I had a few pictures of things I wanted to remember that weren't worthy of a single post, but if I throw them all in a joint post, I feel better somehow :)
I had to laugh at Reagan being paired up with this little guy at karate. He was holding his mitts up so high to be at Reagan's punching level. However, because he was so little, if she really hit those mitts like she normally would, she would knock that little guy right over. She was trying not to laugh as she hit his mitts. We were watching this little guy during the rest of class and he was SO scrappy. He looks little and cute, but was sort of a beast when he was sparring with people. We nicknamed him Honey Badger because he looked little and cute but was ferocious when challenged. You'll remember that Cole did the report on the honey badger and we learned so much about them. It was cute - we like our little honey badger :)
Cole and I went to visit Steve's daughter April one day. April has a dog named Henry. Henry is CRAZY energetic. Of course, Cole loves dogs, but because Henry is always moving, I couldn't get a pic where neither of them was blurry. So, here's two - in one pic, you can see Henry and in one pic, you can see Cole. Cole loved playing with Henry even for a few minutes and he loved being able to see April for a bit. (This may have been while Reagan was at camp.)
One night, for our Young Men's activity, they had a pool party at Bishop's house. Cole had a blast - he loves to swim. I later found out there were some shenanigans going on and Cole had a pretty good scrape on his leg after being thrown in the pool by one of the bigger boys, but he didn't care. He had a great time and I had to drag him away :)
Last, but not least, I wanted to include a pic of this gorgeous sunset that Steve took. We are so blessed to live in an area where we can see out over the valley and we get a front row view to the gorgeous sunsets that mother nature shows us. We love where we live!!!
We saw this in June on Facebook. Brighton High School, where Steve and his siblings went to high school, was turning 50 years old. Along with turning 50, Brighton was going to be torn down and a new high school built on the same property. Whomever was in charge decided to have a sort of reunion for all 50 years. Whoa!!!
Steve actually went one year to Hillcrest High School. Then, they built Brighton (which was WAY closer to his home), so, he transferred to the new high school and graduated from Brighton - as did all of his siblings
Steve, his brother Doug, his SIL Annie, his brother Brett and his niece (Doug's daughter) Maelynn all came to the Anniversary Celebration. They all graduated from Brighton. Steve's other sibs weren't able to come.
Steve's year (1971) wasn't represented very well at this Celebration. There were only a few of his classmates there - mostly guys Steve had played football and wrestled with. I'll bet we saw 15 people from Steve's year. There was one teacher from Steve's era there. She was his favorite, so, it was perfect.
After we chatted with some of the people there, we walked the halls of the school. It was cool to see where Steve had been. We went into the Athletic offices. There were all sorts of memorabilia on the walls and in glass cases. It was so fun to see pictures of Steve and his brothers and to see their names on plaques. Steve and his brothers were SO into wrestling. I think Brighton took State in wrestling something like 16 years in a row. Steve's parents were hugely involved as well. Many of Steve's classmates asked about his parents. They had really supported the wrestling team, the coach (babysitting his children) and the school.
It was so fun to see Steve in his old stomping grounds, with his sibs and friends and enjoying being in those halls. I'm sad that they are going to tear down the building, but I guess after 50 years, they need to have a newer building with updated facilities.
I was so happy to see Steve enjoy this celebration. It was only a few years ago that we went to see his middle school before they tore it down. Things are definitely changing! Go Brighton Bengals!!!!!
Now that we are out of school and ready to play, we needed to catch up with our friends, the Kearl family, as well. We decided to hit Boondocks one day. The kiddos loved driving the race carts.
Cole and Ben actually had a little mishap. But, with some assistance from the employees, they were quickly back on their way.
Reagan and Madison loved racing as well. They also played arcade games, mini golf, played laser tag and went into the 3D theater. We had pizza and wore ourselves out!
The next day, we hit the Nickelcade. All the arcade games are 1, 2, 3 or 4 nickels. It's cheap, but its fun. I actually took all four kiddos this day because the Kearl's grandma was having heart surgery and their mom needed to be at the hospital with her. The Kearl kiddos came over to our house and played for several hours. Then, we had lunch, then we headed for the Nickelcade.
It was actually a bummer of a day because we were in an accident as we were driving the Kearl kiddos home. We were in construction and the sign holding guy switched the sign to "stop" while the car in front of us was passing him. She slammed on her breaks and I slammed on mine and we slid into the back of her car. Ugh!!!! No good deed, right? The lady was very nice. She kept insisting that it wasn't my fault - that it was the fault of the guy holding the sign who should have let her go and then given the car behind her plenty of notice that he was going to change the sign. However, the police said it was my fault and cited me. What a bummer to an otherwise nice day. Oh well - that's what we have insurance for. No one was hurt and that's the important part.
The Kearl's grandma did well in her surgery and in her recovery. We are so glad. We think she is awesome!
Our friends, the Shapiros, suggested a Bees game one, summer night. We were in! The tickets were cheap, but we had cheap seats as well. It was a deal where you get a hotdog and drink and the ticket for some ridiculous amount. We met up at the ballpark and headed inside. The last time we watched a baseball game was in San Francisco when we saw the Giant's game against the Diamondbacks. That was a cool experience.
We were up pretty high, but that left us closer to the restrooms and the food area as well as the exit. So, win/win..... sort of. Reagan and Sophia loved chatting the whole time. They haven't seen each other in a while.
The adults loved chatting the whole time as well. We've missed these guys! It's been quite some time since we have hung out with them due to all of our traveling.
We brought our binoculars and got ready to watch the game!
The announcers kept playing music and telling people to dance. Cole was determined to get his picture up on that jumbotron. He was dancing, but no jumbotron. We kept telling him that his dancing had to be big or crazy or something to draw the attention of the camera guys.
The Bees were losing, so, our spirits started to fade a bit, but it was a beautiful night, we were with our friends and we were loving the view from our "nose bleed" seats :)
In fact, the moon came up over the mountains across the way from where we were sitting. It wasn't even dark yet, but that moon was big and bright and beautiful!
Once again, the music started and Cole tried so hard to be "big" with his dancing. Andrea got up to join him. The girls did too. FINALLY, he was on the jumbotron!!!!! YAY!!!!!
After a while, Cole was restless. I sort of feel badly for him that everyone has someone to hang with when we are with the Shapiros except for him. Reagan has Sophia, Steve and I have Vic and Dre.... Cole is by himself. It's all good - the Shapiros love him and include him a lot, but he doesn't have his own friend to hang with. So, Steve and he took a walk around the ballpark. They called us and they were WAY over on the side of the park - where people go to catch home run balls. I zoomed in with my phone and snapped a pic of them.
They walked all around, got some ice cream in a mini baseball hat container, and snapped some pics themselves.
After we stood and sang for the 7th Inning Stretch, we were done. The Bees were still losing, so, we said our goodbyes, headed back to our cars and called it a night. We always have fun with the Shapiros and tonight was no exception. Play ball!!!!!
We have some very special friends - Roger and Deanna. We met them on our Disney Cruise back in November of 2014. We were seated next to them as we dined each evening (well, most evenings). We became close with them as we chatted each night and spent time together. Reagan and Cole grew to think of them as bonus grandparents. They live in Texas, so, we didn't really expect to be able to physically see them again although we have exchanged birthday and Christmas cards since 2014. Well, when we were in Hawaii at Disney's Aulani in the spring of 2015, right after we checked in, they called our room and surprised us. They were also on O'ahu and wanted to come and surprise Reagan and Cole. They did and their surprise idea was a success. Reagan and Cole ran to them without actually processing that these people aren't supposed to be here at this time at this place. It was wonderful! We were able to spend several hours with them and loved getting to visit again. Well, it's lucky for us that they have relatives who live in Utah and there was a family wedding taking place in Stansbury Park, Utah. So, we received another visit!!! YAY!!!!
We saw them on Saturday mid-day (the day after Reagan returned from camp). We had a picnic in the yard and enjoyed catching up.
I know it sounds crazy and I have had friends say that it is weird to become such close friends with sort of strangers, but we just bonded when we were on the Disney cruise and just have felt like these were friends we had known forever. We laugh because the way Deanna tells the story, they were sitting next to us and the waitress came to take our orders. Reagan and Cole asked if they HAD to order from the kids' menu. They didn't. So, they each ordered steaks, broccoli and milk. Deanna laughed and thought "What kind of kids order broccoli and milk and steak when they could have hamburgers or chicken nuggets? I have to meet these kids." So funny. Roger and Deanna are frequent cruisers and they taught us the ropes of cruising :)
Roger and Deanna have been so sweet and supportive of Reagan and Cole. They are just amazing people. We've had phone calls and cards and sent them school pics of Reagan and Cole. We love them even though we've only been physically together a few times.
We had lunch and enjoyed the few hours we had together before they had to leave to get ready for wedding festivities. It was SO wonderful to see them.
Luckily, the next Monday, they had some time before they had to leave. The kiddos and I met them at Reagan's favorite ice cream place (Leatherby's) and we had lunch together. Steve had an appointment he had to attend to, so he couldn't join us, but we were able to squeeze in a bit more time before Roger and Deanna left town.
It is now our turn to travel to Texas (or wherever Roger and Deanna are traveling). They've come to us twice. We need to go to them! It was wonderful to see them and even now (as I'm so behind in the blog), I get a tear in my eye thinking back at this day and remembering the visit from our special friends. We love you Roger and Deanna!!!!
Having both kiddos back home again meant time to be all together in our yard. We had to cut some tree branches. Cole was happy to deliver them to the outskirts of the yard, so we literally piled them everywhere on the golf cart. We hoped he could still see. We weeded and trimmed and cut, trying to get the yard looking great.
After a day of working in the yard, Cole found the little, blow up pool that we had in the garage. He and Reagan put it in the yard and filled it. Since the water from the hose was cold, they would warm up pitchers of water in the microwave and pour them into their pool. Silly kiddos!
They played and played. I swear that little pool has been in the box in our garage for over 5 years. It just seemed like too much trouble each year to put up and take down. Now, they have it!
Well, at least they have a gorgeous view as they "lounge" in the pool.
Steve, always the prankster, had to end our evening by turning the sprinklers on to soak Reagan and Cole.
We are lucky to have such a beautiful yard to play in and we are grateful to have everyone home again.
In our church, in the Salt Lake area, Young Women completing 7th grade are invited to go to Oakcrest Beehive Camp. I've known about this for years now. I sent my girls to Oakcrest when I was a YW leader. Steve's girls went to Oakcrest. One of the ladies in our ward went to Oakcrest as a girl and then returned as a leader when she was old enough. It runs from Monday - Friday and is run by Church employees and older Young Women (18, 19) as counselors.
Truth be told, I was terrified. None of our ward leaders go (other than for Bishopric night). I would literally be sending her for five days with complete strangers. She was excited beyond measure. Her friend from school, Natalie, was the only girl completing 7th grade in her ward just like Reagan was. She invited Reagan to go during the week her Stake was going (I think they have 16 stakes go at a time). That turned out to be during our Europe trip, so we invited Natalie to go with Reagan during our Stake's week. She agreed. That made me feel at least a bit better - Reagan would have one friend that she knew and they could watch out for each other. The complication was that they would leave the Monday morning after we returned from Europe on Saturday night. We would have to be shopped and packed before we left for Europe. Plus, Reagan could NOT get sick on our Europe trip. Luckily, she didn't and we returned home Saturday night, had Sunday off and then she had to be at the church to meet the bus at 7am Monday morning.
She arrived and immediately found Natalie. Natalie's mom found us, gave Natalie a hug and left. I guess she had to go to work. I sat with the girls until they found the rest of the girls in our Stake. In total - for 7 wards, 1 Stake, there were 11 girls going. After they each put color coded tape on their bags and loaded their bags on the busses, the had a prayer and then loaded onto the busses. I was really anxious. I just had never been without Reagan for five days. She had never been without us. I did feel better that she and Natalie were together. Plus, four days in, our Stake YW leader Kim (who was my YW counselor in the ward) was going up along with a member of our Bishopric. I asked them for photos. Literal proof of life :) They sent me adorable pics of Natalie and Reagan. They were wearing kneesocks (I guess that was recommended because of the insects up at camp.) They looked adorable.
I also knew that I would be worried the further through the week we went, so I offered to ride up on one of the busses to pick up the girls. At least I would be able to see Reagan an hour earlier than if I just waited at the church for them to be returned to us :)
Oakcrest doesn't allow the girls to bring cell phones or electronics and doesn't allow the parents to call up there unless there is an emergency. It is located up by Kamas, Utah, so, it is much colder up there than it is at our home. The girls can get mail, but it takes about 2-3 days to get up there. So, I wrote letters to Reagan before we went to Europe and had my friend, Kathy Bowman, drop them in the mail the Thursday before camp, the Friday before camp and the Saturday before camp. I also wrote letters to Natalie in case she didn't get any from her family. Then, I mailed another letter on Monday after Reagan left for camp and I mailed another on Tuesday - to get there Thursday. I didn't dare send one after that in case it would arrive after she had come home. Thursday, I sent a gift bag with the stake leaders who were going up. It had notes for the girls, Reagan's favorite candies, Natatlie's favorite candies, some money to buy things at the little shop there (I had also sent money with Reagan) and some 4th of July favors - candies, lights, bubbles, etc. for the girls. I was sad that they would be at camp during the 4th of July instead of celebrating with us.
Then, bright and early on Friday morning, I went to the church, got on the bus and drove the hour or so up to Kamas. After we moms got off the bus, we looked for our daughters. I found Reagan and Natalie crying with their cabin and their counselor. They didn't want to leave their counselor. She saw me, but didn't even come over to me. Ummmm... ok. Eventually, I dragged them away from the counselor to get on the bus (our bus was the first in line and no one else could leave until we left). They cried the whole way home and were going to miss their counselor so much. Turns out that they have a connection to their counselor. The counselors use nicknames. Theirs was Waffles. Well, one night when they were talking in their cabin, Waffles was telling them about her life and how she had decided to go on a mission. She is waiting for her mission call. She told them about attending her school - APA. Wait ... what?!? Natalie and Reagan said "Hey - we go to APA." Then, the last night, Waffles told them her first and last name. Her last name was Ennis. Turns out her mom is a teacher at APA and was actually Cole's reading teacher last year. He loved Mrs. Ennis. Small world, right?
Natalie's mom met us at the church when we got back, Natalie and Reagan hugged, grabbed their bags and left. Since I was the mom who volunteered from our stake to go up on the bus and pick up the girls, I had to wait until all of the girls in our stake had been picked up. During that time and on the ride home, Reagan was a complete chatterbox. She couldn't talk enough to tell me all that they had done and how great her week had been. I'm so glad but we missed her. Our home just wasn't the same without her.
Reagan got home and talked for hours, telling us of their activities at camp, what a great time she had, whom she met, how she felt and how it was the best time of her life.
They have SO many activities to do there. They had hikes and a ropes course that was used as an object lesson to lead the girls in the right direction.
They ate in a big, hall type cabin. They had flag in the morning and evening and sang songs as a cabin and as a group. The counselors had their own songs and skits. There were slingshots and shooting areas.
There was a zip line type swing and then a drop type swing that was a zip line.
There was archery and Reagan really enjoyed that. One day, there was a butterfly that stayed with their cabin and became their little mascot.
I had to catch my breath when I watched this video of Reagan and heard her scream :)
They had several girls and two counselors in their cabin. Waffles had made signs for each of them and one for their cabin. I sent little star shaped fairy lights for Reagan and one for Natalie so that they could put it on their bunks.
One of the songs they sang at flag was about how much they loved waffles.
Reagan made lots of new friends, had a ball and took a ton of pictures.
These silly girls had a great time. Reagan said that they took a sunrise hike in their pjs and were in a field, reading their scriptures after a devotional that had been given when all of a sudden, the sprinklers turned on. That turned into a mud fight that was, apparently, epic. Reagan was sure to tell me that she had saved her scriptures from the water and the mud though.
A month before camp, I was at a Ward Council meeting where the Bishopric was talking about getting youth speakers. They were asking whom they could get to speak in Sacrament Meeting on July 14th. I volunteered Reagan since she would be fresh home from camp. So, while Reagan was at camp, she had to think about speaking the next Sunday about her experience there. She was funny - she didn't really want to prepare anything. She felt like everything was so fresh in her mind that she wouldn't need any notes. I suggested that she had talked for hours, telling us of her experiences at camp. Maybe she should at least have an outline with ideas she wanted to cover (what Oakcrest was, what the theme was, what the activities were and what she learned and felt). She agreed and jotted down some ideas. She gave a great talk. She may have given a bit more detail about the activities than she needed to, but she was effervescent with joy as she told about her week. She finished her talk by saying how much her testimony had grown and how much she loved being at camp and felt the spirit so much while she was there.
We are so glad that Reagan had a good time at camp, but truth be told, we missed her terribly. Cole played with friends, hung out with us and played, but even he missed Reagan.
Just because this is our own, little, family scrapbook, here is the outline of Reagan's talk. She did a wonderful job!
Oakcrest
Also known as the temple of trees, Oakcrest is a beautiful camp in Kamas, Utah. Oakcrest is a camp for girls that have just finished 7th grade. Camp lasts for 5 days, Monday through Friday. Oakcrest is a spiritual camp for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but girls of other faith are welcome to come. I was the only girl in our ward that had just finished 7th grade, so I took my friend Natalie with me.She was also the only one in her ward that had just finished 7th grade and we knew each other from school. I only knew a few girls from the other wards in our stake.
We did all sorts of fun activities at Oakcrest. We did zip lining, an obstacle course, a foam slide, a giant swing, tons of singing, a lot of fun chants, and a lot more. When I went on the hike with another group of counselors and their girls, we hiked up a small trail and got to our destination. Waffles started spraying the ground with water. I was told we would get dirty, but I did not expect to get mud on my face. Some girls, including me, stayed pretty clean. Other girls were completely covered in mud and dirt. We played a game where we rolled around in the dirt. I was quickly out. It was so much fun! The meals were amazing! The kitchen staff prepared the meals and did a great job.
On Wednesday (the 3rd of July), Brother Steffen, Kim Hoops, and other stake leaders came up to Oakcrest. They taught a valuable lesson. The lesson went along the lines of when we hugged our moms and left to leave Oakcrest, it was similar to when we left our Heavenly parents to come down to Earth. Oakcrest only lasted 5 days, just like our time on Earth will only last for a small amount of time. Waffles was sort of like our parents on Earth. She took care of us, protected us, taught us, and loved us. When family and friends sent their beautiful letters, it was like a little tender mercy reminding you that you are loved. Our Heavenly parents also love us and try to show it in small and large acts. We need to use our time wisely on this Earth and remember how loved we are.
The Oakcrest theme for 2019 was Walk with Christ. I love that theme!
Describe what oak crest is - you did that above
Briefly describe the week. For example - something like - we had a hike one day and a humanitarian project another day, the stake leaders and Bro Steffen from our ward came up Wed night for a devotional. We had a spiritual experience one day where we had an object lesson about prayer, etc……
Briefly describe what you learned - I felt the spirit more during this week than I ever have before. I felt like I became closer to my Savior and to my Heavenly Father. I feel like my prayers are more personal and sincere now. I missed my family, but I knew I was where I should be.
I’m so grateful I had this chance. I really enjoyed Oakcrest and I increased my testimony while I was there. I’m so grateful for my YW that were recently released. Danna and Beth and Leslee - they are so amazing and they helped me learn so much in YW. I’m also so excited for our new YW leaders and all the things that I’ll be able to learn from them.
"Mom on the Run" is the title that best describes me these days. After practicing law for 11 years, I had two little ones and am now a full time Mom and loving it. With a 14 year old and an 12 year old, life is full and crazy. Each day we "run" whether it is to the gym, shopping, guitar, karate, piano, school, lunch with friends, institute class, family activities or church functions. Reagan and Cole keep me crazy busy and we have lots of fun.
Steve (the love of my life) and I have been married for sixteen years and we live in Sandy, Utah. Playing with the kids is our most enjoyable hobby these days. We also try to fit in snow skiing, walking and hiking, and playing in our yard. We love to spend time with Steve's three daughters (and their spouses/kids). We traveled much more before we had our kiddos, but still try to travel when we can. If we are away, we can most often be found on one of the Hawaiian islands and we love to spend time at the beach.
