4th of July Reunion

We journeyed to Menan, ID for the 4th of July, again this year.

Packing is a little-bit of a process for me. This is my picture-of-the-day for my project 365. I have everyone's outfit laid out for each day. Trying not to pack too much, but making sure everyone has enough.

 Menan is a little town by Rexburg, ID. Rexburg is the location of BYU Idaho.

Now that we all know where Menan is, I can continue...

Most of Dan's mom's family lives in Menan. This year, ALL of Dan's sisters were able to come down for the Clark reunion. So, of course, that means LOTS of pictures. :)

I don't have any of the other group shots...but I love this "sibling picture".

These are Dan's fabulous sisters. Aren't they cute?!

They even let me join the squeezed-face picture!

When I look at this picture, a certain Sesame Street songs comes to mind "...one of these things is not like the others...."

Anyways...

Every 4th of July, they have a breakfast at Grandma Clark's home. Since the 4th was Sunday, we celebrated on the 5th.

First, we started with a flag ceremony.

ahh yeah..... That's MY hottie...

Then a delicious breakfast of the best-wheat-pancakes-ever, sausages, hashbrowns, and fruit is served.

But the best part is the company...

Dan's sister, Michelle, and her adorable baby Sara. 

Everyday, she had a different, adorable bow. 

It's about time this mom of 3 older boys, had a girl to dress up!

Chelsea and her second cousin (?) Hallie. 

(Hallie is Dan's cousin, but Chelsea and Hallie were born about a month apart)

Then great-grandma Clark gives all the kids a dollar to spend at the Menan fair.

I can't believe I forgot, again, to take a picture of the fair. Ugh. 

Here's Michael at the ring toss, a booth set up by our own Aunt Ann. 

He didn't win this year, but Chelsea did!

He won last year, so I guess it's even now...

Our cousin Devon, brought his shaved-ice trailer, so we had to support his endeavor!

"blue raspberry tongues"

After playing a few games, and watching the entertainment, we went to the parade. Our cousin-in-law, Mike, brought a huge flat bed trailer, to reserve our spot for the parade. It was packed, so it was awesome to have a place to sit! Thanks Mike!

(...again, I failed to take a picture....)

They had the chocolate-milk trailer as the opening float,  again this year! YAY!

After the parade, we headed straight up to the ranch.

We were greeted with lei's, hawaiian music, and  a pina colada!

 

while we were there, Aunt Janet turned the dreadful 40! 

They made this casket for her with a pudding cake inside.

 

It was SO stinkin' cold while we were there! At night, it got below freezing, and the days felt barely above 60. Even though we were camping in the cold, the kids were so worn out, they slept soundly.

Other hi-lights of the reunion:

The men cleaning/fixing dan's gun? Something very manly, I'm sure...

Michael hardly left this fire-pit. He stayed by it the entire time, finding all sorts of things to put in it. My little pyro....

Brinly got a new "do", compliments of daddy...

We called her "incredi-girl!"

despite the cold, Chelsea and Hallie went swimming in the creek. BRRRRR!!!

On the last morning, we always have a pinata. Michael went at it!

Chelsea swung pretty good too!

Needless to say...the kids were pooped by the time we headed home...

And I bet you are too, after reading this excessively long post! 

my first "revamping" project.

The church that Michael went to preschool at, had a rummage sale. I have never been to a garage sale or rummage sale before. I've seen lots and lots of blogs of people that find old pieces of furniture and revamp them into something incredible.

 I saw this coffee table, and even though it was huge, I thought it might work for our living room.  I bought it for $20.

This is it right out of the car.

My original plan was to sand it down, and stain it a dark brown.

It also  had these weird panels in each center...and I brainstormed several things to do. 

Cover them with a cute fabric? tile them? make a picture collage?

In the end, I just beat them out. I didn't want to put very much money into this project, in-case it didn't turn out...

Here it is after several hours of sanding. Then I decided maybe I should a chemical stripper. That definitely did not work...only made it gooey. So, I dropped the idea of staining it, and now more than a month into the project, I decided it was time to finish. 

I bought some antique white spray-paint, and painted a few coats. 

Then I distressed the edges a little...

And put a light coat of stain over top, and immediately wiped it off, to try to give it more of the popular "shabby-chic" look that is popular these days...

I wish I hadn't. I'm not very good at it, and it was blotchy, so I spraypainted over it in some spots....

Then I  polyurethaned it. (is that a word? verb?) about 5 coats. 

And it was done.

MUCH better than the before:

However, the tiny fingerprints on it DAILY, and just the fact that it is glass, we decided it had to go. 

After several listings on craigslist, and a garage sale, a few more listings on craigslist, I finally sold it. 

for $30. 

Oh well. :) 

It was a learning experience. 

And yes, I'll probably do it again...

In fact...I am...right now. :) 

...to be continued.... :

Family Pictures!

My awesome sister-in-law took these pictures for us. The battery in her nice camera was dead, but I'm super impressed with these shots she got with just her canon powershot! Thanks Molly!

Do you have a favorite?

Brinly was SO cranky! 

She looks like such a sweet angel in these pictures, but she definitely had her horns on!

I'm so grateful to have updated family pictures!

Summer days

It is finally warming up here enough to play in the water!

We met up with some friends at one of the many splash pads in the area.

These are some of Chelsea's friends...Chelsea was off with Brinly.

 You can see Michael in the background.

Brinly wandered around the splash pad, trying to avoid the water....

...while her cute friend Clara couldn't seem to get enough!

And Michael? Well, he had a blast.

The...terrible ONES?!

I was in the bathroom, getting ready for the day. 

When I finished, I went to go pick up my clothes, and realized they were no longer there. 

That's when I found miss STINKER....

Does she look like she thinks she's in trouble?

Nah...she knows she's cute. 

Could YOU get upset at this gesture?!

On Saturday, our ward had its annual "Day at the Park".  Some of the members who have boats, volunteer to give boat rides. 

We got to ride in this pretty fancy-schmancy  boat. 

I want one...

...so does Michael....

our "captain" took us out on the columbia river to a place called "Bird Island". It's a bird refuge. It's hard to see all the birds with the trees and bushes that surround the island, but you could definitely hear them! 

"Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!" (Nemo reference...)

There were some pelicans and a few deer there too! It is against the law to set foot on this island, and even dock a boat here. Pretty neat experience!

Spring head!

I was exhausted from a long week and little sleep, so I took a nap.

The kids didn't mind...

They had dad to play with!

Just in case you didn't get enough...

here's the view from the back!

He's just so purdy!