I almost got tricked into running this whole activity. But my mama dint raise no dummy.
I slip slided into the infinitely less stressful job of creating a little shop for the the "Night at Bethlehem" the ward put on for the ward Christmas party. I volunteered for the charcuterie shop. I know...it's funny. I don't doubt the fine citizens of Bethlehem enjoyed their fair share of shelf stable meats and cheeses, but did they call it charcuterie?? I think they called it dinner.
But we're rolling with it.
We dug out our bucket of earth tone fabric with rough-cut neck holes, loaded the truck with every tablecloth, basket, candle and tassley pillow we could find. Don't forget the staple gun!
And check it out!
Can you believe this beautiful hand-painted sign Megan created for me just hours before the party. She's so talented! I was blown away.
I was a little stressed, maybe a little jaded. But we actually had a good time running our Charcuterie Shop.
Anderson's ran the Bakery
And I loved our Roman Guard and Friar Tuck
And this was probably my favorite Christamas program ever. It was a shadow nativity, with Brother Jackson singing "Hallelujah". It was lovely.
But we were grateful that they seemed to only want our apples and peanut butter, not our blood and tears.
This was one of my favorite camping weekends ever. Not because the campground was special in any way, or because there was lots of fun things to do or because we made amazing pioneer food.
It was because we had such a fun time together laughing and taking pictures and enjoying the fact that we could just sit and make fire and watch the moon and sleep in and slow down together. I love these kids. Even though this year they didn't really feel like kids. They stepped up in monumental ways to do the heavy lifting that comes with camping...planning, packing, setting up, cooking, dishes, watching over each other. I am the luckiest mom.
Setting up the tent with very little help from mom
Rainbow sleeping bag straps make the best holders for the string lights.
Friends coming for a visit and a chat.
Tinfoil dinners will always be the best meal on our first night.
We love the new camping lights!
The first night was in the low 30s. Our tent was also sloping downhill. The combination kept me perpetually sliding off the bottom of my air mattress to start the propane heater so we didn't freeze our buns off.
We stayed cozy in our sleeping bags and listened to John Mayer until the sun came out and warmed us up a bit.
Meg is turning into Ethan. Boots and Carhart and ready to whip up some breakfast burritos for everyone.
Delicious!
We had to kill the fire because the wind forced a burn ban for the day. We found a sunny spot and let the that ball of fire do it's job.
AJ figured out that she could use the concrete barrier to sand the soft seed of the acorns into flat beads. She got right to it. She inhereited my "I need a project" gene. That gene has gotten me through many long vacation days....collection mini seashells, painting rocks, making stick dolls, firing clay pots.....need I go on?
Megan and Laney spent the afternoon drawing in the sun.
Megan rallied us all to go down and check out the lake. I wanted a "picture in front of the water". No more room for the water, but I love these faces!! Listening to them laugh and take silly pictures of each other filled my heart right up.
AJ tried to give us each a rock to throw in the water but when we realized that two of them were an L and a V, we knew these rocks had a destiny.
Our whole group (Flynns, Petersons, Jensens, and Leitheisers) walked down to the lake 15 minutes before sunset and stared at the western sky like a bunch of idiots, waiting for a glimpse of the Atlas comet. We thought we had spotted it at least 5 times, only to realize it was a just a shiny plane, leaving a tail in the clouds. Bored, AJ offered to give me a ride in the wagon and, to her surprise, I accepted!
We finally peeled our eyes away from the comet-watch and we were stunned by the gorgeous moon on the water right behind us.
We all agreed that the fabulous moon put the no-show comet to shame. And I got to enjoy watching my girls from the comfort of a wagon, haha!
Back at camp, Megan made pies for everyone. I wouldn't be sad if she takes over pie-making duties permanently.
Our second and final night wasn't as cold. But we still burrowed into our sleeping bags until almost 9 am. That's got to be a camping record.
We headed home early to spend time with Mark. He's not having happy times at work right now. And we're missing him. So we had our oatmeal breakfast and nacho lunch. The kids honest-to-goodness packed up the entire camp with almost no help or direction from me and we were on the road back to Olathe.
Potatoes roasted and seasoned with all the favorites: paprika, garlic salt, course black pepper, parsley and olive oil
Perfect cold seedless watermelon
A real surprise! He actually doesn't know what he's getting!! He really, truly doesn't know! For real!
(And can I get a shout out for that awesome hiding spot? Nobody wants to look inside the sewing machine case)
A Ninja Creami! Not only that, I drove to pick it up myself from someone on Facebook marketplace, talked the price down and didn't get murdered in the process. I made five flavors of healthy ice cream yesterday and they are ready to spin!
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