More from Family Camp

Kaitlyn's ready for the parade to begin.

Enjoying snowcones.


Mommy's girl

Dana and Anthony with Harold after he baptized them.

Some of Grandma's kiddos

The next few may be redundant but they're too pretty not to post.






During the closing chapel the 3-5 yr. olds sang. You may recall that Renee refused to sing at Christmas. This time she sang and did the motions and enjoyed herself. Kaitlyn sang her heart out!

Dwell on These Things

Family Camp 2008: Dwell on These Things is but a memory now. It was a great week of spiritual renewal, rekindling relationships and making new memories with family and friends. Some of the highlights included watching the girls have a great time with their cousins Gabe and Lauryn. (2nd cousins actually....or is it first cousins once removed??) Gabe and Kaitlyn are 3 weeks apart and Lauryn and Renee are 3 months apart. Renee was Lauryn's little baby; she loved pushing her in the stroller and Renee loved it too. Kaitlyn loved playing with both Gabe and Lauryn.

Dirk and I celebrated our 8th. wedding anniversary during Family Camp. Dana kept the girls and Dirk and I headed to Medina and had a great lunch at an Italian pizza place. I can't remeber the name of it but they had great calzones. Then we found a quaint little coffee shop down the street and enjoyed some chai latte and tea. It was a cool, rainy day so the warm beverages tasted great. The kids didn't even seem to notice that we had been gone.

A highlight of camp for me is always the 4th. of July Patriotic Service. My favorite part is when the servicemen and women go to the front of the tabernacle. I was always so proud to see my dad representing the Navy. I don't think I'll ever be able to get through that service without a few tears.

Another highlight is the baptismal service. In 2006 Dirk and I were both baptized. This year Dana and Anthony were. I remember as a kid watching the service on Sunday afternoon. Now they do it on the 4th. in the evening. Once again it was a beautiful evening and the lake wasn't rough.

A favorite thing for the kids is the 4th. of July Bike parade. They decorated their bikes and were at the starting line ready to go. Last year we were a bit late so they had to join the parade already in progress. We made sure we were on time this year. Kaitlyn was raring to go. But Renee was a bit more hesitant so I had to walk alongside of her, holding her hand. Just when she was feeling more comfortable and let go of my hand, some little girl came out of nowhere and rear-ended her, causing her to fall flat on her bottom on the gravel road. OUCH!! She immediately started crying and I rushed to her, scooped her up and loved on her. But the poor little thing was traumatized. When she finally stopped crying she said, "She didn't even stop and say sorry!" The next day she was still talking about it and said that the girl probably got a spank for doing that. At the end of the parade the kids have a Fun Fair, complete with cotton candy, popcorn, snowcones and jumping houses. It took Renee a while but she finally forgot about her sore bottom and had fun. Kaitlyn was much more independent this year and could do most of the games on her own. They loved it. Kaitlyn doesn't like cotton candy so I got to enjoy that.

Here are a bunch of pictures. There was a smudge on my camera lense which I didn't discover for a few days. Sorry about that. Hopefully you can still enjoy them.






Talk about attitude.....Renee has got one for sure in that picture! Kaitlyn looks like a biker-babe with that headband on.

Happy Birthday Hubby

Today is Dirk's birthday. I baked him a German chocolate cake with pecan coconut frosting and he grilled some steaks. We also had baked sweet potatoes. YUM!! I felt bad that he had to cook his own dinner but that was his choice. Maybe he doesn't trust me with the grill.

Our power went out this morning so I ended up baking the cake at Mom's apartment. First time her oven was ever used.

Dirk, you are a wonderful husband, father, son, provider and friend. Thanks for being in my life and inviting me to share it with you. I love you!

By the way, he's 44 now.



Another shot taken by Kaitlyn.

My Little Dancing Queen

Yesterday was Kaitlyn's first dance recital. She was in one number, called "Bubble Kisses". She had invited her best friend Sophia and sister Isabella, along with Grandma Ziegler and Mattie. (Amy had to work and Grandma Ann was out of town or they would have been there too.) Her teacher had promised them that if they did a good job she would give them a goldfish because the song was about a fish. Kaitlyn did an awesome job.....the best of the class, of course! She was so excited to get that goldfish and named her Goldie.

Another highlight was wearing make-up and having her hair in a bun. I've been braiding her ponytail and that made for an easy bun. It looked so cute!

After the recital she did a private show for the Faro family. She would have invited the whole neighborhood I think. She was still dancing at 10 last night.

She likes to put different CD's on and make up her own moves. She's quite the little choreographer!

Classic Renee

I keep forgetting to post this hilarious story about Renee. It happened months ago and I know most of my faithful readers (all 3 of you) have heard it but I'm posting it anyways. Sort of my journal.

We were talking about what you want to be when you grow up. Kaitlyn has consistently said she wants to be an artist, a teacher, a babysitter, a mom etc. It may change a little but the first job is ALWAYS an artist. Well, Renee wanted to get in on the conversation too. She perks up, "I want to be a pig!" She has told us this more than once. We still laugh and laugh about this.

Notice what animal Renee is riding on the merry-go-round?

Father's Day

Yesterday we celebrated with Dirk's father. His dad didn't want me to have to cook him a big meal so suggested we just go out. (That was fine with me because I had cooked a big meal on Mother's Day so didn't really get a break. I'll take one whenever I can get one.) We thought it would be fun to just grab a good burger (that means no McDonald's) and then go to Bazil's on the lake for funnel cake. So we went to their house first, in Greece. Then we drove to Penfield to go to Bill Gray's. I know what you're thinking........I agree!!! There are closer Bill Gray's than going to Panarama Plaza!! Anyways, they didn't really want funnel cake so we headed back to Greece. At the price of gas, I was a little annoyed but bit my tongue. (I guess I'm not really biting my tongue by posting on the internet for all the world to see.) We ended up going to Charlotte Beach, which isn't too far from their house. The girls loved the merry-go-round and the playground. We got ice cream so that made me happy!


Last week one day Kaitlyn wanted me to straighten her hair with my flat iron. It was a humid day so it didn't get very straight but she was thrilled.



At the end of May Renee had her first dentist appointment. Considering it was with a complete stranger and not the hygenist that we know who does Kaitlyn's teeth, she did OK. Kaitlyn loves Michelle and Renee has met her several times so I was annoyed when someone else was scheduled for Renee. Michelle had Princess toothbrushes too. The stranger tried to entice Renee with a Lightning McQueen brush. Yeh right.......my little dress-up queen had her mind set on Princesses!! She wouldn't get on the chair so finally just sat on my lap. I passed the camera to Kaitlyn to capture this moment of history and held on to Renee.

This One Takes All

We have very limited kitchen counter space so we have to keep our toaster in the cupboard. Lately it's been acting up when you plug it in. In fact, the other morning it wouldn't work and I had to plug it in and keep flipping the plug probably 5 times before it finally worked. All that introduction for today's "quote of the day".

Kaitlyn usually watches PBS Kids while I shower and then we get breakfast. Well, this morning when I came downstairs, she told me that she had already made waffles for she and Renee. "I didn't have any trouble with the toaster. I just plugged it in and it worked." Here's my favorite part........"Maybe I'm smarter than you and that's why it worked."