Good-bye Grandpa until we meet again

In February Grandpa Tessendorf fell ill and was taken to the emergency room. After doing some tests it was discovered he had a tumor in his lung that was cancerous. That was in Feb... Today Grandpa entered the gates of heaven at 8:30am. We are very sad to see him go but have great comfort in knowing we will see him again someday. Some of the things that brought Grandpa joy were; eating ribs (oh how he LOVED ribs), Matta's was one of his favorite restaurants to visit, watching our kids play sports and other activities. My list can go on and on....
We will miss Grandpa dearly. "God be with you till we meet again"

Scout Camp Surprise

Ok,so I don't have a picture to share but hopefully you can create your own. Cameron went to scout camp last week with the boy scouts. He came home on Saturday. We could tell it had been a while since he had taken a shower. After hearing about all the rain they recieved at camp I found myself a little nervous to open his bag. Some time had passed... Marc was the brave one to dive into the unpacked bag. As he started pulling the wet clothes out it was obviuos all the contents needed to head straight for the washer. Cameron had taken a towel just in case he did take a shower. It was never unpacked we could tell and right on top was a dead frog. I was completely grossed out as was all the girls'. We can't wait to see what surprises will come next year.

Scout Camp = Peace

Cameron left bright and early yesterday morning for scout camp. I guess you could say we were a little crazy getting everything all put together for a couple days before he left. I love my son, really I do, but I didn't realize what taking 1 child out of house does for the noise level. There is a lot less fighting and a little more relaxing going on these days. He will return on Saturday and when he does I will be ready for the craziness to begin again. For now... I am enjoying the little bit of peace.

Braces again..first Cameron now Kaelyn

It was about 6 months ago or so when we found out Kaelyn would for sure need braces. She acted disappointed but we all knew how excited she really was. This last Monday (July 13th) it happened....ta dah..braces!!! Excuse the close up view of her bottom teeth. Because she got them on the bottom and with the way she smiles it is very hard to see them. Hope she brushed her teeth so you can't see any surprises. In August Kaelyn will get the top on. From the discomfort she has had these last few days I am not so sure she is quite as excited anymore. We will make sure to keep the wax handy. I can't wait to see her pretty new smile in 2 years when they are scheduled to come off.

Friends

A good friend of mine gave a wonderful talk on Sunday. She spoke of friends and the importance of them. There are many different types of friends we all have. One that I have thought a lot about these last couple of days is Christ-like friend. I hope that when my friends think of me they consider me to be a Christ-like friend. I love my friends and how they inspire me to be a better mom, wife and friend.

Grandpa Washburn

I don't have much to say about this photo other than... I Love It!!!!! We are grateful to Grandpa Washburn for putting on these reunions every year. Thanks Grandpa and we will see you next year.

Ride'm Cowboy

Our kids were so excited to ride the horse while we were in Idaho. Marc's brother Jim who lives right next door to Grandpa Washburn has a horse named Maggie. This year as part of the reunion whenever the kids completed an activity they would recieve a ticket. The last day of the reunion they would go down to Rich and Yvette's house to spend their tickets at the little store. For riding Maggie you got 1 ticket. I can't even count how many times our kids rode Maggie.

Reunion fun....

Jumping the rope and dodgeball have been a tradition at the family reunions as long as I have been in the family. Every night after gathering for dinner, that's right..we would all eat dinner together, an area was cleared away for the nightly dodgeball and jump the rope fun. The past couple of years we have also started playing a little soccer and ultimate frisbee. We always have tons of fun and can't wait for the next year.

Cousins...

These are just a few of the Washburn cousins we get to see every year. Beckie, Kelly and I decided one night to count up the family and see how we have the family has grown. Within just a few minutes we realized our family had grown to 105. Wow!!! That is a big family.

We have arrived....

The flight was FABULOUS!!! The kids were so excited for their can of soda they get. Cameron couldn't figure out why you only get one. He thought there should be the option of getting as many as you wanted. Boise greeted us with cooler weather. The kids were anxious to get to Grandpa Washburns.

Airport Experience

On Monday we left for Boise, Idaho. Marc's family holds a family reunion in Nampa, Idaho that we attend every year. This year we were lucky enough to fly instead of drive. In the years past we have driven to Utah where we stayed with some of our good friends. Since last summer some family has moved in with them leaving us without a place to stay. With that and Marc's frequent flyer miles we were lucky enough to fly. This was most of kids first time on a plane. As you can see from the looks on their faces...they were so excited!!! Marc and I were excited as well. We took an 18 hour drive and made it into a 2 hour flight.