Girls Camp 2008

I had the opportunity to go to girls camp this year- I lept at the chance to hang out with the girls/leaders again since I am now in Primary. It was a blast! (Probably due to the fact that I didn't have to do much of the planning! I likened it to me being the "cool" Aunt who swoops in to play with the kids after the Mom does ALL the hard work for them! :D) Nikki did a FANTASTIC job as GC Director. She planned an Army Boot Camp theme this year with the motto "BE all that you can BE!" and modeled EVERYTHING after Pres. Hinckley's talk on the seven "BE's". It was a HUGE success! There was a physical obstacle course one day and then a mental one the next! We even had an Spiritual AIR-RAID at 2:30 in the morning!...The girls jumped out their beds with joy for that one- NOT! They were able to have a spiritual reflectiveness as they walked through the woods. And the stars in the sky were enough to take your breath away!

We had some great laughs and shed a few tears....BUT MOSTLY LAUGHED! I'm so amazed at the youth- Their true colors shined that week and WHAT A RAINBOW IT MADE!! I will never forget the memories made there and I hope they know how much I look up to them!!! Thanks for letting me TAG ALONG!!

Don't Forget To Write!!!!

We'll last Sunday we finally released Rocket back to his home... at least- We think he'll like it there! It was very sweet- Mason said a very heart felt "'bye, turtle!" and waved as Rocket entered the water. In a sort of "Thanks for everything!" kinda way- He swam in a little half circle and looked back at us before he submerged down to the bottom of the pond. (If you look closely you can see him in pond just in front of Ben and Mason!) Good Luck Rocket! :D

Ben's Wildlife Rescue!

So Monday night, I'm just picking up the house-waiting for Ben and Mason to get home from locking up the church building. I heard the garage door open and thought,"Man, they're taking a while coming inside.."

They finally came through the door, Ben was carrying a bucket and seemed boyishly excited, "C'mon Mason! Lets go in the backyard!!!" as he rushed through the house.

I didn't know WHAT they were up to 'till I saw the the shadow of the head of, what I thought was, a snake! As I was bolting up the stairs to lock the door, Ben realized he better let me in on their little adventure. All he said was,"It's a turtle. I SAVED IT!"

After a HUGE sigh of relief, I just laughed and shook my head- This is SO Ben and yet...the last thing I expected all at the same time. So I joined them in the backyard where Ben relayed the events to me of driving down the busy road and seeing the turtle crossing it. Fearing for it's safety (AND he thought Mason would think it was COOL!)- He drove the few blocks home, grabbed a bucket and went into ACTION!!
That night we had an impromptu FHE of building a turtle habitat out of Mason's old pool. We threw in some fresh lettuce out of our garden, a couple of rocks for him to perch on and a flower pot for him to sleep in. Ben even grabbed my patio chair and placed it partially OVER the little pool so the little guy could have some shade from the HOT sun. Mason LOVED every minute of it! He kept saying,"Hi Turtle! What doin'?"

We've had a FUN week with him. We've named him ROCKET due to his ability to kick it into high gear when we try to pick him up. We've had some turtle races and Mason loves to pretend to be a turtle and crawl on his belly next to Rocket. Mason has helped change Rocket's water and feed him apples. (Rocket's Fav!) Yep, It's been fun but it is drawing to a close as we will probably be releasing him back into the pond near our house. But we hope that he will have lots of great stories to tell his fellow turtle buddies about us. AND that he'll stay away from the busy road!!!! :D

You Turn Your Back For ONE MINUTE....

It just never fails! You think your child is quietly playing and your getting a moments break to load the dishwasher or something- then you hear it- "OH NO!!!"

You're mind is reeling, "What could it be?...OR- What's broken now?"



I have to say that this is a first in our household...And I doubt the last! :D But, it could've been ALOT worse... It could've been a PERMANENT PEN!!!

Memory Tag! This is FUN!!!! :D

1. As a comment on my blog, or email me- leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember! :D

(Go ahead and leave a memory for Ben AND/OR Tristin.)

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Our 4th of July Recap!

We had a FABULOUS FOURTH! We enjoyed a great BBQ with some good friends, the Blacks and the Germanes. We introduced them to Huckleberries by bringing over our last bag and throwing them into some HOMEMADE ice cream! SO GOOD!! While waiting for the ice cream to finish, we went to check out our little neighborhood's 4th annual 4th of July Parade! It's really cute- All the neighborhood kids decorate their bikes, scooter, stroller, and even power wheel Jeeps with anything red, white and blue! It's really adorable! Then they race around the block waving their flags and letting their streamers fly! It's such a great way to teach patriotism!

After heading back and devouring our ice cream, we packed up and headed to the Speedway for some Fireworks! Mason was soo excited to be up passed his bed time, but as soon as the fireworks started- he began to be quite unsure about the whole thing. He finally warmed up to them. In the video you can hear him say how "TALL" they are and some of the colors he's sees. At the end of the show, He looked up at me and wanted..."MORE BOOM!" I think next year we will introduce him to Sparklers!!! :D