the test....and i passed!!:)

well this time last weekend i was out at the campground with 9 kids ......alone.....!!!EEEk it was letitias 13th birthday bash, she wanted to do something extraoridinary this year and well i didnt want to clean up a house full of teens again and certainly didnt want to go anywhere extremely public with all these girls,as we know how loud that could get,so silly me i said hey why dont we go camping??She immediately loved the idea,and i immediately regretted saying it....lol....so here were are its friday and i was finishing up at work around 1130 in the am,went home and quentin was home for lunch from work and we began hitching up the trailer and loading up a bunch of stuff...
Off to the campground i went ,we stayed at the lake newell campground in h125 and i gotta tell you it was the nicest spot in the whole grounds!We were right in front of the lake,had a volleyball net right behind us...the toilets were a walk across the street...and the playground was right by us too.So i began to set up the tent trailer by myself and think i did a pretty good job!I waited til i got all the girls so they could set up their tent.
oh i forgot to mention i had invited a friend of mine out for the night,shes 29 and thought that she would be alot of help since i was gonna be out there by myself with all these kids!
So i finished up setting up the trailer and other stuff,,,,unhooking get all the electrical set up loading water,,,,etc....then i left and went in for the girls,,,and one boy,,,,sorry dylan:( we all loaded in the van...which i might add was not the most legal thing to do,but i drove very carefully:i anyways we were off to the lake with tons of stuff and kids in hand...or in van,,,,lol.....tell a bunch of teens to pack lightly cause they were only stayin for one night well some of them brought hair straighteners..makeup kits,,,,,haha and one even wore a dress!!I was already about to see the exciting evening i had in store for me!So when my friend FINALLY decided to show up...around 4 when she was supposed to arrive by 1 not bad only three hours late...lol....i should have told her 10 and she would have been there on time.We set up two tents...one for sleeping...and one for stuff and changing in...cause i thought with that many girls and that much stuff...they need ONE area to keep their stuff.
The whole tent,for their stuff was totally full!!the girls proceeded to pick out their spots of where in the other tent they were going to sleep...and yes it was a big tent and they all had lots of room!!Not that any sleeeping went on anyways....:)......It was kinda neat being around all these teenage girls as i was having some flashbacks of my own teen life with my friends...all the giggling and joke pranking going on was deja vu ....lol.....we all were just kinda eating whenever we wanted.....to start the fire letitia had gotten this firestarter item from london for her birthday and we all gave it a try....needless to say i was going to start the fire with a LIGHTER cause it seemed to be taking for ever.....but then erin kidd decided she was not going to give up and there would be no lighting the fire the old fashioned way,,,,with a lighter....she was determined to start it with this flint....and about 20 minutes later,,,,,she did it!!!Finally we got supper on the go.....lol....they all had hhotdogs hamburgers...smokies and more.....it was a great time as they all enjoyed cooking over the fire.Some of them enjoyed playing with the fire a little too much for my comfort but that was put a stop to in a hurry....:)....after they all ate they got a volleyball game goin and then went to the beach to hangout and swim in the ice cold water.....crazy teens.....oh did i mention my helper was just hangin out.....lol....ahhhh well i guess its a lesson learnt on my part,,,,soon it was getting dark and time to get the fire ready for marshmallows and smores.....yummmmm.......the girls too enjoyed all that ......then it was off to bed.....tent,,,,,tenttrailer....for some rest at around 1130......it was supposed to be quiet time...hahahaha...well lets just say a bunch of girls in a tent know nothing about being quiet....i secretly loved the laughter and chatting coming from the tent all night cause i knew they were having a great time.Finally my last "girls go to sleep" was at 430 in the morning....i then heard nothing more so i knew they had laughed themselves out,,,,,i woke to chirps of birds and sun peeking through the trailer.....so up i got to start our breakfast fire,,,,i got 36 boxes of mini cereal out with some milk and then got out a loaf of bread to make toast over the fire......one by one the girls heard me up and started writhing out of the tent.....they all made there way over to the table and well they ate alllllll 36 boxes of cereal...some even roasted weiners for breakfast and smokies too,,,,,ewwww,,,,,,then we were all around playing in the sand....some wanted to straighten their hair and shower....lol.....divas......those are the ones you know will travel from hotel to hotel when they have their families,,,,lol......anyways i just thought i would document my camping experience with all these teenage girls....i wonder how many boys ears were ringing the night we were out there...cause im sure they were giggling about boys.....lol...oh and as for my helper.....hahahahahahaha yeah i now know if i decide to do this again...i can do it alone!!:)

another mountain

well here we are today is monday,the day after mothers day....which i might add was not sooo great for me as a recognized mother,but we won't drudge that up again.Yesterday was a bit of a struggle and after a sleepless night of talking,discussion with my husband and our family as a unit.....we've made a decision of which i am proud of yet upset at the same time.A month or so ago we were discovering more about our friends lifestyle and religion,sure hope i'm wording this right...anyways...as we have been on this short yet educational journey, it has brought up alot of questions and discussion in our own lifestyle and relgious choices.To sum it up we have the utmost respect for our friends and the life they lead and we are sooo proud and happy to have them in our lives,however we have chosen to stay with our lifestyle and our religious beliefs which are not a whole lot different...just practiced differently .I write this a reminder to myself of this trying time coming to this choice,and also to thank the lord for bringing so many wonderful people into our lives as friends.I listened to this song today ...not for the first time but for the first time i REALLY listened to it...its called the climb,by miley cyrus.Believe it or not it hit home in alot of ways and it truly is a song of the times in our family,we only can say we look forward to the CLIMB and want the whites to know we luv you and appreciate you as our friends.I really dont know how to end this note ........:another day another task another climb

mothers day

Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers of the world and may your familys recognize how truly important a role you have within the unit of the family and may you all be blessed with a wonderful day!!<3

A WHOLE NEW WORLD

well here it is may third and it seems like forever since ive blogged......alot has happened in my life since the last time ,let me start by saying i now see the world and my family through a whole new lens.A few years ago my daughter letitia met this little girl in school and became quite attached to her,litterally,her name is london white.Well i was happy to have this new little friend for my oldest daughter,as she is quite a fussy friend picker and nearly puts her friends through an application stage and credit checks...lol....what im trying to say is that she holds her heart very close and doesnt give it away very freely,it must be earned!Well that was about 5 years ago now,since then they have become the closest of friends i've ever seen,i've often envied the great friendship the two of them have had....this little girl London has brought such joy into our family by sharing so much with us.By sharing i refer to herself and her family,her mom kimara and her dad sean,of course we can't forget blossom and annaboy:)......Before i jump ahead too much i would like to go back and tell you about a year into the friendship between my daughter and this little girl,i found out that london was a mormon.I was shocked my daughter was friends with a mormon...only because i was uneducated and had my own thoughts of this.I frequently asked questions to letitia about her mormon friend she had and she would find me the answers here and there,through the last few years getting to know london better in our family i realized shes just a normal girl with standards that i thought were very interesting and wanted to learn more.I since have become very close with Kimara and Sean and my family and i love to spend time with their family,because london spends alot of time with our family and we love to have her so often...Kimara and Sean thought it would be a great idea if we learnt a little more about the values and the choices that they as a family make.Quentin and I have began along with our family to meet with these wonderful young men,who i will call the elders,along with kimara and sean have been teaching us about the value of life and of Our Heavenly Father ..and how we need to have this in our lives....i can honestly say that this has been a scary experience for me as it is the fear of the unknown,,,,i've dabbled in many religions throughout my life but have never felt a connection or a love like ive felt with this family ....i cannot determine at this point where i am headed as it is for me to early to tell,but i can tell you i feel like i have hope for the first time in my life and that this feels right,and the reason for writing this is to thank London for coming into our lives as i beleive that she was brought to our family for a reason,and the reason can only do GOOD....:) ....to be continued....more great stories to come......