Grandma's Christmas - A Huge Success

We had a fabulous Christmas this year. In spite of the economic challenges that have plagued our country our family has come together in a spirit of giving. We are lucky enough that we were able to share this Christmas season with both sides of our family. We spent Christmas Eve eve with the Petersens and Christmas day eve with the Joneses.

At the Petersen's home we were lucky enough to have almost everyone there. Grandma & Grandpa Petersen, Melissa & James, Jared & Tosha, Kyle and Kaylynn; and the related cousins too (Cynthia, Devon, Hayley, Vivian, Lydia; David, Donovan, Michael, Aleky; Ammon and Aaron).

We had a late start since we waited to leave until after I had finished my appointments and work for the day. Then we ate, packed the car, ran errands (for ourselves and family requests) and then off we went. We didn't actually arrive in Grantsville until after 8:30 pm so our kids only got to play with their cousins for 3 hours before bedtime! Ok, so we didn't exactly put them to bed right away; how often do they get to play with their cousins?


We, the extended family, filled Grandma's house with just some storage space to spare. There were kids and parents sleeping all over the house! It was amazing chaos in which everyone seemed to be willing to cooperate, tolerate and enjoy each other's company. We awoke to a delicious breakfast of (monster size) French Toast; apparently Grandma & Grandpa were able to wake up early, after a late bedtime. The kids ate quickly so they could return to the important business of the day, playing, playing and more playing!

After the adults had a chance to eat and clean up breakfast we corralled the children in a circle (in close proximity to the Christmas tree) so we could exchange family gifts and see what presents Grandma had for all her grandchildren.


It wasn't long before the eager anticipation overwhelmed David and we caught him opening his present from Grandma. Once the cat is out of the bag there is only one thing left to do, open the rest of Grandma's presents for her grandchildren.

Grandma had gotten these giant bouncing balls with handles for all the kids! Once each kid had his ball in hand it was up to Grandpa to get them all inflated. So it comes the hose from the compressor and BLAM! all the balls are inflated instantly (almost). It can hardly be described, the vast sea of bouncing heads and bodies that began to swirl around the house. Through the living room and down the hall and back, there were nearly a dozen balls bouncing here, there and everywhere!

It was quickly decided that a change of venue was needed to allow the burgeoning bouncers to expand their bounces and get some of their excited energy out. So the party reconvened at the local chapel where the cultural hall could be used to give these kids a place to play. It seems quite obvious that Grandma succeeded in finding the perfect gift for her Grandchildren once again.

We had a wonderful time and just want to say, Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Petersen for a wonderful (pre-)Christmas day at your home.


We missed you Chris & Janeil; hope you had a wonderful Christmas and we hope you'll be able to join us next year.

Labor Day Get-A-Way (Part 5 - Miscellaneous Memories)

This will be a family campout to remember.



So nice and relaxing.



Uncle Kyle taking care of Aleky.



Aleky is our trooper, weathering the storm with no complaints.

Michael and Aaron have become best buds.



Jared found a dragonfly; Michael is there to examine the find.

Michael wants to find something interesting too.



Will the rain ever stop? Michael had to see for himself.



Michael volunteered to go fishing with David but we only had 1 pole.

Donovan claims "King of the Stump" for now.



Hanging out at camp.





Special festival lighting! (When have you seen 4 laterns for a single tent?)


Cooking with power tools!



Jared suffers from a bee sting; receives first aid from Tosha (did you know that a penny will take away the sting?)



Ammon and Aaron have a cute and cuddly side to them.

Labor Day Get-A-Way (Part 4 - The Journey Home)

It was a dark and stormy night...but midway through the night the pounding rain ceased. The quiet was only interrupted by the moisture dripping from the tree tops. The storm had finally blown out its furry and had left us in a quiet reprieve. But then we realized that it was the calm before the storm (started again)!

Despite the rain and snow all night long we managed to keep some of our firewood dry. We quickly rekindled a fire before the snow started to fall.

While the snow makes a beautiful landscape it doesn't always work with your morning plans. And everyone was freezing! We had a camp fire but you had to be outside in the snow to feel its warmth. The tent had 4 stove burners and 4 lantern burning but they weren't exactly designed for heating purposes. So blankets and layered clothing were the only options (not that we didn't try using the stoves and laterns for heat)
.


Our family was in charge of the breakfast and lunch for this day. Grandma had previously gathered the blue berries from around camp and we used them in the pancakes! They were delicious. And it was nice to have a hot breakfast on such a cold morning.

Our new tent did fantastic through the night.

(but the weight of the snow caused it to collapse, almost burying my boys inside the tent! (no pictures...I was too concerned about rescuing my little family!)

No it was time to head home. The though caused some minor alarm considering the challenge of getting to camp on dry ground. We finished our preparations in the snow and began the slow drive through the mud, rocks, rivers, ravines, and winding mountain trails. Jared drove in front and Kyle drove behind to make sure that my vehicle would survive the excursion down the mountain. It actually wasn't too bad, mostly muddy and wet (no incidences).

For all the cold we went through it was simply amazing to come home to a sunny and warm Provo! Even before we found the pavement the snow had stopped and it was just rain. By the time we made it to Provo Canyon there were blue skys. And the temperature was a balmy 66 (according the the Jones weather station) when we got to our home.

It was truly and experience to remember. When we got home everything was wet. So we pitched camp again in our back yard, living room, kitchen and downstairs play room. It took half the house to dry out the tent, sleeping bags, clothes, chairs, etc. Michelle completed 6 loads of laundry to get our camping clothes clean! And we're finally getting everything put away. What a wonderful way to end our summer.

Labor Day Get-A-Way (Part 3 - Playing With The Petersens)

What do you do when your family gets together? Well here is what we did...


Every camp needs a campfire. Kyle got the fire started first thing in the morning. And, of course, he has many eager and willing little helpers (David, Ammon and Michael)

Next, you need to have light to see in order to fix breakfast. Michael's motto for the camp (and life right now) is "I do it myself!" So Grandpa let Michael help pump the lantern after it had been lit. David and Donovan would have eager helped too if there had been more room around the latern.

Breakfast, on this morning, was breakfast burritos. But what a role reversal! Jared is doing the cooking and Tosha is working the power tools. You have to admit that they make a great team.

Our boys actually did prety good eating breakfast but some encouragement was still required. And my boys had to race to see who would get to sit by Ammon.


What is a Petersen outing without shooting guns. This trip we used about 2 1/2 boxes of .22 ammo so that everyone had plenty of opportunities to shoot. David was first in line but everyone else lined up too (except Tosha and Aleky).

Shooting the guns took some time so by noon everyone decided to take a break and eat lunch. Grandma wanted to make ice cream for dessert and her rule is that "if you want some ice cream you have to take a "TURN." These boys wanted some ice cream!

But once the ice cream is done what do you do with the bucket? Michael discovered the accoustic characteristics of the ice cream bucket.

When lunch had a chance to settle we turned to chopping wood. Jared started it all by trying to create wood for the fire and it spread from there. Everyone needed a chance to swing their axe. Michael and Aaron were a bit small to be trusted with such sharp tools and were given wood-stacking duty instead.

Once the great trees had fallen and been prepared for the fire the boys decided to explore the far reaches of our pond. David was the tour guide and Donovan and Ammon followed along. The rule was that you had to be able to see the tent (or you were too far away) and to stay out of the water (we didn't have the means of drying out multiple pairs of shoes). When David came back from exploring it was too much (everyone tried hard to control their laughter; under the circumstances he should have been in trouble but he fell all the way in the pond, not just his shoes).


After so much excitement all our boys needed a nap. And while the little ones slept the games continued. First came the log chopping contest...(I am so unworthy; Jared the Lumberjack can chop through the tree in 41 seconds, Kyle took a full 48 seconds, even Grandpa could do it in about 75 seconds - at a fatter end of the tree; it took me over 3 minutes!)

After chopping trees down and chopping logs for the fire we decided to start throwing the trees just to see how far they would go. It took several attempts with several styles to determine that the hammer throw style worked the best (a golf swing had good results too). With each changing style the distance increased and now I don't remember who actually had the best overall throw.

After all the throws the log finally broke so a new game was created. There were two circles with a log in the middle. You got 3 points for hitting the log, 2 if your rock stopped inside the smaller circle, 1 point if your rock stopped inside the larger circle and 0 points for everything else. I finally found a game I could win (at least I was winning by 2 points after 3 tosses and then it started to rain putting us into a permanent rain delay).

The boys were not phased by the rain...they just moved the games inside the wall tent. But how do you keep 4 active boys from bouncing of the canvass walls of a tent?

So while the boys went crazy it was time to prepare dinner. And what good is dinner without some yummy dessert? (Smores didn't work because by this point the rain/hail was still falling and the firepit now had a moat of ice water; not so good for active boys to discover. So Grandma whipped up some nice chocolate pudding instead.)

The night came to a close as the rain poured down, alternating with hail. The pond moved about 10 feet closer to the wall tent and there were mud holes everywhere. We even discovered that our tent floor could double as a water bed! Our new tent held up pretty good but the tent doors started to leak under the relentless downpour. We hurried to get our kids in pjs and into their sleeping bags. Once they were bedded down for the night they went right to sleep, all tuckered out from the days activities! As I lay there, sleeping on and off, I listened to the rhythmic sound of the rain, later to turn to snow! But safe in the tent, in my warm sleeping bag, I could enjoy the continuous down pour.

What a full day!