Homecoming

Maren was excited to go to the Homecoming dance last night, and she had a great time with her date, Ben Pitman. They spent the day with a group of friends at a cabin playing games and eating pizza.  They had planned to go hiking, but a torrential downpour kept that from happening.  

That evening, I was at the General Women's meeting and didn't get home until Maren and Ben were in the car and ready to leave for the dance, but Del took a couple of pictures and helped Maren get the boutonniere pinned on.  I think it could have used a mother's touch, but they did a pretty good job.

Another year older and wiser, too....Happy Birthday to Devin!

Devin is pretty easy to please when it comes to birthdays, but he doesn't have a lot of imagination.  Here's how the conversation went:

Me:  What do you want for your birthday dinner and dessert?
Devin:  Whatever is easiest.
Me:  It's your birthday dinner.  It's not about easy; it's about getting to choose your favorites.
Devin:  How about mushroom soup and vanilla ice cream.
Me:  Boring! It's all one color and served in a bowl.

We ended up making homemade pizza and apple pie because he thought it sounded good, but I probably could have served corn flakes and he would have been ok with it, as long as there was some ice cream afterward with a candle in the ice cream so he could pinch it instead of blow it out.  Ouch! I don't know why he likes to do that.

Devin is taking two more classes this semester, Speech and Resume Writing, and then he'll graduate.  He's really excited to get a real job and start a career.  I'm excited for him, too, but I'll miss having him fix all of my computer problems.  He's a really helpful guy to have around, and we love him!

Frugality is a virtue, right?

Devin has been mowing lawns to earn money each summer for several years, and I think this may be one of his first pairs of work jeans.  He asked me the other day if I thought he should throw them away, and I laughed and said, "Yes, probably 3 years ago!" 

 He has a combination of red and grey duct tape and black electrical tape holding these scraps together to make a functioning pair of pants.  Inventive!

 I am a true believer in frugality.  I've always loved the saying, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without," but I think Devin may be taking this a bit too far!

Creepy Doll Attack!

Maren's group of friends have a weird tradition of secretly leaving a collection of creepy dolls at one of their houses.  Then the person who was attacked finds a new doll to add to the collection and secretly delivers them to someone else.  Strange, but they think it's fun.  Maren came home to this sight:

 Maren really hates clowns, so this sight was truly frightening!

 I asked her to pose with this old lady doll, but she found her to be a little too creepy!

Now she gets to find someone else who needs a fun surprise!

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!