Youth Conference 2010

Saturday was the Hurricane 16th Ward's Youth Conference. Mike, Cari, Trevon and Sadie left at 7am and met at our church house to begin a fun-filled day. After eating a muffin breakfast, our Stake Young Women's President gave them a send-off devotional. She spoke on being "STRONG & COURAGEOUS" (Joshua 1:9), the theme for this activity.
The group then traveled to Big Rock Candy Mountain, just south of Richfield. There, they went river rafting on the Sevier River. At times it was scary, and the rapids soaked them; mostly it was fun.



After the river trip, they drove to the Bullion Falls Trailhead and ate lunch. They were each given a sack lunch with a deli sandwich, chips, apple, and a cookie. Then, they went on the 2 mile Bullion Falls hike. At the falls, their bishopric leaders, Brother Holmes and Brother Stratton, shared a message and testimony with them.

Next, they went to the Richfield City Pool to swim and cool off. They showered and cleaned up and headed to a pavilion at the tabernacle for a chicken/potato Dutch Oven dinner. Before eating, they had a fireside with Bishop Gibson as the speaker, reminding them once again to be "strong and courageous." They had ice cream sundaes, cleaned up, then headed home. It was just before 11pm when they arrived home.

My day wasn't nearly as exciting, but was productive. Trevon asked me to turn off a water valve in the garden as he left for the conference. When I did, I noticed quite a bit of weeds growing and just couldn't resist pulling them. So, after THREE HOURS, and some pretty dirty hands, I began my housework. I worked straight until 8:45pm and was exhausted! The kids who were home helped and played throughout the day. At 9pm we went to a neighbors to watch an outdoor movie and RELAX. The next day, I woke feeling like I had ran a half marathon. My legs were SO sore! It was great exercise though and the garden looks great!

The Fathers in My Life

Today I couldn't help but reflect on the fathers I've had in my life; that have loved and taught me throughout the years. I have been so very blessed.

I love these men and am thankful to my Heavenly Father for sending each of them into my life. They are special to me.

Fathers are so special, with a very special love.
They watch us and protect us.
They guide us and direct us,
Back to our home above.
(Dawn Hughes Ballantyne & Joyce Mills Jensen;1975)

Thanks to each of these men, whether living or dead, for your great influence on my life. I love you! HAPPY FATHER's DAY.

Father's Day

The best husband, father and friend: Ours!

GOOD MORNING!!! I woke Mike early for a family breakfast and to share some gifts for Father's Day. We had scrambled eggs, orange juice, raisin bagels and fruit.

Right after eating, we gave him some new dress pants, a tie and a belt, which he wore to church. At church he was given a candy lei and a brownie with ice cream!

We gathered again after church to give "dad" his cards and a few SWEET treats; gifts of love.

For dinner we had a green salad, broccoli, mashed potatoes and some Dutch oven chicken. Corban fell asleep before he could enjoy it! Of course, Cari made her dad some chocolate chip cookies to top it all off! We love you dad! You're the BEST!!!

Girl's Camp

This past week, Cari and Sadie were at Girl's Camp! The theme was Get A Grip! referring to having a "grip" on the iron rod. The iron rod refers to the word of God and is taken from the Book of Mormon (1 Nephi Chapter 8 & Chapter 11).
The girls camped out in tents about an hour away from home. This was Cari's 6th year of camp and she went as a Uniteer, helping the younger girls with their camp certifications. This was Sadie's 3rd year of camp which included hiking and learning how to use a compass. Both girls made crafts, enjoyed the speakers and devotionals, and came home with way too much candy. They both agreed that their favorite part of camp was the iron rod activity. In Cari's own words: I was able to go up to girl's camp with the young women. The theme was "get a grip," which referred to getting a tight hold on the iron rod. While we were there, the stake leaders put together an activity where all the girls had to hold to a rod and follow it until they reached the end. We did this at night, so it was dark out and a little hard to see. When we started out, one of the stake leaders gave us a big hug and told us to hold on tightly and not let go of the rod for anything. There were lots of people along the path trying to tempt us. Some of the things they said were hard to ignore, especially since most of the people who were tempting us were from my ward. About halfway through, the leaders stopped us and blindfolded us. It made everything harder and scary because we couldn't see where we were going or what was ahead of us. When we got to the end, Sister Stratton took off our blindfolds and told us that we'd made it. There was a tree covered in white lights, with the Bishopric and all of our leaders dressed in white standing in front of it, waiting to greet us as we walked up to it. It was one of the greatest experiences I've ever had. Like the activity we did at camp, we are all trying to reach the end of the rod and our Father in Heaven.
On this activity, the girls went individually, one ward at a time. A member of the bishopric shared their testimony after their ward arrived. It was a very impressionable activity.
The first night of camp, the girls participated in a skit. The Saphire Sister's skit (our ward YW) was titled Sleeping Beauty. Cari was Sleeping Beauty (the mask representing her gift of beauty), and Sadie played the part of the wicked witch (thus all the BIG hair).

The only pictures they brought home from camp were those taken of the skit. I took one of the girls as they arrived home. Mike was able to visit and stayed one night as a priesthood holder and like always, the girls enjoyed seeing their dad. At the end of camp, Cari was given the "HOTTEST" award and Sadie was given "THE NEAT FREAK" award. She said she asked her tent mates to clean up one day and that is why she earned that one! We're glad they had so much fun.
Back at home, Trevon decided to go camping with some of his friends one night. He loaded up the camping gear and went to the desert with three of his friends. They slept under the stars, enjoyed hot cocoa, watched a movie (using a generator), and did a lot of talking. He had a great time. The next day, he experimented with making fruit leather. I was making a curtain for the play room, and Mike volunteered to help me, so I put him to work! He's a man of many talents, but wasn't sure he liked me taking a picture of it! Corban and Elise were my helpers at dinnertime with everyone else away!

In the Water

This past week Cameron went to swimming lessons and went from being afraid of the water to enjoying it. After about one day of lessons he became considerably more comfortable in the pool. I let out a few sobs of thankfulness and joy after that first day. Cameron has never been very comfortable in the water. Taking a bath has even been a big deal/chore for him. I couldn't believe how quickly he overcame his fear and gained confidence. It was wonderful to watch. He loved going to his lessons and grew more confident each day. One day, he pointed out to me that we need to change the words to a family song we have that says, "Cam's afraid to drown...," because he is not afraid anymore. Now he asks to go swimming. By the end of the week he was even able to jump off the diving board in a life jacket. WAY TO GO CAMERON!!!

Pine Valley Mountain Hike

On Wednesday, Trevon and Mike hiked up Pine Mountain with some neighbors and friends. They returned home a day earlier than planned, on Friday night. They had a great time.



Pine is a 10,000 ft. mountain. They made a 4,000 ft. climb up and then down again on this trip.

Mike found a tree with the carving Mike B. on it. There was a lot of snow on the ground; at least two feet. They saw lots of deer and water was everywhere. The hardest part of the trip was trying to keep their feet dry.

Mike nearly broke his leg on this hike. He took a step, down in some snow, and up popped a branch; its end pressing straight against his lower leg, not far below his knee. At the same time he was moving forward with momentum; He was sure his leg was going to snap against the stick, but somehow he was able to stop his momentum just in time. Instead, he was left with a gash mark. I think our prayers for his safety were heard, and we are glad he and Trevon are in one piece! They have plenty of scratches on their legs and their shoulders were sore from carrying their backpacks. Mike carried 47lbs and Trevon, about 30lbs..

SummerFest 2010

This past week, Sadie was able to participate in the SUMI String Clinic. SUMI stands for Southern Utah Music Institute. The clinic gave her an intensive five day training experience with world class artists and then a culminating concert was on the sixth day. The clinic took place at Tuacahn High School for the Performing Arts. This was quite a drive for us to make every day. I spent three hours a day driving her back and forth. Trevon has his learner's permit, so he drove her a couple of the days, earning some of his required hours (This helped me justify the amount of driving we did). The drive took him on the highway, freeway, residential areas, a parkway, through a round-a-bout and out in the middle of the desert too. It was great driving experience for him. In the center of the round-a-bout was a beautiful arrangement of bronze sculptured horses. Corban LOVED seeing it. One horse has an Indian rider on it, that especially caught his attention.

On Friday, I decided to stay in the St. George area and spend some time with Kristi. I took her to the Paul Mitchell Hair School where she had her hair washed, cut and styled. Then, I had her eyebrows waxed...just a little bit!!! It was BEAUTIFUL fun! We picked up Sadie for lunch and after dropping her off, ran a few errands. Then, we went back to Tuachan to listen to a Chamber Music Concert Sadie was performing in.

As part of her clinic, she spent time rehearsing in a small group setting with a wonderful coach. Sadie said her coach reminded her of Grandma Ferrin. The coach, Linda Ghidossi-DeLuca, focused on educating and helping the chamber group with their performance of Divertimento No. 1 and Divertemento No. 3 by W.A. Mozart. At the concert, six different chamber groups performed what they had been working on all week. Sadie was part of a trio. There was one other trio that performed, and each of the remaining chamber groups had at least four students in them.

They also had orchestra rehearsals each morning, and performed an amazing orchestra concert on Saturday afternoon. Meanwhile, at home, a storm of marble sized hail moved in. More than an inch of rain, and up to an inch and a half of hail, fell in an hours time. Our garden was clobbered, to say the least!

Saturday Night, the faculty gave their own concert (at the St. George Tabernacle) to end the week long chamber music festival. It was very moving and enjoyable. Mike, Sadie and I went. The number I enjoyed most was a violin duet titled Navarra by Pablo Sarasate. Hearing it reminded me of Old Town San Diego,CA; a favorite vacation spot for Mike and me.

Keepin' Cool

On Friday, it was HOT outside! The kids put on their swimsuits and made a slip-and-slide out of a large tarp to keep cool. Before long, one thing led to another, and a pool was born! They turned the tarp into a pool and had fun keepin' cool.

Sadie's ZYSO California Tour

Sadie's report of her tour with Zion Youth Symphony Orchestra:

We started the trip by going to Disneyland (Saturday). It was better than I expected it to be. I'm not a big fan of roller coasters, but by the end of the day, I had ridden most all of them. Space Mountain was my favorite ride. The one that got me screaming most was Splash Mountain.

The next day we performed at Disneyland. Not many listened to us, as it was early, but an old couple said they were "amazed." The Walt Disney Concert Hall looked really awesome. The organ inside of it was almost like sticks sticking up everywhere. It was really cool and the music played was insanely awesome. We weren't allowed to take any pictures inside. We listened to the LA Philharmonic Sebelius Concert with Julian Rachlin on violin. He was a really, really good soloist.

Later that night, we went to a Santa Barbara Youth Concert. They played "Peter and the Wolf," along with other songs. On Monday we played at the Santa Barbara Arts Festival and those in charge asked us to come back next year. The art there was really awesome and it was cool to see the work in process. It was hard to believe the pictures on the ground had actually been made out of chalk.

We drove to Solvand, a little Dutch town with cute shops and restaurants. For lunch, I went to the bakery where I bought pastries and a yummy sandwich. It was so good!
We went to the beach next. We swam in the ocean and got to see dolphins and sculpt a turtle in the sand. That night, we had "Master Classes." We played for this one guy and his wife and they critiqued us and gave us advice. One word of advice was, "you need a metronome in order to practice!"

On Tuesday, we went to the Hearst Castle. We got to tour a section of the castle. Each section had a different theme or time period it represented. William Randolph Hearst went to Greece, Rome, Venice and other places as a boy and wanted to culminate his childhood memories within this home.

When we went into the indoor pool, we walked on gold, because the tiles in the floor were made of gold. There were tons of statues, some dating up to 500 years old. We got done with the tour and went to the visitor's center where we were able to look at souvenirs and shop.

On the way home, we stopped and were able to watch seals (and some squirrels) laying in the sand. There were tons and tons of seals. Then we left for home. I was very glad to come home and see my family that I had missed and hear about the fun they had had while I was gone.

It was a great experience, but I don't know if I would want to do it again because it was so busy. We'll see.

Memorial Day

We had a nice day just being together over the Memorial Day holiday. We missed Sadie, but were able to speak with her over the phone. Mike and Trevon helped put up flags around the neighborhood (for the scout troop), and then they worked on making a gun cabinet. I made a jello salad for our family BBQ. After eating lunch, we drove to Browse to the guard station to see the stream, hike, and look at the lone Redwood Sequoia tree there.

The guard station was off limits, but we enjoyed the scenery. The boys brought their fishing poles in hopes to do some pool fishing, but the stream was running fast and the pools were not easily accessible.

My favorite part of the trip was seeing all of the wildflowers. They were beautiful and I thought how fun it would be to be able to identify them. Mike was kind enough to let me stop (again and again) to get some pictures of them. I loved the flowers!

When we got home, Trevon mowed the lawn and we cooked up a yummy BBQ with corn on the cob. The weather was perfect and we enjoyed visiting outside in the backyard.
After collecting the flags posted earlier in the day, we ate some watermellon and then watched the movie National Treasure. It was a long, fun filled day!