Smile!

Some people are like Slinky's...they're really good for nothing.

But they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs. :-)

Grrrr!

I mentioned in an earlier post that I hate the words rubric and pedagogy. I have a hard time articulating exactly why I have such negative feelings about these words but if you have ever taken an education class at BYU you will have to agree that these words are entirely overused. Perhaps these words are used equally as much at other institutions of higher learning but my experience has been with BYU.

I have had a few years reprieve from hearing these horrid words on a regular basis but that blessed reprieve has come to an end. I am currently taking an ESL class through BYU and am now forced to hear the blasted words over and over again!!! Why must I be tortured so?

Hughes Family Fun

Over Labor Day weekend the Hughes family got together at Jill and Mike's house for some food and fun. Mike barbequed some amazing ribs and we had lots of yummy vegetables (yes...I said yummy vegetables!) from their garden. We don't get together nearly enough but when we do we always have a great time. Here are a few pictures from that night.

Healing Hearts Fun Run

My adorable nephew Nathan was born with a heart condition called Tetrology of Fallot and he had open heart surgery in June when he was only 5 months old. Jakob and Stephanie belong to a group called Intermountain Healing Hearts and yesterday they held their annual fun run/walk. So in support of our little Nathan, several members of the family were able to attend the event. Jake, Steph, Elisabeth, Kristin, Shawn, Libby, Mallory, Dad, me and of course, Nathan had a great time.

The Ellinger supporters.

Kathleen with the star of the hour!

Nathan with some of the other "heart" kids.

Hangin' With the Fam

Our family had our annual reunion on August 7-9. On Thursday night we had a western themed dinner at Mom and Dad's clubhouse. Mom and Dad had gone all out with the western and cowboy themed decorations and also gave all the grandkids cowboy hats, stick horses and bandanas. We played some fun games like "Guess Your Ancestor" and somewhat politically incorrect games like "Lasso Your Wife". Maybe there is an upside to still being single! :-)

On Friday and Saturday we were at the Heber Valley Girls Camp. Our first activity was the challenge course which began with climbing a 30 foot tree, walking across a high wire to another tree which we then repelled down. I have repelled a couple of times before but I was much younger and thinner then, so this time I was pretty nervous but I did it anyway and I'm so glad I did. It was so much fun and I really felt like I had accomplished something. Between pregnancy, sprained ankles (sustained in aforementioned "Lasso Your Wife" game) and other maladies, I was the only girl in the family to do the repelling. There were several other fun activities we did on the challenge course.

The cousins all had so much fun playing together. Whether it was playing on the bunkbeds in the cabins and then jumping off onto my air mattress or following Keaton on the trails they all had a great time.

On Saturday we went to Legacy Lake and rode paddle boats and canoes. I didn't get any pictures of us on the boats but I know there are pictures on my family members blogs.