Girls Just Wanna Have Fun...

And what a grinningly, girly summer it has been for me!!

• In May, my mom and two of my sisters came to Provo for


• BYU's Women's Conference.
  What I remember about that trip (which was perfect barring the absence of my brothers' wives, all out of town!):

• Sitting around the kitchen table for about three hours trying to decide what classes to go to the next day. Never deciding because we were laughing and talking too much.
• Huddling under a shared umbrella and walking all over campus in the pouring rain until we discovered the video projection at the Morris Center: we sat there on cushioned couches, ate complementary treats, and listened to the various (wonderful) presentations in utterly crowd-less comfort for most of the remaining, raining conference. Delightful!
• Remembering over the course of two late nights, full days, and intimate conversations that there's nothing in the world quite like a mom or a sister. Nothing quite like sharing your dreams and discouragements with women who love you completely. Women who you love and want so much to learn from and be like.
  

Love to you three!!

And I'm slowly, sadly learning that the wonderful feelings I feel about my mother and sisters-in-law are unique - that not everyone has such smashing luck with in-laws! This summer, in particular, I've enjoyed some cherished, one-on-one conversations with a few of these women. Love to you all, too!

And can I talk about beloved women without mentioning the beloved little woman that brightens my life daily? This summer has featured some fabulous female moments with her (now that "dad" spends some of his time camping with the local scouts...)

Lucy has taken to calling our evenings together "girl parties." (And the way her voice squeals when she says "Girrl-Party!" leaves me convinced that woman must be born with a craving for female company.)

Our first "girl party" of the summer was splattered with nail polish.

(Lucy couldn't have been more delighted with her "spark-o-lee" nails!)


And most of our evenings together feature silly pictures in abundance. "Now-I-see-it!" demands Lucy after every shot. The "Girl Party" I was involved in most recently, however, did not include two-year-old company - just the companionship of the delightful women in Wes's extended family.

We're talking: a group of girls that you absolutely couldn't best in terms of, well, most anything. They are beautiful and talented; full of testimony and full of fun! I love these women because they make you feel so immediately included in their circle. I have admired them ever since marrying Wes, and I was grateful for a chance to rub shoulders with them - a little more intimately than is possible at the occasional wedding or Christmas celebration.

It naturally takes time to feel totally at home in a new family, but such occasions as these speed the process indefinitely. THANKS to all those wonderful aunts/cousins involved!!

"We must cherish one another, watch over one another, comfort one another and gain instruction that we may all sit down in heaven together." -Lucy Mack Smith

I look forward to continued, eternal interaction with ALL of these beautiful women in my life. Not to mention my dear nieces...friends...grandmothers...Ah! this terrifyingly long post could continue indefinitely...

Another day.