So much to write about!!

Kelsey's Birthday, Family Reunion, Kelsey's Baptism, High Adventure, Girls Camp and Felicity's Birthday!! Whew!!



Kelsey's Birthday



Kelsey turned 8 on July 14th and was baptized August 1st in Moses Lake by her big brother Cameron. It was such an awesome occasion. My whole entire family was there, we were having a reunion at the same time so Kelsey was baptized in the Moses Lake Stake Center.



Family Reunion & Kelsey's baptism



The Ardean Child Family had a reunion (all of my sisters and my brother & families) in Seattle July 30- August 1st. We had great time all together. We bought Seattle City Passes and had a blast going from attraction to attraction!! It was fast and furious, but oh so fun... It was so fun to be all together with all of my siblings.



We stayed in Bellevue at the Embassy Suites. On Saturday we all traveled to Moses Lake to attend the Arvel L. Child Family Reunion at the waterpark in Moses Lake. It was fun to see cousins I had not seen in a long time.

I want to send a special shout- out to my fab cousin Tracie for telling me she follows my blog and encouraging me to keep it up , because I was sure no one was reading it!! Thanks Tracie!!



Kelsey's baptism was awesome. She asked Cameron to baptize her and it was so amazing to see both of them in white. My whole family was in attendance and everyone present had a part. Cameron played the piano, Felicity led the singing and all my other family members took part in some way. All of the cousins sang "I am a Child of God." Lisa gave a really neat talk on the Holy Ghost and Grandpa Child gave a talk on Baptism.



Kelsey received so many thoughtful gifts. Lisa gave her a big soft bath towel with her name embroidered on it with the CTR emblem on it also. It is so cool!! Cami and Dad gave her a darling pillow with her name and the CTR emblem on it. Lots of other people gave her some special gifts to remember such a wonderful occasion.















Felicity at 2nd yr. of Girl's Camp



The day after we got home from the Family Reunion Felicity left for Girl's Camp. It was at the same location as last year: Cascade Park in Arlinton, WA. She had a great time. I went to parent's night on Wednesday to spend a couple of hours with her. It was fun to be with her, I missed her alot.



Bob and Cameron High Adventure



Tuesday August 3rd Bob and Cameron left for their annual High Adventure with the Pioneer Valley Venture Scouts.



They went to Moran State Park on Orcas Island. From the pictures it looks like a really beautiful place. As always they had the time of their lives. At least they didn't have to get rescued by Search & Rescue this year!!



They had a blast sea kayaking, mountain biking, hiking, cliff diving, swimming, and competing in a triathalon. Cameron's team took first place in the triathalon.



The highlight of the trip was a 6 mile ride up Mt. Constitution on their bikes. Whew~~ It makes me tired just writing about it!!



Felicity's 13th Birthday August 8, 2009



Felicity officially became a teenager August 8th the day after she got home from camp. She is such a sweetie and my right hand gal. She is so much help to me, I would be lost without her! She cooks she cleans, she is a helping machine!!

After the boys got home from Orcas Island we went out to celebrate her birthday. We went to Chili Thai for some great thai food. Everyone was somewhat weary from all of our previous activites, but we had a great time.

4th of July in Bellevue

We had a great day yesterday celebrating the fourth of July. We went to Bellevue to a family festival at a park in downtown bellevue across from Bellevue Square. They had alot of fun booths to explore and some great entertainment.

The fireworks were amazing!! The Bellevue Philharmonic Orchestra played onstage during the fireworks show. It was great. The fireworks reflected off the city skyscrapers for a wonderful sight.

We had a great time. It was nice and warm and it was great to be all together with our family.

My new hobby: Couponing!

A couple of months ago in Relief Society a sister from Tacoma came and spoke to us about saving money and using coupons. One of my friends in our ward gave me a tutorial on using coupons and I am off and running.

Here is one of my awesome buys!! I got this beach umbrella at Rite Aid for .45! Incredible and true!! I had a couple of coupons and it was on sale. I was so excited when I got home and showed off my great find.

Father's Day & Red Robin at the Keys House!

We had a great Father's Day with Bob on Sunday. One of Bob's favorite places to eat is Red Robin. I had an idea to turn our kitchen and eating areas into Red Robin! All I had to do was tell the girls about my idea and they went to town with the idea!! I was so proud of them and the effort they put in to this plan for Father's Day.

Felicity and Kelsey made Red Robin signs for the dining room and kitchen. We hung a curtain between the dining room and the kitchen and attached a sign that said, "Red Robin- Employees Only. The girls also made red napkin ring holders, cute coasters with a picture of a burger on each of them and a cube with Red Robin info. on it for the center of the table. It was so much fun. They also printed a menu off the website for him to order off of. Felicity highlighted what Bob was to order. We had cheese sticks for the appetizer, then Teriyaki Chicken Burgers and Steak Fries, and salad and Rootbeer or Lemonade. For dessert I tried a new recipe for Lemon Ice.

We all wore red shirts and khaki pants and Felcitiy made us name tags that were darling. We had a fun time, and enjoyed celebrating Bob.

I am thankful for the great husband and father that he is. I am thankful for all the sacrifices he makes for our family.

Felicity was asked to bear her testimony in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday. She did a great job. She was asked to share how the priesthood has blessed our family.

I also am so thankful for my own father, who brought me up in a righteous home, and taught me all the important things I needed to know to be succesful. I remember telling my parents many times that I was never going to leave home or leave them because I loved them so much, and loved being with them in our home. I did leave eventually, but still feel those tender feelings towards my parents and my home growing up.

Temple Trip

Last night our family loaded up in the van to travel to Bellevue to the Seattle Temple. We were going to support Cameron's friend Brandon Bryan who was going through the temple for the first time before he leaves on his mission.

Brandon has been called to serve in the San Juan Puerto Rico East mission. He has been a great friend to Cameron for several years. Cameron has always looked up to him as a great example of a righteous young man.

I stayed with the children in the waiting room while Bob attended the endowment session with Brandon, his family, and other close friends. It was a neat experience to walk around the temple grounds with the girls and share my feelings of the temple with them. The children loved the beauty of the temple and it was a wonderful feeling to be there with them. I was very proud of Cameron because he was sick in bed all day, but he came to show his support to Brandon.

We went to Burger King afterwards and had a great evening together.

First Day of Summer Break

Well, today is the first day of summer break for us. It started out early with an early morning apt. with Cameron's high school counselor Angela Knight. She is awesome. She is a BYU graduate and a returned missionary. I am so thankful to have her at Graham-Kapowsin High School and more importantly to have her as Cameron's counselor. I consider it one of the Lord's tender mercies in our life.

Cameron is going to be taking an independent study BYU class over the summer to help keep him busy. I am thankful for such great kids. They are all wonderful kids and I love them all very much.

I have a huge headache and my Excedrin is not working. I am on a different migraine medication but it is not working, I guess I need to go back to the DR.

Kelsey and I are home awaiting the beginng of So You Think You Can Dance, while everyone else is at Mutual.

Day at the zoo and wild waves.

Today I went on a field trip with Kelsey's 2nd grade class to Pt. Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. It was really fun. They have really updated things there since I was last there. I had 3 girls in my group, they were really good about staying with me, one of them ran off a couple of times, but for the most part they were great. My favorite part was the two toed sloth hanging from a tree about 6 inches from us. After the rest of Kelsey's class got on the bus, we found the free carousel!! That was a fun thing to go on right before we left. It is great to not be working anymore so I can attend things like this with Kelsey.

Felicity went to Wild Waves/Enchanted Village today in Federal Way with the Honor Students. She had a great time. She rode the Timberhawk 4 times and The Wild Thing twice. She is sunburned and tired.

Tomorrow is finally the last day of school. They have a half day. I am going to the foot Dr to talk about my plantar fasciitis. It is killing me!! The custom orthotics he ordered me don't seem to be doing me much good. I don't want to have to get steroid shots in my heel, so, I hope he has some other alternatives for me!!

The Blog has Begun!!

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Hello Friends and Family!!

At the insistance of my sweet Kelsey, I am starting a Blog. I have no idea what I am doing but we will see how it goes.

Today we had a great set of meetings in the Pioneer Valley Ward. I especially liked James Bennett's talk. I greatly enjoyed his stories about serving with his family when he was a small boy growing up.

It was a great weekend. Brandon Tims joined us for the weekend. He is earning money with a lawn business this summer to earn money for his mission. Bob and Cameron helped him pass out flyers and work on the lawns. What a great example of a righteous young man! It is a pleasure to have him in our home. He is a great example for my children.