Just a thought...

Just a thought to finish off the summer campout.  Eight years ago, the family had another campout, but it was a little different tone.  Eight years ago on August 5th, my mother passed away.  She sent the family away to the campout and only a few stayed behind.  She passed away while they were gone.

So, on Friday, I remembered my dear mother and missed her so much.  She was the best at Spades.  She loved the woods and taught us to be kind to each other, have fun in nature, and - above all- that our family is ultimately all that matters.

Love you Mom.  Miss you.

How I spent my summer vacation

Most family reunions are, well... obligatory get-togethers where you see people you don't know, you do "get to know you" games and talk about people who died long ago who you never meet.

Well, not ours!!  We meet every year for the Biddulph Family Wilderness Survival Camping Adventure Jamboree and we camp in style.  We eat in style.  We play in style.  We end up dirty and stinky... in style!

This post is a little Aiden-heavy with pictures, but he was pretty stinkin' cute.  First off, I must say that we missed the Smeds.  Three of them are in Scotland (jealous) and so we are posting pictures so they can see their Best Buddy.

First day was just Chris, Teresa, Aiden and me.  To be honest, we knew what the next day would bring, so we played it easy.  We went to Friendship campground up by Hyrum Lake and set up Teresa's trailer and our motorhome.  We were quiet and low-key.  The next day brought most of the group.  We figure there were around 40 people there total throughout the campout.

Aiden found the mud.  And he kept shouting, "Mom!! I'm in the mud!!"  It was awesome.  He jumped, sat, played, splashed, and loved the mud.  

Followed by a bath.  By the way - love the motorhome for this reason.  Love the tub and the potty.

Crashed - HARD

This is pretty much how you will find the family at any given time during a campout.  Sitting, chatting, relaxing, playing cards, teaching knitting (okay that was this campout)

Uncle Chris was in charge and he did a pirate theme this year.  It was very fun.

Cousin Anna

Cousins all around watching Chris - and Uncle Bret in the background.  It is a good pic of Bret.

Stockton

Emily or "Emmy Sue"

Gramma Sharon

This was what I saw first thing the next morning.  The guys woke up early, had a great breakfast and went rock climbing.  All the kids went except the babies (4 and younger stayed home).  Uncle Dustin had all the climbing gear and everyone loved it.

Aiden and I spent the time in the river where he found MORE mud.  

The played with his cousins.  I had to put this one in here because Gracie has a wedgie.  It is classic 4-year old girl stuff.  

Aiden found Uncle Chris's pirate hat!!!

Goodbye fun campground!!

Then we went to Hyrum lake the last day!

Cousin Alyssa and Aido

Mud.  Three days in a row.  This kid LOVES the mud/

Baby Olivia.  So, so, so precious.  

Cute Mama too!

Cousin Marshall only 2 weeks older than Aiden.  They played well together.  Marshall runs everywhere.  Aiden just seeks out the dirtiest spot and stays there.

Cousin Gracie playing in the sand.  

We loved being together with the family.  We were reminded by a friend that came to hang out one night that most families can't do this.  Too much baggage or emotion to let it all go and have fun.  We played Steal the Flag and the dads were carrying the young kids on their shoulders (usually not even their own kids) and running toward the goal.  We love each other so much.  We have a lot of chaos and noise, but we love each other so very, very much.

Summertime and the Livin' is Easy

Ah Summertime, my Nemesis.  I have never ever EVER been a fan of the summer because of the heat.  I HATE being hot.  Something about the heat makes life unbearable.

Fast forward to this year when I live in a place that is COLD.  I mean, 62 degrees cold.  We wear sweaters and socks in the summer here.  It is a gorgeous place and I wouldn't live anywhere else, but it is cold.  We are also very lucky to have a HUGE back yard.  Beautiful and very, very big.   So, this year I am (dare I say it) enjoying the summer! I have a nice cool home, nice cool work office, fun boy who loves to be outside where we can warm up a bit, and a grill to make all my heavenly healthy things.  (Tonight was lemon salmon with fresh green beans on the grill.  For dessert... homemade yogurt.  Yummy!!)

So on the days I work from home, Aiden gets really bored - what with the Mom working all day thing.  So, when my work clock whistled Quitting Time we headed outside and started Aiden's splash pad that he was given by Smedleys for his birthday.  He didn't even wait to get in his swimming suit and I said, "no problem!"

Beautiful Day!  Beautiful Boy!!

It really is the coolest thing ever for a toddler.  It is not deep, there is not a spot that doesn't keep them watered down, and it is AWESOME cool!  I want an adult-sized one of these.  (and, yes, I hopped in after a while.   In my jeans.)

I don't really know what this one was all about, but I find it HILARIOUS.

Footprints after being "sunscreened".  

Phew!

Several people have noticed that I haven't posted in a while.  Well, that's because I thought nothing had really happened to blog about.  But a friend said that as a single mom there must always be something to blog about. And I guess she was right.

So, I thought that today I would write about joy.  There are many emotions that come to mind when someone thinks "single mom", but joy is not usually one of them.  Usually there is anger, frustration, fatigue, guilt, sadness, loneliness, and depression.  I don't want to give anyone the misconception that I don't have those as well, but joy is the rule in my situation, not the exception.

I want to write about how my situation, unique as it is, brings me joy.  If I was on a psychiatrist's couch, I would begin at the beginning.  In the beginning, I chose this journey.  I chose to be a single parent from before Aiden was born.  I had a difficult (not as bad as some) pregnancy and an even worse (again, not as bad as some) delivery.  When Little Man came in to my life, I knew there would be problems.  I was assuming those problems would be much worse than they actually ended up to be and so the joy began the first moments of his life.

I enjoy being a single parent because I don't know anything else.  It is not stressful (most of the time) because I have never had any other way of doing things.  I am sure there are parts of this that would be made so much easier, but I don't have that right now.  So, we proceed the way things are and find joy in the process.

There is a lot of joy in being a parent.  I have experienced joy thousands of times in the past two years.  I have found, however, that joy in parenting is a frame of mind.  For me, choosing to be joyful usually results in having joy - and having a joyful child.  Funny, that.

There are many of small adjustments I have had to make in my parenting and I am FAR from perfect.  (I taught my own son to pick his nose and flick it....)  But when I get to the end of the day and I haven't lost my temper, my son has brushed teeth and warm pajamas on, and I am happy - that is when I feel successful.   When I can look at my son and feel overwhelming joy in the process of being a family, I am fulfilled.

I know that I only have been at this for two years and there are many more stressful situations to come, but I remember a very wise man once said, "No situation was ever bad enough that a bad attitude does not make it worse."  Being full of joy can never be a bad thing.

My pediatrician has a thought above her exam rooms, "Every baby is a good baby.  Every toddler is a riot.  Every child is intelligent and delightful.  Be a joyful parent and this will always be true."  She explained it to me.  Children usually become what their parents project upon them.  If they are frustrated, their children will be frustrating.  If they are angry, their children will push their buttons.  If their parents are happy, their children will be well-adjusted and happy.  It is a cycle.

My mother was happy.  I try to be happy.  I have a happy kid.

Our Grand Adventure Day 2

Because Aiden has NEVER slept in a day in his life, we woke early and had a great breakfast of omelets and hashbrowns.  I loved having a stove to cook with.

Then we packed up the boys and went to Yellowstone!!!!

The view from the passenger's seat.  Ah.  I am home!

Yellowstone Lake 

The Lake Hotel

My guess is Buffalo vs. Car.  Buffalo won.  Check out the horn marks.  Awesome.

No speedometer?  No problem.  There is an app for that.  Yes, we had no speedometer.  But Chris's Iphon app kept pace perfectly.  Whoda thought?

We started our adventure at Fishing Bridge.  I love that place.  Shopping, ice cream (yes, more ice cream at the counter diner) and a really beautiful beach.  I forgot my camera.  The highlight of the trip happened at Fishing Bridge.  Chris found a small puddle.  He decided to jump in it.  Aiden thought that looked like so much fun, so he copied him.  Only he doesn't know how to jump so his attempt looked like a slightly-epileptic chicken dance.  We laughed so hard - as did the people around us.  We let him jump again and again just so we could laugh.

On to the fun!  We are at Old Faithful. When Aiden saw the small steam plume coming from it, he yelled "THOMAS!"  Hilarious.  

Watching the eruption.

After watching Old Faithful, we went to the cafeteria for lunch.  Chris got some creamed spinach with his meal.  I attempted to give some to Aiden.  He tasted.... full body shiver...  looked at me and said, "No GREEN, Mom!"

Then we walked around the hot pots.

After a fun, long day at Yellowstone, we went back for dinner over the fire (hotdogs), homemade potato and fruit salads, and smores.  Aiden played with my phone.  Junkie.

Our camping spot.  It was so beautiful.

The Great Behemoth 

Yes, in fact that is marshmallow on his shirt.  Sicko.