Stake Youth Events

Mr. Mike has been very busy in his calling, and while he doesn't care for recognition, I want to remember some of the neat memories made over the last few weeks.

His presidency was asked to host a stake scouting event to celebrate the church's involvement in scouting for 100 years. They had a fun party in the gym with representation from each ward, and then watched the broadcast from the Conference Center all together. (If you didn't see it you should check it out. It was absolutely amazing!)

He borrowed a knot-tying station from a work colleague with 8 different knot skills. Our family benefited from it too... maybe those knots will come in handy sometime!

(Incidentally, Maddie's hair was from crazy hair day at school, which started as this cute little robot with coils.)

About 12 years ago Mike's dad gave him all of his old scouting badges, awards, and handbooks. They made a very cool display of vintage scouting memorabilia.

One of our high councilman displayed his sons's scouting awards, which his wife had framed.

To keep things exciting, Mike also made a little team challenge activity which I call the "board walk", where everyone has to step with the same foot at the same time to get anywhere! It was quite entertaining.

He actually made the board walk for a scene about Girls' Camp in our recent stake Youth Cultural Event. The youth from our stake were invited to participate in a six week event culminating in three performances last weekend.

The theme was "We Stand: A Youth Celebration of Standing in Holy Places."

I can't adequately describe how awesome it was to be a part of this. The performances were inspiring and many hearts were touched by the spirit and eyes were wet. The youth expressed their dedication to the Lord in song, dance, stories, and videos, showing how they can make everywhere they stand a holy place.

They talked about where they came from in heaven, ancestors who have prepared the way before them, what they are doing now to live and share the gospel, and how they will be ready and worthy to attend the temple and go on missions in the future. It is amazing how the youth of the church have such a strong desire to be good and do right. It gives us hope for a bright future despite the challenges they face in a darkening world. 

Our kids thought it was pretty cool to get onstage after the event. They idolize the youth, which makes me happy because I can't think of better role models! They were troopers during weeks of rehearsals and went to the provided nursery because Mike was a leader in the event, and I was asked to direct some small scenes.

Mike became good friends with this awesome lady, the director of the event and creative mind behind it. Hopefully she would say they are friends, as I'm sure Mike's engineering mind for details and spreadsheets drove her crazy at times! :)

Right after that busyness quieted down, Mike has had to travel a lot for work. We savor every minute we can get with him! All four kiddos got a little cameo on Daddy's lap.

Oh man, the cute pictures of all those people I love overwhelm me.