Family Camp

My parents just left on another mission (I'll post more on that later) - but one of the best ways to keep them posted with what's up with us was through my blog.  Well.......I aint been much good at bloggin' lately.  SO...I am gonna play catch up for a bit here until I am up to date.  Then hopefully, I will keep it up for 18 months at least!  I love to blog, and I love reading back on our blog.  So it's not like it's a "chore" I have to do.  But it is "one more thing" on my ever-growing list of to-do's.  So my new years resolution (and it's not even new years, am I on the ball or what?!), is to get caught up and stay caught up...at least for a while :).

So on to my post.  Family Camp!  This has been a Moser family tradition since I was young.  I look forward to it every year, and am sad when it's done and we have to wait another year.  It's so much fun to spend time with my parents, sibling, nieces and nephews for 4 days.

I can see that my pictures aren't in any order, and since I'm playing catch up - I'm not going to take the time to figure it out.  So if you like puzzles, be my guest.  But I'm not a puzzle kinda gal!

This year Grandma had the grand idea of tie-dying shirts.  It was so much fun!  

My sister Kim brought up marshmallow shooters that the kids painted.  We had marshmallows E.V.E.R.Y. W.H.E.R.E!!  But they loved it.  

We also made parachord bracelets, and that was a big hit too.  

We did the traditional initiation of any new family members or visitors.  "Aunt Emma" is about to retire, I'm sure!  :)  

We spent a day at Bear Lake.  

We celebrated Kim's 50th birthday.  My mom had the brilliant idea of going back in time to the wonderful 60's.  So we dressed up in costumes, and acted out various things that would have been big when Kim was a teen.  It was so much fun!

And of course we ate and laughed and ate some more.  

Oh, and one more thing - we ALWAYS have someone start throwing up at these camps.  It was my families turn to start the tradition this year...so much fun.  One of the many reasons I'm so grateful we have a trailer!

Brayden doing his tye dye

Kamden with his marshmallow shooter

My pretty mom

Brother in law, Frank

Grandpa with sister in law, Lisa

My niece with the three youngest babies there.  Bronco, Benson and her baby, Brooklyn.  Hey, they all start with B's.  I hadn't noticed that before!  It's hard to believe Erin is a mommy.  I remember her at these camps at the little baby there.  Crazy how time flies!

Emi and Myah

Tannon and Brayden

My nephew

Maxwell

My great nieces

Marley & Kameron

My brother and nephew

Jordan with Max

The three muskateers

Kam, Des & Ryan

Sister Kim

My nephews

Parker & Bronco

My nephew and his daughters, Rylee and Kameron

Ira's three cousins that came with us.

Jack, Mark & Eric

Happy Birthday Kimme

Everyone who was at camp this year (except Emilie whose turn it was to be sick).

Dressed up as cookie monsters (Sesame Street just came out in the 60's)

Trekkies

"Grease" starts - John Travolta and Olivia Newton John.  Yep...we look just like them! ha ha

Superman was just released

Cookie Monster, Elmo & Big Bird

Kim showing her earlier years talent of hula hooping.  She still had the moves!

Marc, Eric & Jack had never been camping or 4-wheeling.  So this was a treat for them!

Emilie with her tye dye

Sister in law Maria making her bracelet

My mom and niece, Karlie

Jarin and his dirty face.  Just part of the tradition of camping!

Baby Benson with his tye-dye.  So Dang Cute!!

Another tradition is Robin rubbing Todd's feet.  What a good big sister!  

I loved this moment with these two cousins.  McKay & Jarin

Soccer games

The three muskateers...again.

The 5 muskateers!  These boys are so much fun to watch as they play and interact.

Me and Kim with our daddy-o

Blowing kisses goodbye.  Todd and his family all live in California.

Grandma and Karlie

Robin also celebrated her birthday at camp - 51 years!

What we saw on the farm when we were driving home.  I just loved it and had to take a picture.  Yes family - I do take pictures of everything!  ha ha ha

Mom came home and scheduled the campground for us for next year, even though they won't be with us.  She had to make sure that the tradition continues.  Thanks mom and dad for starting such a fun tradition, and making sure that we keep it going.  

Jesus and Heaven

Kamden asked me "Mom, how did Jesus die?  He is a big boy."

I explained to him that some "bad guys" killed him.

He said, "He didn't know they were there, and He just turned around and they got him?"

Me: "No, He knew they were going to kill him.  And He could have stopped them, but He didn't because He knew He needed to die so that we could go live in Heaven when we die."

Kam..."Oh.  When we die we will go to Heaven.  Where is Heaven?"

This kid is so full of very deep questions.  Sometimes he will ask me things that I hadn't even thought about before.  And many times he will ask me questions that I simply can't answer - like where is Heaven?  But this question of Why Jesus died for him and for me and for each of us, I have thought about many times.  I hope and pray I am living my life the way I should. So that His sacrifice on my behalf will not be in vain.  I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior, and I'm so grateful for this testimony!

So this is a "deep" post - but when Kam started asking me all these questions - it got me into "deep thinking" mode.  Besides that - I wanted to remember this conversation between me and my sweet little boy who left Heaven not so long ago.

WOOHOO!!!

I can hardly believe that this kid is a Sophomore in High School.  I can so clearly remember being his age, and it doesn't seem like too long ago.  It feels like yesterday that I put him on the kindergarten school bus...so sweet (what happened?) ha ha

Brayden is a good kid.  I do wish he'd smile more at home ;), but I remember being his age - and I don't think smiling at the family was top on my priority list (no comments from my family please!)

And this girl.  What can I say about how much she's grown in the last year.  With Emilie, everything is a whirlwind - but the way she has changed this year is more like a tornado.  She has changed from a little girl to a young lady.  She has matured so much, and is a lot of fun to have around.  Not to mention that she is a HUGE help at home.  She is still the spunky Emilie that keeps us all on our toes, but she is figuring out how to control all the energy just a bit.  She is no longer in Elementary school, but has advanced to the Middle School, complete with 7 classes and a locker.  It was fun watching her go through the anxieties of hoping she would remember how to work her locker and remember where her classes were.  I can so clearly remember being her age and feeling the same things.  I can even remember the dream I had before I went to Middle School - and how scared I was.  She came home from the big day, still loving school.

 Most years I am really sad when school starts.  I really love summer.  I love having the kids home so we can play and not have the stresses of homework and tight schedule.    But this year???  Well, you can call me a bad  mom if you'd like - but I was cheerin' and a-hootin' and a-hollerin'.  It just couldn't come fast enough.  Don't get me wrong - summer was full of adventure and lots of fun.  But it was a bit too much fun.  I am exhausted from all the activities, and from all the arguing that our kids did with a bit too much family time.  

So when Emilie left at 6:50, then Brayden at 7:30, then Jarin got on the bus at 8:30, I felt a sense of freedom (ssshhh...don't tell our kids I just said that :) ).  Then behind me, one of the moms voiced what I was feeling, when she exclaimed "WOOHOOOO!!!" as the bus pulled away full of happy children.  Then a mom next to me burst into tears as her oldest child went to first grade for the first time - which means that they will be gone all day now instead of half a day.  I do remember a few years back, being the mom who walked away in tears.  But three children later.... I walked away all smiles.  First grade...all day school ...Aaaahhhh..... life is good! 

Only problem was... what to do with Kam.  He was missing his brothers and sister terribly.  And his preschool wasn't going to start for another week.  A little bribery and trips to McDonalds and a few phone calls with friends eased his pain for a few hours each day until....

Home at last!  When he saw Emilie walking up the sidewalk on day one, he ran to her with open arms.  Now sweet moments like this wouldn't happen if all the kids were home all day, right?  So it's not all bad that a mom likes her children to leave.  Without them leaving, there wouldn't be sweet reunions! :)

A week later, Kamden finally got his day.  He was so so so so excited for preschool.  I have to admit that I felt a tinge of sadness for a moment when he left - but only for a moment.  Then I came home with "ADHD" and ran around like a crazy woman, cuz I had the whole house to myself to get whatever done that I wanted to for a whole 2 hours and 15 minutes! (3 days a week)

I would really like it tho, if time would freeze right here.  I do enjoy a few moments to myself - but all day alone doesn't sound like too much fun either.  So I will enjoy this year while to it's fullest.

Last laughs on You!

Here is a picture of the cutest 4 year old ever.  Mr. Kam-da-man.  Kam-da-bear.  Kammo.  Kam.  

He's my little one that when he is crying (whether it's from him being hurt or him hurting someone else - he always says, "Sorry Mommy").  As if he's not making a good choice by crying when he's hurt or feels bad????  He usually hides his face when someone talks to him.  He tells me that he's shy.  Although if you could be a fly on the wall at home, you would see another side of him.  Still sweet, but very entertaining to observe, and very outgoing.

So all of this being said, you may be surprised to hear that yesterday we were talking and playing.  He stands up right by me and says, "Mom, I'm gonna fart on your face".  I was still taking in the shock of his comment, when he turns his behind around and sticks it out right at me and lets one rip!    After the shock wore off, I'm thinking to myself, "OH, NO He Di'nnt!" The parent in me had to let him know that wasn't a good choice.  But I have to admit that when I was done with my parenting responsibility on this one, I had to try really hard not to crack up.  Disgusting?... yes.  Funny? ...absolutely YES (in a disgusting sort of way).

So today as he's getting ready to walk out the door to preschool, he says (with a big smile), "Ha Ha...you are going to be all alone. Ha Ha Ha."  

I'm thinking to myself.... Yep, Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha.  

I'm definently getting the last laugh on this one.  He's been gone for 45 minutes now, and I'm still laughin'!  Teeee Heeee Heee.... ha ha ha ha ha.................

I just love that baby boy of mine!

TOU Half Marathon

If you refer back to my blog about a year and a half ago, you will see a post that was titled something like, "My last half marathon".  Well....I don't even know what to say about that.  I really thought that was the last one.  I guess you can never say never.  I really don't love to run.  And I thought I would try my hand at other events.  Somehow (peer pressure from Shawn saying, "If you do it, I'll do it"), I got myself roped into another 13.1 miles.  While I was signing up, I signed Ira up too and then texted him and told him he was running the TOU (SURPRISE!).  I think Shawn and Yuri had a similar story.  Shawn and I did our first Triathlon in June, and decided that was the way to go - not all this running.  But...we were already signed up for this.  SOOOO...none of us trained for this race like we intended to at first.  We did train, but we got exercise in lots of different forms - not just running.  We decided we could either drop out, or we could go and not be in any hurry.  We could walk the whole thing if we wanted to.  We were hoping for a time of around 3.5 hours.  Turns out that all that other exercise still helped.  This was Yuri's first race, and she did awesome.  She had decided not to do it because of a bum knee.  Then the night before, she was in. Shawn, who thought he would walk most of it, did awesome.  Ira, who hardly trained in any form - did awesome.  As for me....lets just say I got under 3 hours (remember my goal was 3.5) - so I was happy with it...considering.

And today????  Well, we can hardly walk - hips, knees, feet, calves.  You know...all the things that 13 miles of pounding can do to a poor old body! :)

I have to say tho, that this year we stuck around for awhile when we were done.  I watched as people came in at 4+ hours.  Many of them walking, some barely running.  I was so inspired by those people.  Those fast winners are impressive too - but those who obviously struggled all the way were truly an inspiration.  They were out doing something that they probably never thought they could do.  And yesterday, they did it!  Every runner out there has their own story of why they are there, and what keeps them going when their bodies hit that "runners wall".  But those who kept going hour after hour - they are inspirational.