Bonus Camp Outing

It was suggested as a part of being camp director that I go and check out the camp.  I'm glad I was able to follow the suggestion.  

 Things I love about camping.  The fires (we actually never build one this time), going to bed when its dark, (might as well), the kids collecting odd looking sticks, pine cones and leaves (what great toys!), getting up when the sun comes up, the smell, the quiet, and the adventure.

 I asked each of the kids if they wanted to go.  All three said yes.  

 The bathrooms were opened for us.  An added convenience for our camping trip.  

 The name of the camp, (which you can barely read on the sign) is Camp Joseph.  It was established in 2010 and located in Rye, Colorado.  The church owns about 200 or so acres.  Stakes from all over come and use this camp throughout the summer, which means girls camp can consecutively run for up to 12 weeks.

The beauty.  The Aspens are changing colors in the mountains.  One of the tender mercies of fall.  Don't you think?  We had to stop and take some pictures.  

And just to add to our adventure, we were stopped for a cattle drive on the way home. 

Update

New... Well kind of new ..  Summer reminiscing on our blog

daltongang06.blogspot.com

Water! and Family History!

There has been a construction going on at the end of our street.   I've really enjoyed not having as much traffic.  The kids love watching the tractors, as Anna calls them. A couple time in this last month they have had to such our water off.   It is amazing how much water is used to wash hands, clean dishes, showers, and cooking. We have several 5 gallon containers but I realized I could easily use one of those in a have a day and that doesn't include drinking.  Just  a word of caution!!! Have you thought about water storage and how long could you go without turning on your faucet?


About a week or two or go I  got on to family search and looked up Seven Peter and Nicoline Erickson.  There is two stories next to Sven Peters name. In Sven's day it was common that when the son turned 12 he left to find his own way in the world  I believe and I could be wrong that they had nine children. Several died at birth or as young children. They worked hard to come to America.  They sent a son ahead of them and he worked for their passage as well.  The sold there house and were making there way to the docks and found out there was only passage for one. They ended going back to the were they were living I'm not sure if they got there house back , but they worked for another year and  the were able to go together to America.  Sven work several years on the Manti temple and would walk seven miles to get there everyday.  They only three of there child lived and one was Henry Waldmer Erickson.  He married Besty and you all have heard me write/talk about them.  Its a very amazing story and I thought I would tell you all about it so you could read it.

Open to Answers

Are you looking for answers?

To what? You might ask... Well I find that most people have questions about life, about family, about friends, how to help, who to help, what to do, etc.

What about questions of why? Why do we do this? How does this help me be a better person? How does this help me in my life?

We might be looking for questions.... We feel like we already know the answers, but what are the questions that we need to ask in order for us to continue to learn?

I find that the most important questions are the ones that look at why we do what we do. Yes, sometimes we don't know what or how to do something, but if we know why we do it, then the what and the how will come.

And that leads me to my invitation. I would like to invite everyone to do something. Will you invite one person to look for answers to their questions at General Conference?

It could be someone you hometeach, a family member, a young woman in the ward, your primary class, a coworker, a nonmember, a less active member, etc.

Invite them to thoughtfully and prayerfully consider a question, and then LOOK for the answer as they attend general conference.

https://www.lds.org/church/events/october-2015-general-conference?lang=eng

It could be that they will receive a question to ponder as part of general conference. (if they need questions to help them continue to progress)

As part of this, you will need to be willing to fulfill your own invitation. YOU do it with them. That way you will receive answers and so will the person you invite!

I know that our Heavenly Father will speak to us through the Holy Ghost if we are willing to listen  and if we are willing to ask. I have seen how during general conference, there is an especially good setting to receive the answers that we are seeking.

Love,
Joshua

How I blog...

So if any of y'all were wondering how I blog, I will tell you (even if you weren't). I usually just look through my phone at the pictures that I have taken that week. Then I tell about everything that had to do with the pictures. I really don't tend to post about things that I don't have pictures of.. I guess that would mean that if I take more pictures I would write longer posts. (Crowd - "Wait, What?! We can't handle anything longer! Thanks so much for not taking very many pictures. In fact, please stop taking pictures, so that your posts are just a paragraph.") :)

This is a purse/ scripture bag of a sister who lives close by. She is an older lady who needed some help cleaning out a storage unit and putting the things in  big tupperware totes, and then moving it all close to her house in a small shed that we also helped build. We did this for a ward service project. So it was just cool to see such detailed leather work. She also had several books and things that used to belong to President Ezra Taft Benson. (like a hymnbook that had his name on it, etc) That was cool too. On a side note, I was talking to a girl from my summer frisbee team today. She served her mission in zimbabwe, Africa. Her scripture cases are made of leather and hides as well, but they are animals like, water buffalo, elephant, giraffe, some type of gazelle, etc.

I went with some friends to look at the sidewalk chalk drawings. The riverwoods had a competition and they had some really cool chalk scenes.

Calvin and Hobbes

 George Washington Praying

Mario                                                                                          Cowboy boots and military boots

A girl's face

Angel Moroni with fancy colors. Each ray represents a temple

 Military dog

 We went and got a box of free doughnuts on "Pirate Day" at Krispy Kreme... It took no time at all because we went earlier in the morning. 

Elder Ballard spoke in a recent multistake conference. He mentioned a tree on BYU campus that died because the spring of water that fed it, was interrupted and changed due to some nearby construction. This is the tree stump. And a picture of another sequoia tree next to the stump. The lesson he used is that even a powerful and beautiful tree can fail. He said that we (utah valley) are like the heart of the church. We help supply strength and vitality to the whole church, but we need to take care that we do not miss our supply of strength and life. We can fail if we are not diligently striving.

 Kind of late, but still fun. This is my costume that I wore to the BYU vs Boise State game. Happy to say that we won.

 

I went rock climbing with some friends up Rock Canyon.            Me at the top.

Nice view from the top.

 

And I believe that's all folks!


Wait! there is a little more, but, I don't have a picture for it, so it is not as cool.

I am going to sing in a community choir this semester. It is called Utah Valley Millennial Choir and Orchestra. UVMCO for short. I auditioned on thursday, and the director said I would be singing first tenor. He was impressed when I switched from my lower range to my upper range. I was able to do it without cracking or stopping. I was invited by a girl who is on the communications council with me, so I tried out for it and I got in.

I am going to be an english-speaking partner for some of the people I know who are taking Pathway.

I am playing intramural flag football and frisbee.

Tomorrow I have a job interview for a service desk/ IT support job.

Now that should be all!

Love you.

Bear Lake AKA Wanna Look at a Million Pictures of Ourselves?

Hey Fam Bam!! Okay, so the reunion was pretty much awesome, and now that we're back to our real lives I think the time has come to reminisce about our fabulous time at Bear Lake. The company was excellent, the frog catching was divine, the food was outstanding, the beach was fantastic, the shooting was on target and the family pictures were... grandiose.

Maybe next year we can all look at the same camera at the same time, but the scowl on Hyrum's face says, not likely! Here's to the real us.

Thanks for taking our pictures Marisa!