Girls Camp 2011 {Oh the thinks you can think}

This year was a stake girls camp.  Our ward had a lot of fun, I think the most fun of all the 3 years I have been the YW’s president. 

We wanted the girls to have a choice for the activities we were doing as a ward, and so we came up with about 15 different things they could choose to do.  We were the Thinker Bedinkers (based on the Dr. Seuss Book “oh the thinks you can think”, and then we focused on thinking about Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith & the Book of Mormon).  There was plenty of time to do them all, and they could do some things multiple times.  For example, we made jersey knit bracelets by looping them through our fingers. They were adorable, and we found them through my good friend Em, through this website:

http://www.vanessachristenson.com/2011/03/v-and-co-how-to-jersey-knit-bracelet.html

The girls could then make as many as they like. One young woman made about 20 bracelets for the stake leaders.  We then gave them Seuss bucks for an auction at the end of the week) other choices included things like: 

writing: Joseph Smith was just 14 when he went to the grove. He decided at a young age that he was going to be committed! you can be committed now too! Sister Dalton said, "write a list of things you will always do and things you will never do. Then live your list." 100 Seuss bucks

Think about how beautiful you are: Put on glitter toes 10 Seuss bucks  (one ward came to our camp and washed our feet and painted our toe nails silver (our color))!

Think about your list...make a magnetic card holder & bottle cap magnet to put it on. 50 Seuss Bucks  (This was one of those recipe card holders with the sheet metal which the girls mod podged paper onto).

Think about Jesus Christ and how he served & loved everyone (not just his friends). Find something to do to serve someone OLDER than you. 40 Seuss bucks

Think about how music can increase our testimony of Jesus Christ. Listen to music at the listening station. 15 Seuss Bucks

Think about the scriptures & how they can strengthen your desire to choose the right. Memorize a scripture in the Book of Mormon that can remind you to always choose the right. 50 Seuss bucks

The book of Mormon is a journal whereon people have written their thoughts and feelings about Jesus Christ and the world around them. write your Answer to the following questions in your own journal. 1. Places I feel happy 2. People I admire 3. a time I was scared 4. a time when I have felt the spirit. 50 Seuss Bucks

Think about Joseph Smith going to the sacred grove to pray. Take a nature walk to find your own sacred grove & kneel down and pray. 50 Seuss bucks

Jesus taught that we should become as a little child. Think about this as you color in coloring books. 10 Seuss bucks

Think of someone you could thank - leave a note on their pillow. 40 Seuss Bucks

Think about how the Book of Mormon is important to your life. What answers can be found by reading the book? Do a Book of Mormon read by following the arrows in the book. 100 Seuss Bucks  (this was something I learned on my mission; it leads you through the book of Mormon answering important questions about why we are here, the purpose of life, etc. –all answers that can be found in the Book of Mormon.)

President Uchtdorf said: The more you trust and rely upon the Spirit, the greater your capacity to create. That is your opportunity in this life and your destiny in the life to come. Sisters, trust and rely on the Spirit. As you take the normal opportunities of your daily life and create something of beauty and helpfulness, you improve not only the world around you but also the world within you. Think of how you can improve the world around you as you create a jersey-knit bracelet. 50 Seuss Bucks

Think about how you feel about the Book of Mormon. Write your testimony of Book of Mormon in your journal. 30 Seuss Bucks

I think the young women really enjoyed choosing what activities they would like to participate in.  They were upbeat and so positive about all of it!  Plus, they were thrilled to earn the money to spend at the auction. 

Here are all the wonderful leaders who gave up their week, found baby sitters, used vacation time, and were just overall amazing!  I put my counselor in charge of camp, and yes, she is 7 months pregnant!  She felt great the entire time and I couldn’t have done it without her!  Thanks Heather!

Girls camp would not be complete without a hike!  we had 2 3rd year girls and one first year girl going.  I talked 2 Laurel’s into joining us.  We had a great time!

Jenna, Hope & Brook getting ready for the hike.Sarah, Hope, Jenna, Kaylee, me & Brook

Bishopric night means the pig trough!  We spread out ice cream, sauce, bananas, whipping cream & cherries onto boards and the girls dig-in!  What fun – what a mess!  We love it!

a couple of the leaders put together a Jeopardy-style getting-to-know-you kind of game.  The girls had fun guessing who was who!

The wonderful week ended with our camp skit.  One of the Laurel’s decided to take on the skit for one of her 10 hour projects.  We had an activity where we wrote the skit (in Seuss-like rhyming) and then she directed us and came up with props, etc.  She did a fabulous job.  I think the girls were really proud of how the skit turned out. 

What a fabulous girls camp!  It was so positive and fun and lots of laughter. 

Pioneer Day Celebrations

Our pioneer day celebrations started on Thursday when we visited the Days of ‘47 parade float preview party.  All of the floats were displayed in an exhibit room and they had a marching band going around the room playing songs.  It was so festive!  Most of the floats had information about creating their float and then they had some sort of interactive thing for the children.  This float was an underwater theme and so they had a girl with a mermaid skirt on sitting there for kits to have their picture taken.  She then handed them a seashell to take home.  It was darling! 

This float had a giant fisherman on it, and so behind the float they had a fishing pond for the kids!  They got a piece of candy to take home. 

at one place, they had this darling cutout to take a picture.  Evie & I smiled for the camera!

They had clowns making balloon shapes for all the kids who stood in line to wait for it…

….and we did!  Jackie & Evie both got a {floating} butterfly. What a fun event to visit!

Our adventures continued when we traveled to Panguitch to play with my family.  We went to a family reunion one of the days where we did crafts (we were in charge & did rock painting and decorating chipboard letters for kids/adults), rode horses, had a candy launcher throughout the day, a rubber ducky race in the creek, and fireworks at night.  What a fun family reunion celebration.  The most joyful thing for me was Evie’s reaction to horses.  At first she was unsure, but grandpa talked her through the saddle, and what it is for…and by the end of the day, she threw a fit when it was time to get off!  She literally rode them until the sun went down!  Thanks to her awesome cousins & Aunt B for riding with her and leading the horse around. you can kind of see the candy flying through the air in this shot. Setting off the candy launcher…Down by the river to watch the rubber ducky’s.  We didn’t win, but Aunt b won first and received a gift card to an ice cream shoppe.  We promptly used it! Thanks Aunt B

This was the highlight of the trip for Evie.  Saturday morning, most of us woke up early to drive back to the ranch for a 5K run.  It was such a beautiful morning and a chilly 39 degrees.  As we ran, it warmed up (of course).  We were rewarded for getting up early with cinnamon rolls and orange juice.  Thanks Dan, for organizing that event!

Summer dinner has begun!

Oh my goodness!  Summer meals have officially begun with the first harvest of a full meal.  Tonight we had trout directly from Strawberry Reservoir…today!  Justin fries it up to fish sticks.  Then, we had zucchini & yellow squash in a cheese sauce, new potatoes, our first cucumber & raspberries.  Every thing was fresh and {YUMMY}!

as you can see, Evelyn loved loved loved it all!

Love Lives Here craft

So, I know that putting this picture onto my blog, all those I am making it for will probably see it.  So sorry about the Christmas present spoiler!  But, here goes!  We made this at our super Tuesday relief society activity last week, and they turned out just adorable!  The black line is stitching and the frame is the center of a strip of cardboard, then smudge with paint.  I sanded mine after the paint was dry. 

Inside the heart are different size circle punches of paper along with buttons.  Then, of course, vinyl writing!  The original idea was in a frame, but I haven’t gotten that far yet.  We didn’t do them that night to save money.  People can get their own with a 40% off coupon.  I think when I put it in a frame, I’ll leave out the glass. 

{custom family blocks}

I found these blocks online (from the website below), and we made them at our super Saturday last night (but Tuesday night, really) for relief society. This was my take on the project. I hope my sister in law doesn’t see this post (she’s at girls camp this week) since it’s for her family for Christmas!  {Surprise!}

brown paper packages: {custom family blocks}

Visiting Kennecott Copper Mine

The largest open pit copper mine in the world is in our back yard!  Evelyn and I visited a couple days ago with Shelly and her kids.  It was a perfect day, not too hot, then after, we visited a park in Copperton.  This is a quaint little town at the base of the copper mine.  What a fun day!To get to the mine, we parked below, and rode a bus to the top.  This was Evelyn’s favorite part of the entire day!  She was so excited to be in a bus and be able to look out the window. 

Evie’s friend Jake.

Looking into the mine.

What a fun day riding the bus!A storm had just passed through, and so there were puddles of water still draining out the top.  Of course, a two year old would find that….

Later that day….we went to this fun park.  Evie took the side road instead of the ladder going up, but loved coming down the correct way!

What a fun day!