I HAVE A NEW NIECE!!!!!

I have a new niece and my brother's phone doesn't work, my mother doesn't know her name and my sister hasn't seen her yet..........What is wrong with this picture?  I wasn't even on the contact list -- was she born in June or July!?  I've got to tell you California is not the Yukon in the wilds of the wilderness - we have electricity, PHONES, email, even telegraph.  I am a non-threatening person and promise to send a gift if you let me know!!!!!!

Why do I feel like the bad fairy?

Girls Camp!!!!! What a blessing to be included this year!

The girls got to run through two columns of flags waving and received a root-beer float when they got back from their hike.










The hikes were just a long, hard and tough as usual and we had some great cooperation from the Big Sisters and girls.  Some men who had just gone on the scout hike from last week, said the difference between the boys and girls was like night and day. They were awed by the helpfulness and team spirit of the girls.

 All the team working together was the motto in this years' "Amazing Race" and the point was to get your whole team  working together and arriving at the same place.  Either carrying eggs or.....

Swimming the polar bear swim at 6 in the morning and later that afternoon, swimming to the rock (or rowing a canoe if they couldn't swim.











There needs to be just a little anxiety to keep everyone on their toes.  We had a curious black bear wondering around the camp at night.  He took this package off the table but didn't rip it open for some reason

We really had a wonderful amazing year!

What do You do in the Summertime?

Michael just got back from AFY camp in Rexsburg, Idaho and hasn't stopped talking about his adventures.  What a great program!  Teemaree really had an epiphany this year and took seven boys to camp.  They turned out to be really great friends. Traveling in a car for 12 hours helped break the ice and once they got there they jumped into the activities without the usual break-in period.  Michael keeps talking about Landon this and Landon that and I'm still trying to figure out when it's a Blodgett or a Hunt. He and Tanner evidently had a great time on a blindfolded walk.  He played pranks and luckily Merit forgave him and described the whole week as fantastic sleep-over.

The interesting part was the awareness of who they were and why they are here.  Having so many like-minded people in the same place was awesome.  Ahhh Teemaree you are the greatest and I owe you so much for the fantastic influence you've had in my son's life.