Mysterious . . .

From Blog Favorites August/September

We've had some mysterious things going on lately. A few nights before I took these pictures, Kyle* came back from some bishopric business with a couple in our neighborhood and found several of these red and blue army men all over his car in the driveway. We laughed about it and wondered what the reason for it was and who it could have been. Then the next Sunday, as we were leaving church Tony saw me with my camera (the bishop had asked me to take some pictures of the young men in the ward) and he asked me to come over and take some shots of his truck. And guess what was all over it?

From Blog Favorites August/September

Hmmm - it looked like the work of some of the young men and young women in the ward. (Tony is the young men's president.) The next day, we got a bigger army guy with a parachute and a message asking us to return his men. Apparently, this was the captain coming to rescue his battalion. (o: I have my suspicions, but none of the youth has fessed up.

From Blog Favorites August/September

It sure gave us some good laughs. Man, I'm going to miss these funny things...

From Blog Favorites August/September

From Blog Favorites August/September

Cute Phoenix getting a kick out of this prank. Sarah LOVED this too. I think she was filing the idea away in her brain for later!

From Blog Favorites August/September

Thanks mystery army pranksters for making us smile!

Hagg Lake

From Blog Favorites #4

One of the perks of Ned* being in the bishopric is that I get to tag along for some of the bigger activities and enjoy time with the youth. The Hagg Lake tradition began two years ago and is always full of laughter, mud flinging, water fights and making good memories together. I was so grateful to be a part of it for the 3rd annual event. (o:

From Blog Favorites #4

My girls loved playing with the big kids! They love being with the young women and a part of all the fun. They loved playing with Brother Matteson, Sister Morris and taking a boat ride with bishop Melanson. We just love our ward so much. This was a wonderful and bittersweet night - more on that later . . .

From Blog Favorites #4

From Blog Favorites #4

I love this one of Sarah and Natalie in the background. (O:

From Blog Favorites #4

Angela getting a ride out in the water with Tony. I feel kind of lame for not coming in a swimsuit so I was grateful for everyone that played with my girls.

From Blog Favorites #4

Kaitlyn and Jordan are double trouble.

From Blog Favorites #4

Kaylynn, my photography buff buddy. She is amazing and I love talking photography with her! I couldn't resist getting a shot of her in action. (o:

From Blog Favorites #4

Hagg Lake is gorgeous - I wish I got more pictures of the scenery! (Did I just wish I got more pictures?)

From Blog Favorites #4

Ned* wasn't getting to stay dry just because he didn't dress for the water! Bishop and Tony were VERY gracious and allowed Ned* to remove all his affects before the dunking. It was a little anticlimactic, but very much appreciated!

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Some of the audience; Lizzy, Sarah and Heather

From Blog Favorites #4

Heidi, Natalie and Kayla

From Blog Favorites #4

Real men can get away with wearing princess towels!

**Funny story: Remember the post about our visit to Hagg Lake with the Fotheringhams back in June? On that night, Ned* was having fun throwing a disc out in a field with Sarah and Lizzy - if I remember right he was trying to get the disc on some deer we saw. (o: Well, the disc got lost in all the tall weeds and he couldn't find it. I guess he was curious last night about it and looked around and he FOUND it! Two months later! How funny is that? Unfortunately, all that time sitting in the sun warped it so it didn't work and he ended up throwing it away anyway, but it's still a good story. (o:

Catching Up!

Click on the title above to see one of my favorite posts.

One of the reasons why I want to get caught up on my blogging is because when I post things waaay later than when they happened people miss out on seeing some really fantastic pictures! (o:

These ones make me smile!

Nachoooooo!

Have you seen Nacho Libre? It is hilarious. You may think we're a little kooky, but we LOVE this show. The more we watch it, the funnier it gets. There are so many classic quotes. If you are one that only enjoys sophisticated humor, walk away. Me, I just like completely goofy humor and Jack Black fits the bill. It's not even the lines that are necessarily the funny part, it's the way he says the lines with the ridiculous attempt at sounding Hispanic. Nacho Libre

makes me laugh. Our whole family loves it. So a few months ago, when I found out some of my young women hadn't seen it, I decided to host a Nacho Libre party. It is several months later - but better late than never!

From Blog Favorites #3

The welcome at the door to let guests know they were about to enter another dimension - the Nacho dimension. Leave all seriousness at the door!

From Blog Favorites #3

Yes, Sarah - that is exactly the right kind of spirit to be in at a Nacho Libre party!

From Blog Favorites #3

Nat and Angela loved all the stuff I pulled out to decorate!

From Blog Favorites #3

Sarah was excited the Phoenix came to watch the movie with her!

From Blog Favorites #3

Sarah, Lizzy, Katie (out on the trampoline) and Crystal arrived first and we chatted over - what else? - nacho chips!

From Blog Favorites #3

Tylin and her friend Becky who came very appropriately dressed!

From Blog Favorites #3

Some of my lovely guests enjoying the Nacho one liners. You might notice that most of the guests have a paper. We played Nacho Bingo during the movie. Each box had a square with a quote in it from the movie. I was surprised how much everyone got into it! Almost everyone eventually got a blackout, but Katie was the first to get a Bingo.

I can't believe Becky kept the mask on to watch! She's so funny! (see above)

From Blog Favorites #3

From Blog Favorites #3

Katie's hot pepper bracelet and Mexican cookies - her prizes for winning the BINGO game.

Girls' Camp Visit

From Blog Favorites #3

Just weeks after being released from my young women's calling, I was so excited to still have an excuse to go visit the girls at girls' camp! Gregory* had to go for bishopric/leaders night and the wives were invited to come too! Score! We had a stressful drive to camp Melacoma - the traffic getting to Washington was terrible. Once we got across the bridge, we had a lovely ride. It was so beautiful on that side of the Columbia gorge. I remembered driving that road with Lisa last year when she had just found out she'd be released.

Since we were running a little late, the girls were getting antsy wondering where we were. When we walked into the cafeteria, boy did we get a welcome! It made me feel so good. I almost got tackled by a few of the girls and a chorus of voices called out "Sister Preece!" That's the only time in my whole life I'll probaby ever get a taste of celebrity life. (o: It made my day.

From Blog Favorites #3

Nina looking cute and campy in her crafty shirt and bandanna.

From Blog Favorites #3

Hannah and Tylin not only survived their first girls' camp - it looks like they had way too much fun!

From Blog Favorites #3

Tylin looking good! And orange!

From Blog Favorites #3

A group photo of our ward at camp!

From Blog Favorites #3

Visiting with Heather and Crystal who used to be my girls, but moved to another ward last year.

From Blog Favorites #3

This is everyone listening to Gregory's* fireside talk...

From Blog Favorites #3

From Blog Favorites #3

Kaitlyn is such an attentive listener!

From Blog Favorites #3

Cute! Getting ready for testimony meeting, which was such a great meeting. So many of our girls got up and it was wonderful to hear about their experiences.

From Blog Favorites #3

From Blog Favorites #3

I think these are foxgloves, right? They were everywhere. I love being in the mountains. It was a HOT day - even for being up in the mountains, but the evening was beautiful.

YW Leader's Waffle Party

From Blog Favorites #4

At the end of my time in young women's, one of the things I was very sad to lose was the close commradery I felt with my amazing young women's presidency and advisors. I wanted to thank them in a special way for the service they had given the girls and support they gave me. They are such wonderful women and I grew to love them so much.

The Saturday after being released, I hosted a Waffle Party for my sweet friends. A few of the ladies could not make it, but Kelly, Janae, Elizabeth and I had a great time talking over our yummy brunch. Christopher* gave me a Belgian waffle maker for mother's day this year - so we made delicious waffles with all kinds of toppings and I had to make Egg Stuff for a special treat too.

We had a fun time hanging out and talking. It was so nice to have a moment to celebrate the time we spent together! I love these ladies so much!

Young Women - Sewing Night

From BlogFavorites

After BillyBob* was called into the bishopric, I knew my time in young women's was short. It was so sad to think about leaving my girls, so I was grateful that it took a few weeks for things to get sorted out. I continued to be YW president for another month after initially finding out I would be released. I was grateful for the time to let it sink in and soak up as many more memories and hugs as possible. This was my last hoorah - our sewing project. We worked on sewing pajamas with my sweet seamstress friend, Rebecca. It took three weeks. I didn't get to go to the very last one, but I heard they were a hit and turned out so cute. I really wanted to go and get one more picture, but at that point I really felt like I needed to step back and let go. Plus, after taking all three girls with me to YW 3 weeks in a row, I was burned out. It helped me to realize that it really was a wise thing for me to be released. Two big callings in one family is too much!

I love the picture above of Natalie, Angela and 'big' Natalie. (she's not big, just bigger than little Nat!) My girls really love and adore the young women. That was one of the wonderful perks/ blessings of my calling. I loved them looking up to my YW - good girls who know how to have fun and be happy. Great role models for my little young women!

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Look at that concentration on Ellie, Tana and Heidi's faces!

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Hannah and her friend Michelle.

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I'll add this to my collection of funny Lizzy shots!

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I'm glad Kim pointed out Natalie to me while a few of us were chatting. Here was my Nat - who found a creative use for the fabric scraps - overlooking the activity. (O: Such a trend setter!

Iron Chef - Smoothie Night

From BlogFavorites

This was such a fun night. Randie, my 1st counselor and her Mia Maid class (the 14-16 year old girls - weird name for the class, I know) planned an Iron Chef night. I thought their idea to make smoothies was brilliant! Randie had all kinds of ingredients laid out for the youth to choose from. I really enjoy our combined youth nights - the boys in our ward are tons of fun. Get the girls and boys together and it's a ton of laughs, as you can see! Randie was so sweet to open up her house to around 30 people - or more! The pile of shoes at the entry was hilarious.

From BlogFavorites

From BlogFavorites

This team made one of my favorites - a chocolate mint smoothie. Mmmmm. Jordan's dancing helped make it taste better too!

From BlogFavorites

The look on their faces makes me a little nervous. This may have been the team that made the weirdest smoothie I've ever had - complete with Snickers, fresh fruit and peanut butter. Bleck!

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Hey! I caught Lizzy smiling! (O: (Usually she sees me coming and makes a funny face.)

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I was more than happy to be asked to judge! Fun job! The yogurt-y fruit one and the mint chocolate were my favorites!

From BlogFavorites