Best days of our lives (EFY)

Look at me! Blogging 2 days in a row! It's a record! :)

So, today I hung out with one of my best friends, Sheilani, whom I haven't seen in awhile. We both were EFY counselors together and we were reminiscing about this summer and all of our kids and all the memories we had! So... I wanted to post about it!

I remember most through pictures. I am a visual learner. So, I love having pictures everywhere! In my room, locker, phone, scrapbooks, blog, homework folders... you name it! I love being able to see the people I love and re-living those memories! So mostly on this post, I wanted to post pictures of all my amazing kids! They are all so special to me and I learned so much from them. This past summer was the most amazing summer I have ever had and I had experiences and feelings that I will never forget. I met so many outstanding people that have changed my life forever and will always be a part of who I am.

OGDEN 1 SAH: My Company, the Siempre Fiel (Forever Faithful in Spanish)

 This was by far my hardest week because I had NO idea what I was doing and I am pretty sure my kids could tell I was new at it. But all my kids were so good with working with the inexperienced counselor! And I had great co-co's which helped a ton! Lauralyn and Jake were awesome and we made a pretty good team! :)

There are my lovely Ladies! :) I miss them!!

There are our Boys! :) 

Savanna and Emma! :) LOVE LOVE LOVE them!

 Ogden 2 SAH: My Company! We were "Justice will be Served!"

 I had some of the best co-co's! Spencer and April were SO great and they always had the best lessons! I loved working with them! Words cannot even express how much I love these kids! This is the first and only time I had the older kids and I loved it. It's so different from the younger groups, but each has something amazing to offer!

On game day, the kids came up with a skit for our company and then performed it in front of everyone. We WON! Their skit was amazing! :) I loved it! It was to the tune of "I'll make a man out of you" from Mulan! They were so clever! I was so proud of them ;)

Our company was SO unified! :) During free time, everyone decided to play a game together. We played down by the banks and had several games going and had circles around circles. Out of all my EFY sessions this was one of my most unified companies! :)

Our AMAZING gentlemen :) They were winners!

Aprils Lovely Ladies! :) Some of these girls have become friends that I will have forever! 

My girls! They were ALL examples to me and I don't know what I would have done without them!

April and Spencer! My wonderful Co-Co's!

I was really lucky to have my niece, Katie, and her best friend, Marissa, at my EFY session! :) Getting to see them everyday always brought a Smile to my face! :) 

hahahaha 2 of the COOLEST and tallest high schoolers I know! :)

Sheilani! :) She is my EFY best friend! :) I know my experience would not have been the same without her! :)

All the counselors! :) Boo-YA!

 Sandy 1 SAH: Our company was "Soldiers of Faith" I seriously had some of the best Co-Co's!!! Lacey and Christen were so great! We got along so well and it was like we had known each other forever! :)

I learned a lot from these girls! They were always willing to participate and share their stories and experiences!! :)

Oh Lacy and Christian! We were always having fun :)

Matthew! We had a joke where whenever we saw each other we would wave with just our finger! ha ha

Some of my best EFY friends! Kristen, Alexis, and Erin! :) We had so much fun!! I love them!

Brother and Sister Palmer! Best session director! :)

 Ogden 4 SAH: We were the Angles of Heaven :) This week my co-co's were April again (YAY!) and Luke! They were amazing! :)

 I have a special place in my heart for these kids!! I will NEVER forget them!

Our Flag! :) Super cute!

East! :) He was such an awesome piano player! I was proud of this boy!

Loved seeing Krysta at EFY :) She is adorable!

Mckay!! He was a winner (and so patient with me when I called him the wrong name for the first 2 days!) haha

Scot was such a gentlemen with all the girls! :) I'm proud of him!

Love Love this girl! :) One of my favorite EFY pictures!

Shayla is amazing!! I loved having her in my group and all her profound comments during my lessons!

Meghan was a sweetheart! :) I miss her so much!!

Reagan was SO cute! :) I adored her!!

Danielle was so great! :) She was always so sweet to everyone!

Alex was great! And he was so talented with singing and guitar! At my choir Christmas show, I sang in an ensemble and Brother Simpsons band played with us. One of the band members came up to me after and asked if I knew Alex and was an EFY counselor because he was his Dad! What a small world! It was a tender mercy to hear how he was doing and know he came to my show :) This kid... is great! :)

These girls were ALWAYS so nice to everyone they met! :) They were such a good example to everyone!

Oh Gwen! I love her!! I remember the first real conversation I had with her while waiting for Morningside to start. I fell in love with her instantly :)

Oh these boys were SO funny! They kept me laughing all the time :)

I love Stacy SO much! She is so beautiful! :) I miss her so much!

This kid.... is awesome!! Spencer is really a great example to everyone around him, including me! I love the light he portrays to everyone! I consider him my friend and I will forever :) I am glad I got to know him! I am lucky I got to learn from him! 

AHH Britt is SO amazing! :) Dunno what I would do without her!

Ogden 4 SAH: We are "Judgement Day" My co-co was Bobby! It was really fun! :)

This was by far the week that I learned the most. I am not sure if my kids learned a lot.... but our of all my kids, they taught me the most! I needed this week more than any others! I learned lessons that will help me throughout my life and I have my co-co and my kids to thank! :)

Bobby and I with matching shades. We are cool ;)

I'm not exactly sure why... but all the kids decided to lay on each other. I think it was supposed to be a game where you are trying not to laugh. It took so long to get everyone to lay down, that by the time they all laid down it was SO hot they all got up! ha ha

Cameron taught me a lot :) I really admire this kid!!

Lauren and Hannah! They were SO funny. They were set on setting Bobby and I up! ha ha But I guess that's normal for EFY. :)

Austin was SUCH a hoot! :) I loved having him in my group!! He was one of the coolest guys I have known!

These two were SO great! :)

This was SOOOO sweet! On our spiritual day, all of the boys lined up outside before lunch so when the girls walked out of their meeting, they could be first in line! They girls walked through the line of boys! It was SO sweet to see all these guys be gentlemen and treat the girls with such respect :) A lot of the girls were crying because they were so touched by it! It was a really neat thing to see! :)








The majority of this post has been pictures! .... I am not always very good at expressing my experiences into words, especially since this was 9 months ago! However, this really was the greatest experience and I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to participate in it :) I loved every single minuet of it, the good times and the bad times! I learned a lot. I laughed a lot. I cried a little bit. But I won't forget or regret anything :) I loved everything about EFY!!!!

On the last day, we always made videos for our theme of how we can "arise and shine forth". These are some of those videos! :)

Sandy 1:

 
 Ogden 2:

 

 

Ogden 4: