WELCOME TO PHILMONT SCOUT RANCH IN CIMARRON, NEW MEXICO!!

How do I begin to explain our week long camp trip to New Mexico. Frankly, that first line alone should put a huge smile on most of your faces!! Each member of the stake presidency is encouraged to attend this week long scout training in New Mexico. Our stake president wanted us to go last year, but because of our recent return from China, we thought we would wait a year for Lillie to get used to her surroundings. So, the time came again, so Keola signed us up. So, early Saturday morning (July 7th), we boarded a plane and headed to New Mexico for our week long camp out. Boy, were we in for an adventure.

First of all, we flew into Colorado Springs (one of the nearest airports), rented a car and drove 3 hours to Cimarron. Before reaching our destination, we stopped for lunch at Keola's favorite treat spot, Dairy Queen. While there, a little girl was having a birthday party, and I guess Lillie stared long enough, so the grandmother offered her a birthday hat. It was very funny.

Well, here is a picture of our "tent city". Our home away from home for the next seven days!! If you look between the two trees, you'll see a tent with half the door open, that's our "house"!!

Mommy and Lillie getting settled in.


Daddy outside the tent city while our neighbors settle in.


Upon our arrival, we all gathered in the "Program Bowl", which was an arena type area with a stage and wooden bleachers, for a welcome assembly. The stroller came in handy, since I don't think Lillie would have liked the wooden benches.

Here is some of the staff at the ranch, welcoming us with song and dance. All the "worker bees" employed at the ranch are youth/young adults from all over the country. They travel to New Mexico for the summer to work at the ranch as tour guides, helpers, and group leaders for the kids. Different groups of adults come to the ranch every week, all summer, to be trained in scouting. The first two weeks of July are reserved for LDS leaders.


Well, our first night arrived, and we were not quite sure what to expect.

The day proved to be a bit hot. In fact, one day when we got back to our tent, the thermometer read 104 degrees!!! Thank goodness for dry heat! Well, after our first day...and night, we quickly realized New Mexico weather is very drastic! The night started pleasant at 74 degrees or so. Then, around midnight or so, it was as though we were all transported to the freezer!! The temperature dropped to about 55 degrees, in a tent, with wind blowing in all seams of the tent. We soon realized we had to layer up our clothing and seek out more blankets.


In the description of the camp, I read that each tent city would have a playground for the kids. Well, here it is.

A little desolate and dusty, but Lillie loved it anyway. Anything with swings, Lillie will buy into. Lillie also discovered the seesaw, which she loved playing on with her daddy.

Aside from the tent cities, the actual conference grounds were quite nice. There was a large grassy area with a pretty water fountain that LIllie enjoyed looking at and running around. There was also a little pavilion type sitting area covered with vines for a roof.


Each family was asked to make a flag representing their family. On Monday night, we had a flag "parade" to introduce our family and tell where we were from. Here is a flag from another family at the camp.

Here's the flag we decided to make. We made a lei from fabric flowers, then put a picture of the D.C. area in the middle, with our name at the top. After viewing some of the flags people made, we realized we went for the more simplistic flag. Boy, these crafty Mormons!!! ha ha

As you can see, Lillie was totally uninterested in taking a picture. She would rather run around the new surroundings.

After the flag parade, we had a large family home evening. Different families were asked ahead of time, if they would like to share a talent of some sort. There were about 15 families who shared talents - singing, storytelling, jokes, skits, music, and instrument playing. It was a very fun night.

Even President Charles Dahlquist, General Young Men's President, shared his talent of banjo playing and singing.


In my opinion, the highlight of the entire camp, was a Primary costume parade that took place on Wednesday night. They didn't tell anyone ahead of time about the costumes. Once we arrived, they mentioned that those interested, could make a costume for their children who were ages 2-12. They provided a "craft" room of sorts stocked with paper, cardboard, scissors, markers, crepe paper, etc. Keola and I decided to check it out and the room was FRANTIC with parents and kids. Again, these crafty Mormons!! ha ha Anyway, we had first thought to make Lillie into a little hula girl. Then we came up with an even cuter idea. We weren't sure exactly how it would all turn out, but we tried it anyway. We were even more nervous, when we had Lillie try the preliminary costume on, and she whined and cried. But, we continued to make the costume and crossed our fingers that she would wear it for the parade.

Here is Sister Margaret Lifferth, the first counselor in the General Primary presidency, to start off the parade.

Here is the General Young Men's Presidency

These are some of the costumes parents and kids made.

There was a Japanese woman at the conference and we saw her making this kimono for her daughter out of butcher paper, staples and tape. Amazing, huh!??!



And here's Miss Lillie as Chinese take out!!! She was SOOO cute. We couldn't believe what a good sport she was. She put on the costume and walked the entire parade "route", smiling and waving the whole way.




As you can see, people were lined up along the sidewalk, just like a real parade. They kept yelling out, "Lillie". It was as though she were a super star. She kept waving at people, and every time she saw a camera, which was A LOT, she would stop and say, "CHEESE!" It was so cute!


Lillie and President Dahlquist, general YM president.

Lillie and Elder Michael Neider, second counselor in the YM general presidency.

And Lillie's reward?...a tootsie lollipop!! Which by the way, Lillie enjoyed every last lick!!


On the last night, each "group" did something at the closing assembly. They started with the youngest and worked their way up. So of course, Lillie's group was first. They were called the Small Fry's. They "sang" a patriotic song, while Lillie surveyed the stage.


Here's President Dahlquist addressing the group.

The men sang a hymn, Rise up O Men of God. It was very nice. Keola, of course, was conveniently hiding behind another "scout", so I just got a group shot. With over 150 men there, it wasn't hard to hide.


This is a random picture of a museum on the ranch. We didn't even go inside, but we thought some might be interested in some of the buildings.

Here's Keola, Scout trained!!

The week wasn't all that bad. In fact, Keola really enjoyed the training from our general leaders. I didn't mind the relaxing days, and Lillie LOVED playing in nursery almost all day. Overall, not a bad experience, but we were glad to say goodbye, and get on the plane back to D.C.

One last random picture from Leigh Ann's visit to D.C. We walked around Georgetown and found a Sharper Image store. We decided to take a look inside. Lillie found these stands with a product description and price, interesting. At first, we thought she was just playing with it, but then we noticed she was talking/babbling and looking around. I told Keola, "I think she's pretending to give a talk at church, at the podium". We both started laughing. I wish we had video of her doing this, because it really looked and sounded like she was giving a talk. By the way, look how grown up she looks in her new outfit from Nana!!

Uncle Maka, Aunty Rhonda, (and Kamakea) bought Lillie this really cute dress. It's a tiny bit too big, but Lillie looked so cute in it, she wore it to church today. Everybody commented on how cute she looked!


Tonight, we had friends come to visit from Hawaii. This is Leigh Ann and her daughter, Gabriella. Leigh Ann is a classmate of ours from Kamehameha. Her and her father are attending a conference here in D.C. and decided to bring their family along for an East Coast vacation.

This is Leigh Ann's daughter, Gabriella, with Lillie. The two of them had SO MUCH fun tonight. Lillie found a new friend. They ran and laughed and giggled all night.

Here is Leigh Ann's parents, Uncle Levi and Aunty Mary Ann.

Such a cute picture of a cute girl!! Lillie loves her new white pants. They fit perfectly. Thanks Nana!

Yesterday, our ward play group met at the National Building Museum. Now, I know it may not sound very fun, but it is one of the better museums because it has so many programs geared to kids. Most of the programs are for kids a little older than Lillie, but they have a "Building Zone", that is made for 2-6 year olds. The "zone" is located in a big room with a bunch of different building toys. Here is Lillie in front of one of the building paintings done on the walls of the room.

Lillie loved this little playhouse. She was found many times just walking around inside. Some of the building toys included plastic tools. Well, Lillie found a hammer and I showed her how to use it. She took it, went right into the house, and started pounding on the walls. It was so funny!! Check out the kids construction hat! CUTE!


Like I said, lots of plastic tools. Lillie took a liking to the shovel.

These puzzle blocks were really neat. Lillie loved trying to fit them together to build a house...with some assistance, of course. And let's not forget the shovel.

Here's a little table with chairs, perfectly fit for Lillie to take a rest. If you look right behind the table, there is a "Suit Up Zone", fully equipped with work goggles, construction hats, aprons for tools, and tool bags - so cute!! Oh, I almost forgot, and the shovel!!

In the middle of this MASSIVE museum, there is water fountain, that Lillie loved looking at. When we went to the Botanic Gardens with Monica and Sai, there was a small fountain that I let Lillie dip her hands and feet in. So, of course, when she saw this big fountain, she thought she hit the jackpot! Unfortunately, there was an information desk right in front of the fountain, so I couldn't quite get Lillie to cool her hands and feet. Oh well, she loved looking at it, at least.

Both of Lillie's sunglasses broke, so we had to buy another. She also received a hat from a friend. As you can see, she was loving every second of wear time. By the way, she wasn't practicing her umpire moves, she was just finishing up the song, The Wise Man and the Foolish man, where the rains washed the house away! Can you tell?

This is her ghetto look. ha ha

Her quiet look.

Her casual happy look.

We can't forget the surprised look!

A Typical Day at Home

Some playing, reading magazines, and cooking.

NEXT ON THE RUNWAY...Lillie Sakai fashioning the latest in City Wear. With cropped jean jacket over her shoulder, Lillie looks fantastic with her pink summer dress and cute summery sunglasses.

Here Lillie is relaxing against some cushiony pillows. With legs crossed, she is ready to discuss the latest hot topics.

Always the life of the party, Lillie flips her shades on her head, as her infectious laugh permeates the room.

Lillie finds her serious side, as she shows off her pouty lips.

Lillie shows off her stunning profile, as she gazes out the sunny window.

Keoni, Monica, and Sai came to visit us in D.C. this past week. Keoni had a conference and was able to bring Monica and Sai with him. Monica and I were able to spend some time together while Keoni was at his conference. On Friday, we decided to go to the U.S. Botanic Gardens. Here's a picture of the Capitol building, which is right next to the gardens.


Last year, an outside garden extension was built. If it weren't so hot, we may have spent more time outside. Instead, we found the highlights and ran inside to the semi air conditioned building. This is an art piece all made of glass. It is quite spectacular.


This is a fountain right inside of the entrance. Notice the gardenias in the right corner of the picture. They were SO fragrant!!! It reminded me of home!!


The building is only semi air conditioned because it regulates humidity and temperature for all the different types of plants to grow. One of the places that is air conditioned is the restroom, water fountain area. They even surround that rest area with beautiful plants and fountains. Notice the sweat plastered hair on Lillie's forehead.


The other place that is air conditioned is the exhibit area. They frequently change the exhibits throughout the year. Today's theme was how plants are incorporated into our lives. Lillie is standing next to these metal flowers that were filled with different spices and plants to smell. Lillie had fun taking a sniff of cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, peppercorn, saffron, grass, hay, and others.

By the way, the sweat plastered hair, eventually got back to normal. What a fun visit!!