Kami's Party, Cont.

Here's a couple more pictures from Kami's party, that a friend of ours took and sent our way! I especially love the first one!

Happy Birthday, Kami!

WOW! I can't believe my little baby is not so much a baby anymore! Yesterday we celebrated Kami's 2nd Birthday! She had tons of fun with all of her friends that were able to make it to her birthday party at the park on base. We played on the playground, played 'Pin the Tail on Boots', colored, ate hamburgers and hotdogs, birthday cake, broke open a pinita (sp?) and opened gifts! Whew! We hadn't even made it off the base after we were all done when she fell asleep! We are so greatful to all of the friends that made it out and especially to all of the guys (and gals!) who made it out from Drew's work to have lunch (and help grill and serve!) and celebrate with us, too!

After taking the afternoon to rest, play with some toys and get cleaned from the mid-morning festivities, we went out to eat and then came home and opened gifts from our family! Drew and I got her a little tea set for her birthday, so we had to have a Tea Party before bedtime with all of Kami's "other" friends! :^)

We are so thankful that Kami has come into our lives! She has been an absolute joy! We love you, Kami! Happy Birthday!

A whole lot of nothing...

Okay! I'm blogging! I'm blogging! There's just not much to report as of late. With YW's Camp over, things are winding down for the summer - yet at the same time, they're reving up! It's kind of interesting being here in Korea for nearly a year, and already I'm considered and "oldie". With PCS (aka 'Moving') season for us in the military world upon us, it's a sad time to see friends move on, and then so many new faces move into the community. So, this summer comes with a bunch of mixed feelings. I will truly miss those who I have gotten to know over this year (it seems like we've all known eachother an eternity) and with them all the best of luck where ever the military takes them and I pray that our paths will cross again (and to those awesome Young Women I have had the privilage to get to know over this past year who are moving...you know who you are...keep in touch!)!! And for those who are moving in to the Osan community, I say, "Welcome!" and "You're in for an experience of a lifetime! ;^)" And of course, I look forward to forming friendships with you all!

Anyway, so, as you can see, it's an interesting time of year! Over the last week and a half, my priority has been on my family. It was so nice to come home from camp and the very next day have absolutly nothing to do except play with Kami! So, we've been doing a lot of that. Playing. This is the last summer where it'll just be us and I feel a need to take advantage of that as much as I can! I've also been taking full advantage of date nights! I know that those will also be few and far between over this next year as well. At least with just Drew and I alone. Well, I guess you could say AJ already come along now, but, right now he's not so noisy! ;^) Anyway, it's nice to have people that love to watch Kami! I've babysat a few in my time where I just cringed when the parents called me to watch their child(ren) - caller ID would have been so useful to me back then! Anyway, I'm glad that Kami's not one of those kids that people don't like to be around (at least most of the time!).

I also went in for my 28 week check up yesterday! Other than I've already gained 22 lbs in this pregnacy, things seem to be going really well! I've got one more OB appointment here at Osan before I start going up to Seoul for my appointments. This pregnancy seems to be going by so quickly! It's so crazy! But, I'm excited to have AJ in our lives and can hardly wait until he arrives! I know Drew is counting down the years already to when he'll have a golfing buddy and I'm sure Kami's wondering when this AJ kid is going to come and play with his toys, ride in his carseat and swing in his swing! In the meantime, Kami's been putting his toys, carseat and swing to good use for her own dolls.

Anyway, as you can see, nothing too notable going on here! Sorry. You have to put up with my mindless ramblings! :^) Okay. I'm off! I'll take some picture for you all this week! I haven't done that in a while. I'll take some of Kami, but no laughing at her bangs. Cutting a two year olds bangs is pretty tricky business! :^)

YW Camp Recap!

I'm home from Young Women's Camp! We had a great time, even though it rained for nearly two days straight and we had to pack up and go home a half-day early! We have lots of fun stories and memories to share! Anyway, here's a pictures recap of the week!

More, Coming Soon!

There is more to report my life coming soon! So, I apologize for those who keep checking my blog for updates. I am up to my eyeballs getting ready for Young Women's Camp next week, on top of all that I'm trying to keep up with YW's lessons, Mutual activities, Officer's Spouses Scrapbooks, Doctors appointments and not to mention trying not to neglect my husband and daughter! My house, on the other hand...we'll there are just some things you've got to let go of! You can't do it all, you know what I mean! :^)

YW Lesson 20 "Understanding a Missionary's Responsibility"

Okay! So, here was my handout for yesterday's lesson. I usually try not to stray from the manual when I teach, but, this time, I think I took a little bit different direction than the manual was going. I approached it not as what a current missionary faces, but, what they might face if a mission is an option for them. Here's how the lesson played out:

ATTENTION GETTER
Up on the chalk board I had different time slots (6:30AM-10:30PM) and a piece of 3x12" paper next to the various slots. I asked the girls to give me a typical days schedule and I wrote on the papers what the girls did at the various times.

Next, I read a story talk from the November 1989 Ensign, called "The Value of Preparation" by Elder Ben B. Banks. He talked about he and his sons wanting to take a bike trip from SLC to Southern Utah for a family reunion. Though his sons spent each Saturday, months before the trip preparing, Elder Banks found excuses not to join his sons in the Saturday preparations. So, by the time they were ready to make their 220 mile bike ride, Elder Banks discovered how valuable those prep. Saturdays could have been to him. So, the next year he took it a little more seriously and bought new bikes for him and his sons and spent the time preparing for an even further distance that next year. Then he asked, "If it is important to prepare for a bike ride, my young friends, why is it then so much more important for you in this life to prepare to serve as missionaries?" (This was the first time I revealed that the lesson was about missionaries/missions). I asked them then how many of them and seriously thought about serving a mission. Every single one of them raised their hands. Wow! I was impressed! (This also gave me more of a validation of why I deviated from the manual in the way that I did).

LESSON
Scripture: D&C 18:15 "And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father."

We then went through the "5 M's of Missionary Work" that President Monson described in the March 2007 New Era.

1. The Message - discussion
2. The Missionary - What can we do now to prepare for a mission? I then pointed out the 'M&M's Challenge' on the other side of the handout and told them for each day they do one of the challenges, to circle that day. I also encouraged them to bring this paper back with them next Sunday, as we'll continue talking about missionary work.
3. The Member - discussion
4. The Mission - This is where we went back to the chalk board with their typical day's schedule on it. Under the pieces of paper, I had written on the chalk board what a typical missionary's day looks like (thanks to my sister's friend, Gina, who served a mission and help from the manual). It was fun to see if any of their current schedules matched that of a missionary (not many did!).
5. The Mission President - discussion

CONCLUSION
Quote: "Missionary Work is rigorous. It is demanding. It is difficult. It has never been easy, and it never will be. It requires strength of body, strength of mind, strength of spirit." President Gordon B. Hinckley

This was a fun lesson to teach! I just wished I could have been teaching more from experience! A wife of one of the unaccompanied guys in our ward was here for a few weeks and I was actually hoping she'd be around to teach this lesson, since she actually served a mission. But, unfortunately, she and her kiddos left the week before. :^( So, I hope the girls got something from my hear-say!