The FrontRunner Experience

Cameron enjoying his ice cream

Chief the Blaze Dog

Braden,Kaycee & Hadlee Loved the Ride Shawna & Cameron

The Splash Pad looked so Nice !!

Silly Girls !!

That Ice Cream tasted so Good ~

I have been promising my Grandkids That I would take them for a ride on the FrontRunner Train. Finally I decided on the Sat before school Started to take whoever could go and we "Climb Aboard"
Shawna went with me and we took Kaycee, Cameron, Kylee, Braden, & Hadlee and decided to go to Salt Lake and the Gateway. We had lunch at the Food Court and shopped a Little, although it was pretty HOT that day. The kids did find the Water Splash Pad and got good and wet. If I wasn't so concerned about being an "adult" I would have jumped in Myself !! Then the kids saw the Blaze Dog "CHIEF" so of course we took a picture of them with him.

The kids really liked the ride and it was so smooth. Braden and Kylee thought it was great fun. I was surprised Braden wanted to go but he was really excited to go. It was fun to spend the day with all of them.

The Big Day has Arrived !!

Rob is officially retired !!! This is so scary. For the last 30 years he has had a job and now, he is unemployed !!! It of course is retirement and we will still have money coming in, but it still feels wierd. It will be fun to be able to go when we want to, and do whatever we feel like, it still feels strange though.

CONGRATULATIONS ROBIN. I Love you and Thank You for all of the years of hard work and for allowing me to be a Mom and Wife first. I look forward to spending the rest of our lives together.

14 Days to Go !

Well the time is coming for Robin to retire from the Railroad . His last day is the 31st of August and it is coming fast !! I think it is kind of scary. He won't be working much this month because he has 8 more personal leave days to use ( or Lose) . Last weekend we celebrated Jeanie's Birthday in Colorado. They are also coming to Utah on the 27th for a week. Jake is starting Middle School and it starts on the 18th.
Amazing, I can't believe we are going to be able to go and do anything we want after he retires. He is a little nervous about it though, I think. After 30 years, It would be scary !!!
I am bad about getting pictures downloaded, but will put more on soon.

Jeanie's Special Needs Team

I got a picture of the team that Jeanie is helping to coach in Colorado. I was so proud of her and Jake. The team is made up of special needs kids and others. Jake helped her and had a ball.
Here is the e-mail she sent:

The pictures are from the Special Olympics softball team that Jake and I were involved with this summer It was by far the most rewarding thing I have ever done. Jake's buddy was Jason He is the tall one in the middle I think he has some form of autism (high functioning) Jake had some of the atheletes sign his hat and even got Jason's phone number
My little buddies were Kaylee (the one in the picture with me) and Gregory the bigger one in the front with the cute smile They were all so much fun to coach See you soon
Love Jeanie

Hope Lutheran Church, and homesite inSummit SD

MY FAMILY HERITAGE
My Grandpa ,Engebret Kampen came from Norway and settled in Summit SD. He returned and brought my Grandma Anna with him as his new wife. Summit is still a small town but in the middle of this little town was the Lutheran Church that my Mom and her family all worshiped. It was special for me to see that church. I remember going to church there when we went to visit my grandparents on vacation. We also went to the cemetary where they are buried, and saw some of my Aunt's graves also. I hadn't been there in about 43 years. The little town is kind of empty, but that church was a reminder to me that my Grandparents lived there and raised their family there.
It brought back so many memories of my Childhood.
( Including the two holer Outhouse !!!)
That is a BIG part of my Heritage ! I'm so glad I went on that vacation. I never know if I will ever get back there again but for me it was a Spiritual Experience.

My Sisters, Barbara, Mary, Susan And Me

The Utah Group !!

On Saturday we had planned a picnic at my Grandma & Grandpa Kampen's Old Homestead, The home has been torn down, but it is still a pretty grassy lot. Well The weather was real windy and rained all day, so we ended it up having it at the Natl. Guard Armory instead, ( my cousin Hubby Stacey, saved the day !!He also put up a big slide in there and the kids had a ball !! We also sang Karaoke and it was really fun. We had singing contests. Guess what The Dodson's ( My family) won !!
In 2010 the reunion will be held in Southern Utah in Mt. Carmel, I am so excited because my kids will be able to come !

The whole Kampen Family Group

We had a great time at the Family Reunion is South Dakota. My cousin Kristin and her family hosted it this year. What an undertaking! There we 57 people that came from all over the country. Me and Robin, my Sisters, Barbara Jerry her husband came, Mary and Stephen and her son Mitch and grandson Brad and granddaughter, Andilyn and her husband Brooks came.They live in Lincoln Nebraska. Also my sister Susan and her hubby Paul.
We had a Barbecue on Friday night at a Hunting Lodge which is a converted old farm house and it was so nice.It was great seeing all of my cousins and getting to know them better.
Each family group wore a different color t-shirt so we could tell which family each group was from.
Here is a picture of the whole group.

Vacation to South Dakota

Hello from South Dakota

On the Road to Mt. Rushmore.

Our beautiful campspot

Mount Rushmore

What a busy three days. We left home on Monday, made it to Casper WYO, stayed overnight
and then headed for the black hills.

They are so beautiful ! We saw the Crazy Horse Memorial and then to our beautiful campground called " Hidden Valley Rv Park" It was so pretty. They gave us this beautiful spot by the creek and it had a deck and the cutest swing. I highly recommend it !!

Then on Wed we went to Mt.Rushmore and that is quite a site. The faces on the presidents are 60 ft tall ! They were carved out of the Mountain.
They are the faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Thedore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. They are beautiful as is all of the Black hills. There were men working on the top of Roosevelt's Head !!!

We drove from there and went to Wall Drug, this HUGE drugstore in Wall SD. We then drove for a couple more hours and we stayed in Murdo ( somewhere in SD). We will be driving the rest of the way to Big Stone City for the family reunion. It is about 300 miles from here.

Enjoy the pictures, there will be more.

The Buttars

Megan and Trent met through Burke and Amy. Trent had gone to school with them. They became good friends and then became better friends and were married a year ago. Trent is employed by Overland West and Megan is a Surgical Technician at Davis Hospital. Trent brought a bonus to the marriage with a daughter Madisyn (11) and a son Tyker ( 7). Megan really loves those kids and they are a great family. Madisyn is a Soccer player and dancer. She will be in 7th grade this year. Tyker plays soccer and Baseball and enjoys racing remote control cars. As a family, they all like to ride 4 wheelers, and camp. They live close by also.

The Kohlers

Shawna and Bryce met in High School ( actually Jr. High) and got married 10 years ago this July. Shawna works at IHC in the billing dept, and Bryce is a Police Officer. They have two darling children Kaycee ( 6) and Cameron (3). They love to spend time as a family , camping, swimming, and keeping busy.

Kaycee is playing Soccer, Taking Tumbling lessons and will be in the 1st grade. Cameron is a Loveable little boy and loves to tease. He and his sister are real close to each other. He will be an athlete as soon as he is old enough. They live about 3miles away also, so see them often too.

The Christensens

Burke and Amy have 4 kids, Tyson (17) Kylee (16) Braden (13) and Hadlee (8). They are constantly busy running someone to a ball game, dance practice, to mention a few. Tyson will be a senior next year and is in to running track. Kylee will be junior and likes to dance, and plans on pursuing a career in the medical field. Braden is into Football, Baseball and Basketball and is going in to the 8th grade this year. Hadlee is a dancer too, and also takes tumbling. She will be in third grade this year. Amy still does daycare in her home and Burke is a sales rep for BG automotive products. They only live about 3 miles away from us, so we see them often.