Pleshek ABC's of 2010

Applesauce was on the docket for Pat and Heidi in November. 35 quarts later the apples are gone.

Basketball season is upon us. Andrew is playing on a team with 5 or 6 guys depending on the night. Needless to say, he’s getting a lot of playing time. He even sits the Varsity bench and got to go in last week for a minute or two.

College life agrees with Erin so much so she doesn’t want to come home. She will be home on the 19th. She loves BYU-Idaho!

Driver’s ed. is where Andrew is headed in March. There go the insurance premiums.

Early morning seminary keeps Heidi busy. Andrew is also experiencing this joy.

First buck for Andrew was shot on opening afternoon of the gun deer season.

Grandchild #3 is due in March. Cami is hoping for a sister.

High jumping continues in the family as Andrew competed in Jr. High track and field and will again in high school.

Idaho Falls temple in December for niece Nichola’s wedding is our destination.

Joy! That’s the feeling of a great family and wonderful friends like you.

Kennewick, Washington is the mission home for Sammi. She will be coming home in May.

Links to our lives can be found at plesheks.blogspot.com or on Facebook. We’re all there.

Many miles is what Pat puts on with all his travels working for the Green Bay FM Group.

Nauvoo was our destination in August. Cami came with us. That was a treat. She did great being away from Mom!

Officiating season is officially upon us. Pat is busy many nights each week and Erin will earn some college cash doing the same when she’s home during January and February.

Pat is still busy as the stake president. Apparently his title is intimidating to any potential suitors for Erin.

Quiet is how our home was while the Gourleys were off camping in the summer.

Running the high school track program as head coach was a new experience for Heidi. Thank goodness for a great assistant coach.

Salt Lake City was the destination in October for General Conference. We got to see the Bohls and Barretts!

Tom was released as a church service missionary in November. He served for 2 1/2 years.

Umbrellas were needed all summer with lots of rain in Wisconsin. We even had some minor flooding.

Volleyball officiating filled Heidi’s fall. It’s a very nice income for minimal work. Way better than coaching!

(Hoffman) Wood Fiber is where Tom and Heidi spend their Wednesdays. It’s strange to see Tom driving the “Bobcat" but he does it well.

eXtra tall is what I may be buying Andrew. He’s 6’1” at 15 years old. He’s very proud that he’s the tallest one in the family.

Yakima is where Sammi is currently serving her mission. She loves being a missionary!

Zippidy-do-dah! Tom is still involved in Special Olympics. He did very well this year as he qualified for state in all three sports he competes in.

At this time of year, we’re very thankful for the knowledge that Jesus Christ was born and subsequently died for each of us. We’ve enjoyed another year of happiness in our home. We are blessed beyond measure. Some of those blessing come as we keep in contact with you.

May you have heaven’s blessings upon you and your family this Christmas season.

With love,

Pat, Heidi, Tom, Sammi, Erin & Andrew PleshekHad’dflkja;fdkj

My Seminary Basketball Boys

I've got six young men in my seminary class. Four of them play on the JV basketball team at school. I had my camera again last night and as I look at the photos I took, I noticed that 80% of that team is LDS. There are only five guys on the entire team so they play the entire game.


They had a rough game on Tuesday night with very few points. Last night they proved they can score. They didn't win, but they didn't get blown out either so that was a positive.

Perhaps I'll get to take my camera to a girl's game so I can give equal time to Rissa. These guys work hard and they work great together. By the way, they all looked very "spiffy" as they walked into seminary yesterday. I love the "dress up" days.

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas!

I got up very early this morning to put wood on the fire and saw that the snow had begun. We've got a major winter storm moving in and by the end of Sunday night could get about 12" of snow. Then the wind will begin causing all that new snow to blow and the temperatures are promised to plummet. Oh the joys of living in Wisconsin. I love a good blizzard it makes everything so beautiful and I feel so cozy in my house.

A Family of Willing Hearts

A dear friend of ours had a massive heart attack about two weeks ago. They own a family farm where they still milk cows. Their daughter had been helping with the chores but on Friday morning she and her husband left for Utah to take their son to the Missionary Training Center in Provo. Due to the need for help, my husband volunteered to bring Andrew to help with the morning chores on Saturday.

Andrew didn't balk at the thought of getting up at 5:30 to go help in the barn. He said Wayne was kind enough to let him hunt on his land where he shot his first deer so he could repay the favor. Here he is feeding a calf.
When Clare heard that Dad and Andrew were going to help with the chores, she volunteered to go along and bring Cami. When Clare was 11 or 12, she and her dad went every Sunday morning for several weeks while Wayne was out of commission due to a broken neck, to help with the chores. She wanted Cami to have a positive experience in giving service. She also got to feed the calves.

Pat was a farm boy since he was young. He loved getting back to the barn to milk the cows.

Cami got to help feed the cows as well. Since they're really quite large (they must seem ginormous to a little girl), she didn't want to get too close. I admit, I'd rather be at the front end of a cow than the rear end.

Clint went along as well. He spent much of his time in the house visiting with Wayne. When he did come out he made friends with this expectant mother. She let him scratch her and much like a cat, she enjoyed it.

I stayed home to be here when Adam awoke. I was very motherly and made breakfast for my returning servers. I am so blessed to have a family full of willing hearts. Not everyone would like to give service at 5:45 a.m. Not only the earliness of the day, but the unpleasant smell that accompanies that service. My heart nearly burst as I thought about all the wonderful people that live in my home.

Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving 2010 was a wonderful relaxing day at our house. My dad joined us for a big chunk of the day. We ate and visited and watched The Waltons. Erin was with Loey, Stef and Nichola celebrating together. Sammi was with a family in Yakima doing the same. No we weren't all together and that's alright. I understand that family cannot always be together physically. Yes I do like to get them all together.
What am I grateful for?
My husband
children and grandchildren
parents and siblings
extended family
home
faith
friends
enough to eat (the above turkey was not mine)
a quiet neighborhood with great neighbors
a plentiful wood pile
a strong body to move all that wood
a clear mind
callings at church
the ability to read
freedoms in a free country
reliable vehicles
holidays
faithful seminary students
LDS schools
music and a choir to sing it
talents
cell phones
electricity
knowledge of the plan of salvation
spiritual gifts
and much, much more.

A Summer in Review

One morning at camp, I woke up and saw this "green" as I looked out over the lake. I'm glad the camera captured exactly what I saw.

A few weeks ago, Pat and I took a weekend away for ourselves. On a very windy Sabbath morning we took this photo.

This one was taken on that same windy morning.

In September I was able to go to the temple with my dear friend Sue. It was a very special day for both of us.

On our trip to the U.P., we passed this "ship" on our way back and forth to the campground. I believe it's a veteran's memorial.

The summer came and went far too fast for me, as always. We did some fun things though. We went to Nauvoo and took Cami along. This is her at Pioneer Pastimes playing dress up.

No trip to Nauvoo is complete without a stop and some pictures on the steps of the temple. Notice Rose, Aurora and Belle all got into the act as well. Aurora even wore her pioneer bonnet.

Cami was fascinated with the statue garden. She stopped at many of the monuments. I think this one was her favorite. It's the baby sister she's been asking for.

Adam decided that riding on the lawnmower was an exciting event. He begged to go on. Andrew took him "riding" around the neighborhood.

Girl's camp, as always, was a lot of fun. Here's Carli and I in our matchy, matchy track shirts. Camp was exhausting for me. I got way too little sleep but did manage to get in lots of giggle time with Cheryl.

A wonderful summer with lots of memories.

Earliest Ever

My Christmas tree is up!!! Not decorated yet. I put it up while Adam was asleep yesterday. When he got up from his nap he was all full of oohs. Now to find a time when he's asleep so I can put on the decor.

Christmas Shopping!

Yes, I have begun! Why is it as the children grow up their tastes do as well? Let me rephrase that. They now desire more expensive toys. I have purchased a few gifts and the rest are at least in my brain which makes it easy as I know what I'm looking for. Not that I want to rush things, but Black Friday needs to get here so I can find some deals. I don't like paying full price for anything.

Now that I have an artificial tree, I have considered putting it up at some point over the next week. Not that I would decorate it, just put it up and let Adam get used to having it in the house before I put anything on it.

I love Christmas!

A Weekend Away

My sweetie and I try to get out of the stake twice each year so we can sit together as we attend church. My birthday is supposed to be one of those weekends, but this year I asked that we change it to the weekend following stake conference. This worked out really well as there was no school because of the teacher's convention.

On Thursday we attended the temple and then on Friday we headed to Sturgeon Bay. We worked from 10am - 3pm on trimming trees and hauling away the branches as well as raking the pine needles. We then checked into our condo and spent a very relaxing evening together. We were invited to the Sturgeon Bay Branch fall festival, but just didn't feel like it.

Today we had a leisurely morning and yummy breakfast. We went shopping and came home with some Woodwick candles. This afternoon we'll be heading to Fish Creek for their pumpkin walk.

Tomorrow we'll visit the Sturgeon Bay Branch where we'll both give talks and then spend a little time with the Robertsons before going back home and going back to the real world. I love time away with my husband. The above picture is the view of the sunset from our condo window.

17 years ago today....

Today is the anniversary of a day that my life changed forever. It was beautiful and tragic all in one. It was the day that my mother passed from this life to the next. She was a wonderful friend and confidant for me. I still feel bad that we didn't have that kind of relationship until I was an adult.

I love this photo of my mom with her mother and sisters. In this photo, my mother is younger than I currantly am. She was so young and thin! I miss her tremendously!

There are days when I wish she could've been here to watch my kids grow up. Now that I have grandchildren, I really wish she was here to play with them. I can imagine her comments about each of them. They would love her too. She was the greatest Nana a child could want. I hope that I can be that kind of Nana.

Stake Conference - Oct 2010

Elder Lynn G. Robbins was the presiding authority at our stake conference this weekend. What a treat to be able to "rub shoulders" with this remarkable man. He is such a kind and personable man.

People often "pity" me because of my husband's calling as stake president. They feel that I'm a martyr because of my husband's schedule and being out on stake business. On the contrary, I feel blessed because of his service. There is nothing I would rather have him do than serve the Lord.

With that said, there are a few perks. On Saturday morning President and Sister Jones of the Wisconsin Milwaukee mission arrived at our home with Elder Robbins for breakfast. Was I nervous? Not at all. I have discovered that these people who hold positions of authority are just like you and I in that they're human. We had a wonderful time visiting over breakfast.

Saturday night was filled with insights as I listened to Elder Robbins compare the parable of the ten virgins to the temple. I was so glad I had my scriptures along and could write notes within the pages. Speaking of "glad," my husband instructed us to play the glad game in our daily lives by looking for the good in the world and our circumstances instead of the bad.

Sunday morning conference was beautiful. My husband spent many, many hours memorizing the account of the first vision in Joseph Smith History. He felt there was someone who needed to hear it. Perhaps more than one someone. He finished by bearing witness that it did indeed happen and is true. Elder Robbins spoke to us about love. Christ-like love and the love that we have for one another. He also spoke about the love that parents should have for their children and how we need to teach our children proper expressions of love. He also talked about "falling" in and out of love. What a myth that is. As if we can merely just stumble along and find ourselves in love. It takes commitment and continued nurturing. He challenged and invited the brethren to go home and express their love by saying "I love you" to their wives. I am indeed blessed as those were the first words I heard upon waking on Sunday morning.

The Gresham and Wausau combined choirs sang during Sunday's session of conference. It was most heavenly. Jasmine lended her talents with her violin to make I Need Thee Every Hour more beautiful and Amy Lyn leant us her voice to bring power to Abide With Me, 'Tis Eventide. Thank you to both of those talented ladies. I am indeed thankful to be able to be a part of the choir. I know I'm not that great of a director, but I know what sounds good and find joy in making it happen.

After conference we shared our noon meal with Elder Robbins before taking him to the airport. Those times when we could listen to him talk about his personal life were inspiring. One more perk of being the supportive wife.

I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to be fed at the feet of the Lord's servants.

A Fun Lesson on Music

Music, music, music! There is power in music.

This week in seminary I've felt like I'm just not getting through. I have to say that part of it is the lesson material. In one of our in-service lessons we were encouraged to make our lessons "sparkle." Not that everything needs to be grand and exciting, but the sparkle factor grabs attention.

Today our lesson was Section 25 of the Doctrine and Covenants. That's the one that was given to Emma Smith. Part of the instruction she was given was to create a hymnal. We read the First Presidency message in the current hymnal which was something some of the youth didn't even know about. I was glad I could share that with them.

At the end of the lesson, I played a lot of clips of music for the youth to listen to. Prior to that we read in Moroni 7 how to know when something is good or evil. It's the feelings we get that will tell us. I asked the youth to tell me how they felt after hearing each clip.
Some of the clips had the youth dancing in their seats while others took them to a specific place or activity such as youth conference during Cotton Eyed Joe, or participating in the Nauvoo pageant. Some of the clips made them feel like they were at General Conference or just relaxing and getting ready to sleep.
I was very happy to finally feel like I succeeded this week. I had a lot of talking and discussion which was totally opposite from the rest of the week. I guess that's what some major pondering and prayer will do for me.

General Conference 2010

On Friday morning Pat, Tom, Andrew and I were up and out of here very early. We had a 6am flight out of Green Bay. With some stops in Milwaukee and Denver as well as a delayed flight we left the airport in SLC just before 6pm. Our first stop was a mission reunion in Kaysville, UT to meet Sammi's trainer. Sorry these photos are so small, but they were taken on a phone so they're not nice blown up. This is Annie Dunoskovic. She is awesome and I can't wait to spend more time with her. What a blessing to have her as Sammi's trainer.

Saturday morning we have pretty good tickets for that session of conference. We spent the night with the Barretts and so together we headed up to the conference center for the opening session. We got a flat tire on the freeway and like a pit crew we changed that tire in record time.

On Sunday afternoon we have seats that were on the plaza in section 7 which is right down front and off to the left. You probably need a magnifying glass to see this, but that's the first presidency sitting there on the stand. What a treat to sit so close. Special thanks go out to Sara and Erin for getting there so early and saving us these premo seats. Thanks sweeties!
After the final session of conference, Sara asked to take a photo of our family. I love this picture. We all look really great. It was so wonderful to be there in person.

I didn't always like General Conference, but I grown to love it. I love it in the conference center and I love it at home on our TV. I love what the brethren have to say.

I found it very interesting that during both Saturday sessions there were identical talks given about sustaining/following the prophet. I really loved those talks. Then on Sunday morning we heard President Packer speak about God's moral laws and how we cannot vote to change them. I loved his words. I sustain his words as spoken by a mouthpiece of the Lord.

This morning Clare was telling me about a friend of hers who has a friend who posted on Facebook how they just couldn't agree with President Packer's words. This individual should just come right out and say, "I don't sustain the prophet" because that's exactly what he or she is doing. Somehow when the prophet speaks the discussion is over.

I had an incredible experience prior to the first session of conference. As the First Presidency was walking in they shook hands with each member of the quorum of the 12 apostles. The love they have for one another is visible. As I watched this brief exchange, I too felt of the love they have for me and each of us. These thoughts and feelings were further confirmed as I listened to Elder Holland.

The trip was much too quick and the people I would've liked to have seen, didn't get all get visited as we left on Monday morning before 8am. I'll share more soon. Until then, what are your thoughts on this recent conference?

Birthday Wishes

It was my birthday on Monday and I celebrated with lots of birthday wishes from 83 friends on Facebook. I didn't know I had so many people that cared. I got some phone calls from a few of my dearest friends which made the day all the better. My visiting teacher brought me a birthday cake which was really yummy.

Clare was sent on the errand to pick up pizza for dinner. It was just nice not to have to cook anything. I spent a few hours officiating volleyball in Gresham where I received a birthday treat from another woman celebrating her special day as well.

My husband, as usual, brought home some new outfits (actually dress suits) which I probably won't wear until Stake Conference weekend. He has very good taste and buys much of my clothing. I guess the stuff I buy consists of socks, under things and whatever I find at a thrift shop.

My dad called and wished me a happy day and that was all I needed from him. Birthdays used to be a big deal, but as I get older, they just aren't as important as they used to be. Heck, I can barely remember how old I am.

I had a really good day with no people ambushing me by singing Happy Birthday. I really don't like that at all. If I want to be the center of attention, I'll put myself there.

So, to whomever is reading this, I hope your birthday (whenever it is) is as good as mine was.

Time to Build that Ark

"The rains came down and the floods came up." Good thing my house isn't built upon the sand. Yes, this is my yard. I've lived here the greatest majority of my life and never remember seeing this much water on the lower lawn...and it's still raining.I went out and looked at the rain gauge this morning and this is what I found. Rain is predicted on and off all day with storms coming through this evening. I think I'll have to dump this when it reaches 5 inches.

Yep, I'm ready to start on that ark.

A tender moment

I have a tender-hearted son who has donated to his sister's mission fund during the summer while he earned some money. He told me he wanted to help pay for her mission. I finally wrote and told her about it and she said it brought her to tears. The good kind of tears. What a tender moment! As I shared her letter with him last night, he absolutely beamed. He understood that his sacrifice was accepted and appreciated. Makes me get a little misty too.

Two Weddings and a Soccer Game

This morning my sweetie and I rode our new "Wing" to Antigo to Andrew's soccer game. Was I cold? Only my legs and the back of my neck occasionally. We both got new leather jackets on Craig's list yesterday for quite a deal so I my top half was warm. We got to see the boys play for the first game and half of the second. We had to leave to attend a wedding.

Two of my good friends had children getting married today. Thankfully we were only invited to one of them. It was a beautiful day for a wedding with the sun shining and the view of the lake in the background. Still, it was no temple ceremony. Typically I think that weddings are generally beautiful as two people are joining together to create a new family. What could be better than a new family?

Was it a productive day? As far as cleaning my house? No. But, as far as spending some time with my husband and celebrating life? Totally. And hopefully someday, these two couples will find their way to the temple.

My Thoughts on Being...

A missionary mom
I love that my daughter is serving a mission. I'm not a worrier and so I don't stress out about her being away or telling me about the experiences that would otherwise make me nuts. I know that our Heavenly Father will protect her as she's doing His work.

A volleyball official
I love the sport of volleyball. I'd rather play it than watch, coach or officiate. Officiating pays the best though. Coaching was fun but it took so much time. Officiating gets me watching the game and I get to be the one to be in charge and make the calls. Yes, it can be intimidating. I just follow my husband's advice. When you make the call, do it with authority, even if it's the wrong call.

A Nana
I love being a grandma. Part of it is because I get to watch my daughter be a mom. She's great at it by the way. I know I have responsibility to teach, but I get to hug and play and just love those wonderful little people.

A wife
I am so blessed to have a husband who respects, loves, cares for and adores me. The longer I am married to this incredible man, the more in love with him I become. I am constantly amazed that even after all these years, I discover new things about him that I love. I'm also amazed by the feelings of falling in love with him over and over again.

A seminary teacher
This is a no-brainer if you've read my previous posts. I love having the scriptures open up to me. I love the "aha" moments when I see the lightbulb come on for one of my students. I adore these youth.

The mother of a child with special needs
What did I ever do to have this priveledge? I look forward to the next world when he has all the disability removed and we can talk. He's a pretty amazing man.

A friend
I am blessed beyond measure when I think about my dear friends. There are many of you and I hope you recognize who you are. We share joy, laughter and tears. We celebrate life together. The most incredible thing about being a friend is being able to pick up just where we left off last week, last month or last year.

A sister
I have some incredible brothers and sisters. It's fun to share stories of when we were young. I love to watch the changes that we all go through and see how much we've grown through the trials placed before us. Yes, incredible siblings.

A daughter
I was blessed to have the parents I do. My dad has always been my hero. I never realized what a strength my mom was in Dad's life. I hope people will say that about me one day. I miss my mom tremendously.

A coach
I said earlier that I love the youth. Some more than others. I love track and field and look forward to the upcoming season when I have the opportunity to coach my own son. Yes, I do have my favorites but I try to give them all the attention they deserve. The pay is never enough, but truth be told, I'd probably do it for free as I love it. The money is helpful in lots of ways so I am glad there is pay involved.

A stay-at-home mom
Even though my children are either gone or don't need me like they used to, I still enjoy being at home. I love that I can lounge around and do nothing or I can plant, harvest, clean or cook. All of which do get done.

There are so many other things I could post, but for now I just had the feeling that I needed to share a few thoughts. How about my other blogging friends. Any thoughts????

One Week In

I've finished my first week of seminary for the year. We studied the plan of salvation as well as an overview of the Doctrine & Covenants and the Great Apostacy. A little more prep work and we'll dive headfirst into the Doctrine & Covenants.

I'm really excited with the youth that are attending the class this year. The first day was filled with answers to questions by only one young man. Trev doesn't realize what a gem he is and how much I appreciate him. By the end of today, most everyone was involved and talking, well at least engaged.

This opportunity has been one of the greatest in my life. I love the scriptures! I love the youth! What a better fit than this? Yes, it can be time consuming and sometimes I feel very sleep deprived, especially at the end of a week. But, it is ALL so worth the effort. I am having FUN!!!

A New Year of Seminary

These are the 11 beautiful faces that I have the opportunity to meet with each day in seminary class. I cannot express enough how much I love these youth.

A Ride Up

Today my sweetie had some work to do on our roof. He borrowed my dad's bucket truck to get on the roof. When he was finished, he gave rides to the kids. Cami was first.
Adam was actually last and complained when he had to get out.
Maddy actually did go up in the truck unlike this photo shows. She stood back while Cami went for a ride and she looked a bit envious. She was very happy to find out she got a ride as well.

1st Day of School

My baby boy is off to school this morning as a freshman in high school. Where did the time go? I recall taking a first day of school picture of just Clare and eventually of all five of my children. Now, there are only 3 more of these pictures to take. Life is about to get busy again with school in session. Seminary will start next week, soccer is already going and the homework is about to begin. Life is good!

2010 U.P. Tour

On Thursday morning I was up early with my sweetheart to make a U.P. tour for work. We left home at 6am which is a lot earlier than I cared for, but I can sleep in the truck, so not a big deal. Our first stop was the Marinette building which is actually in Menominee, MI. I didn't even get out of the vehicle there. Then off to Escanaba where I helped do a couple of piddly things to help out. The next stop was in Germfask where we delivered an LH1 organ/piano and some artwork. I cleaned some toilets and cleaned the bugs out of the lens covers over the lights.

The next stop was actually at a grocery store to buy some treats. Then off to Marquette where I refilled some paper products. From there we drove to Houghton and got a spot at the Sunset Bay campground. We set up our tent and blew up the air mattress and headed out to get some dinner. Since it was already late, we got back to the campground when the sun was already set and there wasn't much light left in the sky. This is the view we found.

Here is the same view we found this morning. I woke up in the night and heard the sounds of the waves crashing on the shore of Lake Superior. I thought it must be windy, but there was no wind. Only the sound of the waves breaking on the shore.

As my husband was heating banana nut muffins on a rock in the firepit, I took a walk to the above point. The view was absolutely beautiful. We saw a ship at night and again in the morning.

This campground obviously has a lot of driftwood in the vacinity and someone made these pieces into a raptor. Kind of imaginative.

On the way south to Houghton, there are a ton of little towns. You may not realize that you've left one and entered another, except there is a sign saying which town you're now in. I saw this "ship" last year and decided this year that I needed to have a picture of it. It's some kind of memorial built out of stone.

We stopped this morning at the rock Wal-mart. It's a rock shop that has everything rock you could ever want. I should've purchased some piece of jewelry, but I didn't.

It was a wonderful trip, but more important it was wonderful to spend two days with my sweetheart working and taking in some sights. After seeing so many beautiful things, I don't understand how anyone can deny the existance of God.

A Satisfying Sabbath

This may not sound like a big deal to anyone else, but I got to spend the Sabbath day with my sweetheart. Usually he is up and out of the house before I get out of bed.

I attended church with him the past two weeks in Stevens Point and last week in Antigo, but he had things to do and places to be in the afternoon and/or evenings so we really didn't get a whole day together. It seems a stake president's work is never done.

Yesterday we attended church together in Gresham. As I was on assignment, I had to opportunity to speak. By the way, I get that assignment again next week in Marshfield. I don't care. Speaking is easy for me.

I just have to say that I enjoyed so much being able to spend most of my day with my sweetheart. The older I get, the more I want to be with him.

Nauvoo Trip 2010

Early Monday morning, 5am to be exact, we loaded up the truck and headed off to Nauvoo. I haven't been there for two years so I was especially excited to go once again. We took Cami along as she is always talking about "Auvoo." She insisted she have her picture taken with her babies.

The reason we planned the trip at the time we did was that Roland and Christi were getting married. I spent some time with them on Tuesday morning taking photos. I took more on Wednesday after the wedding.

It was a very hot and sticky time. The temps were in the 90's both Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday was a bit cooler with the sun hidden for part of the day and the breeze blowing.

We saw several shows. The BYU international folk dancers were there so we watched their show on Monday night. We

saw High Hopes and River Boats as well. That show has changed so much since we first saw it. I enjoyed it none the less.

Erin and Pat spent some time in the temple on Tuesday morning. We went to see Just Plain Anna Amanda in the Cultural Hall. It's a show designed for children so they get to sit in the first two rows. Cami enjoyed that.

We went later in the day to see Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration. I LOVE that film. I still get teary even though I know how it ends.

Cami loved the statue garden and had to have her picture taken with most of the statues. I especially loved this picture as she hugged the "little brother."

She got her own personal picture of the Savior to bring home with her. She would've liked to climb on the Christus but obviously we didn't let her.

We had dinner with the Fuller/Jefferson clan on Tuesday night. During which a storm came through and dumped about an inch of rain on us and cooled things down at least 20 degrees. That was wonderful!!!

Wednesday morning Pat and I headed to the temple. I had some thoughts on a particular scripture passage I've been studying, expanded as never before. It was so wonderful. I told Pat, even if I didn't do anything in the temple, it was worth going to receive that wonderful personal revelation.

As always, our trip was way too short and we had to come home before we got to do and see everything we would have liked to. Either way, we'll be back. I love Nauvoo and the special Spirit that is there. Next summer's youth conference is highly anticipated by one who has the opportunity to be the on-site coordinator.

My first bear sighting!

While at camp this week, Cheryl and I went to Antigo to make some photos at Walmart. On our way back I spotted this bear not far from the entrance to the camp. He/she was probably last year's cub as he was about the same size as a St. Bernard. I told Cheryl I saw either a dog or a black bear so we turned around to go find out. I didn't have my camera but Cheryl did so I rolled down my window and she shot these photos.

Cheryl and I shared a bunk house and in our sleep deprived state, we found humor in the following:

Bear Warning:

The Forest Service has issued a BEAR WARNING in the National Forests for the summer. They are warning everyone to protect themselves by wearing bells and carrying Pepper Spray. Campers should be alert of fresh bear activity and should be able to tell the difference between Black bear dung and Grizzly bear dung.

Black bear dung is rather small and round. It contains fruit seeds and/or has squirrel fur in it. Grizzly bear dung smells like pepper spray and has bells in it.

I had so much fun "living" with Cheryl for the past five days. We laughed ourselves silly.