Rocky Point; Finally!

View from our hotel room the first night!

Well, we finally made a trip to Rocky Point, Mexico! We know a lot of people who go down there, but we have always been a little apprehensive about venturing down to Mexico, not knowing the area. Finally we just got online, picked a place, and went for it!

At first I wasn't sure about our Condo, as we passed all these new fancy sky rise hotels. But after staying there, I couldn't be happier about our choice! It was so family friendly. The pool had two slides, and there were plenty of kids there. There was a few Mormon families there for a family reunion. I spotted them right away when I saw their modest bathing suits and little babies! LOL They even had an Aubree and an Ethan in their group!

The main area of the condo. It didn't take long for us to settle in! The view of the pool! The Beach View! The beach was beautiful! We had enough time, when we got there, to get a few hours at the beach before it was dark. Ben stayed back while Sophia took a nap. He wasn't putting up a fight, since he had Breaking Dawn to read. When she was done for her nap, we went downtown and had dinner at a restaurant by the water. It was very nice, except for the humidity! Aubrie was happy that they had steak. They called it Fillet Mignon, but it sure didn't look like one. While we were eating a guy came by and made balloon animals for the kids. We gave him a few dollars, of course. Then a little band came by and sang us a couple of songs. I handed them a few dollars, and then he counted the money right in front of us and said, "It's five dollars a song!" Can you believe that?! We gave it to them because we know they could use the money, but come on. It's not like they posted their prices, or even asked us. Oh well. Their songs added to the atmosphere. After dinner, we had ice cream at Thrifty! Thrifty ice cream is all over down there. It's like our Starbucks! Ha! I grew up with Thrifty ice cream, and it is one of my FAVORITES! Of course their not 15 cents a scoop anymore; not even in Mexico. Things were surprisingly not as cheap as I expected them to be. I guess all my experience of Mexico includes Tijuana and Cozumel. After our ice cream trip, we went back to the Condo, played some games and went to bed.

The first morning we started off at the beach. The tide was so low we could walk out really far and still sit down in the water. It was great! I felt like I was in the Bahamas, again. Sophia was not liking the sand after awhile. It's too hard to suck your thumb with sand all over it! LOL While we were at the beach Aubrie got her hair braided, and we also rented a wave runner. I was a little scared to drive it on my own, the waves were much bigger than the ones I was used to in California. Aubrie LOVED it and wanted to go more; no surprise there. Ethan was crying, after a few minutes, that he wanted off, and Boston had fun, but not enough to ask for more.

After some beach time, Ben took Sophia back to the Hotel for a nap, while he read some more of Breaking Dawn. I went with the kids for a few hours down by the pool. Later in the afternoon, we all headed into town to go through the shops. That wasn't the most brilliant idea we ever had. It was so hot and muggy, we were all dripping with sweat. Now we know that you don't hit the market until nighttime, unless it's overcast or not Summer!

Friday was more swimming and beach time. It was an overcast day, which was perfect. It brought the temperature down, and there was a great breeze. The undertow was a little strong on Friday, so we didn't venture too far into the waters. Most of our time was spent at the pool. The kids had fun making more friends. Here is the friend Boston made. They played tag for a couple of hours. Ben wasn't feeling too well, and so he spent a lot of time indoors. Later in the evening, we hit the Market, again. It was much better at night! It was much cooler, and we got to enjoy a nice sunset! The boys picked out some little guitars, and Aubrie a little dress. Ethan had so much fun with his guitar. It didn't leave his side. He even had it on his lap the whole way home today.

Ethan putting on a show Sophia enjoying the show Ethan having a shy moment

This morning we packed up everything, and the kids, me and and Mom went down to the beach one last time. The boys had some bracelets made, and we put our feet in the water. The ride back was the same as usual; Sophia fussing and the rest of the kids watching a movie. Aubrie and Boston actually pulled out Connect Four (their new favorite game) and played that in the back for awhile. Guess it was too boring with the movie on and all! LOL

Overall, the vacation was great! It has taken place of our Myrtle Beach vacation we used to take when we lived back East, except you have to bring your passport, and you can't drink the water! Ha! I just wish we would have started this tradition (yes, it will be one) sooner! Better late than never!

The Final Chapter!!

Ok, I know I mentioned that I read the book, but I had to dedicate a whole blog page to it! Finally, after obsessing over Edward and what would come of him and Bella, I finally finished Breaking Dawn, today! Yes, yes...I know I should have finished it by Sunday evening, but obviously was sooo tired from girls camp, that I actually fell asleep on Edward! Ok, I know, I'm a married women, and I sound like a giddy young girl, but Ben is reading them, too! They are just so good! He has been eyeing Breaking Dawn ever since he brought it home for me. I can't believe he didn't start it before I got home! He actually stayed up until 12:30 Saturday night reading it, while I was crashed out from camp! It has been in his hands most of the day, and I can't wait until he is done so we can talk about it. I LOVE that he is reading them. It's something we have in common. It also seems to be a common thread that runs between many of my friends, and my Young Women! It's definitely a good way to connect with the girls! You mention Twilight and their eyes light up! Ok....so about the book. No spoilers, I promise!

I must say that some of the things were pretty predictable, because there was a lot of foreshadowing, but it definitely was good enough to capture my attention, and make me ignore many things around my house for the past two days! I think it had a great ending, but I kind of wanting more! I guess since I knew it was the last, I was kind of sad. Like when the last Star Wars movie came out (yes, I am a HUGE Star Wars fan). At least there is the Twilight book, Midnight Sun, from Edwards perspective, coming in a few years! There is a teaser from the book online already! Hope you enjoy it, all you Twilight fans out there!!!

Whats keeping me?!

Two things have kept me from my blogging over the past week. The first one was our Young Women's "girls camp" and the other was Breaking Dawn.

Serving in Young Women's, I committed 3 1/2 days to be a "cabin Mom" at girls camp. That basically entails being in charge of 9 teenage girls. Making sure they get to all their activities, including meals, capers (another word for chores) and attending to any other need. I was assigned to 3rd year girls (which usually is the 14 year olds). I had a few girls from my old ward, and current ward and even one from Lake Pleasant ward, assigned to my cabin. I also had Erin's cousin. They were such a great group of girls! I didn't know my other cabin Mom, but met her a few weeks before camp. She was cool, too! Erin and Brooke also worked with the 3rd years, so I knew I would get to see them often !

My adventure to girls camp started at 5:15 Wed. morning. (Actually I should say before that if I considered all the time I spent preparing for everything). Anyway, we met at the church building at 6:00 and the buses left at 6:40. I drove up with Wendy Spooner and 4 other Young Women. It was a good drive up. Just a bunch of talking. We arrived at Camp Lomia ( A church owned camp site up by Payson, AZ) at 9:15. The campsite was much better than any place I ever stayed at as a Young Women. It was definitely built to serve as a Young Women's camp!

Anyway, once we arrived we got our cabins set up a little, and then went to the Ramada to pick up our girls. (They didn't' know what cabin they were going to be in until they got there.) After we brought the girls to the cabin, we spent time decorating our cabin with pictures and lights, picking our secret sisters, and making up a cabin cheer. Then we headed to craft time. For craft time the girls made socks with puff paint, and cute bookmarks. They didn't get to keep them, but instead were made as a service project. After craft time, they had some certification. Certification includes survival type skills, like CPR, building shelters, first aide, etc. They learned these skill throughout camp. During all the certification, the Young Women (and leaders) also spent time passing off memorized scriptures and quotes that went along with the YW values, to collect beads for a necklace. Since Erin and I had a lot of time on our hands, while the girls were being "certified", we had our beads by the middle of the day! A few of my girls did the same!

A little wildlife right outside our cabin!

The girls in the Ramada, getting ready for lunch!

After a few hours of certifications we went back to the cabin to make up a skit for that evening. All the skits were to be focused around the Strength of Youth Pamphlet. Our group had modesty. Every cabin also got a few props and a "secret" line that was to be incorporated into the skit, on stage.

The girls getting ready for their skit!All the skits were original and gave us a good laugh. It was fun to see the girls get creative and let go of their inhibitions! Kayleen also let go of her inhibitions (Ok she doesn't ever seem to have any) and lip-synced to a High School Musical 2 song, with a friend. She played Troy and her friend, Gabriella. The girls went crazy for that!

After the skits, the girls had companion scripture study (something they did every night) and then we had Singing Trees. That is where each ward gathers around a tree, and when it was their turn, turned their flashlights on and sang a song. We sang, "If the Savior Stood Beside Me". Some wards sang very long songs, and we only planned on the first verse of ours. At first I was worried, but it was nice that it was short, because we were the last ward to go. After singing trees, we went back for a mini devotional given by a few YCL's (Older Young Women who have already completed the 4 years of camp and have come back as leaders). After the devotional, I stayed up with the girls and played Catch Phrase and Mofia! We had a great time, and it was a great time getting to know my girls. We finally went to bed at Midnight.

Thursday we had an early morning (7:00) hike! It was a whole mile and a half! LOL After lunch, we learned the camp dance, which I thought we would all perform at some other time, but I guess not. Anyway, we then had what they called P-Day activities. (The whole camp theme was centered around the MTC). Anyway, the activities included baseball, where the bases where kiddie pools (I got soaked as I slid into first), eating gummy worms out of a bowl full of pudding (with no hands of course), watermelon seed spitting contest, water balloon volley ball and soaking your leaders with sponges (trying anyway). Those were fun, and of course a lot of water fights and pudding fights resulted. President Farely was in the middle of most of them! He deserved it, delaying the girls eating time by making them answer questions in the food lines, like; what is your favorite scripture, how many kids do you want to have, etc.

Later that day the girls participated in an activity which made them think about how they were living their lives to prepare themselves as mothers.

The girls pointing to their favorite temple!

Here's mine, in case you were wondering!Then we had dinner and a devotional by Brother Eastman, which again focused on the great role we have as wives and Mothers and the influence we have on men. It was good! Then it was time for the normal nightly devotionals, and game time. Around 11:00, I headed over to the YCL cabin for some Benadryl (I didn't sleep much the night before) and I ended up sticking around for some dancing and fun times! The YCL's know how to party!LOL. Of course, they are my Laurels from both wards, so I am a little attached. I finally went to bed around 12:30.

Friday started early (6:00) as we got ready for breakfast and our canoeing trip. It was about a 45 minute drive to the place where we went. It was so beautiful! I was in a canoe with Erin, Brook and Wendy Powelson on the way to our stopping point. I didn't have to row on the way there, which I felt a little guilty about.

There was a little canoe tipping involved!!:) We stopped at a cool place with some high rocks. Some were higher than others:) The highest one looked like nothing, compared to the one I jumped off at Havasupai. I kept telling Erin to come with me, and kept saying how it wasn't very high. Then a funny thing happened. When I got up there and looked down, I panicked and turned back. The girls kept saying, "Come on Sister Pribyl, you can do it, it's not that high". I kept reminding them how I had done a jump higher than this before, and I couldn't' make out why I couldn't do it. I then decided to jump the smaller one. That was very easy, and once I was wet and in the murky water, it wasn't hard to jump the bigger one. I guess it was the murky unknown water that got to me, from such a high distance. Anyway, I did it! After lunch and hanging around that spot for about an hour, we all headed back. This time I rowed, and actually enjoyed it! I had to work off all the candy I had been eating! That rest of the day included more certification, a service project (which included hauling wood), and a great shower. I had taken a shower the day before, in the regular showers, not knowing about the "Leadership" showers. This one had hot water! Yeah! Washing my hair was pointless though, since a few of my girls decided it would be cool to rat my hair. It was a huge ratted ponytail (which took me FOREVER to wash when I got home). That evening we had a "Faith Walk", which is where the girls read quotes on poster boards and answered questions related to the quotes. Then we had a little Ward time. We handed out letters that their parents had written them, and afterward we talked about what we liked about our parents. It was very emotional. Then we took a few pictures of the girls. Notice them flashing their "WW" signs, for West Wing Ward! LOL

After ward time there was a devotional given by Lori Wagner. She spoke on "covenant" shoes. She started with blessing, baptism and temple shoes. She showed how big the gap was between baptism and the temple and then asked what shoes we should be wearing between those. The "shoes" they needed to be wearing correlated to the Strength of Youth Pamphlet. She used girls as examples. She had picked up their shoes in advance, and at the devotional pulled them out of a bag and had people guess whose they were. Then she would go on to tell about them. So, for example, one girl would be a girl who Keeps the Sabbath Day Holy. It was VERY good!

After dinner they had a program that honored the Bishops. They read funny stories about them and listed their "favorite" things. After that, we had our Ward time/ Testimony meeting with our Ward. Everyone ended up bearing their testimonies. The main theme of so many testimonies was "I was sad about the Ward split, but now I LOVE it! Heavenly Father knows us and what we need." It is true. It was a good change for me. Even though I miss my friends, and old Bishop TERRIBLY, I also am LOVING the new ward. Anyway, it was a great meeting! We then headed back to our cabins for fun and games. Around 10:00 we could hear music blaring from the YCL cabin. It turned into a huge dance party, where all were invited to show off their dance skills! Including my mother-in-law, who was at camp also. :) They ended it around 11:00 and then it was back to our cabins. My cabin and the one next to us wanted to play Mofia, so we let them play for another hour. We finally went to bed around 1:00. Well, I guess I should say, I went to bed. I told the girls they could hang out at the picnic table outside, as long as they were quite. They did a good job at being quiet. I was out in 15 minutes.

Saturday we woke up early and were out of camp by 9:00. We arrived back in town by Noon. I was soooo tired and not ready to face my normal "world" of kids and responsibilities. When I walked through our front door, and saw the kids, I actually started crying realizing how much I really missed them. Sophia latched on to me, something she never does, and it felt so great to have her in my arms! Once I got done hugging the kids, I realized that my house was spotless and vacuumed. Ben was so great to make sure everything was in order, and he even finished up some projects around the house. He then instructed me to go upstairs and take a nap, while he took the kids out. To top everything off, when I got upstairs there was a new copy of Breaking Dawn sitting on my bed. Ben had gone to Target, at Midnight, the night before to get me a copy. What a great guy! I seriously felt so relieved taking a nice shower and getting some rest. I ended up sleeping for 3 hours after ,literally, falling asleep with my book. I only got to page 9! When I woke up, Ben had a nice steak dinner waiting for me. I was still sooo tired, and went back to bed around 9:00. I only got about 50 pages in before I fell asleep.

Sunday morning came early! I finally rolled out of bed, realizing that Aubrie's performance group results would be posted. (I don't' know how I remembered that?) I quickly checked and saw that she made it. I went and woke her up with the news. She is very excited. I wasn't at first, since her classes will be Monday's and Friday's. I then realized that opened up the middle of the week for piano, achievement days, and any sports Ben might want to put her in. I know...over scheduling!! I'm not sure about the sports thing, but everyone says she is very athletic, so I might let her try out something this fall. We'll see how sane I am after 4 hours of dance a week, not including competitions!

Church was good. I actually bore my testimony in Sacrament meeting. I don't remember the last time I have done that. Raleigh, I think?! I'm so emotional that I gave up doing that a long time ago. Ha! I actually kept it together better than I thought, only requiring half of my tissue. LOL Sunday School I spent in the hall with Sophia. I did get to meet a new family who has 4 kids the same ages as mine. They came from Atalanta and know some of Holly's family. Small world! Young Women's was good, as always. I just LOVE my new girls! What great Youth we have in this area! I feel so fortunate to work with them. I hope we have the same caliber of youth when my kids are that age! The rest of the day I read my book and spent time with the kids.

Monday morning was full of reading and laundry and then there was the dreaded school supply shopping. Ugh! I wish I could just give the teachers 50 bucks and say "here, get whatever specific thing you want and see how easy it is to find it!" I remember when I was a kid we just showed up with our trapper keepers and we were good to go! Anyway, the kids had a fun time picking out their folders and such. Then Aubrie had her dance soon after our shop. My Mom watched the other kids so I could go and get her all signed up. She was beaming in her class, trying her hardest to do her very best. Dinner was mini-meatloaves and FHE was on the Word of Wisdom. I had the kids try to get a foil ball out of a shoe box, that had a small slit on the top. They could only get their hand out if they let go of the ball. The ball represented things that take away our free agency, like alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, not eating healthy. They liked that game. Then we role played. One kid would try all they could do to get the kids to break the Word of Wisdom, and other standards in the Strength of Youth. They had such great comebacks! They had a blast with the role playing! After we were done, we went to Sonic for slushies, and then they went to bed. I wanted to finish my book, but was so tired that I couldn't keep my eyes open. This morning I finally finished it! After I was done reading, I started getting ready for our trip. Tonight the kids were driving me crazy with the constant fighting. I hope they shape up for our trip. I think it's time for school, because they are starting to get on each others nerves, which is getting on mine! Besides the fighting, I will miss lazy summer day's by the pool with the kids. I LOVE summers!

Family Reunion Day 4 and return!

Saturday we had horseback riding scheduled for 9:00 am, and had to be there by 8:45! Because I took the sleep medicine, I was afraid I was going to sleep through it. So that added to my restless night of continually checking the clock. I finally pulled myself out of bed at 8:00 and got Boston and Aubrie up and ready. Ethan was too young to ride on his own, and frankly he would have been miserable getting up so early. (He is our little teenager when it comes to sleeping it). Aubrie was so excited for the horseback ride! She LOVES horses! She was wanting to make sure things were all professional. :) When we got there she asked for a riding hat! I was surprised that they had them. They fitted them for their hats, and I declined mine! (I don't look good in them)

After they got their hats, they picked our horses. Aubrie's horse's name was Whisky and my horse's name was Copenhagen. I was beginning to wonder if the owners were Mormon! LOL Once they picked our horses they gave us a short tutorial on the reins. Aubrie had fun trying to control her horse with the reins. Luckily, since they were old trail horses, I knew they wouldn't do anything crazy.
For the first half of the ride, the guide held a rope that was attached to Boston's horse. After we got to the canyon rim, Boston felt comfortable enough to ride his horse on his own. On our horse ride we got to see deer, antelope, cows and the rim of Bryce Canyon that you could only see from Horseback or Helicopter. We also got to cross over some water that led to the canyon's waterfall. The kids had a great time! I defiantly am a city girl, though! My legs were killing me half way through the ride, and I was wobbly once I got off the horse! I still had fun!

After horseback riding, we rushed back to the hotel and Ben drove us over to the Bryce Canyon airport (if you can call it that!), so we could catch our helicopter ride! I scared the kids, telling them that the blade could chop their head off, so they would behave themselves walking to the helicopter. They were so sure to duck their heads, even when they were far from the helicopter. hee hee! Aubrie got the front seat, and I sat in the back with the boys. Ben stayed behind with Sophia. It was an amazing ride, and the kids were mesmerized. Ethan was like a statue, taking in everything. Boston took some pictures, and Aubrie just enjoyed the front seat view. The pilot kept talking about this amazing waterfall. This is what it looks like! LOL Guess I got a little spoiled with Havasupai! There were still some amazing sites! About 5 minutes before the ride was over I started to get a little airsick. I was anxious for the landing:) When we landed, and the kids got out, they ran away ducking for about 100 meters! I was laughing at how serious they took my warning about the blades.

After the helicopter ride, we drove over to another look out point, called Inspiration point! Here is what our view looked like. It's also the first picture of my first post! We hiked a hill for about 10 minutes to get to the top lookout! It was worth it!

We then jetted back to the hotel, because Sophia was starting to fall asleep in the backpack, and she needed to get a good nap. I stayed back with Sophia, in the hotel, to get a nap, too! I was sooo tired from the night before. Ben took the kids over to the grassy area for some kid crafts! I woke up before they got back and realized that they had shut the door between the room I was sleeping in and the other room, that had all the stuff. I was starving, and the only thing in my room was a gogurt! I ate that, and sat in the dark (because Sophia was still sleeping) waiting for them to come back. After a half an hour, Ben came back to check on us, and left the kids doing more crafts. Within a few minutes it started pouring outside, so he rushed back to get the kids. When they got back, we took the kids down the hall, to the indoor pool, for some swimming. A bunch of their cousins were there, and they had a great time playing with them. Luckily the rain subsided and after a dinner of awesome chicken pasta, fruit kabobs and rolls, we all headed to the Rodeo. Sophia only lasted about 30 minutes of the Rodeo, so I walked her back to the hotel and put her down for the night. I packed up our stuff for the next day, and watched a little TV. The kids had a fun time at the rodeo. There was one point where they let them try to catch bunnies. Aubrie was crying because she wanted one so bad and she couldn't' catch one. Ben was praying that she wouldn't catch one, because he didn't want a new pet! LOL

Aubrie anxiously waiting her turn to catch a rabbit!

At 10:00 they had a firework show, so Ben took Aubrie and Ethan out to the front of the hotel to see it. Boston was in trouble and was denied his firework privilege. So he sadly sat on the bed, just listening to them go off. Ben said it was a pretty good show. It sure sounded like it from the room. It sounded like they were being shot off right outside our hotel window! I was a little sad to miss them. While they were out watching the fireworks, I decided to play a game of Sorry with Boston. He was happy to do something, just the two of us. After our game of Sorry, we all went to bed!

We left the next morning around 10:00. The trip was pretty uneventful, which is a good thing. I tried giving Sophia some Benadryl, but that just made her more miserably tired. We got home around 3:30, and unpacked and started some laundry. I knew I couldn't relax, because I had to start prepping for girls camp. So I had to get everything back in order fast! I kinda felt bad, since it seemed like it wasn't even a Sunday, so I took out a Primary manual and gave a mini lesson to the kids. It was on gratitude. It was the first lesson I opened to, and I really think they needed it after everything they got to do on this trip! After the lesson, we had breakfast for dinner, and went to bed early! Whew, what a trip! It sure was a lot of fun. Sophia was hard at night, but the backpack saved us during the hiking! The horseback riding was a great memory for the kids. When I asked them what their favorite thing was, they said it was "riding the horse". So much for the helicopter ride! LOL That and the hike was my favorite!:)