Fall Break ~ part 1

Out my window...

 

at the very top of Highway 20

at the bottom of Highway 20

freeway freedom

somewhere along I-15

we finally arrive



Cooper's been busy being awesome...

 

4th grade Native American Day was filled with loads of great activities like

pinch pots...

making Navajo tacos...

Navajo Warrior training...

 

sunset and silhouette art...

 

and lots of other great games and activities.

The teachers pulled off an amazing day for the students.

This is an annual tradtion I enjoy being a part of.

 

 

And of course the American Heros program.

 

Cooper spoke about Helen Keller.

He was...well...awesome.

 

and more awesomeness...

 

Cooper earned his Bear in Scouts and had to make it through the dark and threatening BEAR DEN in order to earn his badge.

That's him behind the curtain gettin' roughed up by the "bear" aka: his dad : )

 

WHEW!  He made it out alive!

 

And me getting the pin that his dad deserves MUCH more than I do.

 

Atta boy Coop!  We love you!

 

 

Wait...

this is my last Native American Day,

my last 4th grade school program,

and my last Bear.

Blinking is dangerous these days.



You never outgrow it...

Sometimes a girl, no matter her age, just needs her mom.

I miss her most when I want to share something really happy

and

when I want to share something really hard.



I love this picture of my childhood kitchen and mom and maddie sharing a beater.

 

These are the moments that make life beautiful.

These are a few of my favorite things...

 

Utah peaches...

 

 

...and

Utah tomatoes.

I'm a very happy Utah girl right now.

 

Sliced peaches in my cereal, peaches and cream, peach shakes and just a plain 'ol peach eaten like an apple are making frequent appearances on the menu.

 

Sliced tomatoes on toast for breakfast, on my tuna sandwich for lunch and again on our BLT's for dinner rounds out the tomato appearances as well.

 

Takes me back to growing up.  Happy, yummy memories indeed : )

The Project...

After discussing a handful of Eagle Projects that Davis was considering, he ultimately decided he wanted to get the Stake ball field back into safe playing condition.

It was no small feat.

Davis organized and executed his Project a few weekends ago with great success.

To be honest, I was nervous.  Brent was only a couple weeks off his three day stint in the hospital and the forecast was HOT, HOT, HOT.  That's August in Arizona for ya.

I thought our little family would be the only ones to brave the temperatures and that Davis would have to pull an extra heavy load for his Dad.

But the helpers came and I was truly humbled by their service in behalf of a fellow scout and his family.

Five strong men and up to twenty Scouts at times were there working and serving.

Davis even mentioned to me that it made him feel really good to see his friends and leaders come out and support him in such great numbers.

You can see the disrepair of the field.  Grass had grown into the infield nearly 5 feet in most places.  There were large holes around home plate and the pitcher's mound.  And the ground had baked itself to like a stone in the desert heat.  Davis planned to fix all that.

Davis prepped the field the night before and then the hard work began bright and early the next morning to escape the heat of the day.

Cooper was more than willing to dig in and do some hard work for his brother.  I loved seeing this...

Wait!!! Who is that??? Can you believe Jana traveled all the way from Florida to help?!?!  Honestly, only a true friend indeed would take an hour out of her carefully scheduled visit to come and serve. Thank you isn't enough Jana. You absolutely surprised me and I felt so grateful : )

Brother T was there right from the start ~ the first on the scene that morning and one of the last to leave.  And you know what is so wonderful about Brother T... he only has daughters.  Four beautiful ones to be exact. Not a single boy or scout for that matter. This man is genuine, humble and serves his fellowman.  He is an incredible example of what it means to fulfill your Priesthood duty and be a faithful disciple of Christ. 

He let Cooper run the sod cutter for a bit.  Cooper thought that was pretty cool.

We think Brother T is pretty cool.

 Lots of spectacular Scouts working hard...

 



 

 

 Dragging the field turned out to be the most fun for Cooper and his two buddies.  Clate, our quad driver, was a great sport and hauled the boys around the infield countless times.  Even giving them a dump off the drag on purpose, which brought roars of laughter from the boys!

A completed project... 

 

 

 Everyone worked so hard that we were finished in only a few hours.  We had anticipated to be done around lunch time and then we would provide a pizza lunch for all of our helpers but at 10 a.m. there wasn't a single pizza place that was open so I ran to the store and grapped a bunch of ice cream treats instead.  I think the cool alternative went over very well with our hot and sweaty crew.

 

Davis ~ you were a super star today!  I didn't see you stop once.  You powered on the entire morning.  I saw you demonstrate great leadership and express your gratitude to your friends and leaders.  Thanks for setting such a great example for your little brother.  I love you.

 

Now...on to the Board of Review!!

 

Back up...

It's necessary to note that before school started full steam ahead,

we took a chance to be together up in the mountains.

 

The mountains are one of the best places to have your family gathered around you.

 

Woods Canyon Lake was our landing place this time.

It was lovely. 



Maddie's phone was put away (the battery lost it's charge - yipee!)
and so time passed while we enjoyed the finer things in life like...

paddle ball and more paddle ball. 



 

And watching the wildlife roam through the campground.

This momma elk had her baby with her but was not afraid at all to make herself at home. 

 

And building fires,

roasting marshmallows,

making s'mores (I've noted that it's not necessary to eat a s'more to enjoy a s'more.)

playing 5 fingers,

quoting Brian Regan,

staring into the blaze and getting lost in the flickers.

 

And then scurrying off inside the trailer when the rain begins to fall,

playing Mancala, 



 

playing UNO,

and playing them both again and again. 



 

And listening to the dripping rain fall on the trailer roof for most of the night.
It sounds like bacon sizzling in a frying pan.   



 

And waking up to a warm, crackling fire that our resident Fire Marshall
was all to happy to get going for us,

 

and practicing your tomahawk throw for hours on end until you are sure you can beat Brother Buck and challenge him to a contest on the next ward camp out. 

 

And don't forget the finer things like...

shooting your compound bow and being really good at it. 

 

And finding extra time to nap.

Any given spot, any given moment. 

Finding your inner Katniss and liking it! 



 and wasting away the afternoon shooting off more rounds of ammunition
than your dad thought possible. 

 

 

And then of course, there is the fine art of catching crawdads or crawfish.
(it depends on who you ask around the lake) 

 

a little left over chicken from our delicious dinner the night before and there you have it.
It requires skill to some degree. 

 

ahhh!!!  The finer things in life make me very happy : )