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First Week of Summer…and it's a busy one!!

Derek went on a 5 day High Adventure this week in the Ozarks of Arkansas.  It was a 50-mile backpacking hike.  He came home SO happy!  He loved it.  He loved being in that beautiful country and he loved seeing the boys do hard things, and just being with them.  He enjoyed the company of Quinn Risdon (YM Pres) and Scott Ferguson (EQ Pres).  Some of the reports I heard from the boys were that "Bishop Smith was always smiling and happy, even when things were miserable – and he never got tired!".  I think the boys learned a lot and worked together to get done what they needed to accomplish.  Because of the poison ivy and chigger threat, Derek ended up wearing the same pants every day.  Oh dear… the laundry was a little scary afterwards.

Here are the three pics that he texted me during the week…

The boys and I had plenty to do while Derek was away.  Jacob and Caleb started their swim team practices M-Th from 8-10 am at the Natatorium.  I'm excited to see their progress with swimming this summer.

The first day of summer wasn't all that fun – but it did include a trip to Sams Club so I splurged for pizza and smoothies for the boys. 

On Wednesday I had the GREAT opportunity go up to Girls Camp and speak to the girls about the "armor of God".  I taught my 30-minute lesson 5 times throughout the day to groups of YW who were coming for R&R.  The big boys spent the day with their Aunt Anne and Aunt Olivia, while Samuel came and hung out with me while I taught.  I took snacks, books, cars and his Batman mask and he was so happy to watch and play and just "be" all day long.  We got out of there just in time for a huge storm to hit us on the way home, which was not so fun.  But the day was a highlight of my summer – LOVE, love, LOVE being with those girls.

On Thursday I had the special privilege of attending the temple marriage of Jasmine Miner and Ben Friend.  We've known both families for many years, which made it extra special.  Derek home taught the Miner family for several of those years and we formed a special bond then.  Michael opened his mission call in our living room and we have loved watching him come home after such a valiant mission.  And to see Jasmine marry in the temple brings us great joy!  Derek was heartbroken to miss it, but I represented us at both the marriage, the luncheon and later on (with the boys) at the reception.

On Friday I was exhausted (and this is only the first week?!) so I took them to a movie with friends and out to dinner.  They laughed and laughed at that silly Madagascar 3 movie.

We were so happy to have Derek home come Saturday morning (albeit dirty and tired) and we were off to root for Caleb's Rangers in the playoffs.  This little "Bad News Bear" team won both games and advanced to the semi-finals!  We couldn't believe it.  Caleb is playing GREAT baseball and is so confident in his swing and his abilities…it's fun to watch.  I love this picture of Coach Mazzola high-fiving Caleb after he hit a triple.

Can you tell this guy missed his daddy???

That was our first week of summer – big fun and big adventure.  This is going to be fun…