Bone Family Reunion 2013

Just a few shots from our family reunion this year:

We were determined to get a family photo, even if the weather would not cooperate!

We rented a house on the Olympic Peninsula, and it was rainy as promised!  We were missing one sister, but were able to meet up with her and the ever popular nephews and get a few hugs and pictures of them, too.  So here's a few shots of us as the generations keep on coming!

Time with Gma Jeanne at the Island

By the river with Brynna, Nana and Tyler.

Susan and Shane in the Ho Rain Forest.

The Hollands snuggle Kylie Rose.

The grandkids with their Bone shirts!

A couple siblings shots, minus Gina:

A quick stop at a burger joint to see Gina!

Kyle and Kane, the rest of the grandkids.

Trippin' in the Northwest

We went to visit my side of the family for almost three weeks this month, and it was a lovely time.

This was the main reason for our visit:

Grandpa is in a care facility because of dementia, and it was special to go and visit him with my Grandma.  Difficult times, sweet times and good memories.  A reminder of caring for our own when they need us, whether they know us or not.  Not that I do that, but watching my Gma and the family who are nearby doing the difficult thing day after day is a poignant example.

The kids and I visited these two sisters and their families(got to see them each twice!):

Cora...

...and Tyler.

And my parents...

and bro...

and baby sis.

And my paternal Grandma:

And this sister's family:

And this sister with her M & M & M family:

Only missing one sweet sister on that trip!  Planning to see her soon, when her second bundle of joy joins the cousins in the late summer.

At the end of the trip, Papa met up with us at Arches Nat'l Park, where we had a super awesome wonderful time doing hikes.  The lovely thing is, you don't have to hike into the heart of wilderness to see amazing things all around.  The unlovely thing is: I'm out of shape for this kind of hiking, so I'd best fix that.  As it is, the kids will soon have to take turns carrying me back on the trail.

Some shots from Arches:

It was a great trip, and we are glad to be home. =)

Update on "The Crazy"

Thought I'd give the conclusion of the matter at convention!

So we all survived.  We've been home a couple weeks and things are back in the "groove" once again.

I loved Tamara's comment back on Embrace the Crazy...."no tips, but total understanding."  Such a great line and it made me feel better!  Thanks! =)  Tamara has 7 children of her own so far, so if anyone  could "pooh pooh" my little problems, she could.  Instead she dishes out understanding.  Ahhhhh! (filing away for future use)

Lucas slept away from me this year with his Grandpa and a father-son pair of good friends.  He did one trial night, and was hooked!  I found out later about late nights and Angry Birds... but I know those are memories he'll have forever with his Gpa.  ;)

Aidan is getting really good at sleeping in, so most mornings I brought him breakfast.  Julia is the one who pushes all sleep limits and she wiped out big time on Saturday.  Tears, tears, tears.  Everything was impossible, so I made a rule:  If she napped in meeting she could play in between with her friends. She didn't nap, so off we went Saturday afternoon.  She had a nice long nap and was a different person when she woke up.  The great thing was how clearly the sleep had made her feel better.  She noticed it, we talked about it and it helped her understand that her body needs it.  It's not just about Mom having some rule.  Her body tells her "I've had enough!" and she's learning to listen.

I managed alright, myself.  The entire convention was a journey for me, a lot of things to work out and struggle with.  I came away with some worries as well as help.  After the convention, I spent a little time processing, and when Sunday of #2 came around, I was thrilled with all the comfort and confirmation I got in both meetings.  I sometimes try to take on things that aren't MINE.  And I sometimes worry about things that are not in my sphere of control, and I frustrate around about it.  When a person does this, exhaustingly, it can be so wonderful when God reminds us that HE saw it all long before, has a plan, is executing it, sees the big picture and has all the power, period.  It's like realizing that you had your teeth clenched and enjoying how it feels to unclench them, only on a much larger scale. ;)  And in the end, I have A LOT of work to do.  And it's time to get on with it!

Camping Trip

Early this month, we went camping with two fun families!

We camped at a place with WATER.  This is a big deal.  It is such a big deal, that one family rented a canoe so we could enjoy the water even more.  Altogether, we were a group of six adults and nine kids,  a good size!  We enjoyed kite flying, fishing, canoeing, hiking, swimming and eating.  We also had our own little meeting Sunday am which included some nice thoughts from all the kids.  The biggest problem was the teeny flies, and we all got bites that have lasted a couple of weeks... no one is quite sure what gave us those, since there were no mosquitoes.  All in all, a bunch of fun!

A few fun photos from the trip....

On our way to the campsite, they crash like a bunch of puppies.

Hmmmm, maybe we are packed in there kinda tight.

A quick view of the scenery on the way....

Out on the point, everyone engages in their activity of choice.  Some fly kites, some fish and some untangle line and retie lures.

Lucas works on his casting form.

Sorry.

Neither mom nor pop fish, so he's on his own!

So many cute shots of this sweetie!  She's flying a kite with her other hand.  The kite flew away a bit later, and went into the lake and drowned.

Nathan brings out the big canoe, and many hands are willing to help carry it to the water! Everybody got a turn to ride in it, because Nathan was giving lots of rides that day!  

My camera died right around this time, but I do have one story to tell.

Towards evening, after Nathan was done giving the kids rides in the canoe, he took Shane and I and we set out to paddle to a small island not too far out in the lake.  The wind was against us, the waves were rough and we did ship a little water.  But no matter!  Canoeing is great fun, and ripe for jokes about marriage therapy and the like.  Plus the wind would blow us back, so the hard work was dandy.  An adventure!  We got to the little island, checked out the old nests, bird mess and scripture written with rocks on the beach, then turned our heads for home.  Well, being the excellent sea-people that we are, we paddled that bad boy and skimmmmmmmed across the water!  Visions of a triumphant arrival flitted through our mind, and we knew too, that supper was on the barbie.  After a bit, we start scouting the shore for our campground (there are three different ones).  Turns out, after much discombobulation, we had gone WAY past our campground.  So we had to turn the canoe around and paddle back, but now we are going into the wind again.  We were so tired that at times we actually watched ourselves lose ground.  Things were getting desperate, because we hardly had the energy to stick the paddle in the water and pretend to stroke.  No one came to rescue us, and the wind didn't give us a break.  But we toughed it out and then lugged the darn thing back up to camp with the help of Carrie, who was starting to worry about us.  We sank into camp chairs while the cooks shoved huge helpings of salmon, couscous and steamed veggies into our hands.  We slept that night like tiny infants, and I'm guessing Nathan slept best of all, since he had previously taken three trips out already that day!

We had a really good time, and we are going to miss Dalrymples when they move away!

I'm Back!

I'm home again and now it's time to get in the swing of real life!  Actually, I've been home for a week and I'm still not in the swing of things.  I think I am ready for summer vacation.  Must......do......school!

I had a great trip, took the kids up to northern Idaho for some family time.  Spent time with a sweet niece and nephew, spent time with my folks and my two siblings still at home then went to the wedding of a first cousin and got to see SO MUCH WONDERFUL family!  My grandma, some aunties and uncles, more cousins, some with spouses and children, yay!  And I left my camera at my parents and got pictures of nothing.  Zip.  (Not quite as bad as video taping my nephew's birth by hitting the record button when it was already recording, thereby stopping the camera at the crucial moment....)  My parents are moving in with my mother's grandparents, so my sister and I went up to my parents and "helped" them pack, bringing along our five children.  A busy time, a good time and as always, over too soon.

While I was up there, I got to pirate my sister's facebook and see family and stuff.  My principles are far, far too high to allow facebook for myself, but not too high to piggy back off of hers.  =D  Anyway, the point is that my very cool uncle (a few mere years older than myself) posted a link to this youtube video and I love it!  It's inspiring and fun, makes me want to have a family band.  So we'll be getting a piano one of these days, maybe a drum set, too.  Might as well embrace the noise with kids, eh?  

The SNL skit says it all about v-necks, though.   

Back in the Saddle Again

Well, I've had good reasons for being absent for this long, one of which is FAMILY!

We got to be all together right at the end of August, and that was no small feat!  Everyone made tremendous effort to get there, oh, except for Calysta who just lazed around because everyone came to her house. ;)  Poor girl was caught pulling weeds, cleaning siding, re-screening windows and washing and dusting entry windows that were only reachable by ladder and teeny ledges.  She was expecting a mere 15 people to add to her family.  

So we got some much coveted family photos, thanks to Calysta's Mike.  Thanks, Mike.  You're the man.

So here's a sweet pix of Mom and Dad, who started all this business:

And here's all of us, from 32 to 10:

Melita, Virginia, Calysta, Susan, Marian, Wesley and Brynna

And we seem to have kept the business going:

A lovely jaunt to Guemes Island to visit my mother's parents, Bruce and Jeanne Notson.  I guess this is how the kids smile as hard as they can. =)  I think my kids would like to move there!

I took the kids on this trip up north and we were gone for 15 days, whew!  Still, it felt like our time at each place was too short.  Next time, we take Papa with us and stay for longer!  =)  

Now that I'm home, it's been a bear getting back in the swing of things.  I'm being a homebody and a recluse.  But that's a subject for another post.  

Yellowstone

Hi there!  I've got lots to blog about, but WHEN am I ever going to get it up?

In the middle of May, we went to Yellowstone.  After a too-quick stop off to see my sister and her darling offspring, we met up with Shane's brother Jason.  Jason has a lovely wife and darling son and they all made our trip more fun.  They are the super relaxed kind of folks, the people that never get in a tizzy about anything and just go with the flow.  It's a good influence on Shane and I. =)

Jason with said darling wife, Kelly and Sam.  Ahhhhh!

We saw many an interesting creature....

Many an interesting thermal feature...

And had the frustrating experience of bringing a cooler full of food to grill and not a grill in the park available to grill on.  In fact, I went searching for one where a park was marked on the map and as I walked across the snow, I came upon a picnic table, and stepped DOWN off the snow onto the top of the table.  I was not sure how to then search for a fire pit.  Dig up several feet of snow all around with my bare hands?  Anyway, all this led to meeting up with a park ranger who took pity on us and ran an extension cord out the back of the ambulance bay where we cooked up most of our meat.

Bacon, Sausage, Pancakes and Potatoes.  Good fare for bums, eh?

The next day, we made a pilgrimage to a park outside Yellowstone and finished off the burgers and steak and just ate them cold for the last few days.  =)

**** 

To summarize, we saw four adult bears(one with two cubs), elk, bison and babies, big horn sheep, osprey, bald eagle, golden eagle, trumpeter swan, wolf, coyote, bull snake, white pelicans, yellow-bellied marmots and many little chipmunks.  We saw Old Faithful erupt 3 times, and a few other geysers as well.  We saw the bubbling mud pots, and it all was interesting and stinky!  And if you want to see ALL the pictures, click the link on the sidebar that says "Stafford Family Albums" and you'll find the album labeled Yellowstone.  =)  Cheers!

White Sands

It was a beee-uuuuutiful trip!

 We went to White Sands for a little family vacation not too long ago, along with another family.  We'd never been, but had heard wonderful things about the area.  These sand dunes are made of gypsum, I believe the only dunes if their kind in the world!  It's a little like playing in coarse ground sugar... minus the sticky... plus the bad taste... So not exactly the same.  We picked up some lunch and then headed out to the dunes.  We had fun sliding down dunes and waxing our sleds and riding down the steep side.  We went back to the hotel and cooled off, then went back to the dunes for a Sunset Walk.  It was niiiiiiice!

Aidan and Julia wanted to be buried in the sand, too!  It is so easy to get overheated, we happily buried them and shaded their faces! =)

I had to make them take breaks, just LOOK at those hot faces!  Only Papa and Mama burned, though.

Our leetle family in the desert!

We are fans of "my space" shots.  I think they are kinda fun!

The moon was up before the sun went down.  It doesn't even look close to the reality, but still pretty cool, eh?

Julia, with the moon in the background.

The dunes are in a basin surrounded by several mountain ranges.  The contrast is so awesome!

And this is the lovely family that put up with our little kids and late timing, all the while being very gracious!  They knew the area, and that is why we had such a great time!

We've got plans for when we go back next time!  First, we need a tent or easy-up for shade.  We will do better with the thickest sunblock we can find.  There is NO WAY to avoid vitamin D uptake at this elevation and sunniness!  Also very hard to avoid skin cancer....  So it pays to be particular.  And I think we'll spend more time there at sunset.  It starts to cool off a little and it's so gorgeous!!  

Maybe you'll need to come and see for yourself... ;)