Halloween 2019

Trey and Curtis at Trunk or Treat. Curtis was in the middle of his 75 hard challenge and didn't even have a nibble of candy.

Derek being festive

Trey outside UFO landing in our neighborhood

same house clever people

a better view of the UFO house.  I love creative people, making holidays fun.

Hamilton

For our 24th Anniversary, Curtis and I decided to take a trip to the Washington DC area and see some things we have wanted to see.  We would have brought the kids but they didn't seem very interested in coming.  Everyone was happier with them staying home. We started in Philadelphia, that is where Hamilton was playing. 

We saw the "Hamilton" Show it was fantastic

"The Thinker" outside Rodin museum

Bottom of  the "Rocky Steps"

Reaching the top of the Rocky Steps.  Cross that off the bucket list

Liberty Bell

Independence Hall

Then on to Washington DC.  We took an Amtrack from Philadelphia to Washington DC.  It was pretty cool.  superfast, Curtis loved it.


First, we went to the 49er game in Washington.  The hotel we stayed at was walking distance from the stadium.  That was a plus,  the bad thing is there is nothing else there.  No restaurants, shops, bars, drug stores, or metro stop.  NOTHING around that stadium or hotel.  Not only that, my cousins tell me it is in the "hood"

Curtis always wanted to see a 49er Game in Washington.  It was a rainy mud bog.  

We put on every layer of warm clothing we owned, Curtis got us good seats that were covered.  We were still soaked by the time the game ended.  It was memorable, we still had fun.

Maybe sitting in the stands wasn't so bad after all.

The 49ers won.  There were a ton of 49er fans there.  I felt like it was a home game, all the way across the country.  It had a very happy ending.

Lincoln Memorial

Next onto the Watergate hotel and sightseeing in Washington DC.

The rooftop of the Watergate.

Watergate pool. Curtis said the exercise room was the best ever for a hotel

Watergate Condos for the owners

The Watergate Hotel.  This Hotel was amazing.  I think it is my favorite Hotel. The location is amazing, I love the history of it, and first-class amenities.

Abe Lincon Memorial

MLK Memorial

Shout out to do my Dad.  He retired from the Forest Service after 40+ years.

Next stop Greenbrier Hotel in West Virginia.  We wanted to tour the Bunker. 

Words cannot describe the Greenbrier.  Beautiful on the outside, absolutely bizarre on the inside. I thought I was in a bad dream.

It was absolutely beautiful in the fall.

I saw a TV show about the Greenbrier and how there was a secret bunker for Congress to escape to if the US was ever under attack.  It was started by President Eisenhauer and it was a secret until the 1990's when someone leaked the info.  I thought it would be a cool place to visit, which it was.

Another School Year 2019-2020

Before I start with the school pictures, Derek did something really good on Sunday.  It started back on June 30th with a text from Curtis, While Curtis was at meetings in Idaho, and Derek was away at camp I get this text.

Curtis: Bro Bailey asked if Derek could speak in Church July 28, is that ok?

Me: Sure, Is Derek ok with it?

Curtis: Derek is ok with it.

Great Thumbs up from everyone.



The morning of July 21st before church we are discussing that Derek is supposed to speak next week.  He pulls out the email and starts to review his talk assignment.  It was almost to time leave for church so we told Derek after church would be a good time to work on his talk. We get to church Curtis had meetings and is already there and sitting on the stand, Derek goes off with the rest of the Priests to do his duties.  I sit down with Trey and I open up the program and I see this...

WHAT??? I pull up my texts to confirm I didn't have the date wrong, yep they definitely said next week, July 28th.  I sent Curtis a text, he was on the stand sitting right next to the Bishopric.  I tried waving at him to get his attention to check his phone.  No luck.  I knew we had to let someone know or we would have a disaster on our hands. Just before the Sacrament started Derek comes and sits down (he has been doing greeter duties) I showed him the program, he looks at me and says "I was told next week"  I said "yes you were, but you have to let someone know or else they are going to announce your name when it's time then it will be really awkward."  I told him to go up to the stand and tell his Dad then they could let the others know.  Derek walked up just before the sacrament started to share the news I could see there was some discussion going on, then Derek took at a seat on the stand.  He looked pretty calm??

As soon as the Sacrament was over, The Bishop got up and mentioned something about the church announcing that EFY is changing, it is going away, has a new name and will be available for everyone, not just the kids who can afford it.  Derek got up and gave a talk about his time at EFY and threw in some other experiences he had over the past few weeks.  He was awesome.   Derek tied it in well, We got many comments that Derek did a great job, when I would mention that we had the wrong day and he didn't know he was speaking that everyone was very impressed. The only thing Derek didn't have in his talk was a scripture, other than that it was perfect.  When he got home from church he no longer needed to prepare a talk. Saved a lot of anxiety.  Derek said he was nervous but he didn't show it.





FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL July 23,2019

Another year, kids are getting big.  So big that Dax is no longer a part of the occasion, Derek is up and gone before Trey even wakes up.  No more group pictures for this event.

Derek, not so willing to smile, 10th Grade Hamilton High Schol

Trey, happy to be back home at Hancock Elementary.

Mr. Lee's class

Golden Birthday

Dax turned 19, on the 19th.  He actually had a Double Golden Birthday 19 on the 19th in 2019.  Not many people get one of those.

He had a great day.  We went to Olive Garden the night before, Dax ordered his favorite soup Chicken Gnocchi.  Then we had Hurts Donuts for breakfast.  He got these gifts..See below.


The Shoulder Devil is his little Joke.  His screen name is "RPG Shoulder Devil"  since he attends ASU and is a "Sun Devil" I thought it would be fun if he had an actual "shoulder devil"

 

Trey and I made one for him with magnets.

 The shirt was a gift too.  It says "Sorry I'm late, I didn't want to come"  fitting for his introverted personality.

He also got a new cell phone.  Samsung Galaxy 10se.  He needed a new phone, and if he is able to serve a mission and he ends up in one of the country's (likely USA) that use cell phones.  They require Samsungs.  So we got him off Apple and headed in that direction.

HOT or NOT

We had a fun summer.

Derek pretty much checked out and spent a good chunk of his summer in cooler temps.  He first did a three-week online crash course of Psychology to knock out some credits.  His first adventure he went to a High Adventure Camp in Beaver, Utah.  The Stake organized it and drove the boys up. Derek enjoyed it, he really liked the Whitewater rafting.  From the pics I got from others it looked like there was some repelling, and cave exploring, and other fun stuff like obstacle courses, etc.  Here are some pics from other parents

Garrett K, Case L, Spencer C, Ben J
Jeff J, Kevin G, Weston T, James C
Derek

Derek says he was on the bridge, he was just far off to the left looking at a bird.  He didn't know a picture was being taken.

Derek had back to back camps in Utah with a two-day break in between.  My friends Janae T and Lanae J. picked up their boys and Derek up in Beaver and drove them north to Provo.  They stayed in a vacation rental for two days.  Janae captured a few pics.  Derek and Kevin got colds and were a little run down while in the vacation condo.  They still had fun with their buddies.

Playing Risk and eating ice cream with Weston and Kevin and a cousin of Weston.

Janae took them exploring up to Bridal Veil Falls. Derek is hidden in the second pic 

Next adventure EFY  Derek wasn't excited about EFY, but I encouraged him to go because all his friends were going to EFY in Provo, UT this year instead of Flagstaff.  I thought it would be a good experience to go to a new place and have an adventure.  He had an OK time.  I think there were some fun moments, he got split up from his buddies and didn't like his roommate.  I told him he didn't have to go anymore.  Our plan was that I would arrive in Utah on July 4th, then pick up Derek and then we would Fly to San Diego to meet the rest of the family on the 6th.  Derek  was done with his "EFY Family" and didn't want to watch fireworks with them if he could get out of it.  He texted me and asked if I wanted to hike up to the Y and watch fireworks up there.  It sounded like a great idea, so I made it happen.  We had a great time.  It was an amazing view of watching fireworks from there.

4th of July at the Wareham's

Derek and I hiking up to the Y.  It is a HIKE 10 steep switchbacks.

Beautiful Sunset- Happy Birthday America.

Lavelle Edwards Stadium, where they held Stadium of Fire.  The stadium is lit up with everyone's cell phones.

We watched fireworks pop up all over the Valley.  It was very cool to watch.

Derek and I had a fun memory hiking up and watching fireworks from Y mountain.  I love 4th of July, it is my favorite holiday and my kids have never cared for it.  It is hard to enjoy it here in the hot Valley of the Sun. I think this year Derek has a new appreciation for the holiday.

I spent the next day on a boat with the Wareham's

I picked up Derek early Saturday morning after we tracked down his lost glasses from High Adventure camp.  Then we headed to Salt Lake Airport and flew to San Diego to meet the rest of the family who drove there.

Next Adventure San Diego...

We arrived in San Diego and took an UBER to the condo.  Curtis', Real Estate Friends, Kevin Kaufman and Fred Weaver go every year, they invited us to join them.

Derek on the WakeBoard 

We walked out to a ROCKY pier

A funny thing happened in San Diego.  Kevin wanted to rent a "Lilly Pad" it is like a giant pool float that multiple people can play on in the ocean.  Curtis and Kevin went to pick it up, but they realized they couldn't transport it in the vehicle they brought to the rental place.  So they decided to rent a pontoon boat to drive it over to the bay.  When we (everyone but Kevin and Curtis) heard this plan a few of the remarks were "who let those two rent a boat?" "Do either of them actually know how to maneuver a boat?  They somehow got the boat and Lilly Pad over to the bay and even took everyone out for a ride.  It turned out to be much more fun than I expected. Kevin and Curtis returned the boat
in one piece.

The LillyPad

Making Smores

Curtis throwing the Flip Flops of the FlipFlop agent into the fire

FreddiePenn at the wheel

Is this for real the Captain of the boat?

Nick Trevillian join us for the beach fire.

Fred, Curtis and Kevin

Beautiful Sunset

Smores with Kevin's Family

Since we were already in Southern California, we heard Disneyland had a new "Star Wars Land"  actually called Galaxy's Edge, we also heard the crowds were decent and lines were short.  We took a chance and headed up to Anaheim.  The rumors were true.

Disney is Amazing.  The kids are Star Wars fans.  I am not at all.  I do not and have never liked those movies.  Galaxy's Edge was amazing. Curtis tolerates Star Wars, heard great things about what Disney has done, so he wanted to check it out.   Disney did such a great job of recreating this fictitious place.  Disney gets every small detail.  I saw some little girls running around Galaxy Edge is Disney Princess costumes.  They looked so out of place, which I never feel that way in Disneyland, it just felt like an unusual place.   I was talking to another woman from California. She walked into Galaxy Edge and said she didn't feel like she was in California anymore. I don't know that I felt like I was in another plant, I definitely felt like I was in a foreign land.  Letters in a funny font, food with strange names, unusual clothing and odd creatures about.  It was worth the trip.  The kids loved it.  Derek was more than ready to get home to HOT Arizona. It had been nearly three weeks away for this homebody.

Walt's place

Millennium Falcon

Storm Troopers were in true character.  Kind of jerks who would not pose for a picture.

We shut down Disney.  We felt it the next day

Inside Millennium Falcon ride

Millennium Falcon at night