EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT ALERT!!!!!

Hey, gals, you'll never guess what I just found out!!!!

Remember our old friend Ashley Stahle? She was our Mia Maid advisor a while ago....anyway, she has some PRETTY EXCITING NEWS TO SHARE WITH THE WORLD!!!!! Check out her blog! Right now!! No, I'm not kidding! This is serious, people!!

Champs!!!

Tonight I skipped out of YW to go and watch Amanda and Marissa play soccer. Huge game: Crater vs. Ashland for the conference title. It was a nail biter, double over time, shoot-out win for the Comets! Such an amazing game.

Then........after the game, I called Alex to get the update on NMHS vs. Sheldon (played in Eugene). JV (Alex's team) lost 2 to 1, and varsity (Kate's team) won which means they won their conference also!!!!

Way to go girls!!!! We are so proud of you and all of your hard work and dedication!!!!

Good luck in the play-offs.

Fear FAITH Factor!!

Just for the record: Sister Howard always comes up with the funnest, creative, & most spiritual activities ever! (Thanks, sugardoodle!) We faced our fears and strengthened our faith at the same time, and enjoyed ourselves (mostly at the expense of the others!)

First of all, Sister Howard came up with ten or so activities. Each activity was linked to a scripture, and the first team to find the scripture got to read it and select which game to play. We had Creepy Crawlers, a Garish Wind (ask Sister Ebert what 'garish' means), and so forth. Each of them had a 'loose' connection to something that had to do with faith, and we had to read the scripture to figure out what the connection was.

Here's Katrina and Katy trying to pick up quarters with chopsticks in order to experience the "change" of heart.


Bobbing for apples, WWF style. I think Jena and Alicia were out for blood, not Braeburns! Well..."by their fruits ye shall know them"!

Ever try buttoning a shirt with gloves on? Ask Sara and Kaitlin...it's not that easy! It's about as easy as trying to cover up a little lie...

Here's a tip: when searching for a gummy worm buried in a plate of flour, don't be shy.
JUST DIVE RIGHT IN!!
(So what if you get flour in your lungs, up your nose, down your shirt,
in your hair, ears, and tonsils--it's all for the game!)

And for the life of me, I can't remember what the spiritual connection to this game was supposed to be. I'll have to have Sister Howard remind me.

Katy proved her skill at ping-pong-tossing blindfolded -- or maybe it was Jena's ping-pong-catching skill. Either way, they make a pretty good team!

Again, with the powdery white stuff. This time, it was Katy and Alicia's turn to go after the donuts. Thankfully, Sister Ebert donated her clean, black shirt to help Alicia get a grip!

Ever try and take a wrapper off a Starburst without your hands? Hmmm...the wrapper probably has less calories. And Starbursts aren't chocolate. So why not eat it whole? In any case, this was supposed to be an exercise in controlling your tongue from gossip. But it's really hard to talk at all with a starburst in your mouth, let alone gossip...so either way, we achieved our goal!


You might have to click on these to enlarge them to truly appreciate the expressions on their faces. Can you tell whether they're eating something bitter or something sweet? And can you tell which girl likes bitter cocoa? By the SPOONFUL??!!


OPPOSITION IN ALL THINGS!!

Finally, we all got to sit around and discuss our feelings about faith. Bishop stepped in for a few minutes and shared his favorite story about the brother of Jared, and all in all, it was a memorable night.

PIE Night this Tuesday

This Tuesday is PIE night at YW! We will be have 4 "stations" that we will rotate through
1. Personal Progress - update, set goals, review for YW in Excellence
2. Fabulous Reality Journals - we will have tape, glue, scissors, markers to update books
3. Missionary writing - Our fabulous M3 missionaries need mail NOW!
4. Care Packages for our troops - Helping the Primary put together care packages for John Morrills unit (10people) in Afghanistan.

Oh yeah.......There will be Pie also. Yummy.
So bring your beautiful self, your personal progress stuff, fabulous reality book and an appetite for pie.

See you Tuesday - 7pm sharp!!!

Three years and counting!!!

Ann mocked me for taking all these pictures, but darn it, this is a big deal!!! After three years and then some, the Ebert family is less than two months away from finishing their house!!

CHECK IT OUT!!

Here's a shot of their new upstairs balcony hanging out over their kitchen. This is the part I'm most thrilled about -- I was always afraid of Sophie taking a nose dive off the edge. (And look -- she can't even fit her head through the bars! Good job, Dan!)


And here's the opposite shot of the kitchen from the balcony -- and no, that's not just dust on the lens... there was dust everywhere! (Sunday we're going to send around a sign-up for the November clean up party. It should only take us about, oh, three more months!)
Okay, I'm a total nerd, but this is one of the coolest things ever! This is there super-exciting pantry door -- here it is closed....


And when you open it, hey presto! The light AUTOMATICALLY COMES ON! iSN'T THAT THE COOLEST THING EVER??! Tell me that's the coolest thing you've ever seen in a house! Don't you wish your pantry lit up when you opened the door? (Okay, enough -- hose me down already!)Here's their super efficient dishwasher. Honestly, compared the rest of the house, it looks so small. They need three of these...


When you own an art store, I guess it's only fitting that you should have some sort of artwork befitting to your occupation to grace your walls. But I never thought it would be RIGHT ON THE WALL!

This is how cool Ann is -- not only did she get her GRANITE COUNTERTOPS for considerably less than originally bid, she got her bathroom counters AND this lovely collecter's set of granite cleaner, accompanied by a personally engraved thank you card from the contractors. You gotta' love her kind of connections!

CAN YOU SAY....
SLUMBER PARTY??!!
This is their upstairs great room. This picture doesn't really do it justice, with all the tools and scaffolding in the way. It's really great awesome FABULOUS!

And last, but certainly not least, this is where all the bad little Eberts go...
Anne (Q, not Ebert) demonstrating the meaning of "down the laundry chute".
(I got dibs on this spot for our first inaugral round of Sardines...)

Think BLUE!

When I look at this picture, here's what I think:

FAMILY.

We have a great group of gals, and even if some of us are literally related, we're ALL sisters and buddies and pals and kindred spirits. We go to different schools, and our ward boundaries are really all over the place, but we are united in purpose and function: to learn the gospel and strengthen our testimonies...and have some fun while we're at it.

(The other thing I think is that Marci looks good in a hat!)

So, this month as we focus on Divine Nature, think about this:

What do your "sisters" mean to you?
How does this ward family help you gain a testimony of the gospel?
More importantly, how can you help them?

We all want to hear what you have to say...think of this as an extended Ward Journal entry and leave a comment!

(By the way, if you don't know how to leave a comment, just click on the link below this post that says "Comments", then type what you want to say. Don't forget to do the "word verification" thingy. If you have a gmail account, click on the Google/Blogger identity and click "Publish your comment." If You don't have gmail, then select the Anonymous identity and publish. We'll make sure everybody gets on the blog!)

New! Stake Dance Dress Code

Below is what I got from the stake regarding the change in dress code for Central Point Stake dances which are held on the 3rd Saturday of each month.

" Beginning in September we will be switching our casual Stake Dances to dressy Stake Dances. Please remind the girls this Sunday and for the next couple of Sunday's. Also, please ask them to tell their nonmember friends so that nobody will feel uncomfortable. We will be firm in upholding modest church dress, if they show up in casual clothing or immodest church clothing they will be asked to go home to change. Thank you for your cooperation. "

PEAR PICKING!!!

Ode to the Mighty Pear

Medford is known for it's fruit without shape

It's not a banana and it's not for apes

It grows on trees with branches so scratchy

And we get to pick them in clothes that are patchy

From dawn until dusk, the members all gather

At the orchard where we all work up a lather

Dripping with sweat in the hot August heat

While meeting old friends that we love to greet

We pick them and size them and load up our sacks

While straining our muscles and breaking our backs

Then fill up the bins before it gets dark

Trust me, my friends -- it's no walk in the park!

But we love to do it, year after year

Picking the fruit for one reason that's clear

We work really hard, but it's really a pleasure

For the Lord has given us blessings unmeasured

The least we can do, for a few hours a week

Is give back what we can to get what we seek.

COME AND JOIN US FOR THE

REGIONAL YOUTH PEAR PICKING EXTRAVAGANZA

ON

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2008

AT THE PEAR ORCHARD!

(Last one there's a rotten pear!)

There's a new Bee in the Hive!

WELCOME, KATRINA!

(July birthdays are the best!!)

Table Rock Expedition

Venture forth, intrepid explorers (or, at least, a few brave Mia Maids) and conquer the mighty Upper Table Rock Trail! Here's a few shots of Sis. H, Sara, Kaylisha, and Katy as they took on the task of climbing up the cliff. What a beautiful view! (But don't look down...)

Hey, guess who's back?!

You can take the girl out of Medford, but can you take Medford out of the girl?

Check out Odie's new blog and find out!

GUESS WHO HAD A BIRTHDAY?!

Happy birthday, Sam! Hope you were...BOWLED OVER!

(hA, HA, ha!)