YW Camp Ensign Ranch June 21-25th

Can't find the most impressive pic of all for Whit & Girls Camp. That would be her & 21 other YW stuffed inside a biffy. Gross! All us adult leaders knew what they were doing. We sat
around the fire trying to ignore them as if we acknowledged their activity they would
have gotten in trouble. ha ha. They thought it was cool especially when they broke the record.
Too bad they didn't do it on the first day when the biffy was the cleanest. Our camp is so fun. I told the Stake I would go because it was Whit's last year. So glad I went. Had a blast. Whit thinks I'm crazy & hopefully not too embarrassing. Mom's do that you know esp at girls camp.
Our camp is one of the best because of all the great theme songs they create. Then these
terrific YCL's come up with actions for it. The theme this year: Follow the yellow brick road.
Of course at the end of our yellow brick road is the temple. Here they are singing the
song & this is their action for the temple. Whit is on the back row right in the center. This group of girls the YCL (youth camp leaders) were the best. So fun. Such great
leaders to the younger girls. I was over the First Year Certification. I've forgotten how
little they are at 12 yrs old. So innocent. So nervous. So cute. Was I really 12 too once upon
a time? And it seems not that long ago.

The YCL's performing their skit. Whit is in the green tutu. The fairy of YW value knowledge.
Great skit. They love to act & perform on stage. Our stage was very different this year. We had the tee pee's to sleep in. This camp was set back in the woods. Very different than the long houses we've used almost every year except for the one year in A frames.

Then it was time for the Stake leader's skit. We tried to rap our message. I'm on the far left in

the red sweatshirt. Whit was laughing so hard at us crazy leaders rapping that she had a hard

time taking a pic. This was actually a little embarrasing but we got our message across &

had fun making fun of ourselves.

On our last evening together the YCL's did a wonderful job with their program. They dressed

up to look like the girlfriends of the Stripling Warriors. They presented a beautiful message & sang beautiful songs from the 2010 theme "Strong & Courageous". These YW shared personal experiences of how they stand strong amidst the temptations at school & around friends. A few were asked to share their testimonies.

Whitney was asked to share hers & all I can say is that she definitely has one. You had to be there. I was so proud of her! She is such a wonderful example to the other YW. The other YW just love her friendly, outgoing, fun loving personality. She has really learned a lot from Seminary & as she reads the scriptures (which she's faithful about every single day) & prays her testimony continues to grow. So proud of you, Whitney! You are a very strong & courageous Young Woman.

WHS Graduation 2010 - Whit's Friends

Well this is not Whitney's graduation although she wishes it would have been. All her dear,
close, bff's graduated. And as of this posting they are now all at college. Sad for Whit but
exciting for each one of them. They are all at BYU Provo or ID. Go BYU. Whitney misses
them all so much. They are all such wonderful YW. We are so grateful that Whit has had
such wonderful friends & still has. She wanted to hide out in their luggage & go with each one. This is Kailey Franklin. I'll post pics later of these two dressing up in tutu's or playing in the
sand & sprinklers when they were toddlers. My how they've changed!
Before I know it this will be Whit in her purple grad robe. She can't wait! If all goes as
planned she'll be graduating from WHS on June 12th & from WVC with her AA on June 19th.
Not sure about the exact dates.

Here's Whit & Carly Stone. She has a lot of knicknames we won't get into. Carly is the one

Whit will stay up with all night reading Harry Potter by candle light or reading something else

they both love. I thought Whit loved to read. Then I met Carly. Not sure there's much literature

out there that Carly hasn't read. Amazing readers they are.

The girls being dramatic & silly. That's Whit & Carly for ya. Always being silly.

This is just a small group of girls. The extra one here is Janessa Miller. New to Wenatchee

this year. Has become a real great, kind, caring, compassionate, friend to Whit. Aren't they

all so beautiful? The YM at BYU are going to go crazy for these cute girls. Watch out!

And here is Michael Sauer added to the mix. Just love this kid & his twin brother who isn't

in the picture. It was hard to find everyone for pics. Hundreds of kids, their families, their friends. I'm just thrilled they hold graduation in the Apple Bowl now. It was a very warm,

summer evening. Just perfect for these perfect graduates. Congratulations to them all! Thanks

again to all of Whitney's wonderful friends & may they have their dreams come true in the

years to come. We love you all!

Raymond WA Family Trip - May

Way back in May we took a family weekend trip to Raymond, WA. You drive towards the Ocean for about 5.5 hours to get there. We got there at night but this is what we woke up to the next morning. This is the view our friends have from their front window. Up close is the bay at Raymond & way out by the peninsula there is the Ocean.

Our friends the Johnsons have family that live there. When they talked about living right on
the ocean I couldn't imagine what that meant exactly. It was spectacular! All this property to
play around on. Very cool.

Brad, the cousin of Jon Johnson, build this rat rod that the kids are standing in.
Very neat rat rod if you like this sort of vehicle. All made with scraps. A little of this a little of
that.

We wanted to go find clams so here we are way out there walking out to the perfect

spot. The boys are on the 4 wheeler getting lessons on how not to get stuck in the mud.

I'd never gone claming. Don't like to eat clams. No one from my family ate them but we

had fun finding them, with our feet. They were butter clams. We placed them in a bucket, kept fresh water on them all day & then roasted them over the fire. The Johnson clan slurped them up. It was interesting & gross. Hunting them with our feet was really the funnest part.

We were so muddy & we'd only been going for a few minutes here. We spent hours doing this. Thank goodness I didn't lose my balance when my feet got stuck in the deep mud. Would have added to the fun & laughter.

The boys are trying to find the perfect branch to cut into roasting sticks for our campfire.
Give Austin a knife & he'll find something to cut. Of course he wanted the largest branch.

Whitney trying to whittle. Preston managed to create a double roasting stick. This brick wall behind them is the 50 foot wall at the end of the lawn in between the bay & their home. We went for a walk all along the water, 4 wheeled & dug for clams on their property. Would love to own this type of property. Below is where they build the large bon fires. We also had fun setting off a few fireworks from here once it got dark.

Roasted hot dogs, smores, baked beans, boiled butter clams & ate salads & fruit cobbler from the Johnson's Aunt. Very fun!

This sunset pic was taken from the campfire. Isn't it beautiful. We sat around the campfire till it was late into the night. What wonder & amazement Heavenly Father's landscape provides.