visiting the Moon folks

I have some stellar parents.  They are such an example to me!  They are serving a mission for the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Bakersfield, CA.  Being as close as they are to us, we couldn't help but pay them a visit over Labor Day.  We LOVED spending time with them and seeing them in their mission element, and the kids had a blast with their grandma and grandpa!

We spent an evening at Buck Owens Crystal Palace.  It's a super fun restaurant and museum with live country music and dance floor.  Such a great tribute to country music.  We all loved it.

It cracks me up that Jaden is holding the guy's hand. 

Buck Owens convertible mounted on the wall was most impressive.

Jaden and Brielle could not get enough dance time... they were so cute dancing their little hearts out!

We spent some time at the park while we were there too:)

Checking out the office before we took off.  So nice to see their mission stomping grounds.

a YW post

A few things my amazing Young Women have been up to lately:

 Beehive pool party!

The beehives planned a surprise baby shower for our beehive advisor... it was so fun!

And there she is! Surprise!!

Alishondra did a fantastic job on the cupcakes!

and a couple games with the moms:)

Although Abby is not one to enjoy the spotlight, she was showered with so many cute things and it was a lot of fun!

All year, the girls have been researching their family history for 15 names they could take to the temple.  We made a day out of our YW in Excellence and visited the Phoenix, Mesa and Gilbert temples... doing 5 names at each.  It was such a great experience and meant a lot to the girls.  

 

We met back at the church for dinner and our program.  Since our theme was family history, we decorated with clocks and antiques.

The girls each brought a display to highlight an ancestor and/or their genealogy.  They shared stories and experiences they had with finding family names to take to the temple, and things they learned about their ancestors.  It was so neat and the girls learned so much!  I loved hearing their stories.

I loved coming across some of my own ancestors stories and old photos too:)

These are our camp shirts with our family names goal printed on them.

even our center pieces included our ancestor pictures... a few of mine are shown here:)

After the program, the girls had some fun with the props we had displayed and took some fun antique photos:)

 

And while mom was at the temple for the day, Dad took the kids to Makutus Island.  They ha a great time!

 

and sometimes I find selfies on my phone from these cute beehives:)

and Bri too :)

a few pictures from a water kickball activity with the young men

giant slip n slides, kiddie pools for the bases, dish soap to make it extra slippy... it was pretty epic:)

we had to bring out the flood lights since the activity was in October and the sun went down pretty early

love when I find a prefect balloon to wish the beehives a happy birthday

and lastly a beehive bake-off/recipe exchange

we also did a 21-day gratitude challenge

and facials at our beauty night!

I love my calling so much.  These young women amaze me every day.