So, What do you do???

It seems that some nights are more difficult than others at bedtime. I've always struggled because I think kids should go to bed when their children tell them to. Often my two youngest Luke and Regan get the giggles and I cannot settle them down. Some nights it goes on for hours and Todd and I start out very kind and end up quite angry. Tonite I'm doing something different. L and R did not seem to be settling down so I decided to invite them downstairs to do a little cleaning. It's 8:55pm and they still seem pretty excited. They're cleaning my baseboards and dusting. When they're done with that the windowsills are calling their names unless they decide to go to bed. And me, well I'm sitting here telling them to be quiet and keep working while fooling around on the computer. I don't know if this is a good idea or not but I'm sure not getting mad and the house seems to be getting a little cleaner.
So...what would you do???

Estes Park

I'm pretty sure I've posted Estes Park before. It's becoming a tradition to go each summer. This summer was special. My brother Phillip was getting married there. Phillip married his high school sweetheart named Jennifer at this outdoor chapel overlooking the beautiful mountains. Probably the 2nd most beautiful place to get married. The temple would of course me my first choice.
The kids had such a great time with their Bleak cousins there. We stayed in an awesome cabin at the Estes Park YMCA, spent lots of money on crafts, went swimming and even hiked up our favorite waterfall. It was a really fun week, we got to see Grandma Sandra and my Uncle Jay and Aunt Jennifer came for the wedding. A couple of my bro's childhood friends came too and that was fun. The wedding was beautiful even with the rain and I am happy for my brother finding happiness. Just 10 days 'til school starts,Yippee!!

Girls Camp

As the Young Women's President in our ward, I spent another year at camp with the great girls of Chapel Hills Ward. This was a new camp here in the area called Camp Joseph. Specifically built for the LDS population in northern N.M.and southern CO. It's a tent camp, I was so excited to spend 4 nights in a tent. I broke down and took and air mattress because I'm not much of a camper. We had 25 girls from our ward and about 3 leaders that went with us. We went with the whole stake so some meals were with the stake and some on a ward level.
Because I know how to french braid, I and another girl were the resident french braiders. We had a challenge for all of us to go the whole week without showering. Yes, even I did it. I was so gross when I got back.
We had a hoola hoop contest and here's a picture of me looking like a fool but keeping the hoop up. I have very fond memories of girls' camp and loved being there with these awesome Young Women!