Girls Camp!

If someone asked me 1 year ago if I thought I would be Young Womens President and having girls camp in Grenada I would have responded "Now where would you get such a strange idea as that?" Well here I am exhausted, having just completed camp in the Caribbean with 9 giggly girls. We decided to forgo camping in the wilderness due to mosquito's (dengue fever is going around), rainfall, and lack of available priesthood leaders and "camped out" at my house. It was a miracle that we all fit in my apartment. The theme, chosen by a few of the girls, was "Angels of God." We spent our time swimming, hiking, decorating slippers (flip-flops), scripture reading, sharing our testimonies, and discussing the angelic qualities we can develop in our own lives to be more like the Savior. We had a great time and even though it was a lot of work and planning for me, I learned a few things. Like how to plan for camp at all, that heavenly father truly helps us fulfill our callings, that I can mostly understand the girls Grenadian accent now, that if you ask for it others will gladly help you (thanks Ashley, Kensi, and Jerod), and finally that I love these girls to pieces!

Exfoliating in the Sand

Sister Bhola, my new 1st counselor-she is AWESOME!

Jerod teaching the girls about building a campfire on the beach.
We actually made tinfoil dinners on this fire and they turned out!

Decorating "slippers" with the young women value colors

Building Friendships

This must be how the girls really feel about me!

Finishing Camp with a hike and a swim at the Seven Sisters Waterfalls.
It was a small miracle that we all made it there and back,
I was really proud of the girls!

Our Short Summer Story

Well its been over 2 months and I'm FINALLY getting around to updating this here blog. I know, I know some of you are none to happy with me but cut me some slack, we a had a busy summer. Now I have a lot of explaining to do. Our original plan was to remain in Grenada over summer break and we made it to July when some generous family members gave us a little extra cash for school, etc. We then decided to take a much needed trip back to the states. Don' get me wrong, we are loving Grenada but we were definitely ready for a break from the extra rainy days and increase of mosquito's that rainy season brings! So we found a flight and two weeks later, surprise, we were showing up to our families 4th of July party in Utah. Two days later we drove to Oregon, then back to Utah for 2 weeks. Next on the itinerary was a 4 day trip to Bear Lake, after which we went back to Salt Lake and finally headed home to Grenada one week Later! Whew!! We did a lot of traveling but enjoyed every second of family, food, and fun.

While in the states we spent our time shopping, playing, and eating out at our favorite American restaurants. I must of gained at least 10 pounds, all of which I plan to sweat off in Grenada.We were also so excited to be there for the birth of little Elijah, the newest member of our family (my nephew). We fell in love with this little guy and it was hard to leave just 2 weeks after he was born. Emma and I took full advantage of the short time we had with him and were labeled "baby hogs" by the rest of the family.

Now that we are back in Grenada it's back to life as usual. Jerod spends most of his time on campus and Emma and I are back to working on our tans at various pools and beaches. Emma has also gone back to her playgroup twice a week, and it looks like I will be doing some substitute teaching there every once in awhile. It was awesome to be back in the states, but coming home to Grenada reminded me how grateful I am for the carefree and laid back lifestyle that island life lends us.

So there you have it, our entire summer in 3 puny paragraphs! Oh, and I must thank my dear friend Ashley for sharing her blog expertise with me so that our site could be re-designed, you're the best. Happy catching up everyone!

Here's a few photos from our trip to the states

Emma adored her new cousing Eli!

Emma and Daddy turning Uncle Tanner into a "sand lobster!"

Watch out, Emma could hardly turn this thing but LOVED driving it!

Enjoying all our free time together!