First Day of School

First day of school this year was August 22nd. Kylie and McKenna are in 3rd grade. Kylie has Mrs. Wilcox and McKenna has Mrs. Reese. So far so good!

Tyler is in middle school and in the 6th grade. He was excited about this year because finally, he gets a locker. He's also not really into having his picture taken!

Celebrate Youth

I know I have a post like this every single August, but we are still at that stage where we enjoy (mostly) the celebrate youth day. This year was no different. We jumped on that train very first - and Braden couldn't have been more excited!

Tyler has asked me for a long time how you sign up to be a volunteer. So as soon as we got off the train and before we realized it, Tyler went up to the main booth and asked how. They gave him a shirt and put him right to work. He loved it. He enjoyed being able to do that the most. I understand too as he is getting older, who wants to hang out with his siblings and parents?

We did face painting. A butterfly for Kylie, a football for McKenna and of course Mickey Mouse for Braden.

The hospital had a fun gigantic operation game that all of them enjoyed.

The bumpers that they all enjoyed again. Even Braden got to participate this year. Crashing into people - what isn't to love?

They had a little dig for prizes. I thought he looked so cute in that hat!

Then there was the fire trucks and ambulance. Braden is terrified of sirens and doesn't like them. So it was surprising to me that he jumped into the ambulance without a problem and looked around. We get to the fire truck and it was total hang on tight and wouldn't let go of me. It's amazing we got this picture of him sitting on the step. Hopefully he won't think it quite as scary anymore.

We weren't chosen for any prizes again this year - but maybe next!

BYU Visit

After we dropped Tyler off at my brother's, we decided to drive around Springville and Provo a little and remember the good ol' days! We wanted to eat lunch at BrandX Burgers, but they went out of business - so sad! Then while in Provo we stopped and walked around campus a little and went to Legacy hall. Kind of like an athletic museum of all the great BYU players. We thought it was really cool!

McKenna in front of that wall

We also got to see the team practicing. We didn't see Riley Nelson though and McKenna was pretty sad about that. She loves Riley Nelson.

After Provo, we drove to Sandy and persuaded my sister and her two kids to drive back to Idaho for a week visit. So we packed and loaded everyone up and I had the opportunity to drive Katie's car back. It was fun - I don't get the chance to drive cars much anymore.

While she was here we tried to do fun things. We did get to go to Fat Cats and go bowling and of course play the arcade games. We most just hung out though.

McKenna and Kylie were excited that I rode with Katie because they each got a turn to sit by their cousins. They love Samantha and Morgyn and interacting with them.

My sister will understand the signifigance of this picture the most. But all I can say is she is AWESOME driving on I-15 on a Saturday with a bunch of crazy people! :)

We stayed the night with Katie and her family and got to get some school shopping in - which was good. The funniest part, and I don't mean to embarrass anyone, but we walked into the mall in Sandy and needed to go downstairs. So we hop on the escalator to come down - the girls first and of course Braden jumped on but I am holding his hand so I had to hurry and jump on and Allen got on after me, but poor Tyler was at the top and was afraid to come down. I don't blame him, if you don't ride them often (like never), then it is really scary. Once Allen got to the bottom he went back to the top to help get him on. But it was kind of a funny moment of trying to get him on it.

Long and exhausting week but so much fun!

Jimmer Camp & Tyler's Week Away

At the beginning of August, we drove down to Utah and spent the night at my brother's house. Our purpose was we were leaving Tyler there for the week so he could attend Jimmer Camp. Jimmer Fredette was an AMAZING player at BYU and was drafted into the NBA. An all around awesome person who truly has the values and character to make him a true hero!

We had dinner with my brother and my sister and her family came from Sandy. It was fun to hang out with everyone and let the cousins play. They don't get to do that enough. We left in the early a.m. Tyler was anxious for us to leave so he could have the time with his cousins! Obviously, I wasn't there but my brother was kind enough to get a bunch of pictures for us.

Tyler and Ethan Blake at registration

At a little orientation

Jimmer - who really does run the camp and helps with different skills

Working on different skills

The camp was three days long, and my brother Scott made sure Tyler stayed busy.  From what I know, they got to go swimming, jump at one of those trampoline places, ate at in-n-out burger, did a service project for a neighbor, and he also completed a merit badge. Of course there was time for x-box and wii - and he really wants to get one of their games. A couple more of the major highlights was climbing Y mountain and lagoon.

Ethan, Tyler and Aunt Emilie

 

Tyler and Ethan

Tyler, Ethan, Scott and Emilie

Tyler looks thrilled, I know. But making a Y - since they were climbing Y mountain

The view from the Y - I love it!

There was a fun parade - lots of candy

Then there was the day at Lagoon. I told Ty to at least try some rides, which he did and I am so impressed! He said he had a great time and wants to go again next summer. One funny thing was I guess Tyler compared Utah people to Idaho people while he was down there. So at closing time of Lagoon, Tyler was with my sister-in-law and her sister-in-law and all of the sudden a rat went scurrying by their feet. They started screaming and Tyler just calmly walked away. He thought it was funny that Utah people are afraid of rats. I think it's funny because it's not like we have seen a lot of rats. Don't know why he is so calm about it.

Right after Rattlesnake Rapids - nice and wet

All in all it was a great week and he had so much fun. He still talks about it! He was definitely worn out and just wanted to sleep for a few days - which is great too!  He learned a lot at Jimmer camp and likes to show off his moves and even taught us a few of them during a family home evening. He's already looking forward to having his cousins come up here next summer!

Girls Camp

Girls Camp was a ward one this year and we went and stayed at Reunion Flats - on the way up to Grand Targhee ski resort. We began on Monday, July 23 (my birthday) and stayed through Thursday the 26th.  I have to say that I was not excited to be leaving on my birthday but I was spoiled rotten. Amazing people who did everything they could to make it an awesome day.

The first day at camp was really low key. We really did just do nothing except craft and drink water. Lots and lots and lots of water in preparation for hike the following day.

The theme of camp this year was "I can do hard things."  We really feel that so many youth in the ward and in the area don't realize this power they have that they can do hard things. That we all have hard things in life, or will have hard things in life - and there is power in knowing that we can do it.

The main reason I dreaded camp this year was because of the hike that was planned for the 24th. It was decicded to hike table rock - which if googled you will find out that it is a very strenuous hike and you begin at 7000 ft elevation and actually climb 4100 ft to 1100 ft elevation.

I know I was not completely prepared physically, although I had been doing a lot of Zumba and walking, but I am also terrified of heights and I was not looking forward to that either.

Since we have a lot of young women, and we actually had quite a few priesthood that joined us, we split into four different groups and each group was given extra water and bear spray. Two of the groups climbed up face - which is a lot steeper but shaves off three miles one way. I was one of the groups who chose to go up huckleberry way and it is seven miles each way - which doesn't sound bad, but trust me, it is.

For whatever reason, our group had the least amount of priesthood and our group just kind of disentegrated. I ended up being with an older couple who had just returned from a mission and he was having a hard time hiking up. There were three rivers we had to cross and it was exhausting. Tender mercy however is that every single weather report said it would be in the 80's and sunny, it ended up being much cooler and cloudy. What a blessing. The couple I was with, he actually taught some sort of outside science like class for many years in the high school and he knew every single plant and flower. I was blessed to learn a lot and saw things that I probably otherwise wouldn't have.

About half way up I started experiencing extreme leg cramping in my legs. OUCH! I began sipping on the gatorade I had and water, but it was making it really hard to walk with these charley horses. At the top of the switch backs (I had been hiking for a little over 4 hours at this point), I began experiencing altitude sickness and the higher I went, the worse I felt. I finally found a rock and sat down. The nice older couple I was with tried to make me eat, but my stomach couldn't handle the thought of eating. Tried sipping on some water, but I was quickly running out of water, and I didn't have enough and the people with the extra water (and bear spray) were who knows where! I decided to be done. It was starting to rain and the lightning began and I knew that there was still about a hour left to get to the top and then the hike down, my legs and feeling dizzy and wanting to throw up,  I knew I was as far as I could go.

This was such an emotional experience for me and I felt so horrible about not making it to the very top, but looking back, I have decided to focus on what I did accomplish. Four hours of hiking a few thousand feet up, crossing rivers - that is pretty dang awesome. I could have chosen not to try, but I did. Here are some pictures from close to the top of the trees. This is literally towards the very top of a mountain.

As I was descending, I took some more just so I could compare where I was.

The hike down was quite memorable. The older couple I was with decided to come back with me and I was glad they did because I didn't want to run into any wildlife all alone. Plus like I said, he was having a hard time and was grateful to have an excuse to come down.

After we'd been hiking down for a couple of hours I saw some crazy people who just pitched a tent literally on the side of a mountain. Then the couple I was with said "Look, there's a moose." So we stopped and started watching the moose for a little bit and it begins raining more steadily. As we were watching the moose we saw more movement and at first thought it was an elk, but it was actually a grizzly bear. On the mountain and there was not a fence. The lady said - and this is an exact quote - "We love bear encounters!" At that point I am trying to decide what I would do if it starts charging at us and feeling frustrated that the person with the bear spray was who knows where! :) The gentleman starts hiking towards the bear so he can look at it better and I just stayed where I was not feeling too excited about our situation! Finally after awhile he came back and we left. In hindsight, I should have pulled out my camera, but I wasn't too excited about this at that time!  We made it down to the bottom of the trailhead and were there for only about 5 minutes until the first group came down.

The rest of camp was really laid back. We did have an opportunity to go and shoot shotguns at clay pigeons. That was fun. Dr. Walker, my dentist was actually the one helping with all of that. On my first try I shot and hit that clay flying disc. It was awesome!  We did a lot of crafts and of course tried to heal from the hike!

We had a pajama parade and the leaders were the ninja turtles - and as crazy as it is, I included a picture of that as well.

I love these ladies! Not everyone is pictured, but the feeling is the same towards all of them. I feel so blessed to have served in young womens with them. They are amazing and each have qualities that I hope to learn someday!

Soccer

Another great year of soccer. The girls did awesome again this year, but even better than last year. Giving them that one year to practice and understand went a long way. McKenna scored quite a few goals this year and was a really great goalie. Kylie was so good at getting the ball down the field and assisting. It was awesome to watch!

McKenna

Kylie

Kylie helping to get the ball out of their goal area

McKenna kicking the ball away from the goal

Basketball Camp

Back in June, Madison High School held a basketball camp for girls. McKenna begged and begged and it was a great bargain for only $30. It was a week long and each day during the week they had little things to either dress up in or do and you could win prizes. So for wacky hair day, we did McKenna's hair but she wasn't too happy about it. She was really worried that she was going to look like a freak. Long story short, after MANY tears, this is what I did to her. Before you feel too bad for her, just know that she did win the prize for wacky hair day!

 

It was a really great camp and McKenna loved it. She gained some new skills and honestly, can outshoot and outplay any of the boys around here her age and some who are even older. She got a t-shirt which she was really excited about. Great opportunity!

I had to throw in another picture of Braden. During the same week as basketball camp, there was a ward carnival/fundraiser and he got his face painted with a snake on it. He was beyond proud if it!