Camping on the South Umpqua River

Well this year there were 64 of us all camping together. Pretty big crowd. Definitely the biggest in a long time. Ever since Greg was very small his family camped by the South Umpqua Falls every summer. This was my 3rd year. Greg looks forward to it every year and the first two years I made him take me home after 2 days. But this year I swore I'd last the whole 5 and I did, very easily I might add. Down below is Pat, my amazing mother in law. She packed all the food and cooked every bit of it. We've been so stressed with the move, it was a great help not to have to worry about one more thing to organize.

This is Shannon and Ralf, who came up for a couple of days. Ralph only brought one pair of shoes and wore them in the river. Then he had nothing to wear. So Shannon made him some slippers out of cardboard, newspaper, and duct tape.

Greg was really into this book, Saboteur, we borrowed from Mom.

And I borrowed Faith of our Fathers- about the Cival War and I've been loving it!

Randy can seriously finish a novel in a day. Every time I see him, he finishes a book he just had started the day before. It boggles my mind. He must have read 100s of books by now.

This is Hunter (Greg's 2nd cousin) piling inner tubes on his little brother, Riley.

This was so cute: Zach and his twins, Nuala and Bran.

We all spent a lot of time ,by the shore line with the little ones, throwing rocks.

This is Terry, Greg's uncle. I got to know him a lot better this year. It was very nice. The second day everyone went to the falls, he and Sari and I stayed behind and just hung out and talked.

Sweet Lilly

Babies were EVERYWHERE this year. There were 8 children under 3 years old. It was fun, but sometimes a lot of work.
Mariah, Pat, Heidi, Fiona

Shirley

Shannon, Pat and Preston, HeidiPat and Annie, Ralf and Preston

Mike and Kathy

Sari and Matthias

If you look close you can see that the boys thought up a brand new way to go down the rapids by putting on all the inner tubes that could possibly fit. I didn't go down any rapids this time. I went last year and flipped and got sucked under and was absolutely terrified. When I reached the calm river and could keep my head above water it was everything I could do not to cry. It sounds a lot more dramatic than I'm sure it actually was, but none the less, I skipped it this year.

The women got a little crazy and went skinny dipping at night. I was amazed they were all so brave. After they were in I regretted not joining in, but I got a great pic to remember!
Mariah, Heidi, Shannon, Pat, Jessica

This is Nuala. We became great friends. She is only 1 year old. I took her out on a float and no matter how I tried her face made no expression and she looked completely bored.

Even Ralph tried, with no success.

We brought Bran over, but he didn't last very long. He was more sensitive that day and cried at the drop of a hat!

Later on I decided I'd go for a float by myself. So I grabbed my inner tube and before I reached the water little Nuala dashed to my side for a ride. "Hmm . . ." I thought to myself. Maybe she liked the float after all. Well, after a while she opened up and we laughed and played for a long time. It was lots of fun. I think she just needed a little time to warm up to me.

And Greg gets along with all kids, no matter the situation. He is amazing. He even got Bran to play with him.It was really cute to watch him. This doesn't show it, but I got a little camera happy.

I love this picture.

Then my camera died before I got a picture of Sheldon's family, or Jake and Caleb.

I brought my fire poi and didn't tell anyone because I couldn't develop the courage to perform. I also didn't want people to think I was reckless twirling around fire amongst the trees. But I finally committed and actually TOLD people, so then I had no excuse. Well, I was very nervous and I could tell other people were getting nervous asking me, "Does the fire fly away from you?" After my first run there was applause and they asked for more. So then my nerves calmed and I had a few others try.

1/2 way thru the week, Greg and I drove half an hour outside the camp with Ben's IPHONE to check our email. We got good news that we've found an apartment that is actually willing to rent to us! YEA!!!! That was some MAJOR stress lifted. I swear I'm at my breaking point. I just don't think my little body can handle anymore of this stress stuff! I'm just not used to it! We were so grateful that Ben happened to have this amazing phone and that we live in a day and age where these incredible gadgets EXIST!!! Pretty amazing.

Overall the week was very good. I got to know Greg's cousins so much better. To be more particular- Zach and Fiona and Heidi and Terry. Now I feel like I know everyone and everyone knows me! It's a good feeling. It's amazing how you can go your whole life and in a few years time your husband's family suddenly feels like your own.