CSC 2015

CSC 2015

Some of us came to CSC 2015 physically injured (Mom, Dustin, Cameron) and some of us came emotionally injured (Tony, me, Cooper).  After three days of the healing that comes from the divine institution of family, we all left refreshed and rejuvenated.  There were several reasons that CSC was such a great success.  

First, we had perfect weather and awesome ski water.  Monday and part of Tuesday brought cool weather and even a delicious rain shower.  This helped stave off the dehydration and exhaustion that can lead to inevitable barfing.  

Secondly, we ate the best food ever.  Everyone went all-out on all the meals. From Aunt Chelsea's amazing pancakes and buttermilk syrup to Aunt Stacey's Carne Asada to Aunt Kimberly's coleslaw ice-cream,  it was food heaven.  Plus Grandma brought fancy-schmancy ice cream bars and I brought cinnamon rolls and homemade granola.  It just doesn't get much better.  

The third reason that CSC was so successful was that Cooper bought a jet ski and added it to THREE working boats!  The kids had so much fun on it and Cooper was really great about sharing.  

A fourth success were our unstructured campfire activities.  One night we played the bird call game then each family shared their bedtime songs.  Dad shared Old Shep of course and made all the grandkids cry.  Another night we played the gratitude game.  It was a bummer not to have a real campfire as a result of the state wide burn ban, but we smelled a lot better

A fifth success was family yoga.  Jeff wanted to call it YOLOGA, but we didn't get that crazy.  It was so beautiful to be together as a family under the trees celebrating our strong bodies.

CSC 2015 is also the birthplace of a new family business.  We are going to market Dad's jumprope game and call it "RIPROPE."  It is going to make a million dollars and  fund all our missions.  

Another great success was our night at Clay Island, which everyone argues is a bad name because it is not an island.  I think it was the kid's favorite activity.  We almost lost Grandma in the mud and Jill and Stacey indulged in full body mud spas.  

The mosquitos were really bad this year, but there were no wasps!  The other plague was a major frog infestation, but the kids had hours of fun torturing the poor creatures.  Some frogs took rides in water balloons others were imbedded in mud pies and many were carried in pockets and little hands until they gave up the fight.  

We continued the great tradition of the The River/Swim and Paddle.  The kayaks are so much fun for the kids and adults.  Aunt Jill, our family elite athlete, not only swam the river, but swam it back with Kate.  We were proud of both of them.  We even had closing ceremonies this year with the traditional "Birth right ceremony."  It was so sweet to watch the Riplets, Owen and Sophie wait their turn anxiously to join the family.   Kind of felt like the premortal life. :)

We had some good late night girl talks and it felt like relationships were strengthened in so many ways.  Our challenge will be to continue maintaining these bonds throughout the year.

My theory is that CSC was such a success because everyone did whatever the Alpha female told them to.  I don't know how long that will last, but this year was unarguably an awesome CSC.

Bishops Weekend

This is the fourth year that Tony has been Bishop.  He and I both felt strongly that we wanted to provide an opportunity to develop relationships with the youth and to feel the spirit so we hosted a "Bishop's Weekend."  We started the weekend at the Dishpan Mica Hills with a scripture hike and scavenger hunt.  At the end of the hike all the kids gave us an analogy of how the hike is like life.  The analogies were incredibly insightful.  Some of my favorites included:  even if we get off the path, we can always get back on, 

After the hike we went t the water park.  We loved watching the kids build new friendships with each other.  Sadly, one of the new deacon's back packs was stolen out of the back of the boat.  Even after replacing all of his clothes at Walmart, it upset him so much he ended up going home.  I was sorry that happened and hope that Heavenly Father can make something good come of it.  We ate a yummy Cafe Rio dinner at the waterpark and then headed to the temple.  This was a highlight for Tony.  He said the spirit was strong and one young man shared how sacrificing to be at the temple resulted in  increased positive experience.  After the temple we set up camp at Liberty Lake.  We had a campfire and the kids were exhausted and asleep by 11:30.  We spent the next day doing very windy tube rides on the lake and playing on the docks.  Some kids had fun fishing and playing water games.  We were continually impressed with the gratitude and good attitudes the kids displayed.  Some of the kids who have a hard time connecting were on this trip and it seemed to improve our youth relationships.

It was a lot of work, a lot of sacrifice from adult leaders, and a significant cost.  In addition, our family had significant trauma.  Cooper decided not to go at the last minute, and work instead.  We got a phone call at 3:00 in the morning from Wilson.  He told us that he had been out drinking with friends and had taken and crashed Tony's car.  It put a real damper on the next day and required extra strength from Heavenly Father to stay happy.   Plus, I got a terrible cold and fever and was crabby and miserable.   Afterward I wondered why we had felt so impressed to put so much work, sacrifice and money into the event.  I remembered Eliza's definition of faith:  doing what you feel is right without knowing the ending.  The Bishop's weekend was a definite act of faith.

silverware enactment

This weekend Valerie Larsen and I took our 9 kids camping at Diamond Lake KOA.  The setting was pine tree beautiful.  The weather was hot so the pool was a welcome relief.  We started our trip at Costco where we divided into teams to plan meals.  We ended up with enough food for an army for a week, but it was tons of fun!  Once we got camp set up, we swam and fished.  We even attempted a scavenger hunt and a hike.  The kids had a great time playing pool and ping pong in the nice cool lodge.  Marcos and Max gave Cami and I pedicures, resulting in feet that looked like they had been bloodied by a lawn mower.  Still, It was a sweet act of service.

We were especially surprised to be camping with a group of civil war re-enactors.  Marcos pulled me aside to ask what exactly a "silverware enactment" was!  His buddy Joel had a very difficult time piecing together why people were having a war in our campsite as well.  

We had intended to stay two nights but at the end of our second day, Valerie got a wasp sting, Celeste was running on 4 hours sleep and the teenage girls were fed up.  We gave the kids an option to go home and they had us packed in the cars in less than an hour.  It was such a fun trip but it was nice to be home a little early.  We love our friendship with the Larsens.  They are one of the few families who can tolerate (and equal) our craziness.