Campout

Monday's w/ Michael

Friday night was the First Annual Reinhard Family Campout in our cabin. It was so much fun! We had all of your standard camping snacks: hot dogs, S'mores and Pudgy (Pudgie?) Pies. We also popped popcorn over the fire for a late night snack.

Jane making supper.

It took a lot of work to get everything set up. Everyone had their job to do. Deacon's job was to make sure the flashlights worked. :)

Deacon inspecting a flashlight.

There were 4 of us sleeping in the cabin. Deacon slept downstairs in his Pack 'N Play. Jane, Nina and I slept upstairs in the loft.

Nina getting ready for bed.

We were really roughing it. It took 4 extension cords, but we were finally able to get power back to the cabin so we could watch a movie.

Extension cord running from the upstairs window to the Implement building.

Jane even made breakfast for us over the fire in the morning.

Bacon over the fire.

Deacon and Daddy ready for breakfast.

We had a great time. I'm already looking forward to our 2nd Annual Campout!

Make it a great Monday!

Something I have never done. . . .

This could be many things, I know-but this really s t r e t c h e d me!

I entered the 4-H Homemakers Cookie Contest!

Mom Reinhard told me she was doing it and so I thought, "That sounds like something different."

First of all this was not my cup of tea because I just do not do things like that.

There is a reason I was never in 4-H as a child.

Anxiety

Fear of Failure

Anxiety

Resistance of compliments

Stress

Anxiety

Well, we had no idea what to expect, but when we got there to 'drop off our cookies', it was apparent that all the ladies were staying for the judging.

Mom and I were quietly sitting there when a girl from the Journal Gazette comes up to us, sits down, and wants to interview us about our cookies. Mom did great-but what could I say?! "Ummm. . . .this is the first time I have ever made these. . . . and I hope they taste good?"

O.K.-so now I am feeling really anxious-now she is going to taste all 52 cookies right in front of us and tell us what she likes and doesn't like about them!

This was getting out of control.

Well, I will spare you all the 'sweet' details (my stomach is still upset just from watching this ONE lady sample 52 cookies), but the winner is. . . . . .

PAM REINHARD!!!!! With her famous Cashew Cookies!

Congrats Mom, you deserve it!

The experience, though s t r e t c h i n g, was still a lot of fun!

Ahhh. . . . now I need to add competing in 4-H to my list of 'things to do before I die', so I can check it off!

SHMILY

I'm sure many of you were wondering what "Shmily" meant on Jane's cake. Several years ago, we heard the following story:

SHMILY
My grandparents were married for over half a century and played their own special game from the time they had met each other. The goal of their game was to write the word "shmily" in a surprise place for the other to find.They took turns leaving "shmily" around the house and as soon as one of them discovered it, it was their turn to hide it once more. They dragged "shmily" with their fingers through the sugar and flour containers, to await whoever was preparing the next meal.They smeared it in the dew on the windows overlooking the patio (where my grandma always fed us warm, homemade pudding with blue food coloring)."Shmily" was written in the steam left on the mirror after a hot shower, where it would reappear bath after bath. At one point, my grandmother even unrolled an entire roll of toilet paper, to leave "shmily" on the very last sheet.There was no end to the places "shmily" would pop up. Little notes with "shmily" scribbled hurriedly were found on dashboards and car seats, or taped to steering wheels. The notes were stuffed inside shoes and left under pillows."Shmily" was written in the dust upon the mantel and traced in the ashes of the fireplace. This mysterious word was as much a part of my grandparents' house as the furniture.It took me a long time before I was able to fully appreciate my grandparents' game. Skepticism has kept me from believing in true love, one that is pure and enduring. However, I never doubted my grandparents' relationship.They had love down pat. It was more than their flirtatious little games; it was a way of life. Their relationship was based on a devotion and passionate affection, which not everyone is lucky to experience.Grandma and Grandpa held hands every chance they could. They stole kisses, as they bumped into each other in their tiny kitchen. They finished each other's sentences and shared the daily crossword puzzle and word jumble.My grandma whispered to me about how cute my grandpa was, how handsome and old he had grown to be. She claimed that she really knew "how to pick 'em."Before every meal they bowed their heads and gave thanks, marveling at their blessings: a wonderful family, good fortune and each other.But, there was a dark cloud in my grandparents' lives: my grandmother had breast cancer. The disease had first appeared ten years earlier.As always, Grandpa was with her every step of the way. He comforted her in their yellow room, painted that way so that she could always be surrounded by sunshine, even when she was too sick to go outside.Now the cancer was again attacking her body. With the help of a cane and my grandfather's steady hand, they went to church every Sunday morning. But, my grandmother grew steadily weaker until, finally, she could not leave the house anymore.For a while, Grandpa would go to church alone, praying to God to watch over his wife. Then one day, what we all dreaded finally happened. Grandma was gone."Shmily." It was scrawled in yellow on the pink ribbons of my grandmother's funeral bouquet. As the crowd thinned and the last mourners turned to leave, my aunts, uncles, cousins and other family members came forward and gathered around Grandma one last time.Grandpa stepped up to my grandmother's casket and (taking a shaky breath) he began to sing to her. Through his tears and grief, the song came (a deep and throaty lullaby).Shaking with my own sorrow, I will never forget that moment. I knew that, although I couldn't begin to fathom the depth of their love, I had been privileged to witness its unmatched beauty."S-h-m-i-l-y: See How Much I Love You..."Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa, for letting me see.by Laura Jeanne Allen

After hearing this story, Jane and I adopted this practice ourselves. If you would do a thorough cleaning of our home, you would probably find a dozen undiscovered SHMILY notes hidden throughout the house: at the bottom of a dresser drawer, tucked inside a book waiting to be read, buried at the bottom of the flour jar, etc. Sometimes SHMILY's are hidden, sometimes they are boldly written on the inside of the shower, at the close of an email or on the top of a cake! And sometimes, they are at the end of the blog.

SHMILY

Country Kitchens, here we come!

Last night, some of us Yergler ladies had a Girl's night out. Steph planned it and we all had so much fun. We started out by dining at Red Lobster. All of our meals tasted so good!

Our next stop: Country Kitchens. If any of you have ever been there, you know this place is for only the serious bakers. Well, we figured we all qualified :) , and decided to give cake decorating a try.

Our instructor, who was very kind and always tried to give positive compliments, (no matter what) had us first practice the different techniques on a board.

She would always come around and look at what we had done when we were practicing.

This would always make me a little nervous. "What will she say about mine?", I thought. In her very kindness, she would sometimes say, "That actually looks good." When you put the 'actually' in there, it doesn't quite have the same ring to it. Finally, the time came when it was time to decorate our own cakes. Ahh!! I hadn't put any thought into it. I started once, and then scraped it off and decided to stick with what I felt like I knew. !We had a wonderful time-if you have not done anything like this, you should get some gals together and have some fun

Can you guess who decorated which cake?

They all turned our so beautiful. Can you guess which one of us has cake decorating in our future?. . . . . . . . .

HINT: Look at how Abby is presenting her cake. . . yep, she definatly has it!

Imagine the Potential

Monday's w/ Michael

Not to mention:


Moses
Aristotle - philosopher
Crazy Horse - Sioux war chief
Edgar Allen Poe - poet
Gerald Ford - President
Daunte Culpepper - NFL player
Eric Dickerson - NFL player
Scott Hamilton - figure skater
James Palmer - baseball Hall of Famer
Ray Liotta - actor

Deacon Reinhard - "Imagine the Potential"

Happy Birthday America!

We had a wonderful 4th of July Celebration with some dear friends! We decided we wanted to get a picture taken of all the kiddos. Perhaps we should have done it at the very beginning. . . . .

O.k.- so maybe it was just Deacon that was not so sure about this group picture. We all had a great time anyways! Thanks Muellers! We look forward to next time!

Gatlinburg

Well, we safely made it home from Gatlinburg. We had a great 4 days, full of food, fun and family...and of course bets! We left at 12:02am, Saturday morning. Deacon was up from 1-4. As soon as he would start to doze off, we would hit a bump or go under a streetlight and it would wake him up.

Saturday we hung out at the condo. Grandma made supper for everyone and afterwards we played some games.

Sunday morning we headed up to the mountains for breakfast and church. Breakfast was delicious as always. Thanks, guys!

Chip, Dad, & Grandpa working on breakfast

After church, most people went rock-hopping. Deacon loved it!

Deacon "rock-crawling"

But he wasn't quite as enthusiastic about Steph's salamander.

Sunday night, we went to Bennett's with Mom & Dad for supper. We were fortunate enough to go on a night that the King was there. Deacon really enjoyed the entertainment. Elvis gave Deacon a teddy bear.

Elvis gave Jane & Mom a lei and a kiss!

Ok, so I'm sure everyone is wondering what some of the bets were. Well, here are a few of the bets that took place.

In one store, we found boxes of larva, crickets and chocolate covered bugs. We decided to go with the BBQ Larvets and the Salt & Vinegar Crickets.

Jane & Annie getting ready to eat their Larvets.

Jane eating a cricket.

Joel had to wear black socks w/ shorts into town.

Michael & Joel do-se-doing at a crosswalk in downtown Gatlinburg!

Alivia preparing to chug 8 Pixie Stix!

8 is too many, we discovered....

Here are some more random pics from the trip:

Deacon and Grandma swimming.

People were too afraid to wear these hats into town for a bet, but Gavin and Chad were brave enough to wear them around the condo.

One night, Chad, Logan & Abby left their trash outside the door. They had a visitor during the night. Fortunately, it was only a raccoon and not a bear!

One night, Michael decided to make popcorn, but forgot about it in the microwave!

A rainbow in the mountains

We had a great trip. We missed Mark, Angie, Kaitlee and Bria and were sad to see Steve and Renee leave early. Steve, we are praying that you feel better soon.

We are looking forward to the next Yergler Great Event!