Camping with the Little Ones

Baby-sitting

Auction

Family Night

Your Time as a Gift

Church Ordinations, etc.
Photos (Large Download)

Cousin Campout:

Because many of my nieces and nephews live in different states, I have always tried to make it a point to get the kids together whenever everyone is in town. When the kids were little, we used to have “Cousin Campouts” at my house. New Year’s Eve and the Utah holiday, Pioneer Days, were perfect for this get together. Parents would drop cousins that were at least three off and they would get a free night out with each other. On New Year’s Eve, we would have a fire roaring, games to play, pillow fights, popcorn, and whatever else we could think of to have fun and cut loose! Sometimes Grandma and Grandpa would come over for a while and grandpa would wrestle with the kids while grandma held her head and wondered how this many little ones could possibly be her posterity!! We usually had 10-15 kids.

As the New Year rolled in, each cousin was given a pot or pan, a spoon and permission to whack away at the stroke of midnight! What fun we had and what great memories were made.

When things settled down, it was time for bed. Many of our girl cousins were around the same age and they all slept together in the same bed…all 6 of them. The boys roughed it on the floor, and the littlest ones usually ended up in bed with my husband and me! In the morning, a yummy breakfast would be cooked for the kids, and the parents would pick them up around noon. This was a great way for moms and dads to have a night out and for my husband and I to bond with these great kids! These were wonderful memories we still talk about. Of course, pictures were taken, movies made, and these make for great fun now that we have returned missionaries, married cousins, and teenage cousins that weren’t even born when we started our fun!

During the summer when the extended family was together for Pioneer Day, a big tent was pitched in the backyard. We had a BBQ, made rootbeer, shot fireworks, played games, told stories, watched movies of our New Year’s Eve bash, and then the brave ones slept in the tent and the more timid “camped” in the house on the floor with me. This way, I could supervise the tent group and have fun with the house group. Again, in the morning, a yummy breakfast, pictures, and by noon, off the kids went with their parents who had gotten a night off.
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[Photos from file.]
“Cruzin Cousins:

Motor home trips are a lot of fun but very expensive. In 1999 I had 8 nieces that were between the ages of 10 and 16. I wanted to spend extended time with them, especially the 3 that lived in Arizona and California that I rarely saw.

I decided a great way for the girls to get to know each other and bond would be to rent a motor home and take them fro Salt Lake to Nauvoo then follow the Mormon Trail back home. It would be the responsibility of each of the girls to find their way to Salt Lake and take care of their own expenses. They had 6 months to earn their money. They worked hard and did it! I recruited my sister in law from California and we set off on a fabulous 10-day trip across country with the cousins. The girls were very quiet at first because they had lived apart and didn’t know each other well. By the end of the trip, hugs, and kisses, notes and jokes passed between them and they became very close and very good friends. Not only were they good friends with each other, but my sister in law and I developed great relationships with them and each other as well!

The value in this trip was that not all went as planned and not everyone got along all of the time. Sometimes feelings were hurt. Other times someone felt left our or homesick, but because these were “cousins,” we were able to teach the girls skills that they could take home with them and use with their friends and other family members. Ten people in a motor home is a lot of people, and the girls not only learned to olive together in close quarters, they learned to share and help each other. They were responsible for planning and cooking their meals, cleaning u and taking care of their things, and putting them away. They were also asked to write in their journals every day. Before our trip, each girl was given an assignment on one of the church history places we would visit. A the visit was made, the girl would hand out copies of her “report” and the other girls put them in their journals. When our trip was finished, each girl had learned about not only her assigned place, but the others as well and this taught them a lot about our church history. Valuable lessons were learned.

A bonus was that the girls got to visit a great aunt and uncle who were serving a mission in Nauvoo at the time. We also had our picture taken where the rebuilt Nauvoo Temple now stands! Think of what they’ll be able to tell their grandchildren!

At the conclusion of the trip, each girl was presented with a video of the trip from our movies and a scrapbook. Now when we get together, we watch the video and laugh at all the fun we had!

The following year the boys went; same trip format. This time one of our RM cousins went and he offered great examples for the boys to follow to prepare for this missions.
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[Photos from file.]
Camping with the Little Ones:

Taking the little ones on a short overnighter has been a great way to have fun with younger cousins as well. I have done this in an area close to my home so my husband can come up for dinner and spend time with the kids too. We cook a yummy dinner over the fire and then tell stories, roast marshmallows, tell spooky stories, and go to bed with great anticipation of the skunks and raccoons that we know we will hear during the night. This is a great time to teach the kids that these are heavenly Father’s creatures and they work at night to feed themselves and their young. It teaches them to be quiet so the skunks won’t spray our tent…but they always laugh and get rowdy and the skunks run away! Finding a campground that has a campground host and is secured for the night keeps things safe for everyone and offers piece of mind to parents while I have their little ones.
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[Photos from file.]

Baby-Sitting:

Being available to baby-sit is another fun way to spend time with cousins. My children always enjoyed having their cousins stay over when there was a new baby, holiday and just for fun. Going to a special movie and buying popcorn and a drink is a favorite. We love to have the cousins get together when it snows to sled and pay in the snow. This can also help other family members if they need to “get away” for a little while. Trips to the zoo have always been fun too for the little ones. Just tie ‘em together and let ‘em run!!
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[Photo from file.]
Auction:

My friend has an auction with all her grandchildren (cousins) each Halloween. Everyone, aunts, uncles, grandma and grandpa, dress up, have dinner, and then each child receives 50 pennies. Grandmother displays all her “collectibles” she has gathered through the years, then has an auction. Each child bids on a “grandma/grandpa” item they want, and when their pennies are gone, they are finished. This is a marvelous way to keep little keepsakes in the family and still be able to “clean house” without actually getting rid of things. The children feel they have real treasures, and it bonds them not only with their grandparents but adds a little competitive edge too! Even the little ones (as young as 2) can participate in this. Remember, one man’s junk is another man’s treasure!!!
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Family Night:

We have been told to have Family Night for years by our Prophets. Once a month, our family rotates family night. There are 4 siblings that live in the same city and collectively there are 20 cousins in the city. Some are married now and don’t come, but we try to get as many together as possible. We gear the lessons toward the little ones that have the hardest times sitting still. We then have treats and go home, keeping things very short.
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[Photo from file.]
Your Time as a Gift:

My sister has two little girls that are the same age as my sister in law’s two little girls. All four are my nieces, but have never met each other because they come from different branches of the family tree. Because these little girls have all the toys they need in the world, and all four live in a different state, I gave each set of sisters a week together with me this summer. They are so excited! Not only will they get to meet each other, but each will have a new set of family tree members they will get too know. We will do things like go to an outdoor play, swim, hike, bike, go to the movies, things that will not cost much money but will build memories. The girls got this gift for Christmas and it will be the best money I didn’t spend! Because thee girls are 7, 8, and 10, half the fun o this gift is the anticipation! They got to open the gif at Christmas, but they will have to wait until July to collect! They are wild with excitement and this makes it extra fun! For their gift next Christmas, they will get a scrapbook of everything we did during our week together! A great year-long Christmas present for very little time, effort and money!
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Church Ordinations, Court of Honors, School Programs:

All make for great memories of supporting each other. Our cousins have sung together at funerals, supported their different cousins on missions by writing letters, gone to church dances together and even double-dated a couple of times. I also have a daughter that danced with her cousin in a ballroom performance at their school. It as great fun and a memory they will always cherish!!
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