Wood Workers

Recently I was contemplating buying a cricut cutting machine. I got it into my head to make some seasonal letter blocking after I realized I didn't have any spring decor. My friend Kristi offered to lend me her cricut to see if I liked it. I am so glad I didn't buy one! After trying to scrap the vinyl off of the sticky pad without ruining it, and having to reprint a few letters because the "material saver" button didn't work like I thought it would, I was very frustrated! Not to mention the cost of vinyl and cartridges just isn't worth it to me! That being said, I am still very happy with my blocks!

Ryan was nice enough to cut the wood for me, but I should have thought to have him run the wood through the plainer first. The natural woodgrain often caused my paper to bubble and I had to re-do a few of them.

I think my favorite letter is the "a" in "Fall". You can't see it in the picture but it has a spider crawling down.

The bigger project finally done at our house is Andrea's playset. I've been begging Ryan to get this done, simply because I hate being asked to go to the park everyday (now I'm just asked to go in the back yard everyday). Originally Ryan wanted to design it and build it himself but we found this set at Walmart that was much more cost effective. We had set aside some of our tax refund just for this purpose, so even with all of Andrea's medical expenses lately, we could still afford it.

Andrea does well with climbing up the ladder and going down the slide but she still likes me to hold her hand so she doesn't go to fast, and of course, I have to push her on the swing. Hopefully one day she will go play by herself, but not quite yet.

I love the little playhouse in the bottom, and it also has a picnic bench on the backside. This was probably the first project in a long time that didn't cause marital problems for Ryan and I. We worked very well together, I would read the instructions and hand him what he needed. I just hope it holds up to the weather, and we need to figure out how it's going to work with mowing and watering the lawn, but that will come.

Girl's Camp

Four months of planning and Girl's Camp is finally over! The camp wasn't a stake camp this year, just individual wards, which meant we got to pick our own theme. We chose Boot Camp, which ended up having a lot of possibilities. So the first day of camp we gave all the girls their "rations" packets. The packets had a hoodie, a t-shirt, a camo bandana, dog tag, canteen, and gun. Each leader also wore a certain color camo bandana that matched which age group they supervised.

The bandanas actually really came in handy. The girls usually had some kind of duty (make dinner or clean up a meal) that was pre-scheduled according to their year. I could just glance at their bandana and figure out who was who. The first years wore orange, the second years blue, the third years purple, and youth leaders were pink. I wore a purple bandana which meant I was over the 3rd years, handled their certification, kept track of their where-a-bouts, and such.

We also assigned each year a miltary rank: 1st years- Cadets, 2nd years- Sergeants, 3rd years- Majors, Youth Leaders- Colonels, and all the leaders were Generals. The girls had a lot of fun with this and came up with creative nicknames for each other. Ones like "Major Moustache", "Cadet Kitty", "Sergeant Smalls". I was given the nickname "General Goldilocks". The girls wrote their names on their dog tags and canteens, which I thought was really cute!

I've really struggled with my calling as camp director... I was positive that after I completed this years camp I would asked to be released. I felt that through the whole planning process, no trust was placed in me. I didn't get to choose the theme, the crafts, shop for food... the things I did get to plan happened because I just went ahead and did them on my own. Ryan said I should have been happy with less responsibility, but what's the joy in that? If I am asked to do something I want to do it whole-heartedly! One day at camp my assistant and I were surprised by a "heart-attack" on our beds from one of the tent groups. I literally had to get my composure before I went back outside. I doubt the girls thought it would have made me cry, but it made me realize that this calling is about the girls, not my own frustrations.

When I think back to my young womens years I can remember all of my leaders, but can't tell you who all the girl's were or what the themes or activities were. The leaders are what make it special, that's why I spent as much time with the girls as possible... hiking, around the camp fire, doing crafts. I was so happy I got to know them all better!

Thank heavens for my assistant Mickell, the Lord truly inspired me while choosing an assistant camp director. I hadn't even talked to Mickell when I gave her name to the Bishop, she had just moved in the ward. But she has helped me "keep it real" and listen when I was frustrated or needed someone to share ideas with. The day before camp she got us these cute shirts, and we must think alike because I also got us some hats.

Here are some random pictures of the activities at camp.

Hike

Prayer Rugs

Sword fighting

Certification

Snipe Hunting

We had some really creative meals, and that credit belongs to the YW President Tawna and her counselors Danielle and Janalee.

 

MRE's (we thought that was fitting for our soldiers)

 

Boiled omelets (put all your omelet ingredients in a plastic baggy and boil it.)  

Banana boats and apple crisps in the fire

Walking tacos (place taco ingredients in a plastic bag, and some tortilla chips, mix it up and you have a taco salad).  Plus the good old buddy burner burgers, and lots of more delicious goodies. I don't ever remember having a camp with so much delicious food. Tawna always made sure we had lots of additional side options as well as snacks to keep the girl's happy.

Our destiny topics each day also pertained to our Boot Camp theme with a gospel twist. Day 1- Battle Strategies, I spoke about the basic training we have been given to combat temptation: Prayer, scriptures, word of wisdom, the commandments, and self worth. Day 2- Armor of God, Mickell related the Armor of God to modern day army equipment: bullet proof vest, tank, helmet, gun. Day 3- Battle stategies, theYW stake presidency was kind enough to host this day's destiny, and talked about taking out specific temptations with specific gospel ammunition, and they stayed for dinner. The last night of camp the Blacks were so kind to make dinner not only for us, but all of our visitors... the Bishobric, and the stake YW Presidency, and even Ryan came up to spend the night and drive the storage trailer back home for me. We had delcious dutch oven chicken and dutch oven carrot cake.

We were very lucky to have Bro. and Sis. Black lend us their camping location for the week. They were such good sports to put up with all the girls and they really seemed to enjoy themselves. The girls slept in tents, the leaders slept in a trailer and Mickell and I were in the cabin. When I informed the other leaders that I like my sleep they felt that the cabin would be the best place for me.

Here is the whole group minus Jim (Tawna's husband, he was taking the photo) he was also such a great help all week, it was nice to have two priesthood holders there to help us out with whatever was needed. I was so impressed with the girls in our ward and their willingness to do anything asked of them. I think between the great leaders and the great girls everything went really well. Just a fun week of bonding and camping! I think I'll stick this calling out for a while :) At least now I know more what is expected and feel more confident in my abilities.

Independance Day

Since my parents have moved to Texas, we weren't sure where to watch the parade this year. Their next door neighbors were out of town, and offered their curb to our family and friends.

Grandma Linda and Grandpa Gary were tending Petyon and Meryn while Matt and Sara were in California, so they got to join us for the parade as well. Linda had bought Andrea and Meryn matching outfits for the 4th.

 My brother Eric's family came as well as my brother Brent and his wife Becky, my friend Kristi, her Mom Laura and sister Jenna, and Jenna's husband Carl. This is why the 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays... getting together with family and friends to laugh at the silly floats in Tooele's parade. Unfortunately there was no fly over this year by the jets, and no statue of liberty float doing the limbo under the power lines :( But the kids really enjoyed all the candy, even otter pops, flags, and necklaces were given out.

We really didn't do any other activities. Later in the day I had to help load all of the luggage for girl's camp and we had watched fireworks the Friday before at the high school football field. So a pretty relaxing 4th, the best kind of holiday!