A Little Time For Creativity!

 Its been a very busy summer with lots of activities and adventures, so it was nice when i found some time to be creative last week!  I have had these old barn wood frames forever.  Gwen picked them up for me at a yard sale, but i wasnt sure what i wanted to do with them...so there they sat...in my closet, for years!  Finally, i saw something on Pinterest that inspired me, and since i had all the materials, i decided to give it a try.  I couldnt decide which paper i liked better, the butterflies or the flowers, so i made one of each...and i think they look cute together as a set!  I also realized, that most of my earrings are REALLY old...most of them are 20+ years old.  I think its time to make me some new ones!  Cheers~

We Love Owls ~

 The library and SEEC put together this great demo on owls that the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program presented, and they had a huge turn out!  Lots of kids as well as adults showed up to check out this magnificent animal.

 We learned all about owls, then we met their ambassadors, the Great Horned Owl, the Long Eared Owl and the Barn Owl.

 Such cool creatures, indeed!  After the demo, the kids each got to dissect an owl pellet.  Jordyn and Rehna had fun matching up the rodent bones to the chart...

 Jordyn had several skulls in her pellet.  What a great learning experience...the kids all had a blast!

More Cousin Fun ~

 Jordyn and Van had nonstop fun together while they were here visiting...they played in the river, enjoyed the trampoline, rode around in the golf cart, painted rocks, challenged each other in chess, and even had a couple sleepovers.  Cousins Rule!!!

Horses, Swimming and Cousins ~

 Our girl scout troop had a ride n swim at Western Ridge on Wednesday, and the kids had a great time!  We each enjoyed a ride for 1/2 an hour and then we swam and swam and swam!

 Then we headed to town to pick up our cousins Mary and Van to bring them up for a few days visit at the black bear.   Jordyn and Van had a lot of river fun, while the rest of us enjoyed catching up!

What a great summer day!

Rogue Recovery ~

Seems we're not the only ones still trying to recover from Rogue Camp!  :)

Afternoon Boating ~

Jordyn spent the day with Andrea out on the lake and went tubing for the first time.  Sharons sister took these photos for me...i think its safe to say she had a great time!  :)

Rogue Camp 2014!!!

Warning: Photo Overload!!!  Rogue Camp 2014 was another outstanding event...and what sticks out in my mind is this...FABULOUS MUSIC...lots of dancing...great stories and laughter...new friends...new foods...a dangerous treasure hunt...recumbent tricycles...lots of nastrovias...a giant glowing teepee, and more laughter!  It was a magical weekend, and a great way to spend time with friends we hadn't seen all year!  We had visitors from all over the country...Texas, Idaho, New Mexico and even Iowa!

The first Rogues to arrive were Donovan and Kat, arriving at noon on Thursday!  An hour later Andrew and Sarah arrived, and then Bob and Rachel...and later, a few more folks arrived, and the party began!  We had a quiet fire up at the house, enjoyed some brauts and dogs, and great conversation!  For some of us, we only get to see each other but once a year at rogue camp, so we had lots of chatting to do!

On Friday, the rest of the Rogues started to roll in...and the music and laughter really kicked into high gear, as did the pygmies!

By dusk, everyone was here, so we dressed up to ring in the night with some dancing by the fire!  Note to self...Jordyn has almost outgrown all of her garb...time to get sewing!

Naturally, the Nastrovia tent was rocking with laughter and good times...and the music was incredible!  Most of us stayed up wayyyy tooooo late...and some of us had wayyyy tooooo much fun!

Morning brought about another gorgeous day!  We had been getting rain all week, so the sunshine was perfectly timed and happily received!

Brent and Kim have started a new business building and selling recumbent trikes, so they brought 10 of them up for all of us to enjoy!  These were quite a hit with the kids, as well as the adults!  Thanks for sharing them with us guys!

Another big hit at the party was Jon's Rogue Cream Ale!  Everyone looks forward to trying out his new batch of ale, and this years was not to be missed!  Now, I don't normally care for home brews, but his cream ale was really tasty this year!  Thanks Jon!

Next up...the Treasure Hunt!

The teams had four challenges, and after completing each challenge they were given a clue...

Some of the challenges were more difficult than others...

but the kids were determined to be victorious!

As the hunt came to its climactic end...two teams were neck in neck.  However, Lochlan and Christine beat everyone to the treasure and were racing across the bridge to the finish line...that is, until the kids from all the other teams found out about it!  They seemed to come out of the woodworks to claim that treasure, and down went Christine! (no worries, shes okay...the treasure chest, however is another story)

So, down she went...down went the treasure, falling open and spilling its contents everywhere...and down went the kids...at first it was like a pinata breaking open, kids everywhere, grabbing goodies with delight...but then it turned into Lord of the Flies!

But everyone turned out unscathed with a bounty of treasure...even Christine and Lochlan enjoyed a bottle of Captain Morgan that was in the chest!  Huzzah to another wonderful treasure hunt!

After battling all those pygmies...the pirates were hungry and ready for a feast!  Nevin brought up some green chilies from Texas and made chili rellenos for everyone...and they were delish!  We also enjoyed our traditional fajita night, and naturally there was way too much food! 

Jordyn headed up to Aunt LeAnns for a sleepover, but before she left, Jon gave her a birthday present...a Sonic Screwdriver!  She LOVES it!  Just look at that smile!  :) Now she is a true Whovian!

As the sun set, and the nappers awoke, everyone dressed for more frolicking and fun down by the fire! 

We usually have some day trippers stop by on Saturday,  so that makes Saturday the biggest night.  This year several folks from Archer's came by and they spent a great deal of time doing damage in the nastrovia tent :)  I helped them by serving up numerous nonstop nastrovias!

And a fantastic time was had by all!  I am truly blessed to have such a creative, magical, talented, hilarious group of friends!  I love you guys!  Namaste!!!