2011 Girls YW Camp

I got asked to attend Girls Camp this year. I was very excited. I was one of four in charge of the 4th years. We were assigned two 5th years and three SYLS. We went to a place in Oregon. It was a beautiful campsite and we stayed in tents. The theme was a moment in time. Our group was the "Stone Age". We decorated with dinosaurs and cave women. Our girls were absolutely lovely. Because the 4th years do adventure camp, they didn't go on the day hike. We were in charge of a spa experience for the rest of the girls. We did pedicures for everyone. Our girls did an excellent job and we all had a good time. We had several visitors ie Alma, Lucy Mack Smith, Jesus, Mary, Mary Magdalene. The stake leaders planned several moments in time experiences and games that were absolutely amazing. It was a very spiritual week and I was so buoyed up. Our girls had a great skit. Here are some pictures I took during the week.

Everyone doing the Thriller dance

5th year (Sheighla), SYL (Elise), and 4th yr, (Merecia) girls

Girls getting ready for our skit (Schuyler, Jordan, & Megan)
(Princesses and Mrs DR. made one of the cars)

I was in charge of this value during the game of life. Yes the r is missing.

Some of our Priesthood leaders

Part of our campsite

Part of our campsite
Yes I put up most of the tents
Part of our campsite

Doing pedicures at our spa experience

Doing pedicures at our spa experience

Mailboxes for each girl

Family Photos

We had family photos taken. Candace Hawkley (Dr.'s sister) is a professional photographer. We were lucky enough to have her take our photos. Here are some of the photos.

Crazy July

July was a pretty crazy month. First we were lucky enough to have our daughter and her family come. It was great. We were lucky to have sleepovers with all 5 grandkids. Art and I had a ball. We were able to get family pictures taken. I am so blessed to have such a great family. I will post pictures later. I had the pleasure to go to girls camp. Before I left for camp we got word that Art's sister had colon and liver cancer. My thoughts and prayers were with her. I had reservations before I left as Art's mom was not doing very well and I had a feeling she would pass while I was gone. She did. I was very saddened I was not there to support my Art and I was unable to pay my last respects to her. We ended the month celebrating our 23rd anniversary.

Sometimes you have to wait your turn..........

Sometimes you have to wait your turn..........

Home or Bust

Well the trip home I am happy to say was uneventful. The flights were all good and we made all our connections with no problems. The Buddy picked us up at the airport and delivered us safely home. We landed at 9:00 pm and were home before 10:00 pm. It seems like a dream now it went by so fast. Now back to the real world.

Oh goodness it is already our last day in DC. After breakfast we checked out of the hotel, left the car in the hotel parking lot and took a cab to Capitol Hill. We started at the Library of Congress. Wow was the library ever awesome. I am so glad we decided to go back to see it. It was so worth it. We spent several hours there and we didn't even see it all. But it really was amazing. We were really lucky because there was hardly anyone there when we got there and it got really full by the time we left. Then we headed over to the Capitol. We wandered around there a little and then we walked(a long walk) down to the original Smithsonian, the castle. I was surprised how small it was....well in comparison to everything else. But it was cool. After that we caught a cab back to the area of our hotel and had a late lunch.

The Buddy told us about a sandwich shop so we went there. It was really yummy. I would definitely go there again. We tried the milkshakes and they were good too but when will I learn.....no matter how good the shake is, it makes my stomach hurt. Thank heavens I packed pro-actazymes.

After lunch we headed back to Newport News. It was a pleasant drive. We took a little side road and it was really pretty. After getting checked in to the motel, we took a dip in the pool. It was so refreshing. Then we just rested by the pool.
We walked next door to a store and then went to a Japanese Hibachi Steak House. It was really good but they gave us way too much food. I couldn't even eat half of it. It was yummy. We waddled back to the motel.

Tonight it is like a barnyard.....our calves are mooing and our dogs are howling.(our legs and feet hurt from so much walking). It is hard to believe we go home tomorrow. The time has just flown by. I need to say, every hotel we stayed at was really nice. I usually take pictures of the rooms that we stay in and for some reason I didn't do it this time. I wish I would have because they were all nice. And the bed at the last hotel was awesomely comfortable. One of the best ones we have ever slept in. Not only was it comfortable, Art's feet didn't hang over the end.

One small sad note. I lost one of my favorite earrings and I never did find it. Dang.....oh well.

Best Laid Plans

Well we actually had a plan of what we wanted to do today.........it just didn't work out that way. It all worked out fine just different. All the streets downtown were blocked for a triathlon. They were blocked until 1:00. We were detoured on the way to town. It took longer but we were able to see areas not on any tour. We even got to see some of the slum areas. Since the streets to the places we had planned to go were blocked we went back to Georgetown. It is really hard to get back on the trolley after you get off so we decided not to get off anywhere. When we got back to the transfer station, we decided to walk around the area. We thought about going to the Spy Museum but I thought the entrance fee was too high so we ended up going to the wax museum. It had all the Presidents past and present and several celebrities. It was fun. By then the streets opened up. We decided to go to the capitol and Library of Congress, Unfortunately they were closed, We walked down to the Air and Space Museum. It was pretty cool. Then the afternoon was almost gone and it was getting late so we got back on the very full trolley. To get on Art had to sit up in the window area that isn't really a seat but we were grateful to be on. We just stayed on and looked at the sites from the window of the trolley. It was ok as we saw most of if up front and personal yesterday.We did the manager's reception split a sandwich and back to the room to put our tired feet up and make some calls. It was suppose to rain today and although it lightly sprinkled a couple times the weather was good......not too hot. We still managed to do a lot of walking. We didn't get to see the things we planned but we still had a grand time. Maybe tomorrow we can see a few things before we leave. And if not that is OK. The best part is we saw the things on our bucket list. AND we were together.