Beehive Camp

My little adventurer has been gone since Monday morning at Beehive Camp!  

Can you believe this girl?  Totally happy and content to drag herself (and her boot) from one activity to another this summer.  She is tireless and unyielding.  

We took her to an orthopedic specialist last Thursday just to confirm what the ER doctor had told us before trek.  That little bone in her foot is indeed broken.  And she does have to wear the boot for the next month or so.  BUT!  She does not have to use the crutches.  He said as long as she keeps that boot on, she can walk around all she wants.  And so she has.  She has actually been on WALKS with friends.  She's gone to the mall.  She went to camp.  And she's babysitting tonight.  

Honestly, I have to say that if I were in her situation, I might find a lot of delight in just sitting on the couch with my foot propped up on pillows.  I don't think I would be walking around malls, and I definitely wouldn't have gone on trek.  But, Emma is clearly not me.  Her little spirit likes to be in constant motion.  And this kind of motion I can totally support!

I've gotten great reports and pictures from the wonderful leaders who made this camp possible for all the non-trekking girls (and a few of the ones who just wanted to fit in another Beehive experience before committing to Mia Maids...)  Emma is already 14, and therefore the oldest among this group of girls.  But whenever you move to a different class, it's so hard to leave your friends in the class you came from.  This was a great leadership opportunity for her.  As the oldest camper, she was able to lead devotionals, call groups of girls together, and share spiritual thoughts.  Oh, I just love the opportunities my kids have to learn and grow and spread their little leadership wings!  

And I'm super grateful for our friend, Dr. Rodriguez, who was the official camp medic and could take care of Emma when she overdid it...which she definitely did a couple of times.  

One more camp down, and another one comping up next week...stay tuned for Scout Camp adventures...

Young Women in Excellence

We had an amazing night last night at our annual Young Women in Excellence program.  I love this program because the girls get to talk about all the work they've done throughout the year on their Personal Progress projects.  Some of these girls have done really inspiring things.  They've set and achieved goals, completed countless hours of service, learned new skills and increased their self-confidence.

Emma and a friend decided this year to take on the responsibility of making all the food for YWIE as one of their 10 hour projects.  They spent most of Saturday planning a menu, budgeting and shopping for all their supplies.  And then spent Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday baking, chopping and decorating to make all of this gorgeous food.

I am in awe of these amazing girls.  I love being around them and feeling their energy fill the entire room.  I'm so glad they had a little time last night to bask in the glow of their accomplishments.  

Girls Camp 2013

I'm not staying for Girls' Camp like I did last year, which is ok with me because they're in tents, and I'm not sure that I've ever actually slept in a tent.  

But I volunteered to drive the YCLs up early this morning.  

A few stragglers forgot to bring their stuff early yesterday.  Good thing I brought the van!  And yep, that's Savannah's guitar.  She spent the afternoon yesterday making a little notebook of tabs for all of her favorite songs to sing around the campfire.  I'm so happy she's playing that thing!

The girls in the middle are spelling out Y C L...the ones on the end are parentheses?? Vanna White??  I'm not really sure.

Campsite...

It's not too long a drive, so I was able to make it back in time to catch the younger girls for a quick picture before they left.  

The theme for Camp is Harry Potter, so all the girls got HP glasses.  The Emmas had to model theirs first.  

I love this camp experience these girls are able to have every year.  And I love that my three girls look forward to camping so much, despite their mother's lack of camping enthusiasm.  Even though camping isn't my favorite thing, I'm really going to miss hanging out with all the girls this year.  I love the energy at Camp and the little spiritual things that sneak into an ordinary day.  It's a good thing I'm going up again on Thursday!  

Youth Conference

Oh, I love these kids so much.  This isn't even the entire group.  There were more on the sides who didn't squish in tight enough to get in the shot.  And there were a few straggler-musicians who weren't in the room for this one.  Think 50+ youth...

I am unbelievably grateful to have been associated with these amazing kids for the past few weeks as we've prepared this Youth Conference choir.  They are remarkable, bright lights and I have loved every second I've spent with them.

Way back in September when I started listening to the Stand in Holy Places CD, I had a vision of what this could sound like if we did it on a ward level.  But then when the assignment became a reality, I realized that the number of boys in our ward did not equal the number of SINGING boys, and I wondered if maybe I had been wrong about my little vision.  

During that first week of preparation for this Stake Youth Conference, I blasted out texts to all my friends with boys begging them to encourage their boys to participate.  I tried to lure them with cookies and the promise of many, many young women who would also be participating.  That first rehearsal, there were a handful of kids, mostly from my ward, who sang without a lot of conviction.  I crossed my fingers in the subsequent weeks and prayed my head off that we would have the numbers we needed (especially boy numbers) to pull this off.  They gradually came, and by the final rehearsal last Sunday, we had about 25 kids which was miraculous in my opinion.

In my prayer on Friday morning, I asked to be able to remember all the little things that I might have forgotten.  I asked to be able to field all the potential questions that would come up at 5:30pm when we started rehearsal.  I asked to be calm and freely gushing with compliments for all the kids who would be there.  I asked for magnification of the little choir-directing talent that I currently have.  And I asked for the numbers.  I had not sent out reminder texts or emails.  I hadn't spoken with any of these kids since the previous Sunday, and in teenager-time, a week is an eternity.  I was a little worried...

And then I hopped up to get going with the rest of the day...and was quickly reminded that I hadn't even been still and quiet long enough to listen for any instruction.  When I got back on my knees, here's what I heard.  "Haunani, I did not just give this vision to you.  I gave it to the leaders who have championed this cause for you.  I gave it to the woman who is accompanying for you.  I gave it to the man who wrote the instrumentalist parts.  I gave it to the musicians.  And I gave it to the youth who will be there to sing.  They didn't show up because you made cookies or because you sent out texts to their parents.  Or even because they love you.  They are there because they had a tiny little vision, too.  And you will have everything you need tonight."  

Amazing, huh?

That's a pretty personal thing to write on this blog, and as I wrote it in my journal, I wondered if it would be too much to share in a very public forum like this.  But, last night, as I listened to several of the youth, including Savannah, share their testimonies about the weekend, I thought that this blog post is what I would have shared had I been asked to get up last night. 

When Heavenly Father gives you a vision, He also gives you the means to achieve it.  Why would we have the desire if there was no way to achieve it?  He would never do that.  I know that for sure after this weekend.  I could not have pulled this off on my own.  I could not have brought together all of those kids without some pretty mountainous divine help.

Our tiny little visions are only a small glimpse of what Heavenly Father has in mind when He sends them.  I saw in my vision, a ward youth choir singing this song for a Sacrament meeting at the very most.  What He intended and what actually happened FAR surpassed anything that my limited experience could conjure up.  How exciting is that?  

I expected 20 kids.  I got 50+.  I hoped to have enough kids to fill the center section of the choir seats in the chapel.  They filled EVERY SINGLE SEAT.  I heard a piano accompanist.  What we performed with was a piano, two flutes, a bassoon, and two basses.  We also had a sweet little Casey who did a sign language interpretation as the choir sang.  And on the final day of Youth Conference, not only did the choir sing, but the ENTIRE congregation of youth sang with us.  500 voices singing this song.  I had no idea it could be this amazing!  

I was not the only person in that building to LAUNCH something great over the weekend.  One little musical number (which became so much more than little) LAUNCHED a whole handful of kids, brought the Spirit to the meeting, and united an entire Stake full of youth. 

I cannot tell you how amazingly humbled I feel to have been allowed to be a part of something so magnificent.  Heavenly Father is totally aware of each one of us.  He knows our needs.  He knows our potential.  And when He brings a few of us together, we are capable of miracles.  

Temple Walk

How is it already Wednesday???  This week has completely escaped me.  They seem to be doing that more and more often lately.  

I had great intentions to write a post about the amazing Temple Walk the youth participated in on Saturday morning.  And four days later, I'm finally getting around to it.  

The Scout Master planned this entire youth activity.  He took two of the kids down to Moss Park on Conference Saturday between sessions and they biked the entire trail system leading to the Dallas Temple.  It would have been about a 22 mile hike across crazy freeway systems to walk it from our neck of the woods, so Craig opted for a safer, more scenic route.  

this...

instead of this...

Everyone met at the church at 9:00am with lunches in hand and walking shoes on.  The weather was a perfect 51 degrees and sunny with a high projected for later in the day at 72ish.  (I'm such a weather freak!)

Everyone had maps.  We coordinated GPS systems and had a designated take-off spot at the park.  We started with a lovely, brief testimony from a nice man in our ward.  And then we piled in vehicles to head down to Harry S. Moss park.  Instead of 22 miles, the kids would be walking 6.  (Not very strenuous, but much less treacherous.)  

Once we arrived at the park, the Bishop spoke to the group for awhile, while a few adults drove some "return vehicles" to the Temple to shuttle kids back down to the park after the hike was over.  While we were there, I snuck a quick picture of the destination...

My camera skills are pretty pathetic lately.  I'm making a 2nd quarter resolution to spend more time with that thing.  There was another man from our ward taking pictures all day and he emailed them to us, and holy cow! they were AMAZING!  I secretly wished I could just "borrow" them for my blog so you could see what the day REALLY looked like.  I felt a little better when he told me that he had taken 250 pictures and only the 30 he sent to us were worth sharing.  I might have to try that technique...mass quantities of pictures!

I drove the "return vehicle" adults back to the park to meet the rest of the group and that's where my part in this adventure ended.  I handed off 96 chocolate chip cookies to the Scout Master, and McKay and I jumped back in the Jeep and headed to his baseball game.  The rest of the activity was captured with the Scout Master's iPhone.  

lunch

When everyone finally arrived at the Temple (and there were some stragglers who took a REALLY LONG time to drag themselves in...)

 ...they all gathered in the shadiest spot they could find and got ready to hear from the Temple President.  

I have heard nothing but great things from the people in my house who participated in this walk.  It was a spirit-filled, uplifting day for everyone.  I'm so happy that my kids have the chance to do amazing things like this.  The Dallas Temple is absolutely gorgeous in the spring, and there is nothing more meaningful than being able to touch those walls and feel the incredible peace on the grounds of that awesome building.  

oh, and just in case you were wondering...

McKay had a great game and was so happy to be playing baseball again, but they lost.  

New Beginnings

Tonight, the YW held their New Beginnings program.  We do this annually to kick off the theme for the new year as well as to recognize the upcoming 12 year old girls who will be coming into to the youth program.  I LOVE this night.  

these are the five adorable girls turning 12 this year

A few months ago, the YW President asked me to help the girls learn a song to go with the 2013 theme Stand in Holy Places.  As always, Jenny Phillips has written and recorded an incredible CD to remind the girls of the theme throughout the year.  I had purchased the CD way back in September so that I could learn the music in advance just in case there might be an occasion to play or sing any of it.  And...poof!...an occasion presented itself.  (That happens a lot lately.)  The YW Pres asked Flowering Buttercup to sing the solo part in this song, which is 3/4 of it! and then to have the rest of the YW come in for the final chorus.  I have had this music playing in the van since the beginning of the school year, but no one who rides with me has really paid much attention.  And since being asked to sing, Flowering Buttercup really hasn't been available to practice it much.  Tuesday night was the first time our schedules collided and the piano and voice actually met.  So...I played the intro and crossed my fingers that she would be able to sight read through it, and that we would be compatible.  And guess what...do you really have to guess??  It sounded absolutely beautiful.  Of course it did.  Fortunately my girls got their father's genes in the "musically confident" department.  I was totally in awe last night as I listened to her effortlessly sing that song.  The accompaniment is not the slightest bit helpful, so she really had to carry the thing by herself.  And I was so caught up in listening to her that I might have missed a few notes.  (Good thing we practiced it at least once before going live with it tonight, huh?)

The theme was "Wear the Right Shoe" and each of the YW Presidency spoke for a few minutes about standing in holy places, being who Heavenly Father wants you to be, the joys of young womanhood and the upcoming fun things these new 12 year olds have to look forward to.  

I am so grateful to have three daughters in this amazing program.  I'm so grateful to always get to be in their space (even if it is just behind the piano.) And I'm so grateful for a beautiful, spirit-filled evening that each of these girls will remember.