Monday, June 27, 2011

BYU Football Camp, AF Canyon

Britton and Nate went to the BYU Football camp this week they had a great time.  They are so funny together, they never seem to slow down, they go go go.
Thanks to Mindy for getting Britton a job so he could make money to go, he had a blast! 
They been asked if they were twins? 
Brody got sun burnt and Zain was kind enough to rub the aloe vera on him.

 We went for a ride up AF Canyon, it has been so nice that the snow is melting fast and water is rushing everywhere.  In part of the canyon it is coming out of the side of the mountain and running down the road.  Tible Fork was as full as we have seen it for a long time.  As you can see behind Hollie there is still a lot of snow.
Dad had to get a picture of us. 
I forgot to tell you a funny story about Miriah, last week we are on our way to Tyler Romney's church, all week I have talked about getting my graduation gifts done, and I made the comment that I wish we had lots of money so I could give all these boys money for their missions.  From the back seat Miriah says, "You didn't give me anything" I turned to look at her and said "for what" She replied, "I graduated", I said, "you did!", she said, "from pre-school" I said "you did, what would you like?"  She didn't know.  It was funny, she does not miss a thing. 
Britton is having a great summer, he loves life so much, he just does not want to read for his mom.

Friends are his whole life right now.

A cheesy smile from dad.  It was so beautiful up the canyon.

The water is over flowing. 
Rushing down the canyon. 

Hollie thought is was cold so she was wrapped up in a blanket as we walked around the lake. 
This is a story given in last weeks sacrament meeting on Faith.
 There was a young boy down at the lake, and a man asked him if he would take him across.  As the boy rowed across the lake the man notice that one of the ores had a "F" on it and the other had a "W".  He asked the boy why he had these letters on he ores.  The young man told him that they were reminders that Faith and Work go together.  If you only use the Faith ore you go in a circles.  You need to have Faith and then Work as hard as you can to go in a strait line to where you want to be.

We are so proud of you Brady, Keep working hard, Your Mission President must trust you and knows that you can do hard things.  I know it is hard to leave an area that you have grown to love.  You are our MAD Missionary, We love you so much!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

We Love our Fathers, Dad's Uncles, Brothers...Hair Cut... Highland 10th EFY...Weston...New Dog Zoie...Girls...

We are so Thankful for all the Dad's in our lives. 
Grandpa Parrish with some of the Grand kids 
They always want to do a funny picture 
Grandma  is in this one, She looks like on of the kids.
Some of the Mom's with Grandpa 
Hollie, Miriah, Aspen, Addie Smith with Grandpa Berry 
Hollie with her Dad 
Miriah's turn...
Colton has turned into his dad, teasing Bronson... 
Then Braxton comes down and Colton takes a hold of him, but it was almost more that he can handle.
Braxton is pretty firm, he has been working out and doing so good to stay on his routine, He will be blessed for his determination, and his stick with it attitude. 
Miriah comes to his defense, doesn't want Colton to hurt her brother. 
Yes, Brody is on his toes, he is growing, so is Braxton and all the other kids. 
With Grandma Berry and the girls. 
Always Hugs before we leave.

Braxton is getting pretty good at doing hair, but I would not let this hair cut stay, he had to finish shaving the hair.  So he is nice and smooth now.  I think Braxton used the #1 on him. 

Britton thinks he can eat the most ice cream, and he did finish it when we all thought he wouldn't. 
Miriah with Tyler and Camille's new baby... 
Hollie and Weston Tyler Parrish, Born June 15, 2011 
Britton and the new dog Zoie.  Kevin Cottles step brother Tony who I work with gave the dog to the kids.  I am really not sure what we are doing with a inside dog?, but she is cute and they have had a blast so far.
She is a very smart dog, she will run laps around the kitchen it is so funny.
I came home from work one day I could not find the dog anywhere.  Pretty soon here comes Bronson on his bike and when he came in he had is backpack on with the Zoies head just peaking out. 

We Seek After These Things
was the Theme for our Highland 10th Ward EFY. 
It was so awesome, the YCL's did such a great job.
On the first day we meet at the Church at 8:00am, got divided up into their groups, had our biscuit check and headed to Temple Square.  President Gibson had made arrangements for us to have a unbelievable tour of the Church Office building and Conference Center.
Before we started the Tour, he talked to the girls for a little while.  He was the first Bishop of the Highland 10th ward.  He has always said that we are the Lords 10th.  The Lords 10th are foreordained to be leaders in this life.  That we have the most beautiful, sacred daughters of our Heavenly Father.  He talked about how much our Father in Heaven loves our Heavenly Mother, they are together and he holds her in such high esteem that is why we don't hear to much about her.
He told the girls that Motherhood is one of the greatest gift they have been given.
He said that you want to be a mother based on the  eternal order, and that we are accountable and responsible for our greatest gift - Our Bodies.
We need to jealously guard the word Love and the kisses we give, and our bodies.
When he and Sister Gibson were dating she told him that she loved him because he loved the Lord more than he loved her.  He talked about the Song Oh My Father, I thought maybe he was going to sing it but he didn't.  He gave the girls a challenge - He handed out those metal coins that have the armor on them (like the ones I gave you boys) They are to write in their journals  what each of the symbols stand for; The Helmet, Shield, Breast Plate...   Everything he said was such a great introduction for what was going to happen the rest of the time at our EFY.
He closed with Armor Up- pull out the token and remember what your Armor is.

I think we were on the 23rd floor, this was the first stop of the tour, looking down on the temple.
Looking down on Temple Square
Ellen and Afton Ingerson.  Afton is our new Laurel Pres. she did a great job with all that we threw at her to do and be in charge of.
They took us to the under ground tunnel, where the General Authorities can access any of the buildings from under ground.
This is in the conference center under the choir seats.  They can take the whole place a part in section like this and make it as big or as small as they need.  They told us it takes about a month and a half to get it ready for General Conference.
Katie, Abby and Sherri Berry
All of us with President and Sister Gibson on the top of the conference center with the temple in the back ground.
My YCL's this year, Such powerful young women.  (I was missing 3 girls, 2 to the Real EFY and one to National Debate Conference in Texas)
After lunch we started the rest of the EFY,  we went down on the temple grounds and had a mini lesson on Standing in Holy Places.  Then we started our "Seeking Treasures" part of our EFY.  A few weeks ago Cara Wade went to Temple Square to find some treasures that the girls could look for.  We learned a lot, like where the GAP is, and that the mission at Temple Square is a mission all to its self, with 200 sister missionaries.  We had broken up into groups and everyone got the clues in different order so we weren't all together.  It was fun, relaxing, and every interesting to just spend a couple of hours looking for treasures.
At the end of the Seeking Treasures hunt everyone did end up at the right place and Sister Wilson had hid a treasure box that had a treasure in it.  The girls all got the necklace with the YW Torch. 
We left temple square to travel to Kamas where Bunderson's cabin is, for a fun filled night of skits and a lot of the Highland 10th ward camp traditions.

Thursday Morning-We stared off with the girls making pancakes, and went right in to the groups cheers.  Each group had chosen a word out of the 13th Article of Faith,  so we had the Benevolent Ones, the Lovelies, the Trustworthy, and Hope.  Their cheers were amazing, they are so creative.   We laughed and cried at the same time.  Then the  YCL's sang the Theme song that they had chosen for this year,  "We Seek After these Things."  I had the girls sing it acappella and it was so beautiful and the spirit was very strong.
Then the rest of the day was an inspiration from Kortnie's Seminary graduation talk.  Kortnies is so amazing every year she has giving me great ideas to help teach and lead the YCL's.  She is such a spiritual amazing young lady I know you know from the letters she sends you.

Avoiding the BEAR   -   Learn to Return
Sister Dowling did a great job introducing the theme of avoiding the Bear.  She had personal stories of her father working in the wilderness.  She is such a great teacher.  She had brought a cute cuddle stuffed bear up and put him in the trees.
After she introduced Learn to Return we started the Intense Safety Training with the YCL's as the teachers of all the mini classes.
Understanding Bear Behavior
- Katie - Faith and Understanding Bear Tactics 
- Afton - What  is your Armor.

Bear Guard Certification
- Justina – Knowing Self and Respect
- Ashley –  How full is your Bucket
- Jake – Bucket Activity
- Emily – Am I seeking the Right Treasure

Wilderness First Aid & Survival
- Adrienne – Rule Book, For the Strength of Youth –
The Human Knot Activity
- Courtney – He Hears Me
- Abby – You are a Daughter of God

Helicopter safety & Crash Survival
- Amy - Who Packed your Parachute
- Katelin – Christ knows each one of us and what we are going through.
We ended with a powerful letter from Skyelyn, and we gave the girls buckets that had reminders of all the mini lessons with "Equipped to Survive" on them.

Heavenly Father has given us everything we need to survive and to return home to him.
It was awesome, wish all my kids had been there to hear and to be strengthen my the spirit the girls brought.








Monday, June 20, 2011

Zoie, Highland 10th EFY, Father's Day

The kids get a new dog!  Kevin Cottles kind of brother Tony who I work with, gave the kids their cute little dog.  Zoie, she is so cute and the kids have had a ball with her this week. She has been on so many walks and Brody thinks he will get a girl now that we have a cute little dog.
Hollie and Miriah were so excited, dad and I are wondering what just happened, a inside dog? 
I came home from work one day and could find the dog, soon Bronson showed up on his bike and there was Zoie in the backpack.  
This week we had the Highland 10th EFY.  It was so awesome.
The girls in the ward are getting all grown up. 
Behind the girls in the big window this is what you see... 
President Gibson, arranged for us to take a tour of all the behind the scene.  It was a great experience.
I think we were on the 23rd floor of the Church Office building, President Gibson first spoke to the girls.
He told us that he was the first Bishop in the Highland 10th ward.  So he told the girls that we were the Lords 10th foreordainded to be leaders here in this life. 
They are the most Beautiful, and sacred Daughters of our Heavenly Father.  He told us that our Heavenly Father holds our Heavenly Mother in such High Esteem, he protects her and they are together.
(I will have to add the rest of my notes later)
Ellen and Afton Ingerson,
Afton is the Laurel President right now and did a great job leading and conducting. 
Behind the and under where the Choir sits at conference.  These are sections of the seats, they can make it big with lots of seats or just a small seating arrangment. 
Katie, Abby and Me 
All of us on the Roof of the conference center, we got to eat lunch there at the end of the tour.
It was so awesome. 
My YCL"s  They are so awesome I was missing 3 of them. but I just want you to know what powerful young ladies they are.  They did amazing jobs teaching the mini classes at our EFY
Happy Father's Day









Colton taking down Bronson, he is turning into his dad. 
Then he tries to take out Braxton, not realizing really how strong Braxton is, he said that after he took a hold of him, the fill of his body, he thought oh no, I might of taken on something more that I can handle.
Braxton has been working really hard. 
Miriah comes to help Braxton! 





Braxton is really getting into the hair designing, hope you noticed his nice clean cut.  Britton was sad since mom said no! ne could not keep his hair like that.