The Blanding Bugle

Volume 20 Issue 8

August 2011

Red, White & Blue

Having boys can be hard sometime. Just this past spring we spent a fortune patching up all the holes the boys have put in our walls. The expensive camping equipment, sport equipment and all that food! It can be tough. But every now and then you get a moment like this:

All five of our boys participated in the flag ceremony at our Church's annual Independence Day Breakfast and Flag Ceremony. It was so cool.  Kray was the caller and the rest of the boys were in the color guard and did a fabulous job! HURRAY for the Red, White and Blue!

Another cool thing happened with all my boys as well.  All six Priesthood holder participated in the Sacrament one Sunday at church.  Mike helped prepare, Chris and Matt passed and Kray, Jason and Steve broke and blessed the Sacrament.  If I could only capture the feeling I felt that moment I would be happy the rest of my life. I truly heard my mother say, "This is what it is like in heaven."

Dirty Little Pigs

Doreen did something out of her element and that was a fun run in the mud! She took a few friends with her and Jessie. They have a blast.  Money raised went to a good cause: LLS! and they donated their muddy footwear at the end.

Doreen and friends BEFORE

Doreen & friends AFTER!

Doreen jumping over the wall

Doreen coming off the slip and slide!

Sixteen!

How time flies! It seems like just yesterday we were bringing Michael home from the hospital and now he is the tallest in the family and just waiting for the day he can get his driver's license (he needs to finish the class first).

Jessie coming off the slip and slide

Jessie in the mud pit.

Doreen & Jessie after Jessie's plunge.
Look at that mud dripping down Jessie's legs!

Camping

Anytime the Blanding family tries to go camping it seems like there are many conflicts. This year was no exception. The only problem was that the rest of the Blanding family was going to meet them. 

Steve's mom, Mayno, wanted to do a camping family reunion at Long Beach and so we coordinated schedules and checked the calendar twice, even three times, but somehow scout camp and family reunion ended up on the same week.  So the Blandings meet the rest of the clan minus two boys: Matt and Chris. 

We had an enjoyable time at Long Beach, Washington. The weather cooperated well with us and we had such a relaxing and fun time.  Food was great, weather agreeable and the company was fabulous. 

Click here for pictures.

Chris and Matt went to scout camp and Mike and Jason went off to High Adventure camp where they were at a dude ranch and then went camping on Lake Chelan.

You'll shoot your eye out.

Doreen has spent over ten years volunteering at Cub Camp but always as a parent that traveled with her boys' pack.

  One of her good friends is the camp director and she told Patty that when she was done walking with the boys she would come back and help out.  Well, last year she couldn't because she was sick from chemotherapy. This year to punish her, Patty asked Doreen if she would become certified in BB guns.

Doreen thought she was crazy. Doreen had only shot a gun once in her life: the last time she was at Cub Camp and she didn't even hit the paper! Doreen always willing to help out a friend, said, OK and got certified. She ran the day-time BB gun range and helped in the evening.

She had so much fun that she is looking into buying her own BB gun to shoot in her back yard.