Video games

Am I a bad mom for letting my kids play video games? I know some moms that don't let their kids play any video games at all. I never played them when I was a kid...(of course, the newest and hottest games were PacMan for the Atari back then) but my kids love them! I try and limit how much they can play but there are times when I'm trying to get a lot of things done that I just tell them to go play the computer. Yesterday, we bought the new Lego harry Potter game and it is so much fun. In fact, Casey and I spent two hours last night playing it. Our other favorite game is Roller Coaster Tycoon 3. You create your own roller coaster theme park. I could play that game for hours and hours if I could. To sum up, even though I do let them play some computer and video games a day, they are also required to play outside for a few hours, do their chores, read a book, or play with their toys. With five kids crammed into a relatively small space, sometimes video games save my sanity, especially in the summertime.

The best game ever made for the PC... Roller coaster tycoon 3. (19.95 at Target or Walmart...that's cheap entertainment!)

Here's our activities from last week:

Too Hot?

I have decided that living in this part of Oregon makes for whimpy children (and moms). The other day we went to the park for the afternoon. We lasted about 20 minutes before my kids came up to me, flopped on the grass and proclaimed, "mom, it's WAY too hot out here, let's go home." Wow, it must have been a scorcher to prompt my kids to abandon the park. How hot you ask?...the answer: a whopping 72 degrees. That's right...my kids are officially "too hot" when the thermometer gets over 70. They are in for a shock when they travel to Utah in a few weeks! I can't blame them...I hate hot weather too.



Here's our week of fun.

(ughh, ignore the typos in the scrapbook pages. I always proof-read before I render these pages but for some reason, when I read them on my blog, I always discover more errors. I'm off to fix them.)

successful Saturday and honoring fathers

I wanted to thank everyone for all the prayers and happy "no rain" vibes sent our way last Saturday. The Lord truly blessed us with amazing weather. It was about 60 degrees, slightly overcast but possitively delightful weather. The kids had a terrific time at our Mega activity. We had about 160 kids and 40 leaders in attendance. More on that later.

I just wanted to express my appreciation to two wonderful fathers in my life. First, my own dad whom I adore. I am so lucky to have him as my father. He is so giving and kind. My children adore him...and his sense of humor. What I admire most about my dad though is his devotion to the Gospel. I love listening to him give talks and lessons in church because he's so good at it and his love for the Gospel just pours out of him. He has never waivered in his dedication to the Lord and that example has stuck with me all my life. Thanks dad!

Secondly, I am so thankful for the father of my own kids...my best friend and husband, Casey. We celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary on Father's day so the day was extra special. I couldn't have married a more wonderful person! I had to wait a long time to find him, and I had to move to a whole other state, but I am so glad that the Lord led me to Eugene, Oregon...where I met Casey. We met the first Sunday I went to church and after our first date, I knew he was why the Lord had put me in this strange, unfamiliar town. Now, 13 years later, we have five beautiful girls, a home and a business. He's the Bishop of our Ward and he is just as devoted to the Gospel as my own father is. How thankful I am for the wonderful men in my life.

Here are all the details (more than you need to know, I'm sure) of our Father's day celebration for Casey.




Finally, in no particular order, here are some pics from the Primary activity. It was a great time...but an exhausting one. We came home so totally tired.


The biggest hit of the day was the Sno cone machine. Thanks to the Farley's for running the sno cone stand for 3 1/2 hours...and no doubt suffering from very cold hands.

Casey is known to the primary kids as "Bishop cool." He is so generous with his inflatables and other work related toys. We wouldn't be able to do activities like this without him.

This is the "adrenaline rush." It's a giant obstacle course with slides and climbing walls. The kids enjoyed racing each other.

A frienly game of tug o war.

Jillian and her cousin Mary Jane went down the giant slide over and over and over again.

Below is a picture of the fishing booth set up by Melissa Johnson. Inside the gym we set up a big carnival with booths such as face painting, fishing, bowling and a cookie walk. Casey also set up his photobooth and the kids had a great time taking pictures of themselves with their friends.

After the activity was over, we went right to a baptism and then, Casey treated us to dinner and a movie. Needless to say, by the end of the night, the kids were falling all over themselves with exhaustion! Thanks to everyone that helped make Saturday such a success!

Pray for sunshine

Ugghhhh...I just looked at the forecast and it's supposed to rain on Saturday. I need some Mighty prayers that we will have a dry (it doesn't even need to be sunny) day for our mega activity! We cannot fit all those kids (plus inflatables, plus a carnival) into the church. Come on Oregon...

In other news, the kids are OUT of school today! I can't believe it! They are pretty darned excited about it. We have two short weeks until we leave for a family reunion in Utah, and then, two weeks later, we go back to Utah for another family reunion. That's a lot of driving! I better get my van tuned up!

Here's a page I did from last weekend. Allison had a serious love affair with Aunt Christy's puppies. Every day, she and Lydia ask if they can look at the "puppy pictures" on the computer.

Update

(picture from last year's Primary Mega Field Day activity...note the cloudy weather...we just barely missed a rainstorm.)

Primary Mega activity is this Saturday! It looks like the weather is going to be lovely and we're planning on almost 200 people! This week I'm scrambling to put all of my assignments together! I'll give all a full update after this weekend!

For now, here's this last week's 365

Busy

No time to blog...we're meeting Casey for dinner. We get to see him for exactly one hour today so we're making the best of it. He's been working all day, has church stuff at 6:30 and then at 9:00, has an all night party to set up for. Sigh...the busy days of June.

Enjoy my latest 365

Graduation

Hello everyone! Despite the poor weather, i just want you to know that no one cancelled and we had an excellent weekend! Friday was rainy but Saturday was not. So, thankyou Oregon! To celebrate the craziness of this last weekend being over, we drove to Klamath Falls to attend our niece Mackenzie's high school graduation. We left at six in the morning, caravaning with the Booren's and made it in world record time to attend church with them at 9:00 a.m. (Yes, I did speed just a little!) After church, we went back to little girl heaven (aka: Aunt Christy's house full of puppies) and had a wonderful BBQ and watched as Kenzie opened gifts. Next was the graduation...and then, home for cake, ice cream, more puppies, playing in the backyard, and a few rounds of the Great Dalmuti. The kids stayed up until 11:00 p.m. watching a movie. I know..we were being irresponsible letting them stay up that late but the adults were having too much fun chatting in Jeremy and Christy's room. (and taking turns in their amazing massage chair.) all in all, it was a great, quick get-away. Now back to the grind...and another crazy, busy weekend.


The Westover's have a giant back yard with two levels. The top level is surrounded by this great wall. By the time we were getting ready to leave, Lydia and Joel were running along the top of it...completely unafraid of falling.

Here's uncle Casey, Jeremy and Mackenzie at the end of the graduation. It is fun to watch these young adults, so eager to start out on new adventures in life.

On the way home we stopped at Salt Creek Falls. It is so lovely! Oregon is filled with so many breathtaking wonders. Casey perched the nutcracker on the edge of the cliff for a picture. I was scared for him. (the nutcracker, that is...Casey was protected behind a fence)

Sunshine?

I was feeling nostalgic for the sun and scrapbooked the following page. Haven't seen a really blue sky in a very long time. We have a HUGE day tomorrow (Friday) with our business...historically huge....and it CAN NOT rain! If it does, half of our clients will cancel. I have decided we could make a whole lot more money in a sunnier place. Not moving though...Oregon has my heart and always will. I just need a little bit of good weather every once in a while...PLEASE!




http://justsoscrappy.blogspot.com

here's the link to this amazing digi kit...all of her stuff is just $1.50 and her kits are HUGE! I've loved every one I've purchased.

LDS Blog Train and thoughts on Utah

Hello all my digi scrapbooking friends. I wanted to point you to a great blog train for gathering LDS freebies. They just started a blogtrain called "Of Noble Birthright." If you don't know what a blog train is, just click on the link below. It will take you to Bethany Harty's blog where she has some LDS word art available to download for free. Then, she gives you the next link in the train. At that link, you can get more freebies. There are almost 20 in total so if you go through the whole train, you get a TON of LDS freebies. Here's the link:

http://elegantwordart2.blogspot.com

I made the following two pages with some of the stuff I scored today! This was for Charlotte's State Report on Utah. I have such an interesting relationship with Utah. I tell myself that I would NEVER want to live there for many reasons (too crowded, yucky air, not enough green, too much snow, to name a few). However, once I get there, I feel like in a way, I've come home. (even though I've only called Utah "home" for 5 years of college.) I think it's because the history of the state is the history of the religion that is such a part of my life. The history of the Mormon Trek into Utah is my family's history. So many of my ancestors crossed the plains with the Mormon pioneers on both sides....mine, and the Westovers. So, even though the Pacific Northwest is my first love..I have a soft spot for Utah and I was thrilled to help Charlotte come to appreciate it's history.

Finally, here's last weeks happenings!