Girls Camp ~ Smithfield 24th Ward ~ 2015

What. A. Week.  Girls camp this year was an experience to say the least!  Luckily it was Stake Camp because Amy and I were the only leaders that could go this year!!!  I was very grateful for the parents and priesthood leaders that came up to help.  Amy was pregnant and I was just kind of a mess for some reason (which I will just reveal now, right after I got home I found out I was pregnant!  No wonder I was a mess!  It explained A LOT of what happened at camp!).  So we were quite the pair.  Luckily our girls love us anyway.

It was sooooo hot while we were there!  The first day and night were the worst, but we survived.  We had a really good time with the girls.  The Stake had some awesome activities!  Also, the Stake did every meal except for lunch for two days, so we were super grateful for that.  We went the easy route and just had non-perishable sandwich stuff for lunch those two days so we didn't have to worry about cooking or keeping things cold.  It was brilliant.

I had a blast with Amy and was so glad we could go together and I could get to know her more.  We've become really good friends now and I'm so grateful for that!  I am also grateful that I was able to go for the entire time this year.  I loved spending time with the YW!  They are awesome!  Girls camp is such a special thing and even though I was exhausted when I got home, I wouldn't trade it for anything!

June ~ 2015

Pictures will just have to do this month justice...it's more fun to look at Ellie's cute face than read what I write anyway!

Swimming Lessons ~ 2015

I took Ellie to the Mom and Tot swimming class again this year at Skyview.  It was the same as last year and doesn't really teach her how to swim, but the point of this class is to get them used to the water.  She did great again this year!  She loves the water!  She did better with being comfortable blowing bubbles in the water and kicking and jumping in.  She still doesn't love being on her back in the water, but there was a little improvement in that area.  I think jumping in was her favorite part every single day! I tried to teach her how to climb out of the pool and she was picking up on it pretty well with some assistance from me.  Oh! And this year we were there for the day that we let them jump off the diving board!  She was a little hesitant and needed a little "shove" to actually jump, but she LOVED it and wanted to keep doing it over and over.  I was so proud of her!  I really am grateful she loves the water :)

We bought a new vehicle!!!

I am still a little in shock that we actually own a new (to us) vehicle!  It's definitely been a long time coming and much needed purchase, but having started selling LuLaRoe it gave us the push to get something.  First off, if I had a party to do I could barely fit my inventory in my car and nobody else could be in there with me.  Second, I've had to start doing a lot more of my errand running during the day now when Landen is at work since I'm more busy in the evenings than I used to be.  That has made it more difficult in sharing one car.  We started looking awhile ago at the GMC Acadia.  My friend has one and I fell in love with it and knew that's what I wanted!  Landen agreed.  For a long time I never considered an SUV because to me it was silly to drive something that was more expensive and goes through more gas and still seats the same number of people as my car.  I thought I would end up with a mini-van...which I wasn't thrilled about, but hey, they have the space and the seating I would want.  Then I became friends with Michelle and rode with her a lot at YW activities and saw how AWESOME her Acadia was...and it seats 7!  Totally changed my mind about getting an SUV...and I am so glad we took the plunge and did it! We've been shopping around for a month or so test driving different ones and trying to find one in our price range that was in great condition.  Oh, and I also wanted it to be white. (Which I have to laugh about because now all 3 of our vehicles have been white that we've owned since we got married!)  So that made it a little harder.

Well, these vehicles have a really good re-sale value and people seem to love them so they're not selling them too much, so we had to be patient to find the right one for us.  Today we finally found THE ONE!  We had to go down to North Salt Lake, but it was totally worth it.  The guy we worked with was really nice and helpful and they were able to get our monthly payments where we could afford it, which for me was the #1 thing.  I still can't believe we did it!  And all by ourselves.  I feel so grown up.  That was our first time buying a car.  Eeeekkkk.  And I still can't believe we have it!  I feel like I'm not old enough to have a nice car but then I realize, "I'm 31!!!  I'm allowed to have a nice, big vehicle!"  Hahahaha.  This is such a great purchase for our life right now, with my business, and being in YW and having to transport girls a lot, and hopefully one day adding another kid to the mix.  This will definitely be one of our best purchases over the next few years. Welcome to the family, 2011 GMC Acadia!  We love you already!

Ellie's First Splash Pad Experience!

This summer we finally made it to the splash pad in Hyde Park...and it was awesome!  We went with Arien, Parkyr and Huntyr,  We took lots of treats and had our new SportBrella (why did I not get one of those things sooner???!!!) to give us shade.  It was perfect.  Ellie was so happy and just loved being able to get wet.  And it was so nice for me not to have to watch her like a hawk like I do in a pool...or have to get in. Ha!  I'm so glad we went and look forward to many more trips :)

It's a Lotion Miracle!!!

Yes, this does deserve a post of its own, because I am so happy!!!  I know I have posted in the past about getting my favorite lotions, but this time it was even more of a miracle.  For a long time I could only get Country Apple and Pearberry at Bath and Body Works Semi-Annual Sale.  Then they stopped having it there and I could only get it online.  Then it got to the point that it was discontinued completely and I couldn't get it at all.  I watched as my stash slowly depleted and I was so sad!  I would always check online to see if by some miracle I could get my hands on some, but to no avail.  I started to go in periodically to try new scents, but there must be something in their newer stuff that I cannot stand.  I would try a new scent and within a half hour I was sick to my stomach from the smell.  It was quite depressing because I love how the body cream feels on my hands and haven't been able to find any other brand that I like nearly as much.  Then one day I saw an ad that they were bringing back discontinued scents and both of these were among the list!!!!!!!  I felt like I hit the lottery!  Especially since I was down to my very last tube. AH!  I can't even describe how happy I was.  It's the simple things in life.  So I made sure to set a reminder on my phone to go the day the sale started and I stocked up as much as my budget would allow ;)  My hands are thanking me.  Oh, and I love that Mom called me when she saw an ad in the mail as she was out delivering mail at work to let me know!  I'm pathetic, I know.  Anyway...I'm so stoked!