Better late than never

California Vacation!

We had a great time visiting my sisters in California, and meeting Mickey! We spent one day at California Adventures--Ben and I loved the California Screamin' ride, Bug loved the Tower of Terror and even got a t-shirt saying he survived it. He rode it three times. The second day we went to Disneyland. Mister and Lemur were more excited to meet Pluto than Mickey. They loved it!

Pluto rubbing noses with Mister.

The third day we went to the beach. It was overcast, and the ocean was cold, but that didn't stop the kids from getting wet up to their waists. They had a blast trying to outrun the waves, bury each other in the sand, and build castles.

Journey

Last week the Beehives had to plan the activity for the combined Young Women mutual night. We decided having a movie, popcorn, and pizza would be easiest. The movie we decided on was Bedtime Stories, with Adam Sandler. I am not a fan of Adam Sandler, but I did have to admit that from the trailers it looked like a very cute movie. A few days before the activity, we ended up watching it together as a family. I really liked it. The kids loved it. Plus, the best part is the Journey song it features--Don't Stop Believing.

Journey brings back so many memories of high school for me. I had their greatest hits on tape, and we would listen to that thing over and over in our little Ford Escort we drove up and down University Avenue in. A couple of years into high school I developed a love for Elvis Presley. One of my sisters had an Elvis Presley's greatest hits tape, and I swapped her: Journey for Elvis. She still claims she made out with the better end of the deal, but I still adore Elvis. I still love Journey, too, and Bedtime Stories reminded me how awesome they are. So this week I downloaded their greatest hits again onto my ipod. The trip down memory lane has been a good one. Journey rocks--Faithfully, Only the Young, Open Arms. If you haven't listened to them lately, you should.

Aprons

One of my cute Beehives came over to my house today and helped me finish the aprons. She was very interested in sewing, so I told her to come by and I'd show her how to do gathers and put a waistband on. I showed her how on one of the aprons, and she did all the others on her own for the girls. She loved it and she did a very good job, and I'm sure she probably passed off a few things in Personal Progress. Now the aprons are all ready to give back to the girls at Tuesday's activity.

Antelope Island

Missy, cousin J., Buddy, Lemur, Bug, Ben, and Mister

Same as before, with me in the mix.

Lemur, Missy, Buddy, Bug, and Mister in front. Causeway out to the island in the background.

We had a blast out at the Great Salt Lake. We even saw a couple buffalo and some rabbits. All the big kids were able to skip rocks, after a quick lesson from their cousin. We couldn't believe how well they skip there--must be the something about the surface tension of the salty water. After seeing the sights we went for pizza at the Pizza Factory. It was very yummy, prompting Buddy to call it the best restaurant in the world and his favorite.

Beehives

What a funny name for a group of 12 to 13-year old girls. Ben works with a lady who was a new convert to the church when she was called to work with the Beehives. She accepted, willing to serve wherever the Bishop wanted her to, and then said she was scared to death of bees; not knowing that the Beehives were just a group of girls, not actual beehives where bees produce honey.

Anyway, that wasn't what I was going to blog about. I've recently been called to serve with the Beehives, and I've really had a lot of fun getting to know each of the girls in the class. It's a little out of my element--I haven't been in the Young Women program since I graduated from high school at 17, but it's been fun.

Tonight for our class activity, we decided to have a sewing night. Aprons are simple and fun, and they're all the rage right now, so we pulled together some cute fabric and ribbon and made these darling creations. I was very impressed with how well the girls already knew how to sew. They did nearly all the work by themselves, while I stood by to help with temperamental sewing machines (as they usually tend to be). Here's a photo of the work so far. We still need to do the waistbands and ribbon ties, but you get the idea.

Cards, cards, cards!

My friend asked me if I wanted to join a card swap with her. The theme was birthday or generic. Here's what I created--I thought this paper was fun for birthdays:Every time I turn around, Buddy has the camera out, so he snapped a photo for me. I'm so glad to be invited to do this--it's gotten me in the creative mood. And, like I said below, I'm getting my craft/sewing room ready to create!

No takers for the 5th spot on this? I'm getting my craft room all cleaned out and ready for me to start creating again!