Fathers & Sons Campout

Sam just returned from our Stake Fathers and Sons campout. They went to the Heber valley campground, which is owned by the church. Apparently it's still being built and is scheduled to be done in 15 years. Once completed, it can hold 7,000 people at a time. I think Sam and the boys had fun, right Sam?


There is a pond by the campground that everybody hiked around. Overlooking this pond was this amazing cabin. There were missionaries working at the campground and they told Sam that the cabin was called Moosehaven Lodge and it can be rented for $2000 per night. It is 27,000 sq feet. It has 20 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, 7 hot tubs, indoor swimming pool, home theater, and a conference room that can be converted into a basketball court. The dining area seats 50! Sam and his friend, Davis, instantly started planning an Elders Quorum excursion. They figured 20 couples could stay there for $100 per night. So then I started thinking... maybe we could have a family reunion there sometime. It would be easy to fill the rooms, here is all we need to do... we just need to see who can come from the family, and then Nalani's friends could fill the remaining open rooms! Trust me, Nalani could fill that lodge with just her friends alone!
Seriously, check out the link and look at the facilities, it's so AWESOME!

Carson's New Discovery

Today I was working at the computer and Carson starts screaming and yelling from my bedroom. He comes running over to me all excited. "MOM! I HAVE A NEW TOOTH THAT IS GROWING BY MY OLD TOOTH!"
I checked it out and sure enough, Carson is growing his first new tooth right behind his baby tooth. Then we wiggled his baby tooth and it's totally loose.
I know the picture is a little freaky looking, but it clearly shows the new tooth. I was standing above him, his mouth was open and the new tooth is visible.
Seems like just yesterday that he grew his first baby tooth!

Dedicated to the Oram Family

In my last blog posting, Nalani pointed out that I forgot to mention the two dinners we had at Oram's house in Redmond. I couldn't believe that I forgot to talk about that part of our trip! DUH! So, let me just tell you guys, it was some GOOD EATIN'! That Oram family knows how to host a fun evening! Not only that, but Maile was there with her 6 day old baby, Cannon. I got to hold him and snuggle with him and he is cuter that you can even imagine.

While I've been thinking about the Oram family I had a wonderful thought. The Oram's have been part of my life since I was born. Our families have always lived close to each other and Sharon and Richard are my second parents (Sharon, that is even better than being my favorite Aunt!).

So, since they are all part of my fondest memories, I figured I would take pictures of those memories. I'll give you a dollar if you can name each location that these pictures were taken at! Side note: it was extremely hard to find a picture of Cody that didn't include Curtis as well, so enjoy some old school pics of Curtis too!

Grandma's Funeral & Seattle Trip

Well, we're home. What a crazy/fun/exhausting/memorable trip. When I read Susan's blog, I was happy because she broke down the trip each day and explained what we did. So, I figured I could just put a few pictures on my blog and call it good. But then I remembered why I kept a blog...it's my journal. So, BEAR WITH ME while I post all my favorite pictures from the trip! There is a lot so if you are taking your lunch break from work and don't have much time, stop now, and revisit me later. Trust me...

I'm the only girl in my family and I have three brothers. Here they are: Darren, Curtis, and Michael. This was taken just before my Grandma's funeral.


Carson and I at Snoqualmie Falls. This is near Redmond, WA where I lived from 1988 to 1993.


If anyone knows my dad, they know how obsessed he is with the Ballard Locks in the Seattle area. This is where Lake Washington meets the Puget Sound. The water in Lake Washington is higher than the water in the Sound. Enter the locks: Boats pull into these little canals, gates close, and the water level rises or lowers depending upon which way the boats are going, and then the gate opens and the boats are able to navigate from one body of water to the next. I asked my dad "what would happen if they didn't have the locks?" He said "It would Lain the Drake!". I think he meant to say "it would drain the lake" :)


Carson and I at the Locks


Next to the locks, there is this really cool fish ladder. It's where all the salmon rush upstream to lay their eggs. The fish ladder enables the salmon to navigate through the locks. It's pretty sweet because you can go underground and look through windows to see all the fish. Here is a picture of the fish and all the kids that were on this trip with us: Courtney and Camilla (Michael's girls-they live in Indiana), Carson, Ethan and Kevin (Darren's boys-they live in Rexburg, ID).


Here is Curtis and his wife Shandy: Shandy is AMAZING! She is 7 weeks away from her due date of their first child. She never complained once! Curtis summed it up well "Shandy, you are the troopiest trooper that I've ever trooped with!"


We went to this really funny toy store in Seattle called Archie McPhee's. They have totally bizarre novelty toys. For example, I bought some bandaids that look like strips of bacon. I also bought Sam a sucker that has a real cricket inside. Well, Courtney was told she could pick out one item from the store to buy. She chose a pack of fake mustaches. I loved that she chose those! When we got back to the hotel, all the kids put on a mustache for this sweet photo. Kevin (all the way on the right) cracks me up. He took this very seriously!


We went to the Mariners game on Friday night. They were playing against Boston. It was fun, but it was almost 100 degrees, which is CRAZY for Seattle. They reached record temps while we were there. Here is a picture of the stadium from where I was sitting.


Here is a picture of Carson and I. Carson was being a little hyper (shocker) and I figured Curtis and Shandy needed a break from us (we shared a hotel room). So, I grabbed Carson and we took some pictures outside our hotel.


Deception Pass: This is the bridge that takes you to Whidbey Island. Maybe my dad can put a comment here that explains why it's called Deception Pass because I can't remember. It's slightly scary because you can walk across, but there is only a tiny little sidewalk and then you have cars and trucks speeding past you. I actually have a friend who was smacked on the arm by a truck's side mirror as he was walking across this bridge!


Here is Curtis underneath the bridge.


At Deception Pass there is a beach called "Rosario Beach" and it rules! There are tons of big rocks and as the waves splash over the rocks, it creates tidal pools. You'd be amazed at all the critters that show up in tidal pools. We found several crabs and small fish. My dad took this picture of Darren, Curtis, and I checking out the critters.


If you know my family, you know how we love to keep a joke running for YEARS! Seriously, in 1994 my family was driving to Idaho from Seattle and I was hot. My dad told me to pipe down and go to sleep. I yelled "I can't! I'm in the sun!" Well, to this day and even several times on this trip, everybody would look at me and say "Can't, I'm in the sun!".
So, another inside joke: when I was about 16 I had cramps really bad so I didn't go to church. My brothers were so mad that I got to stay home from church and they didn't. They demanded to know why. My mom said "Because she has the cramps", but she said "cramps" in a really hushed, reverent tone. So, if I'm having a bad day, my brothers will still say "do you have the cramps" and they will say cramps all quiet-like.
Sam and I found this shirt in the mall about a month ago. I bought it for Curtis because he loves his XBOX. I thought it was appropriate!


And finally...on the 24th we went to a park by Curtis and Shandy's house in Orem and flew kites. Sam took this great shot of Courtney flying her kite.


I told you this would be a long blog entry! I hope you didn't fall asleep... Even though we did a lot of driving this past week, I wouldn't trade it for anything because we got to spend a lot of time together, which is something the Clark kids don't do often enough. I'm so glad that Mike and Kim came out from Indiana because we haven't hung with them very much over the past decade and it was awesome catching up with them. Now, get back to work!

How Well Do You Remember Your Childhood?

Early this morning my Grandmother Bell passed away. We were expecting it because she has had Parkinson's for many years. It's sad and relieving at the same time. I feel really bad for my Grandpa because he had a stroke last year and has been a prisoner to his body since then. He held his wife's hand as she passed away this morning so I'm sure he's feeling quite lonely today.
Tonight I was at my parent's house while we were making plans for this week. My mom is speaking at the funeral. We got talking about childhood and what memories we each have from our individual childhoods. I feel like I had a great and wonderful childhood, but I don't remember many details of it. So, my dad said "Do you remember how you asked for a dog when you were little?" I told him I didn't. So he brings out this AWESOME crafty card that I made. It's pretty ingenius. I took pictures of each page, you may have to click on the pictures so you can read it. It's pretty sweet. Why don't I have that creativity any more? Maybe I just need more stickers!
Anywho, this week will be sort of hectic so there may not be many posts: Tomorrow is Tuesday- Mike, Kim, and their family fly into town. Wednesday-we are driving to Rexburg to meet up with Darren's family and then we are driving to Spokane, WA. Thursday-we will drive to Quincy, WA for the funeral and then drive to Seattle that night. Friday thru Sunday - I'm not totally sure what's going on these days but I'll bring my camera so we can document it later! I think we are coming home on Sunday. So, stay tuned and don't give up on me and my slacker postings.

Pioneer Celebration

Tonight was my ward's annual Pioneer Celebration party. It was certainly HOT, but that's okay because it was a lot of fun. We learned tonight that Parker really likes baked beans. He ate like 3 plate-fuls (NOT IT on changing THAT diaper)! Carson played in the sandy dirt on the baseball field for a good part of the night. You should have seen the bath water tonight. NASTY! I had to fill up the bathtub with the kids in it, then drain the water, then refill the tub. Even after that, I had tons of sand left in my bathtub after the water drained the final time. Good times.

The best part of the evening: As part of this celebration our ward also has a Bake-Off for the desserts. I had signed up for a dessert and then sort of forgot until 4:00 this afternoon. I only had 1 1/2 hours before the party. I quickly made cornflake marshmellow treats with Reese's Pieces in them. The Young Men and Young Women of our ward were the judges. Believe it or not, but I won 2nd place! It was pretty awesome. One lady even made a cake that was 3D and looked like Cookie Monster! It was insanely cool and she got 3rd place! The moral of the story...candy will make you a winner!

Finally, A New Flowerbed

The past few months we have been slowly working on a project...a new flowerbed in front of our house. Of COURSE we did the hardest part today with the temperature expected to climb to 103 degrees! Let me tell you...it was H-O-T!

Here is a progression of pics of the same area.

This photo was taken in May of 2005


We removed the retaining wall


Then Sam removed the grass


Sam used the shovel and cut up the hard chunks of dirt


Then dad and Sam "dumped" in about 10 bags of manure and 7 bags of topsoil


Dad and Sam spread the good stuff around. If anybody knows what a germ-o-phobe Carson is, you'll appreciate this. He was playing in the dirt and I told him he was playing with cow poo. He was pretty grossed out, even after washing his hands a dozen times!


Parker helped by standing around looking cute.


Our friend, Ryan Jones, helped Sam go to the sand and gravel place to pick out some awesome rocks. They were placed in Ryan's truck by a bobcat tractor, now the fun part, getting them into the flower bed. I didn't hear any complaining and they didn't even say one bad word during the process!


Here we are, the rocks successfully in place


It was SO hot, so we set the canopy up to give us some shade as we finished the project. It worked great!


Everything is planted, good thing too, I think we were both ready to pass out from the heat!


Wall rebuilt, flowers fertilized and watered, tools put away, canopy taken down, we are DONE!