girls' camp baby--another highlight of this year!

oh my wonderful girls, i miss them SOOO much!

 this year i was the stake assistant camp director and one of my main duties was to help the amazing YL's (youth leaders) pretty much run camp.  i was the proud momma to 18 wonderful girls who i just watched and admired all week.

 they conducted the campfires--which were totally epic as they would say.  my personal fave moment was after my team lost the ABC song battle, evidence of the other team cheating was presented to me and i had a blast calling them out on it at the next campfire.  ooooooh yeah!!!

 the YL's were such a great group this year, the best ever im sure of it.  they are beautiful, responsible, loving, fun and spiritual girls.  we tried to kick things up a notch or two with fun costumes, new games and popcorn at campfire time.

cute danielle taught us new verses of "baby shark" which was awesome but not as awesome as when danielles prayer one nite got cut off prematurely by a couple girls who thought she said amen.  i peeked up at danielles face and she was like, "?????" and she very cutely just smiled and shrugged it off, but man oh man did we bust up over that for a good long time. and i'm not sure what song the next group is singing but they were cute and funny so a picture had to be taken.

 after lots of silly times we got a chance to show our love and appreciation to all the leaders who dedicate and sacrifice so much in order for camp to even happen.  this was Pres. Steve Locke's last year with us, and there's no words to express how much we have benefitted thru the years of having him with us.  his priesthood, influence, sunrise devotionals, and kitchen help have been a big part of our camp experience.

 we also acknowledged emily stewart who very deservingly won the service quilt.  she has a heart of pure gold and her name was submitted numerous times by many leaders for her countless acts of kindness.

 camp takes a good team and these lovely yet wacky stake leaders pulled off a huge victory.  the destiny lessons were incredible, the crafts were super cute and very popular, and all the behind the scene extras like capers, activities and the reporter (sweet slide show and newsletters btw) came together and worked so hard so the girls could have a memorable week. andre and i tried to express our gratitude to them with a little camp block that held their camp picture.

 quilting 10 quilts and assembling 150+ activity bags for the women's shelter was our service project of the week.  the girls all got involved and were rewarded with a little fun of making ice cream balls afterward.  so fun but a tad dangerous if you play with those crazy tongan girls.

 the cooks rocked as always, we always enjoy their dinner serenade of a booming hymn.  this year one of their performances was quite comical when the accompanist and them were NO where in sync with each other. but these guys are great and we were fed well.

 two fun highlights:  a huge game of "bust a move" after testimony meeting, which was by FAR the most wonderful meeting i have been to in forever.  these girls are so strong and sensitive to the spirit.  they all have a wonderful budding relationship with their Father in Heaven.  its such an honor to witness that and see the light in their eyes. oh highlight #2 is definetly the tongan girls and their ukelele.  they sang "pricetag" the first nite and were asked to do a encore the next nite of some cool lullabye song. 

 speaking of my talented polynesian princesses, they stinkin' c r a c k e d me UP this year.  they are so dang beautiful inside and out.  we joked, hugged, got gansta, and i just loved being around them.

girls camp has always had a huge and special place in my heart.  it has nothing to do with the camping and everything to do with these funky, adorable teenagers who share special times with each other and grow in every way possible.  love love love them!

oh what do you do in the summertime?

the children are home from school, i love it but its messy.  there is a whole "kids craft cabinet" in this house but that doesnt contain their creativity. this is brady's robot, "robey".  he lived with us for much too long.

 caden draws a mean sponge bob, too bad he somehow found a sharpie, that wipey board is history as well.

 summer produce cant be beat.  after they shucked they turned into super corn heroes.

 gotta make 'em work too.  they all love to pitch in especially when our big boys are here working.

 ok, this was CLASSIC, this is kendra's art club where you pose for a drawing, these two totally kill me.

 we tend to frequent places like the Farm and the library.  raylee just likes the free strawberries and to goof off with Scout at the farm during story time.  but our library trips are quite successful.

 she doesn't read yet, so what else would she be doing, besides forcing her animals to do puzzles?

yep we need to hit the beach, i prefer a nice clean pool with cement rather than sand, but im sure i will give in soon.  probably after summer school is over.  happy summer times to you all.

ya-hooooo SF zooooo!

we wanted to sneak in a quick little family vacay before caden started summer school. so we had daddy take a day off, headed to the San Francisco Zoo a first for us and stay in a hotel and swim (a must for caden, that's his definition of a summer vacation). then we had our first visit at raging waters and got our season passes their first usage.

oh my goodness the peacock!! what a crack up, the boys were so excited when it hopped right onto the sidewalk.  they got up close and personal with plenty of fun, stinky, but cool living things.

why does my sweet little ray ray have to love the huge cricket things and the tarantulas??? ewww

they loved every minute of every aspect of the zoo.  the train was a huge hit.  penguin island was brady's favorite, kendra loved everything, caden was in a constant state of jumping and humming,and raylee liked the cotton candy--what sillies, but i love em and it was a big BIG success for this family.

his baptism--brrrrrrr!

we've thought about and discussed this day for a long time now.  we didnt know how caden would respond to being baptised but he interviewed with the bishop and we just kept the process moving.  saturday june 4 it was.  one of the most perfect days EVER.

he picked out his white jumpsuit and scurried off to get dressed. the excitement level was building big time at this moment.

we were off setting up a little display table and a second table for everyone to sign in at.  grandma vofo and big papa flew in that morning and helped out with the festivities.

big sister showed him around and was quite excited herself. they have a special bond these two.  kendra's expertise with special needs kids has even rolled into her own classroom at school when an autistic boy got placed in there.  she explained things to classmates and yelled at them when they were laughing AT him. what a sweetheart huh?

after lots of lovin, his little hiney was too too adorable in that jumpsuit, so as soon as i could stop squeezin him we got things started.

he was so ready, he kept walking up to guests saying, "hello, welcome to my bath-tism".  absolutely the perfect host.

the program itself was simply, utterly, plainly PERFECT.  it started off with caden so sweetly singing "i am a child of god" and then my dad giving the opening prayer with the gentle spirit that he has.  yeah, i was already GONE at that point.  actually i was a bit nervous for what caden was going to say when he came out of the water, so my nerves kept my tears at a minimum. 

auntie heather gave the talk (we combined both topics to save on time and attention span) and she EXCEEDED my expectations.  i knew months ago that she was the one to give the talk, and she had cute cute caden come up and hold pictures (great visuals kept him listening--i think) while she beautifully taught both principles of baptism and  the Holy Ghost.  we had 3 nonmember friends attend so we were thrilled for them and know they were well taught.  at one point caden was still doing his job of holding the pictures but he decided he needed to add facial expressions. so for about 30-45 seconds his eyebrows were doing a little dancing.  we all giggled and just loved every minute of  it. 

so the moment came.  jared led him to the "secret door" as he called it.  daddy took him down into the water and on the third or fourth step caden let out a relieving "ahhhhhh".  i guess it was nice and warm.  when he came out of the water he let out a tongue rolling "brrrrrr".  so i guess he got cold suddenly.  the crowd chuckled. and i was grateful that he didnt demand for his popsicle, since he knew that was coming. 

the confirmation was tender and powerful.  the spirit was very strong and there was a lot of love in the room that rainy june day.  he got hungry and started to whine, "i dont wanna do all that!"  so i quickly got him a piece of gum so he could make it thru.  he did.  jared and i were holding it together quite well too UNTIL caden, with all his might, tried to sing every word of the closing song, "baptism".  and bishop's closing remarks reminded us that simple obedience brings the best kind of happiness. i was wiping jareds tears-- it was a marvelous marvelous day.  i turned around and just saw rows and rows of people i love.  it reminded me of the overwhelming feeling i had on my wedding day.  our sealing room was full of people who mean so much to me.  this was the same great feeling just 11 years later.   the gospel is such a blessing, to have wonderful brothers and sisters to share special moments with.

cadens refreshment of choice was popsicles so we licked and mingled and headed home.  he recieved fun gifts and the love just continued. friends and family are so very kind and generous. 

when everything settled down he needed some computer time and to have a little wrestling time with one of his buddies.  it was a great ending to a great day.

good job making a good choice buddy, you are SO VERY loved.