Youth Conference: BOOT Camp

For Youth Conference this summer we went to Fillmore, Utah! Yes, the place that you stop by for some gas on your way to Las Vegas or Arizona or California. It was great and we had SOOO much fun....minus the rooster.

Our theme was BOOT Camp: Build Our Own Testimony. It revolved all around what a testimony of the Gospel should consist of. How we gain a testimony. How it can help us in this life and how do we continue building it daily. The Young Men's President and I did a workshop/activity that dealt with putting together our own little BOOT camp/obstacle course and related how just like if you want to become physically strong you have to continually work at it every day and that is the same with spirituality. The youth became very competitive and spent lots of time trying to beat each others time. It was great!





Aside from workshops, speakers, and really good food, we also had tons of fun roller skating, visiting Cove Fort (historic Pioneer monument), visiting the first Utah state capital building, and having a swimming/BBQ party.







There was also volleyball, basketball, a zipline, cotton candy and icee machines, and very early morning wake up calls.....

Oh, did I mention we stayed on a farm?! The first reaction from all the girls in my car when we pulled into the driveway the first morning..."No, way! You've got to be kidding me!" "sister Close, this is a joke, right? Where are we really going?!" I just told them all they could choose to sleep on the haystacks if they really wanted to. After you drive through and go around back, there were grassy areas for all the fun activities and places to set up our tents. The "barn" was extremely nice and very convinient for all of our cooking and eating needs. It ended up being wonderful and so much fun! Oh, did I mention except for the ROOSTER!!! Thinking about it STILL makes me mad!

So you know how in movies and books the rooster wakes up and does one simple little cock-a-doodle-do and goes on with it's day?? NO! It does NOT happen that way! It crows from 4:00 a.m. til the sun pokes up at 7:00 a.m. I thought I was going to die when it happend over and over and over every minute for THREE HOURS!!! I texted Cade at 5:00 a.m. (cause I knew he would be up studying) and he said that he honestly did not think I had ever seen more than one 5 on the clock before. I wish that I didn't have to. Here is the picture I took right before I shot them...



Needless to say, we got earplugs for everyone for the next morning and things went much better :).

We had a great time! And hopefully the youth will remember more than just the roosters, chickens and cows :).

My Biligual Daughter

Funny story.

Stephanie watched Emma one of the days I was gone at Girl's Camp. After getting back, I got to hear this story that went something like this:

Emma: Babbling in her own language.
William: "Emma. I can't understand you!"
Emma: Still talking away as if they understand her :).
William: (In a very very slow voice as if speaking to someone using a foreign language) "Emmmmaaaa. Speeeaaak cleeaarrly. I caaan't understand youuu!"
Nathan: "William, why can't you understand her?"
William: "Because she's speaking Spanish."

Apparently my daughter knows Spanish...how did I not pick up on that? Gotta love the cute things kids say!

Little Baby Sister!

Yep! We are having another girl! We are so excited! It would have been great either way, of course, but we are excited that Emma can have a little sister to run around with. The baby is healthy and right on track (a little bigger than her gestational age, which is good!). I am doing good so far and no signs of pre-eclamsia! Which 2 nights ago, I dreamt that I was already put on bed rest...good thing not all dreams come true! Plus, I had 3 dreams that I was having a boy. So for your ladies out there...don't ALWAYS trust your dreams. Cade was pretty sure we were having another girl. For me, it depended on which week you asked me :). We are so happy though! All we want is a happy, healthy baby and pregnancy! So far, that is what we are getting!

(Picture at 20 weeks)

Happy 4th!

For the 4th of July weekend, we traveled to Prescott, AZ to run in the boot race! I mean, spend time with Cade's family :). Okay, maybe both :). We had a lot of fun- minus Emma having a high temperature of 103+ for 4 of the days :(...so sad! She started getting sick at the parade Saturday morning and we didn't know how high her temp was until we got back to the house....she was a trooper though. She still ran in the boot race- hot pink cowgirl boots and all! Poor thing...she was not feeling good. And it's so not fun having your baby sick away from your doctor and home. But finally by Tues she started to feel a little better and Wednesday she was back to her cute fun-loving self!

We had a lot of fun though. We went to the parade and then ran in the boot race, Cade got 2nd place in his age group!!! Unfortunately because Emma was sick, we couldn't stay to see his victory :(. I am so proud of him though! He recieved a certificate for a free pair of Wrangler's and the coveted Budwiser trophy :)...haha...they are the sponsor of the race. We also played Ladder Ball a whole bunch. If you haven't played it, it is so much fun! I am absolutely terrible, but it's still a lot of fun! We took the babies swimming one day and saw the new movie "Cars". I think Emma's favorite 2 things in the trip were #1 Grandma's new playroom and #2 the Pet Store! We had a lot of fun! And even got to spend some time with Cade's cousins which is always a delight. We drove through Flagstaff on our way back home and got to see a lot of his Dad's side. Always good times in Arizona!

Close Family Pictures 2011

Here are the picture we got taken about a month ago. We had a good friend, Matt Egan, take them for us and inspite of Emma not cooperating much during group shots, they turned out pretty good! She did make some really cute faces when we played peek-a-boo with her and those were definitely worth it! She was pretty distracted, but overall we were pleased. Matt did a great job! You will have to scroll through them to get to the good ones at the end...at least my favorite part :).



NOOOO! Don't Kiss me!


She looks extremely happy here:










(Cade probably didn't want me to put this next one, but I love it!):


Now to my favorite pictures!