Father Daughter Campout

Our YW presidency decided to invite the Activity Day girls to our young women father daughter camp out. This year we camped at Lake Almanor and our theme for the weekend was "You Can Be My Hero". It was a lot of fun to have the extra Dads and girls with us this year since we only have six young women.

We had good food, funny skits, lots of camp songs and of course a warm fire complete with smores. The next morning we listened to the dads tell about their favorite hero in the scriptures, took pictures with each girl and their dad, made cute picture frames, and went on a bike ride to the lake.

The weather was great, the girls got along, and the dads were a big help to have around.

Braces Off & Staples Out!

After 2 sets of braces and 4 years later Seth has finally ended his braces career.



Now smile and show us your pearly whites!



The orthodontist office gave Seth a fun treat of balloons, popcorn, sparkling cider, and a chocolate bar. Enjoy!

(Seth is now looking forward to eating apples whole without having to slice them.)



It was finally time to get the staples removed from Seth's leg. It was a little more painful having them removed than he thought and they weren't completely healed so he has to leave strips of Bandaides on for another week.



It's amazing how the body heals itself!

18 years!

WOW! Where has the time gone?!
Every year it just gets better and better!
Here's to another 18 years!

New Pet

We have a new pet! Yes, I know we're not a very animal loving family, but this creature made herself at home in our backyard. She doesn't take up much space, never makes any noise, we never have to feed her, and she even helps scare away pesty insects. We nicknamed her "Charlotte" because her webs are amazing!





P.S. I HATE SPIDERS! However, this amazing creature's web had me marveling in awe at her creative talent. It also got me thinking, hmmm, . . . aren't I paying for pest control every month? What a sneaky and beautiful spider you are Charlotte!

Galleons

Kiana's 4th grade class started learning about Galleons and for a school project they were able to make their very own. Then all of the 4th graders at Neal Dow took a field trip to One Mile to sail their boats. (They were required to test their boats ahead of time to make sure there would be no sinking boats.)

Aaron and I took our lunch break and went to see all of the different boats which were made out of wood, popsicle sticks, cardboard, empty soda bottles, milk cartons, etc. Kiana's was painted white and pink with clear jewel accents. She was very proud of her galleon, which she named Kiana Marie.

Almanor

Once again our dinner group families went cabining at Lake Almanor during Labor Day weekend. It has been a lot of fun seeing the kids grow up together these past few years and spend the weekend with friends. This year Andrea brought her friend Julia along with us.







On Saturday we decided to travel to Lassen Park and take the kids on a simple hike to see three lakes. (Terrace Lake, Shadow Lake, & Cliff Lake) We weren't able to make it to the last lake--the kids had finally had enough of hiking and just wanted to stop and enjoy the lake water.

During the weekend we enjoyed games, food, and laughter. We continued the tradition of family Olympics with some new events this year. (Hula hooping, Cheezit stacking, water bottle balancing, melt the ice cube, and nylon ball swinging)



On Sunday we took a drive to Soda Springs. We filled our water bottles with carbonated water from a natural spring and added some crystal light--YUM! (Well, it wasn't that tasty, but it was very interesting to see.)

Seth's Accident

Warning--this blog entry is not for everyone. If you don't like looking at pictures of an injury--please skip this one!

FULL STORY: It's a Friday morning. Seth wakes up and gets ready for school. He hops on his bike and starts riding to school (just like every day). He returns about a minute later with a fresh wound inflicted by his bike pedal. Seth composes himself fairly well (no crying) but as soon as I look at the cut, I know that it's not a simple scratch. I call Aaron, put a cool wash cloth over the wound,(no blood due to the deepness of the cut) and quickly take Kiana to school. When I come home Aaron and Seth are off to the doctor's office. I hope the cut only requires a bandage; Aaron says they'll probably put in some stitches. I head off to school, waiting for the call to let me know how things go.


Well . . . Seth was a trooper. The wound needed more than a bandage and the area of the leg where the cut was would not hold stitches. So . . . 11 STAPLES closed the wound. Yes, STAPLES! Aaron thought they were kidding at first when they told him. He said it actually looked like a staple gun. Seth did a great job, even though he said that the hardest and most painful part was the long needle they injected into the cut to numb the area.


Seth is healing well. He can't play P.E. until the staples are removed and he loves telling the story to everyone. He's also excited about the cool scar he will have in the future. I'm not too excited about letting him ride his bike again, but I guess a mother has to let her son move on--I'm just hoping there are no more staples in our future!

Kiana's 9th Birthday

Kiana is now NINE!

She celebrated her special day with having her girlfriends over to swim, a pinata, and a yummy 3 layer cake.







She received a lot of fun gifts and then later that night she chose to go out to dinner with her family and grandparents to Hula's.





We think her favorite gift this year was her swimming baby!

Back to school

Yes, school has started. Is anyone happy about it? Well, not really, but we knew that the summer couldn't last forever!



Kiana is in 4th grade and will be learning about California History.

Seth is in 8th grade and has Spanish 1 as his elective.

Andrea is a 10th grader taking 2 honors classes--Whew!

It sounds like it's going to be a busy year!

Lake Philbrook

Our family loves going to Lake Philbrook above Paradise. After several summers of not going we finally fit a camping trip into our crazy summer schedule.


We took Grandma Leila & Grandpa Rick and our three cousins Drake, Bruce, & Reese with us. The weather was perfect, the Lake was beautiful, and the company was excellent.


Grandpa brought his fishing boat, the kids collected crawdads and frogs, and we enjoyed plenty of good camping food.


Did Andrea really kiss the frog?
Well, that's for you to figure out!

Lake Shasta

At the end of July we were able to go with Grandma Ruth & Grandpa Mike to Lake Shasta. They were able to bring their trailer and boat so we could REALLY enjoy camping and the lake. We also had a couple of our cousins come out from Utah (Brandon & Hayden) to join us in the fun.

Wow! Camping with a trailer is VERY nice. We were able to have a place to cook our meals, play some games without the mosquitoes, and even listen to some music and watch a video. At times it seemed like we weren't camping at all.


We were also able to spend some time on Lake Shasta. The water was the perfect temperature so we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! We tried the tube, wake board, and knee board.






I think one of the best times we had during our trip was swimming under the bridge. We took turns jumping off and swimming in the refreshing water--I almost didn't want to get out!

What a relaxing way to spend the summer! Next year we should definitely stay longer.

Lefebvre Reunion

Yep--this is pretty much all of us--we were only missing 2. That's pretty good when you try to get all seven kids, their spouses, and 18 grandkids, plus grandma & grandpa to pose for a "Happy Family Photo". We had family come all the way from Utah and Texas to participate in the reunion. We were also able to see the newest grandchild, Hazel Faye, be blessed in church.


On the first day of the reunion we all drove down to the Exploratorium in San Francisco. It was a great place to let the kids roam and enjoy the exhibits. My favorite was the musical bench. Aaron and I made it play music by kissing--he, he, he--so much fun!


After the Exploratorium we headed over to Pier 39. We enjoyed some delicious pizza at Luigi's for lunch, stopped by and saw the sea lions, and then looked at all the fun shops along the pier.


We had to stop by the beach before heading home. It was a beautiful sunny day in the morning, however by late afternoon the fog had set in. There was also a very cold wind, but the kids still had a great time looking for shells, playing in the sand, and running from the waves. Once again Seth got completely wet and enjoyed the ocean despite the freezing water.


Another fun activity our family did was a picnic lunch at 5 mile at Bidwell park here in Chico. There was a lot of food, family, and fun had by everyone!


We ended our reunion by going north to Redding and visiting with Grandpa Harold and swimming in Aunt Suzie's pool. It was a lot of fun to watch the cousins swim, play, and visit with each other.


It was another successful reunion--I wonder what we'll do in 2012?