An answer, FINALLY!

Still wondering about my project I mentioned here? Everything was for Girl's Camp prep. Here are some of the pictures of the finished projects and how they looked at camp:

 

Some of the fun that week: (And, yes, amazingly, I'm saying fun.)

Packing up the borrowed truck to head off with the girls for a week.

Learning to kayak

(yep, I did this)

Learning to fly fish

(yep did this too)

"Chipmunk" fires to teach the required fire stuff.

Art basics

(Yep, did one too.)

 

One of the biggest hits all week...feeding the chipmunks!

(Yep, just watched the girls do that one.)

And of course, you can't forget the skits!

 

 

We all survived the drive (even after spilling Dr. Pepper in my lap), the food (prepped by the girls & cooked by a caterer), the rodents (all the cabins had mice, not fun), and the week away in the magical world called Girl's Camp.

The Prodigal Blogger's Departure

I'm going to attempt to do a quick update on some comings and goings so that I don't feel so far behind. Here goes...

Before planning Dan's Big Birthday Bash, we decided to do a combination Father's Day & Birthday trip to Yellowstone with Amanda, Jake, & Sid. Thankfully we had perfect weather and we all enjoyed the time together in one of our favoritest places:

Dinner together

What a SHOCK! Their favorite book store; CLOSED!

Dan sure knows how to "blend in."

(Some tourists were walking by and started laughing at his ability to hide.)

Sid kept passing this flyer back and forth to Dan. Dan stuck it in Sid's hood and Sid continued to walk around with it there for awhile.

Yay to Mark & Amy for letting us borrow their van so we could go through the Park together. It was pretty funny to watch Dan try to get out of the back seats.

 

Well, I'm out of space for pictures. So much for getting all caught up in one sitting. :(  Better these few than none at all...

Return of the Prodigal Blogger-Part 4

Just caught up on your blogs, guess it's time to catch up on mine...Maybe one day I'll be caught up enough that I won't feel so much like the Prodigal Blogger. Our lives aren't super exciting; we both work and are empty nesters, so sometimes it's tough finding things worthy of recording here. I suppose even the mundane is worth recording for just me.

June 2, 2012 marked a momentous day in our family. Dan turned 50! Since November of last year he's been telling everyone he meets that his 50th birthday was in June and that gifts of $50 each would be adequate. I'd usually just roll my eyes and apologize to those he was speaking to.

When I asked him what he wanted, the #1 thing he said (besides a romantic get away with me at the Econo Lodge in Inkom-including some tasty Space Burgers for dinner) was a birthday party with his children, nieces, nephews, siblings, and their spouses. In other words, all of his family members! So I went to work to plan a party to mark the occasion.

We decided to celebrate over Memorial Day weekend. Amanda & Sid were given the task to plan Sunday's family fireside (a church evening meeting which used to be held by a fire) and talent show. I planned the remainder of the weekend's events; food, games, party favors, a surprise gift for him from everyone, and family pictures.

A couple days before Dan said he didn't expect it to be such a big shin-dig. Well, how can we expect to have family come to Boise from Pocatello & Utah and not have anything planned? Sheesh, now he tells me... ;)

With home responsibilities and such, everyone arrived sometime on Sunday. The first official gathering was at our chapel for a fireside, bonfire, and s'mores. Mark & Amy rolled into town before some of the other family arrived from our informal dinner at Andy & Angela's. The fire was started and an impromptu game of frisbee football started. S'mores were consumed and as the sun set, we gathered for a family testimony meeting.

 

Monday we regathered to another church building near by to set up a stage and prepare for the remainder of the day's events; family pictures, marshmallow dodge ball, lunch, a talent show, and (of course) cake.

 
 

I used a fabulous website and made Wordles for each family member to take home as a party favor. The words entered were the same on each one and described our family. They were all unique so each person was able to take the one home they liked the best.

It was a good thing that we chose the weekend we did to celebrate Dan's birthday. We'd thought about doing it on his birthday weekend but opted to do it the weekend before. The day after our celebration (May 29, 2012) I found out that my cute Grandpa Hafen passed away. Dan's actual birthday was spent at my Grandpa's funeral...

 

95-years old at his passing. He lived a live filled with love, family, music, friends, service, and faith. I love you Grandpa. I'll miss you but know that you are in a better place and reunited with Grandma. Until we meet again...



Guess the Project...

What have I been up to lately and why?

I will say that I've been enjoying it. :)

Return of the Prodigal Blogger-Part 3

It's been way too many months since I've been on here other than to read your blogs. So, here are a few of the promised items. (Since space for pictures is so limited, I've put together collages to show several of the pictures from a few of the promised items, and hopefully, I'll be quicker at getting this updated. So here goes...)

1. Sid's valiant return from the South Dakota Rapid City mission on January 19, 2012. His flight was delayed over an hour. Not much to do in the Pocatello airport while waiting for an inbound flight. So we killed time as best we could until finally, the plane landed and we were able to see Sid again after two years and 6 days.

2. February 9, 2012 we gathered again as a family to celebrate the marriage of Jacob Dee Christensen and Amanda Marie Horrocks in the Salt Lake Temple. Then all day Saturday was spent changing a gym into a reception hall. The final result was amazing and the Bride was happy with how everything turned out.

3. For Valentine's this year we joined 10 other couples for a pot luck dinner, bowling, and dessert. We had a great time with everyone.

Also, I splurged on Dan's gift. We set a budget but I managed to get $30.00 knocked off his gift so that it came in under budget! SCORE!!!!! This was what I settled on for Dan this year:

4. This year, the day before my birthday Dan and I went exploring. We headed north and went to Sun Valley for the day. I'd never been there and Dan hadn't been there in 20 years.

We strolled around the resort and through the town of Ketchum, Idaho. The ski resorts had just closed and the summer season functions hadn't started yet so it was fairly quiet. There were some Easter events but they were all the next day...and we wouldn't be there.

Part of my catching up is now finished; brief but recorded. Yet to come...

1. Dan's 50th Birthday Extravaganza
2. Grandpa's funeral
3. West Yellowstone Trip