Reunions! In the Canyon!

Oh, I better get going on these! So, this is the night in the canyon. The "official" reunion day for the Koskis. Let's just take a look at the goings on in whatever order they upload:



Anne, way to make a cool game. (Match up family names (full), faces, and birth dates...order in a variety of ways.) Yes we have a large enough family that this could prove challenging.

Emily introduced decorating shirts with bleach! This was so fun...I want to do more! Especially since Andrew's mysteriously disappeared later on the vacation! sniff sniff. Oh, he was cute -- he said to me as he was constructing the words on his shirt, "Mom, I don't want to make you feel bad, but is this ok?" It says "Andrew and Dad." Cutie.

Just for the record, I had a project too, but a necessary supply didn't make it, so we'll do it next time!

"Wits and Wagers" at play. Don't be fooled by their smiling faces...they were out for blood! Ok, just kidding.

Maryjane whipped up a ton of peanut butter play dough and put together boxes of fruit loops, pretzels, m&m's, and whatnot for each of the cousins. The kids made so many kinds of creations. From hot tubs (Mom and Dad's) to faces to animals to...
...cut up legs. Gross. Ok WARNING, there is a yucky picture after this video! But it is so funny considering Abby's work of "art." I will let her explain:




And this is what she's referring to. Yuck! Poor Liza took a BIG fall a while back and emailed us some pictures to see how queasy we'd get. Apparently Abby remembered the BRIEF moment she saw this (I didn't even mean for her to see it! ewww!)

Here are all the grand kids/cousins...nearly every one! Were we only missing Steven? I thought it was so neat, this trip my kids saw every single cousin on both sides of the family. Not bad!

The little take-out boxes from Mj's project proved to be great bug holders. The grasshoppers were plentiful.
Here are all the siblings...trying to mimic Liza's expression...Liza who appeared in the form of ink, paper, tape, and a stick! Thanks to Dorothy! That was awesome!

And these are our nice smiles.
I nearly shed a tear when Abby was crying as it was time to go. She just loves everyone and was so sad to leave her cousins who she had just bonded with! She and Claire have one last hug.
And we're off...next reunion...Stewarts! Love you Koski people, thanks for the fun!!

We woke up to fog this morning...

and while we were on a walk Eliza exclaims, "Mom! It's a foamy day today!"

Gospel Gallery of Art

I was recently called to be the second counselor in primary, which means I'm in charge of the quarterly activities for kids 3-12 years old. Yesterday was our first.

I used an idea from a while back when I played "Art Gallery" with my kids and some friends...I wrote about it here. We took out the whole "buying and selling" part, added in gospel themes for each art medium, put in an "art library" for kids to look at art related books, added "paint pallets" ...anyway...here's what it looked like:

Salt dough
Eliza made a bird

The pictures above and below show the palates the kids had. Each time they did a project they got a paper "paint spot" that correlated with that project.

Watercolors

Mosaics

This was a group project where we built the "city of Zion" out of a variety of cardboard boxes. Boy, were the kids creative!

Bio Paints---paint dribbled in the crease, fold, press, and you get awesome creations!

Marble painting, so fun

Phew! Keeping busy!

Abby begins at mosaics

Ah, Eliza's bird

I read a couple books to wind down after work time was over.
Then the kids and their parents walked the hall where we hung all their works of art!

Thanks to great ideas from the rest of the presidency, lots of prep from them, and lots of people coming to help in each station, we all had fun and the activity was a success!

And to top it off, BYU beat Oklahoma later that night!

Look who's riding

Taking a break from reunion reports to keep up with current happenings...

Last weekend somebody learned to ride a two-wheeler!

I knew she could have learned for a while now, but I wanted to wait for a day Daniel could help out. She mastered it on her first try. Abby is so excited and LOVES to ride all the time. It's fun when you can keep up with the boys!

Yesterday while Eliza was riding her tricycle she "parked" it next to Abby's bike by tipping it over and lying it on its side (like Abby's, which doesn't have a kickstand yet). It was such a cute expression of wanting to be like her big sister.

Reunions! Temple square!

We had a fun morning at Temple Square in SLC on Saturday before the Canyon outing. I will always be amazed with the acoustics of the Tabernacle! Wow--you really hear that pin drop. Thanks for joining us, Wilsons! Try lining up this six wild little munchkins. Even with Jesus watching them it was a challenge! All joking aside, it is a nice image with Him watching over the little ones.

Reunions! Baby showers and Bowling!

Here are the Mommies of the newest Koski grand kids, Jack and Peter! We had a little surprise shower for them at Kneaders. Yes, the cinnamon french toast is all it's cracked up to be. Yum. We even did the poopy-chocolate-diaper game. Double yum.

A bunch of us went to the BYU Wilkinson Center..let the bowling begin! Eliza and Jane are enthused. A computer we can touch!

Andrew really hucked that ball. He was relieved when I showed him that some are lighter.
Abby's favorite part was getting to know her older girl cousins! She was in heaven! Thanks for playing girls. Here she is with her new bud, Tess.Kolbe likes me because I have glasses too.

Eliza rolls the ball down (as if bumpers weren't assistance enough). I just enjoyed her little "yes!" each time afterward.

Shel Silverstein said it for me...

Here Comes

Here comes summer,

Here comes summer,

Chirping robin, budding rose.

Here comes summer,

Here comes summer,

Gentle showers, summer clothes.

Here comes summer,

Here comes summer--

Whoosh--shiver--there it goes.

They're sharing the front seat there...aww.