BHT Reunion 2012

Our family hosted the Benjamin Hewitt Tolman reunion this summer on the Tolman Ranch in Salmon. Benjamin Hewitt was Josh's great-grandfather who had 10 children. Each year, the families of those 10 children take turns hosting the reunion in order of oldest - youngest. There's even a family song that we sing every year at the reunion to the tune of 'Father Abraham'. It goes like this:

"Father Benjamin had 7 sons, 7 sons had Father Benjamin,

3 daughters, and 2 wives, and a great big huge posterity:

Ralph-Ben-Gerald-Don-Vonda-Twila-Ed-Rex-Jack-Louise."

The song not only helps me remember the siblings' names, but the order of the reunion rotation. Last year was Ed's family's turn, this year was Josh's grandpa Rex's family's turn, and next year it will be Jack's family's turn, etc.  There are only 2 siblings and 2 spouses still alive of the 10 children & spouses: Uncle Ed & his wife Joy, and Aunt Louise & her husband Joe. Joe & Louise never miss a reunion!

We'd been preparing the yard for months, to be ready to host the reunion on June 16. Our house is next door to Josh's parents house, separated only by the irrigation ditch. The majority of the reunion took place on their lawn, but we had activities and people staying in tents at our house, too, so Josh wanted it looking good. He built the new rockways this winter & spring, we stained the deck when school got out, we weeded and sprayed and mowed and watered and cleaned up the yard, planted flowers and bushes in the yard and the terrace, and Josh got the horses saddeled. Edward and Malachi poured more concrete at the basketball court, built a new GIANT giant stride, engineered a waterslide, fixed the tire swing, watered and mowed their yard, cleaned out the shop and pavilion, put new sand in the sandboxes, planted flowers, arranged the tables and chairs, set up the volleyball net, and fixed the firepit. It was tons of work, but SOOO worth it!

The reunion was on Saturday. Some family members came a day early, and some family members stayed an extra day, too, so there was tents pitched in both yards and 2 RV's parked between the road and the yard. All together, we had 100 people attend, representing 6 of the 10 families.

 Each of Rex & Beth's children contributed to the reunion meals. 

Ed & Kathy did the main food at lunch time. We ate grilled hot dogs and hamburgers. It was a yummy lunch!

Tim's wife Barb, Aunt Linette, Aunt Jane, and Aunt Janet did the main food at dinner time. We ate a variety of chiles and soups, and they were so filling!

It was a very relaxed reunion, with just the meal times planned, and all the other activities were set-up for whenever anybody wanted to do them. I liked how there was no structure or itinerary, so basically adults talked and kids played all day! The weather stayed nice, we ate good food, we enjoyed being with the family that came, and there were so many activities that the children never got bored. I absolutely loved it! It was one of my favorite reunions!

Some of the activities to do on the ranch included:

FISHING at the POND
(My kids didn't want to walk down the road to go fishing, so I didn't go & take any photos. But, some of Louise's family caught several big fish! There was a cow down at the fish pond that was following the family around, and cousin Sheri took this photo of her husband. It looks like the cow is gonna take the bait on his fish line!)

RIDING the HORSES

RIDING the BOAT in the DITCH

DIGGING for TREASURES in the SANDBOXES

RIDING the BUCKING BARREL

RIDING the BARREL TRAIN

DRAWING on the SIDEWALK with CHALK

JUMPING in the BOUNCE HOUSES
(Uncle Tim rented two of them: a large one and a small one. This is the smaller one for littler kids)

JUMPING on the TRAMPOLINES

PLAYING in the DITCH WATER

PLAYING in the DIRT PILE

SWINGING on the wooden horse swings, the powered tire swings, the giant stride, and the NEW GIANT, GIANT STRIDE

SLIDING down the WATERSLIDE

PLAYING VOLLEYBALL

PLAYING ULTIMATE FRISBEE

PLAYING CARDS & BOARD GAMES

That was 20 things for the kids to do! Here's 5 things that the adults did:

SIT on the GRASS & TALK

LAY & TALK

 MINGLE & TALK

SIT on CAMP CHAIRS & TALK

and STAND & TALK!!!

soccer ball & grass kickin'!

Jonah, Micah, and Kanyon participated in spring/summer soccer; the season went from the middle of May until the end of June. Halfway thru the season, there was a soccer camp that the BSU soccer coaches came and taught and the boys learned some new skills and had so much fun, too. All 3 of them loved playing soccer this year, and they did so well!

Jonah scored multiple times, and he was a great runner and loved playing the position of forward.

Micah scored a lot towards the end of the season. He liked playing goalie and being a forward, too.

Kanyon had so much fun playing! His team was undefeated, and he loved it when he was able to score! The first time he scored, he put his arms in the air, and yelled "Score-down!", and then pointed his fingers to the ground. It was awesome! He was such a good sport, and was happy when his teammates scored, too.  

We truly enjoyed watching our boys excel in playing the sport. But the best part was watching them all have fun! It was a great soccer season!

I am addicted to...

...CASSEROLES!!!

I make them all the time. I love that they incorporate multiple food categories into one dish. I find that casseroles are something that all my boys will eat, and the main dish is so filling and usually includes ingredients that they sometimes wouldn't eat if they were served separately. These are the most common ones made and eaten in our home: Tater Tot Casserole, Tater Tuna Casserole, Soft Taco Bake, Shepherd's Pie, Tortilla Beef Bake, Tuna Noodle Casserole, Pork Noodle Casserole, Fries & Beef Bake, and Western Chili Casserole. One of my sisters suggested once that I put all my casserole recipes online, and perhaps someday I will. But today, I'm starting with just one; a new one...

One of my goals for 2012 is to make one new recipe a month. In June, I tried a recipe called Spaghetti Casserole. I've never eaten spaghetti in the form of a casserole, and I can't believe I haven't! I like it better than the regular way of just noodles with sauce & meat on top. I'm so in love with eating spaghetti this way, that I've already made this casserole twice since then! It is definitely comfort food, and is so easy to make and satisfying to eat, too! The boys agree that it is a delicious meal coupled with cheesy garlic bread.

SPAGHETTI CASSEROLE

Ingredients:
Spaghetti Noodles (I used half the 16 oz bag of thin noodles & broke the lengths into thirds)
1 lb. hamburger (I've also used 1 1/2 lb.)
1 can corn (I used a bag of freezer corn from our garden; drain the corn if you used canned)
1 jar spaghetti sauce (I've used varying brands, with no real taste difference between them)
1 can rotel (I used a can of diced tomatoes instead because it was in my pantry)
grated Cheddar Cheese (I used an 8 oz. bag of shredded cheese)

Instructions:
Cook noodles in boiling water, and drain.
Brown the meat.
Mix all the ingredients together EXCEPT the cheese.
Put in a 13x9 pan. Sprinkle cheese over the top.
Bake at 350* for 25-30 minutes. Serves 8-10 people.

Home & Garden

When I got back from my trip to Utah at the beginning of June, I was happily surprised that Josh had fulfilled one of my "honey-do" requests.

Wait...I need to back up and give a little background information.

Earlier this spring, Josh had cleared a patch of ground in between the kids' dirt pile play area and the gravel driveway to plant raspberries in. He worked all afternoon roto-tilling and getting all the rocks out of the dirt. We have been working on the area surrounding our home for 2 years, ever since it was completed. When the foundation was built, the excavator and all the trucks created a mass amount of rocks and matted dirt surrounding our home, and we've worked a little at a time getting rid of the rocks and working in the dirt, creating the landscape that we wanted. This area was the last patch of ground that needed to be worked on. There was a ton of rocks that Josh removed from the patch. One day soon after that, the boys and I worked on our own project of transplanting the rocks and placing them under the deck. The ground under the deck was unpleasant to look at, but the rocks under it now give it a more cohesive and appealing appearance.

After Josh had rototilled the raspberry patch area, he bought and planted some raspberry plants. And then he got more raspberry starts from a friend, and planted them, too.

Well, we live on a ranch in the country. The deer are our constant enemy. The deer came in and chomped down on the raspberry starts, killing half of them. They ate away at several of the new plants we'd purchased, too. I was so frustrated! Not only that, but they also killed two apricot trees that Josh got for me last Mother's Day. The trees were planted by the raspberries, and I was so upset that they'd chewed and broken the branches so much that the trees never recovered and never came back to life this spring. I kept begging Josh to please put some netting around the raspberry garden area. He said he didn't want it to look tacky, and he kept putting it off. Well, after I arrived home from Utah, I saw that he'd finally put a temporary netted fence around the raspberry patch! I was SOOO happy! In addition to that, he had removed the two dead apricot trees. In their place, Josh bought and planted two new peach trees by the raspberries. It was a happy surprise to see green trees there once again.

(photo explanation: far left is the kids' play area,

inside the netting to the left is 2 small peach trees,

under the large tree in the center is 3 rhubarb plants,

on the right side of the netted area is 2 rows of raspberries,

on the far right is the gravel from the parking area in our driveway.)

Well, I had a surprise of my own for Josh. While I was in Utah, I went to IKEA and purchased a new china cabinet. There are a few flaws in the design of my kitchen, and one is that there is only 4 drawers total; another is that there is no good cupboard placement for the cups, bowls and plates. I love the giant island, but it decreases the amount of upper cupboard space. The dishware was placed in the cupboards above the drawers, but they were at the far end of the kitchen. It never made sense that the dishes were always being transported from the dishwasher to the far end, and then had to be transported back to the table in the dining room to eat. It was a lot of walking to carry the dishes back and forth. Unfortunately, it was really the only option to place the dishware because the upper cupboards on both sides of the stove have cooking/baking ingredients in them.

I'd been dreaming of buying a china cabinet for a while to place between the end of the kitchen cabinets and the dining room table. That way, it would be 3 feet away from both the dishwasher AND the table. I'd been looking at one design that I loved from IKEA that was $350, but I could never justify the cost. Before I went to Utah in June, I looked on the IKEA website to see if they were having any sales, and they were...and I found a different china cabinet on sale for $100 less. I was SOO excited! I kept it a secret from everyone (which I never do!). Josh is always keeping secrets from me so that he can surprise me, but I can never keep anything a secret to surprise him. I was so proud of myself for not blabbing my plan to anyone! The day after we got back home, I assembled the big furniture piece all day, and put all the items in its new place. I had to rearrange some shelving units in the kitchen, and move food and medicine items to different spots, and adjust the wall decorations, but it was all worth it: I ABSOLUTELY LOVE my new cabinet!!!!

The items placed in this cabinet came from 3 different cupboards, and everything fits so well now in this one unit. It also looks like a beautiful display of the items because of the glass doors, too. The kids can reach the bottom 4 shelves without any problem, so they can put away the dishes without climbing on the counter like they used to. There's no more walking the dishes across the kitchen, so there's less chance my newer dishware will get broken. The cabinet fits so nicely in the space, too! I was originally wanting a darker cabinet, but this brand of cabinet didn't have a coordinating color to my kitchen cabinet color, so I decided to go with white. I like it; it matches the white appliances, and it really brightens up the dark room. And thankfully, Josh liked my surprise too!!

Here's a view looking at the kitchen with the new cabinet

(the old cupboards for the dishes were at the far right of this photo--

above the 4 drawers, and to the left of the fridge).

Here's a view looking at the dining room with the new china cabinet

(the bottom right of the photo is the dishwasher...just steps away now)

Everything about these home and garden surprises made me so happy. I love home improvement projects! I love new furniture! I love rearranging! And I love being surprised by my husband with completed honey-do projects!!!

Sons Day 2012

The first day of summer 2012 was Friday June 1. The day after school ends is what we consider the first day of summer, as well as what we call "SONS Day". We created Sons Day several years ago because the boys felt it was unfair that they didn't have a day honoring them (I tried to explain to them that every day is Sons Day, but they wanted a special day with a title). Sons Day is always in between Mothers Day and Fathers Day, and to commemmorate it, we traditionally buy the boys new pairs of sandals for summer and do an activity together that they choose and decide on.

Since we drove to Utah on Sons Day this year, it felt different than normal. I did take the boys sandals shopping on Friday, and they each picked a new pair: Jonah and Micah got flip-flops, Kanyon got crocs, and Ammon got slip-ons. I told them that we'd do something together the following day, on Saturday, after we attended their cousins' baptism and baby blessing. For weeks before Sons Day, the boys talked about what activity they would like to do together this year, and they decided on roller skating. None of them had gone before except Ammon, and they were all looking forward to it.

On Saturday afternoon, I took the 4 boys, their cousins Aspen & Libby, and my sister Trina to an indoor recreation center in Logan. The fun center had roller skating, bowling, arcades, and a giant jungle gym. In addition to getting roller skating passes & rentals, I also got passes for them to play on the jungle gym, and I got each of the kids a few tokens to spend in the arcade.

The highlight for Kanyon was using his 4 tokens and playing this game:

He didn't like roller skating AT ALL. He went around once with Katrina and once with me, and he took off the skates and played in the jungle gym the entire rest of the time.

Micah didn't like roller skating either. He took a few trips around the floor, took off the skates, and played in the jungle gym for a long time. I finally convinced him to come back and try skating with inline skates instead, which he did and liked a lot better!

Jonah also didn't like roller skating. But he stuck with it, and quickly traded in his skates for inline skates and did much better. He really liked inline skating, and he went back and forth between skating and playing.

Ammon was mad at me for ordering inline skates for him instead of roller skates from the man at the counter. He had gone roller skating with the 6th graders for the first time in his life a few weeks prior, and had really liked it. He's the one that convinced the younger boys to do this as their special activity!!! But once he got on the floor with the inline skates, he was no longer mad. He couldn't believe how much easier they were to maneuver and he had a great time skating! He was pretty good at it, too!

Aspen brought her own inline skates and went back and forth between the two activities, like Jonah. Libby rented some inline skates, and she spent a lot of time with me and Trina on the floor. She was fun to watch! Trina and I stayed on the skate floor the whole time, and both of us used regular roller skates. I hadn't been roller skating in nearly 15 years--not since Josh and I dated. I have balance problems on skates...also, the skates hurt my feet. But with Katrina's tips and guidance, I was finally getting the hang of it.

I was kind of disappointed that the boys didn't enjoy roller skating as much as they excitedly anticipated it. But the nice thing about this place was that the jungle gym was right next to the skating rink, so I could always see where the kids were, and they still had fun--even if it wasn't skating!

After 2 hours, we left. I dropped off Katrina at her apartment, we went back to Mick & Jen's house, and we changed into swimming clothes. Ammon and my sister Tawna went to the movie theater, and I took the rest of the kids to the outdoor Aquatic Center in Logan. It was fun! I stayed in the pools with Kanyon, and the 4 older kids alternated between going on the big slides and swimming in the pools with us. We had a great time! We were only there for about an hour and a half, before they made us get out of the water for break, and we decided to leave then.

I dropped the girls off, picked up Ammon, and headed back to Tremonton. And that was the conclusion to the Son's Day 2-day event this year!