Bear Lake Family Reunion

This year we had our first Stuart Family Reunion at Bear Lake. Joe's family spent many summers there but I had never been so I was pretty excited. The only ones missing the fun were Justin, Marci, and Owen.

We headed up on Thursday morning and got there before noon. Two condos were scheduled for us but one was sold at the last minute so we were hooked up with a gorgeous 9,000 sq. ft. house. Each of us had our own bed and each family had their own bathroom. A recreation room in the basement was complete with a basketball court, swingset, teeter-totter, trampoline, and putting green. There was a home theater room, air hockey table, pool table, and table tennis. The kitchen had a huge refrigerator and there were enough tables and chairs for all 30 of us! Each level had a twisty tube slide that went down to the next. It was so fun to all stay together and play until all hours of the night. I think the kids were content just to play in that house rather than go to the lake. Thank you, Marcia, for making the amazing accomodations!

Rock wall and tube slide to the next floor

Katelyn and McKell teetering

Tommy, the pool shark

Clark, Andrew, John, and Mathew in the Home Theater room

Andrew and Jake playing air hockey

After lunch and a lot of playtime and pictures, we loaded into the cars and made our way to Minnetonka Caves. This was a fun hike in 40 degrees through some caverns of stalactites and stalagmities. The kids had a great time and Steve and Shelly taught us how to play a game called Samurai in the parking lot while waiting for our tour. This was the game of the weekend and the kids were caught playing it quite a bit in the rec room.

Samurai Stand-off with Uncle Steve and Uncle Charlie

Stalactites and Stalagmites

Part of the cold cave crew

We then headed back into town for a quick bite of burgers, fries, and fresh yummy raspberry shakes. Then we were off to the Pickleville Playhouse for "The Hanging of El Bandito". It was a play that needed audience participation (boo's for the villain and cheers for the heroes) and was so funny. Both kids and adults loved it and Katelyn is still impersonating the flirtatious dance of "William" around our house. After the play we headed back to the house for some late-night snacks and a movie.

Rappin' with Juanito Bandito

The next morning we woke up and had a great breakfast before packing sandwiches, chips, fruit, snacks, cookies, juice, and water for 30. We loaded into the cars and headed out to Matt's family's cabin for a day of fun in the water. Behind the cabin was a big grassy area--perfect for picnics, napping, games, and relaxing. Near the beautiful turquoise water was a nice sandy area for the kids to dig, build, and play in all day long. Because the bottom of the lake is nice and sandy, we launched our boat and than anchored it a few yards from the shore. We only had to wade out to it in about waist-deep water before climbing in. The boys were up first to tube and knee-board. The girls stayed back on the beach playing in the sand, singing songs, and catching frogs. The boys had a great time but the water was a little cold. After a while we headed back to get the girls. This time I forgot my camera so there are no pics of the cute girls screaming on the tube. (What was I thinking?) After their ride, we headed back for our picnic on the grass.

Clark doing a 360 on the kneeboard

Mathew

John


Carlee and Jake lookin' good on the boat

After lunch we headed back out on the boat. This time I gave Charlie and Joe a ride on the tube and forgot my camera AGAIN. They had a great time and it was fun seeing those brothers fighting to stay on the tube. Both also knee-boarded for a bit until the wind blew the ladder door down on Charlie's toe. It was pretty sore and purple but he was a good sport and kept up the fun. Due to the wind and choppy water, we didn't get to do any skiing but the water was still fun. I also got to jet-ski for the first time. It was a blast and I loved riding with my babe across the lake. The waves were starting to white-cap so we hit some pretty good jumps and got some pretty good water in the face.

Here's my babe knee-boarding across the wake

Jet-skiing couple

John and Mathew on the tube

Joseph and Carlee

Katelyn and Jayne

Andrew, Jake, and Clark carrying water to their castle's moat

Grandma hanging out with Eli, Carlee, Megan, McKell, Jayne, and Jake

After a full day in the water, we loaded back up and headed to the house for a yummy dinner of sweet pork tacos, more playing, more movies, and some sleep. The next morning we were going to go back on the lake but it was rainy and cold when we woke up so we packed up and headed back to Brigham with a quick pit-stop for shakes on the drive home. I think everyone at Bear Lake had the same idea because I've never seen so many shakes made for breakfast!

We headed back to Grandma and Grandpa's and the boys immediately picked up their air-soft gun wars. Then they headed to the Real Soccer game while the girls did pedicures and watched a chick-flick. It was a really fun weekend and we had a great time being together as a family. A huge thank you to Jay and especially Marcia for organizing, planning, and starting this wonderful family. Until next year...

Mirror Lake and Provo River Falls

When the kids got out of school, we headed up to Utah the next day. The kids only have 2 weeks off before the new school year begins so we spent the first week with our extended families. We went up to The Holt family spent a day up at Mirror Lake and the Provo River Falls. We spent a great day in the canyon hiking, stomping through the water, rafting on the lake, eating a great picnic, climbing rocks and tree stumps, and spotting deer through the woods. Grandpa even told more stories of Ol' Ephraim and we just enjoyed the mountains.

Grandpa and Grandma sittin' pretty?



Getting wet in the falls


Pretending to eat a dead fish--Ewww!

Always posing and asking for photos

Lookin' good

Lookin' cute

Lookin' handsome

Lookin' blonde

Fishin' for...

Bragging Rights

The end of the 2008-2009 school year brought some new friendships, great memories, and fun awards. We got to attend an awards ceremony, BBQ, and reader's theater on the last day of school. Since this is our family blog and I can write whatever I want, I'm going to brag about my sweet children's accomplishments.

First, Clark received the "Great Stamina" award for the Art Quest in being the last standing for third grade. For this award, he got a ream of paper, colored pencils, a cartoon drawing book, and some other art supplies. He received straight A's in all subjects and excellence in the "specials" classes. Other certificates received were for Children's Choir, Honor Roll, Citizenship, and being an "Excellent Gladiator" for exceeding standards on his CRT state assessment test. Great job, son!

Clark made a really good friend this year named Roman and as luck would have it, they are in the same class next year. They can't wait and are so excited! During this past year, they would get in a little bit of trouble because they liked to talk. Ms. Broadus would have to separate them a few times because they would talk Pokemon instead of focusing on her directions. So one day while in line for lunch, Ms. Broadus overheard a little "plan" they were working on. They were going to pretend not to be friends in fourth grade so that their new teacher would put them together in their desks and lining up for the "specials". When Ms. Broadus asked them about this plan, they made her promise not to tell their new teacher. She agreed but told me about the plan and we couldn't help but giggle. Very clever boys...

Ms. Broadus

Katelyn also received some awards. She got straight A's and certificates for Honor Roll, Citizenship, and Children's Choir. Great job, sweetheart!

Katelyn had a little posse this year. She made several great friends and they all got along really well and played together. They made up cheers, secret handshakes, and danced and sang to their own songs during recess. We received several phone calls almost every day after school from her friends that wanted to talk. If we weren't home, they left messages on the voicemail with a little "BFF" and "Hugs" at the conclusion of the message. Isn't that sooo cute?

Pauline, Katelyn, Gwen, Keyla, Megan, Lilu (Roman's little sis)
Ms. Roselli and Mrs. Leavitt

Moving on to the next big year!!

Swimming Lessons

Every summer since we have lived out of the state of Utah, we have been busy either vacationing, travelling to visit family, or going on medical rotations out of state. Thus, my children have never gotten the opportunity to take swimming lessons. Being in year-round school and "forced" to stay home and go to school during the summer has finally given us this opportunity.

Jacob was able to take 2 sessions in a row so he got a month of swimming lessons and it was so great for him. He has loved the water...as long as he can touch the bottom or wear a life jacket. Joe and I have tried working with him in our own pool but he gets scared, won't trust us, and it usually ends up in fits of crying and yelling. The first couple of weeks, Jake was a little timid and didn't want Miss Janette to let go of him. After teaching him to hum under water, float like Superman, use "cookie arms", "draw hearts", and make a "chicken, scarecrow, person" (elementary back stroke), she made him swim across the length of the pool as she was walking in front of him. He would swim as fast as he could so he could reach out and grab her at any time. Several times I heard her say as she would pull him into the water, "No negotiations today, Jake. I'll be right here to grab you if you need help but I want you to swim without holding on." (It's nice to see that I'm not the only one he tries to manipulate.)

After 2 weeks of timid swimming, Jake finally gained some courage and took off one day. He was a new man. It was so funny to see him just swim anywhere, anytime. I couldn't believe it. It had come completely out of the blue. He actually got in trouble several times because he was supposed to sit near the wall but kept heading for the deep end while the other kids were swimming. I was proud of his new courage but had to maintain the discipline of following Miss Janette's instructions. He now swims like a fish and loves it. He tells me, "Mom, I only need to wear my life jacket when we go to the lake because it is REALLY deep there and you never know when the boat can tip." Way to go, Jake!

This picture says it all

Carlee took a 2-week session as well. She watched Jake in the first 2 weeks and was dying to get in so I signed her up. She loved dunking her head in the water and would open her mouth as big as she could to take her breath before diving in. She also learned to hum underwater, "take a nap" on her back, "fly like Tinkerbell" on her belly, use "cookie arms", and "draw hearts" while kicking. Carlee was really good at making a "chicken, scarecrow, person" and would scrunch up her face as she was concentrating on her arms. It was too cute. Two of her favorite things to do was dive for rings on the step and jump to Miss Janette. Although she still gets nervous if she can't hold on to us, she loves playing in the water and practicing her hums. She is already talking about "swimming at Miss Janette's next year when she is 3".

My little Tinkerbell

Taking her nap

Miss Janette was nice enough to open a session after school for Clark and Kate if I could recruit some other kids to join. So I talked to a couple of friends and off we went. Clark is the only one that actually has no fear of the water and can swim pretty well but hasn't been taught the proper technique so this was really good for him. He loved learning the strokes and participating in the relay races with his friend, Mitchell.

Katelyn has been nervous in the water as well. Of course she is fine also as long as she can touch the bottom. She has learned some of the strokes but will doggie-paddle in between and start to panic. By the end of the 2 weeks she had gained a lot of confidence and can now keep up with Clark.

They learned front crawl, back stroke, elementary back stroke, breast stroke, side stroke, the butterfly, flip-turns, and diving. They were able to do a couple of relay races and have done a great job learning these strokes. I love watching them practice in our pool and see how their confidence has grown. Great job, kids! You'll be even better next summer.