Scott's Owl Beading Ceremony (i.e. I finished my ticket from Wood Badge!)

From L-R: Tyler, Ryan, Kirk, Scott, Paula, and Debbie.  This is Scott's Owl troop.  He went to Wood Badge (Boy Scout leadership training camp) in June 2011.  He and all the other members of his owl troop finished their tickets by July this year.  That is a huge accomplishment.  So on Aug 13, we went to their beading ceremony.  Here, they all took turns explaining different parts of their flag (the strange pole that Kirk is holding in the middle there).

 It was a really neat ceremony to be a part of.  Scott's troop has stayed close this past year.  We've had a few barbecues, and picnics at eachother's houses.  Lots of communication through email and phone calls and visits.  Mostly on their part though.  Scott is a very hard person to get a hold of, and I've got to admire their dedication to keeping us part of the loop. :) 

 

I remember when we went to the first dinner after Wood Badge was over last summer and meeting everyone in his troop.  They all had such wonderful things to say about my husband.  I was a very proud wife.  It was wierd to meet people who knew my husband so personally, where I knew nothing about them.  But I've since gotten to know them, and they are all wonderful people.  I feel lucky to know them.

 

Scott had contracted pink eye the day before, and his eyes were really red and puffy here.  Poor guy!  No, he's not crying.  Although he felt like it.  He says he has a lot more compassion for anyone who gets pink eye now.

Lori was one of the counselors there, and they all asked here to "bead" them.  Here is Scott getting "beaded".

A very proud troop!

The Adventures of Weirdo-Guy

This is a movie that Tyler and Scott made, from a book that Tyler wrote.  Tyler does the narration by himself and all the artwork is Tyler's too.  To be able to hear all of the narration, it's best if you turn up the volume on your speakers ALL THE WAY.

 

KFR 2012-Day 2 & 3

Day 2 of the KFR:

 

Russell got a hold of this bat in the back yard and just went around beating the bushes and the trees.  And losing his pants, as you can see.  Not even the cast can make some of them stay up.

That night, the adults went out to eat.  I was pretty nervous about the babysitter, since we'd never left Russell with a babysitter since he got his cast on, but he just slept the whole time she was there.  And I was glad I went, it was great to be able to talk and spend time with my siblings and their spouses.  I really missed Dave & Belky, and Ryan.  So sad that they couldn't make it.

 

The last day of the reunion (Day 3), we had a nativity with the kids.  They did such a good job.  My dad read the bible, while the kids acted it out. 

Krysta and Josh were Mary and Joseph.



Kayli, Emalyn, and Natalie were angels

Jared, Bryce, and Tyler were wise men

Here is everyone, with Kylie and Matthew also as shepherds.

There were some really reverent moments and some funny moments.  But it was one of the best nativities I've ever been apart of.

Thanks, Mom and Dad, for a wonderful reunion!  It was great to see everyone.

KFR 2012- Day 1

KFR = Ketcheson Family Reunion

DAY 1:

We arrived just in time for lunch on day one, so we missed the morning activities, which we heard were super fun. And we enjoyed the cookies throughout the rest of the reunion.  Mom and Dad were in charge this year, and they chose a "Christmas in August" theme.  So the morning cookies were Christmas cookies and gingerbread men.

After lunch, we took the kids to the dollar store to pick out presents for their cousin (they were each assigned a cousin to give to).  Then we came home and wrapped them, and then that evening we watched them all open their gifts.

Emalyn gave this gift to her cousin Natalie.

Krysta LOVED this Mermaid doll

Tyler gave to Joshua

Emalyn got a jumprope from Kayli-just what she wanted!

I just had to post this picture of our little cousin

We've literally "enjoyed" this whoopie cushion every day since the reunion...oh joy.  Imagine my happiness in explaining to the PT that came last week that we really don't have digestive issues...

That night, we had the KFR talent show.  Mel and her kids started it out with a skit to introduce next year's reunion that they're in charge of.  Each of them portrayed one of the "original" Ketcheson's.  It was SOOO FUNNY!! 

I took NO PICTURES of my kids during their talents!! I'm kinda upset about that, but I guess I was busy helping them do their talent.  Krysta played "twinkle, twinkle little star" on the piano, Emalyn jumproped to a rhyme, and Tyler and Scott made a movie about Weirdo-Guy (I'm going to post Tyler's movie on this blog, but not in this post).

Cheryl's family did an awesome lipsync to a song about Nebraska

And little Lanaya fell asleep while her mommy was dancing around with her in her arms. 

This is my mom and dad.  Soooo cute! They did a lip sync to a "choir" song.  They had so many props (stacked on that bar stool in between them) that they had a hard time finding the right ones.  They won for best preparation! And my mom is wearing a boot-she broke two bones in her foot a couple weeks before this, and still hosted the reunion.  My mom is such an amazing person!

Josh did a really cute lip sync too!

These two were awesome.  I took some really fun photos of them doing their lip sync too.  They did such a good job performing.

I didn't get pictures of Meg and Weston's talent either! Boo!

We had a lot of fun that first day!

I Like to Look For Rainbows...

Emalyn was baptized Aug 4, 2012. 

We had a lot of family who came up (or down) to Idaho Falls to celebrate with us.  She got both sets of grandparents (Grandma and Grandpa Jensen, and Grandma and Grandpa Ketcheson) there, also Scott's sister, Carolyn and her husband Jeremy and their kids and Scott's brother Jaron and his wife Heidi and their kids were able to come.  Amy's s-i-l Melanie and her kids (Ryan couldn't come due to work) and Amy's sister Megan and her husband Weston and son, and Emalyn's cousins Kayli and Bryce from Nebraska were able to come.  We couldn't believe how many people were able to come be with us.

Scott and all of the kids staying at our house (except Russell and Wyatt) slept out in the tent in our back yard.  From what I hear, it was really fun. I love that Scott likes to do that kind of thing with his neices and nephews.

Enjoying the tent before all the beds were set up.  A total of 10 kids were out there Saturday night. 

And then the baptism day came.  It was so nice, all of the family there, and celebrating Emalyn's special day.

Emalyn in her baptism dress

Dad, Emalyn, and Mom

Emalyn was baptized by her dad

One of Emalyn's friends, Hannah, who came to her baptism

We are so proud of you Emalyn.  You are a very special girl.  We love you very much!