Girl's Camp!!!

This past month we have been working hard getting Emma ready for Girl's Camp. We've been reading conference talks, Paul and I have written her letters that she will be given as a surprise, we've been shopping, planning, gathering, borrowing and packing. Dang it! While I was typing this I remembered that I had planned to tuck little love notes and surprises in her box. Oops. It's too late now. Even with all the planning I still forgot that. 

Everything the girls need for the week had to fit in an apple box. I would die. I can't pack like that. Emma managed though. She did take an extra backpack with a bunch of junk food and some other things that didn't go in the box. 

Saturday afternoon she decorated her box with turquoise and purple duct tape. It looked really cool. I'll have to get a picture of it when she gets home. She also got all of her secret sister stuff put together. 

We took her camp chair, sleeping bag, sleeping pad and her apple box over to the trailer Saturday night where they packed as much as possible. Sunday Paul gave her a beautiful father's blessing that probably meant more to me than it did her. I told her we had just wrapped her in spiritual bubble wrap so she would be safe. It's such a comfort to know she will be protected and that she will have a great time. I am so thankful for the blessing of the priesthood in our lives. 

This morning we got up bright and early. We went to the church where everyone was to meet at 7:00 am. There was a lot of waiting before everyone else arrived. All the girls were giddy with excitement. It was fun to watch. They actually got off 15 minutes early. That right there is a miracle. 

Here are the girls that Emma is riding with. The drive will be 3-4 hours. They are going to Flaming Gorge. The elevation is 9000 ft. above sea level. They have plans to river raft and cave. This is a stake camp. Over 300 girls will be there. It's going to be amazing. 

You can't leave without a silly picture. 

They almost had a stowaway! Kayla's little sister wanted to go with them. 

These are two of my darling friends that are going. I'm grateful to know and love the leaders. They are wonderful ladies. We've seriously got some really amazing women going. I know they will take wonderful care of my baby girl. 

Doesn't she look excited. I know she is. 

This is the trailer that holds everything the girls packed. Their world is in this trailer. I stayed until the very end. I watched the caravan take off while tears filled my eyes. I know they will be safe. I know they will have an amazing time but we are going to miss our sweet Emma. I can't wait to have her home. 

I love my garden!

My garden is growing and I couldn't be more thrilled. I read last year that radishes are instant gratification and I'm here to say they are. It seems like these grew overnight. I also read that once your temperatures get over 80 degrees the radishes get that hot flavor. These were pretty spicy so I believe it. Mental note, plant radishes much earlier next year. I plan to do some more in the fall. Even though the flavor wasn't the best I was still excited beyond words to harvest these.  

Emma got a haircut

Emma's been wanting to cut her hair for a while. I like it long but since she's gotten bangs I haven't liked it as much so I figured what the heck. Saturday morning she chopped off several inches. 

Here she is right before the first cut. 

She took out her feather extension. 

There is goes. 

By bye long hair. 

Hello new summer do. 

She loves it. I hope at some point she grows her hair and bangs out again but for now this is fun and different. Her next appointment is set for right before school starts. We are going to get her a few subtle highlights. She's growing up! 

Three New Visitors

This year has been so weird as far as wildlife is concerned. I don't know how the animal kingdom works but my thought is we've had so much snow that the animals have had to stay much lower this year.  Sounds good right? We are hearing way more birds than we have ever heard. Most mornings I feel like we are living in a bird sanctuary. There is always the normal chirping of all the regular little birds but this year we constantly hear quail, dove and pheasant as well. I will never forget the bald eagle either or the cute little black and white woodpecker. There have been a lot of extra birds!  

So what can we add to our menagerie? How about three bucks? 

Yesterday Paul was in the kitchen window and said he saw a buck. We all came running and sure enough there he was. Soon another one lifted it's head. When I went out with my camera we noticed a third in our neighbor's back yard. Three males all with horns. Too cool. 

Now we see deer all. the. time. It's nothing new, but these bucks were. We've never seen a buck before. They looked like awkward teenager bucks. Their horns were all cute and fuzzy and they were all getting along. What's up with that? Don't males get territorial? Anyway, it was very exciting for us. 

They heard my camera. 

One had an itch and scratched at its self like a dog. So cute! 

We made too much noise so they headed off into the "forest." I hope we get to see them again.  

First Day of Summer~Let's Hike to the G

I have a major fascination with the G on the side of our mountain. When I was invited to hike to it this summer of course I said yes! We left at 8:30 am yesterday to avoid the heat and crowds. The trail was steep and rocky. It was easy to feel like you were going to slip and slide back down.  

We got over half way there when Emma said "I don't feel good." She sat down under a little scrub oak in the shade. I gave her some water and waited for a little bit. It was time to start moving again. That's when I heard it. I heard Emma get sick. Yuck! Afterward she said she felt much better. 

We started hiking up again and got a little ways further. We stopped again to catch our breath and rest and she said she felt weird. She couldn't focus her eyes, she said her face was tingly and she lost all of her color. I told Maggie we weren't going any further. Emma and I headed back down to the car. (Andrew wasn't with us) 

This is as close to the G as I got. The hike was steeper and harder than I expected. Part of me doesn't want to ever try it again but then there is another part of me that thinks "we were so close! I have to finish what I started."  Paul has agreed to go with me in the fall, on a cool day, if I want to try again. 

On the way down we rested quite a bit. She stopped and sat a few times. I was able to take some pictures along the way down. 

This was so out of character for Emma. She is usually the mountain goat of the group. I think she over-exerted herself. It was too early for her, she hadn't eaten enough, she hadn't had enough to drink and she was going too fast and too hard. 

Can you tell how pale she is? I was pretty worried about her. Once she got a bottle of water in her and some more food she was back to her normal self. 

The views were pretty amazing. 

At the end is some water that is blowing out of somewhere. It was really cool. 

One of these days I may make it all the way to the G but I first I have to decide if I want to. I have realized that I really don't enjoy hiking. You get hot, sweaty, stinky and dirty. Plus it's hard. I think I am going to edit my bucket list. I have quite a few hikes on there that I just don't think I care to do anymore LOL! 

It's Good to get Away

Five years ago Paul and I were invited to spend an inexpensive weekend away at the Marriott's MouniatinSide Resort. All we had to do to get the cheap rates was listen to a 90 minute presentation about the benefits of owning a timeshare. We didn't buy a timeshare but we did take the $100 gift card they gave us for our time and spent it at the outlets! We really did fall in love with the resort though and hoped to go back.  

During the summer (AKA the off season) you can get into this property even if you don't own a timeshare. We decided that Father's Day weekend would be a great time to go. We had some issues with Andrew but otherwise it was a really nice little getaway. 

We got there Friday evening. The kids wanted to go straight to the pool. 

Paul and I lounged by the pool while they played. 

It wasn't long before they were both invited to join a volleyball game with another family. They had a lot of fun playing before it got too cold to be in the water. 

After the pool this kids played ping pong with us. It was so funny. It was their first time playing. I'm sad to say they inherited my coordination. 

Friday night we headed to the grocery store to get milk, eggs, yogurt, ice cream, candy and microwave popcorn. You know, all the essentials. Saturday morning we all got ready and went to the outlets. We didn't spend too much time there. By the time we were done it was warm enough to go back to swim some more. Andrew was being difficult so he stayed in the room.

This place has seven different hot tubs that are linked by these waterfalls. It's really beautiful and it makes hot tubbing a lot more fun. 

After swimming we got ready for dinner. They didn't realize they had a Blue Iguana in Park City but once we spotted it of course we went there. 

Ragnar happened to be going on the same weekend. We saw a lot of runners around the outlets and a lot of team vans/SUV's. This one was the best.  

I wish we had more time and money to go through all these shops but they aren't made for kids so we posed with the art instead. 

When we were done with dinner we hung out in the play room. I dream of having a room like this some day. The kids loved playing pool. 

I even took a few shots. 

Mostly I sat by the fire. 

Emma also took advantage of the teen lounge. 

The kids stayed up late watching TV on the pull-out couch. This was the nicest couch sleeper I have ever seen. The mattress was memory foam. It was thick and dense. I could have slept on it. We need to look into getting one of these for downstairs. 

The only bummer about this place is check-out is at 10:00 am! Say what? That took some effort. We gave Paul his Father's Day gift before we left. 

Double skewers from Crate and Barrel. We've already used them and they totally rock. If you eat a lot of kabobs these are a must! 

It was time to say good-bye. This picture cracks me up because of Emma's reflection. Don't make silly faces when I have a camera. I will blog them! 

That evening we went to David and Nancy's for Father's Day dinner and family time. 

It was a great weekend. Sometimes you just have to get away.