It's Been a BUSY, BUSY June

I finished the term.
I went to YW camp at Zion National Park.
I helped with stake youth conference.
I taught a cooking class at my home.

I'm ready to rest in July.

At work, we love spring term. Parking is great. The weather is beautiful. The students are the creme de la creme. We can leave our messes because I'm the only one teaching. It was a good term with great students. One day at the end of the term, Becky and Erin (my TA's) and I decided to take a walk. We were so tired that we decided to just rest in the shade of a tree instead. We had a nice rest until it was time to get back to the lab for the next group.

Work Selfie

Girls camp was actually before the term ended. I had my students work on a home assignment while I was at camp from June 9-11. We took the YW to Zion Ponderosa, a nice place to camp, right near Zion National Park. It was a long drive there. I was kinda nervous about it. I don't like to drive. I asked Keenan for a blessing the night before and my driving to and from went just fine. Camp didn't quite go as planned because of rain Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

Tuesday: We drove to Kanab and visited an animal shelter. That was fun. It's the largest no-kill shelter in the U.S. We got to meet some animals and make some animal toys. We then headed to camp. It was a great facility with a pool, hot tub, showers and bathrooms. Sadly, we were in tents and we got a lot of rain Tuesday night. We roasted hot dogs in the drizzle. The girls went to their tents around 8:00 pm. They played games and stayed dry.

Wednesday: We woke up and had to make alternate plans. We were gonna have most girls go rappelling, but flash flood warnings made that a bad idea. We ended up going into Zion Park and most of us hiked to Angel's Landing. Some went part-way, but I did it! I'm afraid of heights, but was determined to do it. I'm sad Mel didn't join me, but it's ok. Those who didn't take the Angel's Landing trail did another very easy hike and went back to camp. We got dumped on that night. One tent got rained out. I was relegated to my van. That ended up being a good thing. I like sleeping in the van. I was quite comfy.

My crew as we hiked from Scout's Lookout to Angel's Landing: Kloie Pellegrini, JoAnne Diaz, Melanie Rosa, and Natalie James

Me at the TOP

Me and me on our way to Scout's Lookout

YW on the hike

Thursday: It was a dry day ALL DAY. The girls who wanted to rappel got to go with the help of awesome dads/priesthood holders that came with us. The rest of us went back into Zion National Park and did an alternate hike. It was quite hot, but fun. Beautiful views. It stayed dry. We were able to have a testimony meeting and had a nice, dry night. I slept in the van again. I like that spot.

Mallow buddies. Stefanie Nebeker and Mel made the best roasted mallows.

Me and Mel at a lookout on Thursday's hike.

Cute girls enjoying the lack of rain: Anna Vargason, Brianna Stewart, and Ellie Vargason

Friday: Packed up camp and went into Zion Park to hike to Emerald Pools. I stayed behind with Karil and Jodie Sweetwood and Mariellen Tuckett. We went on part of the hike, but not all the way to the middle pool, as the YW did. We just hung out under the shade of a tree for everyone. We finally got on the road home around 2:00. We got home just after 6:00.

Used Scout Troop's kitchen set-up. It was SWEET!

Zion Park is Beautiful!

Overall, things went well. Thanks to Christina Stewart we ate great food. She was worn out, though. The girls got to try hard hikes and hard rappels. Some even swam in spite of the rain.

Youth Conference was June 18-20. The youth had fun activities here in American Fork/Pleasant Grove and went to Heber Valley Camp to spend some time in nature, too. I got a great assignment. Quite by mistake, too. I hadn't volunteered for it, but got an email as if I had. I didn't have the heart to tell them I had signed up for a service project, too. I figured I could do both. Well, my assignment was to drive a van for our ward's relay team for a race the morning the first day of youth conference. We had a blast! It was the most fun I'd had in a long time. We won our heat and were ahead of other runners by a long way. We came in 5th overall. I got to know some kids I didn't know before. Really a great time. When it was time for my service project, they ended up not needing me, so I went home and made a dress to wear to church for Father's Day. I had a dress in my head that I wanted, but couldn't find fabric anywhere. So, I splurged and ordered from Mood Fabrics. The dress turned out great and youth conference was great, too. To finish off my duties for youth conference, I drove a van-load of girls up to Heber Valley Camp on Friday. I couldn't pick up on Saturday because we had Portia Bryner's baptism in SLC. It was a great afternoon with family and friends. Always nice to spend time with Ben's extended family. Kelly and Ben brought the whole family from Michigan to have Portia baptized where Ben's grandpa could be present.

Part of the team: Hafen Stevenson, Parker Hoopes, Meghan James, Victoria Smith and Brittany Palmer

The Team

Family Selfie: Allie, Mel, Eve, Me, Kelly, Erica & Allie Dietz

On Father's Day, we had more family stuff as Andrew spoke in his ward. He'll be leaving for his mission to Montreal Canada on July 8. Yes, it's been a busy time.

On Monday, the 22nd, I opened my doors to 8 girls ages 10-13 and taught them how to cook Monday through Friday from 10:00 am til noon. We talked about knives, meal planning, eggs, yeast doughs, nutrition, etc. It was tiring each day, but very rewarding. I had a blast and earned some money. I think I'll do another one in July or August.

Today is the first morning I woke up in a LONG time without something on my schedule. Tomorrow is the same and so is Wednesday and Thursday. I'm looking forward to some reading, temple time, and rest.