STAKE GIRLS CAMP!

After being in this ward for only 7 weeks and in that time having only gone to church twice (due to attending other wards for mission farewells and homecomings and some baseball tournaments) I got called to be Camp Director. I thought they were crazy, they didn't even know me! So I started to going to some mutuals, to young women's on Sundays and I could not break through with these girls. They could have cared less about me. So I quit trying so hard and just did my thing. Then the Stake said they didn't want camp directors and they were doing it all themselves and each ward was only allowed to bring up 4 leaders and it was to be the YW presidency and if one them couldn't go you could replace them. So I was off the hook! I was so relieved. Jared had cancer, I wasn't friends with these girls, I was only friends with a couple of the leaders....I was glad! Then a month before camp, Maxi called me because they didn't have any other leaders that could go and they needed me. I spent that afternoon trying to figure out how to get out of it without feeling guilty. I couldn't come up with a good excuse. I knew deep down I needed to go. So I agreed as long as Emily was my cabin mom. The Wednesday before we left for camp we had a mutual to practice our tik tok dances that would be our camp roll call. There was one girl who would not participate, she wasn't having any part of it. I spent the night trying to convince her also while trying to practice the dances. In the end, somehow I said "let's have a wrestling match then" since she was a high school wrestler. She didn't think I was serious. She doesn't know me. We wrestled. She kicked my trash. My boys were very let down by me and thought for sure I let her win - I did not. But that wrestling match was a game changer. She was now pumped to go to camp! Another YCL was not excited to go to camp because she says she cant be that friendly and bubbly the whole time, I told her to come find me and we will throw back some caffeine, complain together and then put a smile back on our face...that helped her. Slowly I was breaking these girls down. But I still did NOT have a good attitude about going. The morning came and I had to go. Jared drove me to the church and came to open  my door and help me out but I sat in the car for another minute....knowing as soon as I got out of the car I had to put on a smile and be the happy leader everyone needed. And sure enough, as soon as I got out of the car, someone drove past me and the girl flashed me a heart sign with her hands....and so it begins. I could write so much about camp, but I am to lazy to do that. Long story short....It was the best experience for everyone. We had some pukers, some mental breakdowns, my hands went crazy and Jared had to order and send up some steroids for me, girls forgot sleeping bags...BUT Our ward girls came together like I have never seen them do before. The girls and I became besties, we bonded, we laughed, I cried with them, we danced and danced some more together, we made friendship bracelets (yes, Jared and Emma had a hard time with me wearing 4 friendship bracelets cause they knew how much that wasn't me, but I need to wear them for a month so the girls can see), the leaders didn't think our girls would bare their testimonies, I knew they would and sure enough all but 4 of them did and they all went 2 or 3 times! We ended up having a last minute mutual the next week to keep these friendships strong, then even the laurels planned their own activity and invited me and Maxi. Emily and I had the little girl cabin, it was rough, but the girls were cute and Emily and I laughed ALOT together! We came home as a very tight knit ward and now my friendships with these girls is so strong! We hug every Sunday, etc. Again, so grateful for the opportunity to serve at camp, get to know these girls and have them get to knw me and now I am YW secretary. This ward is changing and it's all for the better! 

PRIEST CAMP!

 Eli still hasn't had friends really in our ward. They will talk to him at mutual and occasionally in class, but mostly he is by himself and on his phone. It's hard being the new person coming into a ward that's a tight knit group already. I wasn't going to force Eli to go to Priest camp by himself, especially since Jared wasn't going to be able to go. Plus, they kept changing the date of the camp to accomodate every boy. So I got tired of waiting and Eli got presented an opportunity to go to his first PBR with Seth. It ended up being the day the boys headed to camp. So Eli was out for sure. Long story short, the Bishop really wanted Eli there, but we couldn't find any flights there. He finally found one and offered to split the cost with us since it was $451, but we weren't even sure he would make it on time because of baseball. Then he ends up letting us know he got his brother to fly Eli to Colorado and it would only cost us $150. So Monday morning Eli and Seth head off to the west side to attend the PBR. I meet them out there towards in the end to watch. Eli loved it. They take your height, weight, time  your speed, everything and upload it to their site so you can get recruited by colleges. We don't really expect anything to come from it, but he really wanted to do it, you had to get invited and it was a great experience for him! When it was over we raced home, got him showered, made a plate of dinner and raced off to the church so Eli could meet the pilot and Bo Smith and they headed off to Falcon Field to head to Durango, Colorado. In the morning the boys got up and went river rafting, they went zipling, camped and traveled in an RV, tried to get me to let him bring home a puppy, stopped and did baptisms at the Snowflake Temple & the Montecello Temple (and he may have borrowed church clothes from his leader since he had to unpack his for church and forgot to repack them - oops!), but the best part about the whole trip, the part I was trying to explain to him before he left...since he really did NOT want to go....was that this would help him become better friends with everyone. I knew if these boys just took a chance to get to know him it would all be great. When I got home from camp and finally saw Eli for the first time; he didn't bother to tell me about all the cool things he did, no he told me, "mom you were right! I did become closer with all the priests and now we are all friends!" The very next Sunday the Priests were looking for Eli and talking to him like they were all long time buddies! So grateful for a Bishop who exhausted every effort to get him there!! It was everything he needed! 

TWINS TURN 15!

 I think I say this every year....how are my babies 15?! They didn't really ask for anything this year - especially Tyler. He never really does. They just wanted shoes...so Shoes they got! Mikey showed up and brought them a gift, Nash gave them a gift and then we all went out to Cheesecake Factory (per their request) for dinner, then came home and had an ice cream cake, opened presents and then watched a movie. It was a Sunday birthday so it was pretty uneventful. The day before I was going to have a little party for them, but they ended up having a basketball tournament for the summer ALA freshman team so we couldn't. We love these 2 more than we can say! They complete our family for sure. So grateful we get to be their parents! 

23rd ANNIVERSARY!

 23 Years today!! This year is a little different and we are grateful for the little things. No big night out, no overnight stay, no matching Jordans (really wish I would have thought of this sooner since it's our Jordan year), but Eli and I did get to do irrigation for Jared today, I got to drive a couple of basketball carpools and then we were able to run to Serrano's for a quick bite to eat. Eli made fun of Jared's clothes since it was comfy (so he could sit in a restaraunt) and not dressed nice, but it didn't matter to us. Our first time out in 7 weeks. This year we are celebrating the little things and grateful for all we have! 

ELI AND HIS PIRATE PATCH!

 Eli wanted to go meet up with Jake and Emma was house sitting the Germaines, but I didn't want to drive all the way to Snedigar so I told Eli to call Emma and see if she would meet us part way and drive him the rest of the way. She agreed. But she also needed more underwear for their house. So we made Eli go get them for her. She didn't want the lacey pair, she didn't want the full coverage pair, so after 3 attempts he said this is what she is getting. He was so disturbed by it. Jared and I were laughing so hard. So we told him if he got out of the car and walked over to Emma's car wearing it as an eye patch we would pay him $20. It took some convincing, but he did it and it only ended up being $5, but we still all got a good laugh! 

ELI'S PATRIARCHAL BLESSING!

 Eli has been really wanting his blessing this year. His seminary teacher really was able to connect with him spiritually this year and Eli would send us home lots of interesting texts during the day about quoting scriptures, thanking us for being good parents, thanking us for having a loving home environment and supporting him, etc. He also really helped push him to get his blessing.  After finally meeting with Bishop Lemieux and waiting for the Stake Patriarch President Simmons to have an opening and scheduling around Jared's surgery and recovery...today was finally the day. 

We had Eli start his fast the night before, he read some things about his blessing the night before and we really felt like he went in very prepared. The spirit was so strong there. He received an amazing blessing. Eli liked that it mentioned things about his career he was already thinking about, when he mentioined about bringing others into the gospel out in the field - he assumed that meant baseball field - ha ha! 

When we got home I received a text from the patriarch's wife saying; "What a sweet spirit you brought to our home. My husband is quite reserved and quiet. At times though, he opens up like today (first time he read a scripture to a recipient)..and I feel so blessed to witness"

We love our Eli and we hope he continues to hold strong and keeps to the faith and can receive all that he has been promised. 

TEACHERS QUORUM CAMP!

 The twins were so lucky and got to go to Catalina Island, CA for camp! They did not want to go at first, but we made them. I think they are glad we did! They left Wednesday afternoon and went and stayed at Brother Hatch's parents house in California. They said how it was so big and nice and even had a hidden drawer for sodas - Tyler said he took 4 diet cokes so he could have one for every day - ha ha! She also had a big bowl of cumquats and so they finally caved and tried some and liked it so they are excited for our tree now to bare some fruit too! The next morning they got up early and headed out on a ferry to Catalina Island where they then hiked 7 miles all uphill and set up camp. They spent the next couple of days fishing and snorkeling. Tyson caught the biggest fish of camp - it was a halibut. The boys kept saying how good halibut was. Then they would hit the fish on the head to kill it so they could cook it and eat it. They bought some squid for bate. Tyson liked how the squid would change colors, he kissed all the squid and apparantly got inked on and licked the ink - disgusting! They learned how to make sunscreen blow torches, ate filet minon, Tyler never changed his underwear or showered, Tyson said they left as boys and came back as men! They also said it was the best camp ever! So grateful for the leaders who took all the time off of work and gave the boys such a memorable camp!