girls camp

so we spent the past 3 days at girls camp with our branch and district. we went to tama hills which is about an hour to hour and a half away, for us anyway. there was one branch who had to travel about 8 hours. it was good though. we only had three girls from our branch there, and right about 20 all together. including leaders it was between 30-40. when you think of japan, most people think of the busy cities with people everywhere. up at tama, you wouldn't know there is a city right outside the gate. yes it is a military installation and we had to show our military id to go in. but you get up to the campsites and it is very secluded, and really pretty quiet for the most part. every now and then you would hear a train go by or the loud speakers in town, but for the most part you just heard the noisy birds. so here's kind of a run down of our time at camp. we left wednesday morning about 630 am. we rented a van from outdoor rec and we all drove up together (all 5 0f us-us and the girls). we got there a little before 8 and just drove around waiting/trying to find where we were supposed to be. the ladies from yokota show up about 8, shortly followed by the girls from misawa. we got up to our campsite and started unloading/setting up camp. a little while later the gals from yokoska showed up. we helped set up tents as there didn't seem to be many who knew how. (thank you dad for taking me camping as a kid and teaching me that kind of stuff.) of course it didn't help that we had some of the old boy scout tents that very few knew how to set up. ben knew how though. so we got all the tents set up and people moved in, and headed to the mess hall for our welcome mtg. we introduced everyone, went over the rules, etc. our theme for this year was fighting the spiritual war.

this is the back of the shirts we got. it says: "operation eternal freedom: preparting for spiritual war honshu military district japan" i think they are really cute and creative. then we got camo colored bandanas (a different color for each year group). we also made our own dog tags out using shrink-a-dinks. that stuff is really cool! i don't know that i had ever used it before. it was really fun though. after lunch we went up to the archery range. ben helped out with the archery certification. he really enjoyed that.

the girls had a blast with the archery and didn't want to leave, but we had other things to get done. we got back to camp and got got dinner started. we made london broil and the charcoal grills. turned out pretty good. and of course my husband had to help with the grills. he's right at home there. while at the archery range i had mentioned to one of the camp directors that it was ben's birthday wednesday, so at dinner they presented him with a little something.

they sang happy birthday, gave him a shirt that all the girls signed, a little cake, and the candy poster which says: "ben, you are a sugar daddy. it was sweet of you to come. you went the extra mile with the archery. we had a red hots time. your wife is a bit-o-honey. we're glad you both can make this a m&m's good time now and later. hopefully you can help us spot the milky way. love your friends, mike & ike." i thought it was really cute and creative, and ben was surprised. he immediatly asked if i had anything to do with it. the only thing i did was mention it was his birthday. the girls did the rest. after dinner we went up to the camp fire for our fireside devotional. i really can't tell ya what they talked about, but it was the spirit that was there that i needed. it had been a while since i'd felt the spirit that strong, and the words that were said and the music that was played, was what i needed. it was really nice. it started to rain as we were getting ready for bed. it rained all night and most of thursday. about half the girls woke up all wet. we had a few little leaks around some of the zippers but nothing serious. so most of the day the mess hall was filled with wet things trying to get them dried. we were supposed to go horseback riding thursday, but since it was raining and muddy we couldn't go. so we played games in the mess hall, one of the youth leaders taught the girls a hip hop dance, and we all just kinda hung out. the rain started dying down mid afternoon. so the girls and most of the leaders went their hike that afternoon. i wasn't feeling well so i ended up taking a nap while they hiked. i know, not very fair, but i really wasn't feeling well. the rest of the afternoon was filled with crafts and down time. for dinner we had tin foil dinners. again, my husband started the fires.

it's no wonder why we ended up getting the "pyro award". the dinners turned out really well though. we got all the dinners cooked and cleaned up and had our campfire. we did skits-in-a-bag. basically each group is given a bag of props and they have to come up with a skit. we'll just say some, ok most, of the skits turned out ummm interestingly. very random and interesting. after skits we had our devotional and made smores and headed to bed. during the night some of the youth and leaders thought it would be funny to pull some pranks. so they tied all the leaders tent zippers shut, seran wrapped the toilet seats, and filled all the stalls in the bathroom with balloons. ben and i thought it was funny, but some of the other leaders weren't too happy. pranks are a part of girls camp in my opinion. as long as they are in good taste and no one gets hurt, i don't see a problem with it. i managed to get our tent untied while still inside. took a few minutes, but i got it. we got up, had breakfast, and started the day. the weather was pretty much perfect. we were able to get the horses reserved, and those that wanted to were able to go on a trail ride. they could only take 4 people at a time, and had hour intervals. i didn't go, but ben did. he's always loved horses. i wasn't able to get a picture of it, but i wish i had. i guess they didn't give any instructions though. then again, most of the people who work there are japanese nationals and don't speak much english. all those that went had a good time though. after lunch we had a lot of down time again. a volleyball net was set up, more skits (different ones this time) were practiced and we all just kind of hung out and talked. it was rather relaxing and nice. for dinner we had shish kabobs. weren't the best, but they weren't too bad either. after dinner we had our uso (unusual, silly, odd) skits. the leaders came up with a theme for those ones (service to others), and they turned out really well. not nearly as random as thursday night. still really funny though. we had a great time. there are some really creative young women in our district. after the skits we did our faith walk. we were planning on doing it up the hill from camp, but we got up there and the path was just covered with spider webs. it was so gross! we had walked through earlier that afternoon and didn't have any problems, but the spiders sure got busy after that. so we had to change locations. it was still really fun though. the leaders got to be the tempters. i've always liked playing that part. =) once we got back to the fire we started our testimony mtg. one of the counselors from the district presidency came up and spoke to us. the whole mtg overall was really nice. the spirit there was strong. and the best part... ben felt the spirit. he said afterwards "i guess i should get some new church pants and start going to church with you again shouldn't i." that was what i needed to hear. to hear that my husband had been touched, and his heart and mind opened, is really a relief to me. i've been praying for that for a while. now hopefully he will actually follow through and come to church. so last night was great. we finally got to bed after cleaning and packing up. we got up about 6 this morning so that we could say good bye to the misawa girls and get everything cleaned and packed up. it took ben and i 40 minutes to get up and have everything packed in the car. we then ate some breakfast and helped pack up the rest of camp. we were able to leave just after 8 and made it home about 930 or so. it's feeling so much later right now than it really is. i think it's about time for a nap. so that was pretty much camp. one thing that was really cool though, was one of the leaders from yokota is from burley and knows my family down there. talk about a small world! meeting someone from idaho isn't too surprising, that happens quite often. but to find someone who actually knows people i know, that's pretty cool. i also got to drive a japanese car for the first time. it really wasn't bad. it's a little backwards, so i kept trying to shift up by the stearing wheel when it was next to me, and the the turn signal is on the other side of the stearing wheel. it wasn't bad though. i told ben he'll have to do all the driving once we get back to the states as i won't remember how to drive there. so yeah, it's been an exciting few days. and boy were the dogs happy to see us when we got home!

district conference

we had district conference today, again. we just had one the end of last month. don't worry, this one was different. at the last one, we sustained a new district presidency. this one was a broadcast from salt lake for all the stakes in japan. it was good. different but good. i can now say i know how others around the world feel when they have to listen to a translated version. a couple of the speakers spoke in japanese (don't ask who, because i really couldn't tell ya), but sister dalton the young women's general president and elder perry spoke in english. elder perry actually had his translator stand off to the side of the podium. so he would say something, pause and we would hear it in japanese. the others just had the translation overlaid. so listening to elder perry's talk was like listening to it twice. kinda cool. didn't understand a thing said in japanese, but it was cool. it was interesting during the intermediate hymn, as the choristor was japanese, therefore singing in japanese, and the words on the screen were in japanese. it was kinda hard to stay with her though as the japanese translation is a little off word/beat wise from the english. it's cool to think though, that everyone, japanese and american, were all singing the same thing at the same time. that is one thing i love about the chuch. it doesn't matter where you go in the world, the church is the same. we all believe the same thing, teach the same thing, sing the same hymns, read the same scriptures. it's just amazing to me to think about. i think that has been one of the things that has helped me most since moving here. to move to a foreign country, but know that there is a group of people where i will still fit in, is a great comfort. the branch here, as small as it is, is fantastic. i don't know what i would do if i didn't have the church in my life. what a blessing!

true to the faith

so everytime our branch president calls the conversations starts out something like this: "hello sister hulse. how art thou?... are you staying true to the faith that our parent's have cherished?..." i get a kick out of it everytime. president smith is a really neat guy. very nice and caring. they are a nice family. his oldest son is in my primary class. good kid. but anyway... so he wanted to talk to me after church sunday. no it's not another calling. not really anyway. he was wondering if i would be able/willing to go to girls camp next week with the young women. i guess the camp leader has fallen ill and won't be able to go, and he felt impressed to ask me. so i said i would talk to ben and see what he thought. camp is the 25th-28th and ben's bday is the 25th and we were talking about going to tokyo or somewhere for the day. and i told pres. smith i might even be able to talk ben into coming as a priesthood holder since he's still on leave and they need more men to go. he said that would be great and a huge blessing. so i talked to ben when i got home, and a bit to my surprise he said he would go. since moving here, he has kinda been falling towards inactive. he hasn't gone to church and there's not much i can say or do to make him want to go. needless to say it's been frustrating for me. we have had several people from the branch come over and visit, so he knows people there. just doesn't seem to make much difference. so anyway, i was surprised to hear him say that he would go to camp with us. i think it will be good though. maybe put a little spark back in him and bring him back to church. but i'm excited. i always loved girls camp when i was in young womens and i've always thought it would be fun to have a calling in young womens. so i'm hoping this turns out to be a good experience for everyone.

playing around

i recently got a new photography program so i've been playing around with it a bit and thought i'd share some of my work. i love photography!!

finished product

i said i would post some pics of the house after i got it all put together, so here they are.

here's the living room. yes we did get a new tv. ben has wanted a new one for a while and we got a great deal on this one so i gave in. i'll admit, it has been pretty nice.

the kitchen was actually one of the first things i had unpacked and put together. since the electrical current is different here, we ended up getting a new toaster and microwave. it's all good though. we needed them. we ended up getting a new dishwasher just after moving in too. it had some leaking problems and parts were rusting out, so they replaced it with a brand new dishwasher. it's pretty sweet.

i lined the stairway with photos i took while in school. looks good if you ask me. i miss having a place to develop and print my own photos. don't get me wrong, digital is great, but i love working in the photo lab. i hope someday to have my own.

this is our office. nothing spectacular really. computer and desk, books, chair, office supplies. nothing great, but it works for us.

here's our bedroom. i finally found a new bed set that i loved and was reasonably priced. we also found some curtains. sunrise right now is about 430 am (YUCK!!!) and the sun come right through our window. they aren't the best curtains, but they do filter some of the light so it's not so bright in the morning.

i finally got the front flower bed cleaned up too. i pretty much just pulled everything out. i made a lot of bugs unhappy when i did it, but it looks soooo much better than it did before. now i just need to find some new flowers and plants to put in. the dogs were out there with me when i did it and they enjoyed playing with/eating the ants and laying in the sun. it was a great day for yard work.

this one is just cute. the dogs were laying under the table staying out of the way while we put our tv stand together. they are so cute. they are happy to have a home again.

so there's our house. really the only thing i would change about it is i wish we had a bigger yard. we have a small yard but none of the grass is fenced so we can't just let the dogs out to play. the back patio has a fence/gate which they'll go out and lay on, but it's not the same as having grass for them to play/lay on. oh well. they are just as happy to lay in the sun by the door and look out. they love having the front door open and just sitting there watching the birds and neighbors. so that is that. we are pretty much settled in and life is good!

post op

just a quick update on ben... everything is going well. we went back to the dr yesterday and had his stitches removed. there's going to be a little scaring, but nothing major. overall it looks really good. he started physical therapy monday, and will be doing it 4-5 times a week for atleast the next month. they expect him to have full range of motion back in just a couple weeks. starting next week we'll go to the rec center after therapy and do some swimming and stuff to start building the muscle back up. then we go back to the dr on july 1st and we'll see where we are. if it's not feeling better the dr may go back in and see if he missed something. so basically we'll see how therapy goes, and then we'll go from there. ben is doing well though. the pain is getting better. he doesn't have to take his pain pills as often. it still hurts him, but it's getting better. it will just take time. thanks for all the thoughts and prayers. they are appreciated! hopefully his recovery keeps getting better!

all is well

just wanted to let everyone know that ben's surgery went well this morning. i talked to the dr afterwards and he said the good news is everything looks really good. everything was intact like it was supposed to be so he didn't have to put in any extra pins or tacks. there was a little fraying of the cartilage in the front, but he got that cleaned up. after ben was out from the anesthesia, the dr did some pulling and moving of his arm and everything stayed in place like it should. so you're wondering... what's the bad news... well everything looked normal so he doesn't know why he's been having the pain and symptoms he has. so we'll keep an eye on him. he starts physical therapy monday and the dr wants it to be some pretty hard core stuff. so hopefully it will all start feeling better. he's got the next 30 days off to recover. the dr was saying it should be a speedy recovery since he really didn't do all that much. the surgery took about 2 hours, and then it took another 2 hours to feel good enough to leave. so we're home now, he's sleeping on the couch, and i'm lettin' everyone know how he's doing. so right now all is well, and hopefully it just keeps getting better.

destiny?

so i got my new calling at church yesterday. bet you can't guess what i'm doing... if you guessed primary, you're right. we're not exactly which class i'll be doing yet. i was in the nursery yesterday, but i'll probably be teaching the valiant 9/10 class. there is a chance it will be adjusted over the summer. we have a lot of families moving (at least 3 in the next couple weeks), and a lot of the kids go back to the states for the summer. the joys of a military branch! so it might be kinda interesting for the next few months. it should be good though. i love working in the primary. i still love the primary songs. it seems there is always one or two new songs they learn each year for the primary program that i just end up loving. thinking back, the only callings i have had since i've been married have been in primary. so apparently whatever i am supposed to learn in primary, i haven't learned yet. =) it's all good though. it's going to be another adventure, that's for sure!