Knowing that this month was going to be an absolute whirlwind of activity we decided to take the first day and chill. We had popcorn chicken for lunch and watched our family favorite, Speed Racer. It was a fabulous day
The 4th of July weekend
July 3rd we packed up the truck and headed to Knoxville to spend some time with Bradden, Sunny and the kids. We woke up early on the 4th so we could get to the parade. Bradden and Steve showed the kids how to cheer really loud and get lots of free stuff. It worked like a charm. Naomi said it was almost better than Halloween. Nick loved it because a really cute cheerleader walked by and said hi to him. Jeremy had the royalty on one float smiling and waving at him.
"How to Get Free Stuff at a Parade". That is title of this picture.
The kids really got into it and had a great time.
The happy crew eating their free popcicles.
Meeting Barney Fife.
After the parade we went to lunch at Chick-fil-A and used our coupons for a free sandwiches (which we got for cheering so loud). While Bradden and the family headed back to the house we went in search of a Burger King for Jeremy. There was no one in the parking lot so they were really happy to have a customer. They even put a smiley face on Jeremy's hamburgers for him.
Back at the house, Sunny and I stayed with the kids while Bradden and Steve took off for some brother time. The kids really enjoyed just spending time with each other and Madi got to take a little bit of a nap. When the boys returned, we packed the whole crew into the cars and headed for The Cove. The Cove is a walled off section of the lake that is designated for swimming. It was absolutely beautiful. The kids (Steve and Bradden included) had a great time playing in the water.
Back at home we got cleaned up for dinner and fireworks. Bradden grilled in the backyard and it was really yummy. With our tummies full, we headed off to their bishop's house for fireworks. The kids got to do sparklers while the bigger kids set off the fireworks. Sunny and I, being from Utah, were nervous about setting off the fireworks so close to an open field with tall, dry grass. Apparently this is something a true Southerner does not think about. It didn't bother them in the least until one of the fireworks went in the wrong direction and sent everyone scrambling to stamp out the flames. They were a little more cautious after that. Jeremy made a new friend, Erika, and talked with her the whole night. Nick and I sat that watched the fireflies. It was a really pretty night.
July 5th was Sunny's birthday. Bradden had gotten a certificate for a massage for Sunny and she took off early for that appointment. While she was gone, Olivia helped Bradden fix some pancakes. Once Sunny got back and had tasted the pancakes they made for her, she and I headed off for the mall to do some shopping. We were having a ton of fun and could have spent the whole day just having fun, but Bradden had made dinner reservations for a river boat cruise and dinner. We hurried home and got Sunny all ready for her date. Steve and I watched the kids. I loved spending time with Hyrum, Olivia and Madi. Olivia really wanted to get her mom something for her birthday so Steve took her to the store while we baked a cake. We met some of the neighbors and were just starting to do some fireworks when Sunny and Bradden got back. Olivia was so excited to give her mom her present and to eat the cake we had made. We finally got everyone calmed down and to bed and then fell into bed ourselves about 11 o'clock. It was a great day.
Happy Birthday, Sunny!
We were up early the next morning and on the road back to Charlotte by 8:30. We stopped for a bit in Gatlinburg and Steve had a great time exploring the Lodge ovens outlet and the Coleman outlet and the knives outlet. It was a scoutmasters'/outdoorsmans' paradise. We had a great time exploring our way home.
Baking Camp
First thing Monday morning I had ten little girls at my house for the first day of baking camp. I was in charge of the first day and we baked cookies. We did no bake cookies and cake cookies and oreos and chocolate chip cookies and butterscotch polka-dot cookies. We were busy the entire three hours and the girls had a great time. They even had a full sample plate to share with their families.
Wednesday was Jessie's turn and she did cakes. The girls learned the difference between baking a heavy cookie and a light cake and how to make sure that their cakes always turned out light and fluffy. I learned just as much as the girls. Jessie showed us how to make a Lazy Daisy cake, chocolate cookie dough cupcakes, and red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. YUMMY. Once again we were busy the entire three hours and everyone went home with a sample plate to share with their families. So far this was turning out to be the favorite camp of the summer.
Measuring the flour
So many girlie things. I love it.
As everyone was leaving camp I saw a front loader/backhoe by the fire hydrant across the street but didn't think anything of it until I started to clean up and found that the water had been turned off. Quickly I placed a call to the Charlotte utilities to find out what was going on. They had no record of any work being done in our area but would look into it. Meanwhile, I went outside to see if I could find any clues. My neighbor, Mr. Sehat, was also outside looking around because his water was off as well. Just then the man in the backhoe returned. He told us that a water main had broken at the bottom of our street and they were working on it. We told him that the utilities had no record of them working in our area. He shook his head and placed a call to his "boss" to clear up the situation. He explained that he was going to need to open up the fire hydrant in order to release some of the pressure in the line so they could complete the repair. For the next hour and a half the kids got to play in the water. They had an absolute blast!! Best Summer Day Ever!
Naomi and her best friend, Maggie
Friday, July 11th was the bread portion of the camp. We made zucchini bread and chef hats and our own personal pizzas. While everything was baking the girls put together cookbooks with all the recipes from the week. It was a great day!
Bella, Maddie, Cordelia, Ellery, Naomi, Ashley, Kaylee and Fiona.
Pioneer Trek
Saturday, July 12th was the last Saturday before Trek. Steve spent most of the morning helping one of his scouts with their Eagle project and then came home and helped me finish up the games. Oh, in case I forgot to mention, I had been asked to put together all the pioneer games for trek. It was fun, but a lot of work. Naomi helped me finish up the babies and we took them over to Amy so she could have them ready to give to the "families" before they all headed out on their trek.
Naomi loved pretending all 10 of these babies were hers. Each one was filled with six pounds of wheat so they were pretty heavy once we got them all loaded up.
Steve flew out for Cleveland on Sunday morning. My sunbeams must have all eaten sugar for breakfast because they were wild. By the end of the day I was really ready for bed - and this was only the beginning of the week!
Monday we decided we needed to have some chill time. We were all a little tense and tired from all the prep work of the previous week. That morning I was doing dishes and couldn't find my dish brush. I started yelling at nobody in particular about moving things around and losing things. The kids started blaming each other. That is when I realized we needed a break. We needed to do something fun. We took off for the pool and stayed for two hours. It worked. We were all ready to get back into the thick of things. When we got home the dishes still needed to be done. I said, "I wonder where my dish brush walked off to." One of the kids started singing, "Oh where is my dishbrush?!" By the end of the song we were all singing at the top of our lungs and laughing. Mental note - take more fun breaks!
Tuesday, July 14th I was up bright and early making sure all of Jeremy's food was ready to go. We got him all dressed up and packed up and headed down to the farm where they would be trekking. On the way, I got a call from one of our ward members asking if they could borrow a dutch oven and a tarp. Apparently someone was supposed to have called us and asked about two weeks ago. We dropped the food off at the church and Jeremy off at the farm and headed back home to get the dutch ovens and tarp. When we arrived at the drop off point with the gear it was fun to watch the "families" loading up their handcarts and getting everything situated.
Jeremy and Naomi posing in their pioneer outfits. Don't they look great?!!!! (Naomi had a small part in the trek - I'll tell you more later)
After making sure they had everything they needed we took Nick to have some blood drawn for several tests different doctors had ordered. We were just saving them all up for one trip since Nick HATES to have his blood drawn. He was a great patient this time and said it wasn't as bad as he remembered it to have been last time. Last time he went into shock because of the needle. He was a real trooper this time. I rewarded him with lunch at Cook Out. Anything to justify getting a caramel cheesecake shake! We chilled the rest of the day. About 5 o'clock a monster of a storm came racing through Charlotte. There was wind and heavy rain and a lot of lightening. This happened right about the time the trekkers would be setting up camp for the night. I am sure there were a lot of prayers said for the youth all around the stake at that time.
Jeremy waiting for his family assignment
Off they go!
Cooking dinner after the HUGE rainstorm - they all survived and were surprising up beat about being wet. It was really hot and the wet felt good.
The next morning we were all up early. Brother Biang picked Naomi up at 8:20 so they could get down to the trek site. Naomi had been asked to be part of a group of children who would gather around the feet of one of the mothers and listen to a story about a large family that had run out of food. She was really excited. Brother Biang would take her to Maggie's house after she was all done. I drove Nick to Matt's house where he would spend his day while I was at trek. When I got back home, I took Naomi's things down to Maggie's house (where she would spend the day), loaded up the truck and headed out. The kiddos has just finished up their part of the trek and were waiting for their ride to arrive. Naomi said it was really fun and she wanted to do more.
Naomi with her "siblings".
Once the area was available, I unloaded the truck of all the supplies for the games and went to the main farm house to fill the buckets with water. I had just arrived back at the game site when one of the leaders came running up to me wondering where the rest of the cookies were. I had also been in charge of assigning 10 different people to bake three dozen chocolate chip cookies for the trading post. The idea was that after a full day of trekking and eating traditional pioneer trail food we would have homemade cookies and cold milk for each family, but they would need to give up some things in order to barter for the cookies. The YM and YW presidencies wanted the kids to have to sacrifice something they may need for something they really wanted. After a lot of running and searching we finally located the missing cookies and got them to the trading post just in time. The trading post turned out exactly as the leaders wanted. The families were giving up shoes, hats, tarps, etc. in order to get some of the cookies and the cold milk. One young lady came back later in the day asking for her hat because the sun was so bright, but they couldn't give it to her. I think the message got across that trading something you might need later for something you really want now might not be the best or easiest decision to make.
Working together as a family.
Getting their handcart safely down the river embankment and across the river.
Once the cookies were located I only had 45 minutes to finish setting up the games. We had it all ready for them by the time they arrived. They ate lunch and relaxed for a bit since they were all tired by this point. The favorite games were the stick pull, water pas, bean bag toss, 3-leg race, sack race, Tangle and Do You Love Your Neighbor. I think it was a success as they all seemed to really enjoy themselves.
Me and Julie Todd during the games.
Afterwards I had to wait to clean up since the next two activities were taking place near the game site. At first I was really irritated at having to wait because I was going to be later than I had intended to pick up Naomi. In the end I was very grateful to have been a part of what happened next. Several of the youth had put together a musical number which was a combination of As Sisters In Zion (sung by the girls) and The Armies of Helaman (sung by the boys). It was incredible. Right as they finished the cavalry arrived and recruited the men to form the Mormon Battalion. There was a speech about how the men were needed and might not return, but they were doing their country a favor to fight for freedom. The girls were really crying when the boys left. The girls then settled into a group and listened to our Stake Relief Society president give a great talk about the strength of the pioneer women and how the girls could apply that strength to their lives today. They then headed out to do the women's pull portion of the trek. That was definitely worth the hour and a half delay.
I cleaned up and headed home. My worrying about being late was for nothing. Naomi was happy making duct tape jewelry and playing with everyone in the neighborhood. Nick wouldn't be home until later as he was going to a pool party with Matt and the youth from Matt's church. Everyone had a great day.
Nicholas, Naomi and I went back down to the church on the morning of the 17th to help with the pizza party when the pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley. Every single youth that came through the door had a big smile on their face. Everyone really enjoyed the trek even though it was the hardest Youth Conference most of them had ever attended. That is a good sign. When I asked Jeremy about his favorite part of trek he couldn't pick just one thing. The rain storm was scary, but it helped them bond as a family. Pushing and pulling the cart forced them to work as a team. The dance was just plain fun. These really are the best youth in the world. Jeremy had a blast and can't wait until next summers Youth Conference.
The Melton Family
Stinky but happy to be in air conditioning and eating "real" food.
It is intermission time. Go to the bathroom and restock your snacks for the second half of July. Oh yes, we are only half way there.
