Boose's Nursing Graduation!

My little Sis is all grown up! In July this year, she graduated from the nursing program from BYU Idaho. Katelyn worked so dang hard for this and deserves it more than anyone I know. She also graduated in the top 10% of the entire BYUI graduating class (she didn't even know beforehand), but we are SO proud of her and all her accomplishments!

My mom, dad and drove up to Rexburg to celebrate and attend the graduation. We first met at Olive Garden for dinner, then went to the university for the ceremony. It was really neat to be there and I'm glad we drove almost 8 hours in one day to support her :). I got to drive back with her and catch up on life as well. A thank you to Cade for watching the girls so I could drive up there and be there with Boose-Boose! We are so proud of her!

This picture is just the epitome of who Boose is :).

A couple of her close friends in the program

Family Camp Out and Timp Cave Hike

                                   

I have always LOVED camping my whole life. Growing up that was the most common "family vacation" we did because with 6 kids in the family it was definitely the most cost effective. I'm grateful my parents took us camping and went through all the effort to do so. Those are some of my favorite memories growing up and we became so close during those fun family trips.

Now with that being said, I can truly appreicate all the effort my parents did go through because now having two kids and a dog to take camping- let's just say it's different :). Not as much sleep, not as easy to pack, get kids to stay away from fires, etc- all of that fun stuff. But I know how much fun I had growing up camping and I want that for my kids too!

This camping trip we went to camp Hope just up Squaw Peak (Provo Canyon). Bryan, Jennie, James, Boose and Bud came with us. We had great food, fun games, and fun playing around. We also got to go hike the Timp Caves (pics at the bottom of this post). I just love nature and love spending time in it. Camping is so great- I just wish it didn't take an entire day to pack and prepare for it :). But it's worth it!

Reese was jealous of Emma's princess lair :). Emma was pretty excited to sleep in there!

We LOVE our Boose-Boose! Emma has gotten really close with her over the past years and Boose is so much fun to be around!

We went on a hike to the Timpanogos Caves and it was so fun! It is a relatively okay hike as far as length goes, but most of it is pretty steep. I am SO glad Jordan carried Reese on his back so I could hike  with only one baby on board :). The caves were so cool and we really enjoyed doing that together- babies and all!

All the strong men and their babies on back!

Stake Girls Camp at Mutual Dell!

Before I write about the week of camp,  I'll write about being released. I got released from being Young Women's President in the PG 12th ward on August 11. I have had the opportunity to work with and serve these young women ages 12-18 for the past (almost) 3 years. Even though I knew the release was coming for quite some time, it was still a very hard transition. I have come to LOVE these girls so much and care about their lives and all they do. It has been a very busy, crazy, hard and wonderful few years and I have learned so much about myself and about caring for those I serve. I am so grateful for the opportunity God has given me to learn and grow and especially learn to love through service. These girls have taught me so much and I am so grateful for their friendship and love. Girls Camp this year was a great ending to my calling and I am so glad I got to go! I look forward to working with the youth again in the future!

Girls Camp this year was the week of July 15-19th. It was Stake Camp and held at Mutual Dell up American Fork Canyon. We had just 13 girls come this year, so a smaller group, but still so fun and more intimate. We had 4 first-years come this year. Luckily we came prepared this year with EZ-up tents to go over tables, lots of tarps and rain jackets. However, some of our stuff still got washed out from the crazy big rain storm we had the first night. Jayne Gray and I (our Camp director) had to run back to our neighborhood and round up lots more sleeping bags, blankets, foam pads, and sweatshirts because one tent got completely soaked. Instead of having 2 tents for the girls and two for the leaders, we had to squish all the leaders into one tent and the girls into two smaller tents. We were definitely cozy and it was a crazy beginning to our girls camp, but it was great that we were so close to home that we could run back 25 minutes to home and get what we needed.

During the week we had fun doing archery, volleyball, water game activities, a hike to Stewart Falls, self-defense, zip-lining and playing games late at night. Some of our favorite memories were a spiritual walk about Christ's life at night on the Wednesday. It was a neat experience and the Young Women were able to feel the spirit in the vignette's that were performed. The last night was of course testimony meeting and it was amazing to hear all the young women tell of experiences that have helped them to more fully realize they are daughters of God and the things about the Gospel they know to be true. I have LOVED seeing how much these girls have grown over the last almost three years. They are amazing and will do amazing things with their lives!

Iron Horse Classic in Durango

Memorial Day Weekend, Cade and Bryan drove to Durango, Colorado to ride in the Iron Horse Classic. It is a 50 mile race pretty much ALL uphill. It's a very hard event and Cade trained for a few months beforehand. He did really well and finished his goal of "surviving" it :). I love that he finds such joy in athletic events! I need to give him some more time to train for other events cause he loves it so much. But it is fun that he has many co-workers, family and friends who are involved in road-biking as well.

Here are a few pics from his fun event.