Girls Camp

We survived girls camp! I'm finally getting a minute to sit down and relive it all. I will have some videos to post later - right now I'm having software issues.

Our camp this year was a stake camp. Our theme was "There's No Place Like Home" based on the Wizard of Oz. Our ward was the Cowardly Lions and the value of Faith. So we focused a lot on faith and courage.

We went to stake property just east of Park City called Aspen Ridge. It was really pretty there. Again, once I get the software fixed, I'll try to share some pics.

The youth leaders headed up on Monday and ran the Provo River. Ok, they floated lazily along. But it sounds like they had a fun time. Our amazing Balmforth family (Cindy, Lee, and Katee) also went up Monday and set up our tents and the rest of camp. Thank you!!!!!!!!!!

The rest of us headed up Tuesday. We had a total of nine girls, including our youth leaders. The weather on Tuesday was great. Clear and warm, but not hot. The girls got set up and we had a fun afternoon. Katee had prepared a neat faith walk for us to do Tuesday evening. Each of the girls were blindfolded and given an egg. They were told it was something that was precious to them and that they needed to take care of it. Then the leaders took one or two girls each and wandered them around our campsite, providing distractions and obstacles to overcome. Our goal was to get them to give us their egg. I tricked one of my girls in to giving it to me, and she was so trusting I felt really bad. As we were leading the girls around, it started to lightly rain.

Then we gathered the girls together and had them sit on blankets and take off their blindfolds. Then it started to hail! Katee and Cindy had gotten a life-size stand up of Christ for the girls to look at while Katee shared her message. Unfortunately though, because of the weather, we had to cut it short. The hail was the size of small marbles! So we got the girls back to their tents and tucked them in for the night.

Wednesday was pretty, but cool. It was breezy most of the morning. We did some crafts and played some games. Then we got word that there was going to be really high winds. So we had the girls hang out in their tents starting around 1:00. Then it started to rain. Really hard. And the wind blew even harder.

Cindy gathered the girls on dinner duty and we made dinner. In the rain and the wind. Just like the pioneers. It was very cold! One of our leaders had decided to stay in the tent and just skip dinner rather than get wet and cold. One of our girls Jordan noticed this and took the initiative to make her a plate and took it to her tent. I was so excited to see them serve like this! We got everyone some food and then we all ran for our tents to eat. I headed to my car to try to dry out my clothes and get warm.

We went around and checked on everyone and told them they would have to continue to stay in their tents for the rest of the night because of the weather. These poor girls - in their tents with hardly anything to do from one in the afternoon until Thursday morning! The storm continued to increase in intensity, and then it started snowing. It got down to 21 degrees Wednesday night! I'm excited to say that my girls are troopers and they all remained relatively positive considering what we were going thru. We all had an increased appreciation for what the pioneers had to go thru.

Thursday came bright and surprisingly warm. We started to dig out from a couple of inches of snow and try to get everything dried off. The girls survived the night pretty well, with only a few of them getting very cold. I was very grateful to have Dave's winter scout sleeping bag so that I somehow survived that cold night!

Thursday we did everything we were supposed to do on Wednesday - stake games, skits, another devotional, etc, as well as finishing some crafts and our testimony meeting. It was a great night and I was excited to hear how the weeks events had strengthened the girls.

Friday morning, we packed up bright and early and got ourselves home by about noon. The girls stuck with it and got everything cleaned up that needed to and then we all went home for a nap.

Somehow I still managed to get myself very sunburned - to the point that my nose blistered! Someday I will learn how to camp without getting dehydrated or sunburned. :)

I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but this was camp in a nutshell. It was definitely a harder year in terms of the weather, but I think we were all able to get something out of it and to grow stronger.

I am grateful for the chance I have to serve in YW. It can be difficult at times, but so much fun too! I am grateful for my mom for teaching me to love YW and camp, and for taking Conni so that I could go. I'm grateful to my sweet hubby Dave for letting me go and supporting me in my calling. I'm also grateful for the great women I serve with in YW. I could not have made it thru camp without Katee and Cindy - they did all the hard work and I hope they know how much they are appreciated!

Conni's Pillow

Dave and I got a new bedset and we ended up with some extra stuffing from one of the pillows. I decided to make Conni her own pillow. We went to the fabric store and Conni chose her own fabric for the pillow case. It was so cute - she carried it all over the store and everything.

I finished up with camp stuff so I had some time today to work on it. Here's how it turned out! Conni loved it too. As soon as we got it out, she laid down on it and started snoring. Then she ran to her room and got her blanket and continued snoring on it. We tried to get some video, but Conni lost interest and asked to watch videos instead.

I know that it does not match her blanket at all, but she chose it so we bought it!

Bowling

Last weekend Dave's work rented out a bowling alley for their summer social. This was Conni's first time bowling. She made it thru one game and dinner, and then she was done with all the loud music and chaos. My mom was gracious enough to come pick her up so that Dave and I could stay and visit and play. (Thanks mom!!!) We had a fun night and got some cute videos to share. Oh - and she loved dancing to the music!

Dave's Birthday Shovel

One of the things I got Dave for his birthday was a small square nose shovel. I think Conni was more excited than Dave was :)

Running Thru the Sprinklers

The other day when I went to pick Conni up after work she was waiting outside playing with my parents. I had stuff to go over with my mom for girls camp, so she and I went inside. Conni and my dad played outside. The next thing I know my mom tells me to look outside. The sprinklers had turned on and my dad is encouraging Conni to run thru them. In her clothes. She loved it!

Piano Duet

While Justine was in town, we tried to let the girls get together as much as possible to play. One afternoon at my parents house they decided to play the piano together. I wished I had my video camera - it was absolutely adorable!

The Carousel

Aunt Stephanie came down from Idaho a couple of weeks ago with her family. They went to South Towne Mall to play and invited Conni and I along. Here's some super cute pics of us on the carousel.

Steph wanted some time with Conni so we switched girls for our two rides. I was curious how Conni would do, seeing as last time she rode a carousel it was at the zoo on her first birthday, and she absolutely hated it.

But of course, since fun Aunt Steph was there, Conni loved it! She kept saying "weeeee" as we went around and around. Teeni had fun too, but was very tired and kind of zoned out.

Such a good dad

I just wanted to share one of the reasons Dave is such a great dad. Conni and I were just not communicating very well yesterday - not for lack of trying on either of our parts I might add. But just one of those days for us. We muddled thru with some highs and lows and then it was time for Conni to go to bed. She did really well thru stories and scriptures and prayers. Then when it was time for her to go to bed she asked to cuddle with me.

So we cuddled, but Conni couldn't get comfortable and kept trying to play. She was trying to do anything to stay awake. So I tucked her in to bed, gave her a kiss, and left her room. She started crying. I just didn't have it in me to listen to it anymore. Dave was fixing something to eat, so I told him I would wait for him downstairs where I wouldn't have to hear Conni cry. I went downstairs and did my deep breathing exercises trying to regain my patience.

After about ten or fifteen minutes, I realized the microwave upstairs was doing the little "reminder" beep that it had finished, but no one had acknowledged it yet. I thought that was a little weird, since Dave was (I thought) in the kitchen right there. So I headed up to see what was going on.

I found Dave in Conni's room, rocking her and singing to her. It was so tender! I stood outside the door and listened for a few minutes. She was settled into his arms and would cheer softly each time he finished a song. She hadn't had much daddy time, and she was loving the attention.

After a few minutes Dave put Conni back in bed and tucked her in again. When he left, she cried, but only for a minute or two this time. Then she was fast asleep.

I was so grateful that, even though he was in the middle of something, he would stop and go do "my job" to help Conni settle down for the night when she wouldn't do it for me. He is such a sweet guy! I had the impression that Conni is in transition right now from a Momma's girl to a Daddy's girl. My impression was that this is so she will do better while I am at girls camp in a few weeks and its just her and Dad.

I really am blessed to have such a wonderful man to help raise our children. I am grateful that he is such an involved dad!