Friday, July 13, 2012

Girls Camp!

How excited I am to be back in the Young Women's program and to go back to girls camp!  People ask me all the time how I am liking being in young womens (awkward sentence :/) and I inevitably answer "it's great".  In all honesty I can't express how wonderful it really is.  I love the girls and being a part of their lives.  I only hope I can be an influence for good in their lives.  But, back to girls camp . . . It was a weird experience this year, being there without having a real relationship with any of the girls since we have only been in for a little over a month.  I found myself as more of an observer than a part of what was going on.  But I felt like a learned a lot about the dynamic of the girls.  It was a great year with no drama or incidents - just a lot of love and fellowshipping and bonding.  I was so excited to see that!  I was able to get to know a few of the girls that I didn't know at all and feel like we established a few bonds.
We realized one night that the old gang was all there, minus Suzie Bassett.  Charlotte is the stake camp director, Rachelle is the ward camp director and Cheryl came up when Brynne had to speak to the girls as the Wednesday night devotional.  We were all together again at camp for one night! :)
 We loved the fiber optic hair extensions that Rachelle got for us.  They were definitely the hit of the week!  Sydney looks like one of the girls, but what a great leader she is.  Hailey (her sister) and Baylie definitely love her too!
Marin was SO excited that her hair was long enough to be braided too.  The upside down braid was the hair trend of the week. 
Talia is so sweet and kind that even butterflies are not afraid of her. 
Our presidency, minus LeeAnn who couldn't come up because she couldn't leave her girls. 
Can't wait to see what the next year will bring!

Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver, . . .

Back in 1987, the day after I graduated from Cheshire High School, my family up and moved across the state to the little podunk down of Brooklyn Connecticut.  With this move, my ties to my friends in high school,  Southington Ward and New Haven Stake were severed.  I had no idea what ever became of any of them except for the handful that went to BYU. 
I was so excited to find some old friends on Facebook - what a marvelous creation - the last few years.  I discovered that Kelley Corcoran was just a hop, skip and jump from me in Las Vegas and I was able to reconnect to Darcy Ainsley and Kelly Wright.
Wonder of wonder and miracle of miracles, this summer I had the opportunity to visit with both Kelley and Darcy.  We had to head down to Las Vegas to pick up Tomo from her friend's house so she could stay with us for a few weeks and, while there, we headed to the hills to visit Kelley in her home.  What fun it was to see her again and renew our friendship!  She was so important to me in high school and it is nice to connect to someone who knew you "way back when". :)  Kelley hasn't changed a bit and it was fun to hear all about her kids who are about the same ages as mine.  Here is a very non-attractive picture that Marin took of us - thank a lot, Marin! -

Then, just a few weeks later, Darcy happened to be in Utah to drop her daughter off at BYU for the summer semester.  She stayed an extra couple days after her husband and son left so that she could spend time with me.  Yay!  I was so happy to see her.  She was one of my very best friends through teenage years even though she was Jeff's age, not mine.  I went to visit her at BYU when I was in high school and even went down to Georgia and drove cross-country to Utah with her in her Duster.  What a great time that was!  I hadn't seen her since her (first) wedding and we had totally lost touch for many years.  How exciting it was to get a message and "friend request" from her on facebook a few years ago.
Darcy and her daughters came over and spent an afternoon and then, after taking her older daughter back to her dorm, Darcy and Brooke came and stayed with us for a couple of day.  We spent time reminiscing (she has a MUCH better memory than I!) and catching up.  I sure love that woman!  We spent an evening in the mountains roasting hot dogs and marshmallows too, before Darcy and Brooke had to head back to Georgia.  Here's a picture from our little picnic up American Fork Canyon -


Unfortunately we never got a picture of Darcy and I together.  Guess she will have to come back so we can do that! :)  Her daughter is at BYU so she has a good reason to come out to visit more often. 
I am so blessed to have these wonderful women as friends again and I am grateful for the opportunity to renew friendships of those that were so important to me during my "formative years".

Thursday, July 5, 2012

First and last recital together

Marin started hip hop this year, joining her sister's class.  Markee was a good sport about having her little sister in class and so was Tamsyn.  Yes, the 4 musketeers danced together this year - Markee, Tamsyn, Megyn and Marin.  How wonderful it was to see them ALL on stage together for the recital.  I have say, though, and I am totally non-biased (!), that Markee stole the show.  This dance was totally made for her in my opinion - thanks, Lee!  - and although ALL the girls did a phenomenal job, Markee's performance was captivating.  I hope that she will continue to dance, finding opportunities as an adult to find people to hip hop with. :)
I loved the Indian flair to this dance and their costumes were fantastic, all the way to the bindis on their foreheads.  Marin and Megyn are excited to have Halloween costumes already made up for them!
 Next year, Markee and Tamsyn will have moved on to bigger and better things in the grown-up world, but hopefully Megyn and Marin will continue the tradition of the hip-hopping cousins.
And, of course, in the Randall/Jones tradition, we went out for ice cream (frozen yogurt) after the recital.  I quite liked this new find - USwirl.