Friday, March 21, 2014

Trek 2014

This is how Cary, Braeden, and I spent part of our spring break. Our stake put together a pioneer trek for the youth ages 14 to 18.  Cary and I were "Ma and Pa" to 7 kids and Braeden was put in a family with a Ma and an Auntie.  It was an awesome experience.

Our kids: Tyler, Kiley, Riley, Laurel, Landon, Jared, and Thomas. We had the most awesome kids. They were so kind and well mannered. They were hard workers and did not complain one time. I love them!!





Along the trail we kept smelling onions. Sure enough there were wild onions growing. Thomas and Jared were determined to pick every one along the way. Thomas even had a few as a snack.





I didn't see Braeden to often. So I had to snag a quick pic. I totally look like a tired pioneer woman. :)











The water at the river crossing was deeper than I expected it to be and it was soooooo cold.




Before we set out on our trek each family was asked to make a flag. Our kids came up with our family motto: #YOTO - You Only Trek Once. I thought it turned out super cute. By the end of trek they added "EAT OUR DUST" to our flag because they were always so fast. They were racing other handcarts at one point and passing other families up all the time.  We were actually the very first handcart that made it to Zion.

As tiring and hard as it was we had a great time with lots of learning experiences along the way. Being my second trek, I told Cary that I would never be doing this ever again. But to be honest, if I was asked again there is no way I could say no. We have the most incredible youth and any opportunity I can be with them I am totally in. I count it an honor and a privilege to serve with them.







Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Eagle Project

Braeden chose to build handcarts for our stake youth pioneer trek for his Eagle Scout project.  He organized several activities over the course of a few months to cut wood, put the handcarts together, and then oil them. He had lots of help from members of our ward and stake.  He is so happy to be finished...now on to the paperwork.



















The finished handcarts...

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

life with Joshua....


is never boring.


Monday, March 03, 2014

sammy phone home

Kate took this picture of Sammy. It reminds me of that scene in ET where ET is hiding amongst all the stuffed animals. So cute!


Friday, February 28, 2014

miles logged

This month I ran 91.44 miles. Tomorrow begins a new month and it is Saturday which means it is my long run day...9 miles.  It is going to be hard. I hope I don't die.

Monday, February 24, 2014

One Direction or Bust

Kate's best friend, Adria celebrated her birthday on Saturday. Adria was sent on a scavenger hunt to find her gift from her parent's. Little did Kate know that she was going to be surprised as well.  Both Adria and Kate were surprised with tickets to see One Direction in August. So, the weekend of Kate's birthday we will be taking a girl's trip down to Houston to see 1D.






Kate has talked about nothing else since Saturday night. She even wrote an essay titled "Our Trip"detailing what will happen that weekend. This is what she wrote:

We will pack up and get all our entertainment systems. Get in the car and begin our road trip. On our way we will giggle and squeal about it. We will plan out where and what we will do. When we get to the hotel we will freshen up and do our posters and SCREAM!!!  When we get to the concert we will look for "Niall security guards". We will also see how crazy the other fans are and see if they can beat our faness.  When the actual concert starts we will stand the whole time and video and take pics and get proof that we were there. We will also get t-shirts and souvenirs. I can't wait!!!!!!!! 1D


Thursday, February 20, 2014

we've got a driver...almost

This boy is happy, happy, happy. He got his permit yesterday and is on his way to driving on his own.


Tuesday, February 18, 2014

cake pops, cake pops, and more cake pops

The young women in my ward made cake pops to earn money for girls camp.  We made almost 1200 cake pops.  It was insane. I think it is safe to say that we will NEVER do that again. It was fun and we did really well but it was A LOT of work.  Sooooo happy it is over!












Saturday, February 08, 2014

braeden

"I am so hungry, I need to go play some soccer." - Braeden

Yep...makes sense to me.

Thursday, February 06, 2014

unofficial snow day

It started snowing this morning around 6:45am. School is still in session and I had every intention of sending the kids to school. In fact, Kate and Braeden are both at school. But when I pulled out of the drive way to take Braeden and Josh to school we started slipping and sliding. After I dropped Braeden off I turned around and brought Joshua home. I am a wimp. I will be the first to admit that this Texan is horrible at driving in any type of winter weather. I figure better safe than sorry. Besides it isn't very often that it's just Josh and I at home alone together. Love it!