Issue 230 October 7th - 13th

Witch Festival

 

For field trip Friday this week the girls choose the Witch Festival at Gardner Village. Nothing like a few dozen witches to get you into the Halloween mood.

Antelope Island

The scouts headed out for a rainy adventure on Antelope Island. They lucked out with a pavillion, so they used our 12 man tent as a wind screen and stayed as dry as possible. The next morning they attacked a 10 mile bike ride including a 23% grade hill. Scouts can do hard things!

Issue 229 September 30th - October 6th

SUU Shakespeare Competition by Steve L.

Last week I had the opportunity to travel to cedar city with a group of other teens for the SUU Shakespeare competition. Basically an event where over three thousand high-school students come from all over the west to preform scenes from Shakespeare's works in a competition. I can't tell you how much fun it was to be on the SUU campus flooded with Shakespeare loving teens for four whole days. Eating at great restaurants every night, seeing play after play (Hamlet was amazing), living, breathing, eating and sleeping Shakespeare for four days straight. Loads of fun!

General Conference

Wow! What a thrilling General Conference! The new missionary age minimums have rocked our world around here. Whitney started crying when she heard, she was so happy. Before the first session was over, she and all her girl friends and half her BYU ward had committed, via text, to each other that they are going as soon as possible. I've always thought that Whitney would serve, but at 19 it make so much sense. I'm kind of jealous, come to think of it!

Whitney's first facebook post shortly after the announcement: My life GPS: "Recalculating"

Issue 228 September 23rd - 29th

Zoo with Friends

If you ask the kids, they'll tell you one of the best things about homeschool is Field Trip Friday! We recently went to the zoo with our dear friends. One of the highlights was the new polar bear exhibit. We had voted for the bonding to build it 4 years ago and even had a sign in our yard, so the kids felt responsible for helping bring it about. What a majestic creature. This is an underwater photo that Daniel took.

Another highlight was the bird show! I don't know why we've never managed to see it before, loving birds as much as we do. Truly a delightful show.

50 Mile Bike Ride!

Daniel is working toward his Boy Scout Eagle award, and one of the big hurdles left was the 50 mile bike ride! Dad invited the other scouts and they rode 50 miles on the Rail Trial in Park City. They left at 5:30 in the morning from our house and were gone 12 hours round trip! The bike ride started out a little rocky, since they hit a patch of thorns right off and had to repair or replace several tires before moving on. But, on a gorgeous, cool day they accomplished all 50 miles in under 8 hours! Eagle Scout, here we come!

Issue 227 September 16th - 22nd

The Denali Award

Steve earned his Scouting Denali award, the highest award in Varsity Scouting, at the most recent court of honor. Just look at all those badges!

It was an honor to have Grandpa attend. He is developing a new training program for the Varsity scouts with the LDS church, so he knew what the Denali award was all about! I asked the bishop's wife what the next award or milestone is, since she's been through it all before. She said, "Mission!"

Temple Trip

Whitney and her close friends finally had a chance to finish the last two temples on their Utah temple tour. Manti and ironically, nearby Salt Lake. This was quite a feet now that college had started and the girls are all at different ones. With Jeremy leaving in a few days for the MTC, they fit it in and accomplished visiting all 16 temples (or temple sites if they are under construction.)

The BIG Surprise

 

 

We surprised Steve L. BIG time for his 16th Birthday.  Mom and Dad left on their Friday night date as usual, but really we were picking up the cake and setting up the park. A bunch of his friends met at the park near our home and hid in the gully for him to arrive. We called with a story that he need to go babysit his cousin while his Uncle was at the emergency room with his other cousin. Whitney, who was home for the big event, offered to drive him. They didn't make it far, since they were ambushed on the way by all his friends.

After chasing him down, they all gave him a big group hug!

Cake and ice cream, games, thoughtful and funny presents at the park. When it got dark we transferred to our house. Since Steve L. and Bilbo Baggens share a birthday, they watched the first Lord of the Rings out on the deck. Lots of m&m's, homemade kettle corn and fun was had!

Issue 226 September 9th - 15th

Congratulations Mr. President!

 

Daniel is attending private school 3 mornings a week and is really enjoying. He decided he wanted to try out for class officer. He had to have letters of recommendation and be interviewed by the school board. He was selected to be class president for the second semester. Hail to the Chief!

 

Issue 225 - Sept. 2nd - 8th

Labor Day Fun

 

For Labor Day we traveled to the gorgeous Heber Valley. We started the day with a refreshing, small town 5K. Mom and Dad ran while the kids cheered us on. Then it was on to a small town, BIG breakfast, complete with cowboy singing.

 

Then we all went to the annual Sheepdog Festival. It's so fascinating to see the skilled dogs lead the sheep through the course. We also saw a police dog presentation that was amazing and left us with a new appreciation for law enforcement and their K9 companions. The girls enjoyed seeing the sled dogs and the petting zoo!

BYU Football

Whitney has a job this year managing several consession booths during BYU football games. All the more reasons to have season tickets! It's fun to see her working at the games and visit with her on her breaks. GO COUGARS!