Campaholics Anonymous

This has been a summer of camping. Unfortunately, not all of it has been together as a family.

Breanna went to Youth Conference with our stake up in the Uinta Mountains. She also went to girls camp with the ward up at Payson Lakes. The picture is of her whole camp. Their theme was a military theme ("Be All You Can Be"). They had tie-dyed shirts (camouflaged) and some great activities and experiences. Breanna is in the middle/front just to the left of the sign (she's helping to hold the sign.

Then, Jacob had scout camp. Steve got to come along with that one and teach the Canoeing and Rowing merit badges. This is a picture of Jacob driving the motor boat for the motor boating merit badge. We spent the week at Rockport Lake about 1 hour east of where we live. Jacob earned his Motor boating, Canoeing, Rowing, and First Aid merit badges.

Following scout camp, Natalie and I went on a Pioneer Trails Workshop with some other seminary teachers. We began our trip driving out to Chimney Rock, Nebraska and worked our way back to the Salt Lake Valley.

The picture is of us at Chimney Rock. At Chimney rock, there is a cemetery. The highlight was the grave of Mary Murdock. She was a Scottish convert who crossed the plains and died of cholera. Her son, who was in Utah while she was crossing the plains was named John. As she died near Chimney Rock, she said, "Tell John that I died with my face toward Zion." What a great message for all of us in her life.

We also got to pull handcarts at Martin's Cove and over Rocky Ridge. Steve, who is not in as great of shape as Natalie, got four blisters on Rocky Ridge. The next picture is of Natalie and Steve and some others pulling the cart, the one following is before Steve pulled his sock off to look at the blister (sorry if you're weak of stomach).

The experience (the whole week) was incredible! We gained a greater appreciation for what the pioneers experienced and why they experienced what they did.

After the Pioneer week, Steve went with the ward's priest quorum up to the Stake camp called Camp Helaman. This is an incredible week for young men ages 16-18 in our stake. Many great experiences for these young men. They have an award that they give at the end of the week for accomplishing several things (like memorizing scriptures, service, etc) called the Big H award. Steve wanted to earn it as a leader and was able to complete it.

The week after Camp Helaman, Jacob was in an accident with his bicycle and got to ride with the paramedics to the hospital. His handle bar punctured his upper left inside thigh in the joint of his leg and hip. He was blessed to miss his femoral artery. The doctor put him back together with 17 stitches (11 on the inside). The wound was about 2 1/2 inches long, about an inch wide and about 3/4 to 1 inch deep. He's been hobbling along pretty good this last week. We have to remind him at times that he's still healing. Natalie took him to the fire station to take his picture with the ride he went in to the hospital. The engine came from a different station, but they were kind enough to let Jacob pose and Natalie shoot! :-)

The Monday after Jacob's accident (which happened on Friday, August 8), we took the family up to Brigham City to play at Willard Bay for three days and two nights. Then we left BC and went up to Bear Lake for the rest of the week. The second day at Bear Lake, we took the kids up to Paris, Idaho. Their fourth great-grandfather was Apostle Charles C. Rich who helped to settle the Bear Lake Valley. He lived in Paris, Idaho (just North of Bear Lake). At the South end of Paris, is the cemetery where he is buried. His fifth wife (the wife we descend from), Emeline Grover Rich was buried right next to him. Here is a picture of the family between both headstones.

The weather was wonderful at Bear Lake and the water was perfect! The kids were digging a hole in the beach and Josh thought it'd be fun to have us bury him. We all thought it was fun to bury him. At knee deep, we created some feet for him. Eventually, we almost got him up to his neck in sand.

As is tradition with our family, we stopped at Quick N Tasty on the way out of Bear Lake for their famous Raspberry shakes.

Michael Turns 9 This Sunday

Michael has been busy these last 9 years. This last week, he earned his wolf badge in Cub Scouts.

He also had a birthday party with his friends to celebrate his 9th birthday (which will actually be on Sunday). His mom is so good about throwing fun parties.

Summer birthdays are always fun, but they're funner when they're family! Happy Birthday Michael! (in advance).

Go Cougars!

Today we took the kids down to Provo to hang out with their Grandma and to go to BYU. Here is a picture of them on the bridge connecting the Law Building with the Wilkinson Center and their favorite letter on the mountain.

We went bowling at the BYU Game Center and had a blast! They had these really cool ramps (and gutter bumpers) so even Rebekah could get that ball down the lane.



We had a delightful time being with Grandma Jones and Katie. They are great! The only problem was that our time was too short together. Thanks Grandma and Katie for a great time!

Watch Out Tiger!

On Saturday, May 31, Josh (almost 14), Jacob (12), Daniel (5) and I went to Fore Lakes Golf Course in Taylorsville. Michael couldn't come because of an injury he obtained while doing back flips off of the swing out back. Daniel had only 'golfed' around the yard--occasionally smacking the siding or the street (fortunately no cars or other houses) with the golf ball...he likes the real ones better than the whiffle balls. Here is a video clip of his first ever tee shot on a real golf course (by the way, Natalie taught him how to line his feet up). In the video we're uploading, the quality of it makes it difficult to see the ball roll down the fairway. But trust me, it did just that!



The only clubs in his bag were a sawed-off-regripped 3 wood and a putter. Most of Daniel's shots were pretty straight and down the fairway. Towards the end of the round, Daniel was getting pretty confident. Josh is pretty good also, but had a couple of rough shots. To which, Daniel commented, "Josh, maybe you need to learn to hit the ball." I had to remind him to be nice. I guess, when you're good, you have a right to talk smack. We all had a great time!

Breanna's First Scholarship

At an awards assembly on Friday, May 30, Breanna was awarded a $250.00 scholarship for excellence in academics. Since her 7th grade year, Breanna has had 12 consecutive terms with a 4.0 grade point average! Her and one other student won a scholarship presented by a local credit union. The first of many! Way to go Breanna!

Breanna and Josh Wow Audiences

Breanna has enjoyed playing her viola in the West Jordan Symphony. The following video comes from their Memorial Day Concert. Their attire was very casual compared with their usual concert black. They played at a funeral home. The intent was to play outside so that those coming to the cemetery would hear the music. The weather didn't cooperate though, so they had to play inside.



The next video is from one of her final concerts at Sunset Ridge. Joshua is also featured playing the cello in this video. Josh finished his third year playing the cello and has gotten quite good at it! The song they are playing is. . .well, see if you know what it is! The kids love this one at the region dances.

Skeleton Gives Hope!

For those of you that are not aware, Steve has been teaching out of a Church building for three years. Normally, in Utah, seminary students walk across the street from the school to the seminary building to attend seminary. We haven't had a seminary building since the middle school was built three school years ago. We've met the kids at the school and bussed them to a church building a mile down the road. Yesterday, the bus took its last trip! I estimate there have been over 6,000 bus trips made and several thousand miles. Here is a picture of the seminary building as it was a few days ago. Construction remains constant and they are on track to be done in August with a couple of weeks to move everything in before school starts!

Flying Towards Eagle

Wednesday evening at 11:48 p.m. Spring became official as the sun became perpendicular with the earth's equator. Also unbeknownst to most of the known world, just a few hours previous, two young men took steps into a much larger world. Wow, that sounded deep and boring! :-)

Josh and Jacob were honored at their troops court of honor. Joshua was awarded his Life rank advancement. He actually earned it some time ago. In addition, he was awarded 10 merit badges! He will be eligible for his Eagle Scout this summer.
Jacob earned his very first merit badge (Astronomy) at the same court of honor. He will be turning 12 in a couple of weeks.

Guitar Hero

My brother Joe gets our vote for Guitar Hero. Not the video game, but in real life! Michael drew a picture of him playing his electric guitar.

Josh has also picked up the guitar and is having a great time learning the instrument. Recently, Josh and I went to a guitar store and played some expensive guitars. I think the most expensive one was $3100.00 or $3200.00. Then, Josh found a $99.00 guitar and played it. He liked the $99.00 one better. Go figure! I like that he doesn't like the expensive ones. I actually liked the $99.00 one too!

March Comes In Like a Reindeer

This morning, our kids were outside playing on our green grass, enjoying the football once again as March began. The winds had been blowing, the weather cooling a little. The Spring air that we had enjoyed for the last few days slowing departing. Then, it happened! Little drops of wind-blown rain morphed into the substance that reminded us of most days this Winter! Here, Michael poses for a snow shot.

Below is some video of the snow falling.

Family at President Hinckley's Viewing

On Thursday, January 31, we went to President Hinckley's viewing at the LDS Conference Center in Salt Lake City (the picture is after the viewing).

The experience was very nice. The viewing was held for two days (open to the public). We're glad we went on Day 1. The experience wasn't very long, yet it was very nice (only about 30 minutes). The next night, people waited about 5 hours for the experience.

As with other viewings, we know even more now that our bodies house a spirit. President Hinckley looked at peace and wore a peaceful smile and pleasant countenance, yet something was missing...obviously, what we viewed was merely the shell of who he is. His spirit lives on and will one day be reunited with his body in the resurrection when Jesus Christ returns to the earth.

President Hinckley changed the world and our family. We are ever grateful for him and for our Heavenly Father's plan that includes a prophet today just as it did in the olden days. We know and testify that we have had a witness of the Holy Spirit that President Thomas S. Monson is the Lord's prophet on the earth after the death of President Hinckley. The Church and kingdom of God moves on and rolls forward as prophecied by Daniel the prophet in the Bible (Daniel 2:44-45). President Monson will continue to testify of our beloved Savior, Jesus Christ who makes the passing of loved ones a little easier because of the hope that he offers each of us.

Sledding

Here are some shots while some of the kids and Natalie went sledding at the golf course. Enjoy!














Michael sails down the hill!















Rebekah, Breanna, and Daniel















Rebekah and Daniel at the end of a run















Breanna on the flying saucer!

Greatest Snow On Earth!

We woke up this morning...something we've been blessed to do every morning so far...and Mother Nature had dumped yet another blanket of snow upon us! Natalie, Josh and Jacob went out to shovel the snow. Here are some pictures of how it looked!

This first one is out our front window.

Here are Natalie, Josh, and Jacob shovelling the driveway.

This last shot is to give some perspective of how deep this little 'skiff' is.

We're looking forward to drinking plenty of lemonade this summer!

Winter Camping!

Over the weekend, Josh's scout camp went Winter camping in the Uinta Mountains near Soapstone Basin.

This is a picture from the parking lot of the North Fork Campground. We caved off to the right of the parking lot. Most of us caved into the already existing snow bank, but it was still work!

Here, Josh (to the right) and his friend are standing on top of their cave. This is the morning after the campout. They were trying to destroy their cave. We don't like to leave them so others coming after don't get hurt falling into open

caves.

During the night, the temperature got to -8.8 degrees farenheight (yes, that is a negative number!) We decided that after zero degrees, that it all feels the same. In my cave (the last picture is me (throwing the snow) and another leader digging out our caves) the lowest temperature that I saw on my watch thermometer was positive 14 degrees. MUCH warmer than it was outside! We had a good time and earned some important bragging rights on this trip!

Happy New Year!

Our 'old year' ended, in part, with a trip to the golf course...not to golf, but to sled! Most of our sleds have broken over the years, and so the 'boys' went out and used the two working sleds and their bodies to slide down the hill! Loads of fun, but very cold. Sorry, no pictures, just use your imagination! Dinner and the movie was fun afterwards...and would you believe, with the arctic temperatures outside, we had ice cream for dessert!