Mountain Man

Colton and Landon just got home from the Mountain Man Rendezvous! It's a two day camp full of activities for these boys. Archery, throwing logs, "bull riding" and obstacle courses are a few of the things they did! This year's event was near Flagstaff, which means cold! Well, at least cold for us Arizonians! I would say sleeping in a tent in a sleeping bag when it's 20 degrees is cold.

It's been a tradition in our ward for the boys to make a capote, among other things, to wear and trade at Mountain Man. This year our boys made little leather pouches and knives. They didn't have time to make their capotes. So 2 days before they were to leave, some of us (insane) mothers decided they couldn't go without them and that we'd make them. I spent almost 12 hours one day finding fabric, figuring out the pattern, cutting, sewing, cursing, talking to Grammy etc. However, at the end of the day, we got 'er done. And they were an awesome mess! Luckily we were making them for 15 year old boys, who frankly did care what the sewing was like. They thought they were awesome!

MMA Fight?? What MMA Fight?

I have mentioned often what a mellow kid Colton is. Well that doesn't mean he's not a boy. And the bigger and older these boys get, the nuttier their ideas become.

Colton has been doing some personal training at a gym we found. They also train MMA fighters. Every time we pick him up from training, he goes on and on about getting some MMA gloves so he can fight with Chip. He finally remembered his money this week and got some gloves. So they rounded up another friend Henry (who also played football and basketball with them) that was stupid enough to come over and fight with them. We only gave them 1 rule. DO NOT HIT ANYONE IN THE FACE-PERIOD!

Landon and I headed to dinner, and Hank and Colton headed to Chip's. I knew it was just a matter of time before one of them landed a sucker punch to the jaw and knocked out a few teeth! By some miracle, it didn't happen. Chip's mom texted me these pictures with the words "whatever they tell you the H...'s did not host an MMA fight tonight". I laughed since I watched Hank and Colton head out the door with their gloves! She then mentioned that they were headed out to dinner as well and they were leaving their 18 year old son in charge! OH BABY!

Colton told me this morning that no one got hurt too bad. That Jake (the 18 year old) was the judge and made sure everything was ok. I asked why Jake didn't fight, and he said that since he was 18 he didn't want to get thrown in jail. We laughed, hard! Smart kid.

Stunning!

This is what happens when you go out on a date with your husband and leave your iPhone and make-up behind!

Sleepin' At the Zoo

About 6 weeks ago, Kennedy and her best friend Savana joined the zoology club at school. They met every Monday after school for about 45 minutes. They learned all kinds of interesting facts about several different animals. They both complained about how boring it was. However, they stuck it out because at the end of the 6 weeks, you could go with the zoology club and sleep over at the Phoenix Zoo.

Savana's mom and I both signed up to go with them. We both ended up sick and so the dad's went. Landon said they had a great time. That it was well organized and there was plenty of food (always a concern for him). When they got up Saturday morning, Channel 3 was there doing a report. Kennedy not only got on the news, she was interviewed and gave quite a lengthy answer. She kept asking me the rest of the day if she was famous.

WICKED

So when I woke up on Valentine's day, Landon gave me a box. I opened it up and inside was this little box, with this note on top that read "Are you ready to get Wicked?" I instantly thought it was tickets to Wicked and got super excited. Then I realized that it was just a cute saying to go with these brownies that he had ordered from NYC! I tried super hard to not show my disappointment, and acted like I was SO excited about the brownies! Landon finally put me out of my "acting" misery and gave me tickets to Wicked.

We went this afternoon to the matinee. It was amazing. I loved every second of it. Next time it comes, I am so taking my girls. Thanks Landon, for an amazing Valentine's day. Love you!

Valentine's Day

This year Kennedy started at yet another new school. Only this time, it was the school that all of her friends from church and our neighborhood go, so it's was an easy change. I'm happy we made decision to move her for several reasons. This new school celebrates the holidays much better than her last school. This is the first time ever that she needed to make a Valentine's box. We always made a box on Valentine's day growing up. Anyway, this is what she came up with.

She is so proud of it.

Then we made these cute pop rocks treats for her to hand out.

On a side note, Landon surprised me with tickets to Wicked-YEAH!! I'm so excited. We go Thursday afternoon.

The End

Colton wrapped up his freshman basketball season tonight.

Colton and his partner in crime Chip goofing around before a game. Colton and Chip have been playing sports together non-stop since the beginning of 8th grade, and off and on before then. They sweated it out together in freshman football and then both made the freshman bball team 3 day later. This friendship is super important to Colton. Chip is his only good friend that is an athlete like Colton. He is also a good kid. We know when Colton is with Chip they will make good choices. Sorry, back to basketball.

It's been a long season for Colton. He hasn't gotten to play much and has been super frustrated. As a parent, it's been excruciating to watch. We can see that he has so much potential, he just needs the right training. He didn't get ANY from his coach. We are so proud of how Colton handled this trial. Even though he was super frustrated, he never missed practice. He worked hard, and was dedicated to his team. He can be proud of himself. So now we look ahead to next year, and try to get him some personalized training to see if we can unlock some of that potential. I'm just glad it's over. I need a break!

Colton hugging Josh who is transferring to another school. They played ball together in Jr. High

15

My sweet Colton is 15 years old today. It's so cliche to say you can't believe they're that old, but I really can't. When I think about how much longer he'll be in my home, or how much longer until he goes on his mission, or how much longer we have him home until he graduates from high school and goes to college, I seriously get sick. Anxiety! When he was little, OK he was never really little. When he was younger it was fun to dream about where he might go on his mission, how tall he might get. Now, I don't think I can let him go anywhere for 2 years without me. Especially not some foreign country! How dare the church ask me to send my baby somewhere across the world for 2 years!! (I'm kidding, but only a little)

Colton reading the card from my parents. My mom took Colton's card into my dad and told him to sign it. My dad, in all his glory, swapped out the $50 dollar bill for a $1 dollar bill and told no one. This is Colton getting his birthday money from my parents! My mom was livid!! Not to worry. Grandpa Scott wasn't stupid enough to leave that $50 at home.

Colton stands at 6' 4" and weighs 220 lbs. When he had some x-rays on his knee a couple months ago, the doctor told us that his growth plates were still wide open. So we still wonder how tall he's going to be. But he's still the sweet, gentle Colton he's always been. I keep waiting for the yucky teenage attitude, but I just don't get one. He's a pretty mellow kid, that just does what he's suppose to because he's suppose to do it.

Little kids are drawn to him. He is the oldest cousin on both sides. When we get together with family the kids are always all over Colton.

We are so proud of you Colton and can't wait to see what you become. Stay focused. Work hard. Choose the right. The world is your oyster!

ARISE AND SHINE FORTH

I am currently serving as the YW Secretary in our ward. I love it. I love being in YW's and it's especially fun this time around because Whit's in Beehives. This year the Mutual theme is Arise and Shine Forth, and I love it. LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Being the mother if 2 teens (well 1 teen, and 1 thinks she's a teen) you realized more and more how important the gospel is in your kids lives. So when I heard this year's these I just fell in love with it.

We used it as our theme for New Beginnings tonight. The girls did a YW Broadcast with value commercials, a sports reports and I even did the weather report. We ended the night with a talk from our sweet bishop. I'm go grateful for the gospel in my life, and I pray that my kids can take this theme to heart and truly Arise and Shine!

Nerf Wars

One of the best things about this neighborhood is that there is never a shortage of kids to hang out with. There are kids around here doing something from ages 3 up to 18. Every once in a while, you'll capture one of those unique moments, when a big group gets something going, and it doesn't matter how old you are. You're in.

Chip's mom sent me this picture the of the boys. She was laughing at how huge Colton looked compared to everyone else! The two boys to his far right (your left) are both 18! Yep, he's big. Then the two on his left (your right) are 11 and 8.

These boys have been having these huge Nerf wars lately. Only this isn't like 6 and 7 year old having a Nerf war. These are big teenage boys beating each other with weapons, and they LOVE it.

WOW is all I have to say

I like to think that I have a pretty tough stomach. I'm not the kind to fall apart in a crisis. I just jump in and get done what needs to be done. So when we went today to get the pins taken out of Whit's arm, I wasn't too worried.

First thing they had to do was get the cast off. That's always fun. Whitley took that opportunity to scratch her arm like crazy, knowing she was going to get another cast after the pins came out. Her arm is so scrawny!

Then the doctor came in to take out the pins. She promptly asked him if it was going to hurt, to which he replied "if it hurt too bad we would take you in and sedate you. It's not that bad". So I jump into position to get a few goods pics for Landon.

He takes what can only be described as pliers, and says "I have to turn this one a little bit" as he twists the first screw around. Then he grabs it and in one hard yank, pulls it out! CLEAN "That was the foulest thing I have EVER seen" is what came screaming out of my mouth. "Dr. Doogie" as we lovingly call him, just laughed.

It was quite shocking. He didn't gently pull it out. There was no numbing of the wrist. He just yanked a metal rod out of Whit's wrist with some dang pliers!! What the?? She said is didn't hurt, which shocked me. Then he went in for number two.

This one came out in the same fashion as number one. Only this one was a bit bloody, and this one hurt! Gross. I'm not sure what I expected, but it wasn't that.

Then they cleaned up that hole that was left behind, and slapped on another cast. This time it's only up to the middle of her forearm. Just 3 more weeks and she'll be good as new.

EAGLE PROJECT-CHECK

When we starting talking about what Colton could do for his eagle project last year, all he ever said was that he wanted to do something for animals. Landon and I both agreed that he had to do something HE was interested in or it would become our project. So he called a few places to see if they needed any service, and the AZ Humane Society was grateful for the help. They needed cat/dog beds and showed us the kind that they like to use. So we went to work figuring out how to make they durable beds. After several failed attempts, Landon and Colton finally got something figured out that worked!

Yesterday we finally delivered 18 animals beds to the shelter. They were so excited and happy to get them. We are so excited and happy that it's over!!

Delivering Beds!

We are so proud of Colton for accomplishing this goal. He is super busy with school and sports and friends and young mens (he's the Teachers Quorum President) so I know putting in 140 + hours on this project wasn't easy. Now if we can just get through all the paperwork to appy for his eagle scout award, life will be good. May I never hear the word SCOUT again!!

Trying Something New

So everyone that knows us, knows that my girls love soccer. I mean L-O-V-E soccer. I always suggest that they try another sport to see if they might like it with no success. Until now! I finally talked Kennedy into playing basketball. At first she didn't want to, but once I explained that it wouldn't interfere with spring soccer and added that her good friend from her old school Sydney would be on her team, she was in!

They only had time for 1 practice before their first game today, so I wasn't expecting too much. I figured we were in for a long hour since before the game I was showing Kennedy how to "box out" and she was confused about who was shooting at what hoop. I realized then, that she had no idea how to play basketball. OH BOY!

Kennedy (sitting next to Sydney) taking a break.

She was a little timid at first, but as the game went on she got better and better. She finally made a shot in the 4th quarter, and was much more aggressive going after the rebounds. Hopefully with a little more practice she can actually get into the swing of things. Right now she's pretty much more interested in the fact that her shoes are "AWESOME" than the game.

Bella

This is Bella. Isn't she the cutest thing EVER! We have been talking about getting another puppy forever. I was the reason we hadn't done it. I just wasn't sure I was ready for another dog. The kids asked me all the time when we could get a new puppy. So I started doing some research.
There were certain things I knew I wanted in a dog, and I found a breeder who had 2 puppies that I knew I could do. So we went to take a look. We bought and paid for Bella before we left that day. We left her there and they were going to deliver her on Christmas morning. So fun!! We went back later that night to get her. Landon and I couldn't leave here there. When we got her she weighed 2 1/2 lbs. Today she weighs 4 1/2 lbs. She will probably only weigh 5-6 lbs when she's full grown! My kids are in heaven! She's a good dog, as far as dogs go. We love her!

A Rough Couple of Weeks

Even though I decided to start fresh on my blog this year, there are a couple of things that need to be documented in order for other things to make sense. Plus, there are just some things that happened that are worth remembering. A week before Christmas, I had just finished wrapping some presents and was putting everything away when my phone rang. I saw that it was the Jr. High and wondered what Whitley needed. It wasn't Whitley. It was the school nurse telling me that Whitley had hurt her wrist in PE. I could tell she was trying not to alarm me, but suggested that I come and get her and maybe get some xrays. I knew it was bad. Whitley is tough as nails and I knew she'd never be in the nurse's office, in the middle of PE, unless she was really hurt. So I jumped in my car and went to get her. I could tell instantly her wrist was broken! So we headed to an urgent care for xrays where they confirmed that yes, it was broken. They informed us that we needed to go see an orthopedic surgeon to have them put a cast on it. They asked if I needed a referral to an ortho. Well it just so happens that I have spent some time with an ortho in the last month with Colton who's knee was swollen and they thought he'd torn his miniscus. But that's another story! I called and made an appt. with my ortho for Thursday morning to get her a cast. That would be 3 days before Christmas! Thursday morning Whit and I head for the ortho. I had several other things to get done that day, and then we had tickets to the Nutcracker that night. When we get there, they take more xrays of her wrist, and then the Dr. comes in to see us.

He shows me the xrays, and then points to this one and tells me that her bones are not lining up (see the arrow above) He would like to do a cat scan so he can see it better, but that she might need to have pins put in to get it lined up. Otherwise she could lose some of the mobility in her wrist! Being the good mother that I am, I am cracking up while he's telling me this. Seriously?? We just had to have several xrays and an MRI on Colton's knee like 2 weeks before this. (miniscus not torn FYI-no known reason for the swelling in his knee) I think maybe he thought I was losin' it because he said that he could try numbing it with a couple shots, and then moving it by hand. So I figured what the heck! If it saves me a cat scan and surger let's go for it. Whit wasn't as convinced. We tried. It was UGLY (I'll save you the details). We failed. We went for a cat scan, and were scheduled for surgery for the next day. Friday, 7am. She did beautifully! She had very little pain. After a week in a half cast, she got a cast that goes up past her elbow. Pins still in!! She'll get that one removed in a few days and then go to a cast that hits the middle of her forarm. Good times. Oh and did I mention that she got braces this morning? Well she did. Poor Whit. Life is a little rough right now!

Drumroll Please.....

I'm BAAACK! Ok, it's really not that exciting except maybe to me. Last year was crazy, not that every year isn't, but I just got behind. Once you're behind, getting caught up is overwhelming. So I just blew it off. But I'm ready to go again. So I'm starting with New Year's. We had a pretty low key night. Heidi's family came over and we ate and played games. Then around 11pm we went out to light our fireworks. We tried to hold the kids off until midnight, but they weren't havin' it. Turns out, that was ok. We had more fireworks than I thought. It took us almost an hour and a half to light them all off! Every picture of Jimmy is like this. PUNK! Keep your eyes open.

I've decided that I'm going to put more pics of myself on here too. As I have looked back, there aren't a lot of pics of me on here. I'm always worried that I look fat, or ugly or whatever. I just decided that who cares! Maybe I am fat and ugly, but my family won't even remember what I looked like it I don't put a few pics of me on here. So enjoy!