We love camping. Sadly we don't get to do it as much as we would like, but it is a favorite family pasttime nonetheless. We have gathered a pretty decent collection of camping equipment over the past several years, and finally I made a list of what we bring. We are tent campers, so this list would be a little different if you have a trailer. But for other tenters, this may be helpful as you gather supplies.
Before I give you the link, let me explain my method to you - which I learned from my mom when we went camping as a child. All of my camping stuff is in large, clear plastic bins that have a tight-sealing lid. On the lid, I have written what belongs in each box. This year, I will be taping a laminated list of items, since we've gathered so much stuff. There are 2 camping boxes, 1 utility box, and 2 boxes that have everything else. The cleaning supplies are packed inside the wash tubs.
By using the "box" system with labeled lids, it is really easy to pick up and go. It also helps maintain a clean and organized campsite. The final benefit is that it makes it easy to clean up and put things away when you get home. Just look at your list, refill or restock anything that you used during the trip. Then put the boxes away until next time! No fuss, no frantic gathering of supplies, which takes all of the fun out of going!
So, here is the list - there are spaces for you to write in the things that you will need that are specific for your family. And, there will be things you discover that you need and don't have - make sure to write them down! A successful camping trip is a work in progress. Each time you go you learn a little more. Have fun, and I hope you all take your families camping at least once a year - it's an amazing experience!
Camping Supply List (2010 version)
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Valentine Garland
I got all of the Christmas decorations down, and decided that I'd get a jump start on Valentine's Day, since I never remember to decorate for it until just before. So I got out my box labeled "Valentines," and was completely under-whelmed. I needed something new. So I came up with this really simple garland the other night after the kids went to bed. Here's how I made it:
Supplies:
scrapbook paper
L-O-V-E letters (which you can download here if you want to use the ones that I made)
pinking shears/scissors
spray adhesive or glue stick
felt
embroidery thread
cotton balls
ribbon
Letters:
-print the letters and cut them out using pinking shears/patterned scissors/regular scissors
-glue onto scrapbook paper, then cut 1/2" around it for the border
-glue onto the ribbon, as far apart as you want depending on the length you need, leaving a space in the middle for the felt heart to hang
Heart:
-cut out two identical hearts out of felt
-using embroidery thread, sew large stitches around until you have about 2-inches left, then stuff cotton balls inside to make it puffy. finish sewing and tie off the thread.
-cut a tiny hole in the dip of the heart, and put a loop of ribbon through the hole and tie a bow at the top around the center of the banner.
Attach to your mantel, a mirror, above a picture, in a doorway...whatever! I thought it was a really simple project, and it turned out awesome!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Book Review...Crossing Oceans
I downloaded this book from Amazon, almost completely because I liked the cover. I know, you're not supposed to judge a book by it's cover, but it's a method that's almost never failed me. Without knowing what it was even about, I started reading it. It is about a single mother of a 5-year old who finds out she is dying of cancer.
The book chronicles her experiences during the last few months of her life, and in dealing with the fact that she won't see her daughter grow up. There are a few other storylines that contribute to her experiences, but that is the one I identified with the most - probably because I have a 5-year old that I can't imagine leaving. But it's a story about faith, and gaining peace, and finding forgiveness. Those are all elements that I loved. When I finished reading it, my pillow was wet with tears...I cried for her. After I pulled myself together, I snuck into each of my kids rooms and laid next to them for a few minutes, just overwhelmed with love for them and gratitude for all of the blessings that I have and continue to receive.
It's a great easy read, and one that will get you thinking...and that, I think, is the best part of this book.
Monday, January 3, 2011
So Long 2010
As years go, this one was much better than the last one. 2009 goes down as the single worst year of my entire life. At the beginning of 2010, we figured if we could make it through all that we went through in '09, we could surely make it through whatever '10 had coming for us. With much gratitude, I can say that this has been a rather uneventful year. There have been, however, many exceptional opportunities for me to learn and grow, and really challenge the things that I believe I know and know I believe. Most keen on my mind of late is the knowledge that some things are just out of our control. This is a terribly difficult thing to admit, and one that is not easy to swallow. I tend to be a pretty in-control sort of person, and knowing that no matter how awesome I am (or how much better I know things would be if I were doing them), I am just not the decision maker in so many aspects of my life...well, that's just downright irritating. But I digress. 2010 has been good. Our kids have grown, our marriage has grown, well...I'll just highlight a few things and all of the gritty details.
January
This is the month that we celebrate the birth of our firstborn son. It is a little sacreligious, but I love it when my husband calls him his "only begotten." It always makes me smile. Gibson is the sweetest and most tender-hearted boy I have ever come in contact with. He loves. That is how to best describe him. He just loves. He turned 5 in January, and entered the world of little boyhood. To be honest, I have no recollection of how we spent the momentous day, and no recollection of the gifts he received, the cake he had...nothing. I just know that I woke up and cried a little bit because my baby boy is so grown up now.
February
This month might as well have not even happened. Other than the fact that we probably(?) did our taxes, I think that must have been the highlight of the month.
March
What the heck? What March?!
April
Now we're getting somewhere! I know I spent a lovely week at the cabin in Wallowa with my grandma, mom, and Georgia. It was a really special opportunity to have four generations of us together for that length of time. I left Gibson at home with Lu and my grandpa, and since they are all still alive, I guess the fared well in our absence. We spent the entire week talking, watching movies, eating, playing card games, going on walks, and did I mention talking? We had some really neat conversations and I learned a lot about my mom and my grandma who are 2 very special ladies, by the way. It was a choice experience, and one that I hope to have again soon. Incidentally, right before that trip, I had an ingrown toenail removed, and it was hideously infected. So most of those things above were done while my foot was soaking in a scalding hot salt water bath. All three of us were also extremely sick with yucky colds at the time, so healthwise it was a total disaster. But what an awesome thing that we had a great time anyway!
May
Shortly after the trip to Oregon, Lu and I left the kids behind and went on a trip to Las Vegas with our good friends the Dean's (more about them to come in future posts, I'm sure!). We left the kids at home, and headed off to Sin City for some fun in the sun. We used our timeshare and got two amazing rooms that joined together, and spent the entire time sitting around, doing a puzzle, sitting by the pool, eating, sitting in our rooms, sitting in the car, etc. It was a nice week, but I realized that that's just too long to be away from my kids. I was ready to go home. I was tired of sitting! But the kids missed us, and that's always a good reason to get out of town!
June
How does this happen? No memory! Weird!
July
The only memory I have of this weekend is a very simple one. We got a free-standing firepit at some point over the summer, and to celebrate the 4th of July we decided to stay at home and have a BBQ with the new firepit. We roasted hot dogs, had potato salad and chips, and built a fire in the backyard. We sat out there all night, and when it got dark we could see the fireworks from the high school. The kids were tired by then, and they just sat in our laps. Oscar was asleep under the chair, and it was a peaceful evening. Every time I think of this country I remember that - for all it's flaws - it's still the greatest country in the world. It was great enough for Lu to want to come back here after his mission, and to want to marry me and make our life here. It represents so much to him, and in turn I am grateful for the freedoms that we have here. What a neat way to spend such a patriotic holiday.
We also got new windows for the house (gorgeous!), and had the shower put in the master bathroom. We lived without a shower in here for 3 years...it was about time!
August
Ahhh, the last days of summer vacation. We spent this month prepping Gibson for Kindergarten! He was so excited he could hardly sleep, and on the first day of school he was up and dressed, bed made, backpack on, at 8am. School doesn't start until 9:15. I can recall only one instance when he wasn't excited to go to school.
I was called to be the Primary Chorister, which was horrifying at the time. I cried and cried about it. But it was the right place for me to be, and I guess it still is.
September
We kicked off the month with a great family camping trip. We didn't go far, just a few miles south to Hobble Creek Canyon, but it was a really neat experience. It was the first time since before Lu and I got married that our whole family went camping together. Mom & Dad & Dill, Jake & Jenell & boys, Braden & Jen & Arrie, and us! We spent 3 days just hanging out, with nothing on the agenda but relaxing. I really hope that it turns into a fun family tradition - because we all know that we need MORE time together as a family :)
This also marked my 30th year, which we celebrated by going to Wendover for a night to see Jim Gaffigan's comedy routine and do some serious slotting. This was another great and spontaneous trip with our friends Pete & Allison. What would we do without them?! Nothing, I'm sure!
October
Nothing eventful that I can recall at the moment.
November
Thanksgiving. That's about it.
December
Christmas. It's still so fresh, and I just got everything put away. I'm not really ready to talk about it yet, other than that it was a wonderful holiday, and we had a great time.
So, until I go back and edit this post to add things that come to mind, that is the overview of 2010. In the near future, I'll share a few of my plans for this coming year. I'm still pondering on what the priorities should be, and narrowing it down by what I want to be important and what I know really is important. Because as we all know, they are sometimes very different...and sometimes more similar than they seem.
January
This is the month that we celebrate the birth of our firstborn son. It is a little sacreligious, but I love it when my husband calls him his "only begotten." It always makes me smile. Gibson is the sweetest and most tender-hearted boy I have ever come in contact with. He loves. That is how to best describe him. He just loves. He turned 5 in January, and entered the world of little boyhood. To be honest, I have no recollection of how we spent the momentous day, and no recollection of the gifts he received, the cake he had...nothing. I just know that I woke up and cried a little bit because my baby boy is so grown up now.
February
This month might as well have not even happened. Other than the fact that we probably(?) did our taxes, I think that must have been the highlight of the month.
March
What the heck? What March?!
April
Now we're getting somewhere! I know I spent a lovely week at the cabin in Wallowa with my grandma, mom, and Georgia. It was a really special opportunity to have four generations of us together for that length of time. I left Gibson at home with Lu and my grandpa, and since they are all still alive, I guess the fared well in our absence. We spent the entire week talking, watching movies, eating, playing card games, going on walks, and did I mention talking? We had some really neat conversations and I learned a lot about my mom and my grandma who are 2 very special ladies, by the way. It was a choice experience, and one that I hope to have again soon. Incidentally, right before that trip, I had an ingrown toenail removed, and it was hideously infected. So most of those things above were done while my foot was soaking in a scalding hot salt water bath. All three of us were also extremely sick with yucky colds at the time, so healthwise it was a total disaster. But what an awesome thing that we had a great time anyway!
May
Shortly after the trip to Oregon, Lu and I left the kids behind and went on a trip to Las Vegas with our good friends the Dean's (more about them to come in future posts, I'm sure!). We left the kids at home, and headed off to Sin City for some fun in the sun. We used our timeshare and got two amazing rooms that joined together, and spent the entire time sitting around, doing a puzzle, sitting by the pool, eating, sitting in our rooms, sitting in the car, etc. It was a nice week, but I realized that that's just too long to be away from my kids. I was ready to go home. I was tired of sitting! But the kids missed us, and that's always a good reason to get out of town!
June
How does this happen? No memory! Weird!
July
The only memory I have of this weekend is a very simple one. We got a free-standing firepit at some point over the summer, and to celebrate the 4th of July we decided to stay at home and have a BBQ with the new firepit. We roasted hot dogs, had potato salad and chips, and built a fire in the backyard. We sat out there all night, and when it got dark we could see the fireworks from the high school. The kids were tired by then, and they just sat in our laps. Oscar was asleep under the chair, and it was a peaceful evening. Every time I think of this country I remember that - for all it's flaws - it's still the greatest country in the world. It was great enough for Lu to want to come back here after his mission, and to want to marry me and make our life here. It represents so much to him, and in turn I am grateful for the freedoms that we have here. What a neat way to spend such a patriotic holiday.
We also got new windows for the house (gorgeous!), and had the shower put in the master bathroom. We lived without a shower in here for 3 years...it was about time!
August
Ahhh, the last days of summer vacation. We spent this month prepping Gibson for Kindergarten! He was so excited he could hardly sleep, and on the first day of school he was up and dressed, bed made, backpack on, at 8am. School doesn't start until 9:15. I can recall only one instance when he wasn't excited to go to school.
I was called to be the Primary Chorister, which was horrifying at the time. I cried and cried about it. But it was the right place for me to be, and I guess it still is.
September
We kicked off the month with a great family camping trip. We didn't go far, just a few miles south to Hobble Creek Canyon, but it was a really neat experience. It was the first time since before Lu and I got married that our whole family went camping together. Mom & Dad & Dill, Jake & Jenell & boys, Braden & Jen & Arrie, and us! We spent 3 days just hanging out, with nothing on the agenda but relaxing. I really hope that it turns into a fun family tradition - because we all know that we need MORE time together as a family :)
This also marked my 30th year, which we celebrated by going to Wendover for a night to see Jim Gaffigan's comedy routine and do some serious slotting. This was another great and spontaneous trip with our friends Pete & Allison. What would we do without them?! Nothing, I'm sure!
October
Nothing eventful that I can recall at the moment.
November
Thanksgiving. That's about it.
December
Christmas. It's still so fresh, and I just got everything put away. I'm not really ready to talk about it yet, other than that it was a wonderful holiday, and we had a great time.
So, until I go back and edit this post to add things that come to mind, that is the overview of 2010. In the near future, I'll share a few of my plans for this coming year. I'm still pondering on what the priorities should be, and narrowing it down by what I want to be important and what I know really is important. Because as we all know, they are sometimes very different...and sometimes more similar than they seem.
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