So this summer has been busy. We started out by having something every weekend or week in June. Since I am in Young Womens and Jeff is in Young Mens it took our whole month. We had a great time at our Youth conference. We went to Kolob Reservoir, the kids and other leaders did a service project for the ghost town of Grafton where they pulled weeds and painted bulidings. Jeff and I went up after work and fixed dutch oven dinner. It was so yummy. The kids made dry ice bombs, the fun of boys, they liven everyone up. We had a motivational speaker and then it got really cold. We sat around the camp fire and played a game. I had every possible layer of clothing I could muster around me. I even had a shirt on my head and didn't take it off all night. I was pretty much rainbow bright, with every color of the rainbow and every piece of warm clothing from my house on me, that is how cold it was. The next morning we went on a hike , one of our young women, had a back pack, each of the kids had been carrying rocks with them throughout the confrence representing sins or burdens. As we hiked up the hill they had to drop a few rocks at a time to represent repenting and giving our sins up to God. Then this Girl represented Christ and picked each rock up and carried them all to the top of the hill. When the kids realized she was carrying their rocks it made it harder for them to drop them. I loved seeing the impact this had on the kids and how much they grew. We have a neat group of youth and I see how strong they are and how well they handle the things in front of them today. They are amazing and I feel honored to get to be with them each week.
I also ruined my camera while hiking. It was in my Camo Pack and got wet. So I have no pictures to document this summer but I am going to buy a camera today.
I also went to girls camp for 4 days on Cedar Mountain. I got to know the girls so much better and I have such a love for the leaders that I work with. It was a Stake Camp and we did so many fun things, it was non stop and I was tired when I came home.
Jeff's Grandma and Grandpa Rasmussen had their 50th wedding anniversary also in June. It was a great success. All of there children were there and most of their grandchildren came. It was neat to see everyone together and they are still talking about it. This was a huge thing after Grandpa's cancer. He has really done well and it is neat to see him happy and healthy.
That was all in June, in July I went to Missouri with my girlfriend Sarah. Her sister Laura was getting married and I couldn't let her drive all that way by herself. We had a great trip. We drove straight through to denver in one night, then Sarah planned to sleep in her Van. That was a new experience for me. I am into adventure so I was game. I am a bit of a princess as most of you know. I did have to make sure I had somewhere to wash my face and brush my teeth and go potty and such. So we ended up sleeping in the parking lot of a hotel next to a gas station. The gas station was handy because I had my running water. The best part was as we came out of the bathroom together and the Landscaping crew watching us got their giggles going. Onward from Denver was the dreaded Kansas, it never stops. We made it to Missouri and had a great time. We visited her friends and family. We went to a bridal shower, church, shopping and my favorite was seeing Adam Ondi Ahman. Overall it was a great time. I got to get away for a couple of day and spend some quality time with a great friend that normally we don't allow ourselves that gift everyday.
Jeff had hopefully his last eye surgery for his left eye this July. This was the big catarct surgery. He now has 20/25 vision. He does need corrective vision to see up close. This is all positive and good for the many surgeries and caos he has underwent the last 2 years with the eye and diabetes.
I had the priveledge of having my two oldest nieces come and stay with us during this time. Alyssa and kady are growing up so much. Alyssa just started High School she loves Volleyball and is very good. She is so fun to talk to and is active in Young Womens. She has gotten so confident and sure of herself. I am really proud of the choices she is making and I miss having both girls around. Kady is such a helper and so kind. She is BOY crazy. I love it. She has all these crushes and she loves sports. I love how expressive she is and sure of what she likes. These girls are amazing and I give their mom a shout out for her tremendous job of raising such great girls.
The girls drove to Wyoming with us to a Ranch near Jackson Hole. We got together as a family and it was a great event. My sister Cherylee put it together and did a great job planning and organizing with all the families that she didn't know what they were doing. We ate alot of great food and played so much. The kids have so much fun getting together and I love palying with them. Lisa had marshmallow guns for each of us and that was way fun. She also had so many other games and activites for everyone to do. She is the queen of creative projects that people enjoy. She knows that most of those pojects require hooking up an oxygen tank for me from the stress I feel. That is not my greatest strength, but I can jump on a trampoline and play in water so I'll stick with my talents and give great kudos to you all for yours. Any way we did have a fun time. Soriah directed the kids in a cowboy cinderella play and it was so funny and cute. All the kids had fun and were so into the play. Sandra and her family didn't make it and they were missed. Jeff and I went to Jackson Hole after everyone left. We went to some of the art museums and I was literally in my element. There was some great abstract and vivid colors and textures in the art up there. I just stared and I went to another world that day. It was Awesome. Then we went to the Bar J Wranglers for Dinner. I remember going to that kind of dinner/show in Colorado and I don't remember enjoying it as much as I did this one. I liked that this one gave you choices in meat and they made fun of people that ate chicken but I prefered the chicken over the beef, I must say. I also liked that today they let you have as much butter as you want, yes that made the meal, the unlimited butter. Really, who can eat a dry potatoe? So moving on, we went to Kayseville the next day. My back was hurting. I thought it was just a kdney stone but after a few days got it checked and apparently I am not as young as I used to be.
When we got home Jeffs cousins, Kristy and Steph came to visit for a week. They are such cute girls. They got us into the Olympics and were quite shocked at us that we were not watching them. We enjoyed seeing our Country represented so well by proud Athletes. Steph and I went to the temple one night and got the priveledge of cleaning parts of it. What a great experience, I will definitely do it again. It gave me a whole new understanding to why my house looks the way it does. The workers that clean each night work very hard and do alot each night, I most certainly don't prioritze in the cleaning area. Anyway, the girls went swimming alot over at my friend Gails pool and we went to a movie with Jeff. We also went to dinner one night with Gramdma and Granpa Ras. I has alot of fun having them visit and Kristy will be graduating next year so this may have been our last hoorah. I am glad we get to make memories together. Sometimes when it all is going on it seems like alot but I realize we don't have alot of time it is great to enjoy what we do have.
We have been busy and there has been alot this summer but I have so many memories created this year that I don't want to ever loose. I have a lot that I am not proud of but then I remeber that those are the ones that I hope that I learned from. I love what my friend Kasa told me yesterday. She said "In order to get to the top of a ladder you have to take one step at a time". I think about my life and how I want to be at the top so many times and forget that I need to take one step at a time sometimes. I also forget that the people I love may be in a different place on that ladder and I want them with me so I better just settle my britches down and start enjoying the time we have and love the moments we have to love and embrace each step I take. Change is inevitable and it is going to happen whether I like it or not so I am going to enjoy my ride.
