Summer highlights

Well, school is starting in about a week and I have been scrapbooking our summer highlights. I thought I'd share some of them with you. All in all, it's been a great summer...maybe a little better than past summers. The kids have been good, we've kept pretty busy and I'm not quite tearing my hair out. Yes, I'll be glad when they're back in school, but I have fond memories of having them home for these last three months.

(These are in no particular order)

#1 Highlight: Our trip to the Oquirrh Mountain temple in Utah. The girls were thrilled that they could go into an actual temple for a tour. We went with my parents and my amazing brother, Todd. (Who Lydia is very attached to as you can see.)

#2 Highlight: The fourth of July Celebration in Heber, UT. This was one of the busiest days! We went to a parade in Provo, waterslides in Grandpa's backyard in the afternoon, followed by a BBQ, fishing, a firepit and finally, fireworks. Wow!

Highlight #3: Swim lessons! We did two sessions of swimming lessons this summer. Charlotte officially graduated...the other kids learned a lot and are getting better.

Highlight #4: Fishing with my Uncle Gary. I love this guy! He's always been my favorite uncle and while in Utah, he took my girls fishing. They loved him as much as I do!

Highlight #5: Our trip to Fall Creek Reservoir with the Youth. My kids still talk about this night as one of the best of the summer. I have committed to taking them back there before summer ends but I'm not sure we are going to make it. Next summer perhaps.

Highlight #6: Our Millar Family reunion in Seaside, Oregon. On this day, we went to Fort Stevens near Astoria. It was so fun and I'd recommend it...best of all, it's free!

Highlight #7: Grandma calls each reunion "cousins camp" and she makes shirts for all the cousins. Jillian has worn her shirt at least twice a week since the reunion. She loves it!

Highlight #8: Of course, Westoverpalooza! But, I've gone on enough about this reunion, as you all know. Did I mention it was great?

Anyway, in a nutshell, that was our summer. It was truly fun and exciting and I honestly think I'll miss it. Hope you've all had a great one too!

Here's our weekly comings and goings....enjoy! (and one final Westoverpalooza page...sorry!)

The "final meal"....Hometown Buffet and then some sad farewells.

The final (I think) Westoverpalooza post

Are y'all sick of hearing about Westoverpalooza? I'm getting kind of sick of scrapbooking it but I'm really proud of myself for almost finishing this book with in a week and a half of the reunion. This way, everything is fresh in my mind. These are the last two pages I can finish (some of our professional pictures aren't back yet). Hope you enjoy!

Westovers really know how to dress up! Some of these disco costumes were a riot!

One more spiritual event to cap off the reunion...we took everyone that was worthy and old enough (which was everyone over 12) to the temple to do Baptisms. It was another one of those "heavenly" moments where I caught a glimpse of what the eternities would be like...surrounded by my eternal family, doing the work of the Lord. The fact that every one of the Westover clan over 12 was WORTHY to enter the temple was really special. Not many families can say that...truly a tribute to this great family!

Visit with Grandma

I loved this part of the reunion the very best. I was doing okay keeping my emotions in check until right after the slide show (which Casey did a GREAT job on) when we started to sing Aunt Charlotte's song called "Family Tree." (see words below). I looked over at Sister in Law Laura and she was hiding behind her oldest son, weaping. I lost it and couldn't regain my composure until the song was finished. Apparently, Laura had seen another one of the residents, out in the hall in a wheelchair, also crying. That set her off, and she set me off. The spirit was just so strong. Later, she and I agreed that angels were with us that day. We love Grandma Bea and hope that she felt our love!

Honeyman Park on the Coast

We had such a blast at Honeyman State Park in Florence Oregon on Wednesday of our reunion. We played sports, field games, and ate sandwiches. Because it's the coast, it was mostly rainy/misty which was a nice relief from the 95 degree day we had the day before. As you can see from the pages below, we had a great time!

Here is the first two page layout for our family reunion. The cousins hadn't seen each other in two years and despite the absence, they were best buddies right away. The Westover cousins are really neat because the 17 year olds had no problem playing with and loving the 2 year olds. I think everyone felt very loved! This must be what heaven will be like...all your family around, all the time... only, no one has to leave at the end of the week! I can't wait!

I came away from our reunion with about 400 pictures...(Casey took everyone's pictures from their cameras and put them onto our computer.) Because I have so many, and because they are all so great, I needed to come up with some layouts that would use a lot of pictures. This layout is our day at Lake Cleowax...have you ever been there? It is such a fun lake! The kids would get covered in sand and race down the dune, plunging into the water. Some of the cousins spent their time burying themselves in the very deep sand. It was so fun! If you are ever in Florence, OR, I'd recommend this lake!

Westoverpalooza 2009

I'm experiencing a giant sense of let-down this weekend. We have been planning and preparing for this summer's reunion for almost 2 years now and within a few days, it's all over. I'm really missing our family! The girls are missing their cousins. It was such a wonderful week of fun and love and I want to do it all over again! The theme for our reunion was "WestoverPalooza." (it was a "hippie"/Disco theme...Perfect for a reunion held in Eugene Oregon don't you think?) The first day of the week was held at Island park as the kids played on all of Casey's giant inflatables. After that, we gathered in the Booren's backyard for a catered meal by Hole IN The Wall BBQ. It was so wonderful! After dinner, we watched a backyard movie. The next day was spent at the beach. The third day was spent with our Grandma Bea who is 97 years old. Casey spent hours and hours putting together a beautiful slideshow about her life. We sang songs and cried. Afterwards, we went to Skateworld, dressed in our finest disco/hippie duds. (we rented the whole place out for the reunion.) We spent two hours skating and playing. On our last day, we took the youth (11 of them) to the temple to do Baptisms for the dead as a family. It was so wonderful to have so many Westovers in the temple together! We sure love our family!

The cousins, in height order from Spencer to Lydia. (Charlotte was missing as she was in the bathroom!)

We gave all the kids bandanas ...they wore them all week!

Casey (in his lovely 70's tie) and his sister Andie (dressed in a stunning unitard) eat some pizza while taking a break from the roller skating rink.

Jillian is all hippie!

The "magnificent seven," as their mom calls them, pose for a picture after doing a session of baptisms in the Portland temple. (Charlotte, Jeremy, Maria, Bryce, Casey, Andie, and Niel)

One more week down! Next week we are in charge of our Westover reunion. Everyone starts arriving this Sunday. I am frantically confirming reservations for parks and restaurants, cleaning my house for the two families that will be staying in it, and ordering/purchasing food! There will be 50 of us in total. That's a lot of Westovers!

Summer's going fast

Is it really August already? Despite my continual complaining about five kids crammed into our ever-shrinking house all summer long, the fact that there's only a month left amazes me! Next week is our Westover/Wartena reunion. Aunt Maria and cousin Marissa are already here. Today we went out as a family and bought some disco clothes for the kids. We are having a roller skating party on the final night of the reunion so the kids wanted to be prepared! Below is another week of my project 365. Enjoy!