First Day of School!

It's the first week of school! I love the first week of school....getting back into a routine again, new beginnings, and of course the excitement that comes along with it. Bailey started middle school as a 7th grader at Rocky Mountain. Sawyer is a senior at Bonneville. That's a bitter sweet thing for me. I'm excited for him, but I can't believe he will be graduating and leaving home soon! That's hard for me to grasp, and I don't like it at all!

 First day of middle school!

 I've taken 'first day of school' pictures of him for 15 years! I can't believe this was my last time! Maybe I'll follow him to college just to get a first day picture :)!

This is her second day, but we wanted to get pictures with Sawyer!

Good luck kiddos! I hope your school year is AMAZING!

Rock On-Climb On!

Bailey and Mark were invited to perform at the Rock On Climb On Benefit Concert. It was a big event at Freeman Park to help raise money for a local man, Mike Carlson, who fell 70 feet in a rock climbing accident. He was in the hospital for over 2 months with severe injuries. He is a business owner, and so the fall put a financial strain on the family. The event was a HUGE success! They had a fun run in the morning, the Zumba Sisters came and held class in the park, there was face painting, train rides, pony rides, games for the kids, bounce houses, a dunking booth, yummy food, a silent auction, raffles, and musical performances going on all day. Bailey and Mark played for a half hour. They did 7 songs: It Happens, All Your Life, Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, Outside My Window, American Honey, Wildflower, A Place in This World. They did a great job! Mike is out of the hospital, but he still can't walk. He showed up at the event, and it was good for Bailey to see who her time and talent was helping. She is such a giving person by nature. She even brought her own money to donate at the event. She's always been like that, and I LOVE that about her!

Rock On Climb On!

It meant a lot to her to have her friends show up to watch her! Thanks Mars, Annie, Neesha, Julie, Payton, Sawyer, Grammy, and Papa!

They found plenty of time to run around and act goofy!

Performing!

It Happens

 Outside My Window

I had to post this one, because her crazy friends were making her laugh :)!

Peaceable Followers of Christ

We brought the youth from our ward (ages 14 and up) to BYUI, for a 20 Stake Youth Conference. The theme of the conference was Peaceable Followers of Christ. There were over 4000 kids and leaders there, and it was AWESOME! The opening session started on a Friday evening. Sawyer got to be up front because he sang in the choir. Sister Elaine S. Dalton, our General Young Women President, kicked off the event by speaking to the youth. 

Here are some of the key points she made:

*She started off talking about research that was being done to find the perfect wave. It seems like it couldn't exist. A wave like no other, that you could surf on for hours. Well, it was finally found! It's a tidal bore in a dirty, chocolate colored river in the Indonesian jungle, in crocodile infested waters. She went on to say that  youth today are like this wave. It seems impossible, yet a very righteous group of youth are rising up in this polluted world we live in.

*She told them that their choices now matter, because they are a pivotal generation.

*She told them that blessings will come to them if they live the standards in the For the Strength of Youth pamphlet with EXACTNESS. She showed a short hidden camera video of people getting on an elevator. The person who wasn't in on the prank would get on the elevator and stand facing the front. Then, all the people who were in on the trick would get on, and they would all stand facing the back of the elevator. Slowly the unsuspecting person would start to turn just a little bit. Some people eventually turned all the way around. She told them NEVER to turn just a little bit! Not even when everyone else is doing it. Don't ever compromise your values. Keep your eyes straight ahead on your eternal goals.

*When the Holy Ghost speaks to you, you have to have the courage to obey.

*One of the last things she said to them that I loved, was that they are not ordinary! They are remarkable, extraordinary youth that have the potential to change the world.

After that, we had dinner and a dance on the upper field. Sawyer said it was the best dance he's ever been to.

We went back up to BYUI on Saturday morning to start the second day of the conference. Dale Murphy was the key speaker that morning.

Here are are few things he talked to the youth about:

*He compared Satan to a pitcher. The pitcher tries to trick you and deceive you just like Satan does. The batter (or the youth) need to be prepared to make quick and good decisions throughout life.

*He told them to follow their dreams, and then said that they could be successful in any field they chose to go into, and still keep the standards of the church.

*He told them to never compare themselves to others. We all have our own unique, God given gifts.

After his talk, we did a Temple Walk. Over 4000 youth walked up to the Temple and surrounded it. They had a helicopter fly over and take pictures.

Then we had lunch and went to two 'breakout sessions'. Those were hour long classes that the kids got to chose.

We ended the conference with Elder Bednar. He opened up his 2 hours as a question and answer session. It was awesome! 

 There were two things he said that stuck me. First he challenged the youth to read the scriptures and focus on the places where it says, "one by one." He said it would change their lives if they would find those places in the scriptures and consider them.

My favorite question he was asked was by Christie Seedall. She asked him if he could only pick one thing to teach her, what would it be? He thought for a second, then looked her straight in the eye, and said that it was all true. The Gospel, and all the stuff they learn with it. It was totally silent, and I got chills! I can't even explain it, you just had to be there. The spirit in the auditorium was so strong.

It was a great conference, and I'm so glad we had the chance to go!

BC-XC CAMP

Sawyer and Bailey went to Brett Hill's Building Champions Cross Country Camp. This was Sawyer's last year of it, and Bailey's first year. They both had a great time! Sawyer said it was the best camp so far!

The cabin

They had classes on nutrition, running form, injury prevention, and shoes. 

 The athletes

 Classes

They also did the Amazing Race. Sawyer and Bailey were on the same team. There were about 10 stations in the race.

Station 1: They had to put together a paper puzzle in the lodge.

Station 2: The team had to get across a pond/bog. Two of their teammates could not get wet at all. Some of the kids carried Bailey across, and another group carried another tiny girl across. Once they got across, the two dry people had to find the treasure box with the next clue in it. Bailey found it!

 Bailey being carried across the pond.

 Sawyer carrying his teammate across the pond.

Station 3: They had to find 5 golden rocks in a creek.

Station 4: One person had to be blindfolded, while the others directed them along a course. The blindfolded person was in between ropes, and they were given a time penalty each time the person touched the rope. Their team did really good at this one.

Station 5: They had to run into the forrest, find a tee-pee, take it apart, carry the logs out of the forrest, and reassemble it.

Station 6: This was a rope swing. They had to get the entire team across without anyone touching the ground.

 Bailey on the rope swing.

 Sawyer on the rope swing.

Station 7: This was a long run.

Station 8: They had to sand bag the creek. They couldn't move on until they dammed it up enough for the length of a license plate to be submerged.

Station 9: They had to carry a pile of rocks up a big hill.

Station 10: They had to use the rocks they carried up to make a rock tower as tall as they could. They made the biggest tower.

 Making their rock tower.

 Their rock tower is done!

On the last day, they do the Conquer yourself run. The kids run up Conquest Peak. Luckily we trained some hills before they went to camp. The older kids run the 2 mile hill, and the younger ones do 1 mile.  They climb 700 feet in that distance. The coach said Sawyer smashed his time from the previous years. Bailey was the first one to the top for the younger runners. Once they make it to the top, they get a shirt, and their picture taken.

 Sawyer running up Conquest Peak.

 The whole group at the top of the hill.

Thanks for an awesome camp Coach Hill!

Girl's Camp: Look Up!

Girl's Camp was AMAZING this year! The stake went to Darby, and instead of camping together as wards, we camped together as levels. Bailey was a level one, so she was with all the 12 year olds in the stake. I was the level 4 leader, so I had all the 15 year olds in the stake. It was life changing for most girls and leaders. I LOVED it! Bailey will start middle school knowing tons of girls now, and I got to know so many incredible girls from our stake.

Our camp theme was LOOK UP, and each level had a branch off of that. Level one was LIGHT UP, level two was LOOK UP, level three was STEP UP, level four was CHEER UP, and the stake was THUMBS UP.

 Some of the first year girls anxious to leave for camp. Brooklyn, Hannah, Marlee, Madi, Annie, Emily, and Bailey.

 My beautiful level four girls ready to go camping!

When we got to Darby on Monday, we had to set up really fast, because the level four girls were heading to Badger Creek for the adventure part of our camp. We had 70 people at Badger Creek and it was a blast! We divided into 5 groups. My group was so much fun! They were all so daring and brave! We did the giant swing and the jungle gym. Every girl tried both activities. I was so proud of them!

 Level one girls in the lodge. 

 Bailey in her tent.

 Our cute secret sister buckets!

My awesome Badger Creek group.

 Bailey and Elmo writing scriptures on the poster in the lodge.

Tuesday we worked on crafts and certification. We had skit night in the lodge. They were the best skits I've ever seen at camp! My level four girls were hilarious! Since our theme was cheer up, they did a skit called, So You Think You Can Cheer. They had a cheer off between 3 groups. I was laughing so hard! The level one girls went last, and they rocked the house! Their theme was light up, so they turned off all the lights and put purple fabric over their flashlights. Then they rocked out to Firework, and What Makes You Beautiful. At the end they shot confetti and glitter guns, and threw tons of candy. It was awesome!

 Cheer off: The awkward group

 Cheer off: The snobby, stuck up group

 Cheer off: The happy, bubbly, nice group

 Bailey's skit was so awesome! It was hard to get good pictures, because the lights were off the whole time.

On Wednesday we hiked. Bailey did the Aspen hike, and my group did Tablerock. Mark was a priesthood leader in my camp on Tuesday and Wednesday, so he got to hike with me. We had a great time. My group did so great. Tablerock was a 14 mile, extremely hard hike. I was so proud of all my girls!

 Starting Tablerock

 Standing on the top of Tablerock with the Grand Teton behind them.

Wednesday night was Stake Spiritual Night. It was by far the best one that I've been to at camp. The youth leaders did an amazing job of talking about their own personal sacred groves. Then they sang a song that was written just for our camp called Look Up. There was hardly a dry eye in the room, and the spirit was so strong. I kept thinking how grateful I was that Bailey was up there to experience that.

On Thursday, the stake arranged a Free to Chose time. The girls had a few hours to go around to 5 different activities. There was zumba, a humanitarian project, making headbands, minute to win it, and pop top bracelets.

 My awesome youth leaders: Madi, Kassidy, Lauren, Mikayla, Madi, Jessie, and Jessica. 

 Headbands

 Zumba was a big hit!

Thursday evening was Bishop's Night. The Bishop brought us dinner, and we played some fun trust games. Then we went back to our levels and had testimony meeting.

On Friday morning we packed up camp and then went to closing ceremonies. We all went to the meadow and they had balloons for each level. We sang the Arise song one final time, and then let off our balloons.

 Level one had purple balloons, and my level was green.

Always look up!

Rodeo

We went to Sandy Downs for the semi finals of the War Bonnet Round Up Rodeo. It was fun! The best part was at the beginning when they had the kid bull riding competition. I was AMAZED! They had kids as young as 8 years old, but most of them were middle school age. Holy cow, they were good! As a mom, it gave me some serious anxiety watching them, but they were some serious cowboys! The rodeo always brings back memories of my Lakeside days. I loved the Rodeo, and would look forward to it every year growing up.

Yee-Haw!

Cousins!

Kim and Russ took a family vacation to Idaho. It was our first time meeting Russ and his kids. Sawyer and Bailey were excited to have new cousins. The kids loved hanging out all week, going to movies, watching the Olympics, and hiking. We hiked to lower Palisades Lake with everyone (except Sawyer). We even brought Oreo and Reeses. It was their first long hike, and they loved it!

 Bailey, Noah, Brianna, Sydnie, Calli, Becken, Jessica, and Bella

Happy dogs.

 The beautiful lower lake.

 The dogs loved playing in the water.

 Bailey, Sydnie, and Calli

Sydnie and Bailey.