Jackson went to Kanakuk

I cannot believe Jackson is officially old enough to attend Kanakuk! What???
He went first session which started June 1, 2010 and stayed for 13 days. He was all business when he got there and proudly wore his TCU shirt when he arrived cauz he wanted everyone to know that is where his Mom went to school.
He was in cabin 5. I wanted to stay and walk him to his cabin and see all the details of what his 13 day experience was going to be like but instead I watched him go through the crazy fun arrival process where he goes up on stage in the K-dome and says his age, where he is from and his age. He was all business and then everybody screams and he jump on this mat and the next thing we know he was in Cabin 5. His counselor Cole (OSU guy) ran up and gave him a great big hug. I was thrilled to see Cole because he was Jackson's counselor last year. He had another amazing counselor named Brennan (Baylor guy) who was also precious and loved on Jackson.
We picked him up with my Mom, sister, Harper, Smith and MJ. He seemed great at pickup. For me, every time I step foot at Kamp it is like a mini reunion catching up with all the old, retired counselors, staff, and friends there that I made from being a camper there for 10 years and a counselor for 3.
Jackson was all business there. His favorite thing was the blob where he jumped on it and said they tried to push other people off. He loved free swim. He loved being a Choctaw and all the tribal stuff. His favorite meal was the coffee cake on Sunday morning. He made paper airplanes at FOB (Flat on Back) time. He only wrote one letter to Paw-Paw (Jason's grandfather who actually died while Jackson was at camp). It was the most precious letter and he never mailed it. In his cabin he got the Barnabas award which meant he was the encourager in his cabin. He was so proud of being there and showed us all around the camp and his cabin. He got into the famous "silly bands" when he was there and Tyler in his cabin gave him 2. He was so sweet and presented a silly band to Harper and Mollie Jane in his cabin. It was really sweet that he wanted to give them a present and upon seeing them. I promised him I would figure out where to buy some and get some more to him since he gave all his away. He had a great time and when we left he immediately asked if next year he could go 28 days! GEEZ! I'm glad he had fun but I hate that he wants to be gone from our family for a month next summer and I guess I guess that means I need to work a little harder to foot the bill for an extra 14 days! But his amazing time there was truly priceless and so is his smile every time he talks about it!

The Birthday Rap for Smith

I am so glad my sister, my niece Harper and my Mom came to see up at Camp Barnabas. They come up right in time for Smith's birthday. They stayed a week and really got a feel for what our life is like. It was so wonderful to have my family there so they got to see what all our excitement was about. Big Smith had his first official party at Camp Barnabas. At Camp Barnabas on a birthday there is a very loud and crazy sort of birthday train that goes all through the dining hall and then ends with a crazy song with lots of yelling and birthday kisses. It was so precious cauz Smith just got one kiss since he turned one. He was a little in shock from all the chaos but has definitely over time gotten used to the nutty dining hall. My sister and Mom were here to see it. Our sweet Sarah, our babysitter in June, led the birthday rap for Big Smith. After all the dining hall fun, we went back up to the house and opened some presents. We actually were at Jason's grandfather's funeral on Smith's actual birthday. So we did his Camp birthday on June 11. We got some fun pics of Smith at dinner and Aunt Jill got Smith some birthday balloons, hats and plates. He actually started taking his first steps on his big day there in the hotel. Both times he was not interested in the cake, brownie or ice cream. He may not have his Daddy's sweet tooth. We'll see.

PawPaw's Funeral

It has been a really rough couple of months for Jason's family as his grandfather was diagnosed this year with lung cancer. He died the first week of June and we had his funeral June 10. Jason kind of had to process everything in the midst of our crazy summer schedule out at camp. Our awesome sitter Sarah drove up and back with us to and was a godsend to me on that trip. We drove down to Little Rock Arkansas and Conway for the funeral and memorial service. It is so sad but his funerals was such a mix for us. We got to be with family and see so many people we rarely get to see. We also tried to grieve and celebrate life at the same time. Reflecting back it was really a wonderful day spent with family and friends. We just kind of spent the day all together eating, sitting and riding in the car back and forth remembering Pawpaw and being together. Pawpaw was in the Navy during World War II. He was on a ship in the Pacific. At his funeral there was a full military burial and his grandfather's flag was presented to Jason. Jason and his brother and sister got up at the service and shared fun memories of Pawpaw. Suzette had some friends from Branson drive up for the service. Jackson remembers Pawpaw coming to our house several times for the holidays. Jason and Jackson also got to spend a weekend this spring before all the Pawpaw got so weak. They went up to Conway and then down to the races in Hot springs. Jackson still talks about that and I am grateful he has those fun memories to remember his great grandpa by.