Faith.

The children earned an icecream sundae topping for each one they

recited/repeated/listened to based on their age. Good stuff!

Not pictured: Aunt Linda hosted a craft where the children built

a temple out of sugar cubes. Hannah thought of the idea to add a

yellow gummy bear (from her icecream sundae toppings) on top of the

temple spire to represent the Angel Moroni. She was

so proud of herself and it looked great. Wish I had a picture. The kids

enjoyed working on a craft as some much needed down time after

water games while the moms prepared dinner.

Girls vs. Boys: Tug of War

The girls beat the boys the 1st go, which upset William to no avail.

He ran inside and threw a fit. When he heard his cousins Hayden &

Stewart had shown up to join the boys' team, he was all smiles and

joined the fun. The boys beat the girls once all the male cousins

got involved. It was fun to see the girls being so competitive!

Tug of War: Notice how Uncle Cletus pitched in to help the boys.

They also tied some knots in the rope to give them additional help

in their efforts to defeat their strong counterparts. Need I mention

that before the day was through, the ladies battled the men and

actually won. Though they were outnumbered and we had knots in

our end of the rope, it seemed fair to us and the ladies gloated in their

victory. Good times!

Water games were much needed after playing

Ameba Tag. Aunt Alice did a great job organizing

games for this large group despite the age range.

My sister, Celeste, read an article from the Church magazine for young children, The Friend, the other year that talked about holding a CAMP for cousins. So, we have begun Cousins Camp within our own family. We've tried sleepovers, bonfires, craft days and have resorted to day camp activities to meet the interests and needs of the ever-growing # of cousins our children are blessed to have in their lives. This year, Celeste headed up matching t-shirts, which my kids enjoy wearing. As William proclaims, "Cousins Camp is AWESOME!" He already told his dad he wants to attend Cousins Camp EVERY summer, as he has missed out on a few being out in Utah.

Now that he knows what he's missing out on, he's adament ot make it a priority each year. Yea!

Need I point out that these kids have some awesome mothers and aunts, who managed to organize this event and make it a success. Thanks to all!

Norhoff's visit NC

Mackenzie and Hannah loved running away from the waves!
The Nordhoff's LOVE the sandy beaches of NC and we LOVE having
them here.

Scott & William bonded as they found a new common interest:

Nintendo DS

Aunt Candice was a good sport to allow even the littlest of her nieces to give her a

complete makeover when they had a slumber party last weekend. Good times!

To beat the summer heat, we hit the pool some days and set

up a pool & slide for water games some days. Mackenzie was just THRILLED
to play with her cousins all day every day for almost 2 weeks. Scott & Caroline

were jealous to say the least, as they're still in school and even had EOG testing during

part of the visit. But, they had more fun than usual for a school night as we went to the

pool after school, played baseball & kickball at the park, had playdates and park dates in

the evenings to ensure they got some quality time with their cousins. They know that

when Aunt Cerah's in town, they're going to have some FUN! We love you!!!

The Nordhoff family's summer visit was too short... 12 days flew by. We had a blast! From playdates to park dates, picnics & gardening, sleepovers & makeovers, beach trips, water games, swimming pools and jewelry parties... the fun never ended. Here's a few pic

tur

LEGO mania!

Scott inherited his dad's childhood legos, so he developed a love for LEGOs at a young age. It's still the top item on his b-day and Christmas lists. He enjoys building legos by himself, with his sisters, friends, dad, hometeachers, etc. So, when we heard that Crabtree was opening a LEGO store and was inviting children to come help build lego blocks for the 8 foot Yoda display, we had to attend. It was a fun experience for the kids! Can't wait to see the finished product, but here's a picture of the model.

Chucky Cheese

Mackenzie has been wanting to go to Chucky Cheese for quite some time. We finally found a weekend to squeeze in a visit and I'm not sure who had more fun... the kids or Eric! After 2 bites of pizza, Mackenzie said, "The pizza smells like throw-up!". So, avoid the pizza and just play games! It was a fun time.