Summer Fun

Now to fill in some of the stuff we did aside from the big trips this summer...

We got to swim at Grandma and Grandpa's a few times:

I love how the kids play together so well in the pool.

We also got a pool pass this year to a pool near us and had a lot of fun using that. Eli made a lot of progress in his swimming but still doesn't like to swim in the deep end or jump off the board yet.

We met Natalie's friend Mulan and her mom and sister at Gizdich Ranch for strawberry picking:

Eli and her little sister hit it off and had fun together.

I loved these pictures:

The kids saved up money to buy go cart pieces that attach to Nate's hoverboard and had a lot of fun on that:

Silly Nate trying on Natalie's swimcap:

Natalie had a great year of swim. She really turned a corner and started improving on her times a lot. She peaked right at the end of the season at championships and even won her heat for one race!

The weekend before YW Camp, I snuck away for a few days to drive down to Southern CA to meet Jaime and her friend Janie who flew in so we could all attend Jody Moore's VIP event.

The sunrise from the drive down:

We had some good time at the beach that day:

The next day, we attended the conference. It was super inspiring and we got to have a delicious lunch.

We also got pictures with Jody and the other speakers.

Then it was back to the beach and we had dinner on the pier:

It was a really rejuvenating weekend away.

Lareina Allred flew in to stay with us before and after YW Camp since they moved over the summer :(. 

She had fun giving Natalie a makeover after camp:

We had our annual Neighborhood Night Out potluck and with fire trucks this year:

We love our awesome neighborhood:

For Joe's birthday, he requested a hike. The kids complained but we managed to hike the whole Vargas trail above our house. It was a lot of fun and look at that sky:

Natalie's former primary teacher, Sis. Kalff, passed away from cancer and she and I attended her funeral. It was a really beautiful service. She was a wonderful person who was well-loved.

We made some trips to the open gym time at the ninja gym:

I went with the RS for a temple trip. It was just what I needed that day and I had a powerful experience there with some things I had been wrestling with (more on that soon). 

I'm so grateful for these good women:

A beautiful sunset one night on a walk:

The day before school started, I managed to talk the kids into having a beach day. Of course, we had to make a stop at Marianne's, too:

Sure love those kids. It was a great summer!

YW Camp 2019

I was asked to be a nest leader at camp again this year. After having such a good experience last year, I was looking forward to it. But, as it got closer, I got more and more stressed out about it. This year, I was kind of the senior leader since my other next leader was 19. Also, I was called to be the Ward Camp Liason person, which meant that I sat on the camp council and had more assignments to do for that. So, it was kind of a lot to prepare and keep track of. 

Once again, once I made it up to camp--it was fantastic. We all had a great year. It was crazy to be back and see all the fire damage from last year. You can see the burned trees on the mountain:

It's still so amazing how untouched camp was.

The whole group:

Elizabeth's group:

She was with older girls since I was the leader of the girls her age but they try not to group girls with their moms.

Natalie's group:

My group:

We were actually called "houses" this year since it was a Harry Potter theme--Liahona School of Light and Learning. We all picked house colors, a YW value, and an animal to represent our house. My house chose virtue so our color was gold and we picked the lioness as our animal (since power is a definition of virtue too). Elizabeth's house picked divine nature (pegasus) and Natalie's house picked choice and accountability (raven). It was a fun theme.

We had a blast with all the usual camp activities: shooting BB guns, archery, crafts (whittling our own wands), Oasis, etc.

This game of 9-square was super fun, too:

The girls took charge of our skit and did a great job:

Our flag:

Our ward was in charge of one campfire and we decided to play Quidditch. It ended up being super fun! The girls got way into it and were all tired out by the end.

We hiked around Pinecrest Lake again and swam in the lake after:

One of my girls from China teaching me how to write hello in Chinese characters:

We also did a service project sanding and staining the new benches in the campfire area:

For Oasis this year, we talked a lot about the For the Strength of Youth pamphlet. We did this faith walk activity that ended up being really neat. Here is one of the stations:

We had backpacks and we would pick up a rock that reflected how well we were keeping this standard and put it in our backpack--the bigger the rock, the more of a burden it created for us. At the end, we talked about how to lay our burdens at the feet of the Savior.

We had another really powerful testimony meeting. I'm always impressed and inspired by all the girls who aren't even members who get up to share. Elizabeth and Natalie both did and I loved their testimonies.

Even though it was exhausting and we were so glad to get home and shower, it was another great year at camp!