Girls Camp!

I have the BEST calling!  I'm in the Young Women's Presidency which means I got to go to girls camp this year.  I'm not going to into too much detail, but wanted to document that I went and had a blast ;)  Here are some of the highlights! It was just ward camp, which I like because I feel like the girls get to know each other better and are more unified afterwards.  We went to MIA Shalom up by Fairview and it was a little "rougher" than the girls preferred, which was basically no hot water, but we did have flushing toilets!! We stayed in A-frame cabins and the nights were COLD, sleeping was a challenge!  Our theme was "O ye that embark in the service of God" so we were on a cruise ship and every day we were in a different destination.  (Left from America, Mexico, Italy, Hawaii, and back to America).  The camp director was awesome and her and the assitants coordinated all the menu items to our daily locations so that was a lot of fun.  We had SO MUCH FOOD, but I would definitely rather have too much than not enough, like the famous famine of '99 in the Canyon Rim ward ;)  Not that I was there, but it was always talked about after it happened haha.

Hiking!  We played a song game the whole way up and back and the 5th years only lead us astray a couple times ;)

The closest thing to a group picture we got!

I taught the older girls a couple hand rhythm games that they loved!  7's, Give it to me, and boom-snap-clap.
The younger girls didn't have the patience for them haha.

These were the girls favorite parts, loom hats, and a foot scrub when we got back from the hike.

And my favorite part.... The Skits!!  I got to put together the prop bags, so it was even funnier to me to see how they used everything!  On the last night the first years put on a skit where they all acted like the older girls with a little direction from me, it was hilarious.

Even if the older girls didn't think so.... 

 

Other crafts we did included wind chimes, dream catchers, decorating boxes and journals.

 I know I'm leaving out so many fun things, but the girls all seemed to have a great time.  The spirit was felt all throughout the week, which was great because some of the girls don't have parents who are active/interested in the church whatsoever.  We did snipe hunting, secret sisters, smurfing, confidence courses, canoeing at the lake, lots of singing, and even had a stuffed animal fish we took turns hiding around the camp.  I had a fun time being Trapezoid again and getting to know the girls and teasing them on a whole new level ;)  The weirdest part was only having to worry about myself for a week!  Not seeing these two everyday was super weird!!  I was so excited to come home to their smiling faces and a plateful of cookies.....not that we didn't have plenty of sweets at camp ;)

Camping in Idaho

Confession:  John and I haven't really ever been camping together.  I know, shocker.   I guess there was that family reunion at Heber Valley girls camp, but I'm not going to count that.  So this past weekend we went up to Garden Valley Idaho to visit our friend Michelle, watch her in Thoroughly Modern Millie, and do some real outdoorsy camping....with the help of a pop up camper ;)   

It took about 6 hours to drive up and Deja did pretty well considering that I ran out of time to prepare more distractions for her before leaving.  John and I just listened to Harry Potter the whole way up, so we were happy!  We didn't get in till late Friday night, so we basically just set up the basics and went to bed.

Saturday morning we got up bright and early, had breakfast, caught up with Michelle, and John told us all his memories of family vacations in their camper.  

Asher, Ember, and Deja trying to build a "fire."

Deja, Ryder, and Ember

"Don't I get a water bottle?"

After everyone was ready for the day, we decided to go to the river and play in the water and have a picnic lunch.  The kids had so much fun!  Deja had no fear, but mommy did ;)

After we got back, we changed into dry clothes and John set up a game of Kubb that we've been wanting to teach everyone for some time.  The kids did pretty well just watching.  We let Asher throw a couple times.  For those who haven't played, it's basically hitting sticks with sticks ;)

After playing for a while we had a rainy dinner, hid out in the camper for a while, and then it cleared up enough to be able to see the musical!  Michelle played the villain and totally stole the show.  She did so well as a "little Asian woman."  We totally lucked out because that weekend her husband Skye came up to cover one of the parts in the show.  (He's living in Utah-working and taking care of their house, while Michelle pretends to be a "single mom" and being in shows every night.  I could never do that!!)  My biggest regret is not getting a picture of the two of them together!!

Deja only made it a little past intermission till I ended up taking her out.  (I had already seen the show so I wanted John to be able to enjoy the rest of it.)

That night we stayed up super late roasting marshmallows, talking, laughing, and eventually sending out floating lanterns.  It was so much fun.  

Sunday morning we pretty much woke up, had breakfast, said our goodbyes and packed up for the long drive home.  We ended up stopping in Boise for a picnic lunch which was good because we had so much leftover food!!!  Deja slept most of the way home which was nice :)  

Ember sniffed out the cheese before Deja, which is saying something!!

Comfy?  Deja laid on top of Daddy all by herself ;)

Catching some zzz's before hitting the road again.

Best Friends!

We had such a great trip.  It was fun to catch up with Miche and support her in the thing she loves to do the most!  Easing John back into camping was also good too.  Maybe next time we'll even stay in a tent ;)

June Shenanigans!

June flew by as most months do for us.  At the beginning of the month I finished nannying my nephew and things are so much easier with just Deja to watch. We took a little trip up to Oakcrest (the girls camp I used to work at) so I could show John and Deja around.  Every year they do a Friends and Family night, but John has either had work every time, or we just haven't been able to make it happen till this year.  It was fun being able to show them the grounds, my old cabins, the lodge, and tell stories about the summers I worked there :) 

We also enjoyed our first hamburgers of the summer with Grandpa Southwick!  They were delicious as always. In the middle of the month we went to Lagoon with my sister Becca and her husband.  It was fun to pretend we were young again, but our bodies definitely aren't the same as they used to be.  The park wasn't very crowded, so there wasn't a lot of wait time between rides which is usually a good thing!  Unfortunately, John was the only one there who didn't get nauseas at all, so that was lucky for him.  We were planning on staying till around 8 pm, but by 5 we were ready to go ;)

 

John wanted his burger really well documented ;)

At the end of the month we went on a big DuPaix family trip to Zion National Park and stayed in a giant house nearby.  We now have about 45 people in my family counting my parents, sibling in-laws, and nieces/nephews.  This was probably the last time we'll all be able to sleep under one roof, unless it's a hotel haha.  The house we stayed in was awesome though!  It had a hot tub, about 10 bedrooms, a "bunk-room" for all the grandkids to sleep in (who were old enough) and a huge Movie Theater room!   We went on hikes, had a talent show, played water games, and ate lots and lots of food!! John and I stayed up late every night playing games.  It was so much fun to have everyone in my family there!!  My sister who lives in Canada even came with her newborn  which they blessed at my parent's house the Sunday before the trip.  

Some of us on a morning hike :)

Deja and Thomas :)

 Deja loved playing with her cousins and is continuously adding to her vocabulary.  Some funny word mix up she says are "Kitchen" = actual word "Chicken," "Bargage" = "Garbage" and my favorite "Grandma Crackers" = "Graham Crackers"  ;)

Minute to win it Marshmallow Challenge

My brother is obsessed with this "Spike It" game  (it has similar rules to Volleyball except instead of it going over the next you spike it into the net for the other team to retrieve and have their turn to spike it back).  It was all fun and games until both ball rolled under the house!!  

They tried to get the kids to crawl under but Danny and John ended up doing the dirty work, haha.  

 On "June Turty" we celebrated Patience's B-day because it was her most favorite day :)  We dressed in black and red, had a BBQ, played some old school Tetris/Dr. Mario, and Massacred an Ice Cream cake in her honor.  Love and miss you Pay!!  We know you were there in spirit.