The Youth

This past weekend with the Priests and Laurels was pretty amazing. It was a special experience to get to spend so much time with them. To laugh, to play, to have fun and try new things, to have serious conversations with them and to have spiritual moments with them. These youth are incredible. I was able to see their goodness, their resilence, their desire to do good, and their strong testimonies of the gospel. I saw the love that God has for each one of them. I saw Him answer their prayers and comfort them and help them understand new concepts. I hope they felt God's love and that they won't soon forget the good feelings and promptings they had on this trip. I love working with the youth!

Paddle Boarding with the Sunrise, Yellowstone

One of my amazing young women, Aunika, wanted to wake up at 5:30 am to paddle board as the sun was rising. I decided to get up with her to take pictures. It was beautiful with the mist on the water. It started the morning off well! Then we had to clean up and leave. We were all sad, but also ready to get home. We drove through Yellowstone on the way home. We saw a grizzly bear, buffalo, and elk. It was a long drive back but we finally made it around 8:30. It was good to see my kids again and give them big hugs!

Floating the River

We went on a fun little hike today to Mesa Falls. It was gorgeous! We played in the lake most the afternoon, I finally figured out how to paddle board, went on ATV rides, and play sting pong...I don't think that was Bishop approved, then we floated the river later that afternoon. The youth were super excited to float the river, but I was sure it would be freezing so I wasn't too excited. It wasn't bad though and we had a lot of fun! The girls also talked me into going down the tube slide which was a blast. And they buried me in the sand. It was fun to be a kids again :)
We had burgers and smores by the fire and stayed up late to see the beautiful stars. It was an amazing day!
Brad entertained the kids and took them to Fort Benton for their Summer days. They played on a bounce house, got balloons, and ate yummy ice cream.

The Temple with the Youth

Today was an incredible day. We got a few service projects done around the cabin and then I went canoeing in the lake with my girls. Then I got to play outdoor volleyball. I love love LOVE me some outdoor volleyball. It’s been such a long time since I’ve played and it was sooo much fun. The girls actually wanted me on their team so I must not be that bad! Haha

After lunch we cleaned up and drove to Rexburg to tour BYUI. What an awesome campus! It makes me want to go back to school! 

Then we went to the temple. I was overwhelmed with love for my girls. They are all so amazing. I’m so lucky that I get to be on this trip with them.

My kids were well taken care of by my wonderful friend Terra. Luke even fell asleep in her arms and I’m trying to not get jealous about that! They had a huge wind/hailstorm there but Kade’s soccer game still went on. He’s loving soccer season! I’m definitely missing my family and wishing they could be here with me, but I’m enjoying this at the same time.

Youth Trips

I’ve been dreading today in some ways. I had to drop my heart and my whole world off at a friends and leave on a youth trip. I wasn’t dreading the trip. I love being with the youth! They are amazing and I always have a blast with them. Plus we are at an amazing, beautiful cabin and I feel extremely lucky to be here and have this experience with them. But serving and loving my husband and children is what I love to do, so leaving them hurts. I cried when I left their sweet faces today. I was able to video chat with them tonight and they seem so happy. Things are going well and they had a blast with friends so that helps me feel so much better.

The trip has been going great. The cabin is right on a lake so the youth played in that all night and then we played games all night. We’ll have a great weekend!

Slow Mornings, Soccer

We finally had our first morning of the summer where we didn’t have anywhere to rush off to. I loved it. We went for a walk to the park just us and although they were probably missing their friends I loved the time I had to just hang out with them.

Kade had a soccer game tonight and he is loving it. It’s the first time in a competitive sport that I’ve really seen him thrive. He plays well on offense and defense and he scored a goal tonight! He plays his hardest and it’s really fun to see him get into it. Plus it’s so nice to let the other kids run around while we watch the game and not have to sit on a bench the whole time. Yay for soccer season! 

Ryder can not wait to play himself. I’ve never had a child so excited to participate in something. He keeps telling me that he really, really, really...(he says it several more times) wants to play soccer. And he wants a blue jersey with the #4 on it. And he wants me to be his coach. I guess I’m going to be a soccer mom. 

The Park and Play Dates

We met a lot of friends at the park this morning and the kids had a blast running around with them. Tenley thought she caught a butterfly but it ended up being a moth.

Kade went bowling with a friend so Tenley, Ryder and I played the Wii bowling. Same thing, right?