BOOT CAMP!!!

Holy cow! We just got back from Girls' Camp and it was a BLAST!!!!   So for us spoiled girls we get to go to camp LoMia and get bunks w/ matresses and showers and flushable toilets and running water to wash hands/faces/teeth and electricity and cooks to cook our food and are basically really spoiled!

Well.....for our fourth year we actually go camping in tents on the ground with latrines that smell disgusting and that you don't dare breathe through your nose while you're anywhere close and you make most of your own food over the fire that you have to start yourself and with no electricity and all the wonderful things that come with nature! It was basically my most favorite year of Girl's camp!

Here's what all went on...

Tuesday---

We drove to our camp site, split in to Companies that we would share tents with (instead of being by wards like we usually are). My Company was all from one ward except for me...but that's just because there were 2 people from all of 4th year that didn't come and they were in our company. So we had our leader(SIS RICE) me, Jordan, and Ingrid. so basically we had an 8 man tent with three little rooms so we each got our own room!  Then we put up tents, dug our trenches, and went and painted our company flags, after which we went and made HOBO dinners! YUM! EXCEPT...our potatoes didn't really cook so it wasn't really that good...

Wednesday---

We woke up, took FOREVER getting our fire started (no joke...we had to finally go get our YCL's to help us) cooked breakfast, and left for the lake. We did two things while at the lake...

1)  We went canoeing...way fun!

and 2) We did a super fun service project! We caught crawdads for the AZ fish and game department b/c they aren't native to AZ and b/c they kill the fish... It was so fun! but it was good b/c we didn't have to touch them b/c Brother Branch had a net and we would yell for him when we found one and he would get it in the net for us...He's basically amazing!

After the lake we wnet back to the camp site and created skits with props the YCLs got for us. They were HILARIOUS especially with all the inside jokes people put into them!!!

Between skit parctice and skits we painted these little boxes that we had no idea what they were for... I'll let you know later..

After the skits a lot of us hung out at one of the tents and played BS and UNO until they had their devo. (aka-devotional) then s couple compaies went and watched meteor showers. Except I only saw a few b/c I was so tired and went back to the tent before they picked up...

THURSDAY---

Today we had our hike slash another service project--and No it was Not as fun as the one we did Wed.    Although the hike was only point 7 miles, it felt like it was 7 miles! We had to clear the trail of rocks(loose ones) logs bushes and anything else that was on it! It was alright though... half of us started at one end and half at the other and met about half way then walked an already finished(for the most part) trail. A few girls turned the wrong way and totally got lost for like 20 min and then on top of that one of them got heat exhaustion right after getting lost so they had to stop and let her rest for a while. 

After the hike we went to a creek that was right by our camp site and hung out for a while. It was so pretty!!! There were these little purple butterflies EVERYWHERE. When Sis Spoerl(or Squirrel as some people called her) called Jen's name it was totally a KODAK MOMENT! she was smiling and there were butterflies all around her face...  

After a little bit my camera (actually it was K-lyn's old one) got knocked out of my hands and 

fell in the creek : (   : ( : ( sooooo.... I couldn't take anymore pictures after that....LAME!!!

PS---the creek water was FREEZING!!!!!! you couldn't keep your feet in it for too long other wise

your feet would go numb!

After the creek we just hung out and played a few games...such as BLACK MAGIC! (yes it is

church approved. lol.) and Click Click BANG BANG!!! another fun game but i don't exactly know

what it's called...

It was so FUN!

Then we ate an MRE(that's all we've had today b/c they don't want us to have to mess with fires)

After dinner we had a SOLO time where we got a little back-pack and went off on our own and

read a letter our parents wrote us. It was so amazing and you could totally feel the spirit so

strong! It was basically my favorite thing we did! Except I forgot to grab my jacket before and it

got a little chilly and there were these really obnoxious mosquitoes that I could feel when they 

landed on me b/c they were so big and I could totally hear them when they were flying close to 

me!UG!!! Then we had an amazing testimony mtg where we each got a little candle that 

represented our testimony and we each shared our light and it was like a relay type of a thing.

It was way cool!

After testimony mtg we went back to our tent and had a devo.

FRIDAY---

Friday was our last day at our camp site. We actually did 2 service projects although one didn't

really feel like it. One was to write our testimony on a paper that was then put into the front of a

True to the Faith booklet for the missionaries to give to recent converts and whatnot. The other

one was to paint one of the gross disgusting yucky smelly latrines. We also did certification. 

After that we packed up our stuff in the cars/trailer and put down our tents. After we ate lunch

and loaded into our cars(by ward) we were off our seperate ways...

Some to the fish hatchery, others straight to LoMia for showers and bishop's night.

Our ward decided to go to the fish hatchery and after that we went to DQ for a blizzard. There

was a lot of people there and we smelled so gross so the 5 of us just stood close to each other

and a bit away from everyone else...it took like an hour!!!

Finally we got our orders and were off to LoMia for nice cold showers...or so we thought! They

were soooooooooo HOT! It was like burning me and when I was done I was all red! OUCH!!!

After showers we went to the award ceremony and basically lost our voices b/c we were screaming

so much!

Then we got our yummy food and took it to our designated area for bishop's night. After we 

ate we played a few games and then started testimony mtg. Our bishop gave us all roses and 

they were so pretty! After testimonies we took pictures and us A-campers(4th years) took off for 

HOME!!! OUR BEDS!!! BATHROOMS!!! AND EVERYTHING ELSE!!!!

S0o basically A-camp is totally relaxed and you have so much free time and don't have to keep

going to class after class after class.........it's so nice and you don't really have to worry about 

being on time to anything. It's definitely the best year EVER!!!!!

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Wishing You Were All Here

Hello Heywoods,
I finally got my invite or should I say followed through with the invite for the Heywood U Post. We are happily busy here in SoCal. We have had a beautiful summer. The weather has been quite mild. I love it like this. The mornings generally start out with the marine layer which means a cooler day in the end. We don't have an air conditioner so the cooler days are much more comfortable.

Today Francie, Allison and Rachel have come for dinner and visiting. We had hamburgers and hot dogs. My kids have not been hamburger fans in the past and so we don't eat them very much. I was happy to have them. I look forward to when kids are not quite sooooooo picky. I know we will be having more hamburgers now that someone ate one.

When Nellie called this afternoon about blogging, I was hoping that we were going to have a new baby in the family. Hey Jamie get moving. I am sure you would like that right now as well. You look cute there with Shane and Grammie and Papa. We are anxiously waiting for your baby to be born.

The summer is quickly passing. I am starting to plan for the school year. Aimee will be in first grade this year and Patrick will be in second. Aimee started K quite early so she is a bit ahead as far as that goes. Last year we were in charter school that has two days at school and three days at home. We will be with the same school again this year. Last year was the first year of the charter. It was quite successful. We loved it. It really is the perfect blend primarily because it gives me a bit of time in the week to plan and prepare. The methods used are great--more hands on than strictly book learning. Patrick really has done well there.

I am quite involved with Proposition 8 here in California. This is the Protect Marriage Constitutional Amendment ballot measure on the ballot in November. The church is heavily involved. I was called to be a member of our ward's Protect Marriage Committee. I am also a den leader so I am very busy. I really have been feeling lately that I need to recognize that we live in the most marvelous time in the history of the world. The gospel has been restored. We are in the last days and we have many great blessings being here now. I feel that although sometimes things around us seem perilous and trying, we will find greater strength to overcome and endure as we find the good and enjoy the small things.

Just thoughts from me. Sure love you all.

Bev

Having a great time!!

'Just a note to be in touch and tell you that we miss you, but ARE having a good time. We are at Bruce's and LeNell's and hoping to be here when Jamie's and Shane's baby arrives. We are all excited about the beginning of a new generation in our family.

We are truly grateful for Francie's, Mike's, Alli's and Rachel's safety after such a traumatic auto crash near them on I-15 yesterday morning. We had fun in Salmon, Kaysville, now, here at Heber.

'Hope that everything is well with all of you. Especially, we want to thank you for all that you do to keep things up there. We do love you all!!

Much, much love, Grammy--Mom

Having a great time!

Baby Logan

For any of you that have called. We don't have a baby yet but we are hoping that we get one this week. We will keep you all posted.

A nice visit

Does any one ever get on this blog?

Hey when is Krista Lyn getting married? How is Richard doing? Whats all the news in Mesa? We haven't seen Carissa yet. I hope we get to spend some time with her. We are doing great in Utah. We just talked to Dave in London. He is having a great time.