... that I went to Girl's Camp?

The moment I had been dreading since I received my calling finally came.  Matt and I left the MTC and raced back home so I could pack for Camp (because obviously I had to wait until 11:30 the night before.  Oops.) and at 7:15 the next morning I was ready to face my fate camp it up!

WARNING!!  SUPER EMBARRASSING CHEESEBALL CONFESSION BELOW:

This was the first time that I had ever spent the night apart from Matt since we've been married.  And I hated it.  It was horrible.  And only partially because I had to sleep in this:

Which I'm 98% positive was pitched on a giant red ant hill.  Oh well.  I only had to kill 2 ants and 1 spider inside our tent.  And is it really camping if you get to sleep on an air matress?  Cause you better believe I brought one.

You can make me camp, but you can't make me sleep in a sleeping bag.

I have to give it to my girls, they were troopers.  It was hot, there were giant bugs, we were dirty, and none of us got nearly enough sleep, and they were still happy to be there.  Despite the fact that I missed taking my parents to the airport, I was really glad that I got to have some special bonding time with my girls.  Even if I was super embarrassed when one of my girls challenged me to a race on the rock climbing wall and I couldn't even make it half way up.  She made me go on the hard side people!!!  Shame.

HIGHLIGHTS:
- Banana boats and dutch oven brownies
-Singing camp songs (which were NOT the same songs that I sang at camp, I was only a little mad)
-Making cute jar lanterns
-Listening to older girls get the Beehives ready for "snipe hunting"
-Testimony meeting
-Being in charge of the necklace craft table
-My campfire discussion with the Laurels about "making out"
-Skit night

Going back to my last post about my amazing new counselor, she really was an answer to prayers.  She took the Stake camp theme, "Stand in Holy Places," and put her own spin on it with shoes!  Cause you need shoes to stand.  And also, girls just need shoes.  Duh.

I am totally going to take credit for this punny ward flag, because the saying was def my idea.  But that is the extent of my creative contribution to the cuteness of Camp.  My counselor, on the other hand, made us all matching pillowcases and backpacks ON TOP OF all the other black and white/shoe themed gifts (flip flops, bandanas, mirrors, notebooks, and foot-shaped nail clippers.  Seriously.) that she had brought for us each day.  This woman single-handedly MADE girls camp.  She pulled it all together in 10 days WHILE going to Youth Conference for me, and didn't even tell me about all of her plans because she "didn't want me to be disappointed if she didn't get everything done."  She just showed up with boxes full of presents and homemade gifts and truly made it Girl's Camp.  This woman is a saint, people.

I don't love camping, but I love my girls!

... that I needed a miracle?

I have been the Young Women's President in our ward for about four months now.  And it has been mostly two things: fun and stressful.  We have a very small group of girls (only 6) which reminds me of my own experience in Young Womens.  They are really great girls, they still think I'm kind of cool, and they have been so nice to me through this huge learning experience.  Heavenly Father has blessed me in so many ways, and I know that it is because he loves me and each of these girls.

A few months after I was called, my 1st counselor moved to Wisconsin and my Girl's Camp director said that she wouldn't be able to come to camp anymore.  Oh, and did I mention that some wonderfully brilliant person planned Youth Conference and Girls Camp on back to back weekends?  AND those two weekends just happened to be the very weekends that my parents were getting set apart and then flying out to Taiwan???  Let's just say that for the months of April and June, I was pretty much a nervous wreck.  I was trying to plan Youth Conference and Girl's Camp, call a new camp director, call a new counselor, teach the girls every Sunday, work full time, and also spend as much time with my family as possible before they left.  And it was almost all a disaster.  The more I tried to plan and fix and organize, the more problems arose and I was almost at my wits end.  Then miraculously, 2 weeks before Girl's Camp, all of my prayers were answered.  The mother of one of my girls accepted the call to be my new counselor AND she was able to go to both Youth Conference and Girl's Camp.  This meant that I could miss Youth Conference to be with my parents when they got set apart and spend the entire weekend with them before they went into the MTC, and that I would have another counselor with me at Girl's Camp and I wouldn't be alone.  Words cannot describe my relief!  Just a small testament that Heavenly Father has a plan, and that He will help us when we need it most.

Since my parents were flying out to Taiwan while I was supposed to be at Girl's Camp, I wasn't able to take them to the airport.  So Matt and I did the next best thing and visited them at the MTC.

They brought us milk and cookies and we just sat in the lobby for about an hour and talked.  I kept constantly scanning the hallway for a glimpse of Cait, but she was not to be seen.  I even asked dad how inappropriate it would be for him to ask the receptionist to call her up to the lobby just so I could get a quick hug, but he just gave me the same look that he gave me when I asked him if I could have a handicapped parking pass:

What good is having a doctor for a dad if he can't get you a handicapped parking pass when your friends tell you that 4'10" is "legally a midget?"  Just kidding, plenty of good.  Like the time he sewed up my ankle when I shattered a jar of apple sauce on the kitchen floor and we all thought I was going to bleed to death.  Thanks again, Dad, that was awesome.

It was so good to spend just a little bit more time with them.  I admire them so much for their courage and faith.  It will be hard to miss them for three years, but I know our whole family will be blessed for it.  And I have already facetimed with both of them and they FINALLY have international texting, so really we are basically back to normal.  Except now they are 7500 miles away instead of 750.  It's okay.  I will survive.  Ohhh as long as I know how to love, I know I'll stay alive.........  Sorry.  Jazz Girlz fo life.

I love my parents and miracles!

... that Kar can keep a promise?

Kar promised that since I made dinner for Father's day, she would make dinner the next Sunday.  And she did!  Since she was cooking, we offered to make dessert.  Actually, Matt offered.  Cause he's the sweetest.  And also because I had been craving his coconut cream pie for weeks and this was the perfect excuse to make it.  But then Kar said she didn't like coconut cream pie, so Matt decided to ALSO make an angel food cake with the egg whites left over from the cream pie, just to be nice to Kar.  So Matt made TWO desserts and I helped this much:

Not much help really, but I can make a great graham cracker crust.  I've said it before and I'll say it everyday for forever and ever:  Matt is the sweetest guy in the world.  Except for maybe when he told me NOT to tell Kar that we made an extra dessert just for her because he "wanted to crush her spirit first."  But it's okay cause he was just kidding.  Matt is only rude in jokes.

So we got dessert all ready then headed over to Kar's right after we watched the world wide leadership broadcast of the Church.  And speaking of the broadcast...

 Mom and Dad were lucky enough to see Cait there!  Someone had seen Caitlin, then went and found Mom and Dad and brought her to them!  Such a sweet tender mercy.  After that, mom and dad conveniently found a way to have lunch at exactly the same time as her everyday until they left the MTC :)

Also, we got to see Mom and Dad a couple times during the broadcast!

So funny, but so good to see them and know they are doing the Lord's work.  So proud of them!

Anyway, after we finally got to Kaari's we had a delicious dinner.  For all of her aforementioned helplessness, she is actually a great cook when she wants to be!  Both of Matt's desserts were a huge hit, obviously

(I also cut up the fresh peaches.  Such a big helper, I know.)

Kar was ridiculous and made us also bring a candle so that we could celebrate G's 6 month birthday.  She's not even one!!!  Crazy new mom.  But G is cute, so I let it slide.

She is the cutest!  I love that little tongue.  And she loves the boondoggle keychain that I gave her that a certain friend of Matt's gave to me.  Chad, if you're reading this, you're creepy.

I love living so close to my sis!!!

... that Kell and Jer in Utah = Party?

After my parents left for the MTC, Kell and Jer headed up to Park City to spend the rest of their weekend here in style.  Jeremy travels so much for work that they have tons of travel points, so they decided to stay at a really nice place for their last night in Utah.  Kar, Zach and I got ready, then headed up to meet them at the outlets.  Poor Matt "had to stay home and do work."  He will do anything to avoid a shopping trip :)

After the outlets, we headed downtown to walk around and grab some dinner.  We decided on Main Street Pizza and Noodle

Super yummy.  Matt met us just in time to scarf down a burger and head to the hotel with us, the St Regis.  It was super awesome!  They had a beautiful room, and the hotel was incredible.  We all brought our suits so we could do a little hot tubbing

The hot tub and pool were really nice and it was fun to feel swanky for a little bit :)  There was a wedding going on at the hotel too, so we also had free music and entertainment!  I was so glad I could spend a little time with Kell and Jer before they went back home, I am not really sure when I'll see them again :(  With Mom and Dad gone, I don't know if we will make it out to CA very often (we didn't make it out there often before they left; it's a long drive people!!!).  But I hope we will get out there soon, cause I am missing my Cutterman and Babes real bad!!!

I love family time and shopping and acting like high rollers!

... that the goodbyes are never ending?

I just sang the Never Ending Story song to myself, and I hope you did too.

After our fake goodbye on Wed with Cait, the goodbyes didn't stop till Saturday.  Kell and Jer and my parents came into town on Thursday night, and we were gonna pick them up and hang out with them before their big day on Friday.  Unfortunately, my parents missed their flight (this is proof that my inability to make it to an airport on time is genetically inherited) and didn't make it in till midnight.  Fortunately, Kell and Jer did not, and they were ready to party when they got in.  They suggested burgers at Lucky 13 in Salt Lake, and it was PHENOM.

The burgers were delish and the fries were awesome.  Then we went inside and watched the Angels game for a bit while we waited for my parents to land.

Jake flew in the next morning, so we all decided to meet at (you guessed it) Bruges.  We are predictable, us Blicks.

After a quick rest/tour at Kar's house, we all changed our clothes and headed downtown to the Church Office Building.  Elder Holland was recently put in charge of all the Asia missions, so he was going to set my parents apart.  One of my very favorite apostles!  I was so excited!  Oh and also, Cait would be there and we would get to see her again, so I was excited about that too :)  She was waiting for us right when we got to the lobby!

Then up to Elder Holland's office




Yes, the only two children who are missionaries are also the only two irreverent enough to photobomb an apostle.

So wonderful.  Elder Holland gave my parents some beautiful blessings and it was so awesome just to be in his presence and feel his excitement for the work!  We sat and talked (and took pictures) in the lobby until Cait's bus came to take her back to the MTC.

And then it was the real goodbye for this one!


It was hard to see her go, but we are so proud of her!  We were so sad, we decided to drown our sorrows in endless meat skewers and Brazilian lemonades.

So good.  We gathered afterward for a family testimony meeting at Kell and Jer's hotel.  That has always been a tradition in my dad's family, and my dad wanted to make it a habit in ours as well.  I am so grateful for a family that is so close to the Spirit and lives the principles of the gospel!

After a quick Costco run and a boba stop, we headed back to Kar's house to spend the rest of the night together.  It was nice to just be together and talk one last time.  Then Mom and Dad came home with us and spent the night at our place so that they could have one last round of Matt's German Pancakes in the morning.

And then they were off.

I love you, Mom and Dad!  We'll see you in Taiwan soon!