Girls Camp - Week 3

Camp was so much fun this year!!  I think part of it was because it was stake camp and not ward camp, so there was much less planning on our part.  We had 26 girls and 4 leaders up there the whole time and it was a riot.  I don't know for sure if the girls had as much fun as the leaders, but if they did it was more than successful.  This was all of us minus 1 girl and I am not sure where she was and neither is she.  I took almost 300 pictures during the week and these are the ones I narrowed it down to for my blog.  If you want to see all of them, I think I put them all on facebook.

 

 The theme for camp was SPY "seeking powerful youth" and not only was it fun, it was very spiritual and I think the girls learned a lot about individual worth.  The stake worked really hard on making it very uplifting and educational for all the girls.  Below is a picture of our lip sync.

In the picture below are the two best couselors EVER!!  Melanie and Amanda.  We or should I say they decided that since it was stake camp that we (they) could take charge and do everything themselves without a camp director.  I couldn't have been a better idea.  We bonded so much more with the girls and had so much fun as leaders too.  Marianna was there with us all week too, but I couldn't get her picture to load on here.  We laughed into the night most of the nights and the girls were actually getting after us because we were the ones being noisy.  Thank you ladies for a fabulous week, I know the girls love all of you and appreciate your hard work this year.  I don't know what I would have done without you both these last 2 years.  I can call you friends and I love and appreciate all you have done and do for me on a regular basis.

 

Jerika looks thrilled.  It was really hot and we were doing crafts.  I think she had fun though, even though it doesn't look like it here.

I am one lucky mom!!  I have spent the last 3 years at girls camp with Jerika.  I am pretty sure we will be getting released soon and I can really say I have loved spending the extra time with her.  When I was in young womens my mom was in there for a lot of the time too and I really enjoyed my time with her and now to get the same thing with my daughter is such a blessing.  I love you BOO!!

Trip to Utah - Week 2

We left Wednesday morning for Utah to see my friends.  The funny thing about all my friends I went to see is that they all work for different school districts, so they all had the summer off.

Wow, Kinlee and I look pretty excited, don't we?  At least I was paying attention to the road.

Our first stop in Utah was Bluffdale to see Jana and her family (minus Morgan, she was in Africa).  I first met Jana when I got a job at the title company before I got married.  We both worked in the front answering phones and other stuff.  It was so weird, because we had both signed up for the same college class and didn't know it until we both showed up that night, which was only a few days after I started.  Needless to say, we were joined at the hip from then on.  We had such a blast, we went country dancing and almost everywhere together and then worked together all day.  It was a really good time in my life.  Anyway, while we were there, Jana's son Riley who is a year younger than Kinlee, entertained her.  We went shopping for a little while and then we just hung out and talked the rest of the night.  It was so nice to just sit and talk, we haven't done that for years. 

Next stop was Holly's house.  I have known Holly since we were about 3.  My parents bought the house across from her parents and we grew up with each other.  She was my best friend.  Our birthdays were 3 days apart and very rarely did you see one of us without the other when we were growing up.  I wish my kids had that kind of friends now.  The other person in the picture is my friend Kathryn.  We all gre up in the same neighborhood, same ward and everything.  Holly's mom actually taught us kindergarten in her basement.  Wow, those were really the good old days and I could tell some good stories.  Anyway, we stayed with Holly, but went to visit Kathryn and we had so much fun catching up.  We laughed so hard just like the good old days.  In this picture, Holly didn't like her skinny neck and I didn't like my double chin and Kathryn just thought we were both silly.

Holly, me, Kathryn

Next stop Spanish Fork, Utah.  These are some of my newest friends.  They are actually Tiff's sisters Tammy and Tonia.  I went to Vegas with them a few years ago and Tammy was here from Nebraska/Texas (long story), so I went and spent some time with them.  We went swimming while we were there and then to dinner that night.  We had a lot of laughs too and our kids all got along really well.  Meeting Tiffnie has been a real blessing in my life and I get to be friends with her sisters too.

Tammy, Tonia, me

Dinner at Olive Garden.  We went with one of Tammy's friends from high shool and left all the kids at home to fend for themselves.

Saturday we went to Tricia's (my old roommate) and spent a little while there and then we went to lunch with her and 2 of her boys.  Spending time with her is always a blast and we just sit and laugh most of time we are together.

I couldn't take a trip to Utah and not see my baby brother.  We spent most of the day and the night at his house with him and all the girls.  We all went shopping and had a really nice visit.

We were all on our phones and Kinlee on the computer at the same time.  Anita thought it was funny when she came in, so she took a picture of all of us.  It is Shelby, me, Kelsie, Syndi and Kinlee.

Riley (Jana's son) joined us on our ride home.  She was going to girls camp on Monday and he was going to stay with his grandma in Rexburg.  He is such a good kid and he and Kinlee had a good ride home.  They kept each other entertained.

Kate had been in Island Park with her family for the week, so I called her on our way home on Sunday to see where she was.  It ended up that our paths crossed in Pocatello, so we stopped for a few minutes just to see each other.  I really miss her.

All of the Mills & Young kids.  They are all getting to big.  I couldn't believe how much the boys had grown since the last time I saw them.  At least they still remembered who we were.

A BIG HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY FOR PUTTING UP WITH US ON OUR VISIT TO UTAH!!  You were all so awesome and accomodating.  We love all of you!!

Rigby Lake - The beginning of week 2

Kinlee and Mya.

Peyton Carlson

Mya Carlson

Reece Carlson

Kinlee and Mya

Princess Allisa

Jerika and some scary lady.

Jerika and her new bestie M'Lynn Young.  Yup thats right they have the same last name.  We love her and she has become a new fixture in our home.

Rodeo - 2 nights in a row

Jerika's cute friend MaKayla was in the Queens contest at the rodeo in St. Anthony this year and she asked us to come.  So, Friday night the girls and I loaded up and went to the rodeo.  I forgot I really do like rodeos.  I think the girls just liked the social part of it and that we were just doing something.  We sat by Mandy (my friend) and her family.  Kinlee had fun with the boys, Coy (Mandy's son) and his cousin.  We didn't see much of Jerika the whole night.  We even have proof that we were there, the next day my friend sent me a message and asked if we had gone to the rodeo and if that was a picture of Kinlee and I in the newspaper.  Sure enough, we were on the front page and another page in the newspaper.

Night 2 of the rodeo, the girls wanted to go again and our tickets were for 2 nights, but it was a fight to get the dad to go.  But Ray reluctantly agreed to go and I think he ended up enjoying it, especially the greasy food that you can only get at rodeos.  They had a contest for kids under 12 where they pinned money to a cow and the kids chased the cow to try and get the money off the cow, so Kinlee is out in the hoard of people chasing that cow.

I didn't have my camera so these pictures are from my cell phone and Kinlee moved her head just as I was taking the picture of them.  And it was pretty bright outside so I couldn't see the results.  I know I should take my camera with me to everything.  Silly me.  All in all we had a good night and I think that Ray even enjoyed it a little bit.  I really love spending time with my family!!  We really do have a lot of fun together!!  Even though we are super silly most of the time.

Pioneer Day Parade

Pioneer Day is huge in St.Anthony.  It is so much fun and it is funny how many people that moved away actually come home that weekend for the festivities.  They used to have the parade on the 24th, but now the do it the Saturday that is closest to the 24th, which I think makes it easier for more people to come, since Idaho doesn't have it as a State Holiday like Utah.  I put some of these pictures on my facebook, but I just wanted to put some of the float pictures on here so you could see how amazing they are and the work that actually goes into them.  It really is an amazing parade and it isn't very long either, which makes it good too.  It is a time too that I get to see some people that I only see once a year.

Neices and nephews and Kinlee waiting for candy.

Older kids.

Mom and her brother Glade.

KaReena, dad, mom, Nakia and baby Gaven under the blanket.

Natalie, Chery, Blake and Neal our new family.

What you can't see very well on this float is a picture at the top of our local hero, Dustin Birch.  He was killed in Afghanistan (I think).  I used to babysit him and it just seems crazy that someone I know died for our country.  Around the bottom of the float were pictures of local veterans from the ward that made the float.  It was pretty amazing!!

Dad loves it when I put his picture on my blog (not).  I think that since he was so happy to have his picture taken, I don't think he would really mind.

On this float it says "Land of the free because of the Brave".  Amen to that!!

Sabbatical - Week 1

Jerika had a check up at the doctor, so while we were there we had her toe exrayed.  She ran into a wall the week before and we just wanted to make sure there wasn't any damage done.  It was just dislocated, but the doctor wants us to come back to make sure it heals right.

 

Tuesday we went to Rexburg Rapids with Allisa and her kids and Nakia and her kids.  I forgot my camera so there are no pictures.  We had plans to go swimming on Thurs and Friday, but we were so sunburned that we didn't go swimming again.  (Yes we did use sunscreen and we reapplied.)  I guess since my skin never sees the sun, it kind of freaked out just a little.

Wednesday, we got our nails done.  Oh, I got my hair cut on Monday too, I forgot that little tidbit.

After we got our nails done, we went and got our friend Chelsea to go to dinner.  This was her last week at school until her next block, so we thought we better spend some time with her.  She actually spent the night too and we had so much fun.  She is such a good girl and we love having her in our home.

Thursday I went to lunch with my old roommate Jennifer.  We haven't seen each other for years.  It was so nice to catch up and see her again!!!

Thursday night we went to dinner at Big J's with mom and Chelsea and then went to the Pioneer Day's play in St. Anthony, which was Tom Sawyer.  It was really good, but they always do an awesome job. 

Yellowstone Family Trip - Playmill too