her first bike

 Jonny brought a bike home for Julia. She is in heaven. She has been dreaming about a bike for a while now. Never begging, just talking about and admiring them. I kind of figured we'd get her one for her next birthday, but Jonny knew she needed it now. (It was kind of funny to see her riding around with her neighborhood boyfriends - them on their cool bikes and her on her little red trike. This pink bike with streamers and training wheels is quite the step up!)

Anyway, we found this practically-new little beauty under the KSL Classifieds for a sweet deal. (I certainly didn't want to pay full price for this puny bike that will fit her for only a year of two. There are a ton of great bikes for sale on KSL.) Here is what Julia had to say throughout the evening about her new mode of transportation...

"I really love this new bike.  It has butterflies on it. It's been floating around in my mind today."

I told her she could ride for another five minutes after getting ready for bed. She said, "I think people will see my jammies. Hmm... I know the best jammies to choose. Soup-ney! (Snoopy) They're going to see the Soup-ney jammies and think I'm putting on butterflies!" (Apparently the butterflies are a big deal.)

Her bedtime prayer went like this: "Thank you that I covered my eyes and Daddy got the bike out of his truck..." And so on.

And after we put her to bed, she came out a few minutes later, apparently too excited to sleep. Sometimes she asks us to rest with her in her bed for a minute or two, and she usually comes up with some reason why we should. This night she said, "Can you rest with me...because...thank you so much for that bike."

You are welcome, Julia. Happy trails. 

Girls Camp

I don't often post about my calling as Young Women President on here, even though it is a big part of my life. Over the past almost three years I have really come to love these girls in our neighborhood, not to mention the interesting, inspiring women who serve as leaders with me. Last month I spent a week with the girls at Heber Valley Camp. There I learned a lot more about who they are - and who I am. There's nothing like being in the beautiful outdoors to help me step back and gain perspective. Thanks so much to sisters and neighbors for helping out with the kids while Jonny worked and I was partying in the mountains. I love camping and I love the Young Women, so it really was a great week. (If you can call sleeping on air mattresses in fancy cabins, flushing toilets, and showers camping. It was quite luxurious and convenient. And that campground is amazing. But we leaders all agree that next year these girls will definitely be "roughing it" with tents and port-a-potties. It's good for them!)

I thought about my little Julia going to Girls Camp in only 8 short years. I hope her experiences will be as good as mine were and still are.

 The girls loved the pink capes our ward camp leaders had for them. I felt like we were "Troop Beverly Hills!"

 And here I am matching McCall, a fellow leader, and Rachel, an awesome Beehive.

 I haven't tracked down a group shot of camp yet, but here is one from our Youth Conference hike in June. Beautiful girls. I pray every night they know who they really are.