B.O.O.T Camp at Lake Lyman

Well, I just recently returned from another successful girls camp. Every year our Stake goes to Lake Lyman for girls camp. It's a gorgeous area and we were lucky enough to have great weather the entire time. However, this year was a little different from all the other camps I've gone to. First of all, this was my first time going to camp as a Stake Leader. It was a little different being a leader at the Stake level, but still lots of fun. It's been a blast getting to know the girls and leaders throughout the Stake and I still was able to hang out with my ward at night.I was also able to have my little sister go with me this year. My parents were out of town, so she was with me for the week. She had a really good time and I was impressed with how well she got along with everyone in my ward. (Thanks to everyone who made her feel at home)

Our theme for the year was B.O.O.T. Camp (Building Our Own Testimonies) Hence the camo. I was in charge of the craft for the entire Stake which gave me more gray hairs than I'd wish to have. We decided to make the gift something that the girls would actually like to have and hang on to for years to come. So we came up with the idea of magnet boards. They were really fun and easy to make and the girls loved them. The hardest part was finding and ordering all of the materials, finding people to cut the wood and tin, and keep it all within the budget I was given. Talk about stress. Anyway, I think they look really cute. Not only was the craft a big hit, but the entire length of girls camp was too. I had so many leaders and young women tell me how much they enjoyed this year, and I had several tell me it's the best camp they've ever been too. We had some pretty miraculous stories and events take place that changed many lives. It was neat to see girls come up one way and leave totally changed, having been touched by the spirit. I have such a strong testimony of the importance of girls camp and the effect it has on the testimonies of the youth. It is such a rewarding feeling to know that we were able to touch lives and hopefully influence our girls for the better. Now, if we can just do the same thing next year!

New Family Pictures

Just recently my Sister and her family came out from Ohio to visit for a few weeks. We don't get to see them all that often, and I just had a brother come home from his mission, so my Mom figured it would be a great time to update the family pictures. I thought I'd share these with you since there are so many of you who know my family.

The entire family. Including little Keegan who is on the way

Bennett, Annecy, and Elden

Just the two of us

Meet Big Blue.

Well, we did it. We went and bought ourselves a truck. We've actually had it for a few weeks now and since so many people were giving me a hard time about it I decided I'd better post a couple of pictures. She's a real beauty and it's been nice to have a truck that will be able to haul our trailer up large hills faster than 35 mph. I think Chad is excited about it, however it's not exactly what he wanted. He was pretty specific in some of the features that he wanted to have, but we weren't able to find quite what he wanted in the area. So he had to settle a little bit, which actually made it very hard for him to buy this truck. We spent a few days thinking about it and we weren't too sure that we were really sold on it. Once the dealership finally got to the price range we were looking at, we spent a good 2-3 hours debating on if it's what we really wanted and if we should get it.









All in all I think Chad's happy. I know I am!!! I'm always wanting to go for a ride and have to beg Chad to let me take it for a spin. I'm sure he'd like to keep it all to himself if he could, but he's been really good about sharing it with me. Chad's family has always named their trucks and for some reason I've been put in charge of naming our new one. I don't know if we've settled on Big Blue yet. We usually refer to our vehicles and toys as girls, and Big Blue sounds a little too masculine. So, I was thinking we should go with Babe (after Paul Bunions big blue ox), or Crystal (as in crystal blue), or Sally (which deals with a song that Chad and I like). Any suggestions??