MaeLyn's Musings

Saturday was John's birthday. He is 14 years old now! He got a frog cake. His gifts included origami paper, a small LEGO train, an alarm clock, a FLUXX game, and a "Phantom of the Opera" piano book. On Sunday, John was ordained to the office of Teacher in the Aaronic Priesthood. It is so awesome to watch my boys get older and more mature.

John and Josh went to Scout Camp last week. They were gone for almost the entire week, leaving Monday and returning Saturday morning. It sounded like they had a lot of fun! John made a bull neckerchief slide and he also hammered a bowl in his metalworking class. It turned out really well! The following pictures of the boys were taken by their scout leaders at the camp:

The last couple days in June, we drove to Wyoming, where we joined several members of my family for a family reunion. My brother-in-law, Dean, reserved the campground, which was actually a youth camp. It was really nice with bathrooms (with showers!) a kitchen and mess hall and an amphitheater. There was also a volleyball court and a place to play tether ball. We were able to go canoeing on a nearby pond. Some family members took advantage of a shooting range. Hannah went with them, and I understand that she is a pretty good shot! I didn't take as many pictures as I should have, but here are some that I did take: Steven relaxed by working on a wood carving. Josh at the amphitheater. John cooking marshmallows The drive to the pond to go canoeing.    We caravanned over a bumpy dirt road to get to the pond to go canoeing. Our van actually dropped it's spare tire along the way! Luckily someone picked it up for us.  Josh and John in a canoe.  ...

My dear mother sent me a message on Facebook today: "MaeLyn, are you okay? I just realized you haven't written a blog in a month!" Oooops. There's just something about summer. I feel a little bit lazier. The kids are home and I have to compete for computer time. With the kids home when I am on the computer I find it more difficult to concentrate on anything. Either they are gathered around watching everything I do, or they are lurking, waiting to steal my seat if I ever stand up, or they are elsewhere in the room being noisy. I love them dearly, but they do make it difficult for me to think sometimes. Anyway, here's what has been going on this summer: About a month ago, a brother in our ward called to say he had a first generation iPad that he didn't need anymore, and he was wondering if we would like it. I told him, "Sure!" He brought it to church the next Sunday. The kids were very excited about it, and a month later, the novelty has yet to w...