So It Begins

Summer was extra long this year. I have no idea why, but our school district extended the summer by a week so the girls didn't start up again until Tuesday the 30th of August. In some ways that was great - we got some extra summering in. But also it kind of dragged on forever. That's partly because we had a record-breaking summer, the hottest in history. FUUUUUUUN. Especially when my northern-European DNA is yelling at me that we are supposed to live in cold damp places.

I digress. Summer finally came to an end. It's so nice having older kids - they were fine with their same old backpacks and lunchboxes. They barely needed anything new at all. We did one half-hearted Target run for some extra pencils and notebook dividers but that was about it. And then they were off.

Emma started her 8th grade year, much less stressful and scary than last year. 

 

 

We got ourselves involved with a somewhat massive carpool - six girls! They're all pretty close by, but it's a lot of driving when my turn comes around. The good thing is that I only do pick-up two days a week, and no morning driving at all. It's nice. And the girls are really cute.

Emma is pretty excited to be in the 8th grade, even though she acts grossed out by the thought of getting older. I know she was happy to know her way around and be the experienced older kid. Plus she really did make a lot of friends last year and she was excited to be around them again. She ended up with an English teacher who was one of my mom's students at West High. Always a nice connection to make.

It doesn't seem real at all, but Romney started her senior year. She has gotten herself involved in a lot of things  - she's the president of the Theater Club, she's on the Seminary Council, she has lots of after-school time spent with the madrigals, and she also enrolled in Orchestra class, so she'll have concerts with them as well. I once, a long time ago, heard someone describe themselves as "having their fingers in too many pies." I don't know why it's a good idea to stick your fingers into pies at all, but if pies equals activities, Romney has a lot of pies and her fingers are in all of them. I predict some tears, but also great times as well ahead. (And since I'm writing this in October, I can say that I'm already correct on both counts.)

And Chase...well....his first day of school looked a little different from everyone else's. Good thing he was getting close to heading out on his mission.

  

Happy Birthday Romney!

So in the midst of all the vacations and reunions and getting ready for school, Romney turned 17. It was a rather low-key affair. She has definitely grown out of the birthday party years, and it's very lame for a 17-year-old's mother to do any birthday planning. The trouble was she wasn't too sure what she wanted to do and got very indecisive. It was almost very sad. But then, inspiration hit, and she ended up having a wonderful day, inviting friends over for her favorite take-out food, Cupbop, her favorite movie, Hot Rod, and a favorite dessert, crepes. I'm so happy that Romney has this group of wonderful friends. 

Cami, Lydia and Romney

Judd

Romney's actual birthday was on a Sunday, so the friends came over the night before. Sunday we gave her presents - sweatshirts and a lot of Dungeons and Dragons stuff like a book and some dice. What was funny is that I think three other people also gave her dice. She now has quite a collection! We have had to designate a wide spot on a bookshelf for all her DnD stuff, including a decorative bowl for all the dice. Yes that's right, we  have a dice bowl now. 

Cute Romney. She's so delightful. It's very very weird to think that this is the start of her last year of high school. I still think of her as a cute little sophomore, but she's talking about moving out and going away to college and stuff in just a few months. We are very not ready for that. Maybe by springtime we will be? Just kidding - she's helpful and kind to her sister and funny. We will hate it when she moves away. 

Happy Birthday Brighton!

 Brighton LDS Girls Camp turned 100! 

Me in 1997, being very silly

There's the coolest video on YouTube about its history:

Brighton Camp Turns 100

A committee was appointed to put together a big celebration. It was actually supposed to take place last year but you know....covid. So it was postponed until this year. It really works out ok because although ground was broken in 1921, girls didn't start staying there until 1922, so celebrating in 2022 was just great!

It was quite the event - Friday evening, a devotional on temple square at the Assembly Hall where we got to see this video and hear from many of the camp's past leaders. Also we started out by singing a very boisterous camp song about Noah and the Ark, so it wasn't an especially reverent devotional. It was so fun and we lingered so long that the temple square security had to kick us out of the building at 11 and then out of temple square. We just would not go away! So a few of us went to get cheesecake in City Creek Mall and continue chatting.

Saturday was an open house up at camp itself, which was a little chaotic. I was very happy to meet up with my staff from all three of my years, '90, '91 and '97.  We walked around camp a a little and of course I took photos of my name painted in all of my homes. I loved talking with friends from other years too. So many people I love so much!

After that, my '91 year slipped off to meet at the home of Ewe-Hoo, aka Hooter, who is in a wheelchair and didn't go up to camp. We sat on her porch and talked and laughed for a long time.

Sunday was a special mention at the Music and the Spoken Word performance downtown and later that night a fireside with a member of the YW general presidency. However, Sunday was Romney's birthday, so I skipped out on all of that. 

I have written so much about Brighton and my love for that place. My heart is there. One of the most special things was being asked to share my history along with my mom's history with camp in a special memorial book. It was really lovely to find my story in the book, recording how much Brighton camp means to me and my mom. 

Ward Youth Conference, Minus the Preslar Youth

I was so certain that I knew when the ward youth conference was going to be. There was this one week that I swear I had heard was definitely not going to be it. So that's when I planned the Disney trip. And...you'll never guess. That of course ended up being the week of the ward youth conference. It was a real bummer because our youth group has really developed a great tradition - getting a rental house close to Bear Lake, spending three days together, and renting a boat for one long day. They also have the tradition of asking Troy to drive the boat all day long. 

Both of my girls were pretty bummed that the trips were happening at the same time, and I did feel quite guilty about taking them away from the church trip, especially since our numbers have been shrinking lately with people graduating and moving away. And Chase isn't even officially one of the youth anymore...but he got called as a leader, so he went anyway.

I hear they had a wonderful time. Except this one little thing. Chase told me that he was on the boat for the entire day. He was really worried about getting sunburnt so he reapplied sunscreen like five times or something. I guess that brand of sunscreen turned out to be not so great, because all reports were that he got totally fried. I guess he basically got the worst sunburn of his life. I'm kind of glad I wasn't there to see it. I hate it when my kids have pain that I can't fix or help. I'm sure he didn't sleep well for a couple of days. Luckily, Troy avoided that fate and was sunburn free. Just totally exhausted.

Anyway, we have a wonderful group of young people in our neighborhood and they love spending time together. This was an especially significant trip, not only because it's become a great tradition for a group of kids who feel like a real team, but also because it would be the last activity with the current youth leaders and our dear Bishop Bryan, who was soon to be released. I'm so grateful for their service and for the bond these kids share.

oh yeah and I guess there were a couple of injuries...