End of Summer Fun

We sure packed a lot of fun into one short day!  We had a mini-reunion in Bear Lake at the end of summer, and we managed to cram in a week's worth of fun memories in 12 hours. 

 Those of us traveling from Pocatello, including the Phillips family, stopped in Soda Springs at Hooper Springs to taste the mineral water and play at the park.  Even the adults had fun playing on the teeter-totters and giant tires.

It looks like Susan and I were the two billy-goats gruff with some trolls ready to get us!

We also stopped at the Soda Springs geyser, but it had just gone off and we couldn't wait another hour.

Next, we headed to Bear Lake to play at the beach.  It was pretty busy, but we found a spot for our families and were joined there by Laura and Tyson's family and Katherine.

The kids played in the sand and water while the adults visited and soaked up some sunshine.

Dave and Tyson talked sports while Karen and Susan gave themselves some fancy pedicures.

Del, looking cool in his shades.

Dad and Katherine caught up on some reading.

Mustaches and muscles.

Layla's sandy legs looked like a Maori tattoo.

A group of people walked up the beach blowing gigantic bubbles for the kids to play with.

Layla had fun being buried until she realized she couldn't get out!  She needed a little help from her cousins.

Megan and Maren relaxing and looking cute.

The boys had fun, too, digging holes and building cities. 

Later in the afternoon we got some burgers at Merlin's and headed to Logan to see the musical, Les Miserables.

The Ellen Eccles theater is a beautiful, old building, and the production was amazing!

After the show Emma got a picture with our friend, Vanessa Ballam Espinosa, who played Fantine. She is the assistant theater professor at ISU, and her voice is beautiful! Her husband, Stefan, is also a teacher in the theater department, and he played Thenardier perfectly!  Emma babysits their little boy, Sebastian, and he adores her!

It was such a fun day!  Great times with our family.

Girls Camp

Girls Camp is always so great, but it requires months and months of preparation.  This year was the first camp I was in charge of as Stake YW president so I was kind of nervous, but I didn't need to be.  With Heidi Payne as Camp Director and Kathleen Hofman and Stacey George as her assistants it was bound to be wonderful! These are truly great ladies, and I love serving with them.

 

Maren and Kyleigh Hatch

This was Maren's 6th and last year at camp, and she and her 6th year friends made it such a great experience!  They were great examples and welcomed everyone into their group.  They were happy and fun, but serious and spiritual when they needed to be.  Basically, they were wonderful leaders, and the next group will have a tough time filling their shoes!

Emma and Kyleigh Hatch

The lake at Camp Cumorah is beautiful and gets better every year.  It started out swampy and few years ago, and the girls called it the Plake (plague lake), but now it's nice.

 The girls had so much fun kayaking, swimming, and jumping off of the swing.

Jessica Tolman and Lauren Holmstead

Whitney Porter and Lauren Holmstead

Dayzha Groesbeck, Maren, Maddy Sorensen, Macie Cannon, Chelsey Cannon, Sarah Hibbert, Whitney P

The skits were great this year, and the girls had so much fun being silly in them.  Emma was Little Mermaid in a Disney Anonymous skit.  She was a hoarder!

Laura Riley, Mary Call, Ashley Lance, Jessica Tolman, Emma,   ?  , Chelsey Cannon

Macey Cannon, Maddy Sorensen, Sarah Hibbert, Sarah Reddish, Maren, Regan Calder

 Maren was part of a team of scientists studying the effects of an experimental drug on a group of psychiatric patients. Pretty ridiculous!

Ashelee Rasmusson (Stake Secretary), ?-craft assistant, Heidi Hodge (Stake 1st Counselor), Heidi Payne, Stacey George

 The stake leaders had a skit, too, and we were pretty funny.  We did a revised version of The Fresh Prince of BelAir.  We were pretty goofy trying to rap, but it was fun.

Kathleen Hofman, Char Tovey, Elise and Pauline Anderson (Stake 2nd Counselor)

We had great ladies who planned and prepared the most delicious dinners each night!  Pauline and Elise had to leave on the second day because their 13 year old nephew died in a diabetic coma.  We missed them but were glad they could be with their family.

Our stake has a high percentage of non-member and inactive girls who attend, so we wanted to make sure our camp was centered on preaching the gospel and not just having fun.  We decided to have our theme focused on the Plan of Salvation.  The stake leaders and 6th year girls had t-shirts with this design, and the girls had an opportunity to earn a pin with the design by explaining the Plan of Salvation to three different people at camp.  It was a big hit!  We also had a Hold to the Rod activity where we blindfolded the girls and had very effective temptors take them from the rope, their rod.  It was very effective and really impacted the girls.  We have heard from so many girls, leaders, and parents that it was a wonderful spiritual experience for everyone.

The symbols show our premortal life, birth, earth life with an astrisk that says "You Are Here," spirit paradise and prison, death, resurrection, and the degrees of glory.

Front: Amy Bakes, Eliza Kener  Back: Emma Symons, Lauren Holmstead, Sarah Reddish, Maren Symons

Camp was a great success, and now we'll start preparing for an equally wonderful 2015 camp!

My Vintage Dude

I can't believe Del is half a century old!  My favorite guy is now officially vintage, and everyone knows how much I love vintage things!

Devin made Del the birthday sign and t-shirt design to show that he was a genuine vintage dude!

 I bought him some books he's been wanting to read, including Vince Flynn, Glenn Beck, and John LeCarre.

We bought him a thermometer to replace the one that just broke.  He's really missed checking the temperature when he gets up in the morning.  I also got him a new nose hair trimmer because I know old men always need that!

Emma's gift to her dad.

Emma made sure Del wore one of his ribbons so he could have a birthday wish.

 Del is a great dad, a great husband, and a great sport.  We love him!

Oregon Coast

We spent a week on the Oregon Coast with my parents, Becky's family, Karen's family, Susan and Layla, and James.  We all stayed together in a house in Nehalem, and we had a wonderful time.

We visited familiar sights, played on beaches, hiked up mountains, and discovered new favorite places.  Here are some pictures of the fun we had.  I made a photo book of our trip, so I'm not going to blog much about it.

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Silver Anniversary

25 years of marriage is something wonderful, something to celebrate.  So what did Del and I do for our 25th anniversary?  We spent it on vacation with 18 of our favorite people!

It was fun going to dinner to celebrate with my parents and most of my siblings (we sure missed you Trevor and Jane, Laura and Tyson, and Tucker!).  The food and the company were great!

It's wonderful to have so many great memories behind us--a quarter of a century's worth--and we're looking forward to at least another quarter of a century of happy times.

The Prom

  Maren had a great time at the prom with Kayd Meldrum, and they doubled with their friends, Regan and Jacob.  Kayd's parents took some pictures of them before they left.

Jacob Tolman and Regan Calder

 

 Beautiful girls

 Handsome guys

Off to the dance!

Emma's birthday

 

Emma is growing up so fast! I can't believe my youngest child is 14.  Fortunately, she is not one to take life too seriously, so life with her is always fun.  The quote on the wall definitely fits Emma! It says, "In all living, have much fun and laughter.  Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured," by Gordon B. Hinckley.

Emma makes our lives and our family a happier place!

 

Other than clothes, Emma was most excited about her Frozen songbook.  She has been singing every song from the movie since we went to see it at Thanksgiving time.  Now she can learn to play it on the piano.

She's ready to perform!  Always.