Mikey's Birthday!

For Mikey's 43rd birthday, we spent some time in Park City. We stayed in a condo by Jordanelle.  Sydney has been planning to give Mike the 'as seen on tv' perfect pancake maker forever. 

 Mike likes 'uniform' pancakes so that you can stack them.  My regular pancakes are more unique.  This gift got a good laugh from Mike...for awhile.  Good gift, Sydney!

 We went to the ski resort on Friday morning and rode the Alpine Coaster.  Brandon was a little nervous to go on it himself, but he did great!

 This is my favorite ride up there!  Afterward, we went to lunch at Wasatch Pub.  The food was great!

We had to get back home that afternoon because Sydney had ballet, Amanda had a soccer game and Brandon had football practice.  We headed back up on Friday night late with the boat!

July & August highlights

Brandon at football tryouts. Mike is in heaven!!!

 A quick hike with my boys on a Saturday afternoon.

One of B's first practices. I took pictures because Mike was in Denver.  Below, he's getting a custom mouthguard from our friend and dentist, Chris.  Chris' sister Chauny was having fun with B and put the mold stuff on his nose!

We took the Young Women boating on a Wednesday morning.  Beautiful!

One day while I was teaching, this tiny remote control car cruised into the piano room with notes from Sydney.  First one was HI Mom! And second said, Have a Cheeto with a cheeto taped to the paper! Cute Syd Syd!

Lagoon with the cousins!

We met Scott & Kellie's family one Friday in July and went to Lagoon! Our kids match up pretty well, so everyone has a partner for the rides.  Brandon and Emily didn't always want to ride the same rides, but B is on all big kid rides now, so the girls could take him.

We had Kellie come pick us up and we ran to lunch first.  We had a great time!  It wasn't crowded.....that's a first.

Then, Scott & Mike came up together and brought dinner (KFC) and then they got to take over riding with the kiddos.  

Then, they decided the girls could go on the Sky Coaster.

I was so nervous for them! But they LOVED it!

 Amanda, Maddy and Sydney

 Here they are getting ready....cell phone pics so they are blurry.....

 B driving his own bumper car!!

 Zac, Amanda, Maddy & Sydney on a water ride.....

 "Awkward family photo"

Don't know where they come up with this, but it was cute....We had a great time!

More Trek pictures....

Some more trek photos from Amanda's Ma & Pa

Post EFY

It was hard to be away from this cute girl for an entire week!  It was easier than trek because we did have communication.  We checked in with her every day.  Texted with her every night before bedtime. We were kept up to date with how much fun she was having and how much she was loving her time at EFY.  We heard all about the new friends she was making and about the cute boys she was exchanging 'Contact Information' with....

 But we still missed her a lot!  Amanda and Liz had an amazing time at EFY.  The first few texts we got from her were about the bedrooms being so small and how hot it was and how gross the food was.  She really did not want to go to EFY.  But, a few hours later she texted to let us know how much fun she was having!

 She made some lifelong friends.  One of her friends who lives in Vegas is coming to stay with us during Christmas break.  She met 2 boys that live in East Kaysville.  I guess you have to go clear to Provo to meet kids from the other side of the freeway ;)

 She met kids from Temecula, CA.....the city where we were looking to move a few years ago.  Suddenly she wants to move there!  (Yes, the kids are boys)

She had amazing leaders and fun activities and spiritual experiences.  We went and stayed in Provo on Friday  night so that the drive Saturday morning at 7am to pick the girls up wouldn't seem so early.  We cruised around campus hoping for a glimpse of our girl, but we didn't see her.  We found her dorm and found the pick up point for the morning.  Saturday morning came and all 4 of us were ready at 6:45am to go get Amanda.  Amanda did NOT want to leave! She loved it and said she wanted to stay another week.  Mike & I are so happy that she had a wonderful experience and made wonderful friends.  We stopped by Brugges Waffles on the way home.  Yum!

EFY - Firm in the Faith

Amanda and Liz in their room!

Amanda left today for EFY! She is not excited about going at all.  With dance starting up next week and soccer continuously throughout the summer, she said her summer is now over.  She wanted one more lazy week.  But, we wanted her to follow through with her commitment and after talking to a bunch of kids that have been to EFY this summer, she agreed to go.  It didn't hurt that she found out she knows a really cute boy that is going to be there at the same time!

Jeni drove the girls down this morning because she and Alli are on their way to the Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City.  We have pick up duty at 7AM on Saturday morning.  They are at BYU. I know....how could we send our child to BYU?  We just heard that it's the place to go for EFY.  She has taken some Utah shirts and plans to let her colors shine!

I have had a few texts from her telling me their room is small and dirty.  I told her to ask someone for cleaner and rags and get busy. She said she appreciates her big room at home and that we have a clean house! Good to hear!

She should be meeting with her group right now, so it will be good to hear how the rest of her day goes.  Party on!!

Trek 2K13

Amanda had the opportunity to go on Trek this year as the Stake Youth Conference.  The kids were asked to 'bring along' an ancestor.  We did a ton of research and found many, many amazing ancestors...some that had come across the plains and some who hadn't.  Eventually, we decided on Susannah Marriott. She did come across the plains and eventually they settled in Kaysville!

 Isn't that amazing?  We have NO family up here, but now realize that we have roots here!  They settled here with 3 other families, one which was named Burton. There is a street named Burton in Kaysville.  No streets named Marriott though, that we know of. Eventually, John & Susannah were asked to go settle further north.  There is a town called Marriott-Slaterville and we knew about our roots further north...Garden City, Ogden, etc.

 We couldn't find a picture of Susannah, but there was this grave on the web.  Looks like a new one obviously, but still nice to have some type of photograph about her.

 Here is our little pioneer before she left! She wasn't overly excited to go and maybe a little nervous.  Grandma Gib loaned us the bonnet which her Mom had made and helped us with a shirt and apron, too! Thanks Grandma!

Mike & I were really nervous for her to go. We knew she'd be fine, but there wouldn't be any communication with her for 4 days and we knew it was going to be hard.

We worried most about her feet. We knew if she got blisters, then she'd have a terrible time.  What we ended up doing after several options was having her wear my already broken-in hiking boots and bought some hiking socks.  She came home blister-free!  Some kids had 20+ blisters on their feet.  

Mike & I were also wishing we had gone along. There were a couple of opportunities for one or both of us to go, but at the time it didn't seem feasible.  Looking back, we should have made it work.  Good lesson and we'll prepare for when Sydney gets to go. Amanda said she wishes we had gone.  Almost everyone had a parent or a sibling there in one capacity or another.

After we had dropped her off at the Stake Center and Mike went to work, Brandon and I decided to go for a walk.  We are trying to get some conditioning in before he starts football.  We walked a long way. Not as long as Amanda walked that first day, but we were thinking about her.  We were in kind of a funk after she left.  We really missed her!

Our friend, Amy, who was going on trek with the kids sent me this picture of Amanda's trek family before they departed the stake center.  The boy in green second from the right is Jake and is in our ward.  She said she only knew one of the girls.  Mike knew her Pa as he was the stake auditor when Mike was finance clerk.  I was a little worried still....

Then, the 2nd night at 10pm, I got this picture sent to me on my cell phone!  We were so relieved!  We were happy to see that big smile on her face!  I texted back and forth with Amy and made sure everything was ok. Amy said it had been really hard. There were tons of hills and they walked over 10 miles the past 2 days.  She hadn't seen Amanda much, but when she saw her she said Amanda was always smiling!  This picture of Amanda and Landon (who isn't in her 'family' so I knew she got to mingle with her friends) made me happy!

 Then, she sent this one of the camp and I posted it to  Instagram for all the other trek parents who wanted a little communication.  I couldn't reveal my source, but we all chatted and made each other feel better at least,

 They arrived Saturday about 4:30! Mike & I had taken Sydney and Brandon to City Creek for lunch to kill some time.  Then, on the way home Amy texted and told us they were there and to come now!

 There they were, stinky, dirty and tired, but happy!  I never got a picture of Amanda with her Ma & Pa or trek family, but these are her friends.  Jared, Bridgette, Erynn, Landon, Liz, Amanda, Susie

 And Maddy, Tanner and Amanda....She had great stories and a great adventure and loved it! She said she'd go again for sure!  We were happy for the amazing experience and all the effort that so many people put in and for her blister-free feet!