Family Camp 2012

We decided a few months ago not to camp this year at Family Camp.  On the heels of our trip to Seattle, I wasn't sure I'd be up for getting the trailer ready when we got home.  Besides, I drive home every day or two anyhow, so I figured we'd just sleep at home and drive out each day for the activities we wanted to attend.

Our granddaughter, Leta, loves going to Family Camp and was actually a little disappointed not to be camping there.  Still, she had a great time, other than getting up early enough to leave the house by 8:30 to be on time for day camp.



The camp worked on a bell choir with the kids and did a couple songs one night for the service.  Leta really liked the bells.

I guess next year we'll have to figure out a way to camp again.  Quiz nationals will run right up to Family camp so I'm thinking we may have to take our trailer out early and get set up because Leta really missed camping this year.

All the driving back and forth reminded me of why we bought a trailer in the first place.  Allison said she didn't think she visited as many people as usual.  Julianne agreed, but really enjoyed sleeping in her own bed, in the air conditioning, rather than tenting behind our trailer.  I can't say I blame her.

A very different birthday

Julianne's birthday usually falls very close to quiz nationals.  It doesn't make for much of a celebration when we're away from home on her special day.

This year, her 17th birthday fell on one of our travel days home from Seattle.

Did I mention that we traveled via train?



My friend Angela suggested taking decorations to decorate around her as she slept.  Allison and Alyssa hung the banner and crepe paper I brought along, working in the middle of the night so it'd be ready when she woke up.

Our car attendant, Deborah, sang Happy Birthday to her over the PA system when we boarded the train in Spokane.  (There's a long story to go along with that particular statement but I won't bore you with it today.)   It seemed like Deborah made a little fuss over Julianne or at least greeted her every time she walked through our car.

Julianne met a birthday buddy who was very excited to meet someone who shared her big day.

Our conductor swapped hats with Julianne for a picture.  I borrowed this pic from another mom in our group because by the time I got my camera out, he had already shed the tiara and didn't want to put it back on.  lol

I don't know that this will ever be a birthday Julianne would list as a favorite...but I'm quite sure it will remain one of her most unforgettable.   Happy birthday, Sweetie!

Where we've been...

We have returned safely from a trip to Seattle for the girls to compete in our denomination's Bible quiz nationals.

We're still feeling pretty tired, after arriving home between 4:30 and 5:00 AM Tuesday morning.  That wasn't our original schedule but thankfully, with the holiday, we've got a little time to recover and get back on Eastern Time.

Julianne had a birthday while we were away.  I'll try to get a post up showing pictures of her special day sometime soon.

Oh, and nationals?  The girls were on a team together (which is VERY nice for Mom and Dad-we didn't have to split up and each only get to watch one daughter).  They did well enough in the Round Robin competition to get advanced to the top division (not what we registered for).  In the double elimination tournament, they won their first round but were defeated in the next two.  Making it to the A division put them in the top 12 teams overall, but they didn't place for a trophy.  We are still very proud of them and the rest of our team.

Shirt apron

Allison recently came out wearing one of her latest creations, from an idea she found on Pinterest.  As soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to make one for my best friend's birthday.

I, of course, couldn't do it as simply as Allison had.  No, I had the great idea to try making continuous bias tape for the first time from the shirt back, to bind the rough edges.  It wasn't terribly difficult but I consulted written and youtube tutorials many times before I was sure enough that I understood the process to proceed.

It was worth the effort when all was said and done.  I was happy to finally learn how to make the bias tape and it worked beautifully for the apron.  I used the bias tape instead of simply hemming from the collar to the side seams, then continued past the sides, using the bias tape to form the ties for the apron.


Allison was kind enough to model the apron before I wrapped it up.

Last Saturday our family did grilled pizza for some friends' son's graduation open house.  I was visiting with some friends and telling them about the apron and bias tape, talking with my hands the whole time.  As I talked about making the ties from the bias tape, I motioned with my hands around behind my back.  I quickly drew my hands back around front after making contact with the host's backside.  Awkward!

I apologized, explaining I was talking with my hands and didn't mean to goose him.

He replied that he talks with his hands, too, he just keeps them in front of him.  Um, yeah, that's great advice, don't you think?  Just a little too late to help me.

Recital

Last night was the girls' voice recital.



Allison sang "Sunrise, Sunset" from Fiddler on the Roof and "Welcome to Our World", a song I adore, written by Chris Rice.

Julianne sang "Goodnight My Someone" from The Music Man and "How Beautiful" by Twila Paris.

They did a duet of "Vivo Per Lei", a song in Italian popularized by Andrea Bocelli.

They also sang "The Lonely Goatherd" from Sound of Music with their teacher's 7 year old daughter which was very fun-especially the yodeling.

The girls have the most wonderful voice teacher-she is so encouraging and a lot of fun, too.  Last year our girls were her only students, which made for a very small recital.  This year, recital was much more varied as well as larger because she has added several more students.  It made recital even better to have a larger audience and the girls liked seeing a couple of friends who also performed.  It was a great night.

The Diary of Anne Frank

We had an opportunity to see a performance of The Diary of Anne Frank with some of our friends.  I guess we moms are never content to let an event stand alone because we brainstormed what else we could do to tie in with the play.

My friend Angela suggested the kids each research a holocaust survivor and give a presentation on them, either by creating a scrapbook page or gathering momentos that would tie in with telling us the story of the person they chose.



Julianne decided, of course, to scrapbook.

She  chose Solomon Radasky to report on. 

Allison, who is not as fond of scrapbooking as Julianne, wanted to go the momento route but ultimately decided the scrapbook idea was simpler to pull together.

She chose Eva Galler for her report.  She was able to include the little armband she had fashioned as a momento in her scrapbook spread.

The play was very well done and the kids did a great job on their presentations, too .  It was easy to see God's hand in several of the situations the kids learned about as they researched.  I loved Angela's idea because we learned about regular people and how they lived through the holocaust.

Better late than never?

Last year I somehow stumbled on a cool egg decorating idea. It was too close to Easter to pull it off last year, but I filed the idea away and worked on gathering the necessary supplies so we could try it this year.

Even with all that lead time, somehow I still didn't get a blog post put together until now. Blame it on tax season and my determination to get our taxes taken care of before worrying about blogging. Oh, and the purchase of a new computer somewhere in there because Turbo Tax wouldn't even load on the old one. Not that they're filed yet-but they are done, at least, so now I can share our eggs guilt-free.



We followed the instructions here. We used blown eggs and boiled them in the bottom of a pasta pot that has a strainer insert, using the insert to hold the eggs in the water. Ours aren't as pretty as theirs, but we'll keep looking for ties and try it again next year.