YW Camp

A couple months after Tyler was born, I was released from my Young Women calling. My feelings were split between disappointment and relief. I loved the young women, but I felt like I wasn't able to put forth as much time and effort to them as I would have liked. Before my release, I had wondered what I would do about camp. Some of my favorite memories of serving have come from YW camp the past 2 years. Could I really bring an 8-month old nursing baby? But I knew it would break my heart to miss it!

Fast forward a couple months... I was called to be on the camp committee! Interestingly, our new YW president was in the same situation I was, and she planned to be at camp as much as she could, baby and all. It made the decision much easier, and so... Tyler got to experience girls' camp this summer.

He was such a trooper and, in true Tyler fashion, smiled almost the whole time. He loved all of the extra attention he received from the young women. The only real drawback was the nighttime temperature, brrr!

Blessing Day

Tyler was blessed in Fast and Testimony meeting on the first of February. He was quiet and alert throughout the blessing, and Mike did a wonderful job as well. It was a really neat blessing, I wish I had taken notes or something because I can't remember all of it. But one thing that stood out to me from the blessing was that he'll recognize Heavenly Father's love for him as a son of God throughout his life.
We had an awkwardly large blessing circle, but what can you do? They were all our fathers, grandfathers, and brothers, and there were even a few missing! I really feel blessed that most of our family lives near enough to participate in this kind of thing. Afterward we had a nice little brunch for everyone at our house.
Tyler wore a little cream-colored sweater outfit that my mom took us shopping for. He looked adorable in it, and I liked that it was kinda white, but didn't scream "blessing outfit!", so he can wear it to church a few more times.
Another momentous thing that happened that day: I was released from my calling as Young Women 2nd counselor (the whole presidency was replaced). I am a little sad about it, but it's ok. I really loved serving in the YW, and they are such a great group of girls (and leaders). I feel a little better about camp though, because I wasn't sure how much I'd be able to participate with a 7 month old baby.
So I am currently "unemployed" in my ward. Not for long though, the bishop assured me.

Primary Program

Elise, who is a Sunbeam this year, had her first chance to be in a Primary program at church. She loves singing, and Primary songs are some of her favorites. Sometimes she bursts loudly into song in the middle of Costco, to see how many people will pay attention to her. Lydia has begun to join in too, and has picked up a lot from what she hears Elise sing.

So, I wasn't too surprised when the chorister told me a couple weeks before the program that Elise is one of the loudest singers. I was excited to hear what she meant. I was not disappointed, it was very entertaining to watch her sing her little heart out. The cutest thing about her singing was that she would tone it down when she wasn't quite sure of the lyrics or tune, and then when she was more sure she would turn up the volume again. People in the ward keep commenting to us about how well they could hear her, what a great job she did, etc.

She also had a speaking part, which she practiced a lot, but she froze when it was her turn to talk in the mic (wonder if that's inherited?). But if anyone would care to ask her, she will gladly repeat her part for you: "Teach me all that I must do."

Lydia had a fun time at church that day too, because my parents, Chris, Alan, and Alan's fiancee Dani, came to visit. Lydia just went from lap to lap as she pleased!

Emergency Preparedness and General Conference

I heard an idea recently and decided to try it out for a General Conference tradition. We ate the old food in our 72 hour kits, to rotate in new food. Most of it was expired, but edible (we're all still alive, so that's good). Most of it was bought when Elise was allergic to dairy, so that's quite a while ago.

We had:
Pop tarts ("Brown Sugar Cinnamon" held up better than "Frosted Strawberry")
Canned pineapple and mandarin oranges (both were a hit with the kids)
Vienna Sausages (surprisingly they ate these!)
Quaker chewy granola bars (I thought they tasted stale, but the girls ate them)
Chicken noodle soup (still good)
Shelf stable soy milk drink boxes (yuck!)

There wasn't nearly enough for 3 days of good eating. We pretty much had it all for lunch between sessions.

Mini "Pioneer Trek"

Our Primary had a great activity today to teach the children about the Pioneers crossing the plains. The children were invited to come dressed in pioneer clothing and bring wagons decorated like covered wagons.Here is Elise with Lydia in our wagon. I stuck pool noodles in the cup holders and made a little tarp with ropes sewn into two ends to cover our "covered wagon." Pure genius, right? Just kidding but sometimes I remind myself of my dad, making cool stuff like this. We started from a house in the neighborhood, "Nauvoo", and made a "trek" about a mile long, stopping at different points along the way to learn about different church history sites. They had "Winter Quarters," "Martin's Cove," "Emigration Canyon," and the "Salt Lake Valley." It was a really cool idea for an activity, and the girls had tons of fun.