Reasons Why I Haven't Posted Lately

Hello to you! ;) It has been brought to my attention that I've missed blogging for several days in a row. Actually, I was aware of that fact . . . it has just been a really crazy couple of weeks. To atone, I will share a few pictures that will help illustrate why I've been away from my computer.


First, my husband took me on a surprise trip to Shoshone Falls near Twin Falls, Idaho. The Snake River is about as full as we've ever seen it this year, so the falls are spectacular, as you can see above. It was my birthday that week, and this was a fun way to celebrate.

After enjoying the beautiful Shoshone Falls, we drove into Twin Falls, crossing Snake River Canyon over the the famed Perrine Bridge.

We stayed in Twin Falls that night, and wanted to hit a session at the fairly new Twin Falls Temple. But when we arrived, we learned that the sessions only run every 2 hours. So we settled for doing sealings instead. It was a wonderful way to start out my birthday.



After spending time in this beautiful temple, we changed, ate a bite of lunch at an impressive Chinese buffet, then we went exploring. We found the Perrine Falls. This waterfall is one of the longest I've ever seen. It starts at the top of Snake River Canyon and plummets to the ground below. This is what it looks like up close at the bottom:

We headed next to explore the Shoshone Indian Ice Caves, located north of Twin Falls. This was a fun adventure. It was so hot that day, the ice cave felt wonderful. It is about 40 degrees inside this cave. For a while, I felt like I could live there. ;)




We eventually headed home, after meeting up with Kennon's siblings and spouses at a favorite Greek Restaurant for dinner that night in Pocatello. Then we geared up for the weekend.



That weekend (July 10-12) a huge reunion on my mother's side of the family tree took place. My son, Derek, his wife, Kristen, and their cute little girl, Aari, came down on Friday. Saturday morning, we headed to nearby Bear Lake to enjoy a picnic, and to play in the sand and water. As you can see, Aari had a blast. So did her grandmother. =D



My mother then arrived at our abode that afternoon with her brother, his wife, and his m-i-l. We enjoyed a good visit, fun food, and prepared to head up to Star Valley for the annual James Lowery & Genevieve Sibbett reunion. A good time was had by all.



Above you can see some of my cousins, and their mother, one of my favorite aunts, singing a touching number. (Music is huge on this side of our family tree.)



After the reunion, we prepared for the annual girls' camp adventure that took place this past week in our stake. (July 14-17)This year we journeyed once again to Camp Honock, located near Soda Springs. Once again a good time was had by all.



And you'll be happy to know that there weren't any serious injuries this year. (Yep, we put up our huge cabin tent without it caving in on my head.) My oldest son, Kris, pictured above with his cute mommy, helped us out a ton as we put our campsite together.

All in all, it has been a crazy couple of weeks---and the craziness continues. In a few minutes, I'm leaving for Ashton, Idaho for my 30 year class reunion. Wow, how the time flies by.

I wish you all a safe, fun weekend, and I'll be back sometime next week.

Climb Every Mountain . . . or not

So yesterday was the beginning of our annual stake girls' camp adventure. We've been planning for this event for quite some time. As the YW president of our ward, I've had my hands full getting the girls excited, and helping our two new camp directors prepare for this great event.

We all met at the church house yesterday morning at 7:45 a.m. After loading 3 pickup trucks full of camp gear, and cars with 12 girls, we headed for the mountains.

We arrived at Camp Ho-nok about 9:00 a.m. right on schedule. Then the true adventure began, the setting up of the tent(s) scenario. We only had to set up four---one for the priesthood leader, one for the camp directors, one for the food, and one for our girls. The tent we set up for our girls is a huge white canvas cabin tent. This tent was purchased a few years ago by our ward and it solves a lot of problems: since it holds about 20 girls, there is no arguing over who is sleeping in which tent. It provides one big slumber party. There is only one downside---the framework for this tent consists of fairly heavy metal pipes. They come in 3 sizes, and since it had been a while since I last helped put this tent together, we weren't sure which pipes went where.

Diving in, we did the best we could, and formed what we thought was the correct framework for the tent. But as we attached the final pipes, then slid the canvas tent over the top, we could see that we had made a huge mistake: it wasn't wide enough and we had a vaulted ceiling. ;) Yep, we had put it together incorrectly. Sighing, we knew we had to tear the thing down and start over.

We had each been assigned to hold onto a pipe as we slid the canvas over the the framework---those on the right side of the tent were instructed to remove their pipes while those of us on the left side held our pipes firmly in place. What we hadn't counted on was the immediate collapse of the middle. My husband was trying desperately to hold it in place, but it was to no avail.



Without warning, one of the center pipes nailed me on top of the head. There I was, valiantly holding onto my pipe, minding my own business, when the pipe threw off my groove. Literally. One of my counselors later said that she saw the back end of the tent collapse, then me hitting the ground and rolling over a couple of times. That's the part I don't recall. I remember something connecting with my head, then lying in the dirt in fuzzy mode as everyone around me panicked.

When I opened my eyes, I was asked silly things like: "Are you okay?" They sat me up and that's when the real fun began; I was bleeding profusely. The girls screamed and scattered. First Aid kits were dumped out on the ground as everyone searched for gauze pads. One girl bravely sacrificed her nice, white wash rag. =) It will likely never look the same.

I was rushed down the mountain to Montpelier (about a 45 minute drive) for medical assistance. As I sat waiting to be looked at, an older woman walked over to ask me what time it was. Then she registered how "lovely" I looked and backed away muttering, "I am so sorry. I didn't realize you were hurt." I tried not to let the horrified look on her face affect my self-esteem. ;)

As it turned out, I didn't have to endure stitches. The gash is located right on top of my head, in the middle. The doctor told us that to stitch it shut, a portion of hair had to be shaved away. I declined this gracious offer. He figured it would seal on its own and it did, eventually. And since I did know my name and where I was, he decided I would be just fine. I was cautioned to wear a hat over my head if I returned to girls' camp to keep the dust, bugs, etc. out of my cute little wound, and we hurried home to change into clean clothes, since we were both covered in blood. (Head wounds look a lot worse than they are.)

We did return to camp---I knew I needed to reassure the girls that all was well. They were pretty freaked out about the whole thing. I was just so very grateful that I was the only one hurt. I would have felt terrible if any of them had sustained a similar injury.

This morning, I have a bit of a headache. I probably will for a few days. But it could've been a lot worse. We're calling my wound this year's memory dent, and we're all laughing about it now. The thing I hope "my girls" will remember is this: Life rarely turns out the way we envision. The best laid plans often go awry. And sometimes we slide down the mountain we're trying to climb. The important thing is to keep climbing, to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and continue on our way. We may have to take a different path, but if we arrive at our intended destination, that's what matters most.


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The Tradition of Girls' Camp, or Why YW Leaders Turn Grey

Ah, the bliss of girls' camp. ;) I suppose I'm pondering this subject because next week our ward will be participating in the annual stake girls' camp adventure. I've lost count of how many years I've attended girls' camp. It began when I was the ripe age of 12. I was a naive Beehive who sponged for things like the ever popular snipe hunt. I won't reveal how long I sat under a tree waiting for the infamous snipes to make an appearance that night, but long enough to gain an appreciation for this fine endeavor.

Girls' camp was a magical time. Leaders let their hair down---literally. Some of them looked quite interesting by the time camp was over. Actually we all did. It was part of the fun. Along the way, we girls learned the importance of tying knots, not getting lost during hikes, cooking over a fire, how to live without makeup or curling irons, and how to light a fire without matches. Always there were fun crafts, hilarious skits, and spiritual boosts like testimony meetings around a campfire.

I only caught myself on fire once during my years as a girl camper. It happened during my fourth year of camp. There we were, diligently learning to light a fire using only flint and steel. I had a slight handicap---I had broken a finger the week before during a softball tournament. (I had caught the fly ball that won the game---just with the wrong hand. The one without a glove. Story of my life, but I digress.) My broken finger was wrapped with gauze and taped to a small splint. It proved to be a nuisance during that entire camping adventure. But on the day that we were building fires, it really made things exciting fun.

I was thrilled when I saw smoke---after I had scraped the flint and steel together for what had seemed like hours. All of a sudden I heard one of our leaders scream, "She's on fire!" I was immediately thrown into a nearby creek---as my leader landed on top of me. Not one of my finer moments. ;) In the process of lighting a fire, I had caught the gauze on fire. Good times. On the bright side, I was given full credit for lighting a fire.

The years passed and along the way I found myself called to serve in the YW. This time I would be attending girls' camp as an adult. It was awesome, despite entertaining moments like the day some rambunctious girls smeared Icy Hot on the toilet paper. The girls' camp director later commented that camp that year had left her with a warm feeling. (She was the only one who was affected by that prank. She warned the rest of us as she ran screaming toward a creek.)

Then there was the time when a "Koala Bear" invaded our camp. The girls ran screaming down the hillside, flattening their leaders in the process. All we heard was "BEAR!!!" "IT'S A BEAR!" Then one girl screamed out: "IT'S A KOALA BEAR!" Highly unlikely in Idaho, but worth a look. When I took a flashlight up to investigate, I found that a raccoon had crawled inside of their tent and he or she was enjoying a handful of crackers from a box that had been left open in the tent. We still tease this young lady about the time she found a Koala Bear at girls' camp. =)


After serving in YW for nearly 5 years and attending girls' camp almost every summer, I was released from YW and found myself shanghaiied into Primary right off the bat. That next spring I was called to be the girls' camp director. Our bishop at the time wrote my name in magic marker on the ward calling roster, stressing that this was a permanent thing. I didn't mind. I'll admit, we had a lot of fun. I love working with the youth and each year we made a lot of fun memories. I think we were all disappointed when I was eventually called to serve in the stake R.S., and had to be released from the joy of girls' camp.


About a year and a half ago (2 weeks after being released from my stake position) I was called to serve as the YW president for our ward. More girls' camp adventures. =) Last summer, our stake had the opportunity to attend the Heber Valley Girls' Camp facility in Utah. It was a wonderful week. By far one of the most spiritual girls' camp adventures I've ever experienced. If any of you ever get the chance to attend camp in this location, go for it. It's very much worth the expense and adventure getting there.

Here's my take on why the tradition of girls' camp is important. Girls' Camp provides a setting where the YW and their leaders can get to know each other a little better. It's a chance to show the YW what you're made of, and vice versa. The YW learn important survival skills that they may or may not need in the years to come. I can honestly state that as a YW leader, I have used everything I ever learned during my youthful girls' camp days. I've also used these skills as the mother of all sons who loved to camp, hike, and fish.

The best part of camp I think, is the night some dread, the night when girls and leaders are given a chance to share what's in their hearts around a warm campfire. There's a special feeling in a forest setting, not found anywhere else.


I'm looking forward to this year's camp. In an ironic twist, one of the girls (pictured above) that went with us years ago to Camp "Koala Bear", is now serving as the secretary in my YW presidency. She will be going to camp with the girls this year and she is so excited. She is seeing for herself that life is a circle. I have no doubt that she will have the time of her life as the baton is passed to another generation of girls' camp leaders. I will have to share one bit of wisdom with her before she heads up---always take along your own supply of toilet paper. This alleviates a lot of potential problems. =)

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