Fishing

I was very happy that I had the chance to take the 12 year old scouts fishing last month. I helped them earn their fishing merit badge. The outing was a success and every one caught atleast 1 fish. The picture above is my new favorite fishing picture...I only wish the fish was bigger.

To earn the badge, the boys are required to catch a fish:

Clean a fish:

Cook a fish:

and eat a fish:

Ha ha...no, they didn't eat the raw fish, they ate their cooked fish.

For an extra badge, some of the boys kissed a fish:

again, just kidding...

When we weren't fishing from the creek shores, we were jumping in.

and the water was COLD!

I definetly didn't get any style points for this jump:

Teaching kids to fish is among my greatest joys in life...so far.

And this outing was VERY successful.

Tennessee

Lynette went to go work/study at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts (in Tennessee) over the summer leaving me all by myself for most of the month of July and some of August. I know she had fun and that she was doing something that will be valuable to her school work now and her future as an artist. I'm glad she was able to go, but I missed her. I got a little bit lonely.

So, part way through I was able to fly out and visit her in East Tennessee. Country singers often sing about East Tennessee and I was eager to see what all the fuss was about. So, I got to see Lynette and visit the Smokey Mountains National Park which consistently falls on the top 10 must see national parks of America.

I always love the sunrise/sunsets at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix. Here the sun was coming up when I boarded the plane to go visit my little prickly pear. It was pretty and I knew it was going to be a good trip.

When I finally arrived we planned what we would do in the short time that I was there. One of the first things we did was take a scenic drive through the Smokey Mountains.

Here is a deer grazing in Cades Cove.
There were some beautiful views and I saw some trails that I would have loved to explore had I had more time.

We also decided to go White Water Rafting on the Pigeon Forge River.

Lynette was nervous, especially when she saw the rapids from the bus ride up to the put in spot.

Lynette had a worried look on her face in almost all the pictures taken by the rafting company.

Here is Lynette with her friend that she spent the summer with.

On the way back we stopped at this little out of the way Mexican Food Restaurant.

A Bluegrass Band was playing and it made me want to buy a Bluegrass CD.

Here we are drinking out of mason jars.

On the day I had to leave, we went out again to check out the Smokey Mountains.

Here we are at their highest (drivable) peak.

My trip did not disappoint. The scenery was amazing and the time spent with Lynette was well worth the flight out there. I wasn't a big fan of Gatlinburg (where Arrowmont is located) but we did eat at a nice breakfast place one morning.

Saying goodbye to Lynette and boarding the plane made me very sad. I wish I had arranged to stay with her longer than one weekend. And, I wish I had more time so I could fish a little out there too.

Conference for Youth

Our stake planned a Youth Conference for our youth group and several others in our area. It was very well done. Looking back I can't believe how much we did. There was an emphasis on having everyone bring a friend. I think all the boys in my group invited and brought a friend to tag along to most of our events (except one who moved into our ward a week or two before) .

For me, the highlight of the 4 day event was the evening that the Jesterz Comedy Troupe came to entertain. I had been to their studio before and seen their shows so I knew they were funny. And, on this particular evening they did not dissappoint. One of the comedians who came was a long lost friend of mine from high school. It was good to get reacquanted with him and see the show.

If anybody needs an idea for a good date night, I recommend going to the Jesterz show. It's all improv, all family friendly and all very funny. It's all good.

I'm sure I'm forgetting some things, but this is what I remember doing:

1) Game night with a missionary theme
2) Visit to the Temple/Visitor Center
3) Movie Night
4) Many well done devotionals scattered throughout the entire event
5) Service Project at St Vincent de Paul of Phoenix
6) Kiwanis Wave Pool
7) A very well done Mystery Dinner Theater
8) Jesterz Comedy Entertainment
9) Trip up to Tonto National Park and swim activity
10) Dance combined with another Stake
11) And lots of food

Like I said, I know I missed some stuff. As you can see, the days were jam packed from 7am to 10 or 11pm. Every night I went to bed exhausted.

Here are some pics.

Kiwanis Wave Pool:

Mystery Dinner Theater

Devotional:

Jesterz Comedy Troupe

Tonto Bridge Trip

I lead the group on the hike down to through the bridge and up the creek.

Luckily no one got lost, I let everyone spread out.

Then, the group went down to the creek to cool off.

Fun Stuff.