July 8th- Friday: We had webster slop for breakfast with grandma and grandpa at 8. Then we got dressed and ready for the day and left by 10 to go rafting down the Snake River! Bethany and Alice stayed back with grandma (and Sam and Abril and cousins Charlie, Mila, Mia, Abby, Will, Luna, and Hazel) because they were all too small to go. We saw a deer get hit and killed on the way there. Yuck! We got our gear on and all of our family, but McKenna, were in a boat with Dave and Laurie fam, Adam, Lara and Hailey, Joe, and Lola. The River rafting was so fun! I was nervous as first, but loosened up as we went along. We had so much fun yelling to the other boat and splashing them. Both Ben and Dan went for a swim. Anna liked sitting up front for some of it. We all met up for dinner in Moose at the Dornan outdoor restaurant. It was yummy and then we took pictures all together in our matching shirts. Once we got back to camp, Dan and I worked on packing lots. We had another campfire and chilled till about 10.
July 9th- Saturday: Dan got up earlier than the rest of us. We ate and finished packing up to leave by 10am. We first stopped in Idaho Falls to fill up and get lunch. Then we stopped in Brigham City. McKenna prepared her YW lesson. I listened to my book, did a grocery order, and added pictures to the shared album. When we got back to Bountiful, we dropped Bethany off at Emmy Stitt's birthday party around 4:45. It was a pool party and she was excited to see lots of school friends there! We picked up groceries then made it home by 5:15pm and unloaded. I put pizza in the oven and started laundry. We ate and then McKenna left for Tess’s bowling birthday party. Dan went to pick up Boof and return the Kump’s kayaks. I gave the A-team a bath. Once the three girls were in bed, Ben helped us put our big kayak away and water the plants. I cleaned the inside of the van and kept laundry moving. Dan gave himself a haircut and we both finally showered! *I'm so grateful for such a fun trip for our family to build memories and the kids to develop stronger relationships with their cousins. The mountains and scenery were stunning! Even though I was freaked out about bears most of the time, it was an amazing trip!
July 10th- Sunday: Dan and I attended the 6th ward so we could hear Schaefer Paulson’s mission homecoming talk! He taught everyone how to do some of the clicks they use in the Zulu language. He sounded so eloquent in talking about the Gospel. In our ward, Harrison Bartschi gave his homecoming talk. He spoke about how the mission changed him! McKenna taught in YW about prophets. Dan took Bethany and Anna to Derrick Walker’s parents’ homecoming. They served in Hawaii. We all met at Lewis Park for lunch after church. Then we folded laundry and McKenna and Bridget practiced their flute duet for Girls camp. I had my family conference call. I started dinner. I worked on packing for girls camp. After we ate, McKenna and I took some of our camping gear to the church to be loaded up. We tidied up the house. Once kids were in bed, I cleaned the kitchen and finished packing.
July 11th- Monday: McKenna and I left at 7:30 for Stake Girls Camp!! Dan left early as well to go to Cedar City and St. George for two days. Dan’s parents babysat the other kids. We arrived at camp around 9:30am. We got settled. I parked my car in overflow parking and took a golf cart back to camp Sariah, driven by the senior missionaries. The leaders had a meeting with the missionaries. Then we had a welcome meeting at the amphitheater. We ate our sack lunches and hung out. We got our new thermoflask water bottles and sweatshirts. We did a service project from 2-5pm making sleeping pads with grocery sacks. It was way fun to sit and chat for a long time! Then we chilled till dinner. The girls did a lot of jewel art in our cabin. We had bathroom cleaning duty and no one complained or tried to get out of it. Then we went on the sunset hike and heard a guest speaker, Shauna Ogden, speak. She spoke about our theme and told stories from her life about knowing the Savior is in our lives. We got back to camp around 10:30pm then gave the girls blankets and got ready for bed. The stake leaders came and sang to us!
July 12th- Tuesday: We got up around 6:45 and Taylor was playing the song from “Up” on her Ukulele. We went to morning devotional and then to breakfast. We had craft time after that. There were lots of beads and stones to make jewelry, iron on patches and painting pillowcases, and canvas painti by number. We ate our sack lunches and then went to our lake time. The girls could choose either a canoe or paddleboard. Juliann and I were in a canoe and avoided the splashing in squirt gun fight the whole time by staying around the perimeter. We lost Taylor and Kayla on the way back. They accidentally followed another stake. Kayla had another asthma attack, but we found them and they were ok. Lots of girls took showers during free time. Some played nine square. We had taco salad for dinner. President and Sister Farnes came to visit. We had cleanup duty. We had an evening devotional with Heidi Smith from the 2nd ward. She teaches seminary and did such an awesome job! She taught about the parable of the 10 virgins. The leaders had a meeting and then we got ready for bed and I showered. We heard thunder as we fell asleep. We got woken up at midnight by the stake leaders saying, "Come with us! It’s time!" We were all pretty confused, but we went anyway. They took us to a midnight "wedding feast" at the pavilion. It was decorated so beautifully! Sister Farnes spoke about 1.) having a Christ study. 2.) Pour your soul out in prayer. 3.) Notice the Atonement everyday in your life. This was such a meaningful experience for a lot of the girls. We made it a point to tell the girls we were proud of them for choosing to come! (Sadly, there were some girls so stayed behind and missed it.) I still cry when I think about it!
July 13th- Wednesday: We got to sleep-in until 8. We went to morning devotional and then breakfast. The older girls went first while the younger girls stayed back and sang camp songs. After eating, we practiced our rock concert song with the younger girls and the older girls went to the tomahawk throw. Then we switched places. Both Kenna and I hit the targets! After that, we had lunch and a devotional by Sis. Todd at the pavilion. She spoke about fables and knowing our worth. She also gave us a bookmark with a painting she did on it. Then we took a quick nap and went to play volleyball! We practiced our song more (also on the stage). Then we did more craft time and McKenna went to a fire starting class. I drove to the camp entrance to get reception and called Dan! Then we went to dinner and prepped for the rock concert! Unfortunately, it started to rain right when we started so we moved everything to the pavilion. We had a blast watching all the wards perform and then dancing to more songs as a group afterwards! We had a leader meeting after that, then cleaned up our cabin some. The stake visited and then I showered.
July 14th- Thursday: It started pouring rain during the morning devotional and rained through breakfast. We had bathroom cleaning duty then left for the challenge ropes course. I ended up helping Katie Brown with the challenge where they had to lean on each other as the cables they were standing on separated further and further apart. I also got to go on the big swing they had which was so fun! We had lunch, and then shucked corn and did other jobs to help with dinner prep. Then we had the Burdens activity. The girls walked through a "journey." They had burdens (rocks) placed on them (in their pillow cases). The burdens and trials were because of 1.) a choice they made, 2.) a choice of others, or 3.) because of no one’s fault. They were met along the way by the YW’s President and Bishop and Pres. and Sis. Farnes. They could help them carry their burdens, but they couldn't take them from them. At the end of the journey, they placed their burdens at the feet of the Savior, which was a canvas painting they all helped paint. McKenna told me she felt sad that people have to experience those things. She also loved the part with Pres. and Sis. Farnes. They always make her feel so special! It was powerful to see each girl unload their pillow cases at the feet of the Savior. *I know that is a real principle- to cast our burdens on Him. He will help me through the dark times! We had fried chicken for dinner. Then we had an evening devotional with Michelle Workman and Pres. Farnes. We went back to our campsite for s’mores and testimony meeting. Amy spoke first, then Stephanie Holdstock and Sarah Moulton. McKenna was the first of the girls to talk, but then the 5th ward came back from their fire area and said there had been a bear sighting and we needed to head back to our cabins. Phebe was really the only girl that panicked. We finished our Testimony meeting in our cabin. and never knew if there was actually a bear anywhere near.
The Bishop said our good night prayer around 10:45/11.
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