It’s hard to believe July is over! We had so much fun!! We missed the fireworks and the parade, but we had a great time at the Woodbage/Family Camp at Camp Bartlett in Idaho the week of July 4th. The kids each had their own classes/activities daily—Nursery, Pioneers, Trappers, Mountain Women and Troupers. We did fun things, like hiking, swimming, river rafting, horseback riding, singing, scrapbookking…. We were all so busy, that we didn’t have a lot of time to notice that Shawn was doing his own program. (Shawn was a Bobwhite [a type of quail] – which Shawn is proud of because he considers it a good LNT [Leave No Trace] animal.) The kids had fun and were so busy that they all fell asleep, as soon as they climbed in their bags. In fact, one night Shawn asked Dane what he had done that was fun that day; Dane said one thing and promptly fell to sleep. Shawn fell to sleep also, started snoring, then awoke and asked Dane what else he had done that was fun. When he got no answer, Shawn said, “Oh, I guess he fell asleep” and Shawn went back to sleep also.
Brigitta went on two overnighters, one hiking and the other horseback riding. (This kind of made up for Girls Camp—since she was sick that week.) She had told Shawn before the camp that she did not want to go because he would be busy and she would never see him anyway. Shawn kind of turned the comment on her after she had been gone for two-and-a-half days, only being glimpsed a few times by anyone in the family.
The camp was well planned, and as Spouses (Troupers) we could be as busy or as free as we wanted to be. I can’t remember the last time I went river rafting—I think it was before college. And I didn’t feel guilty, as the kids all had their own activities and they were having so much fun. Sorina has about five songs she can sing really well. We would all go again.
We had a week break after camp in which Shawn prepared for his camp to Loll, up near Yellowstone, and I took 7 kids to Lagoon by myself on the hottest day of the year. Shawn went to Camp Loll and the kids and I hung out at home and did a few fun things. Toren took swimming lessons, I got to take four kids to the dentist, Dane to the doctor twice, and Brigitta spent time with Alyssa and Grandma and Grandpa Trauntvein. Shawn came home from camp enthusiastic because all four boys that he took stayed all week – of course they were in a cell-phone hole and were also over five hours away, so Shawn wants to take the scouts back to the same camp next year (its kind of an all or nothing decision then.) Dane wanted to take swimming lessons but had a little accident/injury on the first day, so he’s taking lessons in August.
This week has been eventful also. Shawn and the boys wanted to go fishing on the 24th holiday. Kimberly drove and blew the tire on the van. We were also skunked on the fishing, but Lady got to swim in Lost Creek Reservoir, so she had the fun. The boys had fun trying different kinds of lures and baits because nothing was working. Brigitta opted to go to a swim party with a friend, so she missed the trip. Sorina didn’t appreciate fishing much.
We went to Aunt Helen’s Christmas in July Lunch and noticed how many of our family have moved or are serving in various Church callings. We had a nice visit and appreciate Aunt Helen for this family tradition and all that she does for the family. We also visited friends and got to ride horses later on Saturday (after Aunt Helen’s party.) Shawn was quite impressive on the cutting horse (thanks dear, but you should point out that I was riding in a large corral, and did not get past a fast gallop.) Kimberly and all of the kids also had fun riding the smaller horse (she is about the same height as Little Lou was.) Sorina wanted to play with the horses and ended up in a face plant in the corral when she crawled through the fence, and as mom tried to grab her to curb her enthusiasm. Bless her little heart, Sorina keeps trying to like black licorice, but she just does not like it. But she keeps trying. Oh, and we now have a Dane and a Toren in our family, instead of two Danes; Sorina has finally started calling Toren “Toren” instead of “Dane.” This means, though, that Toren now gets his fair share of the blame. Toren has similarly evolved. Toren used to call our neighbor Mister Gowers, who is constantly in his garage doing bodywork on wrecked cars (to sell), Mister Garagers. But I guess Toren finally figured out that the two names were different, kind of like Mister Screwdriver doesn’t sound quite the same as Mister McGuire. Dane starts football in August and the boys start school on the 15th of August and Brigitta on the 24th of August. Soccer is also looming at the end of August, so our Saturdays are planned for a while. Summer is winding down and it is kind of sad, but we’ve had a great month and look forward to having a wonderful August, as well.
Now, my vote is that you give us a bit of family history on your parents and then whomever and then we can move onto information on your children's spouses!!! By the way, I am keeping all of these newsletters.
We are so glad to have the old Trauntvein family piano. (It is the one Grandpa Henry and Grandma Gladys bought for the aunties to learn on.) We bought it from cousin Linda because she and Mike are moving to a smaller place. Shawn sat down to play “Twinkle, Twinkle” (with one finger) last night with Sorina--one of her favorites. She sang and clapped. Then she wanted him to play “Popcorn on the Apricot Tree.” He was more than a little challenged. So he hit a few keys and she sang happily.We love the piano. Shawn has polished it up nicely. He is asleep and I need to be too. Goodnight. (I understand that it is full of memories--good ones. Enjoy! Love, M)
The Pink Hat Club (Sorina actually believes one of these hats belongs to her Daddy and she tries to get him to wear it often. Kimberly) If you think the picture looks funny, then you should have seen Sorina and Sahwn outside the other day. We were going to walk down to a neighbor’s house, and she put on her hat and brought me the matching one and put it on my head. I wasn't sure about wearing it outside, so I took mine off. Well, she then took hers off too. So I put mine back on and she put hers back on too. Well, I started walking down the street and saw a car coming, so I took mine off (and you know what follows), she took hers off too. Then I just went ahead and put mine on (which she copied) and we wore them the rest of the way down to the neighbor’s house. I did not want to scare the neighbor we were visiting, so we took
off our hats at the door. On the way back home we wore our hats. One other neighbor saw us on our way home (one we don't know well), as they were coming out to get in their car. They did not need to say anything; the looks on their faces said it all. I could not think of much of an explanation, so we just continued on our merry way. About all I can think of that I might have said, which probably wouldn't have helped, is "You see the hat ... I am Mrs. Nesbitt." Unlike Buzz Lightyear, however, I was not in a state of depression and disillusionment.
-Shawn
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