Good Times

Last weekend, Curtis childhood friend, Duane Greely was in town for a baseball event with his son.  We met up with Duane and his family, along with Curtis' other old friend, Andy, who lives in Gilbert.

Andy Ibach, Curtis Johnson, Duane Greely

 It was good to see everyone and reconnect.  Nice to see lasting friendships.



This week Curtis was invited by the Phoenix Suns for their "Taste of the Suns"  I was lucky enough to be his date.  We're on their list as someone who may be interested in Season Ticket's.  We're actually not interested, and even though Curtis tells them he's not going to buy season tickets anytime soon, they still keep inviting him to cool things like this. They have food prepared by the restaurant/catering company of the Arena.  I think it's called Levy's.  The food is always really good, always on the gourmet side.  We tasted their yummy food, and stuffed our bellies, said hi to the sales rep that has our number, saw a few retired Sun's players like Alvin Gentry, Said Hi to the Gorilla, then escaped before we were accosted by the hungry Sales' Reps to buy tickets again.  We still enjoy going.

Fall Break officially ended on Wednesday and the kids went back to school.  They all came home with relatively good Report Cards,  I was proud of them.

My Brother Steve and his family came down to see the new Phoenix Temple open house then stayed the night at our house on Friday and the cousins had a great time together.  I know they were told to go to bed several times.  At 11:30 I thought I shut them down for good.  We heard stirrings about 1:00 a.m..  Not sure what they were doing, but glad the cousins were all enjoying each other.

Trey started Flag Football, he went to his first practice on Wednesday then the first game was on Saturday.  Trey was excited to play when I signed him up a few months ago, I'm not so sure he was excited to hear football was actually starting until I told him his good buddy Soren was on his team.  He also knows another kid Joshua that used to be in our ward but moved out a few months ago.  Soren's Dad took the kids to practice the other night.  When he brought them home he told us that the coach was explaining that this is Flag football and not tackle.  Then he kind of hunched over putting his hands on his knees and said "Do any of you think you can tackle me?"  Before anyone expected anything Trey charged over there and tackled the coach, knocked him on the ground.   Scott (Soren's Dad) said it was pretty funny and unexpected.

The game was interesting watching 5yr olds play.  All new to the sport and not really sure what was going on.  The coach was extremely patient.   Every time after a play the teams went to "huddle" with their coach, every time Trey randomly ended up with the other team.  Or it wasn't Trey's turn to be on the field and he would someone end up there.  It was entertaining.  At one point after a play, the coach just picked Trey up and carried him to the correct huddle knowing he hadn't noticed the teams were wearing different colors and he always ended up with the other team. Trey did get the ball and he ran it in for the only touchdown for his team.  That was pretty exciting.  There was another time when Trey had the ball and he had to run across the entire field to the other side,  He got tackled pretty early and he was pretty frustrated and scolded his team "you were supposed to be protecting me"  It was pretty funny.

Later that night I went with Dax to see the play "The Odd Couple"  I loved that TV show when I was young, he took a class this summer and the instructor was cast as "Felix Unger"  and invited all his past students to come watch it.  It was all the way out in Apache Junction, I wasn't excited about that and I think because of it they were having a hard time with Ticket Sales.  Anyway Dax and I wanted to have a fun night together so we made the 30 minute drive out.  For a brand new, small local theater it was well done.  I thought his teacher nailed the part of Felix Unger.  He really had the mannerisms down. Unfortunately Dax's allergies started acting up about the time the play started.  He was miserable, and I think the people around us were annoyed.  We left right before the last act.  I was glad we went and had a fun time.

Then at 11:00 p.m. I had to take Curtis to the airport for a red eye flight to Dallas for a Real Estate Meeting.  It was a busy fun week.

2014 Fall Break

For Fall Break this year we decided to do something different.  We usually go to Disneyland, but for a while we have talked about going up to Utah for General Conference and checking out the sights in that part of the country. We finally made it happen this year.

We had planned to leave Tuesday afternoon.  Tuesday Morning the boys were playing around/rough housing.  Trey went running through the kitchen and smacked into the back of the recliner.  Immediately there was howling, tears and a shreek "I"m bleeding".  I could tell my the howl that this was more than the average bump.  Trey's mouth was bloody, it took a few minutes to clean up the blood from his face to see what the actual problem was.  His tooth was knocked out of place and not in a healthy way.

Trey with his tooth trauma

 I called the Pediatric Dentist, explained the situation and they said it would be best for me to bring him in ASAP.  I had to move stuff around,but first I had a Drs. appointment for me for a physical.  Trey came along and he was fantastic.  By the time we arrived atthe Dentist Trey had calmed down and wasn't in pain.  I think he was initially just traumatized by the situation.  Once he knew the dentist could help him, he calmed down.
The Dentist was great, they took a few e-rays and examined him.  Dr. Sherrill said the tooth would need to come out, the was a little damaged and hopefully it would all come out together (tooth & root).  Trey was such a good patient.  They said he was the best patient they had seen that day.

Trey getting the funny gas

Toothless Grin

The Dentist said that Trey's two front teeth are loose and so it didn't take much to knock the other tooth loose.  The missing tooth with grow in, in about a year.  When his two front teeth finally come out, he will have a HUGE whole in his mouth.  He is already having a difficult time eating most foods.  Trey was great during the entire process and so was the dentist and her staff.  After we left, later in the day we started talking about Trey's birthday coming up in about a month.  He started talking about his birthday party and saying who he would like to invite.  He said he wanted to invite everyone at the Dentist's office.  Cute Kid.

After all the tooth excitement, we left late Tuesday afternoon and drove to Flagstaff and stayed the night with my Dad.  Then we got up early the next day and drove to Kanab, UT.  We had planned to stop and see some things around Lake Powell, but the road to Page was closed.  It was washed out several months ago, and it still wasn't fixed, so we had to take the Jacob Lake route.  We stopped for a quick view at Marble Canyon

We got to Kanab and visited my Uncle Roger and Aunt Kathy Smith.  He is my mom's brother and he now lives in my Grandma's old house.  I was glad to take my kids there and see my Grandma's house.  Some things are still the same like the "Red Room"  with the black and white couches.  I remember when my grandparents added the addition onto the house back in the late seventies.  The original Red Carpet, and "zebra couches" are still there.  Despite my Aunt and uncles lack of love and maintenance on the house and the extreme clutter collection the carpet and couches still are in good condition nearly 40 years later.  They have changed some things but I was glad for my kids to see where my mom grew up and the family history there in Kanab.  Perry Lodge where my mom worked, and the Gas Station my Grandpa used to own.

This is a picture taken a few years ago with my cousin Amy on the "Zebra Couhces in the Red room"

We then headed on to Zion's National Park.  About 30 minutes from Kanab, I hadn't been there since I was very young, but I remembered it, and something I wanted my kids to experience.  We had a good time with our short window of time to explore Zions. Very Beautiful Scenery.

After Zion's we drove a bit further and stayed the night in Cedar City, UT.  We woke up the next morning (Thursday) and headed north again with our destination being Provo, UT.  Along the way we the way we stopped in Cove Fort.  I had always heard of this place but didn't know what it was.  Soon after the Pioneers settled in Utah, some were then asked to head South and Settle in St. George and Arizona.  Cove Fort was set up as sort of a hotel or rest stop as they made the long journey.  When they traveled in their covered wagons for a few days they needed a place to rest and replenish supplies.  I'm sure it was a very welcomed site for weary travelers.  It is run by the church and senior missionaries.

As we were approaching Provo, we needed to stock up on supplies so we stopped at Wal-Mart and Curtis was able to buy nearly an entire wardrobe of BYU Gear.  He was happy.

Something that Curtis had wanted to do for a long time was hike up to the "Y" on the mountain in Provo.  He had attempted it a few times several years ago, but was never able to finish it due to snow storms, and lack of a map.  We decided it would be a good family activity.   We had heard varied opinions on the difficulty of the hike some people said it was easy and some said it was extremely difficult.  Basically it came down to your own fitness level.  I figured we were a pretty active family it wouldn't be too bad.

We had lunch at "JDawgs" a cool hotdog place in Provo, conveniently located close to the "Y hike trail"  The hike itself wasn't far only about 1.25 miles, but it was steep.  Even with the trails of switch backs it was tougher than we had anticipated.  Dax did great he wanted to run ahead of everyone, but we made him stick with us.  Trey did good, he was tough.  Derek really didn't want to finish, but we made him. Once we got up there it really was beautiful.  We could not have picked a better day to hike.  Temperatures were perfect, skies were vibrant blue.

Beautiful View of Provo and Utah Lake on the journey to the "Y"

Funny sign encounter on the hike- someone wrote "Floating Ghost Dog Head" on the tattered sign

Dax the first one to arrive on the Y

I thought we would want to sit on the actual "Y" one we got there.  No thanks. It is steep.  I was afraid to go out there.

Mission Accomplished.  Finally Hiked the "Y"

Going up the mountain was tough,  there were a few people in excellent physical condition running up the hill.  That was impressive, although going down was much easier those same people that ran up it also ran down, which I thought was still extremely difficult to run down because of the steepness and still rough terrain.  Some people are amazing. 

A rock we found on the way up.  It reminded us of an old BYU Logo of the Cougar (less the ears).  We will add it to our Rock Garden as a memento of this hike

 

On our way down we met a nice man who was on his way up.  He told us he was Elder (Mel) Hammond.  It turns out he used to be a General Authority, the General YM President, as well as the President over the Washington D.C temple. He was very kind and nice to chat to.  He hiked the mountain regularly. Yes we definitely were in UTAH now.  Funny thing, for how much complaining we got during the hike, when the trip was winding down we asked the kids what their favorite part was, Derek's response= "Hiking the Y"  He wants to do it again because it was "amazing".  Once he got up there the view was stunning, and I think he felt good about what he accomplished.  That is kind of how life is.

After the hike we then drove up to Ogden to stay the night with Curtis Dad.  He invited Curtis Sister, Tiffany and her family and we had a nice BBQ with the fam.  The kids had a good time with their cousins and spending some time with Grandpa.  It is nice to visit the Grandparents  Sometime we don't do often except for my Dad.

Trey enjoying Root beer Floats at Grandpa Brents, with Emery (aka Elsa).

We woke up early Friday and started heading South.  We stopped in Salt Lake and showed the kids Temple Square.  My cousin Amy, and her daughter Kelly met us there and we had lunch.  It was fun to be back in SLC and show the kids where we got married.  We took pictures in the same spots as we did on our Wedding day almost exactly 19 years ago. 

Johnson Family with Salt Lake Temple

 Because it was conference weekend, and preparations were being made we couldn't take the kids into the Conference Center or the Church office building.  I think they liked seeing these places that they had seen so many pictures of.

We drove through Salt Lake and past our first apartment when we first got married.  It still had the same name "Wasatch Club"  It was good memories going back there.  Showing the kids where we started out.

After a Salt Lake express tour it was time to head back down to Provo, it was game day.  Curtis wanted to take us all to the BYU vs Utah State Game.  Back in 1984 Curtis' Dad, Brent, took Curtis to his first BYU game.  It was also a BYU vs Utah State (Brent is USU Alum)  it was then that Curtis fell in love with BYU Football although I think he was supposed to be rooting for USU with his Dad.

It was a special game because BYU was also retiring Jim McMahon's # that night.  It had been a long process for BYU and Jim McMahon to get to that point, but he truly was a gifted Quarter Back and it was well earned.  When we got into Provo we went to the BYU Athletic Facility (Curtis had just spent some time there a few weeks ago) and wanted to show us the BYU Hall of fame.  I had no idea BYU had so many talented athletes in all sports.  It was very well done and nice to see.  As we were leaving Jim McMahon walked in.  Curtis walked over and said congratulations.  I wish we took a picture, but we (including Jim) were all in a hurry. It was cool to see the Rebellious Legend in real life. Yes he was wearing Sun Glasses.

After BYU we headed over to check into our Hotel.  This was the same hotel that the Rival team was staying at.  As Curtis checked in, they handed him an envelope with his name on it.  He opened it up and it was a Sidline pass from ESPN with Curtis Johnson on it. Essentially a press pass.  WOW!  It was like Christmas for Curtis.  At first I thought it maybe had something to do with Curtis going up there a few weeks back and making a donation to the Football program.  But it didn't make sense.  BYU didn't know what hotel he was in.

Curtis loving his time on the sidelines

 We finally determined that there was another "Curtis Johnson" from ESPN that didn't get his press pass for the game.  Of course Curtis wasn't going to pass up that opportunity.  He got us settled in the stands, then enjoyed his sideline pass for about half the game.  He loved it.  What a blessing to have a common name for once. It was a "tender mercy"

Before the game we went a bit early to join in the festivities.
There were bounce houses and Cougar Tails ( an extremely large long john doughnut thing) and lots of excitement and fun.

This should have been a really good game.  BYU was undefeated, and hadn't lost to USU at home since 1978  Their Quarterback, Taysom Hill, was doing well and even Heisman Trophy chatter.

 

Three Lucky Boys

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The game was ugly, awful and painful.  BYU got beat bad, Taysom broke his leg and is out for the season.  It was a dreadful painful loss for the BYU Fans. The only thing good about the game for Curtis was the sideline pass.

BYU in their "Royals"  throwback uniforms to honor Jim McMahon

Student section, dressed in #9, head bands and sunglasses for Jim McMahon.  Funny thing these kids weren't even born when he played.  I doubt most even  know why they are wearing what they are wearing.

Saturday we hung out at my Cousin Amy's house.  The kids/ cousins had a fun time together.  On Sunday we headed back to temple square.  Curtis, Dax and I met up with our Nephew Ben who just got home from his mission to Portugal and gotten us tickets to the afternoon session.

The Real Deal, looks just like on TV

Conference was nice and I think Dax had a good experience being there live.  Something he will always remember. Something historic is many of the talks were given by speakers in their native language.  They had always spoken in English before.  I thought it was nice to show that we are a world wide church.  At our session, one of the speakers spoke in Portuguese.  Ben was thrilled since he just got back from his mission there.

After Conference we rushed back to Amy's to meet up with my other cousin, Brandy, who I have not seen in years.  She also lives in the Salt Lake area and Amy had been wanting to meet up with her for some time.  This was a great opportunity. Brandy is married and has three kids and we hadn't really met any of her family yet.  Amy and I weren't sure what it would be like to see Brandy, it had been so long, and didn't know if we would have anything in common anymore.  It really was good to see her and reconnect again.

Cousins- Marilyn Lund Johnson, Amy Frost Wareham, Brandy Smith Leon

We really needed to get on our way and start to head home.  Curtis had a meeting Tuesday Morning, so we wanted to start knocking out some miles Sunday night.  I only could visit with Brandy for about an hour and half before we had to head out.  It was a great visit.  Then we had to head to Lehi to pick up our dog, Oreo.  We left her at Curtis' sisters house for a few days.  They were her original owners and the kids were happy to see her again.  Oreo was passed onto us because the Judd kids had started leaving home and the adults worked and she wasn't getting much love.  It was a happy reunion for Oreo as well as the family.  They were all excited to see each other.  It was kind of funny to see the little dog get so excited, and recognize her old family.  Once we picked up Oreo we drove to Beaver, UT and stayed the night.

We woke up Monday morning and started our journey home.  We took a detour and stopped at Bryce Canyon

Bryce was beautiful and spectacular. It makes me wonder why the Grand Canyon gets so much attention, when there are other places equally beautiful. I'm glad we took the time to check it out.





We arrived home about 7:00 p.m.  We had a great trip, but it is always nice to return home.

Derek complained the entire way up our hike to the "Y" and didn't want to finish.When we finished our trip and asked him his favorite part- his response "Hiking the "Y". 

And the rains came down

Last weekend we kept seeing in the forecast that we had a chance of rain through Monday. Here in the desert and "chance of rain" usually doesn't mean much.  I was excited when we got a decent storm on Thursday evening.  If we got nothing else from that forecast I was pleased with the Thursday evening storm.

On Sunday evening, Curtis and I walked Oreo and it looked the like clouds were starting to build and thought that we may get more rain after all.   As the evening went on we  were getting dust storm warnings on our phone, but nothing had transpired in rain by the time we went to bed.

About 2:30 a.m. Curtis and I were both woken up with crashing thunder and lightening.  It was the kind that you see the flicker of lightening and immediately hear the booming thunder.  I love a good thunder storm, but not when it is right on top of you.  I just hoped and prayed it wouldn't hit our house.  At the same time I was also loving the sound of the rain coming down.  We were finally getting our storm.  The thunder moved on and we went back to sleep, but I kept waking up through out the night when I was getting flash flood warnings on my phone and I would still hear rain coming down. Usually when it rains here in the desert, a storm rolls in with a bunch of dust, if we are lucky it may rain for about 20 min, then clear up.  The entire "storm" is in less than an hour.  I did think it was odd that I kept hearing pretty constant rain for all that time.   My phone warning was telling me until 10:30 a.m.  That was another surprise, when we actually do get the flood warnings, they never seem to transpire, and when they do it is usually no where near us, and they are usually for about an hour in advance, not four more hours.

With my past flood experience in Hawaii and Florida, I knew that constant rain like that for hours usually causes a flood.  Not here in Arizona, we don't flood, we barley get rain. I got up and looked in our back yard and there was definitely water starting to puddle up in our yard. WOW this is exciting for us.  We turned on the news and HOLY COW,  Phoenix was flooding, freeways were shut down schools were cancelled.  I couldn't believe it.  Floods in Hawaii and Florida and inevitable but Arizona where the annual rain fall is under 8" how could that be?  The kids schools were not mentioned as being closed so off we went.  I took Dax to school, but was amazed at all the water in the streets.  Many streets were closed off, driving was slow and the water was still coming down. When I got home I told Curtis not to go to work.  It was crazy out there, and the news was telling people only drive today if you absolutely have to.  Since half the staff couldn't even get in because of closed roads, he reluctantly stayed home.

I-10 and 43 Ave exit- Not something you ever see in Phoenix

Some kids from our neighborhood enjoying the flood in the Arden Park green belt

I walked Derek and Trey across the street to Hancock and Trey loved that he could use an umbrella, and the kids wore their jackets with hoods, a novelty here in Phoenix.  Although the temp was still in the '90's.

By the time I had come home Curtis said that Dax was texting saying his bus from Seminary to take him to Erie was late and by this time they were announcing that school was optional.

I headed out to pick Dax up with the intention of just bringing home.  The normal 10 minute drive took nearly 40 minutes.  It wasn't that bad when I dropped him off earlier, but an hour later it was awful.  I was about 100 yards from where I was to pick up Dax and he texted me that the bus finally came so he went to school.  UGHH! I wished he didn't get on that bus.   I headed on to my appt.  Then I soon got another text saying not many people were at school, and not much was going on so he wanted to go home.  I called him and told him I coulnd't leave for 30 min. Then I would pick him up.  Meanwhile the rain is still coming down. 

When my appointment ended at 10:00 I headed out to get Dax, but Alma School was closed, I had to head up Dobson. Traffic was slow and the roads had water everywhere, Dobson didn't seem much better than what I saw on Alma School.  There was a few times I worried that I wouldn't make it through without water coming in.  I could hear the water sloshing around under me. Finally I make it to school about 10:45 and it was a steady stream of parents picking up their kids.  The news was saying the storm would lighten up, but we could get rain through Tuesday. 

I signed Dax out and once again it was a slow drive home.  We get into our neighborhood and I took the long way to our house because I wanted to show Dax our "lake" down the street from us.  As I'm coming back down our street there are all kinds of Fire Trucks and police cars.  I could see a bit of smoke rising from one of the houses near ours.  The policeman stopped me and told me the road was blocked off because of a chemical fire, they didn't want people around until they got it cleared up. WHAT???  This is a crazy day.  He told us to turn around and leave for about 30 minutes.  It truly was a day out of the ordinary.  It was nearly 11:00 a.m. and I have not eaten breakfast yet, which is also highly unusual.  I had a few nibbles of grapes and the crust from Trey's sandwich, but I did not have my normal big breakfast and I was starving.  So Dax and I headed to a little Mexican place for breakfast burritos.  When we pulled into the parking lot, there was standing water everywhere.  It was hard to find a place to park without getting our feet totally submerged as we walked inside.  Dax and I had a good time eating out Breakfast burritos and Dax was actually surprised how good they were considering they had eggs inside.  Dax taught me how to place chess and we played a short game on his phone as we waited for the food.  We had a good time, and talked about what an unusual day it had turned out to be. A flood, no school, and a chemical fire 3 doors down all in one morning.

Our "lake" at the end of our street, Sparrow Pl.

We also feel 100% blessed,many of our neighbors had flooded basements, and leaks to worry about.  We had nothing.  We just got to enjoy all the water.  At final count, Chandler pretty much got the worst of the entire Valley which was 5.5"  almost an entire year of annual rain fall in one morning.  Also from past flood experience, here come the mosquito s.

Labor Day

The kids were off school today, it is still pretty hot outside. Instead of playing video games all day we decided to go bowling.  I had some coupons, so after chores we went to Sam's Club to get some pizza and Ice Cream.   I think it's funny that of all the places the get Pizza Sam's Club is always the kids favorite and they specifically request "Sam's Pizza" often.  I can't complain where else can you get pizza, drinks and ice cream for five people costing $11.60?

The bellies were full so we headed off to the Bowling Alley.  It was kind of busy, lots of families had the same idea we had. We all had a fun time bowling.  Bumber Bowling makes the game so much more fun for kids.  Instead of 98% gutter balls, they actually get some good scores. I actually had 2 strikes.  Curtis was a little frustrated with the bumpers.  He actually knows how to bowl and the bumpers change the game a bit.  The ball doesn't get much chance to curve before the bumpers take over and then your ball is swinging the other direction.  As usual Competitive Curtis still won.  We had fun time.

After bowling, Trey's friend Soren came over for a bit, and they played with their Nerf Guns.  When I talked to Soren's Mom, Tiffany.  She told me that other day she was Hancock school waiting to pick up her kids.  Soren is still in Pre-school, but it is held at Hancock, the Pre-school gets out a few minutes before the elementary school. Tiffany and Soren were waiting on a bench waiting for the other kids to be released.  The Kindergartners are released a few minutes before the rest of the school.  Trey was released and he walked by the bench that Soren and his mom were waiting on.  When Trey and  Soren saw each other they both got so excited.  Trey was so excited and he ran over and gave Soren a hug, then he started telling Soren how he had lost two teeth, and started telling him all kinds of stories.  Tiffany said Trey was so animated and genuinely happy to see his friend Soren.   It was like old friends that hadn't seen each other in five years and the were catching up, but it was sincere excitement.  There were some other people there waiting on the bench as well and they didn't know either kid, but they even commented how cute it was to see the two friends re-connect  When actually It probably hadn't been more than a few weeks since they had seen each other, but I don't think Trey was used to seeing Soren at school. So it was as if they hadn't seen each other for a long time.

Overall, it was a successful day.

Great Weekend

Last week Curtis' niece Krystal, texted me to see if her son Jacob could play with our boys one last time before they moved back to CA in a few weeks.  Our August is going to be pretty busy so I asked if Jacob could spend the night this Friday and I would take the kids to the Extreme Air, the indoor trampoline place.  We don't spend a lot of time with Jacob, but Krystal always tells me that of all the cousins my boys are his favorite.  She says Jacob has more in common with my boys than the other kids, legos, science and a little nerdyness.

Jacob came over after school Friday and we headed out to Extreme Air.  They had a fabulous time.  It is such a great place to go when it is hot outside.  They re-did the place since last time we were there with Jacob and they added an obstacle course.  It looked pretty difficult.  I don't think any of our kids were able to do it (too high etc.) but there were some kids with no fear that did well. It was fun to see the kids running around and using the skills they have learned at their trampoline class.

After trampoline we went and had pizza and ice cream at Sam's club.  I guess Jacob used the word "Dude" a lot.  Then Trey started saying it.  All night all I heard was "Dude" before everything thing.  It was funny at first, then I was sick of "Dude" no names like Trey, Derek, Dax or Jacob were used just "Dude".  They really had a good time together and they all like the same Percy Jackson Books, so they talked a lot about those. They stayed up until about 11:30 laughing and playing some game where Derek was a monster and Jacob and Trey were trying to fight him off with their nerf guns.  It was a nice break from video games.

Krystal picked up Jacob about 11:00 on Sat. I'm glad they had such a great weekend together. It was the perfect amount of time to spend with each other. My boys will be happy to see Jacob again when he comes to visit.

Curtis was gone for the weekend.  He went up to Provo, UT for the BYU Fan experience.  It was a new fundraiser that BYU athletics was doing where if you paid and were one of the first 50 people you got to go up and spend a weekend with the team, go to all the coaches and team meetings.  Ate meals with the team and got to tour their indoor practice facility.  I knew this was a dream for Curtis so I told him he needed to go. He felt a little guilty, but with only 50 spaces available I had to push him a bit.  He flew up Thursday and spent all day Friday and Saturday with the team.  HE LOVED IT.  He said it was the most amazing thing he could ever do.  Got to hang out with the players, talk to the coaches.  He realized he doesn't know near as much as he thought he did about coaching and the team etc.  If this opportunity comes up again he would go and again and again and pay even more money.  I was glad he was happy and loved his time up there.  He came home with a whole new BYU wardrobe.  Some of it was given to him as part of the package.

On Curtis' flight home he randomly ended up sitting by my old boss Chris Randall, who owned the mortgage company I used to work at. Small World.

Fun Week

The kids are in full swing of school.  Getting used to their schedules and teachers etc.  Trey still says school takes way too long, but when I asked him how his day was on Friday he did give it two thumbs up.  He likes doing buddies with a 4th grade kid from our ward, Spencer Carroll.  When Trey came home and told me his buddies name was Spencer I asked it was Spencer Carroll and he said he didn't know, but he came to swim at our house for the cub scout party.  That confirmed it.  Spencer was one of my cub scouts.

ACP-Erie had a Family swim night at Hamilton Pool.  I was surprised that Dax actually wanted to go.  Usually when it comes to school activities he isn't very social and doesn't want to go.  It was a pot luck and the whole family went and had a great time.  Dax actually talked to a few kids from school.  Trey loved going down the curly slides, diving board and the play area. He was so good about coming and telling us each time he switched areas.   Derek and Dax just did their own thing.  Hamilton is always a fun time.  They also enjoyed the food (cookies).

Trey loves having his friend Taylor in his Kindergarten class.  He knows Taylor and her twin sister Breanna from Miss Angela's Pre-School.  The twins mom was texting me about something and Trey picked up my phone and started asking me how to spell things.  He started texting Clair "Trey Loves Taylor and Breanna"  then he would go back and forth typing the words he knows.  Then he laughed and said "I love communicating"

I took a quick trip up to Flagstaff to help my Dad.  It was beautiful up there and so nice to be in the cool air.  Trey took the kids to church.  I was proud of Dax and Derek they decided to fast for the first time.  Not an easy thing, but Curtis said they did great.

Back to school #14

Last Saturday Dax turned 14.  It was a great day with much anticipation.  We had spent the prior week getting ready for school.  Going to registration, and getting new uniforms.  Trey has been looking forward to Dax's birthday because that is when we told him it would finally be time for him to start Kindergarten.  Something has has been so excited for.

Dax woke up on Saturday and he opened him presents.  A Smart Phone, a few clothes, an itune gift card and a card with $20 from Grandpa Brent.  We then headed off to "Lolo's Chicken and Waffles" for breakfast.  Derek wasn't feeling well so he stayed home, so it was just Trey, Dax Curtis and Myself.  We had a good time and we do like their food.  Dax says he likes it because it is like a combination of his two favorite restaurants KFC and Denny's.  I like it because it is a combination of my two favorite foods Breakfast and Southern.  Curtis likes it because it is Southern as well he can get friend Okra and Cheese grits. We had to hurry to home to get ready for Dax's friends to arrive for his swim party.  It was a fun day Dallin, Teddy, Brigham, Kade, Jordan and Matt all came.  One again we said no gifts, but Teddy was so kind to bring a 6 back of IBC cream soda.  Dax loved it. The kids had pizza, chips and soda. Dax wanted  an icecream/blizzard mustache cake from DQ.  We spotted it while we were doing school errands during the week and stopped at DQ for lunch. It was a great birthday for him and it always nice to have one last hue-rah before school starts.

 Last week I was helping Derek stay fresh with his school work and I've been having him do some math practice on the Kahn Academy website.  It just runs him through a few problems so his brain doesn't go to mush over the summer.  Trey was asking me what we were doing and why.  I tried to explain then he asked if the webpage was called givechildschoolwork.com.

We both started laughing, it was just funny that Trey put that all together and came up with that website.  I said yes, that is exactly what it is.  I couldn't have come up with a better name for it myself.

Dax, the Freshman

Derek and Trey, ready for 5th grade and Kindergarten

The long walk across the street to school

Trey with his pre-school friend Taylor Anderson in the same class

The kids all went back to school.  Dax is in 9th grade at ACP-Erie it is the High School/sister of the school he had been attending.  We can't believe that kids is in High School.  I think it is exciting. , Derek in 5th grade, he has the same teacher Dax had Mrs. Doerneman except she is having a baby so she is team teaching with another 5th grade teacher having a baby so half the week he has Doenerman, the other half he has Mrs. Barutha.  I don't love the idea or the set up, but Derek doesn't seem to mind.

Trey has been so excited to start kindergarten.  Knowing that his brothers go to school, made him excited.  Back in February when they had Kindergarten registration/orientation he could hardly stand it.  He would always ask how many days until he could go to Kindergarten.  I would tell him when It's Dax's birthday then it will be time to start Kindergarten.  He would say "I can't wait for Dax's Birthday"
It seemed like forever for him.  The day was finally here.  He is in Mrs. Ellinwoods, advanced Kindergarten class.  They do Kindergarten for the first quarter, then they move onto 1st grade work the rest of the year.  He is already starting to read and put words together.  He is definitely ready for all day Kindergarten.  Trey was so excited getting ready for school, getting his back pack, meeting his teacher he was giddy.

On Monday, the first day, I went over to the school to meet him when school got out and he didn't seem very happy.  For how excited he was for school to start something wasn't right.  He said his day was good, he did recess etc.  I couldn't figure out what was wrong.  I started asking him if he liked his teacher, if he made new friends.  He finally said "it is so long, it is worse that church"  I had to laugh.  He does think church takes for ever, but this is twice as long. I think he will adjust.

He was excited when he finally had recess at the playground I would take him to play on during the weekends when there was no school.  He said "I want to show you the playground you took me too. "  Of course I already knew which play ground because I took him.  Curtis, Trey and I walked over there and said " I eat lunch behind those doors, then I come out to this playground"  I think he finally understands why I wouldn't take him to the playground while school was in session, I had to take him to the other park.  Trey also enjoys lunch.  He has been excited to eat the lunches like I make his brothers for a long time.  He never complains about that.