Date Night and Beyond

Friday night date night started out at Target and Pier One, then we met the Pribyls at Paradise Bakery for dinner. Actually Rachel and I had that, Ben got Chipotle and Brian got El Pollo Loco, but we all ate outside--it's so nice being able to eat outside. After dinner, we went over to a 50th birthday party for Connie Purtymun--our bishop's wife. We thought it was just going to be snacks, but they had enough to make a dinner! Oh well. It was fun to visit with about three past wards worth of people. After dinner, we got Baskin Robbins, then went home. Eliza and Libby were spending the night at my parents so they could go to my cousin's son's baptism on Saturday. So on Saturday we just had Ellie and Hattie. It was a breeze!

Saturday morning Brian went with Ellie to her gymnastics class. We weren't able to go on Wednesday, so this was the make up class. They had fun and Ellie especially had fun in class. Most of the morning and afternoon I spent at home with Hattie while Brian went to get his bike looked at which broke on his ride on Thursday. Hopefully it'll be able to be fixed as opposed to having to get a new bike. Later in the afternoon, I took pictures of Monique's darling 7 month old. She didn't offer many smiles, but we did get some cute shots.



Sunday I had a meeting then church. I was out in the hall with Hattie more than normal, but it was nice being able to have her go into nursery after Sacrament was over. I got to go into Brian's class again which was nice. I always learn so much. The lesson was about the final judgment and what I took away is that it's not like it's this one last, final judgment at the end, but we have checkpoints all the time to help us "judge" how we are doing (e.g. partaking of the sacrament, interviews with the Bishop, temple recommend interview, etc.). In young womens, Shelly taught about scripture study and something she made me think about was when she asked what it means to study something in school...well, it means to really know it...to make notes and review and memorize and read, etc. Then she asked if that is how we "study" our scriptures. Yikes...I need to do better!

After church we had a little gathering where the new people can come and meet the auxiliary leaders and get to know people a little better. Then we went home and made dessert for dinner. My parents and Brian and Kamille and family came over for dinner.

Yesterday was the usual--school and what not. After school we had gymnastics for Eliza and Libby. Libby got to go into Eliza's class to see if she should move up. I am not sure she'll stay in that class, but she was able to keep up. Eliza thinks it's fun that they were in the same class. After dinner we had family home evening and we talked about our family mission plan--as encouraged by the ward missionaries who came over last week. It was cute to hear the girls' ideas for what we could do.

Today was my early day up since Brian went bike riding. He said he was the only one that went this morning, so he was able enjoy it a little more and even do some hiking. I am always so productive on my early mornings--cleaning up, doing laundry, dishwasher, etc. The girls got ready early for school, so they got to color a while before their ride came. Today was bread day--Ellie was loving it. Hattie enjoyed it for a while (I found I can hold her and make bread--what a talent), then she whined for me to go in her room and put her down. Funny. After that was all done, I was able to get some "to do" list items done--pick up dry cleaning that had been there since...uhem the end of July, get stuff to mail some things off, grocery store, etc. We picked up the girls from school and Carson came over to play a bit and Eliza had a friend come over, too, so that was fun for them. Karolyn was so kind and brought dinner over, so that was much appreciated and I didn't have to think about dinner all day. It was great.

That's all for today!

My Mosaic

My cousin, Audi, had this on her blog and it looked fun to do. Hattie is napping, Brian and Ellie are at gymnastics (make up class) and Eliza and Libby are with my parents, so what else do I have to do?

1. AUTUMN GOLD! (KILKENNY, IRELAND), 2. Covet My Lunch, 3. Moon Cactus: Cave Creek, Arizona, 4. Are You Looking At Me ???, 5. james marsden , 6. Root Beer Caps, 7. Plaza Lights 1, 8. 4 New Flavoured Ice Cream Plush Toys from Chocolate Log, 9. vintage nurse, 10. IMG_8118, 11. Into my hands, 12. trimble5600_1

To make your own:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.
The questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name (or your blog name or handle or whatever)

Now it's your turn!!

Week

What we've been up to:
School
Gymnastics
Mutual
Reading (Twilight, finally)
Life--it doesn't always go as planned, but thank goodness for wonderful family and friends.
A new haircut
Ellie making "monkey bread" with my mom--everyone loved it! It's like cinnamon rolls but easier!

Our little baker!

We made a new version of the pretzel hugs. We used the pumpkin spice kisses and the caramel kisses and added chopped pecans on top instead of the M&Ms. They turned out pretty good.

The "monkey bread" was overflowing!

After baking, Ellie thought she should wash the dishes.

Here is a funny story from Libby at school. This past week she has been saying that this boy "Chase" has been trying to kiss her at school. So she has been running away from him at recess and he hasn't been successful, thank goodness. But today I overheard her tell Eliza, "I told Chase that if he stopped trying to kiss me that I would be his friend. So he stopped." Go Lib!

Picture time! (Just in the tub because of the great lighting--no water inside!)

Eliza was "star of the week" this week in her class. We got to fill out a little favorites poster and send in a couple of pictures of her. Today we got to send in treats for the class, so we sent in Little Debbie snacks. I think Eliza enjoyed her special week.

Waldo

On Saturday we stayed around the house until lunch time, when we went to Sam's Club for lunch (Kari, we are copying you!). We enjoyed hot dogs, drinks and a pretzel for me. I even saw a friend from high school there with her mom. It was fun to see her and say hi. We walked around the store a little bit and my girls enjoyed looking at the Halloween decorations. We ended our little excursion by getting a few snacks there, too--the frozen yogurts and churros. We came home and put Ellie and Hattie down for naps. We really were trying to go out Saturday night but no babysitters were to be found! We finally found someone at the last minute and she turned out to be great. It was one of my laurels, but I just haven't had her over before. Brian and I got to go to dinner and we looked around Sports Authority for some basketball shoes for Brian and spent some time reading at Borders. Then we tried a frozen custard place that Nanci told me about. It was so good--like Nielsen's on the east side. We loved it! We ended by getting groceries at Wal-Mart. I really stocked up on breakfast foods--I've been waiting for oatmeal to go on sale for our 3-month supply and it finally did. I am sure the checkout girl thought we were crazy to have almost 20 oatmeal boxes in our cart! (and 24 mac and cheese boxes--also on sale!).

Today I had BYC, so I went early and Brian came with the girls later. Sacrament went well. Brian only had to go out at the very end with Hattie. Testimony meeting we nice--Brian got up and shared his testimony, so that is always nice to hear! During Sunday School I actually got to go to Brian's class that he teaches. He did a great job--I love learning the basics of the gospel, so I am excited that I get to go in there with him.

Young women's was great. Becky taught about a change of heart. She talked about how in the scriptures that some of those people were sent angels and had a change of heart, but it made me connect that we don't see angels today, but we can have experiences that prompt a change of heart. It could be a lesson or a talk in Sacrament or something you read--just something that prompts you to do better and want to be better.

After church we came home, fed the girls lunch and put the two little ones down for naps. Then we did a Waldo book. Eliza and Libby love those books, so last night at Borders we picked up one that we don't have. It's been fun.

Tonight Brian took the girls to Brian and Kamille's for dinner, and I stayed behind for a class presidency training meeting. It went well, but it feels good that it's over! The theme was "Picture Perfect Leadership." I did a short little talk and compared the tools I use for my photography hobby to our service as leaders over the young women. We played a game were the girls had to guess which baby picture belonged to which young women. They enjoyed that and it was fun to see the girls as babies! Then we separated and I met with all the class presidents and had a little training with them before meeting back for dessert. Yum! Karolyn made delicious key-lime pies. It was so good.

Brian and girls got home a little after me--they had fun over there and celebrating Brian's (my brother's) birthday. Good night!

Massage

This morning my mom came over to watch Ellie and Hattie until Sarah could come after her morning college class. I guess Hattie was glad to see her. I had put her down for her morning nap, but she kept fussing so my mom went in there. She said when she went in, Hattie was on her knees and said, "Grandma!" My mom picked her up and Hattie just laid on her shoulder! She finally did fall asleep though.

Today Nanci and I had a little pamper day. Last November, I took some pictures of the kids of a friend of hers. The mom paid us by giving us both a gift certificate for a massage at the Camelback Inn. We FINALLY got around to using it today. Nanci picked me up and we drove over there and got there a few minutes before our treatment. We were both laughing as they showed us around in the spa area, as this was not our element! Since we had a treatment we were able to stay all day and use all the facilities, but we only went and stayed for our massage. We found out that we didn't need to bring a swimming suit even to get in the hot tub. Yikes! We could have gone in our birthday suit like a couple other women chose to do. Anyway--we got our robes on (after changing in the bathroom, which isn't a normal thing to do either!) and we waited in the waiting room to be called back. The massage was nice. An hour went way too fast!! The masseuse asked how many kids I had and I told her, and she asked the ages of the youngest two. She said that told her a lot about where I would need the most attention during the massage. She did say at the end that considering how many kids I had, that my body was in really great shape. She is nice. Good thing she didn't see my stomach flab or comment on my thighs. Ugh. I enjoyed the massage and could have stayed for a couple more hours! We got dressed after we were done and ate at the little cafe they had at the spa. We did it more out of convenience, but I am thinking we should have gone somewhere else--it was so expensive!! I ordered a half sandwich and salad. They were small portions (intentionally, according to our waitress, so you could try several different things. ha! Not at that price for me). Then we finished it off with a little fondue for dessert. Nanci threw that in at the end. It was fun to visit though and have a girls day for sure!

I came home and tried to give Hattie and Ellie naps--they weren't having it. After Eliza and Libby got home, my mom came over and picked up Eliza. She went with her cousin Matthew on his dinner for his birthday. Since she was already gone, I stayed home with the little two and Brian took Libby on a date. They went to McDonalds for dinner and ice cream cones, to the mall to get gum (out of one of the gumball machines) and to play in the play center. They also went to the pet store and looked around. If only her dates will stay this easy when she turns 16!

Ellie was a little sad she didn't get to go on a "gate." I told her she was going with me on one. I took her and Hattie to drop something off at one of my laurel's, then we ran in to Bath and Body, then I got them happy meals. Every time we got back in the car from doing an errand, Ellie would say, "Are we on a gate?" I said, "Yes, we are on a date!" Then she would say, "Date." So cute!

Tues-Thurs

Tuesday was back to school. I can't remember what else we did.

Wednesday morning Ellie and I had gymnastics. Hattie hung out with my neighbor Heather and her little boy while we went. Ellie had no qualms this time. She was so excited and did everything. I didn't have to go on the trampoline with her this time. Brian texted me on the way home and asked if we wanted to meet for lunch. So we went home for a minute, then headed out to meet him at the Paradise Bakery by his office for lunch. Ellie and Hattie had fun and did great sharing their macaroni and cheese kids meal along with plenty of bites of Brian's and my lunch. After lunch, we zoomed home and I put them both down for naps. They went to bed great and I even had to wake them up to go pick up E & L from school. I hate having to wake up sleeping babies! We did the school pick up, then took Eliza to her piano lesson. She had an hour lesson because her teacher is going to be gone for a few weeks. I had my nephew with me, so we went home and he and Libby played. Wed. night I had mutual and it was a joint young men/young women activity that the laurels were in charge of! Ugh! We did a service auction like the one we did with just the young women a few month's back. I think the kids had fun, but they were crazy and loud! There are definitely things I would do differently if we ever do it again--like write down and monitor how many "points" each person earned and check to make sure they don't overbid their points--which I think happened several times (by the boys, of course). I am just glad and relieved that it is OVER!!! It was causing me stress!

Today Brian went biking early this morning, so I was up early with my two early birds (Ellie and Hattie), but I did get a lot done before the older two were off to school--like emptying and filling the dishwasher, making lunches, cleaning the stove top and sink and tidying up the house. Wow! Maybe I could make getting up early a habit. Not! After Hattie's first nap, we headed to Target for some grocery shopping. Hattie loves having a purse and she holds her arm up in the air like she is trying to keep it on her shoulder. She sat in the cart with her purse on and arm up during much of our shopping trip. I'll have to remember to get a picture of her doing that. It's darling.

After school, Eliza had her little singing group. She said she had fun. Libby was so sad she couldn't go. But after coloring for a little bit, I think she was over it. I made some dinner and soon after Brian got home, I was out the door to Becky's baby shower. I actually finished making her gift on Wednesday and had it all wrapped and a card made several hours before I had to leave! I made some more burp cloths, which I love doing. We had dinner at the shower--yummy cafe rio salad/burritos, and it was fun to visit and catch up with some people from other wards.

Random pictures



(what happens when my girls get hold of a bag of chips after church. ha!)

Hula Hooping

On Friday night Brian went up to his parents' cabin and on Saturday morning he got up and did a bike ride with his brother, dad and friend Jason. After lunch they went on a drive up to the rim. He said the view was beautiful, but none of them had a camera!

What was up with that storm on Friday night? Eliza and I stayed up a little late and as we were going to bed it started. Eliza was freaked out of her mind! She was so scared and I tried to calm and reassure her that she was safe. But it got a little scary with all the wind and lightening! I finally put my iPod on her and she listened to music as she fell asleep.

On Saturday, Eliza, Ellie, Hattie and I hung out at home and waiting for Libby to get home from her sleepover so she could tell us all about it. On Friday night they went to Paradise Bakery for dinner and she enjoyed--no surprise--a pasta salad, drink and snickerdoodle cookie! Then they went shopping for her gift. She knew all along that she wanted a hula hoop, so she got one of those. Actually she picked out four--one for her and one for each of her sisters. Then she also picked out a little mailbag and mailbox kit. It has little reusable notecards, postcards, envelopes and stamps. I guess on Friday night at my parents, she had a ball writing letters to everyone and putting them in the mailbox. She also worked and worked at learning how to hula hoop. She went from not knowing how to do it at all to being a pro! Just over the weekend she had gotten so good. She can now do it for minutes at a time. It is fun to watch her do it and see her so pleased with herself. Eliza already knew how to do it, but she has gotten better, too. Today she did it for over 10 minutes without stopping. I've even joined in on the fun. On Saturday, Libby got up and had pop tarts for breakfast, then for her activity, she chose to go bowling. She and my dad played and my mom took pictures. She loved bowling! Then she came home.






The rest of the day we hung out at home, went to Target for a wedding gift, got some dinner and put Ellie and Hattie down for bed. Sarah came over while they slept and Eliza, Libby and I went to a wedding reception. It was fun because my cousin from Texas was up for the wedding and my other cousin and his wife came down from Idaho. I kind of only went to see them. It was fun to visit and catch up. Eliza and Libby enjoyed all the food and trying to catch the bouquet. The girl who caught it divided it up and gave each of them a flower (along with a few other girls). After we got home, we watched Thumbelina and waited for Brian to get home.

I didn't have a meeting on Sunday so we all went to church together. We didn't have to go out once; it was wonderful! That doesn't mean sacrament meeting was a breeze--it's constant work to make sure everyone is reverent and has something to do. It was also Hattie's first day in nursery alone! It was great to be able to just drop her off and go! I guess she did great, too; no problems at all. I taught in our laurel class. I taught from two really great talks--Elder Holland and Sister Tanner's talks from conference back in Oct. 2005. They are some of my favorite talks, but it was hard to turn it into a lesson since there were so many quotes that I wanted to use word-for-word. Hopefully they could all take away something from the lesson.

After church we went over to my parents for dinner. My mom made a really tasty meal--shake and bake using chicken tenders, scalloped potatoes (a fav) and corn. I brought the dessert--I made brownies and I experimented with a caramel apple cheesecake recipe. It was easy to make and turned out pretty good. We had fun visiting and letting the kids play a little longer than normal since they didn't have school today.

Speaking of today, Brian didn't work either, so that was nice. My parents came over and my mom and I made bread. After they left we did a few things around the house before going over to Brian's parents' house to swim. Jared and Chrystalyn came over, too, and KarraLee and Michael. We had pizza and swam. Ellie was swimming all over. She was a daredevil and swimming in the deep end, back and forth. After swimming Brian's mom had made cookies and brownies so we got to enjoy that before going home.

Now it's back to the school routine for tomorrow!

Two Holes

Today was much of the same! The girls got off to school and I was here with Ellie and Hattie. Jodi came over for a little bit in the morning while I had a conference call for BPS. I went to Paradise Bakery to take the call, but it was so loud in there I couldn't hardly hear! It didn't last long, but then there were four ladies from my ward there doing their visiting teaching, so I sat and chatted with them for a while before getting some lunch. I had accumulated a free meal with my frequent buyer card, so I cashed in on that. After getting home, I fed Ellie and Hattie lunch, then we played Barbies, ball, chase, and a little Guess Who. I was trying to teach Ellie, but she is obviously a little young to grasp that. She just liked pushing the buttons and hearing the sounds!

After school, Libby was so excited to go on her birthday sleepover with my parents. She had packed this morning before school and couldn't wait to go! They got here a little after four and she was out the door! I'll have to give a full report tomorrow after she gets home!

Tonight Abbie--one of my young women came over to baby-sit Ellie and Hattie while I took a family's pictures. Eliza came with me and we made it into a date. After the pictures, we went to Babbo's for dinner. It was fun to eat and visit with Eliza. Then we went to the mall. At the beginning of our "date," Eliza started talking about getting her ears pierced. So when we went to the mall, we walked by the place that did it. We looked at the earrings and walked around, then walked around some more and some more! She really wanted it done, but she was just worried that it would hurt. We walked by Claire's and there was someone getting hers done, so we watched her get them pierced. I am not sure if that was helpful or not! She said it sounded like a stapler! So we walked around some more and some more! It was getting near closing time and she finally decided to get it done! So we went to that little kiosk in the middle of the mall and did it. She was so brave. She said, "Can we say a prayer that it won't hurt?" So we did that and she did great! They look cute. She is enjoying them so far. When we first got up to the earring "store," the girl employee said, "Did you used to teach at Cactus?" I was like, "Yeah...what is your name?" I taught her her freshman year and I remember her name. Funny to see them all grown up!

5

Libby is 5 today! We started this morning with donuts for breakfast. She was really excited to have a special breakfast. The school routine was the same--she was very excited to put the Go-Gurts and cookies in her bag that she was going to share with her class for her birthday. After they got off to school, Rachel sent me a text asking if she could watch my girls while I had lunch with Libby. Thanks, Rachel! It was so nice of her to offer, and I was able to go surprise Libby for lunch on her birthday! I was thinking about getting her McDonalds, but on the way I decided to get Paradise Bakery. She loves their pasta salad, so I got her that and her favorite cookie there--snickerdoodle. I waited in the cafeteria for her and she was excited to see me! She was like, "Why are you here?!" I said, "It's your birthday--and so I can have lunch with you!" She loved the salad and cookie. I always love eating lunch with them, so I can meet kids in their class and put faces to names that she talks about every day. Eliza comes in for lunch during the time Libby is there, so I got to see her and eat with her after Libby raced out to the playground. I had gotten Eliza a fruit salad and cookie, so she enjoyed that with her lunch. I went out to the playground with Eliza and she wanted me to watch her on the monkey bars. She is really just that on the bars--a monkey!. She was one of the only kids who was able to go across them--not to mention she is skipping bars in between. That is her favorite recess activity.

This afternoon, Ellie and I made Libby's birthday cake. She wanted chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. After Eliza and Libby got home from school, I had planned to take them all swimming for something fun on Lib's birthday, but Libby had gotten a little birthday coloring packet from her teacher, and she decided she would rather stay home and color than go swimming. We were all in our swimming suits and all. That made for some sad sisters, but we all survived the change in plans.






Tonight we had breakfast for dinner--waffles and pancakes. My parents came over after dinner and Libby opened her gifts. We had gotten her some sparkly brown flip-flops that she had saw a while back and loved, a Roxy hat and a new version of the game "Guess Who." We enjoyed a few games of that tonight. Libby was so excited to get cards--she even got out a little basket to put them all in. She got one in the mail from my grandpa and that made her day earlier in the week. Eliza also made her a couple of cute card and pictures for her, too. Overall, I think she had a fun 5th birthday!

Food Storage

I've been in food storage mode for the past few days and trying to decide what I wanted to order from Walton. After deciding, I wanted to do some research to get a couple more recipes/ideas for three month supply. In my looking, I found some helpful websites.

http://safelygatheredin.blogspot.com/2008/06/how-toplan-your-three-month-supply.html (click on the image at the top to get to her most recent post)
http://foodstoragelady.blogspot.com/
http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/
http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/babysteps/step-3-three-months-of-normal-food/ (3 month supply specifically)
http://sharonastyk.com/2008/03/05/eating-out-of-your-pantry/

I haven't scoured them, but I think they'll at least have something helpful.

Today I bought my three month supply of Suddenly Salads for a lunch. The lady at Wal-Mart seemed a little mad that I was price matching them for a dollar. ...like I was getting away with stealing them or something. She couldn't believe I was price matching because they rang up to $1.58. I said calmly, "They are $1 at Albertson's." She wanted to see the ad, so I showed her and then she proceeded to scour the ad--like she was looking for the dates on the ad to make sure I wasn't bringing her an old ad! I said pretty calmly, "I just got it in the mail today." Then I muttered under my breath, "You can get get some, too, if you want." It was like I took something from her!

Ellie and I had our first parent/tot gymnastics class. She was a little shy at first and not really wanting to do the activities. But towards the end, she was totally having fun. I think next time she'll really eat it up. She looked so cute in her leotard! As we were walking out of the room, she said, "That was fun." So cute!

Tonight for mutual we did aerobics. It was so fun and reminded me how much I miss it! A lady in our ward teaches it, so she came and did some interval training with the laurels. We would do a station for 90 seconds, then come to the middle for cardio. After we exercised, Shelly and I made fruit smoothies for the girls.

Tomorrow is Libby's birthday. I can't belive she is 5!

Sweet Girl

When I put Eliza to bed we usually visit for a little bit and tonight she was telling me that she is the line monitor. She stands out of the line and watches for two people who are being really great in line. She told me the four people she choose over the past couple of days. One was a boy who has a lot of energy and another is a boy was one who seems to always be in trouble in her class. She said, "I chose him because he was doing really good in line and becuase he doesn't get picked for very many things." Melt my heart. She really does have a sweet spot in her heart for others. I thought it was so sweet and I told her that. I told her how I bet that made them feel great and that they'll probably do better now since someone noticed the good things they were doing. She is really liking her new teacher, too.

In other news...Hattie has had a little cough and today I noticed she was breathing pretty rapidly and sounded like she was wheasing a little bit. I made her an appointment and I had to get E & L out of school a few minutes early to make it in time. (As a sidenote--Libby was soooo sad. She has looked forward for her day to share and object that starts with "m" and I guess they do it at the end of the day! She missed it and I only took her out 10 minutes early! I told her she could take it tomorrow and share. But I felt terrible when she told me and was so sad.) But we made it to the doctor and the doc listened to her and said she had left side pneumonia. He didn't seem to concerned about it, which is good since usually you hear pneumonia and it sounds bad. But he put her on an antibiotic and said she should be a lot better in a couple of days. Poor girl! Even when she is sick, she is still such a joy!

Weekend and New Teacher and Gymnastics

Let's see if I can get caught up here...

On Friday i finally went to Costco--I've needed to go but just put it off. We stocked up on stuff for school lunches. While I was there I noticed I had missed a call from my girls' school. I thought for sure someone was sick and needed me to come get her, but it was to inform me that Eliza's teacher wouldn't be her teacher anymore--she had accepted a job at the school she had taught at for lots of years. That was a shock and kind of a bummer two weeks into the school year. We found out who the new teacher is and I have heard she is wonderful, so that is good at least!

That afternoon Eliza and Libby went over to my brother's house to play with their cousins. We had gotten a sitter, so she stayed with Ellie and Hattie while Brian and I had date night. We went with the Pribyls and Headricks to dinner. We went to El Torito. It was such great Mexican food. I loved what I had...I think it was called sizzling enchiladas. After dinner, we headed over to Castles and Coasters for some miniature golf. It was a fun time. Some holes I did great on while others I did terrible! Brian and I came in second. We stopped at Sonic on the way home for some sweets, then we came home. It was a fun time--a nice change from the typical date!

On Saturday morning, I got up and left pretty early to go to a photography workshop. It was out in Gilbert and I thought I had left plenty of time to get there. Well, I had if the 101 hadn't been closed. Seriously--and the detour was so backed up. It was probably a 30 minute detour for only like 2 miles. Then the GPS told me to get off in a totally wacky place and that put me behind. Luckily, they started with breakfast, so I didn't miss anything. It was a great class and I learned how to shoot in manual mode. Now I need to practice! In the morning, we went over aperture, shutter speed and ISO and how they all work together. Then we had a yummy salad for lunch. After lunch we got to practice on a few models. It was a little intimidating, but hopefully I am on my way to shooting in manual mode. The end of the class was Photoshop tips and Q&A. It was a long day, but fun and informative.

On Sunday I started out at a meeting, then Brian met me for church with the girls. Hattie lasted a while longer this time, so that was progress!

We went over to Brian's parents' for dinner. I made a tater-tot casserole (thanks Karolyn for the recipe!) and that was a hit. We also had roast, potatoes, corn, bread, etc. Brian had to leave early for a stake meeting, so I stayed at his parents and hung out and the girls played for a bit. For dessert, KarraLee made a birthday cake for Libby's birthday. She was really excited in her quiet little way. She was a little shy when we all sang to her.


Today it was back to the school routine. I had meet the teacher in the afternoon to meet Eliza's new teacher. She seems like she'll be great, and Eliza said she had a good day today. After school we zoomed over to the first day of gymnastics. Libby has been so excited! I told her if someone asked her name in class, she needed to tell them and if the teacher wanted to give her a high five, she needed to. Well, when we first got there, the lady asked her name and she told her! And I saw her give her teacher a high 5 during class. It was good to see that for my quiet little Libby. I decided to put Eliza in a class, too, since she can take the same time as Libby. She was so excited and had fun, too.

Tonight we had dinner, then family home evening. We had a lesson about Jonah and we talked about how sometimes we're asked to do hard things but that we need to be brave and do it. We finished with a game of "bridge tag"--Libby played it in P.E. and was excited to teach us.

Ahh! Finally caught up for now!

Etiquette Night

Yesterday my visiting teachers came over in the morning, then Ellie, Hat and I played the rest of the day until it was time to go get Eliza and Libby from school. After Brian got home we were trying to decide what to do and finally decided to go to his parents' house to swim. I dropped them all off there and they got started swimming while I went to Little Caesars to get a $5 pizza. I brought it back and we ate on the porch and they went swimming again while I went to Sprouts with Hattie to get some chicken that was on sale. I can feel some canning in the near future! Then we came home and did the bedtime routine.

Today Brian took the girls to school, then my mom came over for some bread making. When she got here, Ellie said, "I'll get my apron." She loves pouring in the ingredients and turning the little dial on the mixer. Today my mom made bread like normal and since I still had some from last time, I made rolls. Everything turned out! The bread was so good and the rolls were delicious! It felt so good to know we can make rolls now!

In the afternoon we picked up Eliza and Libby from school, then dropped Eliza off at piano. I have decided a new practicing chart where she'll get some rewards every so often. And she isn't going to get as much to practice. I'd rather have her stay in it and maybe not progress so fast than take her out all together. We'll see if it works! During piano I rushed Libby over to Terri's for a play date, then we grabbed a little shake for a snack.

Tonight for dinner, I made foil dinners. It was a semi-hit. Libby is just plain picky and stubborn. She ate the meat. I tried to hide in a carrot or two, but it didn't make it past her! But they were really good. And we had rolls with it, too, of course. I had mutual tonight and it went great. We had an "etiquette" night and we started by giving each class a stack of newspapers and some masking tape. They had 15 minutes to make a modest dress. All of them were so creative and fun.

Then I had asked two cute ladies in our ward to teach the girls all about etiquette. They did such a great job! First they started out by just sitting down and they both had skirts on but they were sitting with their legs totally apart (one had leggings on and one had spandex underneath with pink underwear or something). It was hilarious. And they were also chewing gum like cows, etc. Then they put the girls into four groups and each group had to put together a skit, teaching the rest of the girls about etiquette. Our group was restaurant etiquette, one was in a car, one was skirt etiquette and the other was etiquette in conversation. They were all so cute. Then they got back into the groups and had to write a song or a poem about all they learned--something from each of the four groups. I was so impressed with the creativity! Overall it was great and hopefully got everyone to think twice about how they act (and sit). Unfortunately, the one person we were really targeting wasn't there! I think we are going to do a little review on Sunday!

After mutual I did a couple of stops--it's better if I don't come home in the middle of getting the girls to bed. I also got some 31 Flavors--Brian's idea. Now it's time for more Olympics. That mens' 200m was a crazy race--first for how fast Bolt was and that they silver and bronze medalists were both disqualified for stepping on the line! I caught a little of the women's shot put the other day--sheesh--those ladies looked sooo mean!! The one from New Zealand especially! I wouldn't want to meet her in a dark (or even a lit) alley! Yikes!

Trial and Error

Last week, I did a big grocery shopping trip with several meals in mind. I was pretty lax this summer only doing a little cooking; we lived mostly on scrambled eggs, cereal, waffles, spaghetti, etc. for dinner. So far this past couple of weeks we've had beef skillet (not a hit), garlic chicken pasta (well-liked by all), lasagna (well liked) and tonight I made "Parmesan pasta with chicken and rosemary." If you like rosemary, it was good. I really liked it and Brian said he did. Libby liked it at first, but that is about it. Eliza didn't like the rosemary flavor. Oh well. Maybe I should go back to spaghetti, eggs, waffles, etc. Ha!

Tonight Hattie did a funny. I was in the playroom doing my sit-up video and Hattie came in and laid down next to me and put her legs in the air up and down. It was cute--we all laughed.

Recipe

Today I didn't have a meeting, so that was a nice change! We all got ready for church, then headed over. On our way over I was thinking how grateful I am to have our building so close. It literally takes us 2 minutes to get there. Hattie didn't last long in Sacrament this week. I was out during the opening prayer. During Sunday school time, we put Hattie in the nursery so we could go to a special Sunday school lesson. Our stake president, President Wagner, taught about how to protect your family against pornography and gave suggestions of what to do to protect and how to talk to your kids about it. He suggested "Stop, talk and run." And when our kids come to us if they saw something inappropriate, that we shouldn't overreact and get after them but be glad they came to us. I taught in young women's--just in laurels-- about forgiving ourselves. I think it went well. It was hard for me to put together because last week our lesson was about repentance and I didn't want to make it the same.

After church I had a presidency meeting with our class presidency, then I came home and Libby helped me make dinner. My parents and brother and his family came over. I made lasagna, breadsticks and corn, then my parents brought a salad and dessert. I requested one of my favorite desserts and that's what my mom made. It didn't disappoint! It is strawberry pretzel salad. It's one my grandma Doris always made and it continues to be a favorite! Here is the recipe:

Strawberry Pretzel Salad
1½ cup crushed pretzels
½ cup melted butter or margarine
½ cup sugar
Mix together. Spread in bottom of a 9” x 13” baking dish.
Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Cool.
Middle Layer
1-8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1-8 oz. Cool Whip
Mix well. Spread evenly over cooled crust.
Refrigerate until cold.
Top Layer
1-6 oz. strawberry Jello
2 cups boiling water
Dissolve Jello in water and partially cool.
2-16 oz. partially thawed packages of strawberries with sugar
Mix with the partially cooled Jello. Pour over middle layer.
Set until firm.

It works best to make it over a couple of days. Make the crust and totally let it cool, then add the middle layer and let that set up for several hours. Then do the final layer. Otherwise it'll be runny.

It was fun to eat and visit--it seems like we haven't done that in a while.

Women's Conference

On Friday, I went to lunch with my sisters-in-law on the Trimble side. Jenny was in town, so we thought it would be fun. We met at Elephant Bar and enjoyed a nice lunch and conversation. Sarah came over to babysit, so I was able to enjoy it sans kids. When I got back Ellie helped me make caramel brownies before going down for a nap. Sarah came back over in the evening to babysit while Brian and I went out. We grabbed dinner and headed over to his sister's Laura's house for game night. His siblings came over and even some of his cousins. We played Catch Phrase to warm up, then moved on to Guts. I hadn't ever played it before, but it was a fun and easy card game. What made it "hard" was Rob inflicting "punishments" on us. If you lost a hand, you had a punishment. You could choose saltines (no water during the whole game), marshmallow or gum. I chose gum and got off to rough start having to put in a few pieces. By the end, I was up to five or six pieces. It was a mouthful. Jenny had to put five marshmallows in her mouth at once and we got a kick out of that--especially when she said something about a puff marshmallow man. We took a break to watch the incredible win by Michael Phelps. We were a little skeptical about that win, but if he did, then good for him. It just didn't look like there was any way he was going to win.

Today Brian went and swam laps with Jason, then came home in time for me to go to our stake women's conference. The theme was Believe in Yourself and we started out in the chapel where we had a little program. There were speaking/testimonies and songs after each speaker. I loved the songs "Beautiful to Him" and "Gentle". From there we got to choose 3 classes. It was so hard to choose! I went to "Raising the Next Generation" first and it was reiterated how important our role as mothers is. One quote she shared that I really liked was that raising children is a spiritual process. Knowing that, it kind of changes my perspective on things. The next class was "Personal Enlightenment: Receiving Revelation from the Scriptures" and it was mostly focused on marking our scriptures. It was such a great class! One of my favorites. I learned so much and I can't wait to apply it to my reading. The last class was called "Taking the Compliment" and was about finding inner and outer beauty taught by Rachael Thompson. She talked about examples from the scriptures of beautiful women. Here are some notes from my class:
The Lord loves diversity--just look at nature.
Confidence=Inner Beauty.
To gain confidence, we should pray, list our strengths, read our patriarchal blessing, keep a gratitude journal, develop talents and keep the commandments.
It was a great class, too! After our last class, we went into the cultural hall for lunch. It was decorated so darling with a Chinese theme. Some of the young women were the servers--dressed in black, white and red with their hair in a bun and chopsticks slipped in. The lunch was yum--teriyaki chicken, a yummy veggie salad, coleslaw and a great wafer-type cookie. Overall it was a great day--I am glad I went and could learn new things.

While I was gone Brian held down the fort and took the girls swimming. We got home at the same time and just hung out at home the rest of the day. We played a little Uno, Brian and Libby started a couple of puzzles, I watched some Olympics with Eliza before falling asleep, the girls did "pillow time"--one of their favorite activities--they take the pillows off the back of the couch in the front room and jump and roll over them. Probably not the best for the pillows, but they have fun and really love playing that together. I guess it's worth it! LOL.

Now I am working on my lesson for tomorrow and watching more Olympics!

Week 1

It's already almost Friday! Libby felt better, so she was back at school on Wednesday, thankfully! She has been having a great time at school and seems to enjoy it. She says she plays mostly with Carson and her cousin Luke. I asked if she was making any new friends and she said she was with a girl in her class named Abby. In art today, she was excited to color a bear on her folder. Yesterday Eliza was so excited after school because she got to bring home the classroom bear--Sylvester. He comes to your home with a backpack, toothbrush and bedtime stories. And we had to write in his journal about his adventures at our house.
She had fun with that. She also got to bring home a "literature bag," which is a story with a couple of cute little stuffed animals that go along with it. She had piano yesterday (she took Sylvester with her). I am considering having her stop piano. She is really really not wanting to practice and it's a big fight every day to get her to practice even for 10 minutes. Got any ideas?!! To me, it's not worth the fight and becoming her enemy to get her to practice if she really doesn't like it. But then I don't want to pull her out so she thinks that any time something gets hard that she can just quit. I am in a big dilemma!!! She is good at it, so I don't want to not give her chance, but I don't know if it's worth the daily struggle! Ahh...parenting!

I am really enjoying being home with Ellie and Hattie during the day. They are so fun. One of their favorite activities is coloring--even Hattie. She loves it! So we've been coloring a lot. Ellie has been playing a lot of Polly Pockets. She will go in the playroom and play forever! She loves setting them up and dressing them (or picking out the clothes and have me dress them). She also LOVES watching High School Musical 2. It's definitely her favorite. She knows just about all the songs--it's so cute to hear her sing them. She and Hattie love to play together. I love it.

Today I felt like I was in the kitchen all day. I had the chance to take dinner to a lady I visit teach and I made garlic chicken pasta. It sooo good, but it takes a while to make--putting the chicken in the crockpot in the morning, cooking the bacon, then putting it all together at the end. Plus making rolls (only Rhodes) and brownies. It turned out good and we got a yummy dinner out of it, too.

Friday-Sunday

On Friday, I got adventurous and took the girls swimming at the resort. It turned out to be fun. Eliza and Libby do well playing together, so I just watch Ellie climb out and jump in over and over. Hattie likes to splash and get her face in the water. After swimming we got a couple of ice creams--they were the same price as my $2 Twix...I felt better about paying that for ice cream treats than a little candy bar! It was fun sharing them out on their porch. That night--after trying every young woman around to babysit--we finally found someone to babysit (my cousin) and went on a date. We had a couple of returns to make and we bought part of Libby's birthday present. Then we went to a Mexican food place out by Westgate. It's like Gardinos or something like that. My food was okay--there was way too much cheese on my quesadilla, but I really liked the tortilla soup. After dinner, we walked around a little at the shops, then we went to Target to get E & L water bottles for school.

Saturday morning Brian swam laps, then went into work a little bit. A couple times a year they have contests and things on Saturdays, so he went in. So we just cleaned up around the house while he was gone. In the afternoon, Ellie, Eliza and I went to the outlets for a minute. I wanted to get a hat, so we looked at Quicksilver. I didn't find a hat I liked there, but I found a shirt on sale along with a wallet and an umbrella. We stopped at the Wal-Mart there for a minute, then came home. That night we took the kids to Denny's (I know, I know) but it was kids eat free (2 kids eat free per adult), so we just had to pay for me and Brian. It was okay for Denny's and we didn't have to worry too much about how loud we were! LOL. After dinner, we didn't tell the girls where we were going although they kept asking and asking. We pulled into Westgate and told them to get their swimming suits on, which we had snuck in the back. Then we let them play in the little splash pad they have there. They had a blast. It took Ellie and Hattie a minute to get wet and get into, but once they did, they loved it. While they were playing, Brian watched them while I snuck into the Quicksilver store there and got a hat I had seen the night before. It was a fun night. We came home, watched some Olympics and went to bed.

Sunday morning I had a meeting, so Brian got all the girls ready and met me at church. Church went well. I didn't teach laurels, so I could sit back and listen. Shelly taught a good lesson about repentance. The part I took away was how important daily repentance is. I think we (at least I do) tend to forget that and to repent daily of the little things. She also mentioned how daily repentance can help prevent bigger sins from being committed. Overall it was a great lesson. I teach this Sunday about forgiving ourselves. After church we came home and had a quick snack and gave Hattie a little nap. The Headricks had us over for dinner, so we headed over there. Kari made yummy chicken fajitas (I love fajitas!) with the fixings. It was fun. After dinner we chatted and the kids had fun playing together. It would have been perfect had it not been for the four accidents Ellie had. I thought we had turned a little corner. Ugh. I was ready to pull my hair out.

That night we watched a little of the Olympics (loved the swim relay!) and went to bed. We really enjoy watching the Olympics. The gymnastics have caused our ottoman to turn into a vault. Eliza is pretty good actually! Last night she put on her leotard with a red long sleeve shirt over the top to look like the USA team and she was vaulting over the ottoman! And as we were watching beach volleyball (womens), I asked Brian, "What would it be like to have no flab on your body?!?!" Those ladies are in shape--nothing moves when they jump!

Here is a picture of Libby and Hattie having some fun last week.

I think I might be caught up now!

First Day of School

I am so behind with my posting! On Sunday night, the power cord on my computer decided to totally stop working and the in-computer battery doesn't hold a charge anymore so I can't use it at all. I've got one ordered and on its way here, so hopefully soon, I'll be up and running. So for now, I am using the other computer, but it's not as convenient.

But...on to the first day of school. I have been a little nervous about Libby going to school--probably just because she is so sweet and so quiet. I wasn't sure if I would be able to hold it together when we dropped her off yesterday morning. But miraculously I did! I got a little misty, but that's about it. Everyone but Libby woke up around 6:30. Ellie wanted to get dressed right away in her new outfit. She looked so cute. Libby woke up around 7:30, then everyone started getting dressed and ready. Eliza and Libby looked so cute in their new outfits. We got lunches made, hair done, backpacks ready, and pictures taken. We all headed over to the school and first went to Libby's room. She was a little timid as we put her lunch in the bin and hung her backpack on the hook. She found her little bucket in her cubbie and made her way to the red table where she wanted to sit since Thursday. She started coloring a picture right away as we said our good-byes. It looked like she got a little teary-eyed but was trying so hard to keep it together and not cry. I reminded her that I had kissed her hand (like the book) and that she could have that anytime she felt sad or missed us. We left and she was coloring away. Then it was off to drop off Eliza. Most of her class were already in their desks. I guess we took too long with Libby! We got her bag unpacked and put away. While she was putting her bag on a hook, I was holding Hattie by her desk and Hattie said really loudly, "E-yi-ya" (translated: Eliza!). Like Eliza--get in your seat! She did well and seemed fairly at ease. Before we left, we walked by Libby's room again and saw her coloring. She turned and saw us and we waved. Ellie was so cute as we went to school today. She had to take her backpack in and she kept saying that she was going to preschool. We had to tell her not until next year. So the rest of the day she said, "I go to preschool next year.

Then Brian went off to work and I was off to Target for a couple of items. On my way, Brian texted me, "Can you e-mail their teachers?" I think he was the one that was going to cry! He wanted me to check on them to see how they were doing. So after I got home a little later in the morning, I e-mailed Libby's teacher and asked. She said she was doing wonderfully--no tears and that she was so quiet! Later she said that Libby actually asked if she could fill up her water bottle, so that was progress! I think it'll just take a few days to warm up, then she'll be a chatty Cathy! After I went to Target, we headed over to Terri's house. She hosted a back-to-school breakfast for the moms. We enjoyed good food (so did Ellie and Hattie--they ate so much!). We chatted and shared first day stories. After Terri's I came home and put Hattie down for a nap. My mom came over and helped me make little back-to-school things for the girls in my laurel class. I saw the idea late Saturday night so it was too late to do it for Sunday, so I decided to do it yesterday and deliver them to the girls. I saw the idea on another blog and thought it was so cute. It's President Hinckley's Be Smart quote attached to a bottle of Smart Water and some smarties. We have four different high schools within our class, so I did them in each of their school colors. It didn't take us too long before we were driving around delivering them.


I was anxious all day wondering how Eliza and Libby were doing and were excited to pick them up at school. We waited in the car for them to come out. When they came out, Eliza found Libby and they were holding hands waiting for me. They were excited to see me and Libby wanted me to look through everything in her backpack. Eliza was a little glum, saying her teacher yelled at them. Later I found out that she loudly told the AM/PM Program kids to line up. I said, "That is not you, so she didn't yell at you." She is sensitive with things like that! But overall, they had a good day. All throughout the evening Libby would tell us things she did during the day. She sat at a table with Autumn, Madison and Emily. And Emily had to go to the nurse because she fell by the water fountain, hurt her elbow and got her shirt wet. Her teacher read The Kissing Hand to them and they colored, did calendar and she could almost name everyone in her class already. She is so observant. Eliza told me some things they did--like her teacher's discipline plan and reward system.

Today was a sad day. Libby was up off and on in the night with a fever. This morning it was 102.1. So, sadly, she had to stay home from school--her second day!!!!! It was tragic. When I told her she couldn't go, she teared up and was so sad. On her own, she asked if Eliza could get the papers should would miss. What a girl. She was most concerned about the coloring she would miss. Brian took Eliza to school this morning. She was excited to go, so that was good. Brian said she decided to walk in on her own and find her room and make her way out to the "big" playground. A friend came about the same time she did, so they walked in together.

More School Stuff

I realized that I can keep a way cleaner and quieter house without two certain girls home! Not more than 15 minutes after they were home, messes were all over and it was not quiet! Oh well. I'd rather have them home. They had fun at the cabin, watching movies, making bracelets and eating smoothies. ELiza said that grandmother makes the best smoothies. She wanted me to get the recipe from her and make some.

Last night my parents picked Eliza and Libby up for their annual shopping trip to pick out one outfit for school. They found darling outfits at the Pumpkin Patch in the mall. I can't wait for them to wear them. They also got Ellie an outfit. When we showed it to her this morning, and after I told her she needed to wait until Monday to wear it, she took it into her room for safe keeping.

My mom came over this morning and we made bread. Libby and Ellie helped. Eliza just wanted to make her mini loaf and eat some dough. The rest of the day we just played--lots of gymnastics or acrobatics as we call it (when they get on my legs and "fly" in the air). I also taught Libby how to play hangman, so that filled much of the day.

This evening after Brian got home, we went over to the school for meet-the-teacher. We went to Libby's classroom first. She was a bit timid (no surprise), but enjoyed looking around, finding her cubby and checking things out. I am predicting a hard good-bye on Monday morning from both of us, but I think she'll do well. Then it was off to meet Eliza's teacher. She seems wonderful! This is her 23rd year teaching, but she still seems so into it and fresh and fun. Eliza seems excited but is a little nervous about the unknown and nervous about being on the big kids' playground.

We came home, had dinner and watched Robots. Libby, Ellie and Hattie actually just played so great together and had a blast playing with the pillows off the couch and just chasing each other around. It was cute to see.

Now I am sitting here--while Brian is playing basketball--wondering if our house is going to blow away. The wind has been crazy tonight!!

School Prep

On Sunday night, my parents hosted a grandkid sleepover--for Ellie's age and above. We weren't sure if Ellie would want to spend the night, but she got to do the night activities. They tried to get her to bed, but I think she was afraid she would miss something. As soon as she got settled, she would get up. Brian ended up meeting my dad to get her. She fell right to sleep on the way home. On Monday morning, we headed back over to pick up Eliza and Libby who had fun over there. They did crafts, a scavenger hunt, watched a movie, had treats, etc. We came home and hung out until Brian came home, then we had family home evening. Brian gave the lesson about having a house of order. He did some fun object lessons to show why it is important to have order. Too bad our family home evening was anything but orderly! One day!

Later that night, Libby and I headed out to look for school shoes. Eliza was going to come, but she wasn't feeling great. We tried Famous Footwear, Kohls, then finally Sport Chalet where we found her a pair of Adidas shoes. She also had fun trying on roller skates. Their Roxy clothes were on sale, so she picked out a shirt for school and we got one for Eliza, too.

Today Brian went bike riding, so I had to get up with the girls...three of them were up by 6:30. Ack!! Libby slept until I woke her up at 8:30. Getting up so early allowed me to tidy up, put laundry away, etc, so that was nice. This morning, Brian's mom came and got Libby and Eliza for one last sleepover before school starts. She took the five oldest granddaughters to the cabin for the night. Ellie was so sad she didn't get to go. She had her PJs and stuffed animals and was ready to go. I had told her before it was just for Eliza and Libby this time, but she was still sad. Since it was just Brian's mom, it would have been hard to have little kids there. But we had fun here. Kari saved the day and watched Ellie and Hattie while I took lunch to Brian and his secretary for her birthday. I picked up Babbos and we enjoyed lunch. When we got back home, Ellie and Hattie napped. It was a little glimpse into what it'll be like when I have two in school! It's crazy! I think I could get used to it!

After Brian got home we hurried and had dinner and went swimming at the resort. Ellie wanted a treat before we left, so we got her a candy bar from the little snack shop. Mistake! A Twix was $2! I told Brian when she told him how much it was to say, "Wait...I only want one!" We came home, gave E & H a bath and put them to bed. I headed out to Marshall's and found some shoes for Eliza for school--hopefully she likes them! (They didn't have her size at Sport Chalet.) I also stopped by Wal-Mart and got stuff for lunches for next week. I can't believe how fast this summer went and that Libby will be starting school. I hope I can drop them off on Monday without crying too much.

I'm Back...

...I got back late yesterday morning from girls camp. I had a great time and everything went smoothly.

We met at the stake center at 6 AM on Wednesday morning. The girls got on the buses and we packed a few more things into my car--actually I took Brian's car. Then we were off to Pine to Camp LoMia. Karolyn and Erin M. rode with me and it was a fun ride up. They are both funny and chatty and it was fun to mostly listen to them. When we got up to camp, we unloaded and found our respective cabins. I was in cabin 7--we had 8 girls in our cabin and 7 after one of our girls got sick and went home. After we got a little settled, we were off to certification.

This deer was right by our cabin!

Eliza drew me a picture for my cabin--I had to put it up!

Inside our cabin.

I was with 3rd years. The girls painted on socks with fabric paint to give to a homeless shelter and they made a cute bookmark to put in their scriptures.

Then we went to another certification and basically they played a get to know you game where you got a few pieces of candy and for each kind you had to tell something about yourself. One of the topics was your crush (for the young women)--either regular or celebrity. ...a total girl game!

We headed to lunch and to one more certification before getting back with our cabin to practice our skit. We had to act out a skit based on "friends" from the For Strength of Youth booklet. We had dinner (pizza, salad and a pear half), the girls had companion study time, then they performed the skits. They were pretty cute. At the end, the lady that was running the night, said, "Wait! We have a special guest!!!" So everyone got really excited and before we knew it, Kayleen was up on the stage doing an encore presentation of their High School Musical performance from last year. This time they sang "Everyday." It was so hilarious and everyone was screaming. It was Kayleen first, then Tahshena came walking up the center in an 80's sequin-y dress. It was great. From there we headed out into the woods for singing trees. Our ward sang "To Become Like Him." When it was our turn, we pointed our flashlights up into a tree and sang our song. It is always a fun camp tradition. We headed back to our cabins and our two YCLs (Youth Camp Leaders) came in and gave our cabin a little devotional. Our girls were great and got right into bed. We would have stayed up with them, but no one mentioned wanting to, so we didn't bring it up! We had one girls--a little spicier of the group--said she was sick--she actually threw up, so she got to sleep in the nurse's office.

Thursday:
--Flag ceremony
--Our hike! It was a pretty little hike--I think we went about three miles. During part of the hike, there was a little creek and we stopped and sat on the rocks while the YCLs did some certification.


We got back and had lunch, which was an interesting mish-mash of the following: baked potato bar, chicken, refried beans, lettuce, tomatoes, etc. After lunch, the girls learned a dance, then participated in a call center activity. Our theme of camp was the YWTC (Young Women Training Center). More than being like a missionary training center, it was more of training the young women to prepare for and look forward to marriage and having children. Like at the MTC (Missionary Training Center), where they have a call center where people can call in and ask questions about the church, the girls had a similar activity. For one part, they got their picture taken in front of a map and pointed to the temple where they wanted to be married. Then they played the telephone game and discussed how messages can miscommunicated and that is what happens in the world. The last part was what I thought was the best part. The girls were taken out into the woods and where placed on one side of a tree and on the other was one of the stake staff leaders who pretended to be the young women's future daughter. So each young women took that "call" and answered questions their "future daughter" asked. It gives me chills to think about and it made the girls really realize that the choices they make now are not just affecting them but are affecting their future families and the children that will come to them. They asked things like how do I know that I'll be born into an eternal family or what is it like on earth or what will you do if I lose my way and make a mistake...etc. It was powerful.

The next activity were P-Day activities (like a P-day that a missionary would have). They were mostly water activities--water softball, pudding eating contest, throw the sponge at your cabin mom, a sponge relay, water balloon volleyball and a watermelon seed spitting contest.

After a yummy dinner of hamburgers, I hurried and got a shower. Yeah! Then the stake YW presidency had the girls go on a faith walk, followed by an amazing devotional by Deryl Eastman. He spoke about the power and influence we as women have (either for good or bad). He shared examples in the scriptures and in real life. I was really touched and inspired by his words. The world would teach us to not get married or have children, but that is part of the Lord's plan.

We got s'mores from the stake and went to bed. Again, our girls were heavenly and went right to bed! Score!

Friday:
Our YCLs came in at 5:45, saying that we needed to get up and be at breakfast at 6. What?!?! Turns out they were mistaken and we didn't have to be somewhere until 6:30. After that early wake-up, we went to flag, then to breakfast. We hurried and left and drove about 45 minutes to Blue Ridge Reservoir where the 3rd years went canoeing. It was a blast! First off, it was beautiful, not to mention a peaceful canoe ride. Rachel, Brooke, Wendy and I went in one canoe. We got to our destination and got out. There were some rocks we could jump from. I opted for the wimpy 6' high rock, but it was still fun. The water was a little cold at first, then it felt good. After being in the water a little bit, Brooke and I headed back out in a canoe to watch the rock jumping from the water. Before we knew it, some girls were rocking our canoe. We tried to hold our ground and we kept them from tipping it for quite a bit. Then Brooke stood up and over we went! The girls took off and we had to swim in to shore with the waterlogged canoe. After eating our lunch, we got back in the canoes and headed back. We got back to camp and I hurried and showered, then went to some more certification.

We did a service project--loading up wood onto a trailer and then unloading it. It wouldn't have been too bad, but we didn't have gloves! Ouch! From there we went to our ward time where we played a fun candy bar game with the girls and gave them their letters from their parents.


That afternoon, we went back to a part of the woods that has been named the "Sacred Grove." It just a section with log benches. Lori Wagner gave a wonderful devotional. She showed three pairs of shoes and talked about when you would wear each one (baby booties--baby blessing; white little girl shoes--baptism; and white slippers--at the temple), then she talked about other shoes we wear between being baptized and going to the temple. She had collected shoes from some of the girls' moms and told stories of those girls and how they were keeping standards to help them on their journey to the temple. After telling the story of the young women and the great things she does, she would say, "And _______ wears the shoes of learning or of service or of family love, or of being a good friend, etc." She talked about wearing "covenant keeping shoes" and how wearing those shoes will lead us/them to the temple. It was wonderful.

From there we went to dinner and then it was Bishop's night. Each bishop came up and they did a little get to know you game. Each bishop had brought a pair of shoes and the girls had to guess which ones belonged to which bishop. Jessie created a slide show that we all watched, then we separated into our individual wards for testimony meeting. We had a great time and a very nice testimony meeting. After we gave each girl a little gift we had put together: a framed picture of President Monson, a quote block with a quote by him and a copy of the Book of Mormon we challenged them to give away. Bishop brought ice cream and cheesecakes and we all indulged. That night there was a little (crowded) dance party in the YCL cabin and I enjoyed a little boogie-ing before settling down for the night. I knew it would be a later night--girls from another cabin came in and they played a few rounds of Mafia, then I laid down and zonked out!

Saturday morning we were up by 6 and got packed up and cleaned up. We had kitchen duty, so we had to serve breakfast and clean up the kitchen. The sweeping and mopping were a chore for sure! There were awards for the girls at 8, then Debbie talked about the motto (Return with Honor) on the back of the camp shirts and we sang the camp song one more time (Steadfast in You). Then we were off! We got gas right there in Pine and drove straight home. After dropping off Erin and Karolyn, I stopped off at Chipotle for some lunch. YUM! When I got home, Brian was still up at his parents' cabin with our girls, so I was able to get unpacked, get all clean and take a little nap before they got home. When they all got home, we hung out together, played the thimble game and just had fun. It was great to see them all again.

I am so glad Brian willingly and easily lets me go to girls camp and takes great care of our girls while I am gone. It doesn't fluster him at all. This time he had some extra un-fun duties. Ellie had been constipated, so he first had to take her to the doctor on Wednesday, PLUS he had to give her an enema for the next three nights!!!! What a dad. She is doing better and hopefully with the combination or pear juice, Miralax, and high fiber cereals, she can stay on course! Ugh. I also have great friends who helped out--Thanks Terri who watched them on Wednesday. Then we got one of my YW who wasn't able to go to girls camp and then Sarah on Friday. Brian took them up to the cabin Friday afternoon, so that was fun for them. I had a lot of fun, but it is good to be home. This week will be getting final things ready for school to start in ONE week. Crazy!