Minnesota Holm Reunion

To celebrate the 100th birthday of Grandpa Willard Holm, the Holms and Tindalls had a get together in Minnesota. Unfortunately, my family had already booked tickets to come see us that same exact weekend. So we divided and conquered, with Ben and Deacon heading to Minnesota, and Paige and I staying back to play with the Warnings. The boys had a fabulous time bowling, swimming, playing human hungry hippos, catching up with family, and being there for baby Emmett and baby Trevor's blessing!

Nobody says Father's Day like Weezer

For Ben's Father's Day present to chose to buy tickets to a Weezer concert. I was hesitant, considering I knew like two of their songs, but he had his heart set so we went for it. Luckily our friends, the Rawlins, were up for the adventure, too, and our friends, the Camerons had also bought tickets, so we made a big date out of it. First we stopped in Denton for BBQ, then drove an hour to Oklahoma (my first time!). The concert was just barely over the state border at a giant casino, so the concert room was kind of a strange venue. We had a lot of fun people watching all the strange old groupies and singing along to the songs we knew. Then we met up with the Camerons and all stopped for ice cream in Denton on the way home.

Then on Father's Day weekend we hit up Six Flags with the kids, ordered Ben some Sperry's, and Paige made him a fabulous paper tie in church. Happy Father's Day to one of the cutest, patient, hard-working dads we know!

Girls Camp!

Growing up I wouldn't say I exactly loved young womens, I only attended girls camp twice, and Ben and I have only been camping together once. I wouldn't call myself a big "teenager" person or a "camping" person. So imagine my shock when just a few weeks after we moved to Texas I was called as the ward camp director. This was really one of those callings that made me feel so incredibly lost, inadequate, and I may have even shed some tears stressing over it. 

Starting in September I went to monthly stake meetings, and all the YW activities. In February we did a "Camp Kickoff". Since the theme was "Happily Ever After", my sweet mom mailed my ridiculously pouffy prom dress to me so I could dress up as the camp fairy godmother and embarrass myself singing. The following months involved a lot of meetings, planning/teaching certification (ya, ME teaching how to build a fire), making all kinds of cutesies (I even made mom help me paint, and Becca mail me some cutouts), and choreographing a dance for skit night. And then a few weeks before camp, I was told that our ward and another ward were the only two that had to share one giant cabin that held 56 beds and basically looked like prison.

The week leading up to camp I started having nightmares. I was so nervous! But we packed the trailer and off we went, 3 1/2 hours to Oklahoma! My car of girls was awesome, and we sang and chatted the whole way there. Then it was a mad dash to put up decorations and clorox wipe everything in sight. The camp situation was less than ideal: ticks, chiggers, leaches, etc, so we covered ourselves with as much deet as possible. And then Tropical Storm Bill rolled in while we were there, flooding everything, but at least cooling the temperatures down. I was so busy everyday, and with 10:00 pm stake meetings, I only showered once, and never washed my hair the whole time...nasty. 

Some activities:

-glow in the dark dance party (the other ward didn't join us, and instead read their scriptures and stared at us while we danced....awesome)

-staying up until 1 am with my 3 YW leaders, chatting and giggling

-being called the wrong name by the stake the entire week- "Kelly Holman"

-hiking

-dutch oven cooking

-attempting to "quarantine" cabins as a prank

-lots and lots of certification

-outdoor activities (repelling, canoeing, zip-lining, and the biggest pain of all, bouldering)

-bringing a ridiculous amount of snacks for the girls and looking like a full fledged concession stand (they later told me they never have that many snacks...oops)

-rocking skit night with our glow in the dark dance "Finally an open door"

-being told we couldn't have any form of music, and therefore blasting our music in the car whenever we had to drive to a different part of camp

-singing and dancing while we cleaned the nasty bathrooms

-devotional where we discussed the roads to our happily ever after

-a wonderful bishop's night and testimony night

I only had two YCL's (Ashley and Marissa) but they were amazing! And thank goodness for my ward leaders. I don't remember the last time I laughed that hard! I emailed some "constructive feedback" and a few choice words in my head for some of the stake leaders, but Colette, Emily, and Lindsey were so fun and helpful. I never, ever, thought I would be one of those people who liked camp, but I have to admit, I loved the time with my girls! I didn't have a single problem with any of them, they were just sweet and fun to be around. I felt myself grow through the whole experience and am proud of myself for surviving it! 

To start, everyone's favorite "sweaty and annoyed" camp leader, during the very hot opening activities: 

Luckily, I look more pleasant in other pictures...

As if I didn't think my girls were cute enough, a day after we got back, Ben took me out on a date, and when I walked back in the house I heard "Girls Camp Part 2" and my girls and leaders jumped up from behind my couches. They had even recreated my "concession stand" and "tampon table". I felt so loved and appreciated by this fun group, which made for very mixed emotions when that Sunday I was released and called into the primary presidency. I can't say I'll miss everything about girls camp, but I will definitely miss laughing the days away with these girls.

Deacon's ear tube surgery

Poor Deacon has had a lot of ear problems. It wasn't necessarily the amount of infections, but more how bad the infections were and that they wouldn't clear. His last one required forced medicine that made him throw up in the doctors office, then 3 rounds of antibiotic shots in his thighs. It got to the point that as soon as we walked in the doctors office he would start screaming and he even started limping from his thighs being so sore. (He also started having wheezing problems which required multiple oxygen level checks during this, equalling 5 doctors visits in two weeks) The trickiest thing with Deacon's ears is that he wouldn't get a fever with his infections, so it was so hard to know! And it's absolutely heartbreaking to hold your kid down while he gets another round of shots...I cried with him. When we finally went to an ENT, they said he had hearing loss from all the fluid and needed tubes. We were just relieved to do something that would actually solve the problem.

I was of course a little nervous about surgery, but the nurses and doctor made it so quick and easy. They first gave him medicine so he would "like everyone", which made him pretty out of it. When they wheeled him away, he didn't even cry. We waited for about 10 minutes and then it was done! He cried waking up, but then was fine. He actually got an ear infection the week after, but with a few drops it was cleared, and we haven't had one since. And at his post-op his hearing was all the way back! Now his speech should be able to catch up. Such a relief!

Paige's First Dance Recital

Paige had so much fun in ballet this year with Miss Lisa. It was pretty low key, once a week, sweet little introduction to dance- perfect for us. The recital was (very) short and sweet, but so cute to watch. Let's face it, seeing her in a little tutu is why we pay for dance.
First, some of her "official" dance photos.

For the recital they did a big group number where they basically just skipped around the stage to "Skip to my Lou", and then her class performed a short little song. Paige knew her steps, but was pretty funny about staring at the number on the ground to make sure she stayed in the right spot. Adorable. We were very proud of our cute little dancer!