Camp Raymond

After packing for over a week, getting him a prepaid phone (heaven help everyone whose phone number he knows) and fitting that little body into two men's uniforms, we are here!

 

We did it! We dropped him off at Camp Raymond. We took the three younger ones with us and made it a day!

We arrived and we needed to put together his cot. Luckily the tents were already put up. We didn't get a chance to meet his roommate but we did see Landon Schnebly and he helped us get what we needed. He is waiting for his mission papers and we are so excited for him! He will be up there the whole time and he said he would keep an eye on Joey for me. That is one tall order!!!

 

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The campsite was set up in a circle with a shade canopy in the middle. Kind of like the pioneers when they circled up at their campgrounds.

Here he is in front of his home for the week!

Zach, kind of helping but not really. He was too busy giving Joey a hard time and annoying him. Funny how the rolls changed so quickly!

 

He says he is going to call me every day. I love this kid! I am going to miss him! And our house will be so quiet!!!

 

Kenzie was not impressed. She is ready to head home. She has her own camping experience to worry about this week!

Gary's Visit

I got a call out of the blue from Gary!!! He was coming to visit!!! He was working at the Phoenix Convention Center for a week and wanted to stay a few extra days and visit with us so he called me! I was so honored!!! He came in the weekend before Graduation and we had a great time! We had dinner with Tami and Jim and that was a lot of fun! 

 

The next day we went to the ghost town with a bunch of the kids.
He said he got a kick out of the Zach and Joey, especially their relationship with each other. Apparently he thought they were funny and they made my house a fun happy place to be.

 He even came to church with us on Sunday. And then he joined us for dinner that night. It gave us a chance to catch up. In fact, we found out Garrett, his 2nd oldest son, was getting married while they would be visiting Jeff and it was decided that they were going to come to the wedding!!! That was perfect timing!

 

It was wonderful having Gary here! It is always awesome when my two worlds collide, but I will admit that I missed someone else  just a little bit while he was here!!!

 

Here is his beautiful Family. I will get the names wrong I am sure but they are Chandler, Garrett, Bryson, McKay, and the twins and I can't remember their names!!!

Class of 2016!

Congratulations to my niece, Danni Pace, who graduated with honors! So proud of this girl and love her to death!!!

 

 

 

My sister and I! We have been to 4 graduations together and four more to go!!! Couldn't do it without her and vice versa, I hope!!!

 

End of the Year Projects

Depending on the child. my favorite part of the end of the year is the projects. For instance, Mackenzie needs to turn in her book report in the form of a cereal box. She did cute! She cut out the front and has a picture in the inside of the box to represent the book and the written information on the back. Smart girl, that one!

 

Joey, on the other hand, has a very interesting project. In his math class he was given "15,000" from an uncle, Joey being his favorite nephew, to spend on stuff. The remaining money going to his brothers and sisters. So my little man decides he wants to buy a coffin. He has always wanted to sleep in one ( his eternal slumber doesn't count. Apparently you need to appreciate a casket while you are alive! Obviously I missed that life lesson!) He not only buys one but two! You know, gotta have one for his friend when they decide to spend the night. He then buys a mini fridge, a purple one at that, because he doesn't want to leave his room. He did get a dresser. I am proud! (...Just found out its to hold his 50" TV as well as his clothes...) And a vending machine! You know he needs to make money off himself apparently!
Oh no! I missed the treadmill so he can burn off all those calories from the fridge and the vending machine! ...And the skeet ball machine!!! I love my son!

The rest of the money was spent on Minecraft stuff! A desk, A computer, a camera, and other nonsensical items for becoming a Minecraft addict. He did get some curtains, though, to keep all the light out. (looks like he is never leaving the room! I am surprised he didn't spend money on a porta potty!) And the total bill came to 15,000, which leaves nothing for his brothers and sisters!!! Ain't he a sweetie?

Can I just say he really needs to go to camp this summer?

I Am Not A Farmer!!!

Yep, Last fall Travis brought home baby chicks! They were so cute and fluffy and little balls of tiny soft down fur! I loved them! We all did!
 And then it was time to move them outside! And of course they had to be free range but that was okay because they were cute!!!
And then he brought home more. Adult chickens who have an attitude. They were mean to our little ones, but they gave us eggs. So we kept them, although the meanest we secretly named Dinner! And this went on for a while.
And then Travis got to missing those little cute fluffy things and brought home three more babies. Well. those three were picked on my the other small ones. There was a pattern!!!
The very little ones grew up and one of them happened to be a rooster. I figured this out one early morning while he was working on his CockAdoodleDoo! He worked and worked on that thing, sometimes 25 or more times before 6 AM! Well, you can imagine his cuteness quickly flew out the window, or the coop, which has become their new home. (And they don't like it!)
Did you know that chickens fly? And over fences? And they love to eat grass to where there is none left?  I learned that the hard way!
Meanwhile, I woke up one morning to a surprise! I was at a meeting the night before and I completely missed the excitement of the evening. I received a text from Travis asking me if I was mad. I said I didn't understand. He said to go look outside. And there sat a rabbit. It was white and I thought it was cute!!! Until I tried to touch it! Turns out it was a wild thing and the owners finally caged it and got rid of it. Of course they found Travis!!!
So in my backyard I have 9 chickens, one a rooster who has already taking an interest in my hens and a mean wild rabbit who thinks it's going to build a tunnel under the house to the front yard. What is a person to do?
Yep, cage them in. Except farmer Travis bought plastic chicken wire and the bunny likes to chew it. We shoo the chickens into their yard only to have the rabbit chew a hole for them to leave. Why? Because the chickens have the best food!
I fix a hole and there is a new one! I fix that one and there is one where the original one is. I get them all shooed into their yard and a knock on the door saying there are chickens in the front yard. If I were an Indian my name would be Crazy Chicken Shooer! All I do in a normal day is babysit chickens!!!
And the rabbit! It got out of it's cage and we can't catch it! We have tried to set trap, lure it with food, but it seems to laugh at us! I hate that rabbit! I feel like I have become a bad rendition of Elmer Fudd from those Bugs Bunny cartoons. (I have a whole new outlook on that cartoon!!! Who knew Elmer was the real hero?)  I finally told farmer Travis that it was me or the rabbit. He's working on giving it a new home. He better and soon because one of us is going crazy and the other is laughing while eating all of the chicken feed!!!
And I need to step away from my poor computer now because I am getting carried away and I will tell you the fate of my poor rooster tomorrow!

Joey in trouble at school

Joey was suspended from school. He was playing soccer and a big kid, one who has been picking on him for a few months, got into his face demanding he be goalie since the last three balls made it in. Joey was cornered and he hit the kid. Then two other boys stepped in and Joey started swinging at them too! (I don't think he hit them) A few other kids separated them and the substitute came and sent Joey to the principals office. He stayed there and had a discussion with the principal and vice principal. He was suspended for two days, It should have been 5 days but considering the other kid was bullying him he got off with only two.

We had a very busy weekend with decorating for Stake activity Day and then the funeral of Grandpa Jensen Yesterday so it went by really fast. I took him in this morning and we met with the Vice Principal again to make sure he was allowed to be on campus. He explained how Joey needed to come and tell someone when he was being bullied and let the authorities take care of it from there. Joey wanted to go to a different school next year but he has since realized it will be the same in anywhere he goes. This is something he will need to get used to.

I got the impression that the vice principal's opinion was that Joey did good. Sometimes you have to stand up for yourself at least once and the kids leave you alone and maybe even respect you a little bit. But because he broke school policy he had to be disciplined. I think Joey will go into the next situation a little differently and will hopefully have a clearer head. And I also hope he grows a little taller this summer before he comes back next year!

I left campus a little overwhelmed. I was leaving my little man there with someone who might hurt him if given the chance. I had to have faith the teachers and administration would have his back. I knew they would but for that one moment I really struggled walking away from him.

Sometimes Parenting sucks !