Yellowstone!

I wish I was eloquent enough to describe our trip to Yellowstone and all the beautiful, amazing, inspiring, fun, and amazing things we were able to see and do. But since I'm not, I will let some of my pictures do the talking.

We are so grateful and lucky that Grandma and Grandpa Harker came on this trip with us. Not only are they so much fun to be with, they make rounding up the boys much easier for me and the boys love being with them.

Miles was pretty lucky. He got rides from Dad almost every where we went.

We love playing in the rivers at Yellowstone. They are at least 20 degrees warmer than the water in Utah rivers and lakes because of all the heated water that gets poured into them by the thermal features.

My one shot of Old Faithful. Actually not even one of my favorite features in Yellowstone. We saw other geysers, hot pots, hot springs, and steam vents that are even more impressive.

One afternoon they offered a Jr. Ranger "Animal Olympics" for the kids. They competed against animals in holding their breath, jumping, running, balancing, smell, staring, and other activities.

Mammoth

Cooling off with a sweet treat. We got ice cream almost every where we went. Very yummy!

We hiked our boys to death, and they loved it. This was by far our longest hike to Fairy Falls, 5 miles round trip.

And this is my favorite thermal feature called "Dragon's Breath." It totally sounds and looks like a dragon could be living in this cave.

For our last lunch we decided to splurge and went into a little town just North of Yellowstone. I had my very first buffalo burger. It tasted like a really good hamburger, but cost more.

Yellowstone might be one of my favorite places on earth. It was a wonderful week full of great adventures, good company, fabulous food, cool temperatures, beautiful sites, and memories that will last forever (with the 120 pictures that I took). It was the perfect way to end our summer.

More Summer Fun

Oh how time flies when you're having fun! This summer has felt like the fastest one yet! I can't believe it will be over in a week. Here are some of the things we have been doing these last few weeks.

On the 24th of July, I ran the Deseret News 10K. This is my favorite race because I love the course. This is right before the finish line where I am sprinting with all my might. I came in with a time of 57 minutes. I was pretty happy with that and I felt great!
Then I met my family along the parade route to watch the parade. One of my favorite traditions.

This year my stake had a float in the parade. One of my young woman got to ride on it for this parade and I was out in the street yelling and cheering for her. Our stake won the animation award.

That night, my Dad had two extra tickets to the Bees game so I took Max who is becoming quite the lover of the game. He asked about all the rules and was really interested the whole game. There were fireworks afterward which was fun.

The first Tuesday of August we took advantage of the $2 Tuesdays down at Thanksgiving Point. We went after lunch to the gardens and so it really wasn't even very crowded.

Another afternoon we used my City Deals coupon I had bought months ago to go to the Dinosaur Park in Ogden. Miles loved seeing all the "real" dinosaurs and hear all the noises they make.

We also went to the Herriman/Riverton "Beach" one afternoon. My kids loved digging in the sand and splashing around while I sat on the beach and read a book. Very relaxing! Until the clouds rolled in and it started to rain, so our trip was cut a little short.

All of these events took place in the first week of August. We then packed up and left for Yellowstone for a week, so that will be my next post. We've had some fun and I am glad the boys are still at an age where they will hang out with their mother. I don't know how many more summers I'll get like this, so I am grateful for the time I do get to spend with my boys. They are awesome!

Vegas!

How lucky am I to have a sister who is also my best friend? Pretty lucky I would say. She has wanted to go to Vegas for a while to jump off the Stratosphere, so finally, we made it happen. Here we are arriving at the airport in Vegas ready for the fun to begin. The first afternoon there we drove to see the Hover Dam. That thing was huge and amazing. We went on the tour through the power plant and got to see how it all works. We also went to the visitor center where it shows how and why they built the whole thing. Totally amazing that man was able to figure out how to control the massive Colorado River.
This is the new highway bridge they just built last year so they would have less traffic going over the dam for security reasons. That is also an engineering marvel.

It was very hot!!!

That night we went with our tour guide Julie, my friend who lives in Vegas and who let us stay at her house, down to the strip. We went through some of the casinos and watched the shows that they do on the street.

I loved the Billagio fountain show. Very impressive!

The next morning, we set out to do what we came for, watch Tracy jump off the Stratosphere. You can't believe how high up it is. 855 ft from the top of the tower all the way to the bottom. She payed a hefty penny to do it, but it really was awesome!

All suited up and ready to go!

The Clemens family came with us to watch the jump and have lunch with us after...if Tracy lived.

She lived and loved it! She screamed the whole way down. Later that afternoon we went back to the strip to look at some of the other casinos and do the Coke and M&M museums.

We then returned that evening to the top of the Stratosphere to ride all the crazy rides they have on top. Way fun and a little scary.

This is the picture they took of us on the one that shoots you to the top of the needle on the Stratosphere. I am on the left and Tracy is in the middle. Pretty funny we think.

The last day of our trip we had some time to kill before going to the airport. We had gotten our fill of the strip and done everything good Mormon girls could, so instead we went to see the movie "Captain America." LOVED it!

I thought I should at least put in a dollar to the nickel slots. I put it in, pushed the button a few times and was up to $1.20. Then I pushed it a few more times and got down to $0.20. One more push put me at $0.70 so I figured I would cash out then. So I took my ticket and went to the window and got my 70 cents. Funny huh! The picture was totally worth my 30 cents!

We still didn't have to be to the airport quite yet and decided that we better eat at at least one all-you-can-eat buffet while in Vegas. The Clemens told us about one in a new casino that they thought was the best and they were right! It had everything for a great price and was so yummy. This is my dessert plate at the end. Do you think I gained weight on this trip? You bettcha! We rolled on out of there and went to the airport to go home.

It was so much fun to be in Vegas with my sister and friend Julie. It was great to take a break from being a mom and wife for a few days and just have some girl time. I am so glad that Tracy and I are such good friends. I love spending time with her and just being ourselves together. I am so lucky to have her as my sister. Good times!

Girls' Camp

I can't believe I just attended my 5th girls camp in a row as a YW leader. What a blessing and fabulous opportunity that has been in my life. I am sure that my testimony and love for the gospel has grown even more than the girls these past five years. I am grateful for every girl and every leader that I have been able to attend camp with. Each one of them has blessed my life more than they could possibly imagine. Even though Girls Camp is a lot of work, it is all worth it, and I am so grateful that Heavenly Father has allowed me to be a part of this amazing experience not just once, but five times. Am I lucky or what???!!!

Our theme this year was "ER-Eternal Rewards." Our camp directer is a nurse, so this theme seemed fitting. Each of us got a pair of scrubs to wear at camp. The leaders got hot pink per my request. Some of my leaders absolutely hate pink, but indulged me enough to not complain about the color too much. These are some of the most amazing, spiritual, and dedicated women in the church and I am blessed and honored to work with them and call them my friends.

Jan-Beehive adviser, Julie-Secretary, Dianna-Personal Progress, Megan-Mia Maid adviser, Kimberly-Camp director, Me-YW president, Shireece-2nd counselor, Willow-Laural adviser, and Kristin-1st councilor

This is the first time in my five years that ALL the leaders were able to attend. How cool is that? We had so much fun together and each leader did a perfect job on all their lessons and tuck-ins.

These are the girls in their 1st-4th year at camp. They are all such cuties. Each one of them are so talented and fun and they all get along great. Not one of them complained or left anyone out. I love all of them!

And these are the awesome YCL's (youth camp leaders, or the Laurals). They were a riot! They actually planned a lot of camp and made sure that everything was taken care of. The younger girls were even given the chance to go "snipe" hunting. The YCL's also gave out fabulous awards to each camper at the end of camp that were absolutely hilarious and fitting.

Of course every girls camp has crafting. This is Julie trying to teach us how to boone doggle. It was pretty complicated and frustrating, but we each gave it a go and did our best.

We took a hike around camp Timberlane and stopped for a photo opp.

Aren't we the cutest group ever?

One of our fabulous traditions is the skit. We bring up a bunch of different props and the girls just have to make something up on the spot. It wouldn't be fun unless the leaders did it too. This is our "rap" number during our skit.

Another tradition is doing a service project. We cleared out a campsite that hadn't been used for a while and spread wood chips around the camp. It was raining a little during this but again, there was not one complaint or whining from any of the girls. They worked fast and hard too.
My favorite tradition at girls camp is eating!! We always have the best food and plenty of it.
So this is probably my last girls camp, at least as a YW president, for a while. I have loved every minute of it and am so grateful that I got to learn and grow with these girls. I love them like my own daughters and will remember with fondness my time at girls camp. I love each and every tradition and of course testimony meeting. It has been fun to watch the girls that have been with me every year grow and mature and learn more about the gospel. They will make fabulous wives, mothers, and leaders someday. I am excited to watch their lives progress.