Girls camp, seven peaks, and garden

This week Jessica had girl's camp. They went to a cabin near Heber. All the girls slept in one room that had a bunch of beds. Some of the girls had to sleep two to a bed, but Jessica got her own bed. The whole upstairs was one room where they slept, and it had a ping-pong table and an air hockey table. There was also a swing that Jessica enjoyed playing with. There was a jacuzzi, but it was dried up. They made bracelets and hairbands, and they had a devotional every morning and evening. Overall she had a great time.

On Saturday we went to Seven Peaks again. We went early, getting there a little after 10 in the morning. There were a lot less people and it was a lot more fun. Jessica and Katie hung out together for a while, riding a double tube. They played in the wave pool and went on several tube runs. Rebecca was generous and mostly stayed with Matthew. They played in the kids pool, the wave pool, and rested in the sun. Brent and Josh and Dad went on several slides with single and triple tubes, and also some without tubes. Josh and Dad went down one of the slides where there is a steep drop off, and you get air and feel like you are in free fall.

Rebecca and the kids also did a lot of work on the yard this week. They put in 5 fruit trees (2 apple, and a peach, pear, and apricot). We now have a total of 7, and we only have to wait several years before they produce fruit. Rebecca's also done a lot with the garden, planting corn, and she's also working on planting tomatoes, pumpkins, and other stuff. We haven't had much success with gardens here, but we're hoping this year will be different.

Bosleys, Munns, Youth Conferences, and Seven Peaks

We had a busy week, with a lot of cool things happening. Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures of most of them.

On Monday, Ryan and Darice and their family came over. They helped us put together a trampoline (our old one was falling apart) and the kids got a chance to jump on it. It was nice to visit, and it was nice that they took the time to come over. We were going to do a campfire outside but it was too windy. Instead we cooked the hot dogs inside (and fajitas for the adults). We did let the kids roast marshmallows over the stove, and made smores out of them. It was a lot of fun.

On Wednesday and Thursday, the Munns came over. They were our neighbors until a few months ago when they took a job in Texas. Our kids enjoyed playing with their kids. Katie particularly missed her friend Kassie. We thought they weren't going to be able to come over, and Katie was very sad. But on Wednesday they called and said they were coming over, so that was nice. They came over both Wednesday and Thursday before they had to take off to visit family in northwestern Utah.

Brent had youth conference starting on Thurday, but he didn't end up going that day. We lost track of time until after it started. Since he missed Thursday, he was embarrassed to go on Friday, so that didn't happen either. We were able to convince him to go on Saturday, and I think he had a good time. Several people commented on his good testimony on Saturday night.

Jessica had a Beehive conference on Saturday as well. She spent the entire day with her leaders and fellow Beehives, and it sounded like they had a good time.

Jessica was gone all Saturday, but Brent had a few hours break in the afternoon. We decided to go to Seven Peaks (a waterpark) in the afternoon. We've been trying to get there for a couple of weeks, but bad weather has prohibited it. We promised Jessica we would go back soon so she didn't feel bad missing it.

We recently invested in a waterproof point-and-shoot camera. The Seven Peaks waterpark was the first test of the waterproofness, and it seemed to pass, thus far at least.

Rebecca stayed with the two younger kids for most of the time. They played in the wave pool, and the kids area, and the lazy river. Here they are in the wave pool.

Katie also went down a smaller slide. Here she is just after splashing in.

Brent and Josh spent most of their time on the slides. Eventually I joined them, and we got one ride down together on a 3-person tube. This is a picture of us most of the way through the line, just before we were told "you can't go down this slide with single person tubes", and we had to go backwards through the line to trade in our 3 single person tubes for a 3-person tube.
Overall, it was a really good week. We appreciated the visits from the Bosleys and the Munns. Thanks for coming!

Hawkslandapaloosa

Yesterday was our neighborhood's second annual carnival, Hawkslandapaloosa (we live in the Hawk's Landing neighborhood). There was a 5K race that Rebecca ran in (2nd place for women), and a fun run that Katie ran in (second place as well).

In the afternoon, there were face painting and rock painting, both of which Katie and Jessica took advantage of.
There was a live band (a family band that included someone from the ward). There was also a bounce house. I think only Matthew went in that, and Rebecca and I manned the door to it for a while.
There was also plenty of free food. Hamburgers, hot dogs, sno-cones, and a dessert table. There was also a pie-eating contest, but we didn't get to see it because we were monitoring the bounce house. Josh chose to eat his food on top of the slide.
Brent and Jessica were a little bored, and spent a good amount of time just hanging around, but they hung out together for quite a while, and it's fun to see them enjoy being together. At one point, I found Brent resting behind the bounce house.
Overall, it was fun. The temperature wasn't too bad, and it was partly overcast for a while, which in this case was very pleasant.