The first day, we had a WONDERFUL speaker - just amazing!!! We couldn't stop thinking and talking about what she said for the next 3 days! Then the afternoon was filled with spiritual classes. It was just an amazing, Spirit-filled day!!! One of the classes was taught by Heidi's next door neighbor when she lived in Iowa City! We walked in and it was like, "Hey, we know you!!" And he recognized us, too. Cool!
After the classes, there was a dinner and dance.
The girls are so lucky to have such wonderful friends in their Church Youth Group!!
Can you believe my little Amanda...dancing with a cute boy!!! Aaahhh! She's growing up way too fast!!!!
It's become a tradition for our Youth Group to do some goofy group poses. This year, they decided to do a very serious "sexy" pose.
As you can see in this pose, Eliza couldn't keep a straight face!
Friday morning was a very long and VERY HOT service project. We went down to a place called Usher's Ferry that had been badly damaged by the floods of 2008. They've got it mostly back up to par, but needed help with weeding and mulching. It was a neat experience - unbelievably boiling hot, but we survived! They said in 3 hours we did what it would have taken one person several months to do, so it was very rewarding! A couple news crews came out and took photos and interviews and we were on the news!! It was so cool. At the end of Youth Conference, they showed us the news clips. It was very exciting for the Youth.
After lunch, we went to the park and were divided into groups. The groups rotated around to 8 different games and activities. It was a blast!! It was still unbelievably hot, but we had a great time anyway. One of the activities was a game called the "Tunnel of Death". The group forms two circles, one large circle, and a smaller circle inside the large circle, forming a "tunnel". Then they have this HUGE soft ball that they push around and around the tunnel. While they are pushing the ball around, two "victims" are in the tunnel and have to run around and around the tunnel trying to avoid letting the ball hit them. It looked like a lot of fun! Here's Eliza with her group just before they started the game. I just had to include this one cuz she looks so cute!
Tim and Eliza helping to push the ball through the "tunnel".
I was so happy I caught this great moment! This is Tim and Eliza's reaction when a girl who was running through the tunnel fell down, and the ball rolled right over top of her! She didn't get hurt or anything - the ball is big, but it's really soft. It was pretty hysterical!
In another game, there were jewels hidden around this botanical garden area. The kids paired off and were given a couple pictures, each of a spot in the garden where a jewel was hidden. Then they had to try to figure out where that spot was and find the jewel. It was more of a challenge than it seemed it would be. The kids really had a lot of fun. Once they found their jewels, they raced back to the starting point to get more pictures. The contest was to see which team could find the most jewels. The kids seemed to have a lot of fun with this game!
Amanda and one of her friends trying to find a jewel.
Posing for the camera! Amanda looks like a natural super model, doesn't she?
Do you remember this activity from elementary school P.E.? The old giant parachute game! They played several fun different games, one was where all the people on a certain color had to run underneath and find a new spot, like musical chairs, and another one was called "Sharks and Lifeguards." They hold the parachute at shoulder height and shake it up and down so it looks like ocean waves and then there's one person who is the shark that runs around underneath and tries to pull people under, but they can be saved by one of the two lifeguards running around outside the circle. The lifeguard saves them by just by touching them. But if they don't get to the person and touch them before they get pulled all the way under, the person isn't saved and becomes a shark. Eventually, almost everyone becomes a shark and the parachute collapses on all the sharks. It looked like a lot of fun!!
Amanda helping throw up the parachute.
Tim waiting for the game to start...
...and Tim dashing to find a new spot after his color was called.
After the games, we went back to a picnic area near Usher's Ferry for a luau! We had yummy Hawaiian haystacks with bars and root beer floats for dessert. It was a great dinner! Then, they had the dance, of course!! A few girls from the Cedar Falls ward learned how to do the Hukilau dance and performed it for everyone. Then, the lady who taught them, taught the whole group.
Here's our girls learning the dance.
This is Amanda joining in on a line dance that they often do at these Church dances. I love that Amanda just gets out there and joins in on these things. She LOVES to dance!!
Here's all our girls Saturday morning after the testimony meeting, getting ready to leave, which is the worst part of Youth Conference - that it has to end!! It's 3 days of the youth getting to hang out with kids who share their faith and their standards and it's just like a little piece of heaven on earth! It's hard to go home and be back in the world again!! Aren't they beautiful?!?
