July Pack Meeting

This was Kjel's last pack meeting...........we had a bridge crossing from cub scouts over to boy scouts for him and another boy in our pack.

Clayton earned his wolf, two arrow points, and about five belt loops.

19th Anniversary

We celebrated our anniversary by going to Asheville, NC and visiting Biltmore. It was built by George Washington Vanderbuilt in 1895. (It took six years to build) Boasting four acres of floor space, the 250 - room mansion featured 33 family and guest bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, 65 fireplaces, three kitchens, and an indoor swimming pool. In 1895 they owned 125,000 acres of forests, farms and a dairy. Today they only have 8,000 acres. Of course I couldn't take photos inside of the house, but I did buy a book that has wonderful pictures. It was a little overwhelming to me....................there were 22 servant bedrooms........about 8 kitchen staff bedrooms. I have a hard enough time keeping 5 children focused on chores, of course the servants probably work better than children.

This is the front view. In the picture below you can see an extension to the house. The lower roof to the right is the 12,000 sq ft. stable.

If you look at the picture at the top, you will see this part of the house next to the front door. It is the circular staircase that leads you to all levels of the house.

Here is a picture showing what the foundation of the house looked like in the back. That is the basement where they had a large swimming pool, bowling alley, dressing rooms for guests, weight room. Remember, this is 1895..........all, very modern stuff.

Frederick Law Olmsted, American's foremost landscape architect, designed the gardens, forested areas, and farm. There was an Italian Garden, shrub garden, walled garden, rose garden, conservatory, spring garden, and azalea garden. We did not walk through all of them because it was pretty hot and humid the day that we went.

the conservatory

Here Warren is standing by what use to be a dairy. Today it is a winery.

Can you believe how big these pots are. They were everywhere.

Pioneer Day Ward Activity

We had a great time celebrating the 24th of July. We had a potluck at the park. The children played pioneer games, the adults listened to people play the parts of different pioneers, and then everyone could go swimming at the pool. I was in charge of the childrens games. I think that the kids had fun. Here are a few pictures.

Clayton with his flour sack and corn husk doll.

The girls had a race against the boys and smoked them. Of course the boys had to pull the bishop in their handcart, but I don't think that it would have made a difference if he were in or out.

EFY 2008

The girls were at EFY in Buena Vista VA the week of the 4th of July. They had a blast and returned spiritually charged for the next year. They grow so much and it is fun to hear what they learned while they were there. Of course they were some of the prettiest girls there, so I have to share some pictures with you. If you want to see all of their pictures, you can look at them on their facebook accounts. Breanne was in the variety show doing her jump roping. Kjirsten and Will were also in the variety show - Kjirsten played the piano while Will played the guitar and sang. Both Kjirsten and Breanne were in the choir.

Kjirsten and Will

TaraLyn with the boys in her group.

Breanne found her twin.

Breanne said this is the "Prom Pose"

Breanne lifting the guy from Texas.

Hungry Mother State Park

Last week Warren, Kjel, Clayton, and I enjoyed some time in the Great Outdoors. We went camping at a State Park in Virginia called Hungry Mother State Park. I found this location when I took the girls to girls camp a few weeks ago. We enjoyed the beach and Lake.

This is the beach area. I took a picture of it from across the lake.

They had life guards and diving boards on the lake. Here is Warren diving.

Of course the boys had fun playing in the sand. We all got a little red on our backs. I also got a few freckles!!!

One day we took a hike that was 5.7 miles long.

I took this picture so that you could see the rhododendrons that are all over the mountain sides here in VA, NC, and TN.

The guys went canoeing and fishing one day..........I stayed back at the tent and read my book and prepared my sharing time. One night Warren and the boys went into town and watched WALL-E at the drive inn theater.