It's all good . . .

Bits and Pieces of July

July was a crazy month - I am not going to lie.  In many ways, it almost did me in, but somehow we made it through.  Most of the things were really good things, like my trip out west with Lily, Youth Conference, Derek's Eagle Project, and Kevin's trip, but wow, they were all exhausting.  There were so many big things, that some of the little things may have slipped through the cracks - and there were great little things scattered amongst the big.

Elder Jackson Serving in Shrewsbury When my nephew, Nathan, got called to the Baltimore Maryland Mission, we always held out hope that at some point, he would get to serve in our ward.  Between having sister missionaries most of the two years, and other circumstances, we thought was never going to happen, and so when on his final transfer, he got sent to our ward, it was a miracle.  And so for the last five weeks of his mission, he will get to come over for dinners, see us at church, even be at ward council with me.  We even got to have he and his companion over for dinner on his first night in the area. It has been awesome so far! 

Family Fireworks Fun With Derek gone for Independence Day, and with Lily and I gone, we never had a chance to light off our big fireworks together, and so one night, we finally made it happen.  We had so much fun, and the kids just loved it!

Young Women's Water Fun When the girls at church wanted to have a water balloon fight for an activity, I let them plan it, and they had so much fun.  With tons of water balloons, water guns, and my big back yard, they went to town and had a blast.  They even let Arthur join in on the fun.  These girls sure are fun, and I love working with them.

Summer Harvest When I got home from Idaho and Utah, my tomatoes were ready to start harvesting, and my carrots were ready to harvest as well.  And I still have strawberries coming in - not as many and the ones still growing and are tiny, but it is still awesome.  I love my garden so much!

Fresh Bread For some reason, I have been wanting to bake homemade bread for weeks, and so I baked bread and then I immediately ate and entire loaf with the kids - ha ha!  I did save some to take to some of our friends who had helped us out a lot lately.  I wish I had the energy to make fresh bread every day.  Yum!

Christmas Candy in the Summer One Sunday, Derek was in charge of the treat for Family Home Evening, and he desperately wanted to make divinity.  I have a great recipe, and have made it so many times, that I was shocked when it just wouldn't come together correctly.  And then it melted even more when we set it out.  It was then that I realized that the heat and the humidity do not mix well with divinity making - oh well.  I guess it really is for Christmas.

Hike Redo and Family Fun Back in June, I took the kids on a hike, where we ended up getting lost, because it turned out that we were in the wrong spot.  So, one of the days that Kevin was out of town with his dad, I decided to make a fun day of adventures with the kids, and so we went to Hanover and went and saw the new "Aladin" movie (which was awesome), went to dinner, and then went in search of the hike we missed out on the first time.  It was a beautiful hike, and we had a wonderful time.  It really turned out to be a great day.

Family Game Night We have had quite a few fun family game nights this summer, and even have gotten some great new games to play, like "Prosper" and "Seven Wonders."  I just love getting to play games with my family - no screens, no distractions, just spending time together.  And yes, sometimes there are tears and whining, but for the most part, it is so much fun.  And my kids love it.

Braces for Derek Derek just entered the world of braces, where he will be living for the next two years.  He was in quite a bit of pain for the first few days, but now he is settling in really well.  And he actually really likes his braces.  As for me, I think his braces make him look so much older - it is crazy how something so simple can make him look so grown up.

Final Farewell to Propane Although we switched over to Natural Gas from propane last year, but we still had a 500 gallon propane tank buried in our back yard.  That is, we did until last week, when we were able to get it dug up and taken away.  It was so exciting and we totally celebrated.  Propane had been the bane of my existence and was a huge cause of stress for me, and so have the final reminder of it completely gone, was amazing.

Silly Arthur Messages Starting when Kevin was on the trip with his dad, Arthur started wanting to send his daddy messages, and so Arthur would send him Marco Polo's, texts, and pictures.  These were a few of my favorite pictures that we took to send to Kevin.  This sweet little guy of ours is growing up too fast, and so I love having fun memories like this - and the pictures to prove it.

Kevin's Father-Son Road Trip

Kevin had his own western adventure in July, but his trip started in Dallas, and it ended in Salt Lake. You see, Kevin and his dad have been talking about a golf road trip for a while, dreaming of hitting up great courses along the East coast, and so when Dennis needed to get a truck from Dallas to Twin Falls, although it wasn't their first choice, he and Kevin managed to turn it into something fun.

Kevin met up with his dad in Dallas, Texas to begin a road trip across half of the country to take his dad's new truck to Idaho - through some of the most desolate and ugly train in the country, but they made it fun.  On Wednesday morning, Kevin flew out to Dallas, and the adventure officially began.

They stayed with Kevin's brother, Brian, the first night, and they had a great time hanging out - especially in the pool.  That is the perfect place to spend time in the Texas heat, that is for sure.

On Thursday morning, they started things off right by playing a really fabulous course near Brian's house, called Tour 18.  It has holes from famous courses all over the country recreated, making it super fun to play.  Both of them had played the course on their own before, but this time they got to play it together.

 

After golf, they loaded up in the truck and hit the road.  Kevin totally sent me a taunting violation picture of him eating Texas BBQ at Rudy's, one of our very favorite places.  And of course, there was totally one along the way during their drive through Texas.

They stopped for the night in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the next morning they played a beautiful course called Paa-ko Ridge.  When he sent me the pictures, I was shocked that it was in Albuquerque, because we had been there the previous summer, and I know I didn't see anything that green or beautiful anywhere.  They had so much fun and loved it.

Their final stop on their adventure, was Spanish Fork, Utah, where they stayed the night with Kevin's best friend, Glenn.  They went out and played Sleepy Ridge, and had so much fun (in spite of the fact that Glenn was in pain with a back injury).  And Kevin played AMAZING, with six birdies and shooting a 72.  Wow!

After golf, Dennis hit the road again, but this time without Kevin, who stayed behind in Utah, since he was flying out of Salt Lake.

Kevin got to spend time with one his other best friends in the world, Rob, who lives in Orem.  He stayed Saturday and Sunday night with the Drapers, and had a blast.  They played games, talked, laughed, and generally enjoyed getting to hang out with each other.

On Monday morning, Kevin flew home to us, and we were so very  happy to have him back.  He was only gone a few days, but once he left, I realized that he hadn't been home long enough from his deployment to leave us again.  I may have had a bit of PTSD while he was away ;).  Arthur was especially happy to have him back, because it meant that they got to finish reading the first Harry Potter book.  

Even though we missed him terribly, I am so grateful that Kevin was able to have this adventure with his dad.  Not only did it help out his dad tremendously, but it was a much deserved break and such a special tender mercy to get to spend the time with his dad.  

An Eagle Project - Comforting Those in Need of Comfort

From the time that Derek first joined the Boy Scouts, he has had the goal of eventually earning the rank of Eagle Scout.  Because of that, he has been working so hard to reach this goal - doing the best he could to earn each rank leading up to it, as well as all the merit badges that he needs.  In May, he earned his Life rank and so he started thinking about what he should do for his Eagle Project.  We spent the month of June figuring out what he wanted to do for his project, and then getting approval for it, which was a lot of work.  

By the last week of June, Derek had his approval and was ready to get going with his project, and it was a fabulous project.  It was titled "Comfort Those in Need of Comfort," and it was a three part service project, in which he hoped to make 100 packets for soldiers in Afghanistan, 50 bags of fun stuff for the pediatric unit at York Hospital, and 50 bags of comfort items for the VA hospital in Lebanon, PA.  He started out by collecting donations at church and in our neighborhood, and we were blown away by everyone's generosity.  Even family and friends from across the country contributed.

When we got all the donations, it was quite the ordeal to organize them all, but luckily we all worked together.

The plan was to take the donations with us to our Stake Youth Conference, and along with donations from the youth who were attending, put together the packets and bags, along with decorating the bags and making cards.  By the time we had everything set up for the service project on Friday morning, we were blown away by how many amazing donations we had received.

On Friday morning, that was when it all came together.  Derek led the show, and the kids went to work.  He had almost 100 people, both youth and leaders, working together, and it was awesome!

It was great to see the kids making the cards, decorating the bags, and putting them together.  It almost made me cry more than once, especially because each group the project was benefiting is close to our heart.  Arthur, our youngest son, actually stayed in the pediatric ward at York Hospital a few years ago, and the little things he was given there made a huge difference.  The VA hospital in Lebanon is where my husband, Kevin, receives treatment.  And finally, not only did Kevin just get back from Afghanistan, but the packages were going to friends of his that were still there, and who were going to distribute them to other soldiers.
It came together so well, and when all was said and done, we had far exceeded Derek's goals.  We had 117 packets filled with individualized drink packets and cards - four whole boxes packed full.

Mailing the boxes was the easiest thing to do, because getting all of those bags in the car was quite and adventure.

For the pediatric ward, we had 64 bags filled with fun stuff for the kids, as well as two boxes filled with tons more crayons, activities, play doh, bubbles, etc.  It was awesome!!

And a couple days ago, we drove about an hour away to Lebanon, PA to the VA hospital, where we not only donated 80 comfort bags, but boxes of extra supplies.  And we got to go in the hospital and hand out a few of the bags to Veterans that were patients there, which was amazing!  Talk about heartwarming - I almost cried a bunch of times.

It was such special Eagle Project, and I am so glad that Derek chose it.  And now that it is done, now all we have to do is wait for him to have been a Life Scout for 6 months, and then he can have his board of review.  Pretty awesome, and what an amazing experience!

Youth Conference Adventures

Kevin and I just had the fun and unique experience of being group leaders for our Lancaster Stake Youth Conference.  It was a little crazy getting ready for it, because not only did it start only a few days after Lily and I got home from our 10 day trip out West, but also because we had to organize and bring all the supplies for Derek's Eagle project.  It made for an exhausting start, but we were excited, and luckily, Arthur was in the good hands of my friends, Becky, Sharmayne, Jennie, and Ashley.

The Youth Conference took place at Elizabethtown College, which was very fun, but just as we were checking in all the kids, it started pouring rain.  Unfortunately, all the beginning activities were supposed to be outside on a field, but the rain made us change plans.  Instead, we had to move into the unairconditioned gym for the activities.  We managed to make the most of things and to have a great time with our group (one of which, was Lily), in spite of the sweltering heat and that we were all melting.

After two hours in the gym, we headed out to the now sunny field, where we did some fun team building activities.  It was just as hot and humid outside as it had been in the gym, but there was plenty of water, thank goodness - and the kids still had a great time.

It was Derek's first youth conference, and he was loving it and his group.  It still blows me away at how grown up he is getting.

After the activities, we had a short 30 minute break before we needed to meet our group and walk to dinner, and so I went up to my dorm room and tried to take a nap - unsuccessfully, but at least I got to lay down and rest in the AC after being in the crazy heated humidity for hours. We walked a couple miles to a park in town, and then we had a yummy luau for dinner. It was then that Kevin and I discovered that our roommates, were not actually youth, but very young leaders that were newlyweds - ha ha!  I had whispered to him that my roommate was a young woman and pointed her out, and then we discovered wedding rings on their fingers.  Funnily enough, every other group leader our age totally made the same mistake.  Good times!

After dinner, we got to have a quick minute for the kids to get ready for the dance, and then we were back outside again.  Really, it was a lot of outside time, and it was the middle of a heat wave, and it felt like it was over 100 degrees with the humidity.  Crazy!  Every single one of us was drenched with sweat.  Luckily, the sun started going down, and so it was a tiny bit more comfortable.  And as the dance began, all the kids got their second wind and wow, they danced and danced.  Lily even got her dad to dance with her for a song.  Miracle! 

And since it was Derek's very first dance, and he was really nervous, I encouraged him, and helped him get brave enough to ask a girl too dance.  And then his dad made him a challenge to dance with at least ten girls by the end of the youth conference.  He was awesome, and had a really good time.  It was the cutest.  Lily also got asked to dance quite a bit, which was great.  And the rest of the time, they were dancing and having a great time - Kevin even danced with me.

The next day was when our work really began, as that was when Derek's Eagle project took place.  Kevin and I had started setting up the night before, and then we finished the set up that morning while the kids were in their devotional.  Then it was go-time!  Derek led the group, telling the kids what to do, and they got to work making comfort bags for pediatric patients at York Hospital, patients at the VA hospital in Lebanon, PA, and for soldiers in Afghanistan.  The project worked out beyond our wildest dreams, and we had so many extra donations, we had boxes and boxes of leftover supplies, after making 112 soldier bags, 80 VA patient bags, and 64 pediatric patient bags.  It was truly amazing!

When the service project was over, we had lunch and a few hours of free time.  I took a quick nap, and then Kevin and I hung out with some of the other leaders and had a great time talking, while Kevin watched golf.  We also left campus and got yummy milkshakes, which was a great idea.  Later on, we drove to the Stake Center where they had set up an amazing etiquette dinner  and taught the kids about good manners.  While the kids had their fancy dinner, the leaders had our not so fancy dinner, but wow, we had fun.  Kevin regaled our table with stories of his time in the Army, and we all laughed and were amazed (I always hear new stories in these situations).

After the dinner was over, the kids had a nice dance, and they all enjoyed that it was in an air conditioned building - ha ha!  Derek danced a bunch of times again, and this time he even danced with his sister.  They had a great time, and Kevin and I had a blast talk ing and laughing with our new friends.

The next morning, the conference finished off with some classes on things like "adulting" and dating.  It as a great way to finish things off, and before we knew it, it was time to check out and head home.

I was pretty anxious to get back home to my Arthur.  I had been away from him way too much in the past few weeks, and although he was having a blast with his friends while we were gone, I was longing to snuggle my little guy.

And snuggle him I did.  It was a great weekend, but the best part was being all together as a family again at the end.

When the Girls Are Away, The Boys Will Play

When Lily and I headed out to Utah and Idaho, we left all the boys in Pennsylvania without us.  Kevin took the week+ off of work to hold down the fort, and he and the boys had a lot of fun.  The first day we were gone, Derek was still at Scout Camp, and so it was just Arthur and Kevin.  After dropping Lily and I off at the airport, they started out the fun by a trip to Chick-fil-A.

They had a great time during the week, especially once Derek was home on Saturday.  The boys got to play video games, watch movies, but most importantly, they got to play with firework poppers - Arthur's favorite things.  So much fun!  They were in heaven.

One day, they also went bowling, and even got to take Derek's friends, Tate and Jackson, along.  They had so much fun!

And in all the fun, they didn't quite forget me, and would sometimes call and talk to me. Ans sometimes I was able to see Arthur's face, and not just the ceiling - ha ha!

 I sure did miss my boys, but I never once worried about them.  They were having so much fun with their dad, and I knew that they were so well taken care of, that it allowed me to be fully present and helpful for my mom and dad.  I am so glad they had such a great time!

Western Adventure: Utah Part 2

On Saturday morning, bright and early, I said my sad goodbyes to my parents, and Holly and I headed to Utah to pick up our kids.  When we were on our way, we discovered that the Lily and Austin were finished way earlier than we expected, so they just had to hang out and wait for us, since it was 3 1/2 hours from Twin Falls to Provo.  We were so excited to get our kids back and hear about their week, since we had no communication while they were gone.  Once we picked them up, we went to the Provo Bakery to get some of their famous donuts - they were delicious!

Next, we headed over to the BYU Bookstore to get some fun stuff.  I got t-shirts for the whole family, and a few other exciting things.  It was so much fun to shop there.  After shopping, we met up with our sister, Cheryl, and my nieces, Madeline and McKayla - and I also got see some of the rest of her kids again.  

My favorite thing, other than getting to catch up with Madeline and McKayla, was seeing my adorable great-nephew, William.  He reminds me so much of Arthur at that age, and is absolutely adorable.

I love my family, and I love the special times I get to spend with them, even if it is only enough time for lunch and a conversation.  It was so wonderful!

After lunch, we made a quick trip to the BYU Creamery for our favorite milkshakes - it's a tradition for Holly and I.  A milkshake made with chocolate chip cookie dough and Earnestly chocolate - the best combination.  Yum!  It was the perfect treat for our drive to Salt Lake.  Holly dropped Lily and I off at Kevin's brother Randy's home in South Jordan, and we spent the night with them.  I was so excited to see them, because it meant I finally got to meet the most adorable little baby nephew ever, Parker. Oh my goodness, I fell instantly in love with this sweet baby boy.  I just wanted to hold him and play with him the whole time.

My niece Elsie is also adorable, and she loved getting to play with her cousin, Lily.  It was super cute.

I also took Elsie on a walk to the park, and the two of us had such a fun time together - even though it was so very hot.  In fact, it was so hot, Elsie and I would celebrate every time we ended up in the shade and had some relief from the hot sun.  We still had a great time, and we had great conversations about all kids of things, like what a hammock is :).

We had such a great visit with Randy and Kate, and were so grateful for the chance to visit them.  On Sunday morning, we were supposed to fly out early, but I got a text saying that our flight was delayed, so I let Lily sleep in, we were able to have breakfast, and Lily and I were able to walk a couple blocks and go to church before Kate took us to the airport.  We were sad not to get home in the early afternoon, but it was nice to have a leisurely morning and to get to go to sacrament meeting.  

We had plenty of time once we got checked into our flight and went through security, to get some food for the flight. It was a seamless end to a fabulous trip.  Our flight went really well, and Lily even got the window seat again, just like she wanted, and at the end of our flight, there were our boys.  Wow, did we ever miss them! (Especially Derek, who we hadn't seen because we left before he got back from Scout Camp.)  It was a wonderful Western adventure, and I am glad I got to go on it with my sweet Lily.

Western Adventure: ACT Camp for Lily

Hello, everyone! I'm Lily, and I'll be writing this post. My mom wasn't at the camp, but I was, so I'll be sharing my experience with all of you. My ACT Camp adventure started on Sunday, when my mom and Aunt Holly dropped my cousin, Austin, and I off at BYU.  We got to Provo a little early, and so we decided to walk around the Provo Temple while we waited.  It was really pretty, especially with the mountain behind it.

 Then we got checked at our dorms after getting both of us signed in.

After choosing my bunk and unpacking, I said goodbye to mom and waited in the lobby for my roommates to arrive. While waiting, I was able to make friends with some of the counselors helping out in the lobby. When my roommates arrived, I was able to help out and show them to the room--with a slight bit of trouble (The hallway was a bit confusing--I kept getting turned around).

Once we all got settled, we headed over to the Harman Ballroom and were given a welcome orientation. After that, we were all signed to our counselors. My roommates and I were assigned to a very nice girl named Eliza. She felt less like a counselor and more like another member of the group! There was a short ice cream social, and then we headed back to the dorms and played a game called "4 guys on a couch." It was confusing, but also hilarious :). Then we all got ready for bed, ready to rest up for a busy week (Though I did have some trouble with the alarm clock I brought, as it woke me up at midnight. Luckily Lydia, my roommate (Technically I had 5 roommates, but we were divided further into rooms of 2) had a working alarm for the two of us).

The next morning began our first full day at camp. We all got up at 6-6:30ish and headed down to the Cannon Commons for breakfast. They have really good maple bars, I must note. After breakfast, we had a test orientation and took a practice ACT, which I actually did pretty well on, getting a 29, (despite my misunderstanding of how high some of the scores are when I got it back later that week). From there, after a quick lunch, we headed to our classes for the day and met our amazing teachers. I have to say that the English 2 teacher was probably the funniest. That evening, we had a speaker talk to us about relationships (I must say, I didn't expect a gum commercial to have such a sweet love story in it...). Then we decorated cupcakes and headed back to our dorms to end the day.

Tuesday, exercise was canceled, so we headed straight to breakfast and class. After lunch, we had a speaker talk to us about BYU admissions prep, and I got a free hat! It was a fun presentation. After dinner, we had a service project. It was...drumroll please...coloring! Yep, you read that right. We colored pictures to be made into placemats. We all had a good time!

Wednesday was Campus Tour day! Once done with breakfast, we took the big group photo, then separated into our tour groups. After a presentation in the library (We saw tons of cool ancient books/writings/etc) and a stop in the Wilk for a "Taste of Campus" (mint brownies + giant maple bars + chocolate milk = SIGN ME UP ALREADY), I got to see the College of Engineering. It was awesome! After lunch, class, and dinner, there was...the dance! I sat out the first half an hour to conserve my strength--because when I dance, I dance very energetically. Once I was ready, though, I headed out to the dance floor and broke it DOWN! It was tons of fun. A boy even asked me to slow dance at one point!

Thursday was the big Test Prep day. Our speakers, however, had very little to do with testing, though--they were Pete and Tad Tidwell, brothers who taught us about business. Pete helps run a deli chain in Utah called Gandolfos, while Tad is a two-time winner of Cake Wars (yes, the Food Network show) who is also known as "The Mighty Baker." Also, I got another free hat! After class finished for the day, I headed down to the BYU Bookstore to do some shopping. I bought a book (Potion Masters #1: The Eternity Elixir), some fudge (Chocolate Peanut Butter), and a plush penguin (a birthday gift for my friend Geri). Then, after another speaker, we had a dance party of our own in the room before bed--after stopping down at the Creamery on 9th first, though (Salted Caramel Pretzel Twist--a tongue twister and a really yummy flavor of ice cream).

Now it was Friday. The day of the ACT. I hadn't been enrolled in time to take the actual ACT, but I was able to take the Residual ACT--a practice test that is also official for BYU enrollment. It was hard, but worth it. I haven't gotten my scores yet, but I feel confident that I did my best! That night, the camp was going to watch a movie...but when the people in charge asked if we actually wanted to watch the movie, literally one person rose their hand. (Me, I would have been fine either way, but I'd seen the movie already. So instead, we headed back to the dorms and had another late-night dance party, as well as some touching words from Eliza (I also sang for the group).

Lastly, Saturday. Our last morning of camp. We all said our goodbyes, I collected my group mate's email addresses, and Austin and I waited for mom and Holly to pick us up. I was happy to be heading home, but also sad to be leaving my new friends--but I knew that this wasn't goodbye forever. We'd be able to talk again.

Western Adventure: Idaho Family Time

One of the main reasons I went out West, was to visit and help out my parents.  My daddy has Alzheimers, and has some major health issues, besides being over 80, and my mom is left as the caregiver and to take care of everything.  Luckily, I have siblings that live nearby that can help her, but living across the country, it is very hard to not be able to be there for them more often.  And so while Lily was at her college and ACT prep camp, my sister, Holly, took me to Twin Falls to spend the week with our parents.

Monday, I got right to work helping my mom with projects around the house, both big and small.  We also ran a bunch of errands, and at the first store, I ran into Kevin's mom - which was so fun! (I love spending time with her, and luckily we were able to have a nice long visit later in the week, but seeing her my first day in town was a special bonus.) Then at the grocery store I ran into Kevin's Aunt Marsha.  Twin is a small world.  After a day of errands, we spent the evening at a celebratory BBQ for my nephew, Paul, who flew out for his mission to Peru the very next morning.  I love that I got to say goodbye to him.

On Tuesday, after a good morning's work on my mom's yard and with some more projects, my sister, Cheryl, came to town from Idaho Falls, and then we took my mom out on a special mother/daughters date to the movies and dinner.  We went to see "Men in Black: International," which was hilarious!  We all loved it!  Then we went to one of my favorite places in Twin, "The Twin Falls Sandwich Company," for dinner, which was wonderful, as always.  The best part, was talking to my mom and sisters.  (We sure missed having my sister, Wendy, with us though.

Wednesday morning, I took a break from helping my mom, and went out to take pictures for my brother-in-law's cabinetry business, Premier Woodworking.  I usually take pictures of their projects when I am in town, and I find myself driving all over the Magic Valley.  Luckily I have audiobooks to listen to while I drive, and I love being out in the beauty of Southern Idaho.

I don't just get to see beautiful scenery, but as I took pictures on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, I also got to see gorgeous homes and spectacular cabinets.  These are just a few of my favorites.  I really love taking pictures of beautiful homes.

On Wednesday, on my way home from taking pictures in Hagerman, I stopped in Filer to visit Suzanne, one of my old best friend's from when we lived in Savannah.  She just happened to be visiting her mom, and so we were in Idaho at the very same time.  It was so wonderful to get to catch up with her, and it was like we had never been apart.

Wednesday afternoon, Cheryl, Heather, my mom, and I went to the Twin Falls Temple together, which was so very wonderful!  I love being in the temple, but being there with people I love is extra special.

That night, I got to take pictures of my nephew.  Even more fun than taking pictures of beautiful homes - taking pictures of beautiful people ;).

Spencer is such a handsome kid, and it is amazing too see him so very grown up.  We had a great time taking his portraits, in spite of it being crazy hot.  We had a rag for him to wipe the sweat off of his face in between shots - it was that hot.  The pictures turned out great though, and I love that I was there and able to take them.

Thursday was another day full of projects, pictures, and some fun.  I had to stop at Sips for some of their amazing cookies for dessert.  My mom and I picked out a selection and then cut them up and shared them with her and my dad while we watched a movie.  And every night, we would stay up late talking, just the two of us.  It was such a special thing.

I also got to spend a lot of good quality time with my sister, Holly.  One night, about 10pm, I got a text from Holly, inviting me to join her for scores and a campfire outside in the back yard.  There is nothing quite like watching the sunset at 10pm, and sitting around the fire with your sister/best friend, eating s'mores.  It was awesome and a special blessing to get to have so much time with her.

Friday was my last day in Twin Falls, and so I made the most of my time there, finishing up projects, as well as other things, like dinner out with my parents, and getting to say goodbye to my sister, Heather.  I was also able to go to the temple one more time, which was wonderful.

I also took advantage of time with my mom and dad.  I loved having this week to serve them and spend time with them.  I also had the special bonus of amazing time with three of my sisters, Holly, Cheryl, and Heather.  And the time with my mom and dad was truly a gift.  My daddy is almost 82 years old, and between his failing health and his Alzheimers, I never know when will be the last chance for a hug or a conversation.  I am truly grateful for this trip, and for Kevin for taking off work and holding down the fort at home so I could go.

Western Adventure: Utah Fun

After last year's crazy road trip where we drove over 7000 miles around the country, Kevin and I decided that we would take a year off from the giant road trip.  Instead, we decided to send Lily to a ACT and College Prep Camp at BYU, and then I would spend a week with my parents in Idaho, helping them out.  And we would fly across the country, since there was only the two of us going.  So, on Friday the 5th, Kevin and Arthur dropped Lily and I at BWI, and the two of us started our "Western Adventure."

We got to the airport crazy early, mostly because we were planning on traffic that wasn't there. (I guess Maryland had Friday as a state holiday to extend their 4th of July weekend, and so the normal commuter traffic was not there.)  We made it through security, including going past a police dog that smelled each of us individually, and then went to find some breakfast.  We settled on Chick-fil-A, since the other choices weren't all that great.

Lily was so excited to get to fly, since it had been about ten years since the last time she was on a plane.  Pretty funny, since she used to fly all the time as a baby and toddler.  She loved her window seat and watching out the window almost the whole fight, just like she used to at 4 years old.  The two of us enjoyed our time on the plane, reading, listening to audio books or music, and I even spent some time coloring in one of Lily's fancy coloring books.  Oh, and I took a little nap.  It was a direct flight to Salt Lake, and so was 4 1/2 hours long.

Once we arrived in SLC, we got our luggage, and our dear friend, Marilyn, was there to pick us up.  We went straight to Temple Square, where we had lunch at the Lion House (a tradition and one of our favorite places to eat).

After lunch, we explored the Jospeh Smith Memorial Building, and went up to see the gorgeous view of the Salt Lake Temple.

The next place we went, was the Family History Library, which was amazing!  And so much fun!  They hand you an iPad, and you sign in to your Family Search account, and then you dock the iPad in stations where you can learn all about your ancestors.  There was even a booth where you could go in and record answers to questions about your life, and then save it for your posterity.  Lily had a blast.

When we got back to their house in Harrisville, we had a nice evening together - taking, eating dinner, and just spending time together.  The time change did hit Lily and I, and we tried to go to bed early, although it didn't quite work out that way.  It was too tempting to stay up talking to Marilyn.

The next morning, while Lily and Marilyn talked about her stories and other fun things, I went out and took family portraits for my sister, Holly.

Holly's oldest son, Paul, was leaving on a mission on Tuesday, and so it was their last chance for portraits for a while. They were staying with her in-law's, only about five minutes from Brent and Marilyn, and so she picked me up and we went and took their pictures.  I was so happy with how they turned out, especially because we were working with terrible lighting.  Luckily we found some cool places to thwart the sun ;).

We did have a casualty during the photo shoot, however.  I stepped into a hidden hole in the grass and sprained my ankle.  I had to hobble around for the rest of the shoot, and then immediately put it up and put ice on it when I got back to the Jones' house.  It put a small tweak in our plans for the day, but we managed to make it work out.

One of the main things we wanted to do, was go to the Ogden Temple, so that Lily could do baptisms.  It was so special going there with Brent and Marilyn, especially because Brent was able to be the one to baptize Lily.  I always loving being in a temple, but it is even more wonderful with friends and family - especially my kids.

After the temple, we went next door to Farr Better Ice Cream, and it was so yummy!!  And we thought it was especially cute that the teenage boy serving us gave Lily such a large serving on her cone, he had to put it in a cup.  Ha ha!

After our ice cream, we went back to the Jones' house and changed, so that we could go up into Ogden Canyon.  Originally we were going to go on a hike, but after my injury, we changed our plans, and we went on a Gondola ride up the mountain instead.  It was really fun!

Lily loved the sign that said, "Easier Way Down" - pretty funny!

The view was spectacular, and we loved sharing it with Brent and Marilyn.

Lily thought it was so fun that that there was still snow up on the mountain, and she kept making snowballs, but not throwing them - so, I may have taken it upon myself to hit her with a snowball - ha ha!

There were beautiful wildflowers up on the mountain, and Lily was even more amazed to see them right next to the snow.  She made me take a picture of it, because she really couldn't believe they were side by side.  So funny!

After our fun on the mountain, we finished up the night with a delicious dinner at this great little place in Ogden Canyon, Taggart's, and it had so many amazing desserts to choose between, that I had to buy four for us to share and split.  When we got home, we ate dessert, and spent our last evening together talking and laughing for hours.

On Sunday morning, Lily and I went to church with the Jones, and then I made a yummy pot roast for lunch.  My sister, Holly, and my nephew, Austin, came over and joined us, which was really fun.  Before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye to Brent and Marilyn, and take Lily and Austin up to BYU.  It was such an amazing visit, and was our last chance to see them before they leave on their mission to Salem, Oregon in October.

Scout Camp Adventures

Hello everyone! It's Derek, and last week, I went to scout camp yet again, but this time at Bayshore Scout Reservation. This time my dad didn't go, and so it was only me and my friends Jamison, Christian, Luke, and Seiju, as well as Brother Neve and Brother Bowman. My dad couldn't come this year because my mom and Lily would be going to be leaving to Utah on Friday and somebody needed to watch Arthur.  Since I would be without my family, I brought my stuffed cougar, Mighty, and my stuffed Pikachu buddy, Sparky.

My mom dropped me off at the church at 4:00 because it was going to be a long drive to Bayshore. I said goodbye and then she left go home.

As soon as we got checked in at camp, we headed to our campsite to drop our stuff off.  I then got the supplies I needed for the morning and headed down with my troop to breakfast. The food was really good, although it could have been better.  After breakfast I headed down to swimming, which was my first merit badge. Unlike last time, I was prepared for the cold water, because I was already used to cold water because of swimming lessons during early springier unfreezing water. I had also been swimming laps at my community pool to get ready for the merit badge. I got there early so I could take my swimming test before we started working on the merit badge, but to my utter shock, the water was warm. After my swim test, my first day at camp really began. In swimming, every day we did things such as reviewing safe swim defense, working on strokes and dives, and rescues.  It was great.

 Next was archery in which I learned about how to be safe on the range, how to fire a bow, to make an arrow and a bowstring, and the scoring system used. I didn't start off the best but on the last day I hit the ten ring. I HIT A bullseye!

Then I went to pioneering where we learned about knots, lashings, and we even built a tower.  I would often practice my knots in the evening around the campfire to get ready for the next day.

By then, it was lunch time, which was a nice break. After lunch I went back to camp to get my supplies for my next merit badges. My next merit badge was Indian lore. Jamison was there, as well as Ewan and a few of my friends who were with me last year. We learned about the history of Indians and made drums , moccasins, chockers, talking feathers, and pixie pouches, which was really cool.

Next was emergency preparedness. My teacher was the same one I had for pioneering, and we learned about how to be prepared for emergencies and how to help other people who have been hurt. I had to do a lot of work for it at home before camp started, including making an emergency pack.

Finally, we had astronomy, which was the only merit badge I got a partial on, because I didn't remember that I was taking astronomy, and so I didn't do the prerequisites. I was very sad and I was crying about it a lot, because I was so frustrated. But then Brother Bowman came to the rescue by letting me call my mom, which helped me make it through the day and realize that everything would be okay. And luckily, I had my friends and my leaders there with me. During camp, whenever my friends and I had free time, we went to the trading post, played games back at camp , and just hung out.  It was great. 

After dinner, the boys and I played more games and went to fun activities, such as the night owl swim and going to the 3d archery range. I also got some souvenirs, such as an orienting compass, a compass game, and  a knife pouch. I also saw some funny things at camp, and one of them was when I walking down the trail to the trading post and saw a boy carrying a Rowlet and Torchic plushes (Pokemon). I asked why he had them, and he said that they were his son and his daughter.  Strange.  Then on the last night there was a big closing campfire with skits and songs and awards, and it turned out the boy with the Rowlet had brought it for a song he and his troop put on. 

Before I knew it, the week was over and my dad was picking me up to go home.  I had a great week, and it was fun to go to scout camp one last time before the I am finished with Boy Scouts at the end of the year. Next up, working on my Eagle Project . . .