There's a Teen In The House

It is official. We have a teen in the house.  Be prepared for acne and crying--wait, those were my teen years.  It is hard to believe that McKay is 13.  That sure seems old.  (I guess 37 is REALLY old then, right?)  We had a great day celebrating McKay's big day.  Here are a few highlights:

McKay and his brothers showing his age.

McKay reading a birthday card he received a from his Grandparents that are away serving a mission.  They also sent him some money that he used to by some Legos.

Kayden giving McKay the traditional "bonk" on the head.

For his birthday, McKay received a cactus (he inherited his love for cacti from his Great Grandma White), some pots to replant his cacti, a set of books, and a ticket to go see Wicked in a couple of weeks.  He is also going to have a birthday party in a few weeks pending the repair and updating of the Christa McAuliffe Space Center.

Singing Happy Birthday.  Above McKay is with some of his favorite people.  Just as we were about to have cake, McKay's good friend Taylor came over to borrow something.  We invited him to stay for cake.  Of course he said yes.

13 Things We Love About McKay

1. He is old enough to babysit.  Nothing better than a willing and free babysitter.  Plus, he does a good job.
2. McKay is easy going and laid back.  He rolls with the punches (especially the ones he gets from Kayden).
3. He is one smart kid.  His teachers have only good things to say about him and his report card shows how hard he works.
4. He does his best in all things.  We have a great looking lawn because of him (I am sure his services are for hire if you ask him and I am willing to share).  He takes great pride in doing things well.
5. He loves his brothers--despite all his teasing.
6. He still gives me hugs.
7. His love for playing and watching sports.  It has been fun watching the Olympics with him the last couple of weeks.  We also enjoy watching BYU sports together.  He is also playing tackle football this fall.
8. He honors his Priesthood.  I enjoy watching him pass the sacrament each week.
9. The amount of food he eats makes me smile--and be amazed.  Man he can put food away.  I guess that explains the huge amount of growth he has had over the last year.  (He is taller than me now and wears a men's size 11 1/2 shoe!)
10. His smile and giggle.  He will be getting his braces off in the next few weeks.
11. His love for reading.  He and his team got second place in his school's Battle of the Books competition this last year.  I can't keep enough books on the shelf for him.  He is currently reading the Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites series which is one of his favorites.  Another of his favorite series is the Leven Thumps series.
12. Give him a challenge and he will accept it with full force.  He won the Freedom Falcon Award last year at school and it was quite the challenge.
13. His freckles.  They give his face so much personality.

Happy Birthday McKay.  I am so glad that you are part of our family.  We think you are amazing and are so grateful for you.

Family Fun

We made our annual 4th of July trip up to Idaho Falls again this year to spend the holiday with my sisters and brother and nieces and nephews.  It was a great weekend and we made a lot of memories:

The first night we were there we went to the Idaho Chuckers Baseball game to watch my niece Marissa sing the National Anthem.  She did an amazing job.  She brought tears to my eyes.

The next day was the 4th so we went to a ward breakfast and flag ceremony and then a parade in the morning.  That evening we went to dinner and the amazing fireworks show that Malaleuca puts on each year (the biggest west of the Mississippi).
We went river rafting down the Hoback River the next day and had quite the adventure.  Sadly, I did not get any pictures of this.  Needless to say, we lost three passengers out of one boat and had a foot of water in the other boat by the day's end.
We were also able to go up to a ranch owned by a friend of my brother's.  It was a beautiful place that was great for fishing (since the ranch had it's own pond stocked with fish) and four wheeling.  This time I remembered my camera:

We went on a four wheeling ride to an old abandoned lead mine.  Near the entrance of the mine there is a beautiful look out point.  Above is part of the gang: (Top) Samantha, Rebecca, Paul, Sara, (Bottom) Kayden, Camron Meaghan and Alexa.

Kayden and I in the old mine tunnels.  It was dark in there and we only had one flashlight!

We decided to go back and get everyone else so they could see the mine as well.  Above Josh is exploring the mine tunnels with his cousins.  (This time we grabbed more flashlights.)

Jaxon was cautious and decided to observe the mine from the outside.  The entrance was pretty neat and there was a nice cool breeze coming from it.

Here is Camron and Kayden ready to go for a ride with Uncle Paul.

Jaxon and I getting ready for long ride.

Kayden loves riding with his dad.  He wanted to help him drive.

This is my niece Sara and McKay just before our long four wheel ride.

This is Sara and McKay after the four wheeling ride.  The trails were dusty and they got dirty!

This is Kayden and Jeremy after the ride.  They got dirty as well.  If you click on the picture, you can see that Kayden even has dirt in his teeth. 

We had a good time fishing at the ranch as well.  Anyone who wanted to catch a fish, caught one.  Here is Josh with a fish that he caught with his dad.

McKay being patient while fishing.

Jaxon reeling one in.

Becca caught the elusive golden trout.  Plus she looks so stylish.

It was a great trip.  We had a great time together and we made lots of memories.  It was a great way to spend the 4th of July.  The boys loved being with their cousins and Aunts and Uncles.  We did miss Grandma and Grandpa who are busy serving a mission and can't wait until we can all make memories together again!

Tibble Fork

When our Texas cousins (Camron and Meaghan) were here, we took them up the canyon to Tibble Fork.  It was beautiful up there.  We set up some umbrellas for shade, ate a picnic lunch, played in the mud and water and enjoyed the beauty of the mountains.

It was nice to relax in the shade with my sister and watch the kids play.

Camron, Josh and Meaghan playing the water.  They loved looking for "wishing rocks" and other cool rocks and shells.  (Notice Meaghan's head is pointed down.  She had quite the collection by the end of the day.)

Josh found a deep section of the river and jumped in.

Kayden found a great wishing rock!

Eating a picnic lunch in the shade.....and showing off muscles.

The kids played in the mud and were DIRTY by the end of the day.

We got tubes and went floating down the river.  Josh looks pretty relaxed riding down with his dad.

Jaxon found another deep hole along the river and I dared him to jump in.  (The water was cold!  I missed his jump with the camera, so I got an after shot.)

Kayden and Josh floating down with dad.

Kayden loved riding in the tube with his dad.

Josh being cool.

We had a great time and plan to go back and visit Tibble Fork often.  We loved being there with our cousins and aunt.  It couldn't have been a better day.

Sleepovers

This summer we had lots of visitors.  (More to come on that later.)  We had to shuffle some sleeping arrangements around and Kayden ended up having many guests sleep in his room.  It made for some great pictures at night:

Kayden had Josh sleep in his room one night.  When we went in to check on the kids we found Kayden in the above position with a pillowcase over his head.  When I asked him about it the next morning, he told me that it was because Josh was snoring and he put the pillowcase over his head so he couldn't hear it.  (It looks pretty sound proof to me, no?)

Another night we went to check on the kids and found Kayden was still playing dress up.  Arg!  (He also had decided to sleep in his underwear that night.  Hence the reason he looks naked.)

And then another night, Kayden and his cousin Meaghan couldn't decide whose turn it was to sleep in the bed, so they decided together that they would both sleep in it.  We decided it wasn't worth the fight and they both slept in the bed.  It does make for a cute picture.

We had a great time with our cousins this summer and LOVED having house guests.  We can't wait for them to come visit us again!

TIFIE Scout Camp

Jeremy is our ward's scout master (sigh).  Thankfully, McKay is one of his scouts and it has been great!  This year they went to scout camp down by Mount Pleasant in mid June.  They had a great week and had lots of stories to tell when they got home.  I missed them terribly and was glad when they got home on Saturday.

They worked on many merit badges and participated in many camp activities.  The camp even had a swimming pool that they made good use of (think shower replacement).  Above, McKay is trying his hand at axe throwing.  Fear for you life.

Some of the boys hanging out and being silly.  One boy (in orange) is pretending to be sick, but really two kids threw-up during camp--one being the one in orange (at least he made it to the bushes) and another one at 3:00 in the morning (he didn't make it to the bushes and new bedding had to be sent to camp along with a new roll of paper towels).

The boys with the spirit stick that they won a couple of times.  (I think they had lots of spirit because of all the sugar that was consumed throughout the week.)  It was a very successful camp and all the boys and leaders had a great time.

Camping at Tinney Flats

At the beginning of the summer we went camping up Santaquin Canyon to Tinney Flats with a bunch of friends in our ward. We had a great time (despite the fact that I got no sleep).  It was my first time camping with my boys--not in a trailer. (I know, audible gasp.)  We loved it and hope we can go camping again soon.

Josh and Kayden with their friends hanging out by the stream that ran through our camp site.

 
 Kayden having a great time while hiking.  (Dad!  Take my picture!)

They (Jeremy and the boys along with others) hiked to a cool cave.  McKay is in this picture, but you can only see his head.

Josh and his friend Jack inside the cave.  Josh is making a typical Josh face.

McKay in the cave with Kayden's friend Jake.

I had to add another of Josh making another of his crazy faces.

Eating dinner.  It was yummy and I didn't have to cook it!  Notice the look of pleasure on my face.

Hanging out by the fire.  Nothing better when you are camping.

Kayden, Josh and Chase (Kayden's friend) with their bows that Sister Kano made for them.  The bows were a huge hit!

For Sister Stenson

Jaxon's primary teacher's wife has breast cancer.  She has been undergoing treatment the last few months and consequently has lost her hair.  One Sunday, Jaxon's primary class had a substitute.  He challenged Jaxon's class (a class of all boys) to shave their heads in honor of their teacher's wife, Sister Stenson.  Jaxon took the challenge to heart and shaved his head:

We were proud of Jaxon in showing his love for his teacher and his wife.  When Sister Stenson found out about what Jaxon had done, she had tears in her eyes.  Jaxon is a special boy with a tender heart.