Girls Camp!

This past week was our stake's girls camp in Soni Springs, Michigan.  I went up as the first year certification leader for the stake which means I was in charge of making sure all the first year campers had an awesome time at camp.  The coolest thing about being a leader at camp (besides getting to spend a week with the most amazing girls) is that you get to use a walkie talkie!  (that's me in the middle with the black walkie talkie clipped to my hip).  Love that!  All in all we had a great time - beautiful weather, yummy food, mosquito bites at a minimum and only one case of poison ivy.

GO CUBS!!!

Last week Meredith and I were in Chicago for a conference that I had for work. As part of the activities over the weekend, my company got 30 tickets to a "roof top" at the Cubs game. A roof top is located across the street behind the outfield wall. With your ticket, you watch the game from the roof and can see right into Wrigley Field. Also, there was food (hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, salads & chocolate chip cookies) and soda during the entire game. We had a blast and the weather was great. Too bad the Cubs lost to the Giants, but they are still in 1st place. GO CUBS!!!

Chicago!

Shane had a conference in Chicago this past week so we made it into a mini-vacation.  Although we go into Chicago all the time, we'd never stayed over night and we were excited to be fully immersed in the downtown atmosphere.  We started our trip by jumping on the subway and heading to our favorite Mexican restaurant - Adobo Grill.  Their guacamole may be the best we've ever had and the tamales barbacoa are amazing - they take me back to the homemade tamales I had on my mission! ¡Que Rico!

Cucumber Alert!

Our garden is being overtaken by cucumbers!  While we enjoy a good cucumber now and again we’re running out of ways to eat them.  Vinegar cucumbers makes a refreshing side but gets a little old after serving it 3 days in a row!  Please share your ideas before we run into a cucumber emergency!!!

Pyromaniac!

We had such a fun 4th of July! It started out with a big breakfast over at the church with our ward. Everyone brought something to share (we made dutch oven omelets). After breakfast there was a little program followed by all sorts of games and a bike parade for the kids. It was great! Later on we got together with some friends for a BBQ and fireworks. Shane and the other guys were like a bunch of kids running in and out of the street to light the fireworks. It was hilarious!

Heritage Fest

We went to Heritage Fest with our friends and had such a great time walking around and checking out all the food booths. Shane made a bee line for the pork-chop-on-a-stick stand and couldn't have been more happy with his choice. Maybe this is something we should try at home!

Game Night

After a nice Sunday nap and a fabulous Sunday dinner (BBQ teriyaki pork and grilled pineapple), we settled down to a competitive game of Settler's. And if that didn't make it the perfect evening the home-made raspberry ice cream did! Every night should be game night!

Scout Camp or Bust!

For a while there I thought scout camp might be a bust. Here it is 1pm and the scouts are pulling out of the driveway...3 hours late! It all started at 10am when all the scouts showed up excited for their week long camp-out. Shane and Lonny had already loaded one truck full of gear and were waiting for the other truck to arrive and so they could finish packing. Unfortunately, due to some unforeseen complications, the second truck never came and at 10:30am Shane and the other leaders were scrambling for a plan to get all the gear and the boys up to camp. After switching a minivan for a suburban, things were back on track and everything was loaded. We took a group photo, said a pray, and everyone piled into their designated vehicle excited to finally be on their way. Camp Napawan is in Wisconsin and due to a week of heavy rain there were a lot of roads closed due to flooding. Luckily they knew this ahead of time and were able to chart out an alternate route before heading out.

With everyone loaded up the cars started pulling out...except Shane. Uh-oh! We thought we'd seen enough drama already this morning! The truck Shane had borrowed wasn't starting. Everyone piled out of their cars again as Shane tried over and over again to start the truck. They tried jump starting it but soon realized the battery wasn't the problem - the starter had gone out! I began to think maybe scout camp wasn't meant to be this year. How were they ever going to find another truck to carry all the gear? Everyone was on their cell phones calling anyone they knew that might be able to help and nobody was having success. Shane was beginning to feel a bit discouraged (who'd blame him), and the boys were getting restless and hungry. We got out some snacks and turned on the hose so the boys could splash around a bit in the water while the leaders had a Pow-Wow. These leaders and their families are amazing and their willingness to serve and sacrifice is inspiring. One of the leaders and his wife offered the use of both of their family SUV's in order to get everyone up to camp! Thank you! So after a crazy start the boys are finally on their way. And I'm sure this will be a camp-out to remember!

Here's Lonny!

Shane's the Scout Master in our ward and invited his dad to come to scout camp with him. Now if any of you know Lonny, you know that he's not only the best handyman around (sorry, Shane!), but he's also the most happy when he's working on a project. Well, we couldn't have Lonny come out and be unhappy, so we put him to work before he could even unpack his bags!

Say goodbye to the "dressing room" bright, hot vanity lights. (Yes, we'll still treat you like a star when you come to visit.) Shane and Lonny cut a big hole, put in a new electrical box for a new light and then patched it all up. All this and nobody got electrocuted - yeah!

Notice the nice beige wallpaper trim? Now you see it...

...Now you don't! Wow, I think our bathroom just grew a foot taller - love that!

Our favorite show's back on! Have you picked your favorite dancers?