Friday, June 15, 2012

Summer Days



I have survived my week of Girls' Camp and am now enjoying the easy summer days at home.  The kids and I have been going to the pool in Albany a lot.  They enjoy seeing friends from church and school there.  And I enjoy being able to sit back and observe without being in the water (its cold!!!) the whole time. 



Our animals are growing steadily and thriving.  Bella is still scrawny next to her new sister, Meadow.  But she is growing and seems happy enough.  Bella has been shedding, and now that much of her longer hair has shed, she looks much better. 


The twins are happy as ever.  They were recently weaned, and did  NOT like missing babas.  But they are doing fine without them.  They enjoy all things mischievous, including climbing into our vehicles and on the lawn mower, escaping their pen, and head-butting cats.  That is so funny to watch!  Thank heavens they have yet to attack our garden... knock on wood!

The chickens look like adults already!  I know I need to begin looking for eggs soon.  Wow!  Our roosters are starting to "crow", although it sounds kinda pathetic.  They are NOT quite fully developed yet.  Almost!


Our fruits are growing, although it has rained seldom and they need a good rain.  We have squash that can be eaten any day now and have our first cucumber.  Yeah!  We need to get the knack of gardening here.  The soil is rich and absorbs water, but we have little vermin to deal with (moles, field mice, rabbits, raccoons...).  We are still learning!




Tomorrow is Cole's 7th Birthday!  He is so excited!  We need to make it fun!  ;)

Next week:  My best friend Tasha is coming with her kids to visit!  I am SO EXCITED!  I miss her and the kids SO BADLY!  And Cole and Emma miss their best friends Scott and Brooklyn.  Aubree cannot wait to see her sweet baby, Tayven (neither can I)!  Happy dance, happy dance!


I'm A Survivor!


I have survived Girls' Camp!  Woohoo!  I was sick all week with a head cold, so I was not fully functioning.  But it is DONE and ALL the girls had a blast! Such a relief!

We had 3 girls at the main campsite (one a YCL and gone half the time and the others with me as their Leader), and 2 went on the 4th Year Canoe Trip (with Sis. Smith).  I was super worried that the girls would not have fun with only 2 to with me all day. missed them an AMAZING time.  I think it worked!  from the smiles and comments I received, it seems to have their best year yet!  Thank heavens for the energy I did have and my "silly" personality!

The girls made new friends, Sariah won the "Miss Sunshine" award for camp one day, and we generally bonded very well!  Such a blessing!  I LOVE these girls SO MUCH!  They are so sweet and have a spiritual strength that amazes me.  YW rock!

Memorable moments:
The girls on the 4th Year Trip, Zane and Ellen... seeing them come over and down the hill to Camp after their 4th Year Adventure was complete! It was awesome to run to them for some serious hugs and exchange fun stories!

My favorite moment with Sarah... after having listened to her amazing testimony, seeing her with her newest REAL friendship with Kendall! I was secretly crying behind her for joy!  She had been a bit sad all week without her best friend (could not come due to a recent surgery).  She had put herself out there, despite her discomfort and made a friend that loved her equally as much as she loved her.

My favorite moment with Sariah... seeing her joy when she won the Sunshine Award at Camp!!!  She had set out to win it on day one and her commitment to friendliness paid off.  Yeah!

A special moment with our YCL, Jenna... being her "arms" during our AWESOME skit! Despite our small numbers, I think we had a memorable skit.  It was funny and the girls were proud!

My favorite with Sis. Pam Smith... staying up till who knows when talking about our love for these AMAZING GIRLS! We had a blast!

There are SO MANY more to mention, but I cannot do them justice with my limited writing skills.  Just know I had a wonderful time and CANNOT wait till next year!

By the way, I have an awesome video of my dancing skills on Facebook.  I just cannot get it to upload to my computer.  So here's a link to my timeline... http://www.facebook.com/amie.haddock#!/amie.haddock