Special mutual road show

At the beginning of this school year, Max received a stake calling to be a youth counselor in a group of special needs youth. Each counselor was assigned a buddy to work with one-on-one. Max's buddy was Robbie.

They had mutual every Thursday night (in addition to our ward's Wednesday night mutual), and once a month, a Special Mutual sacrament meeting was held.

Recently, Eva and I attended their end of year road show. (Marc was out of town and Lucas had to be at his dance class.)

Lighting was bad and we didn't have good seats, so I didn't get too much in the way of photos.

They had a Mother Goose theme, proposed by one of the special needs youth.

My favorite part was when they did a rap to Baa Baa Black Sheep. Also, there was a boy who had the job of running all the way around the gym with a sign announcing each new nursery rhyme that was highly entertaining.

At the end of the show, there was an impromptu number by these three guitarists and a singer, who knew every word of Eye of the Tiger. It was awesome.

Max was at the piano the whole time, playing little interludes and accompaniments.

Last night, Max attended a closing fireside for all of the counselors, marking the end of his assignment. I think it was really a great experience!

Sunday thoughts

All last week, I worked (like crazy) on making quote books for camp.

People missed the deadline for submitting quotes (of course).


I spent quite a bit of time shopping, looking for paper that was cute and reasonably priced. I finally settled on kraft cardstock.

They took forever to format.

In all, about 8 hours of cutting was required (!). Fortunately, Michelle did about 3 hours of that for me, and Nicole helped with the hole punching. Another leader helped me finish the punching once we got to camp.


The girls loved them, so I suppose it was all worth it (but I hope I don't have that assignment again next year!).

A few of my favorite quotes from the books:

"There is no more compelling motivation to worthwhile endeavor than the knowledge that we are children of God, that God expects us to do something with our lives, and that He will give us help when help is sought." – Gordon B. Hinckley

"A ship in harbor is safe, but that's not why ships are built." – John A. Shedd

"Many times I have been drawn to my knees by the sheer knowledge that there was nowhere else to go." – Abraham Lincoln

"Make sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm." – Abraham Lincoln

"It is not possible to sin enough to be happy. It isn't possible to buy enough to be happy, or to entertain or indulge or pamper ourselves enough to be happy. It is not possible to hide enough or run far enough away from trials and troubles to be happy. Happiness and joy come only when we are living up to who we are." – Sheri L. Dew

I especially love that last one.

girls' camp in pictures

I got back from camp today. It was my fifth time going as an adult, so I don't know how I managed to forget how tired I am after camp. Wow. I took a shower, did a little unpacking, did some laundry, loaded my photos, went to the grocery store, and took dinner to our YW president (her husband had surgery yesterday). I am wiped out!

I'm too tired to write much, so here are some of my camp pictures:


For our skit/lip sync, we were The Pirates Who Don't Do Evil Things.

The lovely fake bug that made the rounds in people's sleeping bags, etc. Our resident prankster leader stuck it in my hood, so I handed her the camera.


We had two minutes of silence on the lake and then we sang a song from our boats, which echoed around the area. It was really cool.

lake self-portrait

One of my favorite things about camp this year was getting to know all of the other leaders better. They are hilarious.

I was not the only one documenting our experience!

post-hike foot soak

post-hike treat, generously provided by the other ward in our shared campsite

our schedule for the week

There is nothing quite as great as guitars at camp.

I loved this ingenious music solution.

Laurel had this bug repellent contraption. She showed me just how well it was working.

I love being up in the mountains.

I taught a couple of people how to crochet flowers. (I learned how in a YouTube video just before departing for camp!)

Crafts, always a highlight of camp.

We used LOTS of bug spray.

Roasted Starbursts – one of the girls' favorite things. Me? Meh.

I do enjoy a good campfire (as long as the smoke isn't always wafting into my face).

The girls were good about following the no-prank rule. The leaders, not so much.

Can you see the rainbow?

We had such a huge storm! It lasted almost 24 hours and included cabin-rattling thunder, lightning, hail, falling trees, and the hardest rain I've ever seen.


We had to hold the lip sync at the stake pavilion instead of outside in the amphitheater. It was crowded and oh so cold, but the girls were as enthusiastic as ever.

We had several deer that came right up to our campsite! I loved it. I also saw two moose, and the other leaders in my car spotted a bear (I wanted to see that).

I decided that I just hate flag ceremony. It throws into sharp relief how un-fun I am. I hate singing silly songs and doing actions to go with them. It's pretty much torture for me. And it made me question my legitimacy as a leader at camp. And there was a 45 degree incline to get down (and up again). And we have to do it twice a day...

Of course we had to make s'mores one night.

to sum up:

Camp was good.
It was hard.
It was hot.
It was wet.
It was freezing.
It was an invaluable experience for us all to learn and make memories together.
It was exhausting.

I'm glad I went, but I am also so very glad to be home.

hallelujah

1. Max was finally able to take some of his final exams from last year's electronic high school courses. 5 of them! He'll be taking the 6th soon, and then he'll only have one more course to finish. This process has been so much more than we anticipated, and I think we both are feeling pretty great about the end being in sight.

2. I was given a co-teacher for my primary class! She came for the first time last week, and it was by far the best week we've ever had. I was so thrilled. Yesterday was not quite so good, but hey. I have another adult in there and I don't have to prepare a lesson every single week!

3. Marc found out today that he will in fact be able to teach the extra course this semester that allows us to make it financially. We had been seriously stressed about that, as it was not looking good at all. Not that we'll be swimming in it now, but we will get by, and that is a very good thing.

Hallelujah, one and all.

call for submissions

I was recently called to be on the Relief Society activities committee and they want to have an activity every month!

If you have had a particularly successful activity in your ward, please share!

Sunday thoughts

Today was a bit of a difficult day at church.

I had been away from my Primary class for 3 weeks, and I was psyching myself up to go back with a good attitude. Today they exhibited the worst behavior I've seen in any class, ever. I'm ready to throw up my hands in defeat.

I have prayed. I've tried to love them into good behavior. I've tried bribery. I've tried praise. I've tried to appeal to their vanity by telling them that they're the oldest kids in junior primary and they need to set the standard for the younger ones.

Nothing I've tried has worked.

I don't want to go back next week! Should I call their parents and have them come sit with them? What? Seriously. Hit me with your best ideas, I'm desperate here.


The only thing I really got out of church today was the opening hymn, so in an effort to not be totally negative in my Sunday thoughts, I'll share it with you:

Each life that touches ours for good
Reflects thine own great mercy, Lord;
Thou sendest blessings from above
Through words and deeds of those who love.

What greater gift dost thou bestow,
What greater goodness can we know
Than Christlike friends, whose gentle ways
Strengthen our faith, enrich our days.

Truly a gift I receive with gratitude.

new calling

I was sustained as the Laurel Adviser yesterday. I can't say that I'm excited, because I've been a Young Women leader twice before, and I know exactly what I'm getting into -- i.e., a lot of work!

I don't know any of the other leaders yet, and I only know 3 of our young women (1 is a Laurel). All I can say is that I'm praying to love these young women -- and fast -- and to know how I can best serve them. And I'm keeping a weather eye on all of you who are currently serving in YW so I can borrow all your good ideas!

yippeeee!!

Yesterday I got a call shortly before church. It was a member of the bishopric, asking if I could come meet with him. Never has a call like that been so welcome!

{drum roll, please...}

I was released from cub scouts!!! (I have to help out for the next couple of weeks, but since I have officially been released I don't care that much.)

And my new calling is the best calling in the world: primary pianist!

I am a very happy girl.

And do you want to know the funniest part? On Saturday, I finally decided to stop complaining about cub scouts, to just suck it up and do it. Wouldn't you know it?