Camping at Grandma and Grandpa's 2012

The first night

Ever since I can remember, my cousins and siblings and I have gone camping each summer with my Grandma Kock. (Even though I'm sure there were a few years that we didn't go and we didn't go last summer. lol - but I guess I have blocked those years out of my memory!) When we were younger, we'd go for about a week and camp with my Grandma and Great Aunt and all my cousins and second cousins at Blackhawk Lake in Lake View, Iowa. We would swim all day long and go putt putt golfing and eat Sno Cones and play at the park and walk around the lake and feed the ducks. We'd also eat a lot of wonderful food and play games and just have a blast together.

Mattie! She had fun camping with us too!!

I would guess that we started doing this maybe over 15 years ago... (That seems like a long time now that I say it out loud - we'll have to look into that and figure out how long it has actually been.) Now, when we go camping it is just my siblings and my 3 first cousins that go camping with my Grandma. And now that we're older and have a lot of stuff going on in our "grown up" lives, it has become increasingly more difficult to get us all together. This year proved to present the same issues with everyone's busy schedules. The only weekend that we could all get together happened to be a busy weekend in Lake View where we normally go camping. It was the weekend of the Lake View Water Carnival and also the weekend right before RAGBRAI would be going through town. And those things mean that there would be no open camping spots for us at the camp grounds. Because of this, we decided that we'd just camp at my Grandparents instead! Grandpa got the camper out and parked it behind their shed and he and Grandma got it all ready for us to arrive.

We all got to their house whenever we could on that Friday and the fun began! My parents and my Uncle Dan were also there just like they would be if we were camping. Usually when we are camping they'd come up every night for supper and a few games as well. It was just like old times, but just at a different place! It was nice to be there at the house because Grandma could cook for us all right in the kitchen and there was plenty of room for everyone to sit and eat and hang out (and enjoy the AC). On Friday evening, we all made our way down to the camper and played a few games of bags and sat around the fire. Then, Grandma and Grandpa called it a night and went up to the house and all of us 'kids' piled in the camper to sleep. 

Usually when we'd go camping, Grandma would get up before us all and go outside to read a book or do a crossword while all the rest of us kids slept in. (We're really good at that.) But with this arrangement, she could be nice and comfortable in the house and we all could wake up when we wanted to and make our way to the house for breakfast. One thing that didn't change at all from how camping has always been is that breakfast was very scrumptious, as all meals are at Grandma's!!

All the cousins (Except for Wade)

The rest of the morning was spent chatting and working on word and number puzzles in the puzzle books that Grandma has (another favorite activity at Grandma's). A few people had to leave for various things throughout the day, but those of us who stayed got to spend time with Grandpa and shoot some of the many guns that he has. I hadn't shot a gun in a very long time despite the fact that my Grandpa, Dad, and brother would go to the gun club or go hunting often as I was growing up. It was nice to have it just be us kids with Grandpa there and have him let us shoot at the targets, etc. Trent and Jared shot some of the exploding Tannerite targets again like the ones that they had shot a few weeks earlier at my parents when we had our birthday party. We all then took turns shooting at the targets (pieces of metal) that Grandpa had up on the hill. After we were done with the rifles, Grandpa got a few of his revolvers and hand guns out and we shot with those. I wasn't so good at shooting without the stability of the tripod... AT ALL! Ha!

 That Saturday was another VERY hot day, so when we were done shooting, it was nice to get back inside in the AC!

Later that evening, my parents came back and we had supper followed by a game of Dominos. (Which I won fair and square by the way!) My family members are sore losers. They think that I win just because I keep score... NOT true! I'm just good!

WINNER!! =)

Sunday morning, we got up and had breakfast again followed by lunch (if you haven't noticed a pattern yet, we do a lot of eating at Grandma's) before I had to head back home to join my hubby and puppy who had gone back home on Saturday. It was an amazing weekend. I love spending time just hanging out with my family! I cherish those times and look forward to them more than anyone could know! I am so blessed to have such an amazing family!

Have a great weekend!

ANOTHER birthday celebration

Last weekend, on the 8^th of July, we had our family celebration for June birthdays… I guess that just goes to show how hard it is to get us all together!

In our family, Trent, my sister, Kellsey, and I all have birthdays within one week. And Jared has his half birthday, too, but that doesn’t really count. =) So each year, we get together with our grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins to celebrate.

On that Sunday, we all got to town in time to go to church together and then headed out to my parents to start the celebration. My dad grilled pork burgers and hot dogs and we had pigs in a blanket, cheesy potatoes, vegetable casserole, layered lettuce salad, strawberry jello salad, and many other things. It truly was a bountiful meal! My mom really knows how to throw our family a party and her along with my grandma and aunt sure know how to feed us all!

After lunch we all hung out and chatted for a while. My cousin, Alex, is in a phase of solving a Rubik’s cube, so he showed us all how fast he can do it and I even completed it one time. I could get one side by myself but then he had to help me through the rest of it. There was a day when I could do it all by memory, but that was years ago  =)  

Then, my Grandpa Kock came with some sort of fire cracker things. These weren’t any normal firecrackers. (Sorry, Grandpa, I don't remember what they were called.) They were little canisters with explosive stuff in them that would blow up when you would shoot them... So Alex put them out a ways away from the house on a mound of dirt in the fenced in area for the cows (there weren't any cows around there) and Alex, Trent, and Jared took turns shooting them. It was kind of humorous looking at us all standing out on the deck watching them shoot these things. Both the gun and the firecracker deals were really quite loud. They were pretty cool, though! 

Alex getting set up to shoot.



You can't see them, but the little canisters are
sitting out on that mound of dirt.

Trent's turn with Grandpa Kock and Grandpa Jons
and my dad watching.





The smoke that comes off after one blows up

 After all the festivities outside with the shooting and stuff it was time to eat some cake and ice cream and open gifts. Since we were having the party so late, we all pretty much had received most of our cards and gifts from everyone. There were still a couple to open, though.

You might be thinking that it's kind of crazy for a 28 year old and a 25 year old (and now Trent too) to still have a birthday party every year, and you're probably right. But I think more and more each year, it's less about the birthdays (we didn't even sing "Happy Birthday" this year, I don't think) and more about just another excuse to get together with our family. Even though they do make us feel pretty special and all that since is IS our party. :) I'm just thankful that so many of our family members live close together and will take time out of their day to come celebrate with us still after ALL THESE YEARS!! We really do have an amazing family!

 

Trent, Kellsey, and I with our cake.
Grandma's famous cake, I should say!

  

Kellsey modeling her new pool accessories.

 

Everyone enjoying cake and ice cream

  For the first time, Mattie go to come enjoy the celebration. Even though being in new places that she's not used to is a little stressful for her, I think she got plenty of loving from everyone to make it worth the trip. She just needed a good nap afterwards!

Mattie snuggling close to Kellsey on the way home
from church.

Hanging out with Grandma Jons.

I really like this picture of Grandpa Kock and Mattie
(or "Shep" as Gpa calls her)

Aunt Doreen and Uncle Nick

Grandma and Grandpa Jons

Grandma and Grandpa Kock

Me and my Mom

Kellsey and I with our mom

Kellsey and I with Jared, who was too tired to function, I guess.

Me and my Daddy

My wonderful husband!

Mattie waiting for us at the door. She was ready to go home!
I can just hear her thinking "COME ON guys! I'm ready to go!!"

It was another great birthday celebration and reminder of how blessed we are!

Weekend Projects: Chairs and Candle Holder

A few weekends ago, Trent and I had a Saturday to just stay home and do a few things at the house. I took that opportunity to take care of a few projects I had been thinking about doing. Turns out that both of the projects I had in mind involved spray painting.

The first was spray painting some metal chairs that we were given from Trent’s parents. These chairs were brought up to Iowa from Mexico many years ago when Trent’s grandparents were down wintering in Texas. They were originally a set of four and Trent’s parents had them for a while. Now, though, Trent’s sister has two of them and we were just given the other two. I think that’s just the best that these chairs are sort of a ‘hand-me-down.’ 

The chairs in their green color as they were when we got them.

When Trent’s parents brought them to our house after we moved in, they gave us permission to paint them however we’d like. They had been a few colors before, so it was up to us to pick the next color!

I knew that I wanted to do something bright, as we have two Adirondack chairs on our deck as well that are dark stained, so I thought something bright would be good. I decided to go with yellow.

I first tried to use a wire brush to get any loose paint off, but that really didn’t do much for me at all. I’m not sure what I was doing wrong, but I just gave up on it eventually… Then I took a hose and washed them all off. The high pressure from the water did get some of the loose paint off, so that worked fine for me.

I then primed the chairs with a white primer. I only had two cans of the primer, which wasn’t enough to cover all of both of the chairs, but it got most of them. The bottom of them didn’t exactly get primed well, but no one will ever know, I’m sure.

After letting that dry for a while, I started with the yellow. I had four cans of the yellow paint and that was just the right amount. I even had a little left over. I started by painting two coats on the chairs just as they stood. I then let them dry for a few hours and then went out again and flipped them over to paint the bottoms.

I let them dry overnight and then flipped them back over and touched up any spots I could see that needed it. When they were all of the way dry, I moved them from the garage out to the deck where they sit now.

I love how they turned out! I can’t wait until we have people over again since we have real chairs for them to sit in! I still want to get some cute outdoor pillows for the chairs to bring some more color to the outside. It’s a great start though. First project = success!

The second little thing I did was paint this candle holder. I found it for $3.00 at a thrift store in town.

I originally had plans to stain it a dark brown, but when I got to that point, it was obvious that it had been painted over at one point and therefore wasn’t going to be able to be stained. And my attempts at sanding it were pretty sad. All those curves and crevices just were too much for my abilities and patience!

So I decided to just spray paint it black. I picked up a .99 cent can of black spray paint from Lowe’s and went to town. It took 2-3 coats in some places, but I think it turned out rather swell.





The top of it is a little crooked (as you can see in the picture above), but if I set it so that it slants backwards, no one will be able to tell. Not too bad for a $4.00 candle holder, if I do say so myself!



We don't have a lot planned for this weekend, so I should be able to find some more things to do. In between my plans to sleep and study, I want to get some more things hung on the walls and do some more decorating and possibly some shopping (for me and the house). It should be a productive few days!

Have a great weekend!

Free Song!

So, not too long ago I posted this about my new favorite song, Should've Been Me by Citizen Way?!?!

Well, it just so happens that it is the Free Song this week at KLove.com. 

I just thought I'd let you know in case you liked the song as well or if you just like FREE music :) 

Click here to get the song!

Here's the video of it again:

You can also the story behind this song here:

That is all :)

Fourth of July

I was very happy to be able to spend the 4th of July holiday with a lot of my family this year. It did kind of stink that the 4th was right smack dab in the middle of the week this year, but it was also kind of nice to be able to have a little mini-weekend before finishing out the week, too. Thursday began our busy time of the quarter at work, so it was kind of like the calm before the storm of 10-12 hour work days plus having to work on Saturday. So I guess I'd take having Wednesday off rather than nothing!

Tuesday after work, I headed straight home. I had to leave Trent and Mattie at home because Trent was on duty for work and couldn't leave the area, but I think they had a nice little vacation as well (except that Mattie doesn't particularly like all the fireworks - which were pretty unmerciful to her).

When I got home, I was greeted by my parents and my sister and we made our way over to Grandma and Grandpa Kock's house. My Uncle Dan was there already. Grandma made us a scrumptious meal of hamburgers and hash browns and we all had a fun time solving some number and word puzzles together and chatting. One thing that I love about hanging out with my family and especially my Uncle Dan is you can bet that he'll come up with some really good trivia for us all. The fun of the evening was Grandma getting out these old placemats out that we used to use when we were younger and they each have different things on them like all the Presidents (up to Clinton is all, though), the states, and all the planets (with Pluto still included). Then, Dan was quizzing us on the Presidents and different fun facts about them followed by things such as what states are the New England states, what points of the U.S. are the most Northern, Southern, etc, and what the longest rivers in the U.S. are. We also got to enjoy some of Grandma's Rhubarb Sauce and ice cream before we headed home.

On Wednesday, we slept in until it was time to get ready to head to Manilla for the 4th of July parade and get-together with my mom's side of the family. My parents are owners of the newspaper in Manilla, The Manilla Times, and my mom is the editor/publisher, so they had an entrance in the 4th of July parade. We brought my uncles golf cart to town and covered it in papers and drove it in the parade boasting the slogan, "The Manilla Times, We've Got You Covered." My dad and I drove the golf cart while my mom and one of her employees walked the route handing out fliers with $10 off a new subscription. It was definitely a warm one, but we all made it to the end just fine :)

After the parade, we all gathered at my Aunt Barb and Uncle Pat's to hang out, escape the heat, and have a few bites to eat. My Grandpa Jons' birthday is on the 4th of July, so we celebrated with two different kinds of cake. (You do know that the reason for all the celebrations and fireworks on the 4th every year is because everyone is celebrating with my Grandpa, right?!? Haha!) 

And, as expected, he showed up with his patriotic socks on again this year!

After all the celebrating, it was time for us to all head toward our homes. It was a great 4th of July holiday and it really was nice to have a little break in the middle of the work week to hang out with so many family members!

Here are a few more pictures from the day!

With Grandma and Grandpa

Our family with Grandma and Grandpa

Haha Kellsey :)

The "original" family :)

Grandma and Grandpa with their three daughters.