Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Have you ever seen anything like it???










Okay, so we had the most beautiful sunset tonight! I couldn't help but pull out my camera and snap some amazing shots of the breathtaking colors that filled the evening sky. I also thought it would be fun to share the pictures of my flowers that I planted this year. Aren't they cute! Flowers seriously make a home look so much more inviting. Ahhh, I love coming home to the most majestic place in the whole world. Where else can you get such amazing sunsets?

Friday, June 26, 2009

CaMp CaNdYLaNd~HuGs & KiSsEs

Girl's Camp Pictures and a few of the many stories...

The skit girls!!! They were all so cute!

Flag Ceremony...which was right after the skits. It was hard, trying to be reverent right after we were all laughing and going crazy from the creative skits. The girls did amazing though.

I was in charge of decorating for girl's camp. So, here are some of the decorations I did. The kisses balloons were a hit. Katie's sister-in-law donated them to us (she works for Hershey's). They were a lot of fun, and I think we had the BEST DECORATED campsite! I may be a little biased though.






This little line with cell phones on it is called, "Girls Online". The girls and leaders wrote messages to each other, like texting on a cell phone. So, they were "online". One of the many amazing ideas of Lisa and Carolee.

The beautiful scenery that surrounded us at camp.

Just chillin' around the fire!



Ted and me in front of our camp sign. Ted made and donated the vinyl lettering to our camp. Love you honey!


Lissa and me

Ted and Bishop Reiche

Here is most of the girls and leaders at flag ceremony last night. Go T2!
Having fun around the campfire!!!



This week was Girls' Camp! The theme was "Camp Candyland", and our ward was the "Hugs & Kisses". Needless to say, we ate TONS of CANDY!!! I am so sick from all the sweets! It was so much fun this year! We were all afraid we were going to get rained on, because it has been such a wet month, but we were very lucky and had excellent weather until this morning when we packed up and left. I am sooo glad it didn't rain during the week. It would have been sad, and everything would have gotten wet and cold.
Well, each day, we have fun activities! Lisa Harral, our camp director, made sure we had plenty of fun things to do, including "Candy Challenges" and crafts. The "Candy Challenges" were either done in groups or individually. All of them included candy, of course, and they were fun games or challenges to see who could win. I was on the Silver Team, and sadly, I believe we took 3rd out of the 3 teams, but winning isn't everything. I think we had the most fun!
Lissa, Ted's little sister, came up for a couple nights with Ted, and we had so much fun! She fit right into our ward, and the girls LOVED her! It was amazing to watch how she went right over to the girls and started making friends. The last night there, Lissa, and all the younger girls stayed up most of the night having fun. I am so glad she got the opportunity to come up. Thank you so much Ted's family for letting Lissa come have fun with us at Pasa La Coma/ Zion's Camp. I loved having her there!
We also had a cute girl, Mallory, one of our leader's nieces, come up from Utah and go to girls camp with us. I guess that her ward was planning on going to Salt Lake City and staying in a hotel with a pool for Girls Camp. Mallory didn't want to go, because she didn't think that was really camp, so Valerie (her aunt) brought her up with our ward. She had a ton of fun! I was surprised, when she bore her testimony, she said she hadn't even heard of what a "camp manual" was until she got to our camp. Thanks to Katie Schwartz, she got Mallory all certified and taken care of.
Carolee Smith, our Young Women's President did an amazing job with getting the whole camp put together with Lisa Harral. Everyone pitched in and helped, which was very nice. I can't believe how sweet and serving Teresa Murdock is! She literally went around the camp all day, doing small and large acts of service and helping everyone! I can't even count how many times she helped me, and she was the same way with everyone there. She is such a loving and caring individual. Valerie and Teresa Wood took care of all the food, and helped with so many other things. It was a lot of fun playing Valerie's "Flashlight Game" around the campfire. What she does is, shine the flashlight on you, then ask you a really hard question, and you have to answer truthfully in front of everyone. The flashlight gets passed around to whomever answered, and then it is their turn to interrogate someone else. It is fun!
One night, Ted, me, Lissa, Suzy Smith, and Allie Murdock decided to take all the girls Snipe Hunting. Now, it has been several years since this activity has happened, because one year, we did such an amazing job at pretending snipes were real, we made a girl cry. Hence, it got outlawed. But, we resurrected it this year and had some fun! Lissa was awesome, pretending she caught a couple snipes, but they kept eating through her bag. Ted dove under a tree and said he accidentally killed one. Then, Suzy and I pretended to make a "habitat" inside of our bag to catch one. Shockingly, right after that, we caught one. We all headed back to camp, but while I was trying to reach in and grab it, it bit me, so we threw it in the fire. Poor Snipe! Some of the girls really believed us and got scared, but later found out it was a joke. It is a mean joke, I know, but girl's camp isn't girl's camp without snipe hunting.
During one of the days, it was really hot, and we had some free time, so most of the girls headed down to the stream to soak their feet in the cool water. Well, as they did this, one of the priesthood men got a great idea. Brian Murdock decided that any girl in the stream deserved to be soaked. So, he got a bucket of water, and soaked the girls. Hannah, his daughter, decided to get him back, thus starting an all out water fight. Four girls in particular, Hannah, Haley Smith, Kira Jarman, and Mallory got Brain soaked back. It was great! Only one leader, Valerie got soaked, but she was in the stream, and Brian did warn her that if she was in the stream, she was fair game. After that, tons of water fights broke out in the neighboring camps, and everyone got in water fights. It was great!!! I, was one lucky soul, and didn't get a drop of water on me.
I think that some of my favorite memories from girl's camp this year would have to be, watching the skits all the wards did, sitting around the fire chatting, snipe hunting, and Brian Murdock's water fight with the Beehives.
Well, I hope that you have enjoyed reading my stories of this year's girl's camp. I wish I could expound more, but I think this is enough for my little blog. Hope all the girls and leaders had as much fun as I did! It was a BLAST!!! I LOVE GIRL"S CAMP!!!

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Rexburg Rain




So, the other day, my mom, Ted, and I all decided to go to the temple on one of Ted's rare day's off (which hardly ever happens). So, as we were heading to Idaho Falls, we realized that the IF temple was closed. Luckily, there is a temple in Rexburg now, which is only an extra half hour from the Idaho Falls temple. Needless to say, we decided to go to the Rexburg temple. Sorry Miriam, I would have called, but it was a rush!!! Well, the temple session was amazing, and I loved the beautiful artwork and design of the temple. If anyone heads up to Rexburg, definitely stop by for a session. It is well worth it.
On another note, I can't believe how much rain we are getting. It is crazy! We haven't had one dry day for three weeks. Out on the desert where we live, we have gotten ten inches of rain. That is more than we get in a whole year! And, there is a river out there that is called the Lost River (it is usually dry), but this year, it is flowing strong! The snake river looks like it is going to overflow anytime now. There is only about a foot until it hits the bottom of the bridge in Blackfoot. Already, we are getting some flooding around the river. I wouldn't be surprised if there is more. Sadly, our crops are getting ruined too. Our hay is falling over, and it is starting to mold at the roots from all the moisture. With the grain, there is a beetle that is beginning to surface that is ruining the crops of grain. Crazy how it is nice to have rain so we don't have to worry about shortages of water, yet it can have a not so welcoming effect too. Now, we are all praying for good weather.
Girls camp is this week! I am leaving on Tuesday morning and will be back Friday. I am way excited! I just hope that the weather will be merciful and stay sunny the whole time! Camping in the rain is never fun! Well, pray for us to have good weather and a great girls camp this year! I am hoping that both will come true! And, I hope everyone has a fantastic week! I will post pictures of girls camp later this week. We also have Ted's brother, Josh's, wedding open house on Saturday, so maybe I will get some pictures from that too! Love you all!
Oh, and Miriam, next time I come to Rexburg, I promise to call!

Monday, June 15, 2009

Oh My Craziness!!!

So, this week, we are getting ready for Girl's Camp, and it is sooo stressful! We just went through and inventoried the supplies we have, and we still have so much to get ready in a week. I am so stressed out about it! Ahhh! As we went through our supplies, we got to set up the tents we have, and there were so many with holes, zippers broken, and mold. It was gross. We were able to salvage most of them, but one we had to throw out. Luckily, we are bringing up a few newer tents, and we are going to buy a new one. We had the Beehives come over and help us sort through things, and they did such an amazing job with cleaning and helping out. They made it fun, laughing and spraying each other with water. So now, I am hoping and praying that everything will go smoothly this next week so that Girl's Camp will go well. Wish us luck with getting everything ready! Let me know if any of you have any words of wisdom to help me through this stressful time, or tips to make Girl's Camp less stressful! Thanks!
P.S. On a more uplifting note, the Girl's Camp Theme this year is Camp Candyland, and we are Hugs and Kisses. So, I am way excited about that! Chocolate for everyone! Yeah!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

X-tra USS Missouri, and PCC pics











So, last night, Ted and I watched Peal Harbor because we had just visited it, and it was almost spooky. The places we had just walked and been to were the actual place that the events took place, and it made the movie so much more real. They did such an amazing job at making the movie, and the scenes look exactly like the way it was. We thought we saw the USS Missouri in a couple of the ship scenes, and it wouldn't surprise me if they shot footage on the ship. If you haven't seen the movie in a while, you should watch it. It makes you remember the reason why war is so sad and devastating. The last part of the movie is especially sad, and we couldn't help but cry. It really puts things into perspective, because every person that dies at war is a brother, sister, son, daughter, father, mother, husband, wife, or friend to someone. So, next time you think about war, think about someone you love out there fighting, and it will really change your mind-set.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Kailua and our Hotel and Waikiki Beach

This is one of the hotel towers of the hotel we stayed in. The Hilton Hawaiian Village was very nice to stay in!
Me and Ted at the Hilton Waikiki Beach
Garling Family. Charity brought Colton along, and he seriously was the best baby ever! I never heard him cry once! Even on the airplane!

Having fun on the beach
The first time we met Rachel.

The sand on Kailua Beach is so soft! Seriously the softest sand in the world!



A storm coming in over the mountains.
Another storm picture. The rain is warm down there, and it feels very nice!
Ted at the beach in Kailua
Oops, I already have this picture. Oh well, I like my new swimsuit!











Our hotel room overlooked the city. It was very nice!
Getting Hawaiian Ice! It is the best snow cone you can get in the world! If you go to Hawaii, you have to get these! We also went to a shrimp bus. That was yummy!
Ted enjoying the warm ocean water.
Me and Ted on the beach













Me on Kailua Beach. The swimsuits we have on, we had to buy at a shop down there. We dressed in normal clothes, but it was so hot, and we decided to take a bike ride to the beach, so we had to get something other than street clothes. Thank goodness we did! It was HOT!!!







I ventured out into the ocean.














Ted on Kailua Beach




























I like getting my feet wet.
First dip in the ocean at Kailua. Ted likes submersing himself.













Riding bikes in Kailua














Ted at Kailua Beach














Me at Kailua Beach