Our awesome home school group hosted a family outdoor school. We went to our favorite campground and stayed while the kids went to all kinds of science and craft classes organized by the youth. We are so lucky to be able to participate in our LDS Commonwealth!
Eden and Lily went to an all girls chess tournament!
Scout activity for Dallin.
Next up was the Dickinson Family Reunion! This was a big affair with most of the sibling's families (11 of the 13) in town. What a huge weeklong party! The timing was just right for Grandpa Hedmans 100th birthday as well. The kids had a blast playing pool with cousins all week. We spent the night at Peter's parents most nights just so we could continuously play. That worked great with all the people who were in town visiting. It was like we were away on vacation too.
Just a few of Lucy's many, many laptop warp pictures:
Roller skating at our usual place.
The whole group head to Stub Steward campground where we stayed for 2 or 3 nights and also rented the big hall to hang out and eat in. It was such great bonding time. My kids grew so close to all their cousins that live so far away and even closer to the locals. There was lots of laughing, games and food.
We had a little bridal shower for Cassie, Luke's fiance!
Peter and Will hosted a sing a long one night that turned more into a dance off.
Easter Sunday, the Easter bunny came to our cabin, then a bunch of us went to watch General Conference at a near by church, then we had an Easter egg hunt and also did a lesson where we opened eggs to learn about all kinds of symbols about the Resurrection of Christ.
I brought a big bag of favorite children's books to the cabins and the kids loved gathering around to listen.
This was our dance off and the boys all got in the middle and did "the worm".
Egg Hunt. This silly Easter Bunny even showed.
Family Pictures.
We love how Luke is in a total plank trying to get out of the grandkid pictures!
Grandpa's 100th birthday bash was a huge event. The cultural hall dinner was crammed full to the brim with people
Preggo buddies. This is only 4 of the 6 pregnant sisters at the time.
All these little Arave cousins gathered for Clare's birthday. These girls love each other so.
We performed in a little variety show at homeschool group. It was a narration/acting out of the book "The Bag I'm Taking To Grandma's House" that we had prepared for our moms for Mother's Day.
Peter's brother Luke got married. We had a great week with lots of wedding festivities!
Eden's spring dance recital was a huge hit with our kids. The theme was "Let's go to the movies" so all those fun theme songs were entertaining!
Dallin needed to practice his life saving skills for his swimming merit badge so he got to practice on Eden and friend Arwen.
Carter turned 7. Somehow I can't find a single picture of the big event, but we sure do love our Cart Cart!
Dallin turned 12. Oh my, I could write a whole post on what that was like! In our church, this is a big deal because he received the priesthood and entered the Young Men's program. It was an awesome experience to watch him pass the sacrament for the first time. He is the littlest deacon and just so cute. He takes the priesthood very seriously passing the sacrament, collecting fast offerings and going to church early every week to prepare the chapel. He matured by leaps and bounds very suddenly and was very ready for this transition to young adulthood. Here are a few pictures from his birthday.
Tanner also turned 9 in June. We had a Pokemon party for him with family and friends. He is so happy all the time so it is always fun to celebrate him!
We went on the boat to celebrate on his actual birthday.
My mom and dad were in town for a quick visit too!
Chuck E Cheese for dinner after boating.
Lily was pregnant like mommy one day.
Pregnant buddies.
Double diapers??? Don't ask me. I don't even...
Drive in movie fun with friends and family. We saw the new minion movie.
I had so much fun cuddling with Heidi's tiny little baby and looking forward to having my own soon!
We made this fun fathers day poster for Peter.
It says, "Dad, we were going to give you a whopping 100 grand for Fathers day, but the money slipped through our butterfingers. We didn't thing a trip to the Milky Way would be appropriate either, but we do want to thank you for being such a sweetheart and a real life saver. Plus, mom thinks you are a chunky hunky! We hope this candy doesn't make you rollo-ver and get sick. If it does we promise not to snicker. We love you Daddy! Love your baby ruth and all your favorite air heads."
We had a nice long Sunday afternoon picnic with my family while my parents were here. We sat around at a park with our camping chairs and ate and laughed and bonded for a very long while. The girls and boys were having some fun doing hand games.
Dallin earned several scout awards after scout camp.
Carter, Lily and Luke took swim lessons this year. Here are some of Luke.
Dallin took a bunch of friends out on the boat for a friend birthday party.
Reading books. I love it when they all end up gathering around a good book!
