Date Night Bowling

Date night is the BEST! Especially because of a hot hubby, babysitting group and great friends.
Since the Larsens were braving their first babysitting group at their place, we met the Tuckers & Brothersons at Johnny Carinos for dinner! Delicious! ...and I think the food looked great but I can't be sure. LOL! (They keep the lights so low that you need a flashlight to read the menu.) Maybe it is supposed to add to the ambiance of the evening. ;)

Then we headed to the Bowler for a little healthy competition! ;) So much fun! We should be paid- we're so good! OK- a little bit of a fallacy! But lots of fun! We all had Bowler names including Turkey, Niner, Foxx, Sexy Wild Cat, etc. The Ironroads met us there to kick our butts! (or NOT) Let's just say -we were all AWESOME!! LOL!

Thanks for being such great friends! We sure luv ya!

Rhealt Farm Playground Carnival

The day after Playground Camp ends each year, the Fargo Parks District throws a big Playground Carnival at Rhealt Farm. All the booths are staffed by the Summer Playground leaders. We decided to join a couple of our friends and head over after nap for some dinner and some Carnival excitement. Here's some of the fun we had!:

Yeah for the Carnival!

Summer Playground Camp

Fargo Parks & Rec have an awesome Summer program that we lovingly call Playground Camp! It runs all of June and July on Monday thru Thursdays from 9:00-11:30 am. And it only costs $29.50! It is a screaming deal! They have them at several of the Fargo Parks. We signed up for the Village West Park north of Walmart. Usually 2 High School students are assigned to each Park which plan activites and play with the kids while they are there. In the years past, we have enjoyed it tons and the students have done a decent job. BUT this year, the leader girls were FABULOUS!!! Lauren & Jessica were amazing! They had a weekly theme- (I know, I know, right up my alley) and did projects with them everyday! They also got to play on the playground, in the sand box and have a snack break. It was perfect!! They were always excited to see the kids and really got to know them well.
The funny thing was that I had forgot to sign Victoria up at the beginning of June and thought I probably wouldn't do it this year. Then, Allison said that Alex was going and there was only one other boy signed up. I thought "what a perfect opportunity for Victoria to spend time with her friend." So we signed up! Then, we talked to Heather Swanson and she signed up Kaitlin. THEN, I talked to our new friends, the Potters, and she signed up her boys as well. It was like the Mormons took over the camp! LOL!
Victoria usually never made it there until 9:30 or 10 but she LOVED it! And besides- after a while it was a daily ritual and everyone looked forward to Victoria's grand entrance. LOL!
Here's some of the fun she had this Summer:

Only the last day, we wanted to do something special for Jessica & Lauren because they have done such a great job. Victoria decided she wanted us to give them a treat and some flowers. We went in on it with the Swansons and Cudneys and it turned out really cute!
We bought flowers, a Mounds candy bar, some Funyuns and a gift card to DQ (at least we tried to- but don't ask-- it's a horrible memory-- just be warned--- Do NOT try to get a DQ gift card at the West Fargo Dairy Queen!!! LOL) Despite our DQ debacle, we put together gift bags and wrote them a little note that said:

You made our Summer Mounds of FUNyuns!

Thanks for helping us BLOOM!

P.S. During the Blizzard months, please know how much we appreciated you! Love,....

Then the girls all signed it! Too cute!

(Heather took a picture of the kids with their leaders on the last day with their gifts- she said she'd send it to me so I'll post it when I get it)

Also on the last day, as a parting gift from the ladies, each kid got a bag of goodies and a handwritten note from both Jessica and Lauren. They are such sweet girls! We sure are gonna miss them! Thanks ladies! You are AWESOME!
Here's the letters they wrote to Victoria:

How Sweet is that! ;)

Yeah for Playground Camp!!!

FHE Buffalo Style

We spent our FHE outdoors tonight and with our extended Ward Family. [The Seamons, Tuckers, Brothersons, Swansons, Dishers, Hoffmans, and Mausolfs] We headed out to Buffalo River State Park for a little swimming and a Roasting Partay. It was a lot of fun!
We enjoyed ourselves at the lake with activities such as swimming, floating, football, building sand castles, getting in a sand fight, running around the lake during the "10 minute lifeguard break", Ring-around-the-rosies, frisbee, and hanging out on the beach.

For dinner, we started up a magnificent fire. Thanks, Honey & kids!!! We roasted hotdogs and brats and everyone brought a side to share. Yummy! And for dessert, we of course had Sh'mores! Double yummy! We even brought the Gigantic marshmellows! Triple yummy! Better yet- no one got burnt! Amazing considering how many little bare feet we had running around the fire. LOL!

Thanks to all our awesome FHE Dinner Guests!

What a Fabulous & Windy FHE!

(Well except for--- Unfortunately, the Brothersons only made it to their neighborhood before their big Green Beast DIED! May it R.I.P.-;( Sorry guys!)

Pioneer Day Handcart Company

The B.L.S. (Berney, Larsen, Seamons or better known as the Brave Latter-Day Saints) Handcart Company departed late in the Summer of 2010 on their journey across the Walen Plains. Three strong men, two brave mothers and 14 of our children ranging from 5 months to 15 years in age (including our beloved little Louisa Anne aka the BIG rag doll) loaded our handcart and braved the harsh conditions in loving memory of those that have gone before us.
"Pioneer children sang as they walked and walked and walked...."

We started East on our journey through the wilderness around a large lake (the swimming pool) and then headed South past barren wastelands (dirt field). We felt our journey had just begun (well cuz it technically had) when we found ourselves starving and in desperate need of food. Luckily, we came across a pond high on a hill.

LETTER 1

Trekkers:

Food Rations are low...You always need to be looking for a way to get food.

There's a pond...looking closer you notice three fish. No pole... but someone thinks since it's shallow enough they can spear them.

You need to find a branch and sharpen it into a spear. (Look in the Trek bag for a knife)

You need to spear all the fish before moving on.

We found a few sticks from some nearby trees and sharpened the ends enough to spear our fish. It was not easily done (they were made of paper and our sticks were not that sharp) but we managed to finally catch them and feed our large family enough to continue on to the Sweetwater River. (a swimming pool filled with ice water) 

LETTER 2

Trekkers:

Sweatwater River is floating with ice chunks. Everyone is bitterly weary and cold already.

But, the Sweetwater must be crossed... Everyone somehow must go through (not around)

This task seemed almost impossible with the size of our family. There were those who braved the ice cold water without even a thought. Then, there were those who were dreading it- Even those who refused to get their big brown boots wet. (Ahem- Brett) Some were carried (Ahem-Brett), some took off their shoes and brave the cold on their bare feet and there were those who trudged through with shoes and socks and pants dripping wet for the remainder of our journey. It was iffy for a bit but we all made it though. We then continued West along the trail.

LETTER 3

Trekkers:

Rations are low. You've been on a ration of 6 ounces of flour,ixed with water per day... Now the ration is reduced to 3 ounces of flour per person.

Find your cup and spoons and mix up the 3 ounces of flour with water. (Water canteen, flour, spoon and cup are in the Trek bag)

Everyone must take a taste.

YUCK! and Double Yuck! The amount of flour and water mixture that was rationed to us for the entire day was not enough to keep anyone from starving. And it was not pleasant either! Being a Pioneer is rough, I tell ya! We quickly ate our share and pushed on in a Southwest direction.

LETTER 4

Trekkers:

You have come upon a mountain! You cannot go around.... You must go up and over the Summit!

We were extremely blessed to have several strong men on our journey. We know there were others not so fortunate. The mountian was high and steep but we climbed and triumphed over all the obstacles in our way.

LETTER 5

Trekkers:

You must go through the sand not around.

Disease has stricken-- family members are weakened. Little Louisa Anne (2 1/2 years old) is not strong enough and dies.

You have no shovels-only spoons. Sadly, you must bury her here in this sandy desolate place.

Then, continue on to finish your journey.

We unfortunately lost our little Louisa Anne (the large Rag doll we had been carrying) and our family had to dig a shallow grave for her in the sand. The children used only spoons and their hands and then gently wrapped her in her blanket before laying her in the ground. They lovingly covered her up and we said our goodbyes. But onward, we must go! We are almost at our journey's end. Oh Happy Day!

For some must push and some must pull, As we go marching up the hill; So merrily on the way we go Until we reach the Valley-o...

A short bit more and our B.L.S. Handcart Comany had made it to the Valley. Our Trek had come to an end... Our faith and strength increased. It was amazing! Thanks Sister Walen for all your creativity and hard work. We loved it!!

Here's an aritcle about the real Handcart Companies and all that they endured:

http://www.lds.org/gospellibrary/pioneer/03_Iowa_City.html 

Pioneers are AMAZING!

Happy Pioneer Day!

Pioneer Day Celebration

What is Pioneer Day, you ask?
Pioneer Day (also archaically called the Day of Deliverance) is an official holiday celebrated on July 24 in the U.S. state of Utah. This day commemorates the entry of Brigham Young and the first group of Mormon pioneers into Utah’s Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847 where the Latter-day Saints settled after being forced from Nauvoo, Illinois and other locations in the eastern United States. The Mormon pioneers viewed their arrival as the founding of a Mormon homeland, hence Pioneer Day.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_Day_(Utah)) Even though it is only an official holiday in the state of Utah, "Mormons" around the world take the opportunity to remember and celebrate these courageous Pioneer men and women who endured so much for their Freedom.

This year, we had quite a fabulous Pioneer Day Celebration of our own here in the Midwest.
Our day started out with a human-only-fueled transportation trip to the local bakery for breakfast. Translation: We initiated the Larsen family into our Saturday morning bike ride to Sandy's Donuts. YUMMY! (I so wouldn't have made it as a Pioneer -I am a whimp or maybe just really out of shape! LOL!)
While the kids played at the Park with Ryan, I went and did a little manual labor at the Brotherson's. BTW-Their kitchen is looking awesome!
The afternoon consisted of Brett at the Barber Shop (aka: my kitchen ;) and us expanded our family by four children. LOL! (The Disher kids came to play for the afternoon) All the kids were awesome but it does give you an appreciation for Pioneer families that suddenly doubled their family size along the trek.
We finished our night off with a Pioneer Day Celebration our ancestors would be proud of. Some of our Ward family, the Walens, graciously opened their home and yard and barn and creativity to welcome a good 70 of us wannnabe Pioneers. It was so much fun!!!
We started the evening out with a good ol' BBQ. YUMMY! Good food and good friends never get old!

They also had lots of fun things for the kids (and kids at heart) to do. They had set up a ping pong and pool table and a volleyball net. They have a fabulous playground/sand box for the little kids to go crazy in. And they even did Pioneer games. Sister Walen gathered all the children for a little pow-wow beforehand to explain everything. They had Pioneer coloring pages, and shook jars to make home-made butter. They were even going to hand wash clothes but ran out of time. All of it was so much fun!

My favorite part was our Pioneer Family Trek. Joy Walen has such a great imagination and it was amazing! So amazing that it deserves it's own post! So stay tuned for our Handcart Trek! Here's a preview of some of the other Handcart companies.

Happy Pioneer Day!

Island Princess Late-over

The kids have been begging to have a late-over for forever! (Our best-that-you-get version of a sleepover) Liberty & Lily finally talked us into having one. We decided to make it Island Princess Partay! Man- can these girls partay!
The kids wanted to start getting ready at like 1:00 this afternoon. Lily & Maggie didn't come over until around 5:30. (SO...YES- it was a long dayat the Seamons house!) I had bought all kinds of fruit and my kids made a magnificent platter of tropical food fit for any Island Princess. ;) When the girls got here, they started out by playing some imaginary game that included Moms and twins and a bus ride and eating ice cream off the floor. We were informed that the Dad died. So sad! BooHoo! (The kids thought it was funny that Brett was pretending to cry) This is them eating their ice cream off the floor. Silly kids!

What girl party is complete without some dressups? They raided my closet and came up with quite the getup! Pink fluffy feet and straw hats. Gotta love Mom's closet. Now, maybe we could teach them to put it all back??? .....Fat chance, right?! LOL!

We ate dinner all together. We had croissant sandwiches, the Amazing Fruit Platter, fishy from the sea (goldfish crackers) and a fancy fruit drink in our Island flower cups. We had quite the dinner conversation about the Larsen parents. TMI! TMI! We laughed so hard we almost cried. LOL! Good thing we luv you guys! Too funny!

After dinner, we made Island Princess flowers for our hair. And took a photo op in the Island Hammock. I luv these kids. Too stinkin' cute!

Meanwhile, the girls acted like crazed fans of whatever Justice was pretending to be. Here they are waiting in line to get his autograph. Gotta love it!:

Then it was Movie Time- Barbie as the Island Princess! Treats included, of course. We had Watermelon cookies, fish, pretzels, peach rings, and Tropical Typhoon candies. They had SO much sugar! They may never sleep again! LOL! (Notice Liberty's sign she made for the door. It says "Feel Welcome to Come IN". I love it! It's decorated with trees and flowers and she made sure she left the door open a bit. She's such a fabulous hostess.)

We planned the late-over the same night as our Painting Partay at the Brotherson's. (anything late at night with food, friends and KBro- is a Partay!! LOL! Luv ya lady!;) So... I went to go paint KBro's kitchen which meant I left Brett to finish up the fun! When I left they had just finished making Island Princess Fans because it IS hot here on the Island, don't ya know?

Leaving all 6 children with Brett meant the real Partay had just began. ;) They did Karaoke to all the Barbie songs at the end of the DVD, ate more candy and then played until MIDNIGHT!!! Seriously???- I guess Brett & Ryan took our LATE-over very literally. Too funny! When McKenzie & I got home from painting they were still going strong. Brett's an amazing Dad but dang Honey! --Now the late-over bar has been raised and any future parties will seem lame in comparison!

Like I've said before- Everyday's a PARTAY
especially at the Seamons' Island!

Hola!

Red Hawks Game

Family Home Evening at it's finest!

The Hoffmans invited us to a Red Hawks game tonight for free! Thanks to the Sunmart/Red Hawk Red-Hot Ticket Giveaway! {Just head over to the Box Office at Newman Outdoor Field and bring your Sunmart receipt for $25 or more. (You have to pick up tickets before the game starts) They'll give you 2 FREE General Admission Tickets to a Sunday, Monday or Tuesday regular season game!} Yeah for FREE! (or "yah, right- it's free!"-- We totally made up for the price of the tickets in concessions- go figure! LOL! And not because things were too expensive-- just simply by pure quantities ;) We had a lot of fun though! Glory's favorite part was the Red Hawk Mascot! She could spot him from across the field! :)

We ate and ate and ate and ate- like the whole time! Too funny! They had a great deal for a hot dog dinner. It ain't a baseball game without a hot dog, right? Then, we followed that up with cotton candy and dippin' dots and oreo mini cookies and licorice and....... OK maybe that was it BUT it was a lot! Will the kids every be able to go to bed tonight? We'll hope so! LOL!

They had a free Red Hawk Bouncer set up for the kids. They loved it! They stood in line several times for turns! Justice and Ian were hilarious. Right before their turn, they would lay on the entrance and pretend to shoot the "turkey"! Funny boys! We so need one of these at our Partay house! Maybe someday, right?

We also had some other Red Hawk Fun! 1)Liberty enjoyed Ben's ipod for quite a while. Thanks alot Ben! LOL! Now she's gonna be begging for one of her own! ;) 2)We got to thank the local weather man, Hutch Johnson, in person, for the cloud that finally came across the sky to shade us from the HOT sun AND watch him catch a flying Red Hawk T-shirt. (He was there with his kids on the same bench as us!) 3)The kids got to play on the playground for a bit. 4)The little girls played in the sand as Andrew ran through it. He thought it was tickly on his feet. Silly kids! 5)AND oh yah- we watched the ball game! That's why we went, right? Well... it was a bonus, I guess!

We wanted to stay until we could all sing the famous 7th inning stretch song. The kids were playing on the playground during the 6th inning. Can you tell they were SO into the game? LOL! Amber and I kept telling the Dads to go get the kids but do they listen? NO! They finally went to go get them halfway through the 7th inning and they all missed the song. LOL! Oops! Glory & I enjoyed it though! She is so funny when it comes to singing. She's very animated in her lips as she sings. It's hillarious! Cute girl. We luv ya!

Take me out to the ball game
Take me out to the crowd
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack
I don't care if I never get back
So it's root, root, root for the home team
If they don't win it's a shame
For it's one, two, three strikes you're out
At the old ball game

Thanks Hoffmans for a fabulous evening! Lots of fun!

Go Red Hawks!

The A Team Date Night

  "I love it when a plan comes together."
-Col. John 'Hannibal' Smith

We had made plans for a while to go see the new A Team movie with Matt & Haylie. I have to admit I wasn't a cheerleader of the idea. I remember faguely watching a few episodes of the old TV show but not enough to get hugely excited about the remake. Well, I was wrong!! We had babysitting group tonight (Thanks Tuckers!) so the Larsens joined us and the Ironroads for our date. The movie was great! We really, really enjoyed it. It was funny, action-packed and very well done. Everyone did a fabulous job. TWO thumbs up from the Seamons. ;)

Looking back at the good ol' days:

Welcoming in the new generation:

After the movie, we met some more friends at the Pizza Ranch. The food was ok but the service was fabulous. AND the company even better! I just love friends that you can laugh with. Since there was four of us couples- the guys decided they are The A Team themselves. LOL! They had a disagreement about which part they get but I think it came down to this: Brett is Hannibal, Ryan is Face, Jamison is Murdock and Matt is B.A. Baracus. (Sorry Matt- the minority is hit again, big guy! ;) We had a blast! Between scaring the lady at the next table with Murdock's butt shot and a little foul language, I'm surprised that we didn't get kicked out! Thanks a lot- Murdock! Good thing your wife loves you! ;) Get your bike ready, buddy-- you're gonna need it if you want to come next time! LOL!

I LOVE date night!

(especially when the plan comes together! LOL!)

Bowling's next- anybody up for the challenge?

Helping Hands

(http://publicaffairs.lds.org/pa/eng/resources/mormon-helping-hands)

For our annual Helping Hands Service Project, our family joined several other LDS familes in Dilworth, MN. We were in charge of staining the playground equipment and benches of 5 of the local parks. Our family was up late last night for Friday movie night, so we went a little late. Oops! But it turned out perfect because we ended up assigned to a park with all our friends. YEAH!!! It was a lot of fun. We had to make a couple of trips to Walmart for more supplies but it just made us feel right at home. LOL! What project have we ever done around the house without running for more supplies? None that I can think of. ;) Several of the kids got into it and helped stain. It was very cute! With no ladder for the upper parts, the guys were very resourceful (borderline dangerous) but they did an awesome job. I'm bummed that I didn't get a before and after shot because it looked really great!

Besides staining the playground, there was other service rendered as well. 1) The kids had a boys vs. girls race to pick up all the sticks in the park. I think they girls had a bigger pile in the end. In the boys defense though- they had half the man power. They all did an excellent job! 2) Heidi & Alexa helped the kids keep busy or get out of the sun for a bit by playing games with them. They played Red Rover and an interesting version of Duck, Duck, Goose. Too funny!!! 3) Glory found a buddy. "Her Sam" helped her on swings and down big slides and helped keep an eye on her. It was an extra special service considering that Glory has been a little leary of people lately. She hasn't really let any other kids except Liberty help her with anything for several weeks now. Whatever it was today- Sam had the magic touch. Thanks buddy!  4) "Woody" and some of the gang went to help finish up at another park. LOL! (Brett wore his cowboy hat and Jamison thought he looked like Woody! By the end, everyone was calling Brett- "Woody" All the kids were chanting his name when they came back from the other park. Too funny! ;) Liberty and Alexa went with them. Those two were such hard workers today! Great Job everybody!!!

With a whole morning of hard work, 10 children we were in charge of, water bottles then pop at lunch AND no bathrooms on sight, we had several gas station runs during the day. It just added to the adventure though. LOL! We ended the day with lunch in the park. They BBQed hotdogs and hamburgers. Everyone brought something else to share. Way yummy!

What a great day of Family Service!!!!