Pinewood Derby

Family Visit

Leavenworth

This week Cahl had to run over to Washington to visit a few of his job sites, and he decided last minute to take Brinley and Morgan with him. They were so excited to go on a quick "girl's trip," and had so much fun. He took them to Cle Elum to tour the fish helix, then over to Leavenworth to see the fish hatchery and town. They loved visiting all the stores, going mini golfing and to the adventure park to ride the alpine coaster, and having their Bavarian style photos done!

River Float

One of Tristan's oldest friends from Vegas was in town this week for a job interview, so this afternoon we decided to go float the river. We did the lower stretch of the Payette, and he had a great time!

Girls Camp

This year, Brinley's Girls Camp was held at Camp Smokey up by Stanley- this is my 3rd time going there, and it is the best! I was called as Camp Director for our new ward this year, so I have been working with my 7 YCL's, including Brinley, since December to put camp together. Smokey is a beautiful camp, and I was really excited to take a new group of girls there. This year we had 25 girls and 15 adults. Monday we headed up, and after a stop at the fish hatchery, we got to camp early afternoon, and got to work getting our cabins moved into, setting up the crafts, and getting the kitchen set up. After setup, we held a few classes for the girls- first aid, soap carving, and fire starting. Following dinner, the girls had a Just Dance party in the lodge, as well as some free time before bed time. 

Tuesday morning the whole camp was up bright and early, and at the lake for the polar plunge. The YCL's wanted every girl to attend, even if they didn't want to get in, so that they could all support the girls who did get in. It was really cool to see every girl there, and I think this was the best polar plunge to date for participation! Once they got out of the water, Cahl had a big fire going with hot chocolate for everyone, then we walked back to camp for hot showers and breakfast. We then packed sack lunches, and headed out for our hike. This year the girls chose to do the Fishhook Creek trail, and it was perfect. The weather was great, and everyone enjoyed the hike. Once we got back to camp, the girls could choose to do either a yoga class or make marsh mellow guns, which they had a great time with! After dinner, we held a flag retirement ceremony. Those are always so special to me, and I think this was the best one to date. 

Wednesday morning we held our Faith Walk, which was simple yet powerful, and I was really impressed by how quiet and respectful the girls were. We then packed up and headed over to Lake Alturas for the afternoon. They all had so much fun kayaking, paddleboarding, and playing at the beach. We also did some beach games- the 3 legged race, tug of war, a swim race, stick pull, and sack races. We wrapped up right as a storm was rolling in, so the timing was perfect. We headed back to camp for showers and dinner, followed by the testimony meeting, which was really sweet and powerful. Since we are a newly combined ward, it was a great opportunity for the girls to share how they had felt and dealt with the big change, and to see that they were not alone in their feelings. I think we also succeeded in blending all the girls together this week, and making new friendships, which was my whole goal for camp. We followed testimony meeting with dutch oven desserts and an award ceremony for the beach game winners, team that did the best cleaning during the week, and special shout outs to our nurse and cooks. 

Thursday morning we finished packing up and cleaning the camp, before heading home. We stopped at Kirkham Hot Springs on the way, and the girls loved one last break to play before we made it home. It was a great week, and everyone had a great time. I'll forever be grateful that Cahl and I are able to attend, and make these memories with Brinley! I really loved being the director, and being able to work with Brinley her first year as a YCL was really special!

California Adventure

We flew from San Antonio to Vegas, and spent a day working and catching up on laundry, before we took off again- this time for southern California. We took Cahl's step dad along, and they spent 3 days fishing in the Channel Islands, off the coast of Oxnard. They had a great time catching white sea bass, halibut, and tons of rock fish.

Meanwhile, Brinley and I hopped in a rental car and headed south to San Clemente. We stayed 2 nights in Dana Point, and the best time cruising around and seeing all the places we used hang out when we lived there. She loved going to Camp Pendleton and seeing the base and San Onofre, San Clemente beach and pier, and doing a little shopping. We stopped at the Santa Monica pier on the way back for lunch and to ride all the rides. 

We headed back to Oxnard to meet up with Cahl and Jim for the night, then the next day we drove to Vegas to drop off Jim and visit, then headed back home on Sunday. It was a long time to be away, but we had a great time!

Texas Trip

Cahl and I headed to Austin after his work conference finished, and we had an extra day and a half to spend in Marble Falls. We spent Thursday afternoon checking out the town, and just hanging out at the house we rented. We even did some fishing at the pond there, and caught 2 big catfish!

Friday we found a really cool safari animal park nearby, and we had the best time feeding a giraffe, capybaras, and goats, before we hopped on the tractor ride, and rode around rode the train around the park. They have hundreds of different exotic animals- gazelles, springbok, fallow and axis deer, camels, watusi, zebras, elk, mouflon sheep, ostriches and emus, water buffalo, bison, kangaroos, llamas, and many types of antelope. It was so fun to see them up close, and feed them by hand. Later that afternoon, the rest of the family starting rolling in, so we met everyone at the house, then went to town for dinner. 

Saturday morning we were up and out of the house early, to pick up the kids from camp. It was so good to see them all and spend some time at camp, before heading out on the next leg of our journey- our first stop was Buc-ees of course, then lunch at Rudy's, and finally driving down to South Padre Island. It took most of the afternoon to get there, but that evening we checked out the hotel and beach. It was the perfect spot- with a path that led right to the beautiful sand. 

Sunday we spent the day at the beach and the pool, then headed into town to check out the shops. Brinley and Mia got some sweet temporary tattoos, that they proudly showed off the rest of the trip. 

Monday we spent a little time at the beach, before packing up and driving back to San Antonio, to fly back to Vegas that night.