Brooke here! Since my mother lacks the time and energy to post, I'm going to do it for her! She just doesn't know that right now since she's napping.

So here's HER name poem, written by the YCLs:

This girl is a leader of most everything

From primary to just making people feel a part of something

She likes the color red

And gets outta bed to make sure you're fed.

You're the super mom of the Taylor family

She may not laugh a lot but Brother Taylor

Sure makes her giggly =]

Kids love her but she loves them more

With her there's never a bore.

She is very serious where need be

but get to know her; and she's chill, you'll see.

You can come to her with most anything

She's a great listener who won't go snoozing.

Majoring in early childhood education at Brigham Young University, Provo

Makes her perfect with children you know.

She loves to read and can always be found

reading away and never will frown.

She can cook anything and never the same thing twice

From sugar to spice, it's always nice.

Working with your children was your prophesy

that's why here at camp Taloa you will be known as...

ODYSSEY

And here's HIS, written by me:

Here's a face that we've seen at Taloa before!

When you're around Brother Taylor, there's laughter galore.

He works hard as a teacher & always has a plan,

but his favorite is being a family man.

He tells wonderful stories of his days as a scout

and his Palm smart phone he is never without.

He has many talents, we really must say-

like portraying the lead in "Willy Wonka," the play.

He also plays trumpet and has been to far lands

with Synthesis, the BYU Cougars Jazz Band.

He'll fix your computer or DJ for you-

This technology whiz is happy to aid you.

His Mac holds all music from rock to the blues,

so here at Taloa he'll be known as

iTunes

Celebrate Good Times, or Girls' Camp part 2

It seems like a long time ago now, but girls' camp concluded only 23 days ago. I had a fabulous time, despite silly string attacks and the usual drama that occurs at girls' camp.  It was unseasonbly cool, so the evening firesides were brought indoors to the lodge, which for my talk, worked out much better.  The theme as designated by the Youth Camp Leaders (the oldest group of girls who are going to be seniors in high school in the fall) was "Celebrate Good Times."  Each day at camp was dedicated to a certain time period- 1st day= ancient times, 2nd day=Jesus' time, 3rd day=modern times. The evening speaker for each day focused on that time period.  I spoke about Ruth from the Old Testament, and had a great time with the girls. Courtney, a 1st year girl from my ward, came up to me the day after and asked some questions during scripture study, as she was reading the account of Ruth and wanted some clarification.  Thanks, Courtney- you made my week!

Something else that was a ton of fun was getting my camp name. Camp Taloa has a tradition of giving camp names to girls during their 4th year, and to leaders after their 2nd. Not only did I get my name, but so did Chris!  He visited on Thursday night which is the traditional night for bishops to come, but the invitation was extended to the entire bishopric this year, so he came.  Our camp names are. . hmmm, I feel a game coming on! Here are your choices for Chris's camp name: 1) Goofy 2) iTunes   3) Mac or 4) Schoolhouse Rock  Here are the choices for me (Staci): 1) Betty Crocker  2) Mama Bear     3) Odyssey  or 4) Mary Poppins  Leave your guess in a comment, and I'll post the correct answers in a few days! (Brooke, no playing! --She made up both of our names! And, speaking of Brooke, you should go check out her blog, too.  Go here to see her latest post.)
I love the spiritual charge I get at camp from being up and away from the usual cares and worries of life.  I get home ready to face everything again with a renewed sense of purpose and enthusiasm. Hurrah for girls' camp!!!

Enough words-- here are some pictures!

The drive up-

In the lodge-

 

 

Sister Moore, (camp name A la Mode) Stake YW, and photographer extraoridinaire-

In the kitchen with Brother Lakey (All Star), Sister Thomas, Brother Thomas, and Brooke (camp name Energizer!)-

Silly Youth Camp Leaders, a.k.a YCL's-

Camp Director Purple Heart (Sister Toth), center, with Tinkerbell, left, and Sister Crosby, right, hanging out by the pretty much empty pool (there are a few crazy girls down at the other end of the pool out of the picture shot)-

Cutie Kristen from my ward and silly-stringed Zury from my cabin-(Did I mention I hate silly string?)-

Mail call. Each group of girls sings for their mail-

Or, if you're lucky and get a letter from a boy, you sing by yourself for it! Sister Burke from the Stake young women lives up to her camp name of Tart 'n Tiny-- she's not shy when it comes to singing for her mail!

The leaders kick back and enjoy mail call-

 

The girls and leaders from Upland 5th ward. The different colored shirts represent the number of years a girl has been to camp 1st years are green, 2nd years are purple, 3rd years are orange, 5th years are pink, and leaders are tan-

Sister Heupel on the left (Mosaic) was my fellow cabin mom and we had a great time together. Sister Hiatt (Tye Dye) is the assistant camp director and our bishop's wife. The leaders are from the "Stone Age", hence the sign-

Girls' Camp

So Brooke and I set off for Camp Taloa (to always love one another) tomorrow morning-- I as the music person/cabin mom, and she NOT as a camper this year, but as a cook! She has her food handler's license because of her job at Baskin Robbins, and they needed someone else to cook, so she's going. I am very glad to be there for 2 years with her there, instead of just one.  I've also been ask to speak at the campfire tomorrow evening, and let me tell you, I'm way out of my comfort zone speaking for 30 minutes! My thing is Primary sharing time, which is 15 or 20 minutes, and is interactive, NOT me speaking for the whole time.  So, hopefully they won't mind too much if I change it up a bit, and make it more interactive- not sharing time, but definitely not me babbling the entire 30 minutes.  So, I'll let you know how it goes after we're back on Friday.  Happy days, everyone!

I love these trees. . .

And I love this time of year when they're all in lovely lavender bloom. I think I'm going to have to have at least one of these in my yard- the jacaranda.  I know, I know, they aren't so pretty when they're not in bloom, but to me, it's worth it.  And yes, they get purple petals everywhere, but they're purple petals! Not ugly spiny balls or smelly seed pods.  Ah, the beauties of June!