Summer Has Begun

Last week I went to girls' camp with the lil' ladies in the Jackson Mississippi Stake. Mentally I decided once I did that, summer had officially begun!

Alyssa spent the week with Nana, Papa, Ria, and JL. They swam, went to the "Muffets", went to story time at the library, slept in a tent in Alyssa's room, painted their nails, and sang Frozen day in and day out. Maria found out how truly persistent Alyssa can be when it comes to playing Frozen, but she was a trooper. It was Alyssa's first time away from Erik and I for an extended period, and it seems that all went well!

I had a blast at girls camp. I was a little bit hesitant to go. It had been a little bit of a bumpy start during the preparation phase. Let's just say I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do there and then on top of it a sweet girl in our ward, the daughter of the stake young women's president and mastermind to camp was diagnosed with cancer. It was gut wrenching, to put it mildly. Yet camp went on! We had a most splendid time. We kept Afton and her family in our prayers and partied on. I wrote lyrics, camp style, to "The Best Day of My Life" originally by American Authors. They went a little something like this:

I packed my bags for my girls camp

Hoping I don’t get too damp

Wo-oah-oah-oah-oah-oh-oh

Wo-oah-oah-oah-oah-oh-oh

Friends will be my company

Giving me felicity

Wo-oah-oah-oah-oah-oh-oh

Oah-oah-oah-oah-oah-oh-oh

Chorus:

Testimony’s stronger, woah

Light within me’s brighter, ooo

Girls camp rocks my world

Oo-o-o-o-o-o

This is gonna be the best week of my summer

My su-u-u-u-u-u-ummer.

Oo-o-o-o-o-oooooo

This is gonna be the best week of my summer

My su-u-u-u-u-u-ummer.

Break

We play out on the lake with friends

Wishing this will never end

Wo-oah-oah-oah-oah-oh-oh

Oah-oah-oah-oah-oah-oh-oh

Zipline, hiking, and canoes

Service projects that we do

Wo-oah-oah-oah-oah-oh-oh

Oah-oah-oah-oah-oah-oh-oh

Chorus

Break

I hear it calling outside my window

Racoons and coyotes

The stars were burning so bright

We ate smores til midnight

Mission  Impossible

Chorus

Now go memorize it and when the song comes on the radio, sing it at the top of your lungs over the original. The youth camp leaders made up an awesome dance that included the macarena. It really couldn't have been any better.

We are enjoying our swimming pool at our apartment complex. Today's weather is heavenly. If the whole summer could just be like today.

Alyssa is keeping us on our toes as always. She says the funniest things. So also is finding buttons on my that I didn't know I had with her. She is still a vivacious reader. We have started reading Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder after I put her to bed. I was hoping it would calm her down sooner and would no longer stay up until 9:30. It hasn't worked, but we still enjoy the time together.