Mobe & Montachello

    For fall break my family ventured to Moab & Monticello. We had some wonderful adventures together. Here’s a bit of what we did: Visited Newspaper Rock (full of hieroglyphs) and answered Karissa’s question of how the Native Americans were able to get over the fence blocking the rock. After my wonderful explanation of Native Americans being swift and elegant like deer while using their special jumping moccasins to get over the fence, I was informed that she meant modern day people. So naturally, I had to demonstrate what any modern day person would have done... and jump the fence just how the Natives would have. Um...yeah. I’ve never been skilled in the area of “fence-jumping” so blood resulted. Just kidding. But my attempt was quite mortifying.

 Moving on, we had a nice family dinner in Monticello before attending the temple. When I mean it was a nice family dinner (of delectable Subway sandwiches), that was after our attempt to eat at a locally run restaurant. After looking at the prices on the menu, our jaws hit the table in amazement of such high prices. The majority of my family usually has too much fear of embarrassment to just get up and leave out of a restaurant, but it seemed as though we didn’t have a choice. So, we ran out on a restaurant. Dad stood up and led the way. Mom passed us, however, literally running out of the restaurant, zooming past incoming customers with awe in their faces. The rest of us tried to walk out calmly as to not insult the owner. Overall, quite an embarrassing event considering the waitress would find a suddenly customer-less table with six menus and six glasses of water. Luckily our trip to the Monticello temple made up for the awkwardness of the evening. It was the smallest temple I’ve ever been in, but just as wonderful of an experience as any temple.

 The following day, my dad discovered a small burr with protruding spikes. Dad explained to Rebecca that he found a porcupine egg. Becca, all knowing, said, “Dad. Porcupine eggs aren’t spiky.” Porcupine...eggs? We all got a kick out of that one. We ventured on several hikes, one of which was to Corona Arch. You know Spiderman? Well we met him on our trip. Just as we got to the Arch, he jumped off, free fell, then swung from his strong rope. Ah! CRAZY! But don’t worry, he had a helmet, which of course would have saved his life if his rope broke and he fell 300 feet. Savanna immediately wanted to try, but my mom rebuked that idea, stating she did NOT raise children who wanted to do that. hahaha

  Later we went to the Moab Diner--this restaurant was a much better experience than the previous night. In fact, it was an amazing experience. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a delightful rocky road milkshake in my entire life. I couldn’t help but exclaim of it’s goodness after each bite. The next day we hiked to the famous arch printed on several Utah license plates--Delicate Arch. My family somehow left me at our camp site restroom though. They just drove away, anxious to get to the trail head I guess. I attempted to run after our van, and luckily Savanna remembered that I was actually part of the family, so I eventually caught up and hitched a ride with them. The arch was pretty amazing, and along the hike we passed several people speaking different languages. I find it interesting that people travel from all over the world to visit a rock...but I guess I’ve been to Canada just to see flowers (Butchart Gardens). We also passed several Aggies. I guess USU and hiking go well together, which is fine by me! The night ended with some wonderful star-gazing with my dad. We saw the brightest, most brilliant shooting star either of us had ever seen. Such a great way to end our trip.

Laurel's Hike!

From June 13-16, the Laurels in my ward, along with our leaders, headed down to the Escalante Grand Staircase to Coyote Gulch for our backpacking trip. The weather was perfect, the nature was beautiful, and the company was wonderful. We had a fantastic time.

{At the bottom of Coyote Gulch}

{Jessica & Melissa}

{We are dorks}

{Coyote Bridge-- on our way to our second night camping spot. We got to river run this day.}

{Carrying our packs through "The Key Hole." Scary at first, but fun.}

{We made it through!}

{Very pretty waterfalls were along the entire hike. This picture doesn't give them justice at all.}

{I carved a flower out of my cup holder in these cool sand formations that made great seats.}

{Melissa carved out an "I Love You"}

{Melissa also carved a hole a little bigger than a quarter, and carved a cute little heart as well.}

{Dad and the Bishop making hip prints for when they sleep. tee hee} 

{Our hike out on the last day. We had to climb out on a huge rock/cliff thing.}

{Hike after the hike at 'Peek-a-Boo and Spooky.' This part was Peek-a-Boo.} 

  

 {This part was 'Spooky' because it was very narrow. For most of this hike the sides of the rocks were high above your head.}

{The girls. (except Elizabeth and Pam)}

{This little critter crawled into my pack and I found him when I got home! Along with his buddy! Ah! Two scorpions! I didn't touch my pack after that. Dad emptied it for me, bless his heart. This wasn't all either. Melissa had to get one out of my pack with a fork at the trail head. That's a total of three scorpion hitch-hikers!} 

Overall, we had a great time! P.S. I might be posting more pics from Dad's camera once he gets home from work. :)

Happy Dance

Girls Camp is going to be a blast this year. Not only do we have a great theme, we have an awesome camp director! Today, our Girl's Camp/Personal Progress leader was called. I was sitting at the organ with Savanna, and when they announced Cally's name as the new leader, I did a little happy dance. I was so excited!! A few weeks earlier, when she was released from Primary President, the first thing I did was look at Melissa and mouth, "Camp Director." We both nodded and grinned. I have been hoping ever since then, and sure enough, our hopes have come true and Cally is our camp director! I absolutely love Cally. She was over me in Young Women's all throughout my Beehive years (except about a month when she moved to Mia Maids), but then I became a Mia Maid and she was my leader again! So basically she's been one of the closest Young Women leader's I've had. She is so fun, easy to talk to, happy, sweet, spiritual, and just awesome. It was a sad, sad day when she was released from Young Women's. But now that I'm a Laurel, she's back! I am so happy. This will be such a fun year at camp (and a great way to end my last year). Glad you're back in Young Women's Cally! :)

{Girls Camp 2006}

Wigwam

Last week I went backpacking with my dad, sisters, uncle, and cousin. We ventured into the Uintah Mountains, to Wigwam Lake. It was only about a two mile hike in. The lake was very pretty and we spent the next two days fishing, hiking, and my personal favorite, reading Harry Potter aloud around the campfire (of course, reading in a British accent).

On our hike, we went through a field that reminded me of the mountains on The Sound of Music, at the end, when the Von Trapp family crosses the border into Switzerland. I wanted to sing, "The hills are alive, with the sound of music!"

Poor Sammi tried sleeping while we fished, but the mosquitos kept bugging her.

Fly fishing. Dad's new favorite thing to do.

I tried fly fishing for the first time, and caught four fish! I like fly fishing better than normal fishing, because with fly fishing you have to constantly be doing something. In this picture, the fish moved right before dad took the picture, and I thought I was going to get fish slime on me, so I kind of freaked out.

Pretty wild flowers were everywhere in sight. This flower is called Little Red Elephants, because of the tiny trunk and ear like features.

We ate delicious fresh fish every night for a snack, then read Harry Potter around the fire. On this night, we made a HUGE fire. It was almost as tall as one of us when we were standing.

Packed up and ready to go home.

We Know 'Who' We Are, Girls Camp 2009!

Welcome to Who-ville, aka Girls Camp 2009!

The 'Jungle of Nool'

Mother and Daughters

Thing 1 & Thing 2 aka Youth Leaders

Our fabulous skit for the Stake. Our story was about Whos making right choices, and following the prophet, or in this case, Horton.

Those prepared were ready for the storm with umbrellas. Those that didn't prepare got wet. "Which Who Are YOU?!"

Melissa and I, along with other youth leader girls in my stake participated in a Value Hike. Melissa and I were Individual Worth. We recited a spectacular talk by President Faust on Individual Worth to the girls. It was a wonderful experience.

E-mail! (Elephant-Mail). We wrote notes to girls and leaders throughout camp. When someone had mail, the trunk was up. Sharon did a fantastic job making the elephants. Aren't they so cute!

Craft time! Making friendship bracelets.

Skits! The customer, chef, and waitress.

Captain Moroni, Edward Cullen, maiden looking for characteristics in a husband, Jacob Black, and Harry Potter.

Leader and Youth Leader skit. We were various girl scouts causing misery at camp. I was the know-it-all nerd.

Sweet sunglasses givin as a Secret Sister gift.

Dinner with the stake. YUM! It was follwed by an amazing fireside by our Stake Presidency.

Ward Hike. We had a spiritual experience when Sarah lost her camera. With Sister Stanger's testimony, and lots of faith and prayers, we teafully and gratefully found the camera.

Scavenger hunt put on by us Youth Leaders. We blinded, muted, and tied the girls up. They had to work to together in order to find each clue.

We stopped at Dick's to get some shakes on the way home. Delicious!

My ward is the best!!