Have you heard the one about...

So, there was a barefoot woman who walked into a park. She had a leash in both hands. At the end of one leash was a cat and at the end of the other leash was a rabbit...

Doesn't that sound like the beginning of some kind of joke?? Well, tonight that's exactly what we saw in the little park across from our house. A barefoot woman with a rabbit and a cat on leashes...just a tad bit strange...I couldn't even go up and talk to her because I thought I would start to laugh (my kids however were very excited at the pets she was "walking"). I just couldn't help but have the beginning of a joke run through my head over and over. Strange.

Any punchlines out there?

To quote Peter Gabriel, this is the "Big Time"

Last week the governor of Wisconsin (Governor Doyle - in the middle) decided to make a visit to Exodus to talk to Greg, Jim, Bruce and Ian about the new company. He didn't want any press there and as you can see from the picture, it was a pretty casual affair. He talked with them for about an hour to learn more about the business and to find out what Wisconsin could do to help businesses like them. It was really fun for Greg - he's hit the big time! And, he even got through the entire hour without the armoured guard having to pull his gun (if you look closely, you can see him guarding the entrance to Exodus)...

And...we're on!

I kind of can't believe it, but tomorrow the first episode of 'Do. Make. Bake.' hits t.v.!! If you are here in Duluth, here's the schedule:

Cable Channel 7
Monday, July 20th at 11am, 3pm, 7pm, and 11pm
Tuesday, July 21st at 6am

Cable Channel 17
Thursday, July 23rd at 11am, 4pm, and 8pm
Friday, July 24th at 5am and 8am

Enjoy!!

Girls' Camp 2009

I went to YW camp for the first time since I was 13 this year. Our stake's camp is held at the Laurentian Environmental Center - it is a beautiful spot with very, very nice accommodations. We were in cabins (that had real bathrooms in them) and ate in the lodge - I know for some people, that wouldn't constitute camping, but for me - I was good with it!

I had 7 girls from our ward in the same cabin area with me at night and was in charge of a "crew" of 7 different girls during a few activities during the week. Most of the time during the day I could choose to go with any group - it was a really nice way to be there - I got to do everything I wanted, and do everything I was supposed to be helping with.

I had asked my girls to choose a value for the week that they wanted to work on. We made necklaces (metal stamped dog tags and washers - thanks Holly for the email link idea) and put our value on one of our washers. I chose Knowledge and boy did I get to accomplish my goals! I did archery for the first time, sat in a class about bogs and went on a bog walk, learned how to tell time from the sun (using your fingers as a counting measurment), went on rope course through the woods while blindfolded, and the list goes on and on!

I expected to go and have fun - to be loud - to get the girl's excited, but I didn't expect to get so much out of it myself. For the first time, I got to spend a lot of time with Rob and Jaime Scott and realized how much I enjoy them and how glad I am to be friends with them. I also had some great moments with Elsie and feel very blessed to be friends with her. Spending that much time with the girls, I also felt a lot of love for them and was able to see them in a new light. It was a wonderful 4 days and I hope to go back next year!

At the ol' ball game...

Andrew has been playing baseball this summer and we have had a lot of fun watching his games. We have gotten to know the families really well and the other kids love playing and exploring the little wooded area during the games. It's a pretty long season for kids - I think there were 25 games scheduled - and we are down to the last two!

Andrew has been getting better and better and has had a lot of fun. I've been really proud of him. He definitely wants to play next year and we'll be happy to be there watching him! But for now, onto soccer...

"I'm on the top of the world"

On the 4th of July we worked in the yard and completed all of the beds in the back yard. They are now all spick and span clean and have brick pavers that seperate them from the grass. Afterwards, we cleaned up and went over to the ward picnic at Park Point. We had a great time talking with friends and the kids had lots of fun at the beach. We had heard that if you watched the fireworks from the Point, it takes over an hour to get back over the bridge after the fireworks are over. That did not sounds super fun to us...so...we decided to leave at about 8:45 and make a stop at Cold Stone (yummm) and head over to Exodus.

We invited a few friends to come with us and the Johnson and Davis families took us up on the offer. We ventured our way to the roof of the building and watched the fireworks from there! It was a great view and the kids were very, very excited to be on the roof of Exodus (there is a 3 foot high edge around the top of the roof, but it still made me nervous if anyone was within about 15 feet of the edge - welcome to Mom-ville). When Andrew got up on the roof he yelled, "I'm on top of the world" - it was very Titanic-esque - I loved it.

The fireworks in Duluth are really good and from where we were, if we turned around, we could see the city of Superior's fireworks too. It was a great night spent with great friends!