Week in Review

It seems like this summer is flying by already. I can't believe we're nearing the end of June. On Friday this week I took my parents up to Heritage Park. My great, great, great, great grandfather, Henson Walker, came across the plains with Brigham Young so his name is on one of the plaques up there so that's always neat to see.

 

 Hailey and Nick were both in the Lehi Roundup Parade Friday night. Brian was out of town so I sat all by myself waiting to see these guys. They were worth the wait. :)

 Nick was pretty excited to be in his scout uniform! :)

 Hailey had her very first swim meet today and as of right now she said she is never going to do swim team again after this season. She obviously really loved the meet...hahaha. She entered 3 races and had good speed and form but did not get a qualifying time in any of her 3 events because of small little mistakes like not touching the wall with 2 hands at the end of her breaststroke, turning too soon on her backstroke and touching the wall too low with her feet on her flip with the freestyle. I told her just to look at it as a learning experience and I'll bet she won't make those same mistakes again. I was proud of her for trying!

This is at the start of the backstroke. I think this was her fastest event.

Quote of the Day:

A ship in harbor is safe, but that's not what ships were built for.

Girls Camp!

Last week was girls camp and it was awesome! Hailey lucked out by turning 12 three weeks before camp so she was able to go this year and I'm so glad she did. This is such a great opportunity for the girls to bond and build their testimonies and I'm grateful for this experience for my daughter! I'm also so happy that I got to be there as a leader to hang out with these fun, amazing girls! (I love Kelli's face in the picture above...2nd girl down the right side of the table! :))

 The theme of the camp this year was "Seeking Your Happily Ever After" so of course Taylor Lautner fits right into that theme for our girls...hahaha. Of course in our story he is a returned missionary and the tattoo on his arm actually says "CTR" and is removable. :) Kayd is guarding Taylor with her semi automatic squirt gun...given to her by her secret sister.

 In going along with the theme given to us by the stake, we were given the princess of Cinderella to use throughout our camp. So we had each of the girls pick out fabric and we made aprons for each of them. As you'll notice, the Bishop even got in on the apron action with his camo-themed apron.

 Each night we had theme dinners and the girls were taught a dance to go along with the theme of the dinner that evening. I can't remember the name of this dance but it was a very "tribal" type dance that the girls had a blast learning and performing!

 One of the spiritual highlights of camp was the Virtue Walk. We had 8 stops along this walk representing each phase of life. This first stop was a father reading a letter to his baby daughter. He expressed his hopes and dreams for his baby girl along with counsel and advice. It was a beautiful letter and the tears started flowing from this moment on through out this walk.

 The next stop was a little girl talking about the experiences she had leading up to her baptism. This is an amazing little girl that has learned to listen to the spirit at a very young age.

 The next stop represented the teenage and early college years. The girls received a very inspiring message here about staying close to your family and staying true to who you are. They were reminded that it is worth it to make the correct choices during this stage of their lives and it is the way to true happiness.

 The next stop represented the dating years and the years leading up to picking the one you are going to marry. I loved the things Gabe had to say about what he was looking for in his future wife and how Emily represented those things in the way she acted and carried herself.

 Next was the wedding day. The key learning for the girls here was that you don't decide when you get engaged where you want to be married. The decision to be married in the temple and the preparation for that begins long before that ring goes on your finger. (We also learned a few personal issues that Darci had on the morning of her wedding but I won't mention those in this blog even though she chose to share them publicly...hahaha.)

 The next stop was about life after the wedding day and the fact that it's not "happily ever after" from there. There are still trials along the way. Kendall was kind enough to share the heartache she endured in losing her baby boy, her first child, 31 days after birth. One of my key take aways from what she said is the fact that she knew how to recognize answers to her prayers when she was young so when she had to pray about the hardest decision she was ever going to make in this life...taking her baby off life support...she knew how to recognize the answer to that prayer.

 Sis. Gabbitas was the next stop and she talked about the fact that she was still on the path to becoming a virtuous woman. It is a lifelong path. She also talked about focusing on the positive through life rather than what's missing in your life. She obviously misses her husband who has passed away and there are trials in her family. But she focuses on the fact that she has a large family to go through life with and loves her part time mission she is serving.

 We ended in the "Celestial" area we (Judy) created in the woods. These pictures do not do it justice! The Bishop was waiting for them in here and he summed everything up and expressed his love for them.

 It was really one of the highlights of camp and I'm so grateful both Hailey and I got to have that experience! Everyone who participated was inspired and it was a really neat evening!

 The next day was the castle building contest and of course we had to have our Prince Charming as part of our castle.

 This is the inside of our castle and the picture below is the outside. All of the girls from every ward voted on a winning castle and the rule was you couldn't vote for your own. WE WON!!!!! The girls were very excited and cheered VERY LOUDLY when they called our ward!!! :)

 A favorite tradition up at girls camp is the candy bar game! Heather crashes camp every year and brings up loads of candy for it and it is so fun! Although I did learn that I am not very good at rolling 7's, 11's, or doubles and that is how you win candy. Needless to say, I walked away with 2 things from that entire tables worth of candy...hahaha. Hailey made a pretty good haul! Now we know who the lucky one is in the family. :)

 For our Mexican themed dinner we had a pinata. My favorite part of this was the look on Matt's and the Bishop's faces when they were told they were going to hold the rope for it! :) We could all feel a "Funniest Home Videos" moment coming on. However, they found a long enough rope that they could stand out of the danger zone so no one's winning $10,000 this time! :)

The last night at camp! The sign they are making is our own little gang symbol that means, "Sisters For Life"! Love the girls that made that up!!!

I love girls camp and everything it represents!!! I don't remember my girls camps growing up being quite this fun...although that could be a reflection of my attitude in going when I was that age. These girls look forward to it every year and they bring their great attitudes with them...it makes a difference!!!!

Quote of the Day:
"Don't ask the Lord to guide your footsteps if you're not willing to move your feet."

Finish Line

 I love the finish line at a race! This is Brian's 4th marathon and it does not get old cheering and screaming for every one of the runners that cross that finish line. I love the loud music, the excited kids when they see their mom or dad, the signs that people make, the announcers, the shouts of "there he is", etc etc etc. I cry everytime without fail. Whether it's the man that is physically unable to make it the last few yards on his own due to complete exhaustion so the medics come rushing to help him across the line, or the woman that is shedding tears of her own as she crosses the line, or the one occasion we saw a man who had been pushed in a wheel chair for 26.1 miles but got out of the chair to walk the last point 1 even though he suffered greatly from cerebal palsy and the man that had been pushing him in the wheel chair the whole race gladly step back and let his friend have his moment. . There are always herioc stories at the finish line...for every person that crosses. I stand in awe of all of them and I proudly lend my vocals chords to the rest of the cheering...they deserve it! :)

IT'S SUMMA TIME

That's "summer" time for all you non slang talkers. :)

Even though we have had more rain and wind than sun, there is some strong evidence around MY house that it's definitely summa-time. :)

The sunbathing has begun! I think he's really just trying to get rid of the farmer tan on his arms & neck and sock tan on his legs. :) (And if you're too lazy to walk down to your bedroom to get your sunglasses, your cell phone will work just as well at blocking the sun from your eyes.) I can't wait to see what the "dog" tan looks like across that one arm...hahaha.

 The patio furniture and rug has been removed from the shed, hosed down, and arranged on the patio...my favorite place to spend summer evenings!!!

 The flowers are in bloom...hurray!!

 The kids are chillaxin' on the patio.

 Our favorite little girlies have come to swim. :)

 This little one obviously has Nick wrapped around her finger as she got him to get in the pool with her fully clothed!

 Hailey was smart and got her swim suit on...of course this was AFTER she already got in the pool fully clothed.

 This little one LOVED the water...splashing her feet in it, having the water poured over those adorable little legs, etc. I LOVE those little arms!!!!!!!

 And we have a bathing beauty!

 Ellie's favorite thing was for Nick to throw the rocket into the pool as hard has he could so it would splash everywhere...she would scream and laugh and crack us all up! And Nick did it as many times and she asked him to!!! :)

We LOVE summer!!!

Quote of the Day:

"There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart!"

Quote of the Day

I gave this quote to our Young Women on Sunday and I love it!!!

I want to live my life in such a way that when I wake in the morning Satan says, "Oh no, she's awake!"


On a side note, I've had a few people send me emails that they can't post comments to my blog anymore. I just did a test one and one difference I noticed is that it has a "preview" of the comment first that you have to accept instead of just posting the comment. I'm not sure what else the problem could be but let me know if you still are having problems. Because I know there are just millions of you out there wanting to leave comments...hahaha.

Quote of the Day

I should really just post the link to my nieces blog because I'm finding a goldmine of quotes on there. But of all the ones posted today, this is my favorite! :)

Monumental Graduations

 Hailey had her fun 6th grade barbecue and slip n slide party on Wednesday. It's one of the funnest traditions this school has and every 6th grader looks forward to it all year. They blast the music, grill some burgers and pour baby shampoo on the slip n slide to mix with the water and make it totally slippery.

That night was 6th grade graduation and even though we've had two other children graduate the 6th grade, this one was different. This one was my BABY!!!!!!!

 Then tonight we had our second graduation this week. Bryson graduated from high school!!! I know everyone says this, but the years truly do fly by.

We took him to dinner afterwards and he told us all about his military and college plans and Brian and I just sat there thinking that this was one of those parental payoff moments. He has goals, he's focused, he's taking responsibility and he is excited to get the next phase of his life started. We're proud of him!