The Heber camp Faith Walk

The youth group was going to the Heber Valley camp Faith Walk.  They went last year, but this year they didn't have enough leaders to go with them.  They invited Jer and I specifically.  We offered Ada a spot as a leader too and we all went.  It was a very long day.... We started the day by getting a filling for Evelyn at the dentist's office, then to get the cakes and gluten free pizza for Seth's birthday party.  Then off to clean the house and mow the lawn.... then over to Heber.  Seth was not excited and very tired.  But he held my hand and as soon as the headphones went on he felt the spirit and had a great time.  I asked him afterwards how his birthday was.  He told me that the best part was the faith walk. Ada was asked last minute to give a talk about it in church.  The things that she said that stuck with me was that your relationship with the savior is personal, that she is very loved (and she definitely is), and that Christ helps us with all our fears and struggles.

We all made it through Ada's talk and then fell asleep.... we are tired!

 

YM's camp

The next week was YM's camp.  It's Seth's first and maybe Sam's last.... I'm glad that they had a chance to go together.  They were so cute.  They each got there and went to chat with their friend groups.  Sam said that the testimony meeting was amazing.  They also did a 7 mile hike out to a lake and did a survival test... they had to build a fire, structure and boil water.  Sam's group won that challenge but failed the putting up a tent challenge.  I asked Seth how it went when he got back, he said, "Amaze, amaze, amaze, amaze!" (which is a quote from his current favorite movie 'Hail Mary Project'.)

While they were gone, Beth took Evelyn and I to an art night at BYU museum.  It was about movement in lines and making personal works of art as testimony to share with others.

Ada and Jer went hiking with the Tarkingtons.  Timp had too much snow, so they only made it about 1/3 of the way up.

Jer cleaned the garage and the cats were worried about all the activity out there.

Evelyn passed the drivers test after spending two days reading the drivers manual.  Now to drive together a lot.  She was so nervous driving home for the first time.  I'm glad that we're on to the next step.

I went and got Tigress shaved for the very hot summer.

 

Ward Youth Conference

Sam and Evelyn got to go to Ward Youth Conference this last week. They did lots of hiking, swimming, fishing, etc.... It was a great time.  My neighbor Emilee said, "It was fun getting to know your kids better and see their personalities for longer than just on Sunday or Wednesday."  I feel like that's a true statement. We don't know someone by meeting.  We know that better by being together often or always. 

They came home happy, tired and dirty.

 

Seth's Ordination

Seth was ordained a Deacon on Sunday.  This cute boy is both excited and nervous about growing up.  I think he's got this and will be an amazing contribution to humankind.  He's a sweet and happy boy.  I love to be with him. He is very capable in many ways even when he's hesitant to be adventurous on his own.  I think as he grows, he will find his boldness. He was teary as his grandpas, dad and brother joined Bro Yancey to give him the Priesthood and urged him to serve those around him.  He's my sweet teddy bear hearted boy. Then he went to get his temple recommend appointment done.  He's ready for our first temple appointment in about a week or so. 

 

FSY

Ada and Sam went to FSY again this year.  We were all quick to jump on it when our Stake was offered any open spots on our off year.  Ada went to Cedar City and Sam went to St George. Jer took the day and drove them down.  Then Friday, we all drove down and stayed the night to pick them up Sat morning.  They had a great time.  Sam had a really cool testimony meeting and Ada LOVED being part of the choir. It was a really hot week, but we all made it back healthy and safe. Sam said the day that they did the outdoor games, it was 110.

 

last of the last month

Sam's first self portrait.  Not bad.  He did the ears really well. He needed to place the ears higher and the mouth higher and smaller. But not bad.

A cat at her melting point

nappers

Jer hosted the young men to talk about smelting aluminum.  They had this little leftover while cleaning up.  I think he looks like Randall from Monster's Inc.

 

Travelling Tabernacle

So three of our kids got to volunteer to be part of the travelling tabernacle.  Seth and I got to go visit them and see the event.  Jer had to work late.  Between shuttling kids, being the Elders Quorum president and his physical therapy.... he's had to do a lot of make up time for his job.  

I didn't get a picture of Ada, but she and Sam were both presenters for the Camp of Israel.  They did such a spectacular job.  I'm so proud of both of them.

Evelyn, Alana and Kimmy were the presenters at the laver. Such a cute little girl! She's not so little.  She's 12, but I feel like she's still so young.

Our neighbor, Seis was the presenter in this room.

 

Sam's YM's encampment

Sam went to FSY, came home, packed, went biking and hiking with the Morrisse, Tarkington and Hansen cousins and then sent him straight off to YM's camp.  He's been tired and grumpy, but he loved every minute of it and he said it was very spirit building. 

Sam went to FSY, came back for two days and then off to YM's encampment with our ward.  He loved both.  He said that FSY was so amazing and spiritual.  At camp, he fished, played games, whittled, hung out with friends, etc... There was a little bit of drama, but luckily it didn't involve him.   He was happy to come home, shower and relax by the time he was done with these 2 weeks.

 

The last two weeks

 The last two weeks have been full.  Not hard, just full.  Haircuts all around, Ada and Sam's work shifts, Evelyn ballet practice, end of school year homework/tests, orthodontist appointments and allergy shots for Sam.  Then soccer games, Stake Conference where our Stake was reorganized, a latino birthday party, Jer's physical therapy, daycare, a cousin birthday party and two new kittens.  We also had our water heater replaced and we've hired someone to fix the sprinkler lines that were broken installing the new fence. Mother's Day was yesterday too. I'm trying not to skate past it.  I get overwhelmed at this time of year and try to skip both it and my birthday to make it easier.  Jeremy didn't let me and made it a good day. We took a walk, he made dinner, we played with kittens and legos...

Mayra wanted to celebrate her birthday down in the valley. I reserved a cultural hall and Jer humored me and came with me to an all spanish dance party.  And yes, we did dance.  We even got applauded and everyone got a kick out of the gringos dancing the cumbia. It was fun and we left at 9... when the party was only getting started.

Ada had her last choir concert.  She has a sweet and mature voice. She was in chamber choir this year, but she's trying out percussion next year.  Hopefully she's going to like it as much as choir. She figures if she wants to go back to choir in 11th grade then she'll try out with the choir teacher to get back into choir.

This is what the Primary talked about on Mother's Day. I thought that was fun that Virginia shared this with us after.

They have a new medication to deal with EoE. I'm debating what to do.  His last medication was rough on him, but his primary doctor and allergist are both saying that this one is a spectacular opportunity for Sam. We'll research and pray about it.

Combined YW/YM

I took Evelyn in to get her hair cut and deep conditioned. She enjoyed it so much, relaxed and fell asleep.

Dancing Gringos

My friend, Mia.

Sam asked for a real flute for his birthday.  A silver flute with holes and an offset G key. I bought his first flute for $20 off the classifieds then spent another $40 to get it cleaned and serviced.  He's excelled and loved playing.  We did some research and found a professional flute with all the things that he had on his wish list for $800 off on ebay.  It was a demo model from a store liquidation. Sam said he's going to help pay for it and was so cute.  All his referee money goes directly to his savings account, but he gave me all the cash in his wallet to start with.  I love that he has the desire to learn more and have a better instrument to do that with. Well done Sam. The one that I saw on ebay that I thought was so neat was a $5000 Japanese flute that was everything he wanted except for the offset G.  It was being sold for $800. That was Sam's second choice if we didn't get the one that we did.

Snack time at the daycare.

Sam trying out his new flute.  He's going to need to keep practicing. The sound is much better, but there are technical things that he's going to have to develop to play with the professional flute.

Seth asked for Sam's old flute to learn how to play it.

Celebrating Ada's choir with a trip to Handels ice cream.

My little autistic and apraxia buddy is starting to talk. He sat on my couch telling me colors and shapes for almost a half hour. It was very sweet.

Mariah's 18th birthday party was yesterday.  Her boyfriend rented a theater to watch UP and invited her friends and family as a surprise. It was fun.  You can tell that she likes him a lot. I can't believe that she's 18!  It's very fun. She has a really good group of friends and that is amazing today. While we were up there, we adopted two of Amy's kittens.  The kids are thrilled.  They are pretty cute.  I hope they kill more mice than birds.

Mother's day, Evelyn let me braid her hair, Seth (my last Primary kid) sang to me.... he didn't really know the song, but it was fun to see his smiling face watching my reactions the whole time.

Jer made me a Mother's Day curry, then they all cleaned the kitchen and we watched Candleshoe while we built legos with Beth and her kids.