Young Womens Girls Camp

In July I went to Girls Camp with my Young Women. I was the only leader that went up to camp. I had to make arrangments with four of my good friends to take care of Benjamin and Eliza for the four days that I was gone. Pretty much they just rotated the kids between them, and one of them even had the kids sleep at her house every night, because Jed was working 80-90 hours/week that month. I am so grateful for what kind and serving friends I have.

My camp experience was SO FUN. I seriously loved it. I was a little bit apprehensive about going, just because I haven't been to camp as a leader before, I didn't really know what to expect and all that. But seriously, I had such a fun time and met some really cool adult women and also was able to get to know lots of youth in our stake. It was so fun to hang out with the girls! I honestly want to go every summer now. :)

Funny story... While I was eating lunch with some girls at a table on the 2nd or 3rd day, one other adult leader said, "Sister Walker, do you have any children?" I said, "Yes, I have two kids." The girl sitting next to the adult leader looked at me with wide eyes. She was one of the only girls from her ward that came to camp, and she didn't have any adult leaders from her ward, plus she was very shy, so I had been hanging out with her a lot on our hikes and activities. I smiled and said, "Are you surprised?" and she nodded, still wide eyed. Then the adult leader said, "She thought you were a 3rd year camper!" Now it was my turn to be surprised! This whole time she had thought that I was one of the 14 year olds in her group!!! What makes it even funnier is that earlier that day I had been pestering her and a couple other girls to get their scriptures out and start reading them when we took a break on our hike for personal scripture study. And she didn't even know I was a leader at the time. :)

And this happened again.... My friend, who was also an adult leader from another ward, told me that she and a young girl were watching a group of us out the cabin window and they saw me running to the office to get something. The girl next to my friend said, "Isn't she a first year?" When my friend told me that I didn't know whether to laugh or cry - She thought I was TWELVE YEARS OLD??! Holy cow! I know I was enthusiastic and joined the girls in games of volleyball, canoeing, bracelet making, singing camp songs, and playing with the kareoke machine, but did I act like a 12 year old? I sure hope not! :)

I guess when you're an adult you don't mind making a fool of yourself singing camp songs and acting in skits. My readiness to join in games must have made me look like one of the girls. :)

Here I am with my Laurel President. We had such a great time. I'm glad I was able to go. :)

Benjamin is FOUR years old now!

Happy Birthday to a big FOUR YEAR OLD!

Benjamin turned 4 on July 5. We celebrated his birthday on Saturday the 4th. It was a fun day for a party - everything was patriotic (even the music) and it was all decked out in red, white, and blue - including the balloons, streamers, confetti, all the cute little girls' clothes, and even a big plastic flag displayed across the wall! :)
It was a water party and the kids played in the blowup pools, with water balloons, and in a big blowup trampoline.

The only pic I got from the party was of the kids around the cake (thanks Ashley!). When you've got a dozen or more children running around, and you're clearing up their lunch of PBJs, watermelon, strawberries, and punch, while also bringing out the cake and icecream, you don't have much time for taking snapshots!

The next day, on Sunday his actual birthday, we took some pictures together...

4th of July Summerfest

On the Fourth of July, we went to the city's Summerfest. It was super fun! They had a whole bunch of blowup toys that were FREE, and Ben had a blast going through them again and again and again.

The fire station was giving away free snowcones and cotton candy, and they even had an old totalled car that boys were paying $2 to get three big whacks at it with a sledge hammer. :)

Benjamin got to aim the fireman's hose at a fake fire. Look at his deep concentration.

The best part of the festivities was when the firemen lit the old hammered-up car on fire. They waited until the flames were consuming every inch of it and then they descended upon the fire with their hoses and dressed in full fireman gear. It was an impressive sight.

last post about Utah - Tracy Aviary

Well, this is my last post about our trip to Utah. Yeah, it's taken me way too long to document it all.

Anyway, one of the last things we did was go to Tracy Aviary in Sugarhouse. It was actually a really fun little excursion. I lived right next to Liberty Park for over a year and never went there. I really wanted to go see what it was like while we were visiting.

On the picture to the right we were watching a bird show.

(Jack, Mindy, Ben, Eliza, me, Wesley)

Mindy, Eliza, Wesley, Brittany and Gabe checking out the pink flamingos.

At the beginning of our walk in the aviary, little Wesley spotted a peacock and started running to it. Amy ran after him and then when she saw the peacock he was running for, she said aloud, "Is that REAL?!" It was so funny! Here is Benjamin leading his little cousins after the peacock, who quickly retreated when he saw the oncoming attack. :)

Later in the day, the peacocks all congregated near us and spread out their feathers. It was so cool! There were about 5 peacocks in all their glory, strutting their stuff right next to us. :)

Eliza and I posing in front of a very ugly vulture.

After we went to the Tracy Aviary, we met a bunch of our Sterzer cousins at the play structure at Libery Park. It was so fun to get together with them and see all their kids! All the adults are pictured, but only with a fraction of the children. The rest were running wild. :)

Photoshoot - can't leave UT without taking a bijillion pictures...

Sunday dinner at my parents house...

Quite a crowd!

Me and Eliza with Dad.

My brother, Matt, and Amy!

Mindy, Dad and Eliza.

Me, Melanie, Eliza & Cannon.

Mindy, Connor, Me, and TJ. Connor and TJ are Melanie's oldest boys. They were so fun to hang out with. What handsome guys. :) They are all moving to Tennessee/Georgia soon. Far away from their Utah home, but closer to us in Michigan!

My children and their crazy faces.

Matt played baseball with Wesley and Benjamin in the back yard. :)

Hogle Zoo

My sisters and I took a trip to the Hogle Zoo with the kids. It was kind of drizzly and overcast, which was cool because the tiger was up & about and feeling restless. He just paced the bridge back and forth, and we all watched him for quite a while. Tigers are my favorite animals - he was beautiful!

Riding on the Hogle Zoo elephant who squirts water out of his trunk at unsuspecting people.

I thought this picture was adorable. Mindy is such a fun aunt. All the kids love her. Doesn't she look so cute and animated, getting the kids excited about something that the animal behind the glass is doing? She's one in a million!

Mindy and baby Jack, taking cover with us under the Merry Go Round while it rains.

Riding the Merry Go Round with my two cuties.

It was fun how Eliza got really into the animals.

This kid is getting too big to be picked up! I think I did it out of necessity so that I could force him to take a picture with me in front of the giraffes. What a silly wild man!

And lastly, here are Eliza and Benjamin watching the bird show at the zoo. That was one of the highlights of our excursion.

Melanie's birthday dinner in Utah

We celebrated Melanie's birthday while I was visiting in Utah. She is nine years older than me, and has always been a great example for me to follow. She has five sons, so she was holding Eliza a lot during our party. :)

On the right, all the sisters (including our sister-in-law) and Mom. :)

We were all in stitches watching Eliza giving Jack hug after hug after hug. He was slightly bewildered as to what on earth was going on - she would nearly fall over while trying to hug him. It was so funny! He was a trooper - he didn't cry at all. Although a few times he was very near to tears! I'm sure it felt to him like he was being mauled!

Horseback Riding

While we were visiting family in Utah, we took the horses out for a ride in the mountains. WOW, it is gorgeous country in Utah. I realize how much I miss the scenery and the majestic mountains when I see them again. They are breath taking.

Matt and my Dad took Brittany and I on a beautiful trail in the canyon. They have Missouri Foxtrotters and they are beautiful and smooth horses. I love them! Isn't Matt and his palomino especially handsome?

Before our horse back ride we went to my parents' new house to do some yardwork. Yes, if you grew up with me you will be interested to know that my parents just moved out of Sandy and into a new home in Highland. It's sad to say goodbye to the house I grew up in, but they will turn this new yard into a Garden of Eden just like our last yard. And, of course, with my Mom's impeccable style, the house will be beautiful too. :) (I'm totally serious, my Mom has fantastic style. I wish she lived closer to me and could be my interior decorator!)

And lastly, a movie for your viewing pleasure. :) Dad was feeding Eliza little bites of vanilla icecream, and boy, was she loving it! He was taking turns: a spoonful for him, a spoonful for her. We were all cracking up because he would get a spoonful for himself and eat it (without even slightly acting like he was going to give it to her), but as he brought it up past her she would totally open her mouth and lean for it. It was hilarious.

Animal Encounter at Thanksgiving Point

I went to the Animal Encounter at Thanksgiving Point with my sisters.

They had lots of animals to look at, and horses to ride.

Here are Mindy & Jack, and Brittany & Gabe. In this picture, the horse was nibling Jack's little hand and he was laughing. It was pretty cute.

I'm holding cute little Cannon (Melanie's youngest of five boys!). The goat sure liked him!

Benjamin was happy to get to ride a horse around.

Awesome Aunt Melanie bought each of the boys a candy, and here they are showing off their colorful toungues.

This goat was funny. He would stick his long tougue between the wires to snatch up a little kernal of corn off our hands.