Trek -a few months late

I obviously don't post often enough.  Our stake did trek back in July. I had a cold but didn't feel sick just annoying sick where I was coughing and stuffed up.  Quick summary of things I remember

-no running water.  

-lots of cow poop

-tent sleeping.

-cow poop

-standing in a field (of cow poop) at 1 am trying to light wet fire wood to heat up broth whilst dressed like a pioneer and trying to do so in complete darkness -no moon- best comment as we are standing there waiting for the youth goes to Lana "look at us standing here in this field at 1 am dressed like pioneers. If someone just came upon us what would they think? People often find Mormons peculiar. Right now I find us peculiar too!"  Lol 

-womens pull. Amazing. while observing as the girls were left to pull the carts alone up the steepest most treacherous part of the trail and seeing the anguish and concern on the boys faces as they had to stand by and watch. It made me think that when a husband leaves his wife for wordly things that is exactly what he is doing.  Leaving her to pull the cart alone with the help of their children. The path is steep and difficult.  It is a great struggle to pull that heavy cart. I wanted to tell those boys to remember how they felt watching helplessly as the girls pulled -how badly they wanted to help them I wanted them to remember that is what happens if they ever leave their families.  It should be the mans top priority to keep his family together and pull the cart.  Don't start a journey with someone and fill the cart with innocent children then walk away.  I do not imagine the Lord will look upon that favorably. 

-we had amazing weather.  Coolest trek on record for our stake I am sure. 

-finding the band more search than rescue as usual ;)

-eating at fosters at 9:55 in our pioneer clothes and laughing until we almost fell out of the booth. 

-riding in all kinds of ways in Becky's small truck most notably on Lana's lap. 

And in the back at 2am in the rain with Larry. 

-testimony meeting. So powerful.

-the hoedown!  How fun was the Virginia reel! 

And now pics:

Trekking 

Lana and I 

President Volk getting a ride in style 

We hauled firewood in our skirts across this bridge over and over and over. 

Feeling snazzy in my pioneer bonnet 

Loved this pic from the hoedown 

Lana said she could have ridden like this for days and days. I did not believe her.

Stake YW presidency. I love these ladies so much. They have taught me so many things and are such wonderful examples.  I am so grateful to serve with them at this time and place. 

Lots of bonding occurred with these awesome youth and their trek families.  

An experience I will always remember!!

Girls camp!

I have been meaning to post about girls camp since it happened the last week of June.  We are traveling to Cali so a six hour plane ride seems perfect to catch up a bit!  :) 

Camp was held at Prince William Forrest Park in Triangle, Virginia.  Our theme was "Camp OZ (our Zion)" and the motto was "Come Unto Christ, there's no place like home".  BEST THEME EVER! It was amazing even though there were tons and tons and tons of ticks.  Proof of all the ticks was when we realized Haylee had Lyme disease just 2 weeks after getting home. We knew she had a tick on her I checked the site and 2 weeks later bullseye rash.  Not fun but antibiotics took care of it.  Yay for modern meds. Now back to the fun part of camp. I feel so blessed to work with Lana and Becky.  I am always learning from their righteous examples.  Every time I am with Lana she inspires me to be a better person (the weekend before camp we were tasked with doing dinner for the priesthood between sessions of stake conference and I was so grumbly about it. Lana was steadfast in her positive attitude and always thinks the best of everyone- I like to think I try to do that but she is much better at it than I am) and on top of all that we have SO MUCH FUN together!  It really is wonderful to serve with people you love to be around. Then there is the support staff we are blessed to work with at camp. Our amazing camp director sister Bonnet, the YCL leaders and our fun crafty ladies.  One of my favorites is Jacque Munns.  She grew up in Rigby and is a hoot and a half. Always lots of fun to be and when sister Munns is around. A couple of YCLs wandered into our cabin one night to see her swinging a bra over her head and promptly putting it on her head as earmuffs. They could not beleive their eyes :) and said we were the loudest cabin in all of camp. And we were! She and sis Martin landed in kangaroo court for that incident.  :) Wednesday we did our golden hour (an hour long devotional) we each spoke under the umbrella of staying on the path- my part was why we should/how -(use your GPS of course Gospel Principals System) Becky's was about forks in the road and trusting The Lords direction and Lana's was about choosing to be happy no matter what part of the road we are on.  We got a lot of positive feedback and I think we made a gabe the girls something to think about even though two days later when president Volk came up and asked them what they had learned that week none of them had an answer lol.  Thursday evening was YCL "raid the kitchen" night and those cute 16 and 17 year olds insisted we join their fun party. There were jalapeño poppers, it was 11:30pm, I ate several, that turned out to be a very bad idea at 4:00 in the morning. I was sick for most of the day.  Had to stay in bed that morning.  It was miserable. First moment I was forced to face I am not a teenager anymore -well close to the first ha ha ha.  

Here are the pictures

We stayed in the infirmary. Looked a little like a mental institution but it worked :)

We look good on day one 

Favorite camp shirt EVER!

The now annual posing on something at Walmart photo

Me and cute sis. She had a rough camp experience but she was given a wonderful blessing on the last night and was blessed that she would only have fond memories and she does. :) 

Some of my most favorite people 

Crazies

Haylee loved kayaking! She did great! 

We got a new member of the stake YW right before camp.  Jamie is fab!

Paying their dues in kangaroo court

We did not have cell service at camp. Not one bit. We are all on the phone with our hubbies.  

Girls -along with bro reed- doing the squirrel dance for lost items

Stake leaders: sis Ramon stake RS pres moonlighting as camp nurse, sis Munns also stake RS -assistant crafts, Becky, Lana, Jocelyn -crafts, Jamie, me, sis Bonnett stake camp director, sis staley -assistant camp director, sis Gillingwater YCL leader. 

Coolest lanyards and buttons. Sis Bonnett made one for every single person at camp!  Girls, leaders EVERYONE! 

 

Older mom :)

Saw a great huffington post blog article about what its like to be inside the head of a mom for five minutes.  I loved it and could definitely relate to a lot of what was written even thought it was for a mom with younger kids.  It really got me thinking though and I decided to write a post myself from the perspective of a mom with older kids.  Here it is:  :)  

Oh shoot!  Hit snooze one too many times I better get moving fast no 17 wake up calls for the kiddos today, I am going in their rooms once!  Just once! And they better get a move on or I am taking away their phones!  Honestly that is more of a punishment for me. And really who am I kidding?  It is going to take no less than 5 "wake-ups" for them to even rouse slightly and I am going to get "just five more minutes" at least twice.  I am pretty sure they could sleep 22 hours a day.  I hope the cops aren't monitoring the school zone this morning because I am going to have to speed like a mad woman to get the kids there on time.  Why can't we be early at least once?  Do any teenagers arrive early to school? I don't know how its possible. Their parents must get them up at 5 AM.  If I was a good mom I would do that too.  I am barely going to have time to throw lunches together.  Pop-tarts, crackers and string cheese count as lunch right?  I wish we could go back to the early years of school when they popped out of bed so bright eyed and excited to see their friends, maybe if they hadn't been up until all hours of the night texting those same friends they would be excited to see them this morning, I have been meaning to call the phone company and change their service.  I can turn it off at night right?  I am pretty sure you can do that but do I really want to deal with the excessive complaining and grumping around that is sure to follow for DAYS maybe weeks afterward? I am not in the mood for that kind of grief today, I'll do it next week. But I AM doing it!  Wonder if I need a phone password or account number or something to make changes? I am sure I wrote that down somewhere if I could only remember where....I'll ask the hubby.   Crap. He needed potato salad for the potluck at work today.  Totally spaced.  I'm sure he figured it out.  I have got to be more organized.  I am starting today!  Yes, I'll get started this morning right after I drop the kids off at school, wait is it Tuesday? I think H has an orthodontist appointment today.  What time was that at 10? 11? I hope she knows where her retainer is but that isn't likely, where did I see it last?  On the bathroom counter? Gross.  Hope its still sitting there.  She hasn't had it the last two appointments.   I know I look like the worst mom ever for not keeping track of it but seriously?  Isn't she old enough to keep track of it?  But we all know who would have to pay the 500.00 to replace it if its lost for good.  I hope I don't have to fill out insurance forms again -why do we have to do that every time?  Ugh forms. Is S's field trip form due today too?  I think I filled it out.  Do I have to pay that 35.00 in cash? Do I have cash? Since when did field trips cost 35.00???  I am never going to have time to run to the ATM this morning and its not like I can get 35.00 exactly anyway. So annoying they won't take a check.  Going to have to turn to the cookie jar stash I bet the school would take a check if I paid them in change.  Darn it! It IS Tuesday I am in charge of refreshments for the PTO meeting! Going to have to do store bought no time to make anything presentable. I remember making Christmas tree cupcakes for D's 1st grade class one year I even used those cute round sprinkles and placed them just so to look like ornaments.  That was a lifetime a, seriously who has time for that?  Ok so its Tuesday but what is the date? Is it the 10th? I think we have to register him to take the SAT by tomorrow!  Gotta add that to the agenda for sure. No SAT, no first choice college, no good life - over one deadline.  Can't believe it is time to apply for college.  Why do babies grow up?  Wonder how much it costs to take the test.  He has to take it.  Will we ever have extra money? *sigh* probably not. There's the dog whining to go out.  Poor girl she can't hold it in anymore in her old age. I hope she hangs in there a few more years the kids have grown up with her.  No more snooze button, better go drag everybody out of bed.  

Hope you enjoyed it!  Feel free to share! 

Daisy girl

My dog is such a weirdo.  From when she was a puppy until a couple of years ago she was not afraid of thunder. Then that changed and she was terrified. She would whine and whimper and stay very close to me if we weren't home she would go berserk.  A week or so ago we had some thunder and lightning and she seemed ok. I didn't think anything of it just that she was calmer than usual.  Tonight we have had some thunder and it just rumbled really loud she opened her eyes to peek but went right back to sleep like it didn't bother her at all.  What gives Daisy?  Cracks me up.  It was like she had PTSD but now she is over it.  lol -goofy dog.  So thankful she is so sweet even though she is shedding like CRAZY at this moment.  Don't know what we would do with out her.  :)

So cute sitting there among all the hair I brushed off her yesterday.  

She is a happy girl. 

My Haylee

Oh my sweet Haylee girl.  She is 12 and a half -well almost- and she is growing like a weed.  Only about 2 inches shorter than me!  She will catch up for sure.  She really is growing emotionally too but there is of course some pre-teen drama that happens when you are 12 and at times things seem much worse than they actually are.  Last night I was at a stake meeting and I came home to find out there had been an incident with a neighbor kiddo who is about 5 and whose mom does not watch him at all so he often plays down at our end of the court.  Well the kids were all out playing baseball in the yard and this boy decided he did not like how Haylee was holding the ball so he hit her in the leg with the whiffle bat.  Haylee gets really upset by anyone who is not "following the rules" in any situation she is a stickler for what you should do and when.  So she had a bit of a meltdown.  Anyway, when I got home she was upstairs and still very upset.  Dad isn't as compassionate as mom and sometimes she feels like he doesn't care when really he is just very practical about the situation, I'll admit that is sometimes frustrating to me as well.  :)  As girls we often want someone to be as dramatic as we are about the problem we are having so we can really feel the empathy.  For my sweet pre-teen girl this was definitely the case.  I went up and spoke to her and hugged her while she cried.  It was hard to hear her say "I don't like your calling because you weren't here!" Its hard sometimes to balance church and family and I never want her to feel like I put church before her because I don't, but this situation I am sure seemed to her like if I didn't have the calling I do I would have been home and therefore able to comfort her.  She told me how she cried and cried while holding "Shapes" her stuffed turtle.  I got her calmed down and assured her I would speak to the little boy who hit her (this is the second time, the first time I let it go) and tell him if it happened again he would not be allowed to play at this end of the street.  Haylee has a very large adult vocabulary and often uses big or less common words when speaking.  I love it because it shows how much she reads and comprehends the words that are used by a good writer.  So I had to laugh when after telling her what I was going to say to the boy she says "You should also inform him its UNLAWFUL!"  LOL.  I will be sure to inform the kindergartner that it is unlawful to hit a person.  I am sure that will put him on a path to make better choices.  :)  She laughed too which was a good ending to the evening.   Love that Haylee of mine.

SENIOR Master Sergeant

Wednesday night the 19th Joe had to work late. Haylee has piano before mutual so she was at her lesson and I was in the car and Joe called me from work our convo:

Him: are you home?

Me: nope at piano what's up?

Him: when will you be home?

Me: well after piano and mutual so about 8:30.

Him: ok I need to talk to you about some stuff. 

Me: (totally freaked out) why? What's going on?  Did you get orders? Are we moving?  

Him: no we are not moving, I just need to talk to you about some scheduling stuff.

Me: ooookaaaay -

Him: I'll see you at 8:30

It was such an odd conversation but I thought whatever maybe they wanted him to go on a long TDY or something and he just wanted to talk to me about it. Didn't think much of it. He called me back five minutes later -he cannot keep a good secret for more than 5 minutes I get birthday and Christmas presents early he just can't wait- this time he says "I made Senior" -meaning Senior Master Sergeant- I was like "what?!? Oh my gosh!" Then I told him how proud I was of him and started to cry.  I just could not believe it. I don't think he could either. He had been telling me for months that there was no way he was going to make it. That he would need an insane board score.  Well, he got it!! 14,000 people tested and only the top six percent made it!  999 out of 14,000!!!!  So CRAZY!! In a time where the military is getting downsized and people are getting forced out Joe gets promoted.  So insane. I am so proud of him for all it has taken to get to this point.  For my non military friends a quick explanation of rank:  enlisted people come into the Air Force as an E-1 a.k.a Airman; the enlisted ranks go up to E-9 which  is a Chief Master Sergeant. Senior Master sergeant is an E-8.  E-8 and E-9 makes up the top three percent of enlisted Air Force.  Only three percent! 

Most people retire as Master Sergeants -that was sort of our plan too. We had not decided anything for sure but I was definitely leaning towards getting out of the military in just over two years. I was ready to be done :) this new rank brings a whole new list of possibilities. We have not decided anything concrete but we will stay in the military for at least another four years. 

It has been such a whirlwind since he found out. So many thoughts going through my mind. My heart overflowing with pride and gratitude and love. So many friends and family calling, texting, face booking their most sincere congratulations. It has really touched me. Not that you don't expect people to congratulate you when you accomplish something but it has just been over the top with sweet messages about how deserving Joe is of the promotion.

  I am so very grateful for the blessings in our lives.  The future is uncertain but as a wise missionary once wrote to his mom, a favorite quote of his: "hope on, journey on". I know that Heavenly Father has a plan and that His hand is in our lives even more than usual because of that missionary who is serving Him in a jungle in Brazil.  We will face whatever new adventure lies before us together and go forth with faith. 

3.14

Happy pi day everyone!! Sierra has been home this week! I am happy Sierra is in college. She loves it and I love it for her.  I am grateful every day to see her determination to do well and not let her disorder get in the way of her having fun and doing what she wants to do.  I love watching our relationship change and grow.  Becoming more friends than parent/child. It has been a pretty easy transition with both of the older kiddos. I hope it is as easy with Haylee.  I sure do miss her while she's away though!! She has had a few doctors appointments and we have been shopping and hanging out. I will be sad to have her go back on Monday. We saw a new orthopedic surgeon this week and really liked him. She had an MRI and an X-ray done of her wrist. She has a cyst there and it is causing her all kinds of extra pain. She will have surgery early June hopefully. She is anxious to be rid of the dang thing.  Tomorrow Haylee has cookie booth in the morning for Girl Scouts then Joe will be getting home from his trip to Albuquerque.  We have stake conference tomorrow night. Sunday is more stake conference and a trip into the city. We don't usually to anywhere (besides meetings lol) on Sundays but it is the only day we will all be home together. Monday will bring an appt with the pain doc and taking Sierra back to school.  Here are a few pics from our week thus far:

Pretty sunset 

Haylee spending quality time with Jazz

She loves riding and is doing great! 

Date night at Volcano Hot Stone -think melting pot but you cook your food on a lava rock. 

They also have exotic meats I didn't order anything exotic but others did I tried kangaroo-tastes like steak, alligator-tastes like chicken, camel-it was ground and tasted a lot like a very seasoned hamburger -there was elk and wild boar too but those weren't terribly exotic so I didn't try them.  It was fun! 

Clothes shopped for this child who will not stop growing. 

Were in the middle of a big storm system. 

Shopped for cute clothes for this girl.  LOVE this dress on her it was a bit out of our price range but I had to see her try it on. 

Cat sat- well not really since we took care of them at their house 

Bought this kid a cute dress

Took her out to lunch. A lot :) she is great company and it does a mom good to see her almost too skinny kiddo eat! 

Today we celebrated pie day. 

Sierra also got her haircut but I didn't take pics.  I swear we don't go anywhere that someone doesn't compliment her on her hair.  She is the cutest!  

So happy to have her home with me this week!!