July update is complete!

So I'm finally following through with my promises of catching up on my blog! I just finished up July 2010 and am working on Aug. If you have looked at my blog lately then you have seen this first post because it has been up for a while but if you keep scrolling down you will see all of July :D You will need to click on "older posts" to see all of my July posts. Enjoy!

Hero Camp! July 26th

One of our favorite activities of the summer was going to Hero camp with my cousin Amber. A few moms from her stake put this on every year and it is just AWESOME! All moms that sign up their kids have to volunteer one day so it ends up being a team effort. The kids spend the whole week learning about Book of Mormon Hero's in a really fun and creative way. Each day they had a Book of Mormon Hero come in and talk to the kids about his life. The kids really enjoyed this and got excited about meeting their Hero's each day. One day my cousin Jeff came as Nephi and I heard Paul yell out over all the kids "LOOK MOM IT"S NEPHI!!!!" to him it REALLY was Nephi :D

Each day was jam packed full of activities, scavenger hunts, dog shows, pictures, singing, scriptures, crafts and snacks! I know that this is something my boys will never forget and I hope we have the opportunity to participate again.

I tried to take as many pictures as I could but I still had to take care of Ben which made it difficult!

Monday....

Paul was so excited to finally be old enough to participate! He always has to watch the "big boys" go to school and parties etc... but now that he is 4 he gets to do things with the "big boys"!

This was a pretty hectic morning because the kids were super excited and didn't know what to expect, but this girl was just AMAZING with the kids!

She had them laughing, singing songs and having a GREAT time! After the opening ceremonies they were off to do crafts and other fun activities!

Tuesday...

Tuesday was great because they started the day with a dog show!!! What kid doesn't want to watch dogs do tricks!?!? My kids talked about this for weeks!

Even Ben and Mary enjoyed the show :)

These dogs were pretty amazing!

Here is Joseph.....

Brig....

and Paul enjoying the show!

Wednesday...

Here are a few of the activities they did on Wednesday....

they went into the gym which was full of timed stations with little challenges at each one.

Here is Joseph trying to stack his apples the highest...

...it was quite a challenge to get them to stay put!! But Joseph was a good sport...

then they had to shoot down soda cans with rubberbands...

Brig was proud to be the only one who actually knocked them all down!

And they had to move cotton balls from one bowl to another without using their hands!

Paul got to be in the same group as his cousin Karen! (my cousin Ambers little girl)

They had alot of fun together and it was great to see them get to know each other a little bit.

WE carpooled with my friend Amber Lowry so I had a car FULL of boys!

After Hero camp on Wednesday we met Grandma Bettie and my cousin Katie at the beach. The boys love the beach and ALWAYS have a great time there!

Group picture :)

Thursday...

Amber was in charge of one full day and I was on her crew to help out and set up. She had her brother Jeffrey come in as Nephi and tell about his trials and the adversity he faced and how he trusted in the Lord and was blessed. They had a "Book of Mormon Hero" come in at the beginning of each day to talk to the kids. It was so cute to see their excitement as they got to meet their Hero's! The kids REALLY got into it!

Jeff (I mean Nephi ;) did a great job with the kids!

Some of the kids sang a song for Nephi!

We made a the gym into a Beach Party! The goal was to teach them to work together as a team as they moved from one station to the next...

This was Pauls group.

and this was Brigs group....

I missed Josephs group :(

The parachute was a BIG HIT of coarse!

Here is Paul with a few kids in his group.

They couldn't get enough of the bouncer...

.... and they learned to work as a team as they played soccer...

...even the big kids had a good time!

...they had to dig through the balls to find puzzle pieces and then work as a team to put the puzzle together...

..and they had to compete against another group to see who could stack the buckets to the line first. They had a great time at our "beach party" learning how to be team players!

On the last day of Hero Camp we had a graduation ceremony for the kids. They got to do skits, sing and dance and at the end they were given certificates, medals and a little scrapbook of their week. It was a really cute little ceremony (I got it on video that's why I don't have pictures of it).

Here's a picture of the boys showing off their medals and their scrapbooks.

After the "Graduation" they had a party at the Lagoon. They had a great time swimming and playing with all their new friends...and it was SUCH a beautiful day!

Ben finally got to participate in the fun!!!

I just love this picture of Ben! He e looks like a little Cupie doll or the Coppertone baby! He is so dang cute, I just want to eat him up !

And look at what a sweet boy Paul is!

Again...he was such a good sport with his cast on!

Brig helped take care of him to make sure he didn't get his cast wet.

They had so much fun and DID NOT want to leave.

What an AMAZING week! I am SO GRATEFUL that my boys were able to participate in Hero camp and see the Book of Mormon come to life. I know this is an experience they will never forget! These are the little things that over time increase their faith and build their testimonies. I can't express how grateful I am to have the Gospel in my life and all the WONDERFUL people who love and care about my children and their well being. It truly takes a village to raise a child and I am so grateful for all the support that I receive from other church members. I hope I can give back as much as I am given :)

Pioneer Day Celebration ~ July 24th

Our ward did a really fun activity for th 24th of July celebration. The leaders dressed up like pioneers and showed the kids how to do some of the things the pioneers did. First they sat around a "campfire" and sang songs.....

The kids REALLY enjoyed that! Sister Fuller (the primary pres. was so great with the kids)

then they got to work! Here is Paul working hard with his one arm :)

They learned how to make butter....

and bread...

am I doing it right!?!?!? ;)

They learned how to make some of the games that the pioneers played....

And finally they learned how to lasso! We had a "real life" cowboy in our ward, Brother Gibson, who came to teach the kids how to rope a horse or cow. They had so much fun with this! Brigham was first...of course!

And this is how it's done...

then he got to try on his own....success!

After Paul saw Brig do it he wanted a turn.

Here is brother Gibson teaching Paul...

I was so impressed that he got it so quickly...I might have some cowboys on my hands in a few years :)

Joseph did a great job too!

And they ended this fun day with a pioneer dinner and stories around the "campfire". What a blessing it is to be associated with such great people who work so hard to create wonderful activities like this for my children to learn and grow in the gospel.