Person I Admire #6

Cami Young

If I could only use one word to describe Cami it would be FUN or maybe SPONTANEOUS.  I met Cami when we moved up North and I showed up for a service project prior to a Relief Society broadcast only to find out there was no such service project.  I ran into Cami and one other lady who had made the same mistake and so we all hopped in a car and went shopping for an hour. 

Turns out Cami was a cheerleader at Ricks and anytime you can compare stories about Shelli (the coach) you bond instantly!  Cami wasn’t just a Ricks cheerleader, she is a cheerleader at heart.  I’m pretty sure she claps and gives me jazz hands whenever I tell her something exciting.  Her enthusiasm and happy spirit are so contagious, you can’t help but be happy around her.  Which explains her 5 amazing kids.  If I had two sets of twins and yet another child, I would be frazzled, anxious, and would probably never go anywhere.  But not the Youngs!  They are always doing big fun things together. 

Cami’s husband is a marriage and family counselor and a professor at Gonzaga.  They took their kids one day to his class so the students could “practice” on the kids.  Someone asked them “What their mom looks like when she is mad” and not one of the kids could come up with anything.  Can you believe that?! I am afraid of the faces my kids might make or the things they might say about me!  I do not believe that Cami has never been mad at her 5 kids but what an amazing example of self-control and handling problems without blowing up! 

I could go on and on about her many talents and qualities I would like to emulate.  She is an amazing mother, wife, and friend and most definitely someone I admire!

Rocky Road

My Grandpa Gleyre started Frederickson Fine Candies (a candy store that is still open today in Twin Falls, Idaho) with his brother back in the late 1930’s.  I got to visit the candy shop for the first time when I was in college.  Our cheer squad happened to be cheering at a game in Twin Falls and I mentioned the family shop to my coach.  She couldn’t believe I had never been there so she left everyone else at the hotel and took me and her daughter (my dearest friend and team member) out to find the store.  This was before the days of GPS and Google Maps and in true Shelli form, she just knew we’d be able to find it by driving around.  Sure enough, we made it and my great uncle Jack was there.  He was VERY old and could hardly see but he took me on a little tour and gave me a bunch of free candy.  Before my Grandpa and Grandma passed away, they taught some of us a few of their favorite candy recipes.  My mom, sister and I learned the Mint Truffles that I have posted about before,  my Dad mastered the Tender Cashew Toffee (I can make it now too but prefer to have my dad there to save me from making any mistakes), and my cousin Kelly and her husband Tony got to learn the tricks of homemade  marshmallow.  This year I decided it was time that I learn how to make the marshmallow to make Gleyre’s Rocky Road.

 

Opening Weekend

Garth had to go to Canada for work so we all decided to go with him.  Turns out it was opening weekend at Big White so we got to do some skiing and snowshoeing and had a great time.

The kids love this little warming hut in Trapping Meadows.This was Derek’s first time on the snowshoes so we didn’t go down to the trails, we just walked out and around the condo a little.  He did pretty good but preferred  to knock snow off of trees or throw snowballs at me.

          We were all shocked to see the new accessory in Theresa’s condo.  Imagine walking into the condo at 11pm and seeing this in the dark.  It gave us a little start for sure. 

Novels and Nibbles

I am part of the best book club EVER!  We have a type-A, former lawyer, now stay-at-home supermom who organizes us all.  We have book lists to choose our next titles from (of course 6 months in advance) that are 25+ pages long that have a picture of the book, a summary, and the amazon rating. . .if you need a new book to read, I could forward it to you.  We have a BLOG where she posts what we are reading, links to learn more on topics we have read, great recipes, etc.  etc. etc.

In November, we really outdid ourselves and had our best meeting yet when we had an author come to our book club! We were reading Citizen Vince and the author, Jess Walter just happens to have his kids in the same private school as Zibby’s kids (and she just so happened to be hostessing that month.) The stars aligned and he was able to come chat with us. He ate dinner with us (fancy burgers and fries followed by donuts. . .if you read the book, it makes sense why).

Then he sat with us and talked for 2 hours.  He was so interesting and witty and fun.  I had a total blast.  He even humored us and posed for a couple of pictures.  What an amazing group I am a part of!!!

You Know You Live in the Boonies When . . .

. . .recess is cancelled twice in three weeks because this lady is romping around your playground.

*Notice the stop sign behind her. . .this moose was HUGE!

We Are Thankful

Thanksgiving this year was spent at my Mom’s house which means we got to participate in the candy corn tradition.  We pass around a jar of candy corns and you say what you are thankful for, take a candy, and pass it on.  Here is what we were all thankful for this year (among many other things I am sure!)

“Candy and Mommy and Daddy” (a common kid response when you are staring down a jar of candy!)

“My Trains and Mommy and Daddy”

“The earth and Heavenly Father and Jesus.”

“Homes” Garth asked. . . like your friends or the homes we live in?  “The homes we live in Dad.” insert eye roll at how lame your Dad can be.

 “I’m thankful for my wife for the way she fulfilled her calling and for all that she provides for our family.”

 

 

“I am thankful for Primary. . . not just because I was just released and don’t have to do it any more but for the lessons I learned.  For the patience I gained, for the kids that I grew to love (even some tough ones) and for the simple basic truths of the gospel that I was able to teach and gain a stronger testimony of.”

We are grateful that our cousins, Jack, Sadie, and baby Lucy were there since we don’t get to see them very often.  We are grateful that our other cousins ditched the in-law party and came to Grandma’s because they are our great friends!

Service Minded

I am grateful for opportunities to teach my kids to be service minded.  Our church joined forces with Catholic Charities to do a big leaf raking service project.  The first weekend, they raked and bagged tons of leaves for elderly people then the next weekend, they picked up the bags and disposed of them.  They took some to a shelter-type place for mulch for their gardens.  The people who stay there work in the garden during the spring and summer.  My kids live a very cushy life so I was grateful that Garth took them to do this.  They both had good attitudes and worked hard.  I think it is so important for them to realize that many people don’t have it as easy as they do and how important it is to serve. 

 

 

Freeze Frame

For the past 6 months or so, I have wished I could freeze Olivia.  I am enjoying this little girl so much and it saddens me just a little to see her get bigger (not sad enough to have another one though :)

Olivia has a great sense of humor.  She makes me laugh every day.  I love her selectively grown up vocabulary like when we were heading to the lake one day and I asked her if she could see the water and she responded “eet not the water, eet ACTUALLY a lake!” 

When you call her silly or a princess or any other pet name, she will correct you and say in the sweetest but tiniest bit annoyed voice, “No, I’m just Olivia!”

She loves her status as the baby of the family.  I fear she may never leave the comfort of her crib or brave the toilet. I have tried to bribe her to go on the potty with a new big girl bed (I can’t wait to redo the girls’ room and get rid of that old nasty crib and changing table) but she respectfully declines. “It’s okay, I like to sleep in my crib.” 

She has a loud voice!  It’s not obnoxiously loud, just loud enough for the youngest in a loud family of four to be heard.  She does not let you forget about her!

I love this little girl.  She is a special spirit and although I look forward  to having her potty trained and a little more independent, I am soaking up these precious moments.

Sipping Cider

It has become a family tradition to press our own apple cider at the farm.  When they are all done giving apples away, we make cider out of the leftovers.  It is SO yummy.  Sydney wrote about pressing cider for a writer celebration at school, so I will let her tell the story. . .