A MEMORY MAKING WEEKEND....MEMORIAL DAY 2011

This year I thought it would be fun

to take each grandchild on their

birthday, (or close to it)

 for their own day with Bumma.

Briqelle turned 11 on May 16,

so this was her day.....

A little shopping, Pizza Factory lunch,

going to see the movie "soul surfer".....

It was a good day....

Shopping at Hallmark, where the decision was made

to purchase this guy....

It stays on your shoulder with a magnet.....

the trick to this is not losing the magnet.....

oops..... 

Briqelle also bought some clothes

even though shopping is not her favorite thing to do..

(mine either)

we didn't buy these shorts though....

 SHE MADE THEM!!

She is an amazing young lady...

Such a thoughtful, kind and

loving sister.... 

She helps out with all the kids.....

without her I would be exhausted!

Because of her

 I have the energy for the next adventure....

A game of freeze tag....

and Ron can't resist the fun.

I love how Jameson thinks he is just as big as the rest

of the kids. He may be small, but has more "go power"

than all the rest of them.

Breakfast at IHOP

Brecken knew it was the place

with all the different kinds of syrup...

And he named EACH one of them .

He is so adorable and funny...

For example:

His dad took him to look at toy haulers and asked

Brecken, which one do you like?

 Brecken replied,

 Well, I don't really know, I haven't seen toys in any of them yet.

Cali always has a smile, 

even though she has a battle wound on her cheek

from running into a brick post while playing  freeze tag

(And she ate EVERY bit of that breakfast!)

Briqelle can't believe the size of the omelet!

AND

pancakes came with it as well....

She quickly offered to share it with me...

The good news......

Bumma is old enough for the IHOP Senior Specials...

The bad news.......... 

BUMMA IS OLD ENOUGH FOR THE SENIOR SPECIALS!!

Avi dressed in one of her "everyday" outfits,

complete with leggings...

Her mom made the bow and the bracelet!

A georgeous diva in training....

Jameson is growing up so fast...

Those big blue eyes get him

ANYTHING

he wants.....

I just melt into those eyes! 

And when he says, "wuv you gumma"

I'm a goner...

Cali knows EVERYTHING about

 pink, polish, bows, dresses, and sparkle...

She's a G.I.R.L. 

 Briqelle was heard telling her several times........

Remember Cali, you are NOT to act like a diva.....

Quinn.......

Don't you just want to hug her? 

Such a little beauty....

A perfect baby

 mellow, quiet and squeezably sweet  

The weekend was over way too fast

and soon all that was left 

Were the tail lights.........

And yes, I'm going to say it....

READY???

I was NOT happy to see the tail lights.....

What?

 You  were expecting something else?

EWWWWWW..........................

I went out to plant some flowers last Saturday morning
and instead of a warm, beautiful day
I was greeted by this:

EWWWW........
My first thought was who threw dirt all over my patio?

My second thought was EWWWWW.....
why is the dirt
M.O.V.I.N.G. !!!!!

To make a long story short
( I know, hard to think I could do that)
The entire complex of 15 units
looked exactly the same
infested with some type of aphid
so small that you could hardly see them
Billions and Billions is not an exaggeration.

So $30.00 worth of bug spray later
and a professional as well
They are starting to die off...
but not fast enough for me.

At least they aren't in the house.....
but I can't help feeling
the creepy, crawly things are all over me
even though they aren't.
EWWWWWW........
I can't stress that enough
Just writing about it
is giving me the feeling that
I need another shower......

And how is your day?

BIG MOUNTAIN CAMPGROUND........WHAT'S IN A NAME?

On Saturday, May 7, 2011

 brothers Brandon and Michael Kay

grandsons of owners

Jim and Carolyn Ockey

   and the new managers of  

BIG MOUNTAIN CAMPGROUND

called for the annual family campground clean up.......

They are HARD workers

and were

able to get their Aunt Melanie

to work her butt off....

Wait, she already did that....

working at home....

I try not to hate her cause she's cute and skinny.....

Michael explaining to us how to strip the paint so that the

fence can be repainted....or... maybe this is where he

was wondering "What have I gotten myself into?"

 Morgan....our 9 year old chauffeur

(you can barely see him on the left)

transfers those who are too lazy exhausted from

all the hard work from one end of the campground to the other.

(I would have been on the cart, but someone had to take the picture)

 Melanie helping me clean a cabin. It looks like

Melanie was the only one working.........

my muscles said otherwise.

and.....someone had to take the picture....

Each cabin comes with a double bed and a bunk bed

maid service included.....but not by me.

Next up, repainting all the hook up sites...

all

239,394,288 of them

maybe a slight exaggeration,

 but it certainly seemed like that many!

My fabulous, wonderful, can....and does...out work everyone

76 year old mother.....

known by all the grandkids as

Grandma Great....

and she lives up to that name....

She is incredibly amazing, and we love her,

and her example of work, dedication and love.

God kept the mold after he made her....

He knew he could never improve 

 that model of perfection.

Our family......(a few of us anyway)

Lauralee, Kevin, Dad, Me, Brandon, Jamie, Mom, Karen, Larry

Melanie missed the "I'm SOOOO exhausted" photo op.

Raise your hand if you want to do this again tomorrow.....

Jamie always was a little slow......

The good thing about a cleaning day....

no one cares if your clothes match or not....

look at that dimwitted fashionista 4th from the left.....

I mean, DON'T look at that dimwitted fashionista 4th from the left...

The award for getting the most paint

 "not" on the object being painted

goes to......(insert drum roll here)....................

Laura

She "sacrificed" her dollar store pants for this project.

Now that's dedication....and

$5.00 she'll never see again......

As soon as the grass is back in, the campground

will almost be back to its former glory...

The previous managers.......

 (who were not family)

 thought gravel would look good  here....

Ummmm.......not so much

For your camping enjoyment.....6 cabins are available....

(look how CLEAN they are!)

This is your view on one side .....

and this is Mt. Nebo

the view on your other side

The trees still show their battle scars from the fire that

destroyed some of the campground in 2007.

Though the name has been changed over the past 40 years...

Ranch Kamp, KOA, Camperworld, and finally

 Big Mountain....

one thing has remained constant

The OCKEY'S

who will be

 FAMILY FOREVER

and

campground connoisseurs...

as long as there are

BIG MOUNTAINS

FACE IT.........EVERYONE AGES

 Avi is 2 months old.....

 Bumma was once 2 months old.......

Faces start changing when you hit (cough, cough)

your fifties......

 Warning:

 The following picture contains subject matter that may be

disturbing to some viewers...............

That is what happens

 when you age without the benefits of

 "enhancements"

(Avi is picture perfect so maybe that makes me look worse?)

Avi is facing passing gas......

and the little stinker

 actually starts to cry...

When she sees a camera!

Taking pictures of her adorable face  

 may become a difficult undertakng, 

but 

"The difference between try and triumph is a little umph."

This is Brecken's happy face..... 

Silly face.... 

Scared face

Crazy face

I'm sick of this game face

Time to face the music......

Put on my best face........

and remember that 

Age doesn't mean a thing

 The best tunes are played on the oldest fiddles......