Girls Camp 2011

This year I finally got to go to Girls Camp. I begged last year but they didn't need me. It worked out perfectly because Ryan had his 10 year old trip to Grandma's in Idaho, Andy worked on his summer homework and scouts without being interrupted, and the girls were with me at camp.
Usually they go to Rucker Lake but a week before camp it was changed to Camp Redwoods Liahona because Rucker was snowed in!
I was a 6th year leader with Eleanor and we had a blast. The girls were so great and I was impressed with how well they got along and lead together. It's a big job for the 16 year olds and they had a ton of responsibility.
My birthday was Wednesday and they decorated my bed (with me in it!), sang to me, and scared me to death!
Mandy Sherwood did a fantastic job as Girls Camp Leader and it's a three year calling so the next few years are sure to be awesome. Eleanor and I are still debating coming back as leaders, for my part the debate is just that I love the girls we had this year so much and it won't be the same without them. The Walnut Creek 2nd Ward had 13 girls there this year... I think that is a record! Our Stake is very diverse and we have 11 wards with super different socioeconomic circumstances. Some of the girls live in unsafe areas in Oakland and have witnessed gang shootings, etc, and some live in white picket fence filled suburbs. I loved seeing them put aside their differences and really get along with each other, showing that the Gospel is the same everywhere and that we can all help each other and find peace in the Church and its teachings.
I am grateful for our Youth programs!

Not for the Faint at Heart...

On Father's Day we went to our friends house for dinner. We had only been there a few minutes when Andy ran in and said Ryan needed help. So, I went outside to find him on the trampoline just sort of moaning. That is when I know he is really hurt. Usually when he actually cries, he is not actually injured. It took several of his to carefully move him off the trampoline and into the van and I rushed him to the ER for stitches. They ended up doing a CT scan to make sure his live and kidney weren't damaged because the wound was so deep. He said he was jumping when he fell through the springs (they didn't have a pad on them) and one spring came loose and took a chunk out of his side. It was pretty awful, but playing Angry Birds got him through it. He had 12 stitches to close up the inside and outside. Poor guy. He was really brave, though, and just a few weeks later I saw him jumping on our trampoline with a friend. I always know trampolines are dangerous, but I thought of injuries like broken bones or sprains, never gashes! At least we have a pad on ours and so far no one has been hurt. Knock, knock.

O'Learyunion OBX 2011

Every two years we have a reunion with my Mom's side of the family. We always go where no one lives so nobody has to be host and everyone gets a vacation. This year we went to Outer Banks, North Carolina and stayed on the 4-wheel drive beach with wild horses for our friends. It was beautiful! We usually don't go anywhere twice, but we came here in 2005 and it was so great that everyone wanted to come back. My wonderful Grandfather rents a house that we fill up and we all really get to reconnect. Since there are 36 of us now (I think!), and we live in Alaska, Hawaii, California, DC, Virginia, Texas, and Oregon, it is a great way to get to know the relatives we would probably never see otherwise.

My Aunt Kathleen has been out numbered and out heighted for as long as I can remember!

Ryan never did get in the ocean, but he had fun digging in the sand with his cousin Marc.

This year my cousin David's wife Jennifer couldn't take time off from work but he still came and made his awesome drip castles with the kids.

Grandad and my Mom.

Andy passed me up years ago!

My Mom holding her ninth grandchild, North.

My beautiful Aunt Laura.

Ryan being silly again.

Cousins John and Ryan digging in the sand.

My brother Gavin and his baby, North.

My cousin Kelsey with a meaningful starfish.

Dave and Ryan playing pool.

Alaina's awesome dive.

David playing guitar and singing from the O'Leary songbook.

My Mom and sister, Dani.

My younger brothers, Brian and Gavin.

Dave and I playing horseshoes on the beach. I was determined to use everything I brought and Dave was a willing participant. He beat me almost everytime!

The girl cousins, Becca, Paige, Alaina.

Gavin and our cousin Connor,wrestling.

Grandad and Alice.

Alice and North.

Becca, Gavin, North.

Becca and her cousin, North.

Alice and North.

My Uncle Woody.

My Mom and me.

James, Julie, Stephen.

Brian and Leeann.

Woody and Kathleen.

James and Ryan.

Andy playing piano.

Nana and North.

We went go karting and Alaina drove for the first time. She had Paige as a passenger and did pretty well. Andy had just gotten his permit so it was a little extra practice for him. Becca rode with Leeandra and Ryan rode with Brian, who got kicked off the track for bumping! It was actually pretty funny. I'd never seen anyone get thrown out before.

My parents, Brian, Dani, me, Gavin.

Alaina and Paige with a creepy lady at a store at Tim Buck II.

Playing in the water. Julie and Stephen rented a stand up paddle board and they taught me how to SUP. I sprained my ankle but had lots of fun and rode a wave or two.

My Cousin David rented a kayak and let everyone try it out.

Dave and Dani brought a "flat Elder Fletcher", like Flat Stanley, to take pictures with Aaron who is serving his mission in Poland right now. It was a fun way to include him!

Family pictures!

Nut Stacker

I brought games for a "Minute to Win it" family night. It was a great success!

Suck it Up

Face the Cookie

Stacker, Temper Tantrum, Puzzler

We had a beautiful afternoon sail aboard the Down East Rover.

We all spent many hours looking at Linda's awesome reunion scrapbooks, playing boggle (with O'Leary rules!), playing beach soccer, and doing puzzles. Such a great way to reconnect!

Hangliding has been on my bucket list for years and I finally had an opportunity to do it! My Dad, Andy, Alaina, Connor, and I all had an amazing time with a plane towing us up 2,000 feet and letting go. It was incredible to just free fall with the glider catching the wind and floating us about the sky. It definitely exceeded our expectations and we all wanted to go again soon.

Cousins!

We had an awesome chef, Joey, who came every day and made the most amazing food for us. We all helped out a little and I really think it would be fun to be a personal chef. Not for 36 people, though. Too much pressure! He was fun to work with and everyone enjoyed not having to be in charge of the kitchen.

June 20011

Dave and I at the end of a relaxing week!

Yosemite 2011

May 2011. This year Dave, Andy, and Becca stayed home and I just took Alaina and Ryan with me to Yosemite. We had beautiful weather and saw lots of wildlife. Alaina and I attempted to fish...but with barbless hooks and no bait allowed, we didn't do too well. We lost several lures, though.

We hiked up the Mist Trail wth the Clements and went to the top of Vernal Falls. We got pretty wet and it felt great. Several people died on the trail a few days before we were there and several more died after...it is pretty slippery. One guy said, "Respect the water."

Ryan only wanted to do what Blair was doing, so he didn't hike with us and I didn't fight him on it. I am just glad he was enjoying being in nature. We had our traditional church service outside on Sunday and I bore my testimony. I am grateful we can have church anywhere we are.

Going Private

Hi Everyone,

Our blog is going private because my kids don't want to google themselves and see their pictures from the blog on the internet. If you don't have access in the next couple of days, please email me and I can send you an invitation to join, then you can keep up with us! Thanks.

Buon Appetit!

Last year we had planned a trip to Spain for our anniversary and just a few days before we were supposed to leave, Dave had to cancel because something came up at work. So, this year he pulled out all the stops and arranged a for private chef to teach us real Italian cooking for a day. It was great!

Chef Mario, me, and Dave

At the Academia

We took the Metro to the train station and took a 7 am train from Milan to Parma, then we took a bus to the Academia Barilla and met our chef for the day, Mario Grazia. We cooked ourselves crazy from 10-5, with only one little break, during which I immediately fell asleep. (see me sleeping in the sun below)

Our Menu

Arancini di Riso

Escaloppe di Salmon

Risotto Primavera

Cheese and Egg filled Pasta

Saltimbocca alla Romana

Spaghetti alla Chitarra with Amatriaciana Sauce

Making sure it's safe :)

Risotto

Bolognese Sauce

Ricotta Cheese Stuffed Ravioli with Thyme

We made 3 shapes of pasta

Tartufi Dolci Neri

Hazelnut Cake with Sugared Hazelnuts

I really did fall asleep immediately during our 10 minute break. It was a beautiful day!

One of my personal favorites!

We tasted everything and started out eating as if it were a meal but we were so full at the end we could barely even take a taste. It was so fun to cook with Dave! And now he can't tell me he doesn't know how to make anything...
Thanks for a great trip, honey!

Italy!

On April 20 Dave and I took a quick trip to Northern Italy for our 19th Anniversary and to celebrate the his entering the mission field in Milan 25 years ago. We stayed at the beautiful Hyatt Park Milan Hotel, right next to the Duomo. The first night we ate at Trattoria Arlati dal 1936. It was delicious! Never a bad bite in Italy. We took a bike tour of the city, guided by Dave, and went to Giardini Piducci (Public Garden), then we went to Sforzeso Castle. Everything was so accessible.

Right after I took this picture of the famous Pieta, the guard said no photography allowed...so I got lucky. The armor was really interesting and looked so heavy. The horses had armor, too! We saw the remains of a Saint that died in 397 AD. It was amazing. (The big event of the trip was a day with a private chef. Next post...)

The architecture was beautiful and it was great to just walk around and not be in a hurry. We only had gelato once because we were too full for dessert most of the time. Dave's mom came from Idaho to watch the kids for us and they had so much fun with her. It was tough to check in with them because of the 9 hour time difference, but I got some very early morning texts...'how do you hard boil eggs?' at 2 am. I loved hearing from the kids, though.

We took the train to Como and rode the ferry around the lake to Bellagio. It was cloudy, but I was grateful for only a few drops of rain. We walked to Villa Melzi and toured the gorgeous gardens. The hillside around the lake was dotted with beautiful villas and mansions. It was so much bigger than I thought it would be.

We rode the ferry to Cernobbio and had lunch at the Tavern. The restaurant is in the 'best hotel in Europe', but it didn't look that amazing. We ate next to an older man with two Russian blondes...we couldn't quite figure our their story... We had a great day and took the train 1 1/2 hours back to Milan.

Easter Sunday we went to church in a place Dave served for 3 months and he translated for me. I think it's amazing that his Italian is still perfect.

On Monday we just had a few hours before we needed to get the train to the airport and Dave had found out about a market that only happens the Monday after Easter and is supposed to be full of crafts and things that monks make all year. We went and they only had flowers! They were pretty, but not Monk crafts. So we went to the market by the train station to get the kids and Marcia gifts. What a fun anniversary!