Another Day at the Conner's

Well, I've talked about baking on Sundays, done an FHE post...probably the only other day of the week that really stands out at our house (other than Wednesdays, which is Youth Night so we aren't even here), is Friday night.

Friday is like this big release--you made it through another week. Ahhhh. Time to kick back, relax, maybe watch a movie, have a little free time when it's okay to put off whatever needs to be done for another day or another week.

Maybe that's what it's like for some people, but not here. Friday is ... fun! The kids invite bunches (yes, bunches) of their friends over, if I want I make pizza, we order out if I don't. The Wii, computer games, music--the limits of the week are off! Oh the noise, the smells, the noise, the eats, the noise, the sights, and the NOISE! It's a blast!

On Friday nights, I'm living the dream of having a home where the kids would want to bring their friends to hang out and have fun. We talked about that many years ago when we only had one kid. I wanted them to come to OUR house--I wanted to know what they were doing and where they were and I didn't want to miss out on the fun of knowing my kids' friends.

Tonight, Friday night, is no exception. I've been making pizzas since 3:30 this afternoon when Kait called to ask if Ashley, Christina, and LaKell could come home with her from school. Then Jershon called to see if Christina was here and I told him someone would come down and pick him up. Then when the girls arrived LaKell had her little sister with her. Then Arthur showed up. Then Solofi. Then Sam said Joe and Jenny and Daniel would be coming up with him tonight....

I'm tired. I've been up since 5:00 this morning. But I'm old enough to know that when this is all over I'm going to miss it. Memories--that's what I'm after here.

FHE Hike

We found this trail that goes up this hill...

I've lived here for 10 years and didn't know that "papago" meant "little thorny plant that rips the skin off your legs." Huh. Go figure.

Ezra and the rest got up to the top in no time. Eden and I didn't like running into the "papago," so we took a little longer and were a little more careful about where we stepped.

It was a beautiful view from the top. From the top of the hill we could see the lagoon on the Philippine Sea side of the island and the water on the Pacific side as well. Pretty. Here's the sun setting over the lagoon--we were on our way down by this time because we didn't want to have to feel our way back.

Eden was a trooper. Even though you can't see it in this picture, some of the grass we went through was taller than her. On the way down she found an interesting rock--that's what she has in her hand.

I'm kind of in a weird position scrunching down trying not to hide Kaitlyn's face (Eden really isn't as tall as me--yet!), but here's the happy group. Happy that we did it and happy that we knew the next part of FHE was going out to eat!

Preparing for the Pioneer Trek

Is it possible that 5 years have gone by since the last time we studied D&C/Church History in Seminary? My, my, my...

Well, anyway, we went out yesterday and today to work out a route. It's not easy to come up with a 20-25 mile route on a 14x6 island! Several people have given suggestions, so we went and checked out a couple of places, but today we retraced the route that was used 5 years ago and I think we will most likely end up with a modified version of that. When we did the trek then, we basically mapped out an approximately 18 mile route in the northern part of the island (Marpi area) and walked it. This time, however, we are really getting into the spirit of the trek. Last week the Seminary girls met on Saturday afternoon with Sister Smith who helped us measure and cut materials for bonnets and skirts (!!!), then she took everything home and sewed them up for us. Also, last time we just spent part of one day, but this time we're going for two days, overnight. One of the students is making a couple of handcarts to satisfy requirements for his Eagle Scout award--YES! we're actually going to have 2 handcarts!!! Gulp.

Will we go down this trail and up over that hill?

Or another swing around Bird Island?

Stay tuned...