Leila's First Backpacking Trip

For Leila's 8th birthday back in November she received a backpacking bag and a promise to go backpacking this summer. We had a fabulous time and hope to make this a tradition when all of the kids turn eight. We chose Lassen National Park because that has been Leila's school class name for 1st, 2nd, and now 3rd grade. It is a peaceful park that is not overcrowded. We enjoyed seeing more animal tracks on parts of the trails than human's. 

When Leila was asked in the evening after the first day of hiking, "Well, Leila, is it everything that you expected?", she responded that she was not expecting the food to be so tasty. And that she was not expecting to get so close to a dear. She was refering to the deer that ran into us on the way to Lassen. The deer seemed to be ok, she just got back up and ran into the woods. The damage to the car was side mirror knocked off and a few dents to the side of the car.

Getting ready for our hike. That is Leila's pack next to her. She carried her own sleeping bag,
clothing, sleeping pad, tent pegs and some water. She did awesome!

The start of the trail. 

We hadn't realized that we would be hiking through cinders for the first 5 miles, which is essentually sand. Behind us is cinder cone. It erupted approximately during the 1650s. 

Taking a rest.

Painted Dunes. After our little rest Leila had so much energy. She went full steam ahead and we had to work to catch up to her. This is one of Sam's favorite pictures. Nature is a great place for kids to be.

We loved finding trail markers. We are headed to Snag Lake.

And we made it! We had met up with a group of backpackers back at cinder cone that had told us of the perfect place to set up camp on a little penninsula on the other side of Snag Lake. We took their advice and were not dissapointed. It was so lovely and well worth the added extra mile to our trip. 

Dinner on the first night. Macaroni and Cheese and a Thai Soup.
These freeze dried meals have gotten quite tasty.

Leila filling the wash basin to wash our dishes a little ways up from the water. Washing dishes was surprisingly one of the most relaxing things to do up there. Collecting water, using the sand and small stones as a scrubby. 

The water filtering team.
The water was some of the freshest I have ever tasted. 

Sam and Leila were sound asleep and snoring by 6:30 the first night. Erica followed soon after the sun
went down a couple of hours later. 

Leila trying to stay warm the next morning. 

Breakfast time. Oatmeal with dried fruit. Delicious!

Ready for a little day hike. On the agenda for the day: relax and enjoy nature.

Sam and Erica enjoying the morning. 

This is one of my favorite pics.
A girl and her dad. What more could one want?

Erica and her darling adventurous daughter, Leila. 

day hike

Erica took a snooze by a snowmelt runoff mountain stream.
Leila took a dip in the stream.

Leila drying out her "swimwear".

Various animal tracks. It was really cool to see all of the animal tracks
 leading up to the water all around the lake. 

Leila thoughtfully offered to take a picture of Sam and I snuggled on a log waiting for the sun to go down.

We watched the sun go down and then were waiting for the stars to come out. It wasn't too long before we realized that there were several animals waiting for us to move away from the water. As soon as we got in our tent there was much wildlife heard outside our tent. I grew to love the sounds outside our tent. As a girl mostly raised in cities I had always been a bit frightened by what was lurking outside the tent. After being educated on safety and then just relaxing I really loved all of those sounds. This was a big step for me, although I am not quite ready to venture out to Glacier National Park just yet. 

The next day we packed up and took a new route out of the park. This route was longer in distance,
but located further away from the volcano and therefore had more vegetation and less sand.

hiking through a field of wildflowers.

The last few miles we were entertained by Sam's scouting backpacking days. 

Sam took off his belt for the last couple of miles and "pulled" Leila behind him.
She was doing awesome, this just gave her that extra boost.

Fanatastic Lava Beds found behind Leila's kool aid smile. 

You know that you have been outside of civilization for a while when you think
bear boxes are luxurious and bathrooms... beyond luxurious.

We had such an amazing trip. It was about 15 miles total. We came back feeling rejuvinated and eager to start planning our next adventure. A special thanks to Grandma Swenson for taking Lucy, Amelia, and Joy on their own adventures back at home.

4th of July 2012

Our 4th was filled with filled with great times. We woke up early to go to the church building for a flag raising ceremony, Primary childrens' parade and delicious pancake breakfast. We quickly left to meet up with friends- Hannah and Jenna at the neighborhood parade. Leila and Amelia rode their scooters, Lucy and Joy rode in the wagon. Lucy was fantastic at waving her American flag. After a teeny rest we headed to the Sacramento airport to pick up Grandma Swenson. We were so lucky to have her here for the holiday and then to stay on for a few days while Leila, Sam, and Erica went backpacking. The evening brought a neighborhood swim party and BBQ at our neighbor's pool followed with fireworks in the front. We were all exhausted at bedtime, but had a fabulous time. 

Fairy Tale Town with Cousins!

We were so blessed to have Matt and Amy and their gorgeous, sweet, fun children live near us for a few years here in the Sacramento area. We miss them dearly, but are also so thankful to have had this time with them. The girls love their cousins dearly. Fairy Tale Town was a favorite place for Todd and Eve and pretty much everyone- who doesn't love Fairy Tale Town? We were glad to share this time with them.

Pascal

The Friday before Easter Pascal was found in a park with a tennis ball in his mouth but no owner or collar. Our friends fostered him for a week and a half. They gave him love and attention, a nice bath, flea treatment etc.... Our friends already have several chickens, 2 cats and a rabbit, so they asked us if we wanted him. We got him on Saturday, April 14th and he has made his way into our hearts. Since we did not know his history we all tried to guess. We all thought (we, meaning neighbors, friends, a dog trainer, our family) he was between the age of 3-5 years. Labs typically live for 12 years.

Well, he went to the vet yesterday and were shocked to find out that he is almost 9 years old! He had a microchip, but he was never registered. After some investigating we did find out who his owners were during his last check up in 2005. We looked them up and tried contacting the couple. It appears that the man lives on a sailboat somewhere and the woman sings folk songs in Oklahoma. What happened from 2005 to the present is a mystery. We never actually got to speak with the previous owners. This was kind of a bummer to find out because it means our time is shortened with him. On top of that he came back positive for heart worms. The treatment is very costly and could in itself injure him and possibly cause death. So, we will put him on the preventative treatment route, which kills the babies and hopefully the adult ones will die out. We love him dearly and hope to make this time a comfortable time for him.

One thing that is neat is that his name is Pascal. My friend that fostered him went to look for a baby name book to name him but instead picked up a book by one of her favorite authors. The page that she turned to was talking about a dog named Pascal. So there it was- his name. Then we found out that Pascal is latin for Easter. This was so appropriate with his beng found the Friday before Easter. I was not totally sold on the name, but then when we were watching a movie the Saturday afternoon that we got him I happened to look up and see that the director of the movie was named Pascal. Last night as I was thinking all of the information over I thought that it was interesting that his name is Pascal, which means Easter and the resurrection. Leila brought this up this morning as well. I have always said that pets are a good way for kids to learn how to cope with death, I just was not expecting for us to have to learn about this so soon.

We sure love him and he has made his way right into all of our hearts in these last couple of weeks and hope to be able to continue to enjoy him.

The Cousin Tree

This past Saturday the girls decided to get out the paints and make a cousin tree in the laundry room. All of there cousins are painted on the leaves of the tree. Here is Leila putting on some finishing touches.

Easter

This year we enjoyed Easter with Matt and Amy and the Turpin Family. The company was great. The bbq'd salmon and asparagus delicious and an egg hunt for the kids to follow. Thanks Turpins for hosting. 

Lucy

Joy

Eve, Todd, Leila, Eve, Joy, Amelia, Lucy, Khalil

Cousins- Eve and Amelia

Oops! Freshly laid eggs in there. 

Egg Hunt

My lovely friend Adrienne, Iris, and yep, that's Pascal. He was
found the day before and this was our first time meeting him. 

Video Worthy Moments...

... that weren't caught on video.

Leila passed out leaves to everyone and told us that those were our tickets to go to the show. Aunt Amy was here with Todd and Eve and of course all of Leila's sisters- Amelia, Lucy and Joy. Leila and Amelia were putting on a trapeze show on the swing set. They had set up little seats with whatever they could find for the audience to sit on. So, all the kids were lined up in a row watching Lelia and Amelia doing flips on the swings and other routines on the swing set. I so wish I had gotten the video camera. I love moments like those. (The girls do put on shows like these quite often, so maybe I will be able to video it another time, it's just that having cousins here makes it that much more special)

Other picture worthy moments- Joy and Eve digging in the pebbles and of course getting filthy. Amy as a pack mule pulling the kids in the wagon around the yard. The excitement of Lucy when she found out that Aunt Amy was going to be the one picking her up from her friend's house. Todd being protective of his sister and telling the girls to not touch his sister and then saying, "Isn't my sister so adooooorable?".

It was a nice Spring Break day, one that I wish I got more video of. The only pictures that I did get were these:

Easter Craft time.  

Joy decided her clothes were just not comfortable.
She prefered Mia's Ugg boots and Todd's hat. 

The Month of March

The rain hasn't prohibited these girls from playing outside. 

The month of March zoomed right by!

Last Minute Work at the Odyssey of the Mind Competition

School: Leila participated in an extra curricular group this school year called Odyssey of the Mind- a problem solving club. After months of lunchtime and after school meetings the group got to present their material at the Northern California Competition. Although they did not win any of the ribbons, they did receive a rarely given teamwork award. When their presentation did not go as planned the team worked together beautifully and quietly without getting frustrated with one another. That was amazing to see.  In Amelia's class they are having March Madness. A race to see how many books they can read as a class in the month of March. At the end they get to dress up as a character from one of their favorite books. Amelia has chosen to be Dorothy. The girls continue to love school. Parent teacher conferences were this past month. One of my favorite things on Leila's progress report is that she is a quiet leader. On Amelia's is "Amelia is kind and gentle and a pleasure to have in class". We are so thankful to have a school with such a nurturing environment and involved teachers. The girls love school, but we are also looking forward to Spring Break!

Leila with her Team Members

Church: Soon after her baptism Leila joined the ward choir. She and Sam attend the practices every Sunday afternoon. Every time that they sing I shed a tear or two. Music is a way that I easily feel the Holy Spirit, so I am glad that Leila can participate with the music and hope that it can strengthen her testimony as she sings with the others in the choir. This month they sang Leila's favorite hymn, "Praise to the Man". This month we also enjoyed our ward's movie night at the church building with popcorn, treats, friends, and a big screen. This month our stake held a Relief Society 170 year Birthday Party. It inspired me to more actively participate in this wonderful society that has been around for 170 years.

Grandma Kay, Lucy and Joy on our bikeride along the river

The girls playing in the rain with their cousin, Todd. 

Family: We were so lucky to be able to spend time with Grandma Kay and that she was able to also take a trip to Utah for cousin Cole's Birthday. With grandma we went hiking, bikeriding on the biketrail as well as around the neighborhood, visited Ikea and Trader Joes and did lots of relaxing. It was so fun to have her here and the girls loved sharing their bedrooms with her. Speaking of birthdays, this month was also Grandpa Swenson's birthday, Uncle Matt's and cousin Todd's. Sam went to dinner and a King's game with Matt for his birthday and we also had cake with him and cupcakes for Todd's birthday. Earlier this month Todd got to stay with us all day while Amy and Eve were out of town. Joy missed Eve that day and asked me all day long where Eve was.  We will be so sad to see Matt and Amy leave in just a few months. Amelia lost her first tooth- she put her tooth fairy money right into out Cruise fund jar. Lucy is learning how to read and write. Joy is speaking more. Sam has started taking the train to work instead of battling traffic.

It's turkey mating season. On our bikeride with Grandma we got quite the show.
There were more than 15 male turkeys trying to impress the female. We stopped and watched for a while.

Day to Day Moments:

Joy, Lexi, and Lucy

Pancake Snowmen

Nail Painting with friends after school

Leila and Erica Ice Skating at Lea's birthday party

Joy at the lake.

Joy

Joy quacking with the ducks and hanging out with Dad.
Special times, special times.