Recently we had a family reunion at Bear Lake! We moved it to June so our daughter-in-law could attend and we thought the weather would be on the cool side but it turned out to be just right. Our beach day was warm and the water wasn't frigid. The house had its quirks including the dishwasher being broken, but it was large and had a lot of good features. It all worked out well. I unfortunately didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked...
We arrived on Wednesday afternoon after braving the construction in Logan Canyon. Everett and Caroline made a dinner of shredded pork on buns with cole slaw and potato chips. After dinner, we played a game put together by Lincoln which involved guessing words on pieces of paper as prompted by one member of the team.
On Thursday morning after breakfast casseroles and fruit by Lincoln and MiCayla, we did our Undokai as put together by Everett. He worked hard on this and did a good job.
The kids loved the foam pit/climbing wall:
After a croissant sandwiches lunch made by Talmage and Sav, we headed for the beach. We rented a jet ski for three hours which was highly popular and also utilized the 3 kayaks we brought. It was really nice to have two shades to sit under when you needed a break from the sun.
Scott and I were in charge of dinner and it was Talmage's birthday. So we served ribs from Costco, oven-fried potatoes (5 lbs.), salad, rolls, and watermelon. For dessert we had Too Much Chocolate Cake (recipe from Allrecipes). I should have made two of them because there wasn't quite enough.
After dinner, we had a talent show by the grandparents and grandchildren. We did a couple of line dances, sang a song using recorders and ukeleles, and played a game called "Blessings."
It was a fun time! Next post, I'll cover the rest of the reunion.
On our way home from Palmyra, we decided to go a couple of hours out of our way to visit the recently opened Priesthood Restoration Site along the Susquehanna River. This is where we believe that Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery received the keys of the Aaronic Priesthood from John the Baptist which gave them the authority to baptize. This site also has the restored Isaac and Elizabeth Hale home where Joseph and Emma lived for a year as well as the home where Joseph and Emma lived on their own. We spent a couple of hours there and I wouldn't have minded a few more minutes but we had a long way to go that night. It's a beautiful setting, very much in rural Pennsylvania. However, on the day we were there, cars at a racetrack nearby were detracting from the peace and quiet. I'm guessing that's not as big of a problem on weekdays. The Hale Family was quite well-off for their day so their home was probably nicely decorated with wallpaper and carpet. ...
This is a juvenile fiction book about a young girl named Melody with severe cerebral palsy. Her body doesn't allow her to feed herself, speak, or do much at all. She's very intelligent with a photographic memory but she can't really communicate. Finally, in 5th grade, she gets a "Medi-Talker" which is a computer that speaks what she types in. Finally she has a voice. This book explores what it is like to be severely physically disabled but not mentally disabled. It seems like one of the most frustrating of all scenarios. She is completely aware of all the cruelty (subtle and otherwise) that her classmates inflict on her because they don't really want to include her in their activities. One of the saddest moments in the book comes when she realizes that every one of her special ed classmates is kind, where the "normal" ones are not. Who really has the worse disability? The book was a quick read and fairly enjoyable. Wha...
The original post was written in January of 2015. I wrote an update at the bottom of this post in March 2021. A few months ago, a friend of mine told me about something she was doing in her family to help her family function better. Her teenage autistic son had been struggling a lot so they had been working with behavior therapists to help him and this "Do Dots Family System" had been recommended. As she described it, I was greatly intrigued since it sounded like something I wanted to implement at my own house. I looked into it and decided to purchase it right after Thanksgiving. Here is my review of how it has worked for us over the last six weeks or so. The basic idea of the chart is that children need to take care of their responsibilities before they get any privileges. It strongly reinforces the concept of "Work Before Play" . The chart helps children see in a very visual way that, until they have completed their responsibilities, they are on Le...
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