Finally! The kid trip!

The kids have been waiting all summer for this trip! Thirteen of them rafted this year and four of them got to paddle! We ran into Gary and Caroline Lynch. They are a couple from Texas who were rangers assigned to West Table (the put-in). They retired two years ago, but were back on special assignment this year. They asked about our group - "The Mad Hatters," Caroline said, "That's what we called you!" [Come back for some rafting pictures - I have to go begging for those.]

The Junior Mad Hatters - trip one.

Junior Mad Hatters - trip two.

Junior Mad Hatters - trip three.

We ate. Jackson makes himself a sandwich at lunchtime.

We explored. The kids pose in front of a tepee that was used in Dances With Wolves!

We played games. Sharon and Amy stayed back with the kids.
Here they are, playing musical chairs.

A game of Rock, Paper, Scissors

Alexis and Nate try the "Belly Buster."
They try to wrap the ball around the pole.

We played in the secret hideout - under a pine tree in camp.

We giggled.

We roasted marshmallows.

We sang songs around the campfire.

We had a wonderful trip! It is something the kids look forward to every year. They have the chance to get out, have fun, bond with aunts, uncles and cousins and, of course, camp and raft!

Finally! A river trip!

Our first family trip of the year was "adults only." Everyone in our family was there except Bryan and Becky and, of course, Danny. Justin's brother, Joe and his wife Liz and Mike and Amy's friends, Kevin and Sheila joined us. Two nursing babies also came along on their very first river trip! The weather was great, the river was still high and fast - we had a blast! Check Joann's blog for some rafting and kayaking pictures. I'll get more pictures in two weeks when all the kids are there! Yippee!
Gus is ready for the river!
Brigham and Rachel take their first river trip. No rafting, but they were great little campers!

Crazy hats! We found out that the rangers had been wondering where we were - we started our rafting season a little late this year.

More crazy hats!

Pioneer Days 2008

The day started early for Jack. He was at his announcing site at 6:30 AM to set up chairs in the spot he had roped off for the family the night before. He had borrowed barricades from the OPD which they had left standing by a utility pole. He made signs to put on the barricades, "Reserved for Parade Announcer." When he came in the morning and set up the chairs - he replaced the barricades so the OPD could use them to close off the road. They had no clue.

Just before 9:00 AM, family started showing up. Half-way through the parade, we had a good sized group! Mike and Kathie joined us with some of their grandkids, and Shauna came, with her girls and some cousins/friends. Ann's sister, Melissa and her husband, Blake and their twin boys were also there.

Here are a few of the parade photos. We had a cookout for the few family members who were available later in the evening. Grandpa came over for that and we loved having him there! Lisa took some pictures at the cookout - I'll post them when she sends them to me - check back soon for those.Lisa got a shot of most of the kids in the truck with Grandpa Jack.Here are some cute cousin shots. I love seeing the cousins have fun together!The two youngest grandchildren, Bo and Rachel.

A new net!

Nate mows our lawns every weekend, and he must have noticed that we needed a new basketball net. He brought us a new one last night. (I think he noticed last time ours was worn out and brought us a new one then as well!)Off with the old!On with the new!Swoosh! It works!He had to hang on the rim while he was up there! Thanks, Nate!

Sewing with the Young Women

I haven't done anything Relief Society-ish for a long time, but I thought it would be fun to sign up to help the Young Women sew pajama bottoms. We met at the church at 10:00 AM and my little Beehive, Alexis Larsen, left with a new pair of PJ bottoms that she sewed all by herself. It was a fun project for the women and the girls!

Dead-heading

Sunday night the girls kept coming to me asking for clippers and scissors - they said it was for a surprise. When I went outside, here they were - dead-heading all our roses! Thanks, Kate, Haley, Amberly and Bays!

Back to work!

I had to get a picture of Jackson's hands! We stopped by the Bolos's about an hour after they got home from their trip to San Francisco. The whole family was at work! They were mowing the lawn, cleaning out the suburban and weeding the garden (that I could see). Jack's hands were the greenest - does that mean he was working harder than anyone else?

Dining alfresco

We had one last family get-together before Dena went back to Oklahoma - at Mimi's in Layton. We were luck enough to get to dine alfresco. It was so nice outside!

Happy Birthday America!

Jack was up early to walk down to the 6:00 AM flag ceremony at Bicentennial Park. Just after he went out the front door, the cannon went off. Lisa thought her dad had fallen on the deck and looked out the window to make sure he was okay!


At 7:00 AM we were at Plain City for "The Milk Run" - their 5K. Lisa, her friend Amber, Mike and Amberly all ran.
After the race, we went to the Kiwanis Breakfast at North Ogden Park.
We went to the Cherry Days Parade with Lisa and Amber and John and Ann and their family. Mmmm - parade candy!
Jack was a parade announcer again this year. When this float came by, he read from the script, "Snap Fitness - open 24/7 with mouth to mouth, er...a...month to month agreements."
Dad, Dena, Elaine and I went to hear Sounds of Time perform at North Ogden Park. Here's a clip of one of the songs they sang (this one was recorded a week before in Pleasant View).
Jack went out to Plain City's "Redneck Ruckus." Each team is two guys on 4-wheelers - one drives - one wears a helmet with a balloon on top and carries a noodle with PCV pipe in the center - teams chase each other around the track - whichever team gets their balloon popped or helmet knocked off is out! Redneck fun!
We went up to Dave and Julie's for a pool party.
We came back to the house and Jack had a little nap.
"Fire in the hole!" We went to Mike and Amy's for a cookout. Afterwards, Mike shot off his launcher (it shoots racquetballs 100+ feet in the air).
He called the game "Runsucke'."The kids (including Bryan) tried to catch the ball as it came down. It was hard!
The celebration ended with a bang! Jack and Dena and I went out to Fremont High School for fireworks with some of Bryan and Becky's kids and Mike and Amy's family.

Dan in Real Life

Danny brought home a copy of the Phoenix Children's Hospital 2008 calendar. He's featured, along with a couple of other residents, on the month of April. Pretty cool! He looks like he's having a great time!

TRI-FECTA

Thursday night was the Tri-famiy Activity for the Arrington side - John calls it, "TRI-FECTA." I'm sure that's an acronym for something - Tri-family eating, chilling, talking activity? That's pretty much what we did. Sharon and Gus hosted the gathering again. The kids had a blast on the blow up water slide and in the bounce house and they had a mean game of water kick-ball going. Some of the adults joined in the activities, but most just visited and watched the kids.

The kids had a great time with Uncle Dan. They'd taunt him, "Danny is a boo-boo," and he'd climb into the bounce-house after them. Watch them scramble!

When the sun went down, Sharon (aka The Pyro)did her thing with the fireworks. Here's a clip...

Grose Family Cookout

We wanted to get the family together while Danny was here. On Monday night, we had a cookout at Jeff and Angie's. Everyone brought something for the grill and something to share. We got a lot of visiting in while the kids (big and little) played on the trampoline and the playground and played volleyball. We missed a few people, but had a pretty good turnout.

A visit from Uncle Dan!

We hadn't seen Danny since last November and we were all excited for him to come home! His plane came in around 7:30 Sunday night. Jack picked him up and they made a short stop at the Barbers' to see new baby, Rachel. Most of us waited on the front porch for the van to pull up. Gus came out of the house with a smug grin on his face and announced that he had made a welcome home banner. I thought it was very thoughtful and...it's the thought that counts, right?
Gus's banner
He's greeted by a plethora of nieces and nephews!
Fans of Uncle Dan

White Family Reunion 2008

I am so glad that we got to go to the reunion this year. There were people there from all three branches of the James Alma and Mary Elizabeth White family. Family came from as far away as Canada, Oregon, California and St. George. It was great to see everyone!

Becky and Elaine - back from an errand on the golf cart.

I love this shot of my dad with my Uncle Ed White's son, Verl. Verl's from Canada.

Here's my mom's sister-in-law, Denese - Jack's wife - with her son, Charlie. My kids all remember Denese well!

Beth Ann Page is the only surviving child of James Alma White Jr., also son of Mary Elizabeth (Teeny Grandma) White.

Here's Dad with mom's cousin Jim White. Jim is the son of Teeny Grandma's son, Ed White. Jim lives in St. George now, but used to live in North Ogden.

My mom's cousin, Bunky and her daughter Doris. Bunky is Tiny's sister and they are daughters of Teeny Grandma's son, Ray White.

Summer Games in Cedar City

This week, Jack and I went to Summer Games. After hearing about the great time Bryan and Becky's family had down there last year, we decided it was something we wanted to do. We stayed in the dorms with Jeff and Angie's family and Mike and Amy's family - and John and Ann's son, Nate. We had a lot of fun and the cousins had lots of time to play together and make memories. It was great going to the soccer games and supporting the kids who played.
The cousins all had a blast playing with each other! The played in the dorms, in the hallway and at the soccer games.
The dorms were very nice and roomy. There was room for naps, and scrap booking, and preparing meals.
Some of us went to the Iron Mission Museum in downtown Cedar City. Dean and Duncan ran to get their own money to buy souvenirs!Crew FC is the team that Bryan coaches. Justin, Tyler and Nathan are all on the team. Nate joined just after the sign-up for Summer Games, so he went as an observer.
Amberly played for the Sharks - it was her last tournament with them. She made a lot of great friends on the Sharks team, but she and her parents decided it was time for a change. She is now playing with the Rampage Wolves.