Charles & Trisha Bogus

This past weekend I flew up to Utah for my sister Trisha's wedding! I got in Thursday evening and just hung out with her that night. Friday morning the work started early. Trish, Charles & I went out and picked up the flowers for the centerpieces and planned on meeting up with my parents for lunch when they got into town. Unfortunately, Trish came down with the stomach flu right about lunch time and Charles started feeling icky so they went home to rest and I met up with my family. We couldn't check into our hotel yet, so we drove down to the BYU campus and walked around for a bit. It was surprisingly fun to be back on campus and showing my siblings where I had classes and such. Friday night came and we had planned on having a family dinner with Charles' family, but because they were both sick his family decided to cancel, so all the Rackhams went out! Me and my parents and four siblings (we missed Grant who is on his mission), both sets of grandparents and an aunt and uncle met up at Golden Corral in Provo. It was fun to sit and chat and catch up on everyone's lives. That night my mom, Kristin and I went out and got some last minute stuff for the wedding the next day, and Darren met up with us at Walmart! He got to come shopping with my mom and I, and I'm sure he loved it. Haha!

My family - Justin, Me, Aaron, Charles, Trish, Mom, Sarah, Dad & Dallin

Saturday was the big day, and my mom, Sarah and I headed over to Trisha's early to put together the centerpieces and get the little things ready. We cut up lemons and arranged flowers until about 11:30 when we headed back to the hotel for lunch and then headed up the canyon to set up. It rained on and off all morning, so we were really hoping it would be nice at 5 for the ceremony. Darren and I left at about 3 to run back and change, and everyone else followed close behind. We got back to the park about 4:45 and watched the dark clouds roll in. The ceremony was short and sweet, and the rain didn't start falling until after a few family photos had been snapped. We attempted to wait it out under the nearby pavillion and eat our Thai food dinner, but when the rain began to come horizontally with the strong winds we decided to bail. Everyone headed out of the canyon and to a nearby community center in Lindon where the party continued. The cake somehow survived, and we all dried off and had a merry old time. A few friends from Virginia were able to make it, and it was great to see all of them. As I was sitting with Darren I looked over at Justin, with Jared Rammell, Matt Gillon and Sam & Anna Lattin and missed the old days and my gang of friends. I was friends with these guys too, but they're all a few years younger than me. I'll always look back on those years with smiles and great memories :)

Matt, Jared, Trish, Me, Justin & Sam

The reception ended about 9:30, and then Trish & Charles headed off to a cabin and then Disneyland for a week! My mom, Darren and I shuttled the gifts back to their apartment and then headed to bed. It was an incredibly long, but fun, day. Sunday morning we had planned on hiking the Y, but due to rain we weren't able to. One day I'll do it. We were able to go to Jared Rammell's missionary farewell talk that afternoon though. He did a great job, and it was great to see all of his family again! All in all, it was a great weekend; regardless of the rain. Darren and I left for the airport from Jared's open house/barbeque after church. You'd have to ask him, but I think his "Meet the Parents" weekend went pretty well. My dad and Justin gave him a hard time Friday night, but that was expected. It was hard to say goodbye to my family, but they'll be out here in Hughson at the end of next month for a family reunion so I won't have to wait long to see them again. Darren dropped me off at the airport and then headed back up to Rexburg. It'll be fun to see him next week for 4th of July!

At the airport

Here are some more of my favorite photos from the weekend:

Bottled Water, Camp Lehi 2009

"What can make a hippopotamus smile? What can make him walk for more than a mile?
It’s not a party with a paper hat, Or a bag of candy that will make him fat,

That’s not what hippos do.

They ooze through the gooze without any shoes, They wade through the water ‘till their lips turn blue,That’s what hippos do!

Shhh...What can make a hippopotamus smile? What can make him run for more than a mile?

It’s not a tune on the old violin, Or listening to the sound of the whistling wind,

That’s not what hippos do.

They ooze through the gooze without any shoes, They wade through the water ‘till their lips turn blue, That’s what hippos do! Woo, Woo!"

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So, I got home from girls' camp yesterday afternoon and this song has been in my head ever since. Yay. It was a great week though. Whitney and I drove up Sunday night and pitched my tent in the dark. Good times trying to figure out how the rain fly was supposed to work. I had to do some minor adjustments the next morning. Then we headed up to the dining hall to help out the staff that were there. On the way Whitney decided to get up close and personal with the asphalt and has some decent road rash to show from it. Her story stands that we didn't have a flashlight and she tripped over a speedbump, not that we had a flashlight, but were jogging to get there faster so we wouldn't be eaten by a forest critter and her ankle gave out. Fortunately my flashlight was the lone casualty of the incident.

Monday morning we got up and set up Whitney's stuff on the other side of camp (much easier in the daylight) and then hung out until the girls started arriving at about 11. Day one is pretty chaotic with girls setting up tents and adjusting to camp life. At campfire that night each group did an introductory skit, so each of my girls picked a brand of bottled water and introduced themselves as that (since our group name was Bottled Water - our theme this year was Ripples: The Power of Your Example, and each group name had to be a body of water that could have ripples in it). It ended up being pretty cute.

My AWESOME group of girls

Our group flag

Tuesday was our big certification day. As third-years, the assigned meal we had to cook in our campsite was dutch oven chicken and rice, corn, and cobbler. It was definitely a meal to remember. The cobbler finished first, so we ate that and then the corn since it just had to cook on the coals from the cobbler. The chicken didn't get done for quite a while longer, but we had some good times down at the campsite while we waited. That morning we had a shining moment (devotional) about being lady-like, and then got to campfire that night where the staff did a skit called "Fountains" and spit water the entire time, but in sync with instrumental music. It was so funny. The theme for the night was "Girls' Camp Through the Ages" so my girls demonstrated what girls' camp might have been like in the Stone Age, the mid 1800's, the 1960's and today.

My girls doing their skit

"Fountains"

Wednesday was hike day, so we got up and packed lunches, put on our ponchos (it rained on and off all week) and headed out. The first half was all down the mountain, so it was no big deal. At the bottom we stopped for a bit next to "The Wall" and Papa Johns (our guide) talked to the girls for a little bit about the importance of teamwork. They then had to each get over the 10 foot wall with the help of the other girls, and once they got down, they had to watch and offer only moral support. It took just about 35 minutes to get all 22 girls over, but once the last one finished (took a good 10-15 minutes for her alone) it was a great feeling. It was so cool to watch all the girls work together and figure out how to get everyone over in the most logical way. Afterwards we had lunch and the girls completed the orienteering part of their certification. The final leg of the hike was all back up the mountain, and boy was it killer at some parts. The weather was perfect though, in the high 60's and overcast most of the day. It was definitely an experience to remember, and something I'm sure the girls won't soon forget.

The start of "The Wall"

Thursday was beach day! Unofficially, this was also known as Cell Phone Reception Day. All week the landline at camp had been down, so no one could make any phone calls home. I couldn't wait to be able to call a certain someone, and judging by the number of voicemails I had from him he was looking forward to it too ;) That morning we had shining moments again, but this time the girls were split up by year group and went to two differnent ones. The night before I had been asked by the Stake Relief Society President to help with hers (she had the 3rd years and JC's). A friend of mine was also asked to help out, and we were given the assignment to speak about what we do in our daily lives to live by the Spirit and become closer to Christ. Denise and I sat down and talked for a while about what each of us wanted to discuss. She spoke about music (having a song in your heart all day) and working hard, and I discussed prayer and scripture study. The first time around I was totally flustered and felt like I wasn't getting everything across the way I wanted to, but the second time (when I had my own girls) went so much better. Right as we were finishing the sun came out and warmed us all up and got us in the beach mood :) It was a fantastic day.

Friday was our last full day at camp, and all of the counselors spent most of the morning hanging out in the dining hall while the girls finished up their certification. This year there were a few couches in the dining hall, and many naps were taken by leaders during that short time :) The sun was out almost all day, so Whitney and I decided to hit up all of the dangerous free time activities that afternoon. First we hit up tomahawks and we both did pretty well. We then moved on to archery, where Whitney totally kicked my trash. I seemed to get progressively worse as I went on, but it was a fun experience. At one point I felt like Robin Hood from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and imagined myself shooting a flaming arrow at the target. Oh, silly me. Our last activity for the day was bb guns. It was my turn to kick trash. I got a good amount of my shots near the center target, and a few right in the middle. Maybe a new calling in life? Haha. Just kidding. It was fun though. Campfire that night was testimony meeting, and it was so nice to hear the sweet testimonies of all of my girls and many more throughout the camp.

Yup, I did that

My bb gun target

Saturday we went home! I went around to wake up my girls at 7, and to my surprise they were all already awake. Even after staying up until midnight and all of them sleeping in the same tent. We were miraculously all packed up and ready to go before flag at 8:15. How? I have no clue. Whitney and I were out of there at 10:45, and home by 2:30 after a stop at In-N-Out for lunch. It was so nice to take a warm shower and throw all of my clothes in the wash after one wet, cold and dirty week. After it all, I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to go. It's nice to get away from everything, and have a major spiritual uplift every day for a whole week. In a few weeks we have a joint Relief Society/Young Women Enrichment Night and it will be fun to see my girls again. I definitely learned something from each of them over the course of the week and I am amazed at the strength some of them have at their young age. All in all, it was a great week.

Pomp & Circumstance

Today was the day!! I finally (after 7 years) graduated from college in a freezing cold ceremony this morning. I got a little worried this morning when it was raining still when we headed off to the school, but it subsided by 8, and then the sun graced us with its presence just before the ceremony was over. It was so fun to have my parents there, in addition to my grandma and one of my aunts and her three girls.

Mom and Dad

It was a bummer that more of my family couldn't be there, but there were extenuating circumstances for some of them. I'm now looking forward to starting the credential program in September and any other adventures life may bring :)

Summer Time

So, a few weeks ago Darren called to tell me he had just bought a plane ticket to come home for Memorial Day weekend! I was thrilled, to say the least, that I wouldn't have to wait until mid-June to see him again. He flew in Friday night and I was able to pick him up at the airport in Oakland at a semi-sane hour. Saturday we hung out with his family and had a barbeque with his parents and his brother Kenneth and his family. We played a round of Acquire (a favorite in the Capell family), and then drove down to Denair to make dinner with a friend of mine and her boyfriend and played a round of Ticket to Ride.

By Sunday night the Darren's brothers Eric and Jeff had come down from Sacramento with their wives/families, so we had a great family dinner after church and then played Ticket to Ride, Acquire and then Cranium (good times with Ed McMahon and Sherlock Holmes). It was so much fun laughing, hanging out and getting to know his family better. I swear, I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. After all that we still found the energy to stay up and watch Paul Blart: Mall Cop.

Monday morning we all headed down to New Brighton Beach near Santa Cruz. It wasn't the warmest day ever (I'm pretty sure the high was somewhere near 70), and I wasn't brave enough to get anywhere near the water, but it was great to lay out and just hang with the Capell family. On the way home we hit up Nations (love their grilled cheese) and then played a last round of Ticket to Ride before Eric and Jenny headed back home. We turned on Music & Lyrics, but I totally fell asleep and had a nice nap :)

Darren & I

The beach crew

Darren and I had to say goodbye this afternoon, and by george it wasn't fun. I'll see him in 3 1/2 weeks for Trisha's wedding, so hopefully I'll stay busy enough with my birthday, graduation and girl's camp that I won't miss him too much between now and then. Not likely though. Haha. Overall, it was such a fun weekend, and I can't wait to see him again.

Congrats to Kris!!

This has to be my favorite part from last night's American Idol finale. I am a total sap if I tell you all that I teared up when I saw this? To be quite honest, I didn't watch one episode of this season until Tuesday night, but I am so glad that Kris won. Adam seems to be a better fit for Broadway, and I just didn't go for his style. I loved this duet between Kris and Keith Urban as well.

I apologize for being away from the blog for so long, but things have been crazy busy with the semester ending next week and graduation the week after. I hope to get back to updates soon! Darren is coming home tomorrow for the holiday weekend, so I'll actually have fun things to do this weekend :)

Left My Heart In San Francisco

Ok, so not really, but I love the city. On Wednesday, Darren picked me up from the airport and then we went to the Golden Gate Bridge, since I'd never been there before. It was crazy windy, but so fun to see. I told him I felt like I was looking at something that wasn't supposed to be real. I'd seen the bridge on movies and television shows, but to see it for real was pretty cool. Call me crazy, but oh well. After the Golden Gate, we stopped by the Oakland Temple and walked around for a little bit, spent about an hour trying to find somewhere to eat, and then headed back home. It was a great day, and so fun to spend some time with him in San Fran.

So, Darren left this morning for Rexburg until August, and I was surprised at how hard it was for me. I'll spare everyone the gory details, but I must say that I do believe I am falling for this guy. Crazy. For some reason I never thought this would happen. It's surprised me at how comfortable I am around him and his family. Doesn't hurt that they're pretty great! I'll see him in June at my sister's wedding, where he'll be meeting my family....scary. Kinda stinks that we'll be apart almost twice as long as we've been together, but we'll see what happens. Haha.

Easter

Trish and Sarah

Justin, Aaron and Dallin

Last weekend I was able to go back to Virginia, where I grew up and my parents still live, for Easter. I hadn't seen my brother Justin since Christmas of '07 since he was in Iraq last year, so it was great to see him and go through all of his pictures and hear his stories. Crazy stuff I tell ya. On Saturday we sat down as a family (minus Grant who is on a mission) and decorated Easter eggs. Good times involving several cracked eggs, some scary drawings and fights over the color mugs. It was so nice to be with my family for the holiday, great memories were made.

By shear coincidence my dad's mom was in town helping my aunt Lianne with some final wedding prep and meeting the future in-laws. It was nice to sit down with her for a few hours Sunday and Monday to hear stories about my grandfather when they were first married, and even some about my dad with he was a kid. I sure do love my Grandma Rackham. This woman painted her bedroom purple because my grandfather didn't want it that color. Haha!