Ethan's Backpacking Trip

Ethan got to go on  his first scout backpacking trip last weekend. It's hard to believe that he is old enough for me to send off on an overnight scout trip. I was secretly hoping Jeremy would go, so that I wouldn't really feel like I was sending him off a long. Of course he had to work, so Ethan was off with 2 scout leaders, 4 other boys and one awesome Grandpa volunteer! Cole's grandpa came along and took all of the great pictures. The boys loved having him. He is a lot of fun and knows a ton about scouting.

The boys left Friday morning and hiked up near Lynx lake in Prescott. They slept on the ground, with no tent. They cooked all of their own meals and hiked in all of their supplies! I was really proud of how well they all did. Ethan's pack weighed in at 31 pounds. He was sure it weighed 100! That is pretty heavy though for someone who only weighs 89 pounds. He had such a great time! I am so thankful for the scouting program and the adults who volunteer their time. I am also so grateful that Ethan has such a great group of boys his age. What a wonderful opportunity to learn and be independent. He had a great time!

The scouts and leaders after the hike. They were tired and dirty, but had a fantastic time!

Ethan and Cole, ready for the hike.

Ethan found a couple horny toads.

Ethan and his fellow scouts, Cole, Tanner, Austin, Brandon.

Cooking a spaghetti dinner.

Ethan carrying wood for their fort.

The boys' fort!

The Photobooth

Nathan and Keri had a photobooth at their reception in San Diego. It was one of the greatest ideas ever. We all had such a blast taking silly pictures! What fantastic idea. I just thought I'd share some of the funny pictures we ended up with.

 

San Diego

We had a fantastic long weekend in San Diego. Jeremy's brother got married, so we had a good excuse to go over there! All of Jeremy's family were there. The kids got to see all of their cousins at once. We went swimming, played at the beach and enjoyed each other's company. It was wonderful to see Nathan happily married. Keri is wonderful and we are so excited to have her in the family!
We brought our 5th wheel and stayed at an RV park by the ocean. It was so nice and relaxing. We had such a fun trip, but it's always nice to be home!

The kids enjoying the waves.



Ethan and Andrew in the ocean.



Emma wasn't so sure about the water at first. It was really

Jeremy playing volleyball.

It was a cold day at the beach!

Ethan braved the water and had a great time!

Eli and Dallin. They are the best buddies. It is so fun to watch them together.

Eli and Dallin.

Emma and her cousin Keely. Keely is her "favorite" cousin :)

Emma loving her Dad.

Nathan and Keri. The happy newlyweds!

My wonderful kiddos.

Hooray! Picture taking is over :)

Emma and Keely.

Being silly for the photo booth.

My little princess.

Emma was a dancing maniac! She danced the night away!

Bragging about Ethan

I have to take a minute to brag about Ethan. He is such a great kid. Really, I couldn't ask for anyone better. He won the Student of the Year award in school today. His prize was a new bike! He was so excited! He called me and asked if I could come pick him up because he got a prize from school. I never expected a bike. He is such a great student. Every parent/teacher conference his teachers tell me how wonderful he is. He is smart, kind, helpful, good natured, gets along with everyone. He is in the gifted program at school, gets straight A's, does band, student council, sports, volunteers with the younger grades. He is just an all around good kid! I am so proud of him. He is turning into such a wonderful young man. How did I get so lucky? I'd like to think that it was all the hours I spent at home with him when he was little. All the time we spent reading books, building forts, going on walks and playing pretend. I'm pretty sure it had nothing to do with me though. He's always been this way. Just part of who he is. He is such a blessing a home too. He is my peace keeper. He is always smoothing over fights between the younger kids, helping me out. I don't know what I'd do without him. I am so proud of his accomplishments.  Although I hate to see him growing up so fast, I am very happy with who he has become. We love you Ethan :)

Pinewood Derby

Andrew and Clay waiting for the races to start.

The boys watching the racing.

Andrew's car is the green and silver. He named it "The Silver Bullet"

Andrew with his car, his 3rd place trophy and his award for best paint.

This year was Andrew's first Pinewood derby. He had a great time working on his car with Jeremy. Last year Ethan won first, so Andrew had high expectations of his Dad! His car turned out really nice. All of the boys got 4 turns to race. Andrew came in third place this year. He was a bit sad that it wasn't first, but he was proud to have won a trophy. Way to go Andrew! (And Jeremy of course :)

Hershey's Track and Field



Ethan and Andrew holding the school sign in the opening ceremony.



My awesome boys!



Ethan jumping. It was dark and hard to get a picture through the fence. He has some springy legs!



   It's that time of year again...track and field! Ethan and Andrew both qualified for the Arizona State Hershey's track and field meet. It's a big meet where kids come from all over the state to participate. It's amazing to watch how fast some of these little kids are. For some reason, their track coach only entered everyone in one event this year. They were a little upset by that, since last year they got three events. Andrew ran the 200m. He was really nervous. He was the youngest in his group, but he did good! He came in 12th place overall. He was a little sad that he didn't do better, but it's his first year and it was a great experience for him.

  Ethan did awesome this year. His event was the standing long jump. He jumped his best ever, 6'10 1/2". I think that is amazing for someone as small as he is. Half of the boys were a whole head taller than he was. He has got some spring in those legs! He came in 4th place for the state. We are so proud of him. Way to go Ethan! It was a great night.

Camping

Eli in an alligator juniper tree. Emma was nervous that alligators were going to come out of it!

Emma and her buddy Dad. No matter how many times I washed her face, it kept on getting dirty again! I guess that is all part of the camping experience.

Ethan was planning on running fast with Maisy. He said "Ready, Set, Go!" and she took off running so fast, he fell trying to keep up with her on the leash.

Here we are on a hike.

Emma trying to stay warm with Dad. It was really cold and windy.

I dared Ethan to kiss the horny toad he found. It didn't turn into a princess :)

A huge tree!

Andrew by the fire.



We hiked to the top of the mountain that was near our campsite. Quite an accomplishment for 4 kids and 2 dogs!

We were finally able to go camping for a couple of days. It has been forever since we went last. We had a good time. We found a place to camp in the pines, west of Prescott. The kids were so excited to go. I love camping, but I sometimes think it takes so much work just for a couple of days. We might as well have been gone two weeks! The 5th wheel makes packing much easier though. I used to like roughing it when we camped, but having kids sure changes things! I'd give anything for a toilet and some running water these days. The kids were good. Over excited, didn't get enough sleep. I don't know why I ever expect anything different, it always ends up that way! Andrew came down with a fever and sore throat. It seems like someone always gets sick when we go. Other than that, it was nice to get away for a little while and spend time together. I am so glad we were able to go for a few days. We needed it!