Getting ready and Fun with the Youth

What a crazy, busy, stressful, amazing, exciting, hard working and yet peaceful and relaxing week this has been. Monday I went to my classroom for the first time to drop off some of my things and this is what I found. I was expecting to be put in a classroom that didn't have a teacher last year and was empty. Instead I got put in the classroom of a teacher who left on maternity leave in the middle of last year and left all her crap! So instead of just moving in the next day like I'd hoped, my mom and I spent the entire day cleaning out all of her crap!

This is me saying "What the crap am I going to do with all this crap?!"

But we got to work and I actually found a lot of very helpful and useful items and all the supplies I could possibly need. We filled up about 8 very large garbage bags and also threw out a broken book shelf and lots of crappy storage containers.

My mom in the middle of the mayham.

I wish I would have taken a picture of these cabinets before we cleaned them all out. There was paper stacked and tossed everywhere all mismatched. Supplies where all over the place with no rhyme or reason. So we matched everything and put everything in totes and now I know where all the staples, paperclips, glue, markers, etc are and they can be easily accessed.

It took the next day with my mother-in-law and my mom to get all the bulletin boards up and the desks out and everything all cute and clean, but here is the finished product. I love it and it totally feels like "my" room!

So after working on that all week, the next adventure was Youth Conference. The young men's president (who is awesome) and I worked together to make it all happen. I planned the place and all the activities while he did all the food. We went down to Manti where my sister-in-law's husband's family has a house. They let us camp out on their lawn. Our theme was

"Life....THE Amazing Race!"

The first thing we did was baptisms at the Manti temple. Very cool!

These are "my girls." Since I don't have daughters of my own, I honestly feel like I've adopted these. I love being around them and feeling of their energy and enthusiasm. I care about them like they really were my own daughters. We have good fun together and I am proud of how they are living their lives.

The whole group. 11 Young Women and 6 Young Men. A small group but you won't find a more amazing group of youth in the church!

Now with the leaders. Me, my second councilor, my secretary, and one Mom, the Bishop, the Second councilor in the bishopric, and the Young Men's president. We have amazing adult leaders as well who really care about these kids and magnify their calling.

That night I put everyone on a team and we had all sorts of races and competitions against each other.

The next morning, we did an "Amazing Race" through the city of Manti. The team would get a clue, then have to walk there to perform a challenge before getting their next clue. SOOOOO fun!

The winning team!

The afternoon was spent swimming at Palisades State Park. We all just chilled out in the water and swam and sat on the beach. Very relaxing and a great way to wind down the summer. One particular Young Man threw me in the water not once, but twice! Thanks Jake!

I got back at Jake for throwing me in the water by showing him that I have bigger muscles than he does!!

Manti city will never be the same now that the Ridgecrest 1st Ward youth have been there. They truly are the future leaders of this church and I am amazing at how prepared, righteous, courageous and amazing they are. It was a wonderful weekend and I know my testimony grew by being with them.

So pretty much I didn't see my kids all week and I appreciate so much the babysitting and care given to my children by others. I could not have done any of these things without Grandmas who love me and love my children. I also am so grateful for a husband who supports me in my calling and steps up when I can't be home. He is a wonderful father and I think the kids are benifiting from spending so much time with him. I am one lucky mom and I know Heavenly Father is watching over me and blessing me.