Christmas Is Coming!!!!!

I know many of you are probably wondering, at least a little bit, maybe, occasionally, in your busy lives, how my parents have responded to me. And the reason you haven't heard anything is because they haven't. I'm wondering if my mom's even going to buy my kids Christmas presents or if she is going to return the ones she's already gotten and forget about us. I guess I'll find out if she sends Christmas presents or drops them by or something, not that she really has much reason to be going through here anymore. Although, her brother's still live a little ways to the north of us. Her parents are gone now, though, which I mentioned briefly in my last post. I miss having grandparents. No one spoils me anymore :) Of course, I may have just erased the only grandparent my kids had that ever spoiled them, from their lives. Josh's mom hardly ever even buys them anything, let alone come to their events or anything like that and when she does, she doesn't really do anything special for them. I'm sure she would more often if she could. She has a lot of grandchildren, so it's harder for her.

Jeremiah's last basketball game was tonight and my mom never made it up for one of his games. She always makes it a point to come to at least one of his games for whatever season he happens to be in. I think she's done. Of course, there could be other reasons she couldn't come all the way up here for a basketball game. My kids are very excited about establishing new traditions for just our family. Angela, my baker girl (she's been baking like crazy!) is already planning what she's going to do for a birthday cake for Jesus! I was really surprised at how happy they were that we're staying home for Christmas! They told me they have not had fun the last couple of Christmases either, and they just want to spend it with their goofy, fun-loving parents. They don't really care about all the fancy packages and the fancy dinner. If we can't afford to do all that, it's fine with them. I'm thinking of doing it like a real birthday party, complete with streamers, noise makers, and a birthday banner, but of course, with a Christmas tree in the mix, and presents for everyone, even if they are small presents, and stockings!!! Josh informed me he already bought a little something for their stockings. Of course, I can't tell you on here, cause they read my blog :) You'll have to wait, too!

Jeremiah got me the newest Casting Crowns cd. I'd tell you the name of it, but I'd have to get up for that :) Something about a Well. It, of course, has the theme song from the movie Courageous on it, as well as several others that have nearly brought me to tears of gratefulness! I love Casting Crowns music so much! He got this as a pre-Christmas gift. For some reason he's not telling me what he's got coming for me for Christmas :) He got Amazon Gift Cards for the popcorn he sold for Boy Scouts. He's only spent a little of it on himself. The rest he's using to buy Christmas gifts! What an awesome kid, huh?! Angela's planning to do the same with her money from her job cleaning the neighbor's houses. She's also already gotten started. Jeremiah did tell me he has the new Travis Cottrell cd coming for me, but that from his tracking it looks like that one won't be here before Christmas. That's okay. He said he also has something else coming that will be here before Christmas, so I will have at least one surprise package under the tree this year :) After he told me about the Casting Crowns cd, I decided to not ask for hints on any other gifts, cause he's obviously a sucker and I do love surprises!!! And I'm loving that someone in this family obviously speaks my love language :) which is receiving gifts in case you were wondering :) Wow! I've been grinning a lot in this post! I just can't wait for Christmas!!!!!! Well, okay, I haven't done any shopping. I'm still waiting on some money we're supposed to receive, so it can't come toooooo quickly! I have no idea what I'm getting the kids this year!

Oh, and I thought I'd make a correction from a previous post. The book I'm reading is Changes That Heal by Dr. Henry Cloud, not Healing Choices. I'm used to Healing Choices because that's the John Baker book used in Celebrate Recovery, or one of the books anyway! I've never actually read it. Just the step study books, which are great also!

One Of My Worst Days And It's Only Going To Cause More "Worst Days"

Okay, so yesterday was a horrible day. I was sad to see that Mercy Ministries has changed it's name to Resource Ministries. (I mean does that sound cold, calculating, and uncaring to anyone besides me?) And from the things they talked about in why the name change it seems that, much like my church, they are steering much more towards legalism. Also, the Resource Ministries (I hate that name!) is strongly tied to the counseling group that has been severely damaging to me in my situation, which makes me feel that this ministry is much less available to me as a human being with struggles. Also, I discovered that someone else on Twitter, who I interacted with quite a bit, actually, had blocked me. I knew why and consider it to be mostly a difference of opinion. I believe that Christians who are not really being very gracious or compassionate people need to be talked about more. Not by name, just in general. I think it's important that Christians understand that just because a Christian leader tells them something is how it is with you, doesn't make it true. Only God really knows that and constantly judging people without hearing them out is totally wrong and is what my pastor and several others have done with me here in Moscow. They just assume I'm just like everyone else they've dealt with who struggles with depression or sin issues in their lives. Even when they do let me talk, they prove by what they say later, that they didn't even hear what I said. They never bothered listening.

Then, later on in the day, after taking Angela around thrift shopping for her costume pieces for Halloween, I had to go get Jeremiah from football practice. Often his friend and neighbor, Christian, rides with me as well. Otherwise he usually has to walk home. Or chooses to, I'm not sure which. Always when I pick them up, the first words out of his mouth are "I'm hungry. Can we go to McDonald's?" And my answer is always, "No, my husband would kill me if I spent the money, and for good reason. I really can't afford it. You can eat when you get home." (For crying out loud it's not like it takes forever. We live in a town that is all of 11 square miles! It takes less than 5 minutes to get anywhere in town!) I asked, of course, if he's always hungry, which is like, well, duh, he's a 7th grade boy, of course, he's always hungry. The kids proceeded to be irritated and noisy, and Angela was even hitting her brother with a shopping bag from the backseat (he was in the front seat). I told them to settle down. They were going to cause me to get in an accident. Low a behold a few minutes later that is exactly what happened. Not that it's entirely their fault. I should have been paying more attention at the intersection. I went to make a right turn and cross into the far lane, since it was close to where I needed to make a left to get home. Another car was coming from across the road on the other side of the intersection and was already in the far lane, and I sideswiped her! Oh, boy. We both pulled into Walgreen's and got out of our cars to ask each other what we were supposed to do, as neither of us, as it turned out, had ever been in an accident before! I'm usually ultra cautious at that intersection, and am still kicking myself over this! We of course, called the cops, and did everything we were supposed to do. (The police officer helped with this, of course, and explained everything to us, and what we need to do in following up.) And of course, I was issued a citation for an improper turn. Ugh! Stupid me! So there goes 85 dollars, not to mention that, since it was my fault, our insurance will most certainly go up! Talk about a BAD day! I did go home and change out of my sweats into jeans and make it to Jeremiah's Court of Honor, albeit in a t-shirt, which I normally would never do, but oh, well. At least I wasn't wearing sweats :) He received his First Class rank, as well as a whole bunch of merit badges. I'm not sure how many. He did have six weeks of Scout camp, unlike most boys, who only get 1 week! And since I did that I still haven't called Christian's mom to get some information from her that the officer needs for his report since Christian was also in the accident. Ugh! I am so embarrassed. Angela's thrilled, because I'll be in the paper, and that qualifies for her to do her "newspaper" report next week on me, and she can add extra details that won't be in the paper, since she was there. Thrilled for you, Angela, really. (Do you sense the sarcasm.)

Of course, the money situation was already tight and now it's almost impossibly tight, and it was suggested by a friend that maybe I should get a job. Little does she know, that is one of my "issues" and at the thought, I immediately started sweating, heart started pounding...you know, all truly wonderful symptoms of an anxiety attack. I know it's ridiculous, and this whole situation is extremely distressing to me, and I have no doubt what my pastor would say about it. Ugh! Let's not go there!

Shopping, Shopping, Shopping: It's A Girl's Life!

Wow! The last couple of days have been a whirlwind of activity! Mostly with my darling girls! The Cub Scout weekend camp that is coming up this weekend is having a medieval theme, so Josh has decided to dress up as a king, since he is Camp Director, and therefore, in charge of the camp. (So, he is kinda king, if you think about it.) And, of course, as always, his girls are his princesses! And they are! I mean really, they don't need to dress the part. They KNOW they are!!!! That's one of many things I love about my man! But...he wants everyone else to know it, too. So we went shopping the last couple of days. For dresses and tiara's...and we just had to slip in a few other fun things :)

Yesterday, I got busy with some stuff I do for a little extra cash, online, so it was late in the evening before I was ready to shop. We went to the Dollar Tree first, to look for tiara's. They had really cheapy cardboard ones, which we didn't want, but I needed some other things like notebook paper and journals. Things like that, so we did buy a few things. We also bought some cheap, but very colorful and sparkly make-up for the girls for the weekend. They're so excited about getting to wear make-up that they've been playing around with it all day! We also got some pretty nail polish, which they also couldn't wait to experiment with! Girls! You gotta love 'em!

We then went to Claire's at the mall, because I knew they would have some fantastic tiara's. After all that I've been through, and even though I know I've got a long ways to go from here (who doesn't, really, if you think about it?) I thought it was only appropriate that I get one for myself, too. Angela and I got actual metal ones. I don't know if they're real silver or not, but who cares! They had what looked like probably cubic zirconia that sparkle! Wow! Do I ever love me some bling! Even if it is fake! (No excuses, Josh! I still prefer the real thing :)) Chloe got a plastic one with a pink poofy thing at the bottom. (Hey, did I ever claim to be sophisticated and know what these things are called? No judging!:)) She also insisted on a wand to go with. Okay, she didn't actually insist. I never would have put up with that, but she sure wanted one, and I was having so much fun, I wasn't about to argue! So we bought the wand as well! So much fun! I asked Angela if she thought it was bad that my tiara was more expensive and had more on it than there's. She said, no way! Mine should be bigger and fancier! After all, I'm mom, and therefore the queen, even though I'm God's princess, just like them! She said it shows my "authority" (such a big word for a little girl), so I went with it! Afterwards we went to the new frozen yogurt place, "Jamms," that just recently opened up in town. Angela and I've been dying to go. As soon as the sign went up indicating what they were building there, we were excited. Not as excited as we were when we were told, originally, that IHOP was looking to build there, but excited, none the less! It was delicious, and Chloe particularly like the spinning stools at the bar! (It's not a real bar. They don't sell alcohol there.) They were pretty cool! They had the little step thing like a hair stylist's chair and adjusted heights kind of like them, as well. So cool! Yes, we're easily amused. It was self-serve and you pay by the ounce, so that was fun! They had all sorts of toppings, candy ones, and fruit! Delicious!!!! Love it! Definitely going again sometime!

So, then, today we needed to get Angela a proper princess dress. Chloe already had one, but Angela needed one, so we took off again to shop this morning! First we went to our favorite thrift store, The Hope Center, and looked around just in case. No princess dresses, but we did find Angela a "new" bike, which we've been looking for forever! We also got the girls some barbies and we got some laundry baskets for their rooms! I also bought Chloe a pair of adorable shoes, she just had to have (you know how these things work, right?:)) and we found a small and very simple sewing machine for small projects! So, of course, we had to have that, too!!!! So, then, it was off to the mall again. This time, to Ross, where we found a very frilly, white dress for Angela. It was darling! We tried on the size 12, but it didn't seem like it was quite as long as it should be, so I found one in a size 14. It fit!!! (gasp) She's growing up so fast, I can hardly stand it!

Of course, after that, we had to have a "dining" experience to go with our shopping, so we did our traditional Orange Julius run. I didn't do it the day before, because I wanted to try the new fro-yo place instead! Of course, it was great, as usual! Then, we wandered up and down the mall, sipping our Orange Julius's. So much fun! (How many times have I said that now!?!) Then, we came home.

I do have to admit, Jeremiah seems to be a bit jealous, especially last night, when he discovered me and the girls spread out over my bed in our pj's settling in to sleep. He snagged my iPhone and said rather bitterly, I think is what I heard in his tone, "Since you guys are having yourselves a little party it seems, I think I should get this." I was fine with it, and I'd actually promised him earlier when he complained about the frozen yogurts (he complained about the Orange Julius's today, too) that he and I would have a mother-son date, just the two of us, soon. He was excited about that! How blessed am I, to have an almost 13-year-old son, who's excited about the possibility of some time alone with his mama?!! Now, I just have to figure out how I'm gonna make that happen, and what we're gonna do. I mean, after all, I'm obviously not going to buy him a tiara and a princess dress :)!!!!!! I'm thinking it will mostly have to be food, considering what he was most jealous of :) I was going to take him to Bumpers (the local arcade, if you can call it that) and spend some time in the batting cages, but we discovered today that they've gone out of business!!!!! So, unfair!!!! I was even going to attempt to hit a few balls myself, and let him laugh at me!!!! I'm sure he would have loved that! Now, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. And, of course, unlike him, the girls can't stay home by themselves, so what am I gonna do with them while I hang with Jeremiah. After all, recruiting season is about to begin for Josh after school starts back up again, so I won't hardly see him at all for a few months! Trust me, this is how this works! There are certain times of the year, where it just is sun-up to sun-down with his job, and fall is one of those times!!!!

Angela's Crazy Pictures And We're At Camp Grizzly, But Not Healthy:(

This is Angela experimenting with taking pictures of herself. What a funny kid! She wants her dad to start a photography Venturing Scout post, so there will be one for her to join when she gets old enough to join Venturing. It's a scouting program for boys and girls through the BSA. They always have a special emphasis. There is a cycling crew as of right now. He's working on a shooting sports crew. I'm sure that will be very popular in this area!

Anyway, as most of you know, we are at Camp Grizzly currently. Me and Chloe have been here for a week tomorrow night. Angela came up early with her dad. A couple of days before us. Jeremiah's team got third in their baseball tournament. They did play on Saturday morning, but they lost to Genesee, so they didn't make the final game. That was between Genesee and the Potlatch Loggers. I have no idea who won. I didn't stay long enough. I hope it was Genesee! The Potlatch dynasty needs to be taken down!!!! I will have some pictures from Camp Grizzly the next time I download more pictures! Right now people are helping in the Trading Post right next to me. I think they just got most of the candy and other snacks, so the whole staff is all excited even though they don't get to eat any of this candy unless they pay for it! We just got through eating all of the outdated candy that they took out of there, which is probably why I gained back all but 4 pounds I had lost! That and the fact that I can't walk like I had hoped to, cause I got an ingrown toenail that has become very badly infected. I had to go to QuickCare yesterday in Moscow, so now I'm on antibiotics. I actually waited a whole 'nother day past when the medic here told me I needed to see a doctor! I'm stubborn like that! Especially since I have no insurance and I know I have to pick up Jeremiah when he returns from Camp Easton and I have to take the kids next week to get their new lenses put in their glasses, since those are in. I was waiting until Jeremiah came back to do that, so I could do all three at once. Plus I had a list of things to get when I returned. Some I forgot, others we ran out of, like cold medicine, since I have three coughing children. Now much of the staff has sore throats! Of all the things I would like to share with the staff....that was not one of them!!! Oh, well, the joy of living with lots of other people in a sort of community. Everyone who's ever worked here calls it the "Grizzly family" because you do sort of become a family and all you have to do is work here one year and you never get out of the Grizzly family. It's permanent just like a blood family. You come back and they all embrace you! It's like the family of God, but not quite! It is good, though...most of the time!! Just like with a real family. Anyway, Josh took me in, because he had to discuss with them the fact that I needed taking care of right now, but we can't pay right now. They weren't real nice about that, but we got it taken care of, and we got my antibiotics and made an appointment for July 5 in Troy with my regular doctor to get the ingrown toenail removed. First we have to get rid of the infection for them to be able to do that! I don't think it's really hit the girls that my time in the water has been put off much longer now. The camp medic told me to stay out of the water. No swimming, but now that it's official that it's infected, I can't swim until at least the infection's gone. I don't know how long I have to keep it dry and clean after she cuts it out. Anyway, my girls are getting better, even though Angela's coughing half to death next to me. Or she was. Now, she's in the Trading Post. I did tell you that my posts would be very rough during Camp Grizzly, right?! Talk later. It's almost time for lunch!

Chief Kamiakin District Is A Quality District

This plaque represents all of the hard work Josh did in the first year and a half with the Boy Scouts of America in the Chief Kamiakin District. We sacrificed him a lot, especially towards the end of 2010 for him to accomplish this. And of course, he sacrificed as well. You can't even imagine the hours he put in for this to happen! I really appreciate the work that he does. I find that a lot of people do not understand his job and don't think it is healthy for a family. But I disagree. We just have to operate different hours than others. Most people assume that because he's not home for dinner most of the time that he's never home. That is not true. He often gets to take an hour or two off in the middle of the afternoon. Instead of dinner dates, we have lunch dates. Instead of being at the kids evening events where everyone else is, he can sometimes be found at the park with the kids right after school, helping Jeremiah with his baseball skills and playing witht the girls. He'll take them out for ice cream or whatever, in the middle of the afternoon. And, of course, occasionally, he is able to take an evening or weekend off and spend with us. He's pretty happy to realize that he is completely open this weekend for the start of Jeremiah's baseball season! Of course, we do have challenges, where the kids have to sacrifice as well. For instance, my girls would love to play softball this year, but they're season starts later than Jeremiah's and doesn't end until the end of July. We, unfortunately (or fortunately, however you choose to see it) have to go to Camp Grizzly in mid-June and will not be back until mid-August. Gas prices are just too high for me to be running them back and forth on an almost daily basis. Even once a week isn't possible. We survive the summer, because the camp feeds us, because we have to drop the second job for the summer, that provides our grocery budget. It's a sacrifice and many don't understand, but anyone could have a normal husband with a normal job, but I'm light years away from normal!!!!

An Update On How I'm Doing and Josh With Pie In The Face (OH, Yeah!)

I know I'm way behind on blogging, but this was the highlight of Jeremiah's Court of Honor and really the only reason I went. It was a bit of an overwhelming day with a meeting with my pastor, a phone call from LPM (long story, not telling....sorry), and coffee with a friend (that was really wonderful, but still more to take in after all my emotional trauma.) I told a friend there that after he had sent me chocolate, I got chocolate from a few other places to. That was after I said goodbye to all my friends on twitter and facebook. He asked me if next time I could just ask for chocolate. He said, "I'm sure we all would appreciate that." Problem is, I can't have chocolate anymore for a while. For thirty days, no sugar, no dairy, no corn products, and no wheat products. Yes, I caved. I'm sick of my pudge and I barely came in under the max weight that the Boy Scouts accept for camp. It was a wake-up call. I'm seriously addicted to food and I need help!!!! (In case you hadn't figured that out already) Except for the food addiction thing. The only acception I'm making is creamer and sugar in my coffee. Don't mess with a mom's coffee!!! A girl's got to have her limits. That is one addiction (besides God) that I have no intention of being cured of....EVER! So Don't. Even. Try. It!!!!! I get one cheat day a week after the first 30 days. So no Mexican food for 30 days!!!! This and the chocolate (and the coffee thing) were the reason I was never going to do this. Thirty days without Mexican food and no chocolate???? Why don't you just send me to the torture chamber now! But seriously, it's been eight and a half years since I last had a baby and I still look like I just gave birth! That is serious, people!!! I used to look like barbie. And I ate whatever I wanted. This figure is really hard for barbie to take. I'm not kidding either. I wish I had a picture to show you. When we got married, Josh could wrap his hands around me and touch his fingers in front and his thumbs in back! I don't want to get that skinny.....well, okay, I want to, but I was probably too skinny, and probably can't get that skinny no matter how hard I try. And I've been known to try. At one point in between having Jeremiah and Angela I was working out three times a day and not eating regularly (Did I mention that I have an addictive personality?) But no more. I'm going to do this right! You're going to help me, right? Okay, you don't have to. I have Celebrate Recovery and my counselor for that, but all the help I can get is good! Now, I've gone to the other extreme until last week, eat what I want whenever I want and LOTS of it! I'm beginning to wonder if all I am is extremes, seriously!!!! Extreme depression, extreme eating habits (or lack thereof), extreme drinking....maybe I shoud take up extreme sports? Ouch, never mind! I'm way too old for that and I don't have insurance!! Anyway, the counseling is going well. That's all I'm going to say for now. It's all a little too raw to talk about. I may never talk about it publicly! Well, maybe a little bit, generally speaking....VERY generally, but who knows. We'll see what God has in store, but for now it's for my counselor's ears only. I don't even like talking about with her, so don't even expect me to tell you what I'm dealing with right now anytime soon!!!! Heck, I don't even like thinking about it, so I'm not! Back to the pictures. Last fall Josh promised that if any of the Boy Scouts in Jeremiah's troop sold over 1500 dollars worth of popcorn he'd take a pie in the face so here he is! Is it mean that I went for the sole purpose of seeing this happen? Really, though, doesn't he look adorable with all that whip cream in his face (that's really all it was, not an actual pie)? And yes, he was on the diet at that time and he didn't lick any of this off! Now that is self-control people! He's my hero!!!! I'm not sure what that little girl was thinking! Maybe how she'd love to lick that stuff off his face (that's what I was thinking!) if only it wasn't on that big scary looking dude (I wasn't thinking that! He's just a big teddy bear really, but don't tell anyone. I kind of like everyone being scared of him!)

And I bet you can't guess which scout sold over 1500 dollars worth of popcorn?!?!

Oh, yeah!!!! His very own son!!!!!!!! The former salesman passed on his gift! I think it helps that he's adorable! I mean, if he asked you to buy ANYTHING, you know you would! Look at my last post! Could you resist that face?!.......Ummm, okay.....look at another post with him in it. It will be labelled Jeremiah or kids. You might be able to resist the kid in the last post! Why was he doing that anyway?!?!

More Pics of Boy Scout Stuff

Silly boy! We don't want to see you! Just your accomplishments! Okay, okay! I admit it! I want to see you! You're pretty cute, but could you move out of the way so we can see your accomplishments, you big show-off! Thank you! I do not for the life of me remember what that merit badge was for! Sorry! The five ribbons, which he got all five possible. These were special awards only offered for the year 2010, the Boy Scout Centennial year. They are for outdoors, Achievement, Character, Service, and Leadership. I wish I could remember what the merit badge was for. I have no idea what he had to do to earn these. If I had, I might have actually known he was going to get them.

This is his troop. I'm not sure I got a single picture where they were all looking at the camera.

Okay, in this one I think they were intentionally being silly, but seriously this is generally what happens when you try to take their pictures!

An Update On My Treatment For Depression

Here's another picture from the Boy Scout Court of Honor. Now, I know you all are wondering how things are going since my major emotional crash, which is really the best way I can describe it right now. I know it is quite inadequate, but the best I can do with my limited understanding right now. I'm doing quite well, considering where I was. I'm seeing a really wonderful lady who's offered to counsel me in my home once a week. She's still in training as a counselor, but I can already tell definitely has the gift and a deep desire to see people experience healing in Christ. She's been a great help in redirecting my mind and I really appreciate that, and she listens, which is definitely an element I was missing with Pastor Kim. She allows me to work through things, with the understanding that I need to work through some of the hurt and anger before I can get to a place where I can completely and fully forgive. Some things are so painful that just forgiving right away is not that simple. I'd like to, but I need time to process things. Sometimes I need time to process things to even realize that I need to forgive someone that maybe I didn't even realize fully that I hadn't forgiven them for. I have people in my life that have done so many things to hurt me, that I'll think I've forgiven them and I may have for some or most of the things they have done to hurt me, but then there might just be that one thing that I've been avoiding even talking about or was so buried underneath the other stuff that it didn't pop up until I'd dealt with the stuff that was more prominent in my mind at the time. So I didn't even realize it was there. I don't even know if that makes sense, but that's kind of where I'm at right now. Sorting through what issues need to still be processed some I guess.

Also, I saw my doctor this week, where my hubby and I got a mini-lecture on not calling her earlier. We already had the appointment for this week and never called her when I became suicidal. We figured we'd discuss it when we came in. She said she would have appreciated a phone call sooner. She says she understands that a lot of phone calls were made to a lot of people and that for future reference she needs to be part of that loop. She's absolutely right. She does need to be and next time we'll make sure she's contacted. Anyway, she doubled my antidepressants. I've been taking the double dose now for a few days. It's making me a bit drowsy. Of course, I don't think that's the only reason I'm drowsy. The kids had two evening activities at school this week, the last one being earlier this evening. Also, tomorrow morning (or I should say this morning!) my son has baseball tryouts. My husband is out of town, so I'm going to have to take my son myself. I'm not even sure what time his tryout is scheduled for, so I'm going to have to just take him at 8 tomorrow morning and try and find out. Ugh! Which means, I really need to go to bed!

My Second Miracle (After Receiving Christ)

I seriously married him?! Really?! I mean, he's seriously gorgeous, sweet, and treats me like a queen! Treats my girls like princesses! I never had any relationships with men who had any respect whatsoever for women before him! And he's smart! And (in case you hadn't noticed) he's a Boy Scout! Wow!!!! Thanks God!!!!!!

Another Picture Of Jeremiah

This is another picture of Jeremiah at his ceremony. I'm going to be leaving town for most of this week, so I don't know how much blogging I will be doing. Most of it will probably be like this. Just a few pictures. Hopefully, I'll have all kinds of fun stories and pictures to share with you when I return.

Jeremiah's Court Of Honor

These are some pictures from Jeremiah's Boy Scout Court of Honor this week. He's the short, skinny one with the glasses.

Here you can see his head on the other side of the dark curly haired kid. He didn't stay on the stage long enough for me to take a good picture of him, getting his award. Although, I just noticed that if you look real close you can see his name on the list of kids who got that merit badge on the overhead there.

And of course, these are all of the officers in his group. He's the historian.
And he's not the shortest one in this picture. Thank you, Wil, for being shorter than my son!

Last Of The Pics

Me getting my nagging pins for Jeremiah making his Second Class rank! I hope I don't have to explain why I call them nagging pins! I'm sure most mom's totally get it!

Chloe after swimming at Camp Grizzly!

A silhouette of Angela after swimming at Camp Grizzly!

Another pic of Angela after swimming. These are the last of the pics I have on the computer currently! Who knows how long it will take for my newer pictures to make there way from my camera to the computer. As simple as it is, my husband only spends his time at home playing video games, watching movies, and yelling at kids.

Fun At Camp Grizzly!

This is Jeremiah fishing at Camp Grizzly last summer!

This is the picture I've been trying to put on my twitter profile, but it keeps telling me twitter is over capacity! Ugh! That's the lodge at Camp Grizzly behind us and that's my trusty green canteen in front of me! Love that thing! It was perfect for camp and when I got it as a gift at a party I had no idea where I'd be spending my summer!

Again, I have no idea how to turn these one's right side up, but that's my gorgeous Boy Scout husband hard at work at Camp Grizzly!

This is me in front of our little cabin, doing one of my favorite activities! I could cause I didn't have to clean house or make meals or anything! Well, except for make sure my kids got bathed and dressed and all that jazz! But that's easy compared to what I have to do at home!

Chloe, My House, and Palouse Falls

Okay, most of these are definitely doubles, but just in case you missed my earlier posts I'll go ahead and leave them up. She sure is cute, anyway! I'm just as surprised as you are when these come up! I just go with the numbers on the picture. Whatever is the next number after the last one I showed you, I upload and then, I just go with it! I don't have time to sort through and figure out what's what and all that, so I just upload the next number and then type accordingly!

Again, my beautiful red barn...I mean, house! Okay, so it's not so beautiful. It's a broken down, old trailer house, but it is amazing what a little paint and some nails will do for the old place!

Again, my humble little Subaru next to Josh's amazing Santa Fe!

I gotta tell ya, some of these pictures are absolutely stunning! I like this one, though, because it does let me know that they're not too far from civilization! Phew! That's a relief. I'd hate to think that they had to squat! Although for some reason my men and one of my girls really don't seem to mind that much. They're sick people, I tell you! Sick! We came up with indoor plumbing for a reason!

I have no idea how to turn this one the right way!

More Boys Hiking and Girls Being Silly In Their Costumes!

Don't ask me how we got back to pictures of my boys' hiking trip, but they are beautiful!

Well, without the boys in them, anyway! He he! Okay, okay, I'll admit it. I love them!

Finally, my silly little Chloe again! You know, I think my kitchen was actually semi-clean for a brief moment here!


Now, there's a much clearer picture of the shirt she got for her Halloween costume! I had such a terrible time getting her to hold still!
This was Angela's costume! Yes, she can be girly occasionally! Actually, a lot more these days! She made a very beautiful ballerina! We were all being silly this day.