2011 First Day of School

Daniel and I have the opportunity to spend the whole year this year, one-on-one. 12 years old is a critical development time for those with dyslexia, and we felt the best choice was to spend a year focusing on his education. We had a wonderful week of long walks, goal setting, biking to the library, reading "Where the Red Fern Grows", going out to lunch. The harder stuff will start this week, but the focus our first week relationship. Here's to a great year!

Janey started 4th grade this week! She finally gets to fulfill her life long wish of riding the bus everyday. It was strange to see her off for the day, after having her home for so long, but she is bright and loves her new teacher.

Ellie also started first grade this week. Above is just before her first day. Below is just after returning from her first day. Ellie has a wonderful new teacher and is doing great with her reading.

100 Meter Swim by Daniel

For scouts, to earn my 1st Class Rank I had to swim 100 meters and I trained for two months. I finally got it passed off and I felt tired after I had done it. It felt awesome to get it done after so much time practicing my swimming.

Issue 171

Happy 17th!

Hard to believe Whitney is 17 and a senior this year! We realized that next year she'll have to come home from college to celebrate her birthday! She ordered steak and sweet potato bake for her dinner meal. I had to hurry up and research how to cook both but they turned out delicious. We followed up our party watching a movie of her choice, and then celebrated again at Grandma's house. Happy Birthday Whitney!

Temple Baptisms

Daniel and Dad did an early morning session of Temple Baptisms this week. Daniel really enjoyed his first time to the temple to do service.

First Day of High School

Wow, 2 High Schoolers this year! (And ouch on the school fees!)

Whitney is starting her senior year and is Student Body Secretary. This fall will be full of college and scholarship applications.

Steve L. is starting his freshman year. Many of his homeschool friends attend the same high school so he has a built in social crowd already. He's also excited to be starting seminary. Here's to a great year!

Shakespeare Festival

Well, a little while ago me and the Shakespeare group went down to Cedar City for the Cedar City Shakespeare Festival! It was awesome! We saw two of their productions over the period of two days. The first (after a nice dinner at sizzler) was Richard III. Bloody and gory. Decapitated heads and deception. Death and destruction. Need I say more? The second, a matinee performance of A Midsummer Nights Dream. It was just about the polar opposite of Richard III. It was absolutely hilarious! To really get it though, you would have to go see them preform. I also got some pretty cool swords from the gift shop.

Issue 170

Twin Lakes by Daniel

I went on the Twin Lakes hike with the scouts. We had to pack differently because we needed our packs to be as light as possible because it was a very difficult trail. At Twin Lakes we caught 6 fish and cooked and ate them. After dinner we played Ghost in the Graveyard. For lunch we had tuna and crackers and beef jerky. For dinner we had two packs of Ramen and rolls. And for breakfast we had pop tarts. And after the hike we went to a good restaurant and bought hamburgers and fries and delicious shakes. When we got back we hopped in the shower and took a nap and then we finally unpacked our packs.

Education Week by Whitney

This week I went to BYU education week with a bunch of my cousins. We stayed at my Aunt's house over night and then spent the day on campus. As my school of choice it was great to be at the school all day and figure out how to navigate the campus. My grandpa was one of the presenters and he did a great job, it was fun to attend his class and learn from him. Some of the other presenters that I enjoyed included John Bytheway and Hank Smith who both have a gift for presenting to younger people. I hope I am able to go again next year.

Issue 169

20 Years!

So sad Alesha was gone for this photo! Jennifer, can I get the one from the night before with Alesha in it?

This weekend was my 20 year High School reunion! It was delightful to catch up with so many old friends and acquaintances, and see how people had "turned out". The highlight however, was a sleepover at Alesha's cabin with my 6 closest friends. We have stayed close throughout the years, but it had been a long time since we had all been together. We visited nonstop through the night, finally turning in about 4 am. We could have kept going, and did the following morning. The best part was going through Denise's shoebox of high school photos. What were we thinking with that hair and those sweaters?! I am so blessed to have such amazing, talented, beautiful, virtuous, loving friends in my life.

Issue 168

Uintah High Adventure Base

Well, all I can say is, I'm all camped out. After joining my brother on a week-long camp two weeks before, and then going on my own recently, I feel like I'm going to drop dead. Don't get me wrong, it was a ton of fun, but that much camping can run someone into the ground. Anywho, we went camping up at the Uintah High Adventure Base, up the East-Fork-of-the-Bear canyon. Hot, wooded and full of bugs like you wouldn't believe. (Nothing a boatload of bug-repellent couldn't fix...) With a wide variety of activities to choose from and a lot of down-time, you couldn't help but have fun. Among the activities were action archery, mountain boarding, (got a nasty scar from that one) team building, (really fun) medieval engineering, (our trebuchet was the best) and shotgun shooting. Plus a dozen others. The food was great, the weather was fantastic, (Except for the first night. Hoo boy.) and the compitetion in the card games was brutal. All around it was the best camp ever!!

Bear Lake Fun

This week was our 2nd annual Bear Lake family reunion. Two beach days, paddle boating, ski doing, smores and glow sticks, jiffy pop popcorn over the fire, mini golf, swimming, go cart racing, playing wacky sixes, yummy food, great company and 28 inch monster pizza. Can't wait till next year!