Good Friends

This week our oldest has been gone on his week-long Scout Camp trip. We have really missed him and can't wait for him to get home this evening. I'm sure he'll have some tales to tell. I sent a camera with him, so hopefully I will have some pictures to share soon.


Our most notable event this week was getting to hang out with our good friends who are passing through Utah on their way to their next military assignment in Germany. We spent Family Night up the canyon "throwing lead," as my husband would say. It was a lot of fun.



Our friend got to try out her new pistol.



Then the kids had fun shooting at some cans...




with the .22's.



We startled this snake while we were setting up some targets. Luckily, he was as eager to get away from us as we were to get away from him!




The youngsters had a lot of fun!




They loved knocking down the cans!



The funnest target was a gallon container of water. Water everywhere!



Lastly, we got out the AR-15.



It was a big hit...especially with the teen-age boys...



and the big boys...




and the young ones too!



We love our friends! They have been stationed all over the United States and many years have passed since we lived close, but we love that when we get to hang out with them we can pick up right where we left off. We wish them the best on their new adventure in Germany.

Girls Camp

I just returned from Girls' Camp on Saturday. Wow!! It was awesome. Our theme this year was "Be Strong Together," with the scripture in Joshua 1:9 as a guide: "Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.


The first day we spent focusing on how to be strong together with the Lord. We started out the day with a great service project and we learned how we can be His hands on earth as we serve our fellow men. We also went to the shooting range and learned how to shoot...learning how to line up the sights and the target....it was a visual teaching of how to have our lives in line with our Heavenly Father's desire for us to each return and live with him again.




We must have our sights set on the target and be headed (pointed) in the right direction. We also spent that evening focusing on how to see ourselves as Heaven sees us. We need to not be so concerned on our outward appearance, but focus on seeing ourselves each as a unique, precious daughter of our God.

We also spent time learning how to be strong together as Young Women. We had our traditional pageant which was so fun...we have such creative, talented young women.

We got to go to a climbing wall and learned how to be strong together like a rope, with all the strands being strong together to make one strong line. We learned how to be encouraging to each other and cheer each other on, rather than find fault and break someone down.

We all got a chance to climb...it was tough, but a lot of fun.

We spent an afternoon at the Vernal temple. We learned it's history of going from an old, worn down tabernacle into a beautiful, sacred temple of our Lord. We learned that each one of us is beautiful and sacred and that our Father sees us as such. Sometimes we don't see ourselves this way, but that doesn't change who we really are.

We spent time recognizing all of the ways that we feel the hand of the Lord in our lives...and realized that we are blessed daily and that He knows what we need and answers our prayers.

We had a fun craft activity making these cute watches.

We spent a lot of time laughing and enjoying great friends!

We also got to hike up to an ancient Fremont Indian petroglyph.

We learned about what the petroglyph told us and it was just awesome. We did much more, these are just some of the highlights, but we learned a lot, we grew together as sisters, and we felt the love that our Heavenly Father has for each one of us. It was a fun week!!

A Big Splash

Our two oldest have been getting up bright and early all summer and swimming on the swim team. They have competed in a few meets....which are also bright and early.

It was a little chilly at 6:30, but soon warmed right up. Our cheering section was nice and loud and this year we didn't throw any bananas into the pool...fun times last year!

Our boys are breaststroke masters. They really fly and have just blown away the competition!

They have both qualified for the gold county meet at the end of this month.

Our second oldest shaved a full second off freestyle in the last meet and has also qualified for the gold meet in that stroke.

Our oldest has really improved in freestyle this year and is so smooth and beautiful in the water...and fast!

He has also qualified for the gold meet in freestyle.

Improving in backstroke has been a goal for both of them this summer and they have both made huge strides. We find out tomorrow whether their times have qualified for the final meet. Regardless, we are happy with their hard work this summer and we really enjoy cheering them on and seeing their confidence grow and their times improve!

Shooting Finale

Summer Games is the last big shooting competition of the season and the last two practices of the year are spent cleaning the range, unpacking from Cedar City, and finally on the last day the shooters enjoy a fun shoot where they get to play around at the outdoor range.





It is bitter sweet to have the competition season end, but it will be nice to have just one night a week dedicated to shooting instead of three or more!





In the off season the boys plan to make a few trips up north to get some one on one guidance from Bud Benard, the legendary high-power master.



Our oldest received a special honor at the fun shoot. An award from the Junior Rifle Club named after Adam.





And finally, but most celebrated in our household, another precision rifle has joined our ever-growing arsenal. This is a Diana 820F, a very nice precision .22. Still a little big for our oldest, he is anticipating some very accurate shooting in his future...with Diana. And yes, the boys call it she, her, Diana...as if she is the hottest girl in the world. This kind of infatuation I'm okay with!!!

Catching Up...Once Again

Finally...a small moment to pause and gather myself. Once again, I have a lot to catch up on. This Summer's activities are bunched together in clusters, with small breaks in between to catch our breath. The last couple of weeks have been full of fun, lots of tiring fun. I took a three hour nap this morning...at 9:30....after waking up at 5:3o to get our oldest off to scout camp. It felt great! I'm grateful for this small pause before we jump right back into even more fun...