Girls camp 2011

Our stake divides the girls into units. My unit had eight girls: three junior counselors, me, and a partner adult counselor. We had girls from several different wards. We were such an amazing mix of girls. No major drama. They were kind, helpful, and happy girls. Here they are working through some ropes course activities.

This day we decided to dress up and be silly.

Every morning my unit girls participated in the polar dip. I went as the supportive friend/counselor, but I was too much of a chicken to jump in. Way too cold for this old lady! Here are my cute girls looking frozen.

Here is Fred our unit chipmunk. He wasn't afraid of the girls at all. They even tossed rocks at him and he just hung out. Stupid chipmunk!

This is our ward group. What a good looking group of dirty girls.

This Amazing hair belongs to Annie. The more stuff in your hair the better. 2 chopsticks, 2 braids, 1 glow stick, a bandanna, and an Asian fan. Her group was the kung fu pandas.

Sisterly Love! Cute Kate and Meg.

My car filled with darling girls. "i i love you like a love song baby, i i love you like a love song baby, i i love you like a love song baby and I keep hitting re p p p p p p p eat"

This group of crazy girls went down the freezing cold river 10 times this day. I was there to capture their fun. I sat in a folding chair placed in the river with my feet cooling off my warm body. I chatted with the adult ladies and loved my girls as they ended their river run right in front of us. Here they are proudly showing me what run they are on.

Who can forget the friendly pranks. One evening I was lovingly greeted by Miss Beverly neatly tucked into my sleeping bag. She is just a little creepy, don't you think? Thanks Mara and Katelyn. She is a perfect, pee-your-pants, not-mean type of prank.

My first time ever shooting a gun. Not too bad for a girl who doesn't like guns.

Ward night we played fun Minute-to-Win-It games. Here they are sporting their straws that they used to pick up (suck) an M&M and carry it to another bowl 10 feet away.

After memorizing each "value scriptures," the stake YW presidency painted one nail with the coordinating color for the value. After memorizing all 8, you received a root beer float. Your painted nails were the ticket to get a root beer float everyday after that. This was good motivation to get the girls to do their memorizing done early. Only at camp can you get away with awesome nails like this. My toes happen to be purple. I think they look good together.

It was a great week up at girls camp! To the average person it looks FUN, but the reality is it's an emotional, hard-manual-labor, exhausting, no-sleep week. Some of the girls have never had to be responsible for cooking a meal or pick up after themselves. I am not complaining. I had an amazing group of girls, and I can't wait till next year, but camp doesn't just happen by itself. There are so many pre-camp hours before we ever get up to the dirt. Ahhhh . . . camp is complete 'till next year. --emily

Day at the Beach

Today we went to the beach with the cousins. It was a great day for playing in the sun and checking out the low tide. Rachel did the research and found this great beach in Burien. It was Awesome!

The kids had a great day digging in the sand and swimming in the surf, but I think the highlight of the afternoon was combing the beach for dead crab bodies. By the end of the day the kids had quite a large collection. Here is one Jacob was proudly showing me.

Before we left for home I wanted to get a picture of the gang. Like always it is almost impossible to get my boys to stand and pose for a picture, so here we have "the bribed posed picture." It kind of worked. They all earned a few red swedish fish. --emily

Lavender Festival

It is tradition to go to the lavender festival with the girls of my family. This year we were half-way through the farms when we were rained out. The farms were in the middle of a separation/debate of some sort too, so this made things feel odd. Even though all this was going on, we still had great company and fun conversation. --emily

Ward Party

On Saturday or ward had a BBQ at a local park. It was a fun party. They thought of everything. The boys favorite part was the balloons. The Primary was in charge of bringing activities for the kids. They brought sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and balloons to tie! In my option the best part about the balloons was the cute mom tying them. She admittedly had no ideal what she was doing, but the kids didn't notice or care. They thought it was great. Jacob has on a balloon hat that is an amazing mess, but he believes it is the best thing ever because a 14 year old boy made it just for him. --emily

Trying New Things

This weekend I joined the crazy world of "Cake Pops". After watching a few tutorials on You-Tube about how they are made, I felt like I had graduated from chocolatier school and could make them like a professional. So a "Cake Pop" is this desert item where you take a perfectly good cake and cut it up in pieces, mix it in the Kitchen Aid until it is the consistency of Play Doh, role it into cookie-size balls, chill, and cover in chocolate. I had a hard time bringing myself to take a perfectly good cake and chop it up into mush, but after making and tasting them, I am now converted. Jacob, whose birthday isn't until September, told me today that this is the desert he wanted for his birthday celebration. This is saying something because I make a mean cupcake. --emily

Soccer

Tonight Andrew had his first Soccer class. He loved it!

When Andrew got dressed for the day, he put his soccer clothes on. In the early afternoon he even put on his shin guards and socks. He wore them for hours before his game. He was so excited.

Andrew, you did a great job tonight. Keep up the good work and your enthusiasm for doing fun things and meeting new friends.

--Love, Mom and Dad

The Best 4th of July Ever!

Growing up, my family was often invited to the Bowen's family cabin for the 4th of July. As a young girl, I grew a huge love for this festive day. I was shown how amazing and fun this holiday could be. An all-American day BBQ, family, friends, games, relaxing by the lake sort of day. Thanks for throwing such great parties and being a great example for me to try to emulate for my own family. Today was up there in the perfect day catagory.

Our morning began at 9:00 a.m. with neighbors gathering in the alley behind our house. We decided to host a pre-bike-parade-party. We decorated bikes and all forms of wheeled transportation. We ate doughnuts and drank chocolate milk. But most of all we had a great time gathering and enjoying each other's company.

We then walked to the school were the parade would start, for the big loop through town. They were handing out red, white, and blue star silly bands. This girl was applying "water stickers" as we call them in our home.

Boys patiently waiting for the parade to start.

And we are off. That is Kelly in the blue polo, and there is little Drew on the bike in front of him.

The parade ends at a local park. The city provides bouncy houses and lots of family fun activities! A good use of our dues in my opinion.

After the community party, we went home for a few hours of down time. I then mixed up our contributions for our next party, BBQ, firework extravanganza. Call it what you want. It was amazing. Great food, fun friends and neighbors, and the kids all played so nicely! Kelly and Andrew enjoying some white chocolate dipped strawberries with the ends dipped in blue sprinkles. Darling and yummy!

The boys enjoying setting off good smoke bombs.

Andrew was showing me this little tank firework that he thought was so cool!

Andrew and Jake were enjoying some fun foutain fireworks. They did a great job keeping a safe distance and staying out of the danger zone. It was a good, safe and fun year!

Here we have the classic Jacob hammin' it up picture. I think I get one every time I shoot pictures. He is going to have an awesome senior picture video reel in 12 years!

Jacob and his friend Will being sill boys, having a great time with sparklers.

Andrew right before he began to crash for the night. He was so tired. We had a great day! We are so blessed to have so much fun as a family. --emily