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