Bell Family Reunion - Outer Banks, NC

I can't even begin to explain how much we loved our family reunion in the Outer Banks. The beachhouse was awesome, the company was great, the weather cooperated (most of the time), the beaches, lighthouses, etc. were fascinating, and the food never ended! And, the best part is that Joe was able to join us for most of the week!

I was so sad when I woke up this morning and realized that I have to get back to real life again and that I don't have an amazing vacation to look forward to anymore. But the memories are so great! Thanks to the NC Bells for doing a great job, and to everyone else for making it a wonderful week for my family.

I have a bunch of great pictures (somebody will figure out the best way to share them, right?), but here are a few of my favorite pics from the week:

Piano Recital

Last Tuesday I held an end-of-summer piano recital at my house for my students. They all did so well, and I was so proud of them! I have been teaching for 8 1/2 years, and some of these students are starting their 6th year with me. I LOVE having them come to my home each week and visiting with them, sharing their lives, and watching them grow - not to mention teaching them to play an instrument that they will use for the rest of their lives! It's a very rewarding job for me - now if I could only get my OWN kids to practice!

Back Row: Taylor Tahbo, Breanne Taylor, Hannah Norton, McKenzie Harmon, Alyssa Harmon.

Front Row: Shawni Muhlestein, Bailey Tahbo, Garrison Norton, Alex Weaver (and don't those two look excited to be there?), Andrew Perkins, and Joshua Greathouse. The only one who couldn't come was Jordan Taylor - he is the quarterback of his football team and didn't want to miss his game! Go Lehi!

Now I am taking a couple of weeks off so I can go on vacation!!!!

What do I do with this?

So, we have family pictures coming up in a couple of weeks, right? (By the way, someone needs to make a decision on what we are all supposed to wear, because I'm getting conflicting reports.)

Well, Josh decided that he wanted to "make his hair look like he was jumping on the trampoline" - whatever that means - and took the scissors and clipped two big chunks right out of the front. How do I fix this? His hair is so light that if I cut it too short, it completely disappears, but some of it is chopped clear down to the roots. So as far as I can tell, I have two options:

1. Cut it all really short - it will look like he is bald in pictures.

2. Cut it a little shorter and try to "blend in" the missing chunks.

I hope Great Clips has a miracle worker there tomorrow. What do you think? What have you done when your kids do this? Because I know they have, or if not - I know they will! : ) By the way, we had a really great time at the Salt Lake Bees game last night. Thanks Raida for the tickets!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

The kids went back to school today! I had them pose in front of the petunias to keep up the family tradition, even though some of my petunias didn't make it this summer, and they look all lopsided and sparse.

McKayla is in 6th grade - it's her last year of Elementary School. Her teacher is Mrs. Davis and she said she had a good day today. There aren't alot of her friends in her class this year, so she will get the opportunity to meet some new kids and make new friends.

Kyle came home from school today and said "This was the best day of my entire life!" I said, "Even better than a day at Disneyland?" He said, "Oh yeah! My class is awesome!" You gotta love that kind of enthusiasm from a 3rd grader. His teacher is Miss Rose - a first year teacher straight out of UVU - and she seems like she will be really great!

I'm so excited for my kids to start this new chapter in their lives, even though I can't really believe that summer is over!

Another room make-over!

This time it was McKayla's turn for a more grown-up look in her bedroom. (the pink fairies were so fun when she was 6 - but she will turn 12 in just a few months!)

I painted all the walls "Parisian Taupe" - which means tan - except one wall which is "Dreaming Blue" and the doors and trim are ultra white.

The room looks great, and she also now has a closet - so she is thrilled. I told her that she has to keep it this clean from now on!

Garden Fresh

Josh and I picked another huge bowl of tomatoes tonight. We already have this many in our fridge waiting to be bottled. I've got a project ahead of me this weekend! I'm so grateful that our garden is producing well this year; the last few years our tomatoes have been lousy.

I survived Camp Jeremiah Johnson

Since I'm Primary President, therefore a member of the Cub Commitee, and I'm also the parent of a brand new Cub Scout, I got to help chaperone eight 8-9 year old boys at Camp Jeremiah Johnson. The camp is up Hobble Creek Canyon near Springville and it has been around for years. It's extremely well organized and they know how to make a great adventure for the boys.

Luckily, this was the last rotation of our day: rafting. How did I possibly think that I could go out on the raft with the boys, and enjoy a nice ride up the pond and back without getting wet? Just because every other rotation of the day did this? Not our pack of boys! There were two rafts on the pond, and instead of just racing the rafts to the end of the pond, they had to start a water fight - I ended up SOAKING wet. I could wring water out of my hair! Everyone had a great time though, so I guess it was worth it. Here the boys are - Panning for Gold. I don't know what kind of "gold" it is, but each boy took home 4 or 5 little pebbles of something shiny.

Another rotation was the BB Gun range. Kyle has shot guns with his Dad a lot, but he still had fun shooting the bb guns.

In another rotation they taught the boys archery:

At one point in the day, the leaders showed the boys how the indians and pioneers made rope. They made a 25 foot rope, then had a tug-o-war with another pack from Eagle Mountain (Cedar Pass 16th Ward -do you know them?)

It was a fun, exhausting day. I have been before, but it is much more fun to go with my own son and watch him learn new things and get along with the other boys. Let the Scouting begin, right?