Busy Summer

We have had a busy summer so far, and it's only half-way over. I tried to upload the pictures in chronological order, but it didn't happen, so it's all out of order. This is all for journaling purposes, so it's okay. :)


The County fair was in town, so Abby and I made a quick stop over. We saw baby animals, rode an expensive carousel, and ate some yummy ice cream. Abby was in heaven, to say the least.


My sister and her kids came to visit from Kansas. We all met up at a local pool to swim. These are Abby's two cousins--Sienna and Taylor. Abby is a year younger than them, but she is the same height, if not taller. They had a lot of fun together. Abby keeps asking if she can see her "friend", which is what she calls Taylor.

We've been to a couple of baseball games this summer, and Abby loves it. This is her "funny" face she likes to make (or scary--depending on her mood).

Mike was sworn in as an official California State Attorney. We got to go to the ceremony and watch him. It was pretty neat.

I just got back from a week at Girls Camp. I was asked to go as a 3rd Year Counselor, which is over a group of 13-14 year olds. They get to go on an over-night hike, which is a big deal for them. The hike is only 2.5 miles, but it's uphill both ways (you go a different way back) and it requires a lot of climbing, which is difficult with a big back-pack on.

I felt so many different emotions the whole week because this is the camp I went to as a young girl. I kept looking for my friends there---and I found myself really missing them. But the person I missed the most (besides Abby and Mike) was my Dad. I don't remember going to camp without him there. He went all 6 years while I was growing up and even the 2 years after I graduated when I went back as a rappeller. You were missed, Dad, and not just by me. It really wasn't the same without you!

The water level was extremely high this year--higher than I have ever seen it. Because of this, we had to cross a few streams to get to our campsite on the hike. The girls had fun taking their boots off and walking in the cold and slippery water. I had water shoes--thank goodness!

Just a picture of trees growing in water? This goes to show how high the water level was. I didn't know trees grew in water on a regular basis?

Ain't no mountain high enough....ain't no valley low enough....ain't no river wild enough....

The whole group (minus 2 sick girls) taking a break from hiking. The views were gorgeous!

One of my favorite parts of Girls Camp is the rappelling wall and rock. I love it! I used to hold the record for the fastest time up the wall, but that has long since been beaten. It was fun to climb it again--and it still had all the same foot and hand holds on the way up. :)

Another favorite thing of mine is the Polar Bear swim. Haha. Not really. I think I did this once when I was a camper, but as a leader I had to try it once, too. It's a 5:30 AM swim across the lake--twice in my case. I had 2 girls in my group do 2 ways, so I decided to join them. The jump in LITERALLY took my breath away--it was so cold. I was gasping for breath the first 5 minutes until my body got used to the cold. I didn't think I'd be able to do it both ways, but I survived and finished strong. I almost kept up with the swimmers in the group, but slowed down significantly towards the end. I really think my marathon training helped me all week--my endurance level is sure high. :)

The 4 leaders in our group. The girl directly to the left of me grew up in the same town as me (she's actually my sister's age) and the girl on the far left was my YW leader growing up, so it was one big reunion!

We called ourselves the "angel" leaders because we tried really hard to go by all the rules. The other 2 leaders knew which rules were really important--and which ones could be stretched. Haha. :)

Camp pictures--our girls in their purple shirts. Someone referred to our leaders shirts as the color of dried blood. Thanks so much for that visual. :)

My good friend came up to camp on Sunday to do what they call Temple Hour. She came with her husband and they talked about how they met, dated, and got married in the temple. They were so cute!

We started out the summer by going on a Pioneer Trek with the youth of our church. We were asked to be a "Ma and Pa" over a group of 10 kids. We pulled a hand-cart for 3 days over a hilly, steep, and hot trail, but we really had a great time. The kids were amazing--they really surprised me with their strength and endurance. My favorite part was holding devotionals with them each night and feeling the Spirit so strongly around them. It really made me love working with the youth of our stake.

Our family hiking up a big hill. They always took a running start to get up--by the time they got to the top, Mike and I were struggling to keep up.

A rare moment with Mike helping pull the cart. As Ma and Pas we were advised not to help pull the cart unless absolutely necessary, so Mike followed that rule to a T.

Our whole "family" at a resting point. We had 5 daughters and 5 sons--and none of them knew each other really well, which made for a fun weekend together. They really surprised me with how strong they were throughout the whole thing--not just physically, but spiritually and mentally. They were awesome!

More pulling....

A nice photo op.... (I got tired of wearing the bonnet--I had no peripherel vision)

We have had such a great time with the youth in our stake and have enjoyed getting to know them. I missed Mike and Abby while at Girls Camp, but we were so busy and had lots going on that the week went by fast. Abby is still telling me, "Mommy came back from camping!" I feel like she's grown up so much and wish time would slow down so I can remember every minute with her....

This is a video of Abby reading one of her favorite books, My Favorite Things. It's the song "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music. It's a beautiful book. I first found it when I worked at a library and was shelving books one morning. I fell in love with the pictures! Anyway, Abby loves it, too, so we read it on a daily basis. Abby really, really, really LOVES to read. When she is having a meltdown or is crying, if I ask her if she wants to read a book, her eyes light up and she immediately calms down (most of the time). She gets on a kick of reading the same books over and over again. This is one of them. She likes to sing this song instead of just reading it....And although her annunciation isn't the best, just think of the song, and you'll be able to understand what she's saying. PASSWORD: read

Abby Reading from Laura Hall on Vimeo.