What a Productive Day

Yesterday started off pretty normal as I headed off to work at 6:30 am. In fact, the day was going pretty normal until Michelle sent me a text message telling my that Grandma and Grandpa Petersen were coming down to help us with work around the house. I had just signed up to work a double when I received this text message so I quickly called back and removed my self from the work schedule. That's when the day went into overdrive.

Michelle had already been busy chopping down the sucker branches and cleaning up the lilac bushes in the back yard. I went up on the roof and fixed the swamp cooler pads so that it wouldn't leak into our house. Next was work on the new bicycles we found at the DI. I still need a tire for Michael's bike but we'll try to find one off another bike at DI.

Michelle was prepared with a list of tasks and jobs for us to accomplish during this work spree. After fixing the bikes I checked the list for the next job. The Petersens arrived and went straight to work. Grandma Petersen started with (finishing) painting the kitchen while Grandpa Petersen started on the vehicle maintenance. We replaced the gas filter on the suburban and the oil filter and a windshield wiper blade on the Geo. Next we did a quick adjustment on the lawnmower, planned a small electrical upgrade for the basement and evaluated needs for several other projects. Of course we had to make the obligatory trip to the store to get needed parts for the afore mentioned tasks. Michelle keep the family running while Grandma finished the painting in the kitchen. We had a dinner break for spaghetti, green beans and orange jello.

Grandma and Grandpa Petersen had to head back home before it got too late but we were able to take advantage of the extra help to get a lot of small tasks completed. After they left I was still able to get in a small exercise session. After a quick shower we were able to go to bed feeling very good about the tasks we were able to accomplish yesterday.

Grandma and Grandpa Petersen, thank you so much for your help!

New Year's Eve at Grandma's House

We ended up going to Grandma and Grandpa Petersen's home for our New Year's eve celebration. Originally we were going to make a trip up for a "Grandma's Christmas" but one thing led to another and it didn't quite work out like we expected. So turning lemons into lemonade, we had a New Year's celebration with Grandma and the cousins! I love it when we can get together with all of the little cousins, they always have a blast playing together.

We met at the bowling ally in Tooele for family bowling. Grandma got the babies and the bigger kids got to bowl.

David could not be separated from Devon so he joined their family and we got Cynthia in our family. The Petersens didn't share any of their kids. After that, the bowling balls went flying, some better directed than others. But we all had a good time.

Our family had a pretty close game but Aleky clearly came in 2nd place! He's getting pretty good throwing those huge balls down the lane.

After bowling we had a rendezvous at Grandma's house for dinner. After gathering everyone in for a blessing on the food the kids were sent downstairs to eat.

It wasn't completely unsupervised but they did have the run on the place. Really, it was all we could do to get a time out for the food. These kids were playing non-stop and having a blast playing with each other.

Going to bed wasn't any easier but we finally were able to calm to crowds and they went to bed just a couple hours after there regular bedtime. None of the adults stayed up to see the new year come in; we trusted that everything would happen just fine without any supervision.

We are very grateful to have such a wonderful family. We are looking forward to the next family gathering.

Barrus Family Reunion 2010

We had the wonderful privilege of attending the Barrus family reunion in Blackfoot, ID. Great-Grandpa Barrus' health is not what it used to be so, with some encouragement from Grandma Petersen, we decided to attend this event. So Friday morning we packed up the suburban and we headed for Idaho.

The boys were very excited about the trip, probably because it was going to be an opportunity to see their cousin Devin Boel. I don't think they knew much more about the trip or even cared. We stopped in Brigham City where we met the Boel children, Uncle Kyle and Grandma and Grandpa Petersen. Devin jumped in with us and the 3 girls jumped in with Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Kyle (Aunt Melissa decided to stay home with Lydia and her newborn, Aldin).

We finished the 4+ hour trip eagerly anticipating the tin foil dinners that we had prepared only to discover that the traditional camp fire was not lit! So a quick stop at McDonald's and that mishap was remedied. We arrived at the park and the kids disappeared as the adults pitched camp. The reunion was already underway with family stories, skits and such being presented.

The traditional camp fire was finally lit but we had already eaten so we just enjoyed an evening sitting by the fire, after putting the boys to bed around 10:00 pm. The night was very windy once we decided to settle down and sleep. Michelle was afraid the tent would blow away with us inside (probably like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz). But we survived, albeit very tired in the morning. The following video and pictures are just a few highlights of the our Saturday:

(Michelle and our family tree)

(family picture with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Barrus)

(The kids pause during family picture time)

(A visit a Barrus grave site)

(A visit to a Denney grave site)

(Independence Day celebrations with the Petersens)

(Michelle playing too)

(Our humble grand finale!)

Classic Skating

We were blessed with a visit from Grandma Petersen today. When our original plans fell through we decided to take advantage of the extra support and we headed to the skating rink in Orem. They have a deal where you can skate for $1/person/hour! David had a free hour of skating so we decided to use his $1 to rent some skates and give him the opportunity to learn how to skate.

David was pretty excited to try on these new contraptions but it took quite a few minutes before he could maintain an upright position which caused him some consternation. But in the end he was finally getting the hang of it.

Donovan wanted to try roller skates too. He lasted about 5 minutes before he decided that the scooter was for him.

Michael and Aleky just had fun cruising around on their scooters. There weren't too many people around so they could go just about anywhere they wanted to go.

In the middle of their hour of skating/scootering the rink had a "jumping" contest. They had an inflateable balance thing and the kids counted how many consecutive jumps they could muster. The winner would get some wonderful prize (to be determined). Our boys gave it their best shot with both tries but didn't quite come out victorious but they had a blast trying.

Thanksgiving with the Family

We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful family and we look forward all year to each opportunity to gather together with our extended family. The Petersen's side of the family has quite a few cousins who are all very close in age. Each time we get together the cousins will do everything together and they go non-stop until the late hours of the day. While cooking a Thanksgiving meal that comes in handy since all of the kids stay occupied. I find it quite amazing how few accidents and crying actually occur with so many little children in such close proximity for an extended period of time.

In any case, we had a fabulous Thanksgiving meal hosted at Aunt Melissa's house this year. We created a table for the kids and most of the cousins (3 families represented - Boels, Joneses, Kims) were able to fit. Now eating was not a high priority item for the kids (especially my boys) but they stayed put because they had to wait for their cousins to continue playing.

These kids were found hanging around.

Cynthia heads up the nail decorating activity while the mommies work on dinner.

Parent enforced curfew, the boys decide to camp out in the family room so they can all be together.

My boys discover the Nerf cannon. They set up a sniper nest at the bottom of the stairs.

We had a very enjoyable time visiting with family. We certainly appreciate the Boels for allowing all of us to visit their home and share in their hospitality.

Family Reunion (part 4)

This morning there was a somber mood among all the kids. I think they knew that their time together was coming to an end. Of course it may have just been the cooler mountain air and overcast skies and the fact that the fire had been put out by the rain. But this morning the kids did everything together. You couldn't separate them.

The first activity of the day was to try and get the fire started again. I think the chances for success would have been greater had the matches actually lit when you struck them. We finally resorted to using a lighter.

The camping experience was starting to wear on some of the kids. Katie hadn't had a shower in days and this was a real problem. Most of the other kids didn't seem to mind missing that important aspect of civilization.

Aaron seemed to be content simply eating the topping off of his muffin. After all, these are healthy muffins so the best part has to be the topping.

Michelle caught me in her picture as she tried to capture the scene for her panoramic picture stitching program. (I moved to soon and the stitching program chopped my arm off!)

More breakfast under the canopy (to avoid the random rain drops)

The kids were playing some sort of treasure hiding/finding game. Then they played red light green light but with dragons! I'm sure they played some other games as well. They spent the morning together and would hardly even separate when called by their parents!

I'm not sure why they started rolling the logs. These logs were originally set up for a family photo but were never actually used for that purpose. The kids found them more exciting to roll across camp.

Next came the thrill ride of the day. We all loaded up on top of James' new suburban rack and went for a ride up to the main road and back. This is a bumpy road and would have rivaled any ride at Lagoon, especially since this one doesn't have seat belts or safety gear!

After the roller coaster ride we went on a treasure hunt. We were working fast because the Kims had to get on the road and head for home. The kids went to work following clues like they were stars in National Treasure or something. Once they read each clue they were off at a sprint to find the next one. There were 10 total clues.




The kids finally found the gold at the end of the hunt. It was a glorious moment. All of their staunch determination had finally paid off.

It was sad to say good bye to the Kims. These several days had been wonderful to be together. But all things must end and the Kims were the first to leave. Jared's family would leave next but not before they had a chance to defend our camp from the attacking squirrel.

With the camp secure and safe we finished packing. I happened to catch this candid moment as Hailey helped David bring up the high chair to be loaded into the jeep.

This camping trip / family reunion has been an awesome experience. The kids had a blast playing with their cousins for 4 days! We got to see each other all together for the first time in a couple years. As the family spreads across the country these times will be more and more precious.

I am certainly grateful that I was able to spend these 4 days with my family. We had a fabulous time and we've made many great memories.

Family Reunion (part 3)

Our boys were awake at first light and couldn't understand why we wanted to sleep a little longer. After all, 6:30 am is still early, even while you're camping. Somehow we managed to keep the kids still and quiet for almost 30 more minutes. But kids can't burn daylight and they wanted to get up. But what do you do while you wait for breakfast?

The boats turned out to be a hit once again. The little inflatable row boat seemed to steal the stage. I suspect that a large part of the appeal was that the kids could go into the lake unsupervised (at least directly) and could row under their own power. It took a few tries but the kids really began to get around the lake in this little boat. We only had to tow kids back to shore on a few occasions.


Jared managed the "save of the day" when he plucked Aaron from the lake's grasp. I didn't see what happened except Jared was grabbing Aaron by the ankle and pulling him out of the lake. Apparently Jared's "snatch" occurred just as Aaron slipped and fell into the lake and Jared caught the ankle before it slipped into the water. As a result, Aaron had one dry shoe but everything else was wet.

By this day the kids were having a great time playing together. You would see three or four kids running around playing a game here or there. It was so much fun to see them getting along so well.


With the arrival of Jared at camp, the chain saws were unleashed and several dead trees were relieved of the stress of standing tall in the forest. As a result we had a massive wood pile. With so much wood everyone seemed excited to take a turn trying to split the logs. Some managed impressive, single swing explosions while others needs a couple of extra swings to split the logs into burnable size pieces.

Chris Kim(Cynthia Boel & Chris Kim)(Janeil Kim)(Cynthia Boel)(Kaylynn Meyers)

(Random cute picture of Troy Kim and Milly Petersen)

One of the best activities of this camp out was when our entire family went back to our tent for a nap. I couldn't hardly contain my excitement, not so much that even David was tired enough to go to sleep but that I got to go to sleep.

When we finally were aroused from slumber we discovered that the camp had been deserted! Finally a lone cousin wandered through camp and after careful interrogation we discovered that everyone had gone rappelling off a nearby cliff. David was off like a shot! Aleky and I finally caught up only to discover David hanging on to the side of a cliff (Michelle and the other boys took longer to wake up).

Okay, I'll admit it...I was very proud of David for going over the cliff on his own rope! Of course I was also happy to note that Aunt Tosha was there to talk him down the cliff and make sure he didn't fall.

David made 3 different rappels gaining confidence each time he went down the cliff. He was one excited boy!

Meanwhile, the other boys woke up from their naps and they joined us at the cliff. Donovan decided that he wanted to go down the cliff too.

Donovan and I went up the cliff to get into the rappelling gear. We decided to let Donovan try going down the cliff on his own rope. Well, let's just say he wasn't quite ready for that experience just yet. He was close enough to the top that Grandpa Petersen just hoisted him back to the top. Having already started down the cliff I quickly descended and ran back up to the top to try again. This time we decided to try a tandem (on the same rope) decent. Donovan felt much better about that idea.

While I am excited that my boys were helping at the bottom of the cliff I think I would have been a little more confident with a little more experience (and weight) and the end of the ropes. But everything went just fine so there's really nothing to worry about.

Once we reached the bottom I had an excited boy on my rope. Donovan was thrilled to have gone down the cliff. I think he would have liked to have gone again but it was time to put the gear away and get ready for dinner.

Devin wins the award for the most descents. He had to have had at least 6 descents while we were there and I have no idea how many additional descents he had before we arrived. He was having a blast going down the cliff face.

Since my boys were the last ones down the cliff I helped pack up the rappelling gear. When I finally made it back to camp I was in for a little surprise! My boys were swimming in the lake...in just their underwear! Michelle was quick to point out that the instigator of this experience was Uncle Jared. In the end, I think this ended up being one of the boys favorite memories.


Janeil was able to get all three of her children to help prepare dinner. Tosha was left all alone while her three boys went swimming in the lake. In the end, the dinner turned out amazing! Great food is pretty much expected at any Petersen camp out.

I think everyone enjoyed the food. Although, some of the kids found it difficult to eat everything on their plates.

Aleky discovered that he was partial to the rolls and honey butter and he downed 2 of them but didn't make much progress on the rest of his food.

David and Michael also struggled through dinner but Donovan actually did a fantastic job clearing his plate.

After dinner was another round of s'mores. Even though the kids didn't eat all of the dinner we let them have treats. After all, we're camping!

After putting the kids to bed the adults congregated around the fire. The discussion seemed to revolve around politics and vehicles (and the politics of vehicle manufactures). It was probably as good as the conversation from the previous night which was on kids and pregnancies. It was an enjoyable evening in the outdoors, at least until it started to rain. That broke up the campfire talk and everyone immediately headed for their tents and for bed.

I enjoyed listening to the rain on the tent roof. There was enough rain to give the relaxing background noise but not too much rain to get everything extremely wet. The ambiance was soothing as I drifted off to sleep.