Awesome weekend, part one.

Last weekend we were delighted to have lots of family and friends in town to hear Quinn speak about his mission in church on Sunday. We started off the fun on Friday night at my house, spending time with my dad and all of my siblings.

Good looking group, eh?

Clyde and Will were definitely in heaven with THREE uncles on hand to play with.

I think Will spent more time up in the air than on the ground that evening :).

The rest of us were in heaven adoring sweet baby Bailey - Grandpa Braden was definitely smitten with his first granddaughter!

Will loved meeting his little cousin . . .

although he seemed a little concerned about Mom and Dad holding her so much!!

It was pretty cute to see Chuck holding a baby girl. Maybe I'll have to rethink my 'boys-only' stance.

Such a cute, chunky girlie! Sam and Terri posted her two-month stats the other day, and out of curiosity I looked up Will's weight at that age - the exact same! 13 lbs. 9 oz. Although Will was an inch longer, so as Sam pointed out, Bailey is technically chubbier :).

After pizza and fresh strawberries and pineapple, the boys wrapped up the evening with an intense soccer game in the backyard - Sam and Chuck vs. Cody and Quinn.

They stayed out past dark, relying on the porch light for quite some time. I'm sure they could recount each goal/foul/flop, but I can't even remember who won - whoops! They definitely had a good time :).

And that was the kick-off to our most excellent weekend!

Quinner is home!

My super cool little brother Quinn returned from a two-year mission for our church this past Wednesday. He served in the California San Fernando Valley mission and loved it.

We got ready to greet him at the airport with some beautifully painted signs.

Clyde eagerly got in on the painting action.

We got to the airport a little early, and Clyde had some energy to burn so we took turns accompanying him up and down the escalator. It was a good alternative to letting him dance/spin/push Will around in the stroller, as he had been doing just prior.

Our first view of Elder Braden!

Yay, a big hug for his mommy!

It was sooo crazy to see him for the first time in two years. Isn't he cute?

The whole crowd. Notice the distance between Clyde and Quinn - Clyde was very excited to see Quinn . . . from afar.

Luckily it didn't take him too long to warm up to Quinn again. Back at my mom's house, they bonded over trains.

Over at my dad's house, Quinn pushed Clyde on the swing, cementing their renewed bond.

Quinner and our dad!

Quinn was reunited with Jeff and Sean, just in time to watch some World Cup games together!

Quinn, Cody, and my mom came over that night for a sleepover; Clyde happily introduced Quinn to the Lego Star Wars video game.

Quinn was also able to 'talk' to Sammy online!

Friday night we met my dad at a park for tennis and pizza (minus Chuck, who had to work). I started off playing a round robin tournament with Quinn and Cody.

Then I took swing duty with my favorite-est little boys ever.

Clyde really loves the swings.

As does Will!

Cody is a most excellent tennis player; back in the day he was on the varsity team.

Quinn's first love is soccer, of course, but he is also a formidable foe on the tennis court. I should know, he beat me pretty hardcore.

Brothers! "Do you want to come sit on my turtle?"

Siblings! This is when we were making fun of Quinn's go-to 'thumbs up' pose :).

Cody, Quinn, and Pops!

When the courts cleared a bit, we let the little boys loose. I chased Will all over the place, while Clyde stayed close to Grandpa Braden, who VERY patiently tossed him tennis balls to hit.

Isn't he a cute future Wimbledon champion? I grew up taking tennis lessons and playing, and I loved it so I'm glad that Clyde likes to play too!

That night we had a sleepover at Grandma Pam's - we're having a hard time letting Quinn out of our sight for a whole day :). More of our adventures to come later!

All camped out.

I work one week a year, and it happened to be this past week. (Yes, I know I work EVERY week of the year, but I mean actual paid labor away from my chillens). Luckily it's really fun work, where I get to dress crazily, teach elementary school-aged kids about problem-solving and creativity, and hang out with a staff comprised of really adorable teenagers and random family members - Camp Invention! It's a summer day camp through the National Inventor's Hall of Fame, and my mom got involved with it as a teacher ten or eleven years ago. I started out as a counselor back then and now co-direct the Nampa camp with my mom and help out with a couple of the modules (see last year's brief recap).

Me, my mom, and my awesome cousin Amanda, who was the other teacher at Camp. Wednesday was group color day - the kids come all decked out in red, yellow, or blue depending which group they're in. We picked random other colors as to not choose sides among the groups :).

My awesome brother Cody came and worked as the Blue Group counselor.

I spent one afternoon outside creating soap bubbles with the kids and the sprinklers came on, so I let the kids run the length of the field and back once - here some of the super cute yellow group kids (including my cousin's sweet daughter Kara) are challenging me to a race. I did not win.

My favorite camper from last year, Neal, came back as a junior counselor this year, yay! Thursday was crazy outfit day. You should have seen me from the waist down - plaid shorts with my swim skirt on top :). As I was leaving the house that morning, Clyde was very concerned that I was wearing one blue Croc and one red Croc. It seriously cracked me up that THAT was what he was concerned about upon looking at me - apparently the rest of the ensemble didn't faze him at all.

Oh, the goofy boys I got to boss around all week - Logan and Josh (red and yellow group counselors, respectively), and Neal and Grayson (junior counselors, aka unpaid servants). They were all such sweet boys and I had tons of fun teasing them and ordering them around and they all put up with it very well!

This pretty much sums up one of the classes I was in charge of - I Can Invent. At the beginning of the week, the kids bring an old appliance that doesn't work anymore and we slap safety goggles on them and give them screwdrivers to take it all apart. Then they put it all back together as some sort of new invention - this was a robot, I think. SO much fun!

One morning in base camp (the cafeteria, where we started and ended each day of camp) we were letting the kids doodle with markers on their paper-covered tables. I reminded the campers that I love seeing 'Jana rocks!' written on tables, and that afternoon I went around with my camera to document some of the obliging graffiti:

The red group was the youngest - kids going into first and second grades. Can you tell? :)

It should be pointed out that my mom actually spelled her name 'Pamb' on her nametag - she thinks it's hilarious and tells people it rhymes with 'lamb'. That's why we love her!!

One of my favorites - I rook!

My darling first cousin once removed Rachel did these - sooo sweet!

Somehow 'Jana' became 'lang'. I like it.

The yellow group was not quite as adoring, but that's all right.

Logan was a super cute girl in the blue group. Funny story: to differentiate between camper Logan and counselor Logan, Amanda spotted shaggy-hair counselor Logan's hazy resemblance to Justin Beiber (scroll back up the picture and note that the hair done in multiple little ponytails for crazy outfit day is usually swept across his forehead, ala Beiber) and promptly christened him 'Beiber Logan.' We called him that all week and laughed every time we said his name!

Kenzie was a returning camper (for the third year, I think) and such a doll.

Camp Invention was really, really fun and my sweet husband made it much less stressful by taking a couple days off of work so he could stay home with the boys during the day all week while I was gone. Naturally, they had all sorts of fun and Chuck even had a delicious dinner ready every day for not only me, but my mom and Cody as well. AND he spent three of the evenings helping a friend paint his house - such a superstar! Thanks sweetheart!!

As luck would have it, my 'camp' adventures did not end Friday evening after the Camp Invention clean-up since Cub Scout Day Camp was bright and early Saturday morning!

Our Pack 101 flag - most of the other Packs had super cool fabric flags. I don't do fabric; I do paper and posterboard. . . but I thought it turned out pretty cute!

The boys had an excellent time - we weeded in the community garden, shot BB guns,

made our own ice cream, made bottle rockets,
learned about how to be safe when dealing with strangers with Officer Matt,

worked on some physical fitness requirements,
and did some archery!

Also, I made some time for a quick self-portrait. Shocking, right?

Aaaaand, that was my super fun week o' camp!