It's happening!

Maybe it's not a big deal to any one else, but just the other day we went to a Primary activity and Everly spent her time COLORING.

What that means, my dears, is that she wasn't on my hip or my back or my face and my hair wasn't being pulled and my clothes weren't getting goobered and I had BOTH MY HANDS available for my own use. 

And it was so so very good.

Dance lessons

They say it takes a village to raise a child.

And I'm glad. Because this child isn't going to learn to dance from me. 

She needs Reggie.

He's got the moves.

The Elusive Muscle Up

He did it! It's super hard and really difficult and very challenging!

It's one the first things I saw when I walked into On Track on my first day and I thought, "Oh, dear. I've made a mistake."

And now here he is...

It's amazing!

Summer bucket list - Deanna Rose

No summer is complete without a trip to Deanna Rose. 

We've been there many times, but we rarely go into the schoolhouse. It isn't the funnest or most interactive place....but we managed to find a couple ways to entertain ourselves

Yay for cute little girls on wooden horses!

And, weirdly, there was a barn cat hanging around. I've never seen that before. Maybe she belongs to a neighbor and comes over for some extra love? Mark's allergic, so the kids consider cats pretty rare and exotic animals.

I love this photo.
I love that everyone always catches a fish here. Always.
I love that nobody is in a stroller anymore.
I love that nobody is trying to roll into the pond.
I love that I didn't have to touch a single worm or fish.
I love that Mat and Ethan are masters of the dock.
I love that a pocketful of quarters can buy so much fish/turtle action.

I love that Ethan caught a HUGE fish (by this pond's standards). I have never seen anyone catch a fish even half that size. I think he must have been the Grand Poobah.

He helped Anna!

And Everly... (so grateful that they both consider "catching a fish" to be mainly holding onto the pole while Ethan takes the fish off and saying "BYE FISHY!" as it plops back into the murky water.)

Then we found an empty picnic table and had our lunch...

We grabbed an ice cream cone and enjoyed the best spot at the farm....the huge fan by the tables.

Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

Ethan Rasmussen * Trek 2015

Ethan's first ever Youth Conference just so happened to be Trek. 

I'll let him do the talkin: 

Ethan?  

The trek was located on a ranch in the middle of Oklahoma. It was about 90 degrees every day pulling 200 lb carts with 100 lbs of supplies added on for three days. We seemed to hit every rock on the trail and often joked "We missed a rock, gotta go back." At one point a family behind us tried too pass us after a river crossing and only Joel, Noe, Spencer, and me were ready to go out of our 12 person group. It was a 13 person family against the 4 of us pulling 300 lb handcarts in an all out sprint along a 200 yard asphalt straight. despite the odds we won and kept our place in the line. We did a folk dance and spent our nights in cramped tents sweating it out. That's trek for ya.

Busted

Anna did something to her wrist and it hurt her a bit. 

Then she was fine. 

Then she said it hurt a bit. 

Then she was fine.

Then she fell on her bike and it hurt a bit.

Then she went to gymnastics and did it all with a smile on her face and a bounce in her step.

Then we were eating dinner and she said it hurt a bit.

Then I told her to get in the car and we went to Arbor Creek Urgent Care for an x-ray.

Then they moved it all around and she smiled from ear to ear and said "Nope! Doesn't hurt!"

Then I felt like a total dope and watched my copay float away into Wasted Money Land. 

Then they took a look at the x-ray and pointed out a buckle fracture. 

Then I felt super bad and super guilty for waiting 6 days to take her in. 

Then I felt VINDICATED!!! Money not wasted after all! HA HA!

Then they put on a temporary cast and we went home with her cute little sling and she got buckets of attention. Buckets and buckets.

Then we went in to the orthopedic surgeon the next day and he took a look at the x-ray and determined that she did have a fracture, but it would heal nicely on its own and there would be no benefit to a cast.

Then I watched 2 copays float off to Wasted Money Land.

Then she got her temporary cast removed and they let her keep her sling and she was so happy because attention is great and all, but stiff, itchy casts aren't a long-term solution to getting it.

Then I went home and laid down on the couch and had a little nap.

HBSFN

In early spring we were told that the scout fundraiser this year involved each boy (I have two!) selling ONE HUNDRED  Price Chopper cards. The were not allowed to go door to door and not allowed to call the people in the ward. 

You know what that means. 

Mark and I were going to stuck trying to hawk those things to friends, neighbors and coworkers for the foreseeable future. 

Please, dear heaven, don't make me do it.

So it dawned on me that the entire purpose of the fundraiser was to raise the money they needed to go to Scout Camp and High Adventure this summer. There's got to be a better way to raise this money. 

So we invented....

Hufford Brothers Super Fun Night

We choose a movie, plan a snack and a supplemental activity and then let parents know on Facebook that they are free to bring their kids over for babysitting and they get to go on a date. 

We charged $5 for 1 kid, $10 for 2-3 kids and $15 for 4+ per family

And it was a total hit. 

Our last event, we had 32 kids (not including ours). Luckily we had extra helpers or I think we may have had a Lord of the Flies situation on our hands.

We've done:

Big Hero 6/ Playdough

How to Train Your Dragon / No Fire S'mores

Frozen/ Ice cream sundaes

Lego movie/ Lego building contest

Nemo / Ice cream cones

It has been fun and crazy and so hilariously chaotic, but the boys worked hard and have earned their money for their scout activities.

They also got a glimpse of the power of the entrepreneurial spirit and what can happen when you find something that people want (10 dollar date night? Where do I sign up?)