Chelsea goes to EFY

Chelsea headed up to the University of Utah for the week of July 25 until July 30th for her turn at Especially for Youth. She says it was the best week of her life!!! She learned a lot about herself and what she wants out of life. She went with her friend Lauren and made a lot more new friends. She loved living on her own in the dorm for a week. They spent their day attending fun classes that strengthened her testimony and had a lot of fun too. Their group was called "Every Creeping Thing" and they made this cool flag which took first place. Chelsea really stepped out of her comfort zone and joined the choir. Then she took it a step further and even tried out for a solo. She surprised herself when she got the part and did an amazing job. Friday night they had a contest to see who could stay up the longest; Chelsea won. Yeah! I'm so proud!

My parents and I picked the girls up on Saturday morning. They were so excited about their amazing week. It was fun to hear them tell about all the fun things they did. I asked them what was the best thing about EFY...... they couldn't pick one. So I asked them to name 5. They came up with these (in no particular order):
*Thursday (their spiritual day complete with an amazing testimony meeting)
*Dances (they had 2 while they were there)
*Eating ice cream and playing cards
*Brother Moore (aparently an amazing teacher)
*COW/COD (Crush of the Week/ Crush of the Day) Lots of good choices!!!

The guys there wrote a sweet note to the girls telling them how great they were and to make sure they stay true to who they are - Daughters of God. It was an all around fantastic experience.

Mason & Riker

We had Mason's cousin Riker stay with us for a few days. He was in heaven! They are at an age where they are so easy because they entertain themselves. They spent their time playing video games or swimming in the pool. We did make Riker eat a "Purple Penguin" which was torture I'm sure to eat the best snow cone on earth. They always get along and are so compatible.

Weekend in Idaho

This weekend I travelled to Twin Falls Idaho with my parents to attend a wedding of my cousin Jeremy to Jessica. My cousin Jessica also blessed her beautiful baby boy while we were there. I love being with the Mortensons. I just wish we weren't so far away. While we were there we stopped to look at the Shoshone Falls. So beautiful, and I loved the rainbow at the bottom. I left the kids at home for this trip. Chelsea was at EFY in SLC, Brianna had to stay in Vegas for dance, and I left the boys in St. George because most of the trip was just riding in the car. I'm sure they had a lot more fun with their cousins. On the drive my mom and I sat in the back of the van watching Gillmore Girls while my dad played with the satelite radio. He discovered the Elvis station, bluegrass, and opera. So we were all happy.

Pioneer Day

Several stakes got together to host a fabulous celebration for pioneer day. It included a parade with lots of primary kids throwing candy and otter pops. We especially enjoyed the bagpipe band. In the park there were all kinds of games and booths for the kids. They could do activities that would help them appreciate their pioneer heritage. Cord loved being a "cowboy" and was super excited when he roped his calf. It was a fun morning.

Donny's Dance Forum

On The Las Vegas Strip, July 22, 2011, Donny Osmond and more than 1000 participants descended upon the Forum Shops at Caesars. The dancers at Fern Adair got to preform on stage as his back up dancers. So much fun and a great opportunity. Donny even came to the studio to practice with them before hand. It was sort of like a flash mob in the sense that all the shoppers at the forum shops had no idea what was going on as all these people showed up with the cameras and started dancing. They ran through the dance a couple of times after getting set up. It was a super late night too. The dancing didn't start until midnight and we didn't get home until after 1:30. I'm not sure if Brianna even knows who Donny Osmond is, but I thought it was pretty cool. If you want to see the dance you can go to youtube and type in Donny's dance forum.

Girls Camp

Girls camp 2011 was held up at Kolob this year. Chelsea was a YCL (youth camp leader) for a 2nd year while this was Brianna's 3rd year at camp. There were a lot of fun activities at the camp that included shooting, archery, zip lines, canoes, and a contraption called the "flying squirrel". The theme this year was Seeking his Treasures. The girls also learned about all the women in the scriptures. But one of the hazards of having girls camp the week before the Harry Potter release was that it was very evident on all the girls mind. They were talking in British accents all week and every stick became a wand. As soon as they got home, all they could talk about was #1 A SHOWER and #2 what time they were going to to the movie. I guess it might has well be part of camp. I'm grateful to all the leaders for the great work they do for my girls. We have the largest group of YW and yet they all get along and are such a great group of girls.



































All cleaned up and ready to enjoy Harry Potter part 2