Canoe Outpost

Each week at camp the Aquatics staff puts together an overnight canoe trip. Any overnight trip the scouts go on, we have to send a staff member that is atleast 21 years old, so last night Todd and I decided to go. Usually they wont let girl staff members go on overnight trips for obvious reasons, but i'm married to Todd so they let me go!

So for the overnight trip the scouts hop in their canoes and canoe down the lake about 2 miles to a camp ground and then someone loads up their gear and drives it down to their campsite. Todd and I actually didn't get to go in a canoe this week because we haven't actually done our swim checks (oops). So we drove the scouts gear down to the camp. The organization of this overnight trip was a bit chaotic at first but it all worked out in the end. We had about 40 scouts and when they finally got to the camp ground, we gave them some snacks consisting of fruit snacks, string cheese, and jerky sticks. Then we built a fire and just hung out with the scouts for a bit before we sent them to bed. Most of them were so tuckered out from canoeing that they just set up their sleeping bag, layed down and went right to sleep. At ten o'clock we declared it was "quiet time" and made them get ready for bed, which I was super excited about because I was tired. Now, it has been a very very very long time since I have slept on the ground or on a sleeping pad. I think I might have slept on a sleeping pad at girls camp one time but thats it. So sleeping on a small sleeping pad felt very strange to me. Todd and I were laying in our sleeping bags, and I can't remember the exact converstation because I was a tad bit loopy for being so sleep deprived, but for some reason I said, "I would hold your hand, but I'm stuck in a canoe." What I really meant though was "I'm stuck in a cacoon" referring to my zipped up sleeping bag. After I said it I immediately caught my mistake and giggled for a good 5 mins or so. In fact I still laugh to myself a little when I think about it.

I'm super glad we went on the outpost. It was a lot of fun and super pretty scenery. I almost took my brothers awesome Nikon D70 with me but I wasn't sure what I was getting into and didn't want anything to happen to it so I left it locked up at camp. I did take my regualr camera though and managed to get a few shots of the beautiful wheat field we set our tent up next to.

Super pretty right? I loved it.

The motorcycle that couldn't...

So a friend of ours at camp named Dakota has a motorcycle. Todd and I love to ride motorcycles and last night we asked if we could take a ride. Dakota said yes so we followed him out to the bike. We had a hard time getting it started and ended up having to pop the clutch to get it going. This didn't seem horrible to me because sometimes bikes have a hard time getting started the first time but then they are fine. So we got it started and headed out on our merry little way. We weren't going to go very far, but we realized that if we slowed down to try to turn, the motorcycle would start to die. So we kept driving until we found a wide enough space where we could turn around and keep enough momentum so the bike wouldn't die. Well, that plan didn't work and the bike died about a mile and a half away from camp. Like I said earlier, usually when they start once they'll start again, but this bike didn't start again. Todd repeatedly tried to pop the clutch to get it started but we weren't in the best area to do this. We were actually situated at the bottom of a hill. So we started walked the bike back to camp and every so often Todd would try to get it started again. Meanwhile Dakota and the rest of the staff were at camp completely oblivious to what was going on and we had no way of contacting them. We walked for about 15 mins when a family in a pickup truck stopped to ask if we were okay. We said we were and they asked if we needed help getting it started or if we wanted a lift back to camp. At first we told them that we were fine but they kept insisting. So the dad got out to help Todd get the bike started. They tried a few different things but nothing worked so finally we decided to accept their offer for a ride back to camp. I'm glad we did because it would have been a bit farther of a walk than I was thinking and it was getting dark really fast. So we loaded the bike and they dropped us off at camp.

Dakota, your motorcycle needs help.

I feel bad for Dakota because he just had a ton of work done on it to fix a few things and now it's having problems again. We're thinking that he just needs a new battery but we aren't sure.

I'm really surprised I didn't throw a tantrum on the side of the road. I was pretty calm the whole time! I kept thinking "I knew this was going to happen, oh well!" Poor Todd woke up really tired this morning from pushing the motorcycle up the hills.

Maybe after Dakota gets his bike fixed we'll try again. Maybe.

My Darling Dearest's Birthday

Todd's birthday was on Monday! He's now 25 years old. He got to spend his birthday working at camp. Sounds fun right? I felt really bad and worried that he wouldn't really have a fun birthday because our days here at camp are long and hard, but he said he had a fun day.

We actually celebrated his birthday on Saturday and he got to open all of his presents early (lucky duck!). We ate dinner over at his parents house, built a fire and just relaxed. It was a lot of fun! The presents he got were: a Himalayan Salt Lamp (super cool), a Calvin & Hobbes book, a Redwall book, and a book called "Nightpool". Can you tell that he likes to read? haha.

At camp on Monday, throughout the day everyone wished him a happy birthday and a few staff members decided that Todd needed a birthday cake on his birthday. So they drove to town and bought a cake mix to make him a cake! Sweet huh! We kept it a secret from Todd so he would be surprised (and he was). At camp fire that evening the entire camp (all 420 of us) sang "Happy Birthday" to him. It was a very loud and off-key version but fun and festive no less. After the camp fire we called all of the staff together to eat cake and we all sang to Todd one last time.

I am so happy to have Todd as my constant companion. I want to take him on a date this weekend sometime so we can celebrate his birthday with just the two of us because we were so busy with family stuff last weekend. Hopefully he'll say yes!

I love you Todd! Happy Birthday! 25 down, an eternity to go! I'll be there with you for every single birthday yet to come. :)

A weekend with Family

This weekend has been soo crazy! We had so much fun though.

We left camp on Thursday night because we needed to wake up early on Friday to get some shopping done and to have our car inspected so we can register it. So Friday morning we registered the car (It passed wooo!) and then ran some small errands. Then Friday evening we went to my dear friend Shersti's wedding. I wish I had pictures but I forgot my camera! Drat! Her reception was beautiful. Her colors were black, teal, and orange. So cute! We're so excited for them to move down to St. George so we can hang out! It will be a blast. Congrats Shersti and Kurt!

Saturday my cousin Amber had her baby shower. I love baby showers. I think they are so fun! Plus, since we live in St. George, we don't get to see extended family as often so I look forward to any and all opportunities I have to see them.

(I just want to let you all know that the diaper has a melted candy bar in it..)

Dawson's Birthday bash on Saturday was a lot of fun. He turned two! I can't believe it. I remember holding him when he was a tiny baby. Now he has two baby sisters. Anyway, we went over to Paul and Amy's house to watch Dawson open his presents and to eat cake and ice cream. He got a new Hotwheels trike, a helmet (he loves helmets.. which isn't a bad thing), and a cool picnic table. I was snapping pictures left and right of all the kids playing. Kids are so much fun to photograph. I think if I stick with photography I will lean more towards the portrait/family side of photography.

After that Todd & I went perusing through Antique stores with my dad. I have been looking for an old milk/dairy can for weeks now. Curious as to why I would want an old dairy can? Well, my mom found one while visiting us in St. George and turned it into this:

Cute right?! Now I want one of my very own. So we went out with my dad on a mission to find one. Take a look at what we came up with:

I am excited to get some decorative flowers to put in my new dairy can.

We also found one of these:

This is a 1937 Coleman lantern.

For those of you who don't know my father, he collects old Coleman lanterns and restores them. It's a hobby of his. He's got 39 lanterns hanging in our garage that he has saved from Antique stores and yard sales. So if you have any Coleman lanterns that you don't really want, let me know! I have the perfect home for them. :)

After we got back from shopping around with my dad, we headed over to Todd's parents house to celebrate Todd's birthday. Yup, that's right! It's my dear sweet husband's birthday tomorrow (Monday) and he is turning 25! Whoo! So we went over to have dinner and hang out. His mom made him his favorite meal (Lasagna and bread sticks) and we ate more cake. yumm! I'm so glad I have such a great husband. He is the best!

Today, we went to church with Paul & Amy to watch the twins, Brynne & Annie, get their baby blessings. So tender. These girls have been through so much! They are so tough. We love them both with all of our hearts.

Now, in just a few short hours, we have to report back to camp. The summer is fading away so quickly I can't believe it. Soon we'll be back in St. George soaking up the sun and sitting by the pool. Well, hopefully our next place has a pool! We almost signed a lease to rent a condo but backed out at the last second because we just didn't feel right about the price. So the hunt for a place to live continues. We've got our eyes on a couple of places still so keep your fingers crossed for us!

Troop 1328

Todd and I were troop friends of the coolest troop this last week. Troop 1328! This was our first week being troop friends and we were kind of nervous about it. We weren't really sure how to be good troop friends. Plus, the scoutmaster of our troop told us how excited he was to have a mature couple as their troop friend because he has had some bad troop friends in the past. No pressure right? haha. Turns out we did okay though! Our scoutmaster told us we were one of the best troop friends he has ever had. Woohoo! I am so glad we got to be the troop friends for this troop. They are amazing! They go the extra-mile in everything that they do. They did 3 (yes 3!) service projects and had such great troop yells during the week. They really wanted to win the spirit paddle (equivalent to a spirit stick but we're at an aquatics base so we have a spirit paddle) and we did everything we could to help them achieive that goal. Guess what? They won it! We were so proud! It was so much fun getting to know all the boys in Troop 1328. They even gave us nicknames. They called Todd "daddy long-legs" and they called me "Repunzel" because at the beginning of the week they kept calling Todd "Flint Ryder" because he is in charge of building the campfires. (For those of you who haven't seen the movie Tangled you are probably confused, so go watch the movie!) I love being a Troop friend! It is a ton of fun.

Thanks for being so great Troop 1328! We're so glad we got to be your troop friends for the week!

Keep in touch!

:)

Troop 34

This week at camp a horrible accident happened. We lost a scout in a scuba diving incident. Somehow the scout had become separated from his group and the staff was called down to the water front to do a lost swimmer search. Never in my life did I ever think I would have to look for a lost swimmer. We searched for 20 mins or so and when we found him he was rushed to the Logan Hospital where he was pronounced dead. I can't describe to you the saddness I felt for this boy, his family, his friends, his leaders, troop and the rest of the staff. We did everything we could and nobody is at fault, it was just an accident we couldn't stop from happening. Even though I only saw this boy once, I still felt as though I had lost a close friend. I know that he is in a better place now and that Heavenly Father has a plan for him. If it hadn't been this young scouts time to die, we would have found him in time.

His family and friends are in my prayers as they go through this trial. They were one of the best troops we have had at camp this summer and I wish them the best in everything they do. I will never forget them and the sweet spirit that they brought to camp.

We flew the flags at half-mast for the rest of the week in honor of him.

"God be with you til we meet again."