YSA camp unplugged

We had a day to prepare for our YSA ward camp out…and then drove up to be in Cinnamon Creek Campground by Porcupine Dam above Hyrum.   It was completely off the grid with absolutely no service once you start in on the dirt road…which lasts about 20 minutes.  The area opens up to about a mile of camp grounds and facilities.  It hosted 1000 YSA’s from our stake and a few Layton wards.  IT was a great thing to be a part of.  

We had one bus driver get lost and what should have been a 2 hour trek turned into a 4 ¼ hour trek..and this bus had a lot of our ward on it.  They  all came off the bus with good attitudes though.  Flexible schedule is what my dad always tried to instill in us once vacay started….whether you are trapped on a bus or at the camp site, it’s still vacay…so change your attitude accordingly.  

We camped as a ward and we ended up with about 50  YSA’s attending.  

The YSA's are really amazing people.  I caught a moment of Connor putting Mackay's sock on for him..

We heard from amazing speakers – John Bytheway, Brad Wilcox- spoke on Grace -  and high school friend Sharon Eubank ,and  we just had the best time.  Sharon called Wayne and I up front to talk about our lives and asked if we had any struggles or heart ache in our lives...of course, we said yes... and then she asked would we do it again...and of course we said YES.  It was good for me to think on this. 

 Sharon shared a story about a boy- Jesse Hernandez-  in LA who fell into the sewer system and the lengths the parents and rescue people did to pull him out, not even knowing where he was in the 64 miles of sewage pipes or even if he was still alive.  They found him by putting go pros on cut up surf boards and they saw a swipe of hand on the side of a pipe and  figured out with math where he would be an hour from there which was between highway 5 and 408 .  So they shut down the freeway and were going to drop a net down the man hole..when they uncovered the hole, Jesse was wedged in the pipe, alive, waiting for them.  He was in the sewer for over 12 hours.  A miracle.  She related this to ministering and not giving up on the one, rescuing the one, and going into the hole to pull them out...  It was beautiful. 

We love our calling as bishop because we can just talk to and hang out with our people….the most difficult committees to be on at this camp would have been transportation and food.  I applaud these people.  Such a big deal to feed a thousand people 3 times a day with NO kitchen. 

I’ve been having a little trial of my faith as of late.  I see all of the heartache in the world,  suicides ( a boy’s father in our ward, and a friend’s son just in the last 3 weeks)  cancer, health issues, questions with no answers,  job situations…and it’s  just easy to lose hope.  SO I’ve been spouting to Wayne that the Lord’s plan isn’t one of happiness but one of “Everything just  happens” because we are humans having human experiences, and our challenge is to find God in all of this.   Some of this is true about humans having free agency and human experiences, but there is another element that I was leaving out… SO I’ve been reading and studying and praying with this struggle-bus that I’ve been on.    John Bytheway shared an analogy about a puzzle.    When we do a puzzle  we gather like pieces together, and do the border and there are always those pieces that just don’t seem to fit anywhere.    Do we then throw those pieces away, or scrap the entire puzzle?  NO.  We keep working on the puzzle, even when it gets frustrating as puzzles do, and eventually it all works out.  And the “don’t fit anywhere pieces,” actually make sense and  fit.  We finish puzzles because we have HOPE that it will all work out.   Like the puzzle, it’s better to  go through life  hoping it will all make sense and that it will all work out.  This is a much more hopeful attitude than the one I have had as of late.  Eli Wiezel WW2 camp survivor wrote, “Suffering is just suffering until we assign meaning to it.”  This is Hope.  Everything Happens for a reason even if we don’t know what that is…yet.   I have HOPE that this is true, because it  makes all of the STUFF we are going through feel so much better.    

Reunited and it feels so good!

 Laila flew to Scotland on Wednesday.  She will be there for almost 2 weeks.  I was a bit nervous about her going alone, but she was full of confidence and promised me she would ask for help if she needed it, and call and check in often.  All went well.  IN Glasgow she was interrogated by customs officials making sure she wasn’t being “trafficked”  or being used for slave labor.  It was  a bit crazy because she didn’t know the Gilardi’s address to tell them where she was staying.   Angie Gilardi showed up and was interrogated as well, then finally Laila was allowed to leave.   They have a ton of fun things planned for her  and she is having a great time with the Gilardi’s and the Sharkeys. 

 The Welch Reunion at Cherry Hill was a great success.  So happy for everyone who made the effort to join in the fun .  Wendi and Bret and all of their kids were in town including their new son in law to be…Michael.  Tanisha’s wedding is in two weeks.  Also in attendance:   Wanee and Holly , Wayne and Me, Monson family, Addison and his two kids and Landon.  Sandy had her and Clark, Savannah, Brady, Bridger and Mary, Shelbi and Derek, Blaine’s  and Blake’s and Brad’s families.   Amy Shurtz Summers was representing the ENTIRE Jane and Steve side while they are serving in Finland.  Mak and Jill’s family, Tami and Rob with Alex, Nash and Kylie.   Terry and Cyrrena with Nicole’s and Patrick’s families.    So about ½ of what could attend…and yet we still had over 60 people.  Our teenagers along with Stockton, Tiffany, Bridger and Mary did Baptisms at the temple in the afternoon...they had quite a wait...but ended up doing 68 family name cards!   We had dinner at Cherry Hill and shared some fun, funny facts about  each person to get to know everyone better.  Took pictures , visited and played some games.   We celebrated Cade Reynolds  and Hailey Welch's birthdays!  Those who wanted to went mini golfing.  Some families got camp sites and stayed over at cherry hill.  We all gathered again for breakfast and a devotional about the importance of remembering and making memories as a family.  We sang our family song… Love at Home and then did a welch sibling and Wanee questionnaire game  to get to hear all of the “old” family stories.  It’s funny to see the siblings all laugh and one up each other too .  Then  a lot of the group stayed and played in the Cherry hill water park the rest of the day. I love being a part of this great Welch family heritage.    And now our turn of being in charge of the reunion along with Terry and Cyrrena is over for another 4 years!

Ahhhh.....Pioneer Day!

Aunt Lynette Poulter and sister Liz.... They have always looked  a like. 

 24th of July is AWESOME!  We love celebrated with swimming and baseball.  This is what we have done for decades and this year did not disappoint!

 Always grateful for the Morley pool.  Landon, Sophia and Andrew, Lexi, Tayla and Lady all came to swim and soak up the sun.

Sophia, Andrew, Landon, Lady, Tayla, Lexi

Addison, Bre, Poppy, Lexi, Tayla, Monson, Lady, Laila, Melinda, Alfie

 The Bees game is all about the atmosphere and family and less about the actual baseball game.    We love the little pieces of music  between the batters that we get to dance and clap to.  We love the Farr ice cream served in the little helmet dishes.  We love the 7th inning stretch and singing Take Me Out to the Ballgame and Sweet Caroline.  We love being with extended Cole family and we love the end Fireworks that light up East of the field.    It was HOT.. HOT.. HOT.... but it was also traditional, in remembrance of my dad- Lyle, and  a memory making time.

Poppy

First row: Al, Liz, Jenna, Christine, Adam, Rachel, Fernando.  2nd Row:  Gary, Megan, Hayden, Nelson, Drew, Jordan, Ryan, Laurie, Carson.   Back Row, Addison, Poppy, Bre, Lexi, Lady, Monson, Laila, Tayla, Alfie, Melinda

Mamma Mia... what a weekend!

-->  My July birthday friend- Linda Wangsgaard  and I threw  our own birthday party!!!! We invited our friends and fam to see Mama Mia 2 with us…and then Tony Burgers for dinner after.   It turned out great!! I really liked the movie..it was a lot more tender than I thought and I shed quite a few tears in between  singing and dancing in my seat.    I need to go again and really just sit on  the back row and let loose.  

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 Wayne took me to see Phantom of the Opera and dinner to celebrate.  We loved it.  It’s such majestic music and the scenery was cool.   We remembered the first time we saw Phantom… it was  right after it came out and was now playing in LA.  We went down to Cali with Marcie and Gary and they had some hair dresser friends tend our kids while we ran to Phantom.. because of traffic we got there late and we were racing up a stair case to get to our seats.  It was crazy.  I think Sandy and Clark were there too…??   We all loved it and couldn’t believe how moving it was.   It really is kind of a weird story about a psycho path phantom, but what makes it likable is realizing how he just needed to be loved.  When Christine hugs him and kisses him in the end, the transformation is palpable.  We all need to get better at loving the unlovable.  

My Friend Jan took me to lunch and gave me this funny mug... Exercize?... I thought you said Extra Fries!

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Handcart Days in Bountiful means Friday night parade and fireworks.   We went to the parade with the Belnaps and sat in the shade… it was still hot..and waved at the floats.  We went because Laila was on the  BHS officer float.  She was darling and even better, the BHS float was #6!   We also got to see Nelson Call with the Wells Fargo float and Stockton Welch on the Chic-fil-a float that he was in charge of creating.  The kids love this parade because of all of the candy that is given out.  Tayla sat on the curb with her sunglasses and candy bag and did her best to get a piece of candy with all of the other kids running out to get candy.. she wasn’t being very successful, so I –the grandma-  stepped in, pushed a few kids down , and filled her bag.  Okay I didn’t push any kids, but her bag got filled.  She was in heaven.  We were all happy the parade was relatively short.