I caught it!

You could take a hundred pictures trying to catch lightning, and never get it. I got it, and had to share! My picture is not amazing the way it would be with time-lapse and an amazing camera; mine is amazing because it was pure chance!

P.S. That's Demory in the photo; the little scaredy girl now loves lightning storms, and she and Suz were out oohing and ahhing - the reason I got out my camera in the first place.

YW Camp

This post won't be long for some simple reasons: No one needs a travelogue on an event that LDS girls all get to enjoy in their own ways; Melanie couldn't go because of the play (a post on that will come later); the pictures don't include very many people my blog people know; and pictures of Camp, like pictures of Trek, only show what you did, not what you felt. And YW Camp, though a lot of fun,is also a lot of FEELING - feeling the Spirit (some for the first time), feeling bonding, friendship and love for others who share you faith; feeling grateful to be included in such worthwhile fun! As a mom, I want to share it with my family. As a stake leader, I want to share it because it was a great success!
Our theme was Courage in Action, which acronyms to CIA, which provides a great spy/mystery/look-out-for-each-other-in-this-scary-world theme. Great pink shirts.


If you look closely at the girl on the right, you'll see it's Sara Sabot - now Steinman, grown up, married, a mama, and having fun as one of the three musketeers, alias awesome Bismarck YW leaders





Suzie and some of her Minot homies, under an umbrella because we got a lot of rain







A sandwich hug - such a frequent occurrence! I'm not sure I/we started it, but it sure works well to share the love!







The pigs in blankets over the fire didn't work that well, but we sure had yummy food overall! From teriyaki chicken to homemade cinnamon rolls, our little camp cook - and all the treats - assured weight gain Suzie needed, but I didn't!





Suzie's is the light blue backside right in front. I went to see what this group of mischevious girls was doing, and found them going around the circle naming favorite things! Ya gotta love those awesome Mormon girls!

The Trek Experience

So, it's been two weeks, but Mel, Suzie, and the other teens of the stake are still glowing after their major bonding experience in the wilderness of Wyoming.
To tell all about it would be more words than I use in this once-a-month-or-less recording style; if you talked to them personally, they have an equally hard time putting it into a few meaningful words. Phrases like "a-MAZE-ing," "life-changing," "I want to go back" or "I miss my family/friends from Trek" seem to surface; and why not? The bubble of heavenly and mutual affection, uncluttered by worldly distractions and games, is understandably appealing. (Sounds a little like a mission...)
But this post isn't really to convince anyone that participating in a pioneer trek re-enactment is worthwhile; most anyone who checks in already knows that. It's just to say I'm glad I got to share in the rare and wonderful experience our daughters and youth had, and to have a bit of understanding when they speak with fondness about something that shouldn't, in logical terms, appeal to the tech-saturated, pampered generation that came home humbled, strengthened, and changed - hopefully forever.

Now, some visuals:

Suzie with her trek sibs

Mel pulling with her sibs (both girls were usually pulling - yay for them!)
Sister Fife, and Papa Smurf, the trail boss and camp cook (also YM, YW presidents)





A funeral on the trail - for a plastic baby that really brought the reality of loss home for many youth - including Mel, who represented Great-great grandma Martine Larsen; she lost her dad, sister, and brothers - one a young baby.










Suzie, Mel and all the youth enjoyed the dancing, even though it came at the end of the toughest day.















Suzie and Karla in their pioneer clothes on a sacred hill (Mel was already back down the hill, at the handcart, ready to pull, so we didn't get to have her in the picture with us). I was Mel's "ma", a huge blessing for me in our funny trek family!