YC 2013 - Infinite Worth

Youth Conference this year was a little different: it was held locally (first time since we've lived in CO). The youth were assigned Host Families to stay with at night, and were grouped into larger Families (led by Day Leaders) for activities during the day.  I think the youth were a little skeptical about it all, but I have only heard positive comments from them since.

Bill and I were Day Leaders, and it was exhausting exciting and fun.

We had an awesome group of kids (although not a single one from our own ward), and it was great to get to know them. I was so impressed with how a random bunch of kids ranging in age from 14 to 17, attending different schools, with varying interests and maturity levels (shout-out to those 14-year-old boys who keep things lively), could come together and have a great time.

The first day each family had a guest with special needs. Our guest was Candice. She was very outgoing, talkative, and excited to be there. The kids loved her.

On occasion we would run into Shilo :-)

Our family: (back) Tyson, Bill, {me}, Josh, Candice, Tyra, Kendal, Matt; (middle) Tate, Grant, Lexi, Brittany, Oaklee, Monique, Lauren; (front) Ashley, Kiana.
(I'm not sure who thought this was a good place for some of the family photos... YUCK! Shi's family photos were taken in the sun, on the grass, with lovely trees in the background - they turned out much nicer. Taking note for future reference.)

(Shi and Chey's fam)

The conference was packed with great devotionals, workshops, food (I think I gained a good 5 pounds), and games. Bill attended the dance the first night (I went home to be with my orphaned Mar), and said it was probably better than most of the monthly multi-stake dances.

The final day of the conference was mainly workshops, a session of "Ask the Stake Presidency," and a testimony meeting. Mar had a swim meet that morning, so I went with her and Bill headed to YC. Other than an initial check-in and workshop rotation assignments, Bill said the the kids didn't stay in their family groups (which I was glad to hear, somewhat alleviating my feelings of guilt for skipping out). I have to admit, I had a meltdown Friday evening (I'm sure hormonally induced, in addition to a few too many hours spent in the blazing sun), and needed Saturday (AFTER the swim meet and it's 6 additional blazing-sun hours) to regroup and revive (including doing the laundry, which hadn't been done for a week and a half, and parenting my child that had been left home alone).

I loved being a part of it.
I really did.
We are blessed to have such amazing youth!

Girls Camp, A Birthday, and Father's Day... Oh My!

It's been a busy week. Since I'm short on time, I will try to keep my comments brief. (hah.)

Shilo, along with the other YCLs of the Stake, headed out for camp last Tuesday, then Mar left with the 1st - 3rd year girls from our ward on Wednesday. (I'm seriously trying to get over the fact that an entire week has gone by since.)

Our girls were excited to have 3 non-member friends joining them.

Don't they look so fresh and clean?

Since I have a few years of camp under my belt, I can feel nothing but admiration and deep gratitude for those sisters who dedicated so much time to make this an awesome experience for the girls.

You ladies are awesome!

Bill and I drove down (as in south) to camp on Friday. When we arrived, most of the girls from our ward were in the middle of a craft project - a cute temple picture that they were modge-podging onto wood backing with the phrase,
"If this isn't your castle, then you aren't my prince."

The theme for camp this year was something along the lines of "Happily Ever After."

Since we had missed Shi's birthday the day before, we brought her up a special treat to celebrate.  She said the whole Stake had sung to her on THREE separate occasions for her birthday.  That's kind of awesome.

Before camp, Mar kept asking why on earth she would need a pocket knife. I told her that she would learn some safety rules and how to sharpen it - and that my biggest fear at camp was always those girls who couldn't put the knife down and would constantly whittle, whittle, whittle. I just knew someone was going to slice a finger off. Of course, Mar would be one of those whittling girls... Thankfully, I have yet to encounter a severed finger at girls camp.

Camp songs... gotta love 'em.

Of course, I brought some rain with me.

Bill had gone to the car to get the donuts and hot chocolate we had brought for the ward testimony meeting that evening, and while he was away we had a downpour. (I had lamented about not bringing an umbrella several times on the trip down.) I was at our ward's campsite, and several of the leaders needed help tarping over their tent-with-a-missing-rainfly. We also needed to grab the camp chairs, lest they become soaked for the testimony meeting later that evening.

Yep, I got wet.

Once the rain had passed and we were at dinner, I noticed that most people had managed to find cover. Bill, conveniently, had been at the car, and found refuge and protection inside. 

(The rain, tents with missing parts, and a deep desire to be rescued by my husband brought back unpleasant repressed memories of Girls Camps Past.)

After dinner we attended the final camp fireside/devotional/skit night.

The bishops were invited to participate... some tried to do the wave... Bill just enjoyed his moment in the sun. Haha.

We loved seeing our cute Trek daughter, McKenzie. 

(Memory found HERE)

(I can't believe it's been two years... time flies on wings of lightning, that's fo' sho')

After the devotional and ward testimony meeting, Bill and I headed back to Parker with Shi and a couple other girls in tow. I could tell you how exhausted we were, how Shilo and I needed to be up by 6 the next morning to head to a swim meet (Mar skipped the meet because she wanted to experience camp in it's entirety, the last morning pack-it-up and all), how Bill said he would "let me sleep" on the drive home, only to be so weary himself that he needed to shift the driving responsibilities over to me half-way, how we finally pulled into the driveway around 2:15am...
...but I always like to keep things upbeat and positive here on the blog. Wink. 
I'll just say we were dang tired, but we made it alive. Counting blessings.
(And yes, the rain was a blessing, too.)


Swim meet Saturday. I spent 6 hours in the sun, tracking down volunteers, working as a DQ Notifier (my first time - I learned a few things), and cheering on the team. I'm planning to consolidate the summer swim season in a single post... so watch for it. I know those swim posts are a favorite. Wink. 

Overall, Father's Day was good.

I had been subbing for Singing Time for a couple of weeks, so had the honor of teaching a song one week, and the kids singing it in Sacrament Meeting the next. Since I was the Primary Chorister last year, I just did a repeat of this. The kids did a nice job.

I also had the opportunity of putting together the Father's Day treat to give to the men in our ward. Thanks to Pinterest and this blog, this was easier than it might have been had the creative effort been left up to me. Mine aren't quite as cute, but I bet I made them faster. And I made more. Wink.

Bill was home early, so after my power nap, we all made dinner together. 

Bill grilled the steaks perfectly.

We made the requested raspberry ice cream. Yum.

Bill took his power nap after dinner... and the dishes... (I told him not to do them, but he's such a great guy he ignored me completely). This is his fake-sleeping pic, since he had awakened moments earlier prior to the shot. He kindly posed for me in a most natural position.

Then he opened gifts.

Since we hadn't given Shi her birthday gift at this point, I figured now was as good a time as any.

A good, useful, practical gift. Perhaps not necessarily what she had hoped for (I had purchased it over a month earlier, after she had said it was what she wanted, but a few days before her birthday she started tossing around some new ideas... clothes... a new pair of Vans... debt forgiveness...). I think she will find it as useful as I, since she will no longer need to borrow mine. Wink.

And finally, yesterday for Family Night we had cake and sang Happy Birthday for a final time.

Seventeen candles,

lit,

and blown out.

This is currently Shilo's favorite cake:
Fresh Strawberry Yogurt Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.
I will post the recipe soon.

The next couple of weeks are as crazy as the last.

Oh my.

Seventeen.

Today is Shilo's birthday,

but she's not here to celebrate.

She's at her last Girls Camp (as a youth). Ever.

Bill and I are going to Camp tomorrow (through the thick smoke of the CoSprings fire),
so we will celebrate with the Dancing Queen then.

(All week I've told her to "hold on to sixteen as long as you can...." Time to move on to another line of a song, and the only 17 song I can think of is by my longtime favorite group, ABBA. Shilo tells me she's not so great at dancing and jiving, but she CAN have the time of her life...)

Because she's such a camper, I figured I would share a couple of my favorite Shilo camping pics.

Yes, I took a one-month-old camping. See? It's in her blood ;-)

We even potty train while we camp.

Shi celebrated her 12th birthday at a YW Overnighter. She entered YWs while camping on her birthday, and will celebrate her last birthday as a YW at camp. 

A Mary Poppins moment: practically perfect in every way.

I snapped this pic as they loaded up to head off to camp on Tuesday.

Happy 17th Birthday to my Happy Camper!!

I love you, Shi :-*

XXIV

My little buddy turned 24 on Sunday.

And, since we're experiencing record heat right now,
I think a dip in the pool (in a froggy speedo) sounds mighty nice.

I couldn't help sharing this fun summer pic, since obviously I was smack-dab in the middle of cosmetology school at the time (see my textbook? still have it). Since I've been spending countless hours updating my skills lately, it brought back those bittersweet memories of the long year-and-a-half I attended school on weekdays, then rushed to pick up my baby boy from one grandma or another. Good thing Taylor was such a good-natured, easy-going little guy.

(I am also appreciating that beautiful sofa donated so kindly to us by my dear grandma, and am disgusted that I allowed my child to eat his Teddy Grahams - or a Food4Less generic - off of the carpet of our duplex!)

This day at the zoo will be forever remembered, because we also took video and it was the VHS tape most loved at our house for years. ("See the monkeys?")

Taylor was so stylish back then:

fluorescent yellow shorts and checkered "Vans".
(I'm sure the Payless Shoe Store knock-off )

Pretend he's wearing no-show socks - probably not even available back in '91.

That old saying really is true... that styles just keep repeating themselves... everything old is new again...

Taylor told us that he got to shoot and fish on Saturday, two things he's always enjoyed doing.

Happy Birthday, Taylor!

It may be posted a day (or two) late, but we like to  s p r e a d  things out anyway.

It's the thoughtful thing to do.

(Your card is in the mail.)

Good thing Lynnea's looking out for you.

We love you!!

Dynamite.

Here's a rundown of the dynamite end-of-school party Mar had with her friends.

We served pizza - because it's easy. If I was a Napoleon Dynamite purist, we would have had quesadilluhs and tots. (I'm kind of sad I hadn't thought of it earlier... maybe for the NEXT dynamite party we throw.)

Add a little Just Dance and the party's started.

Water balloon fight time. Too bad it was cold and rainy.

Some girls preferred to stay dry in the no-water zone.

Isn't it crazy how it takes hours to fill up water balloons, and only a few minutes to use them all up? The nice thing is these little babies were biodegradable. Seriously, they practically disintegrate within a day or two.

Shi and Chey got into the action, too (and ate lots of pizza, I might add).

By the time the girls came in, they were freezing and wet - ready to go into the nice cool basement and watch Napoleon Dynamite (with a few space heaters that draw so much electricity they blew the fuse twice).

Shilo had mentioned that every party needs pizza, chips, and lots of candy, so I nixed the veggie and fruit tray with fancy dip and went straight for the junk food.

It was still sprinkling outside by the end of the movie, but the girls that were left were determined to
carry on, carry on, carry on.
(You should have done boondoggle, Mar!)

This was a fun, easy party to celebrate the last day of school. Mauri planned it and took care of the entertainment (I think I may actually be DONE with entertaining at kid parties...YAY!)

We're looking forward to a dynamite summer.
This weekend is the first summer team swim meet - I am the volunteer coordinator, so my fingers are crossed that it goes smoothly tomorrow.
Next week is Girls Camp.
The following week is Youth Conference - Bill and I are "Day Leaders."
And the last week of June we are heading to a family campout with the Syddalls.
Did I mention that I'm a working now? It's going to be a BUSY summer.
Like I said, DYNAMITE!