Is July Really Over Already?

I spent most of July getting ready for girls camp. As a young woman, I hated girls camp. I think I only went a couple of years and so I was a little nervous about going again. It made it easier that Tristyn was there for her first year. The first couple of days were so HOT!! I had sweat dripping in crevasses that I didn't even know I had. We had to wear pants and tennis shoes which made it that much hotter. On Thursday the bishopric and their wives came up. It was nice how they came all "dolled up" and we were dirty and stinky and just plain "hagged out." They were so fun though. They played lots of fun games with the girls and after a little while we had a horrendous thunderstorm blow through. One of the cabins that we were in started to flood. Thank goodness all of the men were there. Bishops from other wards started helping to make a barrier for the river of water to go around the cabin and not through it. It was quite an experience, one we will not ever forget.

That night we had our testimony meeting. I think this is why I hated camp so much. I have an intense fear of public speaking and I always have. I am embarrassed to say that I am 33 years-old and had never born my testimony until then. Something was different this time though. I was at peace and was able to share my feelings about the gospel with the girls. I have never felt so relieved in my life. I think it helped that it was pitch black but at least it was a step in the right direction.

All of our first years and YCL's.

 The girls going "Snipe Hunting." With so many gullible first year girls, this was a blast. For anyone not familiar with snipe hunting, they put toothpaste all over their faces to ward off the snipes that don't really exist. Then with flashlight they take the girls out and scare the crap out of them. The girls love it. We laughed almost the whole time and had so much fun.

I had some good friends that helped my mom with the boys which made it a lot easier for me to leave my family for four days. I did however have a ton of work to do when I got home. It has taken me a good week to get back to some sort of normalcy, if you can call it that.

This week Tristyn turns 12. I cannot believe it. She has grown up so fast. We are having a "Bubblegum Bash" for her on Saturday. We are making bubblegum necklaces and I am going to attempt to make a gumball machine cake. Wish me luck!!  A few years ago we decided that having a friend birthday party every year was a bit much, so we are only doing them for big birthdays. This is a big year for her. She is graduating into Young Women's and starting Junior High within a week of each other. On top of that we are trying to get everything ready for school too. This is definitely going to be an expensive couple of weeks. I hope we can get everything done in time.