Bee Stings

My mom and I were over at my grandmother's to help her hedge some of her bushes. I started shaping this bush into a nice round shape. Suddenly I felt a sharp sting on my hand and knew immediately that I had been stung on my hand. Mom and I ran inside the house and found a cotton ball and put vinegar onto the sting. It helped and the burning feeling went away. We then went back outside again and Mom picked up the hedger and started cutting. All of a sudden there were lots of small, black and white bees swarming her head. She was stung on her lip and a couple stings above her eye. So, again we ran inside, grabbed the vinegar and put it on her face. Above is the picture of her face a day after it happened and below is a photo of my hand.

My hand continued to swell a little more than this picture shows. I can't believe how hard it is to do any little ol' thing around the house. But I'm grateful that it only swelled that much. I was stung 13 years ago on the same hand and the swelling was up all the fingers and up my arm to my elbow. I knew I had an allergy to bee stings but this is so much better than last time.

4th of July...a little late.

(I can't get the photos to move below the pictures for some reason, so if you want to know the details to my 4th of July, you will find it at the bottom of this post.)

The younger kids were supposed to take a nap, but that never happened. How can you sleep when you have fun cousins who want to play?

And even if you are too big, there are times when you really should have a nap. Instead you can mope in a chair until you get over it.

The Fourth of July was a very fun and busy day...and it started early with an alarm clock. No sleeping in for SM and I. His parents set off early for the park in Salt Lake County, to save a place for the whole family. We put together a salad for my family reunion, gathered together all the things we needed for that day and hopped into the car. We took SM's sister and youngest with us to the park where we met up with his parents. We were only there a short time because we needed to travel south to Genola. I honestly couldn't remember how long it would take us to get there...but we planned it perfectly and arrived at my family reunion right when it was supposed to start. Well, of course you can't start with a majority of the aunts and uncles missing. So, we waited until everyone arrived and then the festivities began. We had lots of food and a great opportunity to visit with cousins and aunts and uncles. Some of my cousins I haven't seen for years and years so this was a great time to get caught up on their lives and on their children. It was fun to see kids who had grown and grown. I remember most of them as babies and now they are no longer babies. During this reunion, I didn't pull out my camera. I now wish I had but at the time I felt awkward.

After the Genola reunion, we drove back up to Salt Lake to the park where all of SM's family were now enjoying the 4th of July. We had yummy food, played games, sat around talking to each other and kept an eye out for all the young kids who almost got lost many different times.

I did bring my camera here and so here are photos of the events. We stayed at the park all day and a good portion of the night. The fireworks were fabulous! And after the fireworks, we waited around as the thousands of people cleared the park. We had a great talk with the cops as they stopped to see why we weren't leaving. The main cop we spoke to must be a comedian as a side hobby because he had us laughing for a good half hour. It was a highlight of this years' trip to the park.

Family Reunion

SM and his brother were the officiators during the family auction. The auction is done yearly to earn money for the next years family reunion. It was very entertaining to watch SM and his brother run the auction. They did so well...we made more money than any other year and part of that was because of the auctioneer.

Water activities are always fun for the kids. In addition to water activities, the park has an awesome play ground. It's the coolest I've ever seen.

We made a quilt block for the family quilt. I got my inspiration from SM's shirt. I drew the picture and SM colored it. We make a good team.

There was also service projects that we could work on while we were visiting with family members. Here is the baby quilt that needed to be tied.

Here's a photo of the youngest family member...until the twins showed up. I don't know the twins but I know my niece. Isn't she precious?

A little dinner entertainment.

Cookies for dessert. Yum!

We had a great reunion. We've actually had a lot of activities the past three weeks. I have enjoyed all of them. One of the advantages of living near family is doing a lot of things with family. I feel so loved!

Lilies

My mom's lilies are blooming. They are so beautiful that I had to take a few pictures.

This lily had a surprise in the middle of it. The grasshopper was the same color as the green leaves on the lily. He really knew how to blend into the plant until he sat on the flower.

This is one of my favorite photos. I love the vibrant colors in it.

Aussie Burger

We've had SM's sister up for about a week and a half. Her husband served his mission to Australia. They have a burger called an Aussie Burger and we made them last week. It's a hamburger with just a few extra things...such as a fried egg, a slice of pineapple and several slices of beets. Yep, all of those were on this burger including the regular toppings such as lettuce, tomatoes, ketchup, mustard and mayo. I am not a fan of beets...to me they taste like dirt, but I put on my best manners and ate my Aussie burger with beets, and it was good. I think there are so many other flavors that you don't really taste any one flavor intensely.

15 Year Class Reunion

I had my 15 year class reunion the weekend before the 4th of July. Can you believe I've been out of school for 15 years? Sometimes it seems like I just left high school and at other times it seems like it's been several life times since I left high school.

This is a friend that attended all of elementary school, junior high, high school and church with me. I haven't seen her in a long time but she's just the same. It's so great!

One of my close high school friends was planning on attending...she paid her money...and at the last minute her husband and daughter got the flu and she was unable to attend. Luckily I had a few other friends show up. We had a great visit at our luau...enjoyed the food...enjoyed the entertainment and seeing so many friends.

Here's a photo of me and my cousin. We both got trophies. Mine is for having "the most degrees" and my cousin has one for the oldest child and one for being the first one to pay to attend the reunion. I really don't have the most degrees but I was the only one that attended the reunion and had the most degrees and my cousin doesn't have the oldest child out of everyone, but he did have the oldest child for those that did attend the reunion.

I can't wait for the twenty year reunion. Should be lots of fun....

Parade

Growing up in a smallish town means that there are traditions...fun things like a parade before the rodeo. I was so excited to attend the parade with my parents, my sister and her boyfriend, and my brother and his family. My brother actually saved places and parking spots for us. In the above picture his daughter is sharing her snow cone with a good friend.

Here I am holding my hands over my nephews ears while my mom is holding him. The local police and fire department were using their sirens. As a child I was always a little unsure about this portion of the parade. I still don't like loud noises but as an adult I can handle it.

Here's my empty seat, between my parents and my sister and her boyfriend. My brother is the lurker in the back of the photo. I had a great time and loved reliving a tradition of my childhood.

Of course, I can't help but post this photo of my cute, chubby nephew...and of course, my mom and dad.

And here I am...with a huge smile on my face since I so excited for the parade.