Family Visits

This past weekend, my sister, Heidi and her husband and 7 kids and an extra friend came into town from their home in Tuscan, AZ. We hosted them for a Sunday dinner, along with our baby sister, Kari, and my two nephews and their wife and fiancee, and also my grandniece, Lucy. For a grand total of 23 people for dinner. Did I mention that it rained on Sunday afternoon? So, that meant 23 people for dinner in my house! Along with our 2 dogs and Heidi's dog came to visit too!

But I am not complaining at all...it was so much fun! I think I get it from my mom. I love entertaining. I love hearing all the different conversations going on around me. And all the laughter. The cousins seemed to have so much fun together. They didn't want the night to end, and neither did I. We did some cousin swapping and ended up with 3 more boys, while McKay joined his older cousins for a night in the trailer at Heidi's In-laws. 

I'm glad that they are in town, and I wish we could spend more time with them! I wish they did not live so far away! Most of all, it got me so excited for my upcoming trip with my mom and 4, maybe 5 sisters and one sister-in-law. We are all meeting in Vegas next week! We are celebrating my mother's 70th birthday!

I'm so grateful that I can go and spend time with family! I am sure we will come home with lots of fun stories to tell.

Fishing over the Fourth

After being introduced to fishing in IL by their Uncle Lenny, my boys have become avid angler wannabes. Unfortunately, there is no money in the budget for fishing gear. However, for the Holiday weekend, we decided to go camping close to home. We went up to Midway to Wasatch Mountain State Park. They have a terrific little fishing pond there, and you can rent fishing poles very cheaply, as well as buy a container of worms! They boys were in heaven! They had a limit of keeping 2 fish/day. All 3 of my boys reached their limit! We ended up keeping only 1, which they cleaned and grilled for lunch while I ate a tuna fish sandwich! They gave a number of other fish to the people fishing near us and they released about 4 or 5 of them. It was really a fun time! I think the dogs enjoyed going for the camping trip too!

The Fishing Stance

Seth is a natural...he caught two fish that afternoon. Unfortunately, I had left the camera back at camp by then!

"I guess I pierced its lip!"

McKay was so relaxed and chill about this fishing thing

First catch of the day!

Seth also enjoyed climbing this pine tree when he took a break from fishing

Our Mousse and Penny...best dogs a family could ever ask for

Proof I was on this camping trip! Looking lovely after a day in the wild

I learned that all three of my children can be still, and quiet for long periods of time. I had not seen this side of them before! I'm thinking that fishing is a good thing, a really good thing! Fishing equipment will likely be on the list of what Santa brings this year!

Skelly Family Reunion 2011

Every three years, the Chief's father's family have a family reunion. We hosted the last one here in Utah. This year's reunion was in Clinton, IL. He has four aunts, who are the matriarchs of the reunion. Many of his cousins come. This year, they camped near Clinton Lake. It was an amazing time for my boys to have with their dad and their relatives that they rarely see. Only one of the Chief's sisters was able to make it. Aunt Kim lives in Minnesota, however, we were able to visit her last summer for her wedding. The boys were happy to have her stepson, Grant, to spend time with. Uncle Lenny was patient with them and taught them the ins and outs of fishing. They have since become hooked on fishing. Pun intended!

I got to "relive" the reunion through their photos and stories...it was so fun to hear their excitement. In the words of Seth, "It was AWESOME!"

Uncle Lenny teaches Noah to fish

Seth tries his hand at catching a fish

McKay with Sharon on the boat

Smiley Seth and Noah

Noah was so excited about catching the Catfish. They ate it for dinner!

McKay with his catch!

Noah goes out on the tube

And he gets up! Way to go boy!

My sweetheart, The Chief

Their tent site. Big and Green!

Out on the boat: Amy, Sharon, Grant, Seth, and McKay

The Skelly Matriarchs: Edye, Ruth, Kathy, and Char

See you in 3 years in California, Skelly Family!

The boys see Nauvoo

In June, The Chief took the boys on a 10 day road trip. The purpose was to attend his family reunion in IL. We decided that if they were going that far, they needed to spend a few days in Nauvoo. The Chief and I spent 2 days there on our cross country honeymoon, and both of us loved it there. We wanted to share it with the boys. Unfortunately, circumstances were such that I was not able to join them on this trip due to work issues. But nonetheless, the boys were able to go to Beautiful Nauvoo. They loved it there! Someday, we'll go back there all together! Aren't my boys growing up? McKay is just a bit shy of 5 feet this summer! How'd that happen? Anyhow, enjoy the pictures...more are coming!

New Adventures

I know I was quiet a lot in June...mostly due to working long hours six days/week outside the house, and long hours after that when I got home inside the house! But alas, I wanted to wish you all a Happy July before August arrives, so I'm stealing a few moments before I head to work this morning.

The summer so far has been filled with new adventures. The Chief took the boys on a 10 day trip back to the Midwest, to Illinois, where they met up with his side of the family for the Skelly Family reunion. The boys went fishing and McKay and Noah caught their first fish. Mulptiple fish in fact. They even had the joy of eating them! They camped, and had s'mores, and they traveled by car across the country. They spent a couple of days in Nauvoo. They crossed the swollen Mississippi River, where the people were waiting for flooding to occur. They went through 5 different state capitals. And they came home happy, and missing their mom! I had missed them two!

They also came home begging for me to join them on a camping adventure. It has been 6 years since we went camping as a family. So, we decided we would do! We're making our list and checking it twice, and we're going to head out on a camping adventure of our own, complete with dogs in tow. Should be fun, right? Smelling like campfire for 3 days? Sounds downright American!

Summer has other new adventures coming up too, and I'm sooo excited for them!