Bear Lake Round 2

We went back to Bear Lake on Tuesday and had some more "SUN FUN". The day was beautiful and the kids had a ball!! Kaisley was quite content right her. After all, what's better than a big "ol mud hole to play in?? Her's Grandma taking the kids ot for some floaty fun.

Awww a foot soak feels so good on a hot day.

Grandma is supervising the sand castle situation.

How it all began...

Bear Lake is just so much fun in the Summer. This is actually my kids third time because Grandma and Mandy took them while I was at Girls Camp. I'm pretty sure that this is far from our last Bear Lake trip of the summer.

Fun on the Fourth

Our Fourth of July wasn't super exciting this year but that's OK. Mandy had an early morning yard sale at her house and this was Kaisleys favorite part of the day. She spent quite some time playing with all of the yard sale treasures. We finally made it to the Lewiston parade for the very first time. Quite impressive I must say.

Hey the bearded lady's suppose to be in the circus not the parade.

Some people are just soooo talented!!

That afternoon Chad and I enoyed a nice, long ride on the bike. We went over to St. Charles and visited with Brent and Jolene, then went down to North Beach and visited with Vicki. There was a sand castle contest going on which was fun to see. On our way home we stopped at Emigration and hung out with the Burbanks for a bit. That night we took the kids to Lewiston for the fireworks. Oh how I love summer, bikes, parades, my kids, and my hubby!!!

Heber Valley Girls Camp 09

Last year we put our name on the waiting list for Heber Valley Girls Camp, we had heard that this place was amazing and so we thought that we would try and get in. A few months later we found out that we had been invited. We were so excited but wasn't sure that it was going to work out, when you decide to go here it's a pretty big commitment. All leaders and girls must stay the full 5 days (no coming and going) ...anyway to make a long story short everything ended up working out and we were able to accept the invitation. I can't even begin to tell you how awesome this place is. The Girls just kept saying "there is no way you can describe this place to someone" That is the honest truth and it was seriously one the most spiritual experiences of my life. This is the first thing you see upon entering.

These are the cabins that we stayed in. Each Cabin will sleep 16. We put the girls in one and the leaders took the other, we did this thinking that the leaders would be able to get some sleep.. I seemed to notice that the Girls lights weren't usually the last ones out!! We had a great time staying up and visiting.
Our whole Gang!!

We had no idea when we got there what a treat was in store for us. We stayed in the Marjory Paye Hinkley campground which was personally dedicated by President Hinkley. For months our Young Women have been learning about the life of Sister Hinkley. We were thrilled to have President and Sister Hinkleys daughter, Kathy Walker, come and talk to us and share some great stories about her parents.

The fearless leaders.... Jan you're the best, Thanks again for everything!!

These pics aren't in very good order but this is me all geared up for the Challenge course.

An after-hike foot soak (we hiked 4 hours at about 8500 feet elevation)

Here are a few pics of the Challenge Course. we had to climb up a telephone pole, shimmy across a little wire, using nothing but ropes that were hanging above our heads till we made it to a platform, then we got to zip line down!!

Every single one of our Young Women were able to do this. It was incredible to hear them cheer each other on.

OK for real it was WAY higher than it looks in this picture.
We had 11 girls and they were all GREAT. They all stuck together the whole time, never excluding anyone. we had so many compliments on their behavior.

We were able to canoe and Paddle Boat on the Legacy Lake. While we were out there we had 2 minutes of silence and thought about this scripture and all of our many blessings.

Jan and Becca at the Heber Overlook on our hike. It was beautiful!
Legacy Lake

This was a long, hard hike and there wasn't one complaint!!

MUCH better than a tent! Plus we had showers and super nice bathrooms.

I feel so bleesed to have had this experience. We were told that you will find Heber Valley under "temples" on the Church's website because they refer to it as "the Temple on the Mountain" I believe this because there is a spirit there that is undeniable. The whole place has been dedicated and they say that you can literally watch a wild animal become tame as it steps over that dedicated line, we had deer walk right through our camp. President Hinkley had a big part in this place coming to be, his Daughter said that the first time she came up to see it she went back and said to him that she couldn't even imagine the cost that went into it (the road alone was 60 million dollars) his response was "The Young Women of this church are worth every dime."

Chad's Bike Trip

Chad went on a Bike trip a few weeks ago with his Dad, Brother Jeff, and some other guys. They went down through Southern Utah, over to the Grand Canyon and back home through Colorado. They were gone 5 days and rode a total of about 1800 miles. Here are a few pics of the trip. Here's a pic of Biker Dad and his Biker Boys!!
The whole Gang!

Some Sweet Bikes!

He had a lot of fun getting away but had a sore toosh for a few days.

So Cupcake

Since Chad and Jeff were away on a bike trip, Sheila and I decided to take the girls to Salt Lake. (Kort had to work) It just happened to be Kendalls Birthday on Saturday so we wanted to do some fun Birthday-ish activities. Sheila had heard about this little shop called "So-Cupcake" We checked it out on the internet, it looked really fun and they hosted Birthday Parties. She called and arranged a Party for Kendall, we kept it a surprise till we got there. The shop was just darling, the cupcakes delicious, and the staff was soooo friendly. This little buisness has a really neat story behind it, in a nutshell it was inspired by the owners' daughter with Cerebral Palsy. If you get a chance check out the website at www.socupcake.com The site is almost as cute as the shop. I have a feeling that we will be making a stop at So Cupcake whenever we are in the area from now on. The girls were able to take a tour of the baking area.

They were each able to frost and decorate 2 mini cupcakes.

Kaisleys icing bag is about as big as she is

Getting some instruction

Kendalls Birthday cupcake and our cute helper Hailey.

Each of the girls received a part bag and these stylish glasses were included.

Strikin' a pose!!

Lookin' Good Girls!!

Last but certainly not least.....Presents!!!

We enjoyed several other fun activites that weekend, however, Sheila and I were experiencing some major camera stress. So the rest of the pics are here, there, and everywhere. I'll try and get them together and post some more.

Rain, Rain GO AWAY!!!!

So normally I would have an endless supply of pool, camping, and all other sorts of "Sun Fun" pics to post 3 weeks into Summer Break, but not this year. I don't suppose anyone would be interested in seeing pics of my kids fighting, watching T.V, and destroying my house. That's about the extent of the fun we've been experiencing with all of this rain. We are also trying to get our yard in and that is obviously on hold as well. COME ON SUNSHINE, POUR DOWN THE LOVE!!! In other Pope worthy news, Chad left today for a "Guy Trip" He is headed to The Grand Canyon with his Dad, Brother, and a few others on their ROAD BIKES. I guess it is his turn. He'll be back home for 5 days and then I leave for 5 days to go to Heber to Girls Camp. I'm pretty excited about that, I really do love Girls Camp and this place is suppose to be amazing. Sheila and I are heading to Salt Lake with the kids this weekend for some "Kid Friendly" fun. So stay tuned for lots of pics next week!!

Blog Slacker No More....6 New Posts!!!

Wow, Where has the last month gone? I've turned into a total "Blog Slacker" but I am here to redeem myself. As I look back at all of these pictures I see why I haven't had much time for blogging. Here are 6 new posts of a little of what's been going on with the Pope Fam.... Enjoy!!