Bethany is home from girls camp!  That makes me very happy.  But here's what makes me very sad.

She has a bad case of pneumonia.  She came home on Friday and was worse off than when she left.  She had been sick leading up to camp, but we thought she was on the mend.  I don't know how she survived the entire week up there, but she is on antibiotics now and moving around as little as possible.  I feel very bad that other girls may have gotten sick from her.  When she is laying down and breathing regularly you can see one side rising much more than the other one, where the pneumonia is.  Her cough sounds terrible.  She had to get an antibiotic shot in the hip/bum yesterday at the doctor.  It was somewhat traumatic and especially since she's got no meat on her bones .

Abe was really happy to get to go up to camp Wednesday evening and spend the night.  But he wasn't so happy that there was likely a bear roaming around the camp and he was alone in a tent.  The girls were all in cabins.  A ranger came up and talked with him around midnight.  Scary.

I never got to stay in cabins at girls camp, but I bear these girls no ill will.  Rather I think everyone should camp in cabins whenever possible.  Much safer and more comfortable.

What a beautiful rainbow of rain ponchos!  I just don't think they would notice things like that at scout camp.

 

While Clark and Bethany were gone all week the little boys entertained themselves for many hours playing with the Legos.  

 One of Cannon's creations was "The House of Life".  Apparently I am the lovely brunette on the far right.  Abe is lying on the hammock.

With fewer people here to care for and run here and there I had a little more time this week.  I worked on planning our homeschool schedule for next year and did Sudoku puzzles.  Much like jigsaw puzzles, I get rather addicted to doing them.  I don't think I'm terribly good at either of them, but it's a kind of mindless thinking that I am just simple enough to enjoy. 

How Did We Get Here Already?

Bethany left this morning for her first year of Girl's Camp.  She was so excited and happy to be going with friends.  I'm accustomed to Clark leaving for various camps, but my Bethany has never left me before.  Poor Faith didn't quite know what to do with herself today without Bethany.  I think Elinor is perfectly fine to be the oldest at home for a little while.

Bethany wasn't feeling very well in the days leading up to camp, but I think she was good to go by the time she went.  My good friend, Jenn (in green) is our camp leader and I am so thankful for her willingness to go and helping to provide such an opportunity for Bethany.

And Bethany may have been morbidly embarrassed by her father getting on the bus to take yet another picture, but at least she knows he loves her!

And Clark, who is now 14, had his first day of EFY (Especially For Youth) at UVU today in Orem.  He'll be sleeping at home but will spend everyday this week from 9-9 with awesome youth, leaders, speakers, activities and dances.  He gave me a super big hug when he got home this evening.  Oh, yes, I think this will be money well spent.

And I am left pondering how Abe and I can possibly have children old enough for EFY and Girls' Camp? And here's the best thing of all this week.

Clark was ordained to the office of Teacher on Sunday.  We are so happy for him and this newest milestone.  

Final Birthday Fun

My very useful birthday gift from a very clever friend.  Camille and I have joked about needing a number dispensing system like they have in fabric stores.  When I am feeling overwhelmed by children's requests for my help I will say, "Take a number, get in line".
As such a dispenser is quite expensive she was resourceful and made me one!

One more birthday celebration!

Due to my lack of planning some of my piano students stayed a little longer last Tuesday morning.  The little cuties decided to make a pancake birthday feast for Hayden (in blue- it was his actual birthday) and me.
That is not an actual cigar Faith has in her mouth.  It's a cheese stick.

As far as the rest of the week, it was quite a blur to me.  I had a hard time adjusting to the pace of life post vacation.  It felt like stepping onto a treadmill already moving at about 12 miles an hour.  I pretty much got wrung through and couldn't get off.

Clark did another of his science camps this past Saturday morning.  This one was not as well attended, just due to schedules, but it was a really fun one-- rocks and volcanoes along with earthquakes and erosion.  Lots of good earth science!

 They made and erupted volcanoes.

A nifty erosion experiment.

Not so much erosion when there is plant growth.

Popcorn treat for the Magic School Bus show we watched.

All this science and nature is well and good, but it went a little too far this week.
Clark came up the basement stairs and screamed like a girl.

Oh no...!
What has escaped?
My life is so gross.

The snake laid eggs.

Yes, you may recall the honking huge snake Clark caught up in Spokane?  

Well, the snake laid TWELVE eggs!!! Clark got online to research how to incubate them and this is what he came up with.  I'm not sure why he has marked them with X's, but I trust Clark's expertise.
You may wonder what we will do with 12 baby bull snakes, should they successfully hatch.  I don't know, but I do know that we will NOT be keeping any of them.

On the bright side we've never known the gender of any of our snakes for sure before and now we're quite sure.  You can imagine what joy this is to Clark-- he's going to be a father!

Wrapping Things Up

The reunion ended Friday evening.  It was almost more fun than we could stand.  Children were dropping off to sleep all over the place at all hours of the day.  The moms and dads were sneaking in a few winks whenever possible. But we weren't done playing yet.  Somehow we mustered the strength for a four mile hike on Saturday morning.

This mass of humanity is only Abe's and Jesse's families.  My, how we've multiplied!

Annie (in the middle) is really into camping and the great outdoors, so she instructed Elinor and Faith as they went along.

 Not a great picture, but really great dads and their littlest boys.

And really nice moms, if I do say so.

That evening we went on a date with our good friends who live in the area.  They are both originally from the Spokane area and now live there with their six children.  Of course Abe and Justin have been friends since childhood, but it works out beautifully that I adore Emily and we've built our own friendship over the years.

  After a very filling dinner we walk on the boardwalk at Lake Coeur d'Alene.  The baby carseat carrier was kind of heavy for the walk so they grabbed a luggage cart and pulled the baby long.  What might you assume if you were walking by this sight?  Emily and I were chatting and walking a little way behind so we we saw the looks they were getting.  We were so proud of our men!

Sunday night we enjoyed a gourmet dinner at Baden (youngest brother) and Mary's house.  She made us the most beautiful chocolate cake.  I will admit that this picture does not do justice to how elegant it looked.  My children could not get over how good it looked-- and tasted!  All of us in the picture have July birthdays.

We went up to the hill for our final goodbyes to Grandma and Grandpa Fox..

Lucky, lucky grandkids.

We headed back to Jesse and Amy's house with plans to head straight to bed to get an early start home the next morning.  But we didn't go straight to bed.  We enjoy them too much!  We stayed up late (again), drank herbal tea and played Mafia.

Bethany and Julia really took it to the next level and decided to stay up all night.  As in, don't go to sleep at all-- ALL NIGHT!
They did it.

And this was the girls for much of the ride home today.

Poor Cannon tossed his cookies a few times on the drive home.  Sadly, this used to be a much bigger deal when a child threw up in the car.  Now they just call for a bag, someone passes it back, they take care of business, pass the bag back up, I hand back a wipe and a bottle of water, we stop at a gas station to dispose of the bag and we keep moving on.
Elinor and Faith tend to get carsick on long drives so we do have some experience.

So besides throw-up, a speeding warning in Montana, an engine threatening to overheat, and a dying air conditioner-- it was an okay ride home.  We've done it better, but at least there were no snowstorms.

We're so happy to be home, but I absolutely must do one last shout-out to Jesse and Amy and their family.  They hosted us for a full week!  They went from housing 8 people to 16 people for a week!  Lest you think we are super rude in staying for so long, we did suggest that we not stay for so long, but they were so kind and insisted that it was be okay.  And from our perspective it was was more than okay.  We were so comfortable there, our children were so happy playing with cousins there, and the late night adult conversations were so enjoyable.

Jesse and Amy,-- THANK YOU so much!  You guys are the best and we owe you BIG TIME!  

Happy Birthday, Clark!

Clark regularly celebrates his birthday during a Fox Family Reunion.  This year we produced the absolute worst rendition of "Happy Birthday" I have ever heard.  Really, really ugly.  We neither started nor ended together.  No two people sang in the same key and we were not together at any point in between.  This from a rather musically talented family.  It was an accomplishment.

This picture is probably a little too accurate.

Kid mayhem in the bounce-house.

An afternoon temple trip.

Precious time with cousins.

 Faith went hiking with some cousins her age and their Moms.

As the reunion died down there was a little more time to catch up.

We enjoyed a fun game of Fox Family Jeopardy and then the reunion officially ended.  Although we're still here for a couple more days.  

The Fourth Done Right

The Fourth of July started off with a Fox family swim at a local pool.  Here is Clark practicing his racing dive.

Ford, Adam, and Clark.  They are all about a year apart in age.

The synchronized swimmers in a moving display of aquatic grace.

Such fun.

I loved sitting on the side of the pool with my wonderful sister-in-laws.  George tired of the water and sat with me for much of the time.

 There was a really good sized kiddie pool and the little kids had so much fun.

Sadly, the swimming in the big pool was cut short when someone deposited a smelly little something in the pool.  Yucky.  Kind of funny, but yucky.

When we were done swimming we walked right over to a pavilion for lunch.

Uncle Micheal, Adam, and Ford demonstrated how proper military honors were done at a Veterans funeral. It was very well done and quite touching.

Aunt Samatha led the cousins in a patriotic program of music and quotes.

 The family reconvened in the evening for campfire and smores and a family sleep-out on the hill.

The four-wheelers were a constant hit.

Abe and Elinor after their annual four-wheeler ride together   (Abe note: Els was SO pleased to find another HUGE wild turkey feather again this year).

Faith and Eliza were so excited to discover they had matching pajamas.  They slept in Eliza's tent.

More visiting time for me.

Some things happen every year-- like catching toads.

 Grandpa and Bethany......and Toad.

There are train tracks just below the hill and we regularly hear the train whistle.  George has loved it and yells out, "Thomas!" (As in Thomas the Train).  He and I would run around to the front yard to look for the trains.

It is very exciting.

Fun with cousins in the tent.

 Watching everyone else's fireworks from Foxhill.  Beautiful.

Like father...

Like son!