Geocaching

Ever heard of it? I hadn't either, but Nels learned about it and planned our day date with it. Lots of fun.
This is what the geocaching website says: Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors. Once the container is found you can leave something in it and take something out. There's geocaches everywhere, with different levels of difficulty. So look it up and find one by you!
So our first geocache was at First Landing State Park. It was a four stage geocache which means that once you find the first coordinates clues are given for how to find the next stage. So our first coordinates were N 36 54.985 and W 76 02.490. So we put the coordinates into our GPS and started walking. The first one was relatively easy to find and so was the second. The third one we kept getting lost. We kept hiking in circles and taking the wrong turn....only we didn't know it was the wrong turn until a half mile later. Eventually we found it though. The fourth was where the geocache was hidden. We found the coordinates and then we got off the trail and started looking around. I happened to tentatively pick up a bunch of moss by a tree, and what do you know?? There's the geocache, carefully hidden under moss. We were so happy to find it and exhausted. We ended up hiking about six miles in the hot, humidity. I guess the pioneer trek wasn't enough, we had to go do it again. Although, hiking is much easier without a handcart!

This is what some of the area looked like. I don't know if swampy is the correct term to describe it. Luckily, we had nicely groomed trails to walk on.
At the trail head.Hmmm, I wonder what's under this moss stuff?

Ta da!

Nels with the geocache.

Me with geocache. There were some pretty random items in there. I think I'm holding up a picture of a dolphin. And yes, we both had to have our picture taken with our first geocache...we're cheesy like that.

This is what Nels wrote on the log notebook that goes in the geocache: Nyborg family, First cache ever! Sometimes you have to get a bit lost to find something...:) We left 2 bandaids, took memories and pictures. After our geocaching adventure we went to Sandridge Beach. I love this beach. It is so calm and peaceful. The waves were a lot bigger than at Virginia Beach. We sat in our little beach chairs and read books. We went in the water for a few minutes. But I am such a chicken! I did not want my head to go under the water. The waves were pretty big and strong so I didn't go in very far. It was so nice to just sit and relax.

Shadow picture:

Waves:

Aw, just relaxing.

Good job Nels for planning an amazing day date!!!

Pioneer Trek

Nels and I were asked to be the Ma and Pa for our ward's youth conference. We dressed up like pioneers, had handcarts and went hiking on a difficult trail. I have never sweated so much my whole life! The weather was about 100 degrees for the high and 80 degrees for the low. So even at night we just laid there in the hot, humid weather. The heat was probably the hardest challenge.

The next challenge was going up and down hills with our handcarts.

Another challenge was loading one handcart with 13 people's stuff...including 2 guitars! The first two times we loaded the handcart, after we walked for a minute something would fall out. Very frustrating. But by the third time we loaded it, we had a system that worked pretty well. At least nothing was falling out. :)

Both Nels and I ended up getting ticks. Yuck! I did not like pulling those things out. Gross. I'm now paranoid and whenever I itch, for example my arm, I immediately look to see if there is a tick there. I'm getting less paranoid though.

Nels was sick the whole time with a nasty cold. His throat hurt and he wasn't able to talk for most of the trek. :( But he had an awesome attitude the whole time and that probably encouraged the youth more than anything.

So those were a few of the challenges. Looking back it was really neat to see the youth work together to pull and push those handcarts around. We all grew a stronger appreciation for the pioneers and all they did. I enjoyed sharing my testimony with the youth and hearing their pioneer stories and testimonies. Although the guitars were a pain to pack on the handcart, in the evenings it was great entertainment. The two boys that brought them played and it was nice to have music. My favorite part was when we were coming into "Zion," the youth were singing "Come, Come Ye Saints," and their parents were there cheering them on. It took my breath away. I had a feeling of accomplishment, love and of course being exhausted.
Here's a few pictures:
This picture was taken before we had taken one step on the trail. See how clean we look....that's the cleanest we were. It went downhill from there. Nels and I are on the bottom right.
Gung Ho! Let's go. They were pretty motivated the whole time. Of course, we all had our moments. :)

We were given a baby doll that had to be held from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. I was surprised and impressed when our young man, Shelby took the doll for almost the whole time.

Our backs started hurting so we leaned up against each other. It helped a little.

Another picture of the youth pulling the handcart along.

This is our handcart and it was one of the first times we loaded it...you can see how lumpy it is. It looked a lot better once we figured out how to do it.

Cheese. They had asked the Ma's and Pa's not to help push or pull. Which was nice sometimes, but I felt bad too. I would sometimes jump in. I wasn't doing much here, as you can see. :)

The second day we had the pleasure of trail blazing. Using saws and axes, mostly the young men cleared trail for the handcarts to pass through. It was hard, exhausting work. It was difficult too, because not everyone was able to help. There were only so many saws and axes. But we definitely appreciate those who make the trail for others to follow. This picture is some of the trees that were cut and then moved to the side so the handcarts could pass through.

This is a picture of the terrain...hills we climbed and ran down. This picture doesn't show the steepness very well....but believe me, it was steep. I was very grateful for rope.

Pa and Ma smiling for the camera. I think this was the hardest thing Nels and I have done together. We learned a ton and we have a deeper appreciation for the pioneers and our Savior.

Jack Johnson

July 16th we drove to Virginia Beach Ampitheater for my first real concert. We braved the hot, humid weather and arrived about a half an hour before the gates opened.
This picture was taken outside the gate while we were waiting.

We were there so early! Here's the empty stage. We saw Jack Johnson in concert.

Waiting for something to happen...might as well take a picture or two. We had awesome seats. After the pit (standing room only by the stage) we were about 9 rows back and right in the middle!

There were two opening bands. ALO and another one that was terrible. He played the harmonica and it screeched. My ears were hurting and I was begging Jack Johnson to come on stage and save us. Finally, when it was nice and dark Jack Johnson came on stage. Wahoo!

Nels was singing a long to all the songs. I don't remember lyrics, so I just did my goofy little dances. Swaying side to side with the music...I don't have rhythm either! Oh well. We had a great time.

4th of July Weekend

My birthday is the 3rd of July which has its pros and cons. A definite pro is that usually Nels and I don't have to work because of the 4th. A con is most of the time we are travelling somewhere. But this year was great because we travelled to the D.C. temple. I loved every minute there. It was so beautiful and peaceful. We both had a wonderful time. The temple is about 3 hours away from where we live, but thankfully it's a pretty drive with lots of trees. Here's a few pictures:
My attempt at taking "artsy" photos.

Cheese! It was a very sunny day.

Another artsy picture.

It's hard to keep your eyes open, smile and look into the sun. Poor Nels put up with me though.

The 4th of July we travelled to Virginia Beach and spent time on the beach. Then we went to Fort Story and looked at lighthouses.

Taken from the Ground:

Taken from the Top of another lighthouse.

Here's the other lighthouse. Windy staircase almost to the top, then a ladder, then more windy stairs. I didn't count the stairs. It was a great view from the top though. This lighthouse was built in 1791! That's 219 years old! I bought both lighthouse magnets. My fridge is filling up with magnets since we've been here. Lots of things to see and do. Now that's a Pro!

Girls Camp

As many of you know I was asked to be the camp director for our ward here in Virginia. I was extremely nervous about going because I'm not a camper. For our girls camp, growing up in Idaho, we enjoyed cabins, refridgerators and a swimming pool. When I learned that I would be spending 5 nights sleeping in a tent and cooking with limited supplies....well naturally I was nervous. But I survived and I learned a ton! First of all I learned that I CAN do it and it's not as bad as I thought it would be. There were definitely a lot of ups and downs. Some of the downs were wind storms, rain storms, 5 of my 6 girls injured or sick throughout the week and what would camp be if there wasn't any drama? Some of the ups were listening to my girls read scriptures together, playing, laughing and singing in the rain, playing the cup game, hiking, singing the silly camp songs and the best was to listen to their heartfelt testimonies. It was truly an amazing week. Here are a few pics for you to enjoy.

This is a picture of the handouts I made for the young women. The buckets have jolly ranchers in them and I told a story about being a bucket filler (saying positive things to others) and not a bucket dipper (saying negative things to others). There's pretzels (story about prayer), gum (stick close to Heavenly Father by "chewsing" the right.) a pen with index cards (Draw near unto the Lord) and glow sticks (quote about testimonies) and not pictured gummy bears and a reminder to "bear" your testimony often. Here's the 6 young women that came to camp from our ward.
Left to Right:Neicha, Brenna, Tzigane, Brienne, Brooke and Manaia

The girls: some with funny faces....I must not have heard to do a funny face so I'm smiling ear to ear. :)

Sherando Lake. Some girls would swim out to the Island and jump off the rocks.

Aw, relaxation. I obviously posed for this picture. I loved this camp chair and thought if I showed Nels how much I enjoyed it, he might buy me one. Hint, hint. :) I love having my feet up!

Our service project was to pick up garbage around the lake.

Manaia, Brooke, Brienne and me.

Part of the Lower Sherando Lake.

Pudding on faces...this is mild.

A pudding war broke out and many people looked like this:

Luckily, I was holding my camera and pled for mercy. :)

We built this tower so the stake president could give his talk from it. (Like King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon) The white tent is where we all met together. Isn't the scenery beautiful? I love all the trees!

Nels survived without me. He ate things that I don't like all week. So he ate hot wings and talapia. We were super happy to be back together again. That's all for now.

Virginia Beach

Smile, it's Virginia Beach! Nels and I have gone to VA Beach two times since we've been here. We enjoyed both times, but it's starting to get crowded. So I don't know how many more times we'll go. Yesterday we took our bikes and biked the 3 mile length of the beach. It was so pretty being by the beach and watching the waves of the ocean. Here's a few pictures:

The first time we went to Virginia Beach there just happened to be a car show. Old cars that had been restored were on display. It was actually pretty cool to see the cars.

A recurring theme in the cars were dice. Dice hanging from the rear view mirror, on the dashboard, on top of the door locks and tires. Here's a picture collage.

My Sand Art. Ice cream of course! It was a good way to hint to Nels what was on my mind. It worked too. We got a Blizzard at Dairy Queen.

The saying is, "Virginia is for Lovers" We bought matching T-Shirts. :) We are about as cheesy as this picture. Smile and say "Cheese!"

We are really enjoying the beach and biking. There's another beach 20 minutes from where we live. It's called Buckroe Beach. It's smaller than VA Beach, but hey, it's still a beach. We've been biking too. One weekend we went from biking in the woods to relaxing at the beach all in one day. We love the recreational activities around here...