Crazy hair day

Courtney didn't want to do crazy hair day but all of her friends were so she felt like she had to. We had some old hair spray paint from Halloween so we straightened her hair and put some streaks of orange in it. She was a bit worried because kids in her school normally have orange streaks but it was crazy for her!

She wasn't happy to have crazy hair:

The minute she got home from school she washed her hair. 

Monkey gear

Last night, Ethan got his gear for mountain biking. It's pretty awesome.

Ethan gave his old jacket to Courtney. She's his groupie!

Ethan's monkey hats (with his crazy sister in the background):

Pants!

If you know anything about Ethan you know that he hates wearing pants!  I buy him a pair each year because of family pictures but he only wears it the one time and then it sits in his drawer.

He came home from Success the other day and said that they have a chemistry lab day so he is required to wear jeans and a long sleeved shirt on lab days.  I went to Old Navy and bought him a pair of jeans because the ones he had were too small.

We went to pick up the other kid we carpool with and I had to take a picture of Ethan.  He caught me and wondered what I was doing but I just explained that I needed proof that he had worn the pants. ;)  He just laughed at me.

Tuacahn

My friend works in the box office at Tuacahn and she texted the other day to let me know she could get us tickets for $10 to the shows this week.  I was so excited!!  We didn't go to Tuacahn last year because it was just too expensive but we can do $10 per ticket.  So we bought 4 tickets for "Newsies" on Monday for FHE and 2 tickets for "Mama Mia" on Tuesday for Bryan and me.

I didn't think the tickets would be really great seats because they were $10.  Usually, when they sell them this low they are trying to fill seats and they are closer to the back of the amphitheater.

Bryan and Ethan had monkeys so Courtney and I went before they got home so we could figure out where our seats were.  I could have just looked at our tickets but I didn't think of that.  I was too excited to go.  Anyway, when Courtney and I got there and figured out where our tickets were we were shocked.  We were on the 3rd row in the premium seating ($83 per ticket!).  My friend hooked us up really well.  We had seat cushions and water bottles at each of our seats.  Courtney and I were thrilled!

The boys came a few minutes after it began and Newsies was a great show.  The music was fun and the cast did a great job.

Tuesday night, Bryan and I went to Mama Mia.  This time we were on the 2nd row in the center!  Again, we had the seat cushions and the water bottles.  It was so nice.  We think we need to go back and watch Mama Mia again.  It was so much fun and is my favorite Tuacahn play of all time!  If you haven't seen it then you are missing out.  There is one scene that was hilarious (the flipper scene, if anyone has seen it) and the ending dance scene and encore made all the older ladies around us scream and laugh.  It was a riot and a lot of fun.

Kong movie

We had the adult meeting of Stake Conference on Saturday evening.  So we got pizza and some movies for the kids.  Ethan had always wanted to watch Kong so we got it on Redbox along with Hidden Figures for Courtney.

Ethan watched Kong while we were gone and it freaked him out a bit.  So Bryan and I wanted to watch it before we took it back.  Ethan wanted to sit with us, but this is how he watched the scenes with the big bugs:

Family temple day

I forgot to put in an important part of Courtney's birthday...she went to the TEMPLE!  She was very excited to go for the first time but very nervous also.  When Courtney gets nervous she gets short tempered a bit and really shy.  We went in the mid morning and took family names I had been saving up for this occasion.  Since the temple recommends for youth are printed out now, our bishop couldn't give her a recommend until the morning of her birthday.  So he printed it out and left it on his front porch for her to grab.

The Temple wasn't too crowded when we got there but there was a bit of a wait.  Courtney took it all in and had me go first and then I was able to show her where to pick things up and where she needed to go.  Bryan did the baptisms for us and then he was baptised for some names.  We changed and did the confirmations.  It was a fun morning.

When we came out we saw a kid from our ward who had just gotten married.  I had forgotten it was that morning.  His younger brother took our picture for us.  Courtney was a trooper and can't wait to go again!

First day of school

I can't believe it's time to start another school year!  Courtney will be at Lava Ridge Intermediate in the 7th grade.  Ethan started 10th grade and is attending Success Academy at Dixie State University for half the day and then Snow Canyon High School the second half of the day.

She is ready with her new backpack.

Cute hair for the first day of school.

Texting her friends to figure out where to meet because you can't ride your bike to school on the first day...sheesh mom!  So I took the girls to school (well, girls and 1 boy) and another mom was picking them up.

He is getting so tall!

The first day for Courtney was pretty simple.  She went to all her classes, picked up the disclosure statements we would have to go over and sign for each class, and then came home after school was over.  She had a great day because she has some fun teachers and her best friend is in most of her classes.  Her science teacher likes to blow things up so she had a great time in that class.  This year she has lunch with friends so she is very happy about that.  I wish they would split lunch up by grades but they don't and so last year she didn't have friends to sit with at lunch.  It was a bummer.

Ethan had a different type of first day...he actually had 2 of them.  On Monday morning they had sophomore orientation at Snow Canyon High.  They were taken on a tour of the school and told all the procedures and rules they would need to know.  Then after lunch, the juniors and seniors showed up and they had a modified schedule.  They went to all their classes but they only had 9 minutes in each class.  Since Ethan only has 4 classes at Snow Canyon, he spent a lot of time with the other Success Academy kids hanging out in the library until it was time to go to their classes.  Ethan has Seminary and PE on A day and Stage Craft and Spanish II on B day. He is a little nervous about Spanish II (the teacher is pretty intense and had everyone wearing shorts/skirts/dresses kneel on the floor for a length check.  Ethan was fine but some girls were given warnings for having shorts too short. But he had some fun classes so he will enjoy Snow Canyon.

Tuesday, we carpooled Ethan and another boy in our neighborhood to Success Academy at DSU.  They had freshman orientation for a couple of days and then started in on their classes.  It's pretty intense and Ethan is nervous but he is also excited to start college.  He has Honors English, Chemistry 1010, Math 1010, Art 1010, and Science Research this semester.

He got his college ID card too.  So he is official.

She's 12!!

So, I can't all the credit for the grumpy face Courtney has on the morning of her birthday but I will happily take some of the credit.  Our kids get a cell phone on their 12th birthday.  Ethan and I thought it would be fun to set the calendar on her phone to remind her of her birthday...with a really loud alarm at midnight!  Hahaha!  So we set the alarm (it's the same phone Ethan has so he helped me set the alarm) and then after her friends left from the friend party, Ethan distracted Courtney while I slid the phone under her bed.  We anxiously waited to hear her alarm go off at midnight and see her face but...nothing happened.  I wasn't woken up by an angry/excited Courtney and I didn't hear the alarm.

Saturday morning I was worried and trying to figure a backup plan.  I was going to call her when her birthday donut was ready so her phone would make noise under her bed.  But before I could do that, this came out of her room...

She said I wasn't funny and that the alarm had gone off, she had found the phone, shut it down and then gone back to sleep.  What a disappointment!  But once she woke up she was excited about the phone.  It's not a smartphone but it still calls and texts, so what else does a 12-year-old need?!

Our tradition is a Texas-sized donut for the birthday,  The woman at the bakery got a little carried away with roses and everything but Courtney loved it!

 I love the crinkly nose when she bites it!

 This is the Beehive door in the daylight.

 We took dinner over to my parent's house for Courtney's birthday dinner.  Bryan grilled the chicken and we had salad, mashed potatoes, and cake/ice cream.  Courtney didn't want a fancy cake, which was fine with me.  She had chocolate and vanilla cupcakes at her party but I only baked enough for the guests.  The rest of the batter I combined and made a half chocolate and half vanilla cake for her.

After dinner, we sang to her and she blew out the candles.

Then she got to open presents and she was very happy.

She got the hair straightening brush she wanted!

When we got ready to leave it started to hail.  It was crazy how fast the rain and hail came down.  We tried to wait it out but we finally decided we had to get home because the kids had school the next day.  So we braved the storm and the roads were crazy.  We drove home in a river until we got to the IFA store in St. George and then the rain let up and the roads didn't even look wet.  Crazy weather.

Courtney loves rainy weather so this was a good birthday for her.

Friend birthday party

Courtney wanted a pretty relaxed friend party for her 12th birthday.  She decided to have a movie night the day before her birthday and watch the original Parent Trap.  These were the invites we took around to her friends.

The girls showed up in their pjs and brought pillows so they could relax and watch the movie.  

 Courtney's really crazy in the "make a weird face" picture.

The movie took a while to hold their attention so they were talking and generally being loud girls.  Then they started telling each other to be quiet so they could hear.  I couldn't believe how much noise a group of 5 girls could make.  But it was probably our fault because we had popcorn, soda and M&Ms for them to eat.  So maybe it was the sugar?!

When the movie finished they had cupcakes and ice cream (really, everyone was too full of junk that they didn't want to eat them so I sent cupcakes home with everyone).

Courtney then opened presents:

They still had time before parents would start picking them up so they played games.  Poor Ethan was drafted into playing with them but the games were confusing so he wasn't sure what he was doing.  They played "BANG!" and none of us really understood it.

The Beehive advisor wanted to decorate our front door so I was trying to tell them when a good time would be.  I ended up texting her and saying that the girls were so loud that she could come over anytime and decorate the front door and they wouldn't even notice.  Courtney loved it when she saw it.

It was a fun party!

Wonderful Courtney

Courtney loves to leave us notes around the house.  She is so sweet and this is the way she shows love to her family.  One day she must have really loved us because we found these notes on everything!

This was in the closet:

 On the nightstand by my side of the bed.

 On the van (yes, I gave her a hard time about forgetting how to spell "Safely"):

 In my drawer with my hair stuff:

 Bathroom counter and mirrors:

 In the closet:

I love it when she does things like this because they are so fun!

Amused Ethan

Ethan is and isn't a morning person.  He doesn't have a problem waking up but sometimes he isn't that happy to be awake.  Each morning he comes out, says "hello" and sits down to read the comics.  When the paper is late he usually says "no paper?" then sits quietly.

This day he found something amusing in the comics and had a good chuckle.  I had to document it!

Getting ready for school

It's time to get ready for school to start!  Courtney needed a haircut and wanted to get some length cut off.  Our friend, Lori, is great and cuts our hair.  She lives around the corner so it's really convenient.  She cut about 2 inches off Courtney's hair and then taught Courtney how to curl it.  Courtney has tried to curl her hair since and burned her finger, so it's back to having me curl her hair every morning.  But I'm fine with that!

 Courtney got her school schedule and was very excited.  She has almost all her classes with her best friend, so they are happy girls.  She also got the teachers she wanted, including Honors Language Arts from Mrs. Robins who was Ethan's teacher in 7th grade.  She is so excited to start 7th grade, although she will say she isn't.

We also went to the high school to pay fees and get Ethan's locker.  I don't know why they give the lower lockers to the tallest kids, but oh well.

While Ethan was gone they sent out class schedules.  His schedule needed some tweaking but I was nervous to do it without his input.  So I did all the research and then when he got home he made the decisions on what he wanted to do.  He is at Success Academy at DSU in the morning and then will take 2 classes at Snow Canyon on A day and 2 classes on B day.  It will be challenging but he is looking forward to it.  I was nervous that he would feel like he was missing out on high school stuff but he assured me that he would rather get 2 years of college done than go to assemblies and pep rallies.

Crawfish Boil

Ethan cooks on Tuesday nights and he makes some good stuff.  The week after the Whitney trip, he made a crawfish boil.  It had shrimp, crab legs, corn and potatoes.  It was really yummy!

Mt. Whitney Trip

Bryan and Ethan should be writing this post because I am just going off the pictures Grandpa took and their itinerary.  If anyone wants corrections made, let me know and I will make them.  There are also videos but I'm not sure which ones to put on so I will do those later, under supervision. ;)  Here goes nothing!

Mt. Whitney trip - July 30-August 5

After sacrament meeting, the boys changed their clothes, packed the van and drove to Lone Pine.  It wasn't too eventful except a fighter jet flew over them at one point and that was exciting.  They went to the ranger station and were able to get the permit they wanted without any trouble.  That was a huge blessing because they hadn't been able to get it ahead of time so they were worried.  But it all worked out.  They went to Horseshoe Meadows and camped for the night.

Grandpa and Ethan played cards.

 Here is their tent.

Monday morning they woke up, packed up camp and took off for Chicken Spring Lake.

When they arrived, they set up camp and then went fishing!  

I can't remember but I think they didn't catch anything this day.

Tuesday morning they woke up and hiked to Rock Creek Campground.

As a side note: Ethan had on brand new hiking boots.  He had only tried one boot on in the store (he hates shopping!) and hadn't worn them in yet.  Everyone was very nervous that he wouldn't say anything and would have blisters.  I was worried he would be miserable.  Well, Grandpa and Bryan keep checking on him but he said he was fine....and he was!  He didn't have any blisters.  Bryan, however, had some huge ones on his heels from his old hiking boots.  They have been retired now. But he still has a bump where the blisters were the worst.

They made it, set up camp and then got ready to fish for dinner.

 Grandpa caught some dinner.

 I think Ethan tried to catch a fish with his bare hands.  It didn't work but I'm sure he had a good time trying.

 Ethan caught some dinner.

 Grandpa cooked it up.

On Wednesday morning they woke up, packed up and started hiking to Crabtree Meadows Campground.

 There was a lot of water they had to wade across.

 The story behind this picture started 25 years ago (is that right?) when Bryan hiked Mt. Whitney the first time when he was a priest.  A bear got into his food and ate it!  The man in the center is the same ranger that was there when that incident happened....and he remembers it.

 Grandpa caught a bear picture. ;)

 It's really just a log that looks like a bear!

This is their camp.

 These are their bear barrels that are properly sealed up for the night.

On Thursday they packed up and hiked to Guitar Lake to camp.  This is the lake Bryan jumped into when he was a priest and it was freezing cold then.  Ethan didn't take the challenge.

Wildlife:

Once again, there were a lot of water crossings.

 Beautiful scenery.

 Setting up camp.

 Ethan and Grandpa went fishing.

Friday was summit day!  They woke up very early and began hiking.

 It started to rain a bit on them so they got out the rain gear and protected their packs.

 On the saddle, they dropped their packs and got their day packs ready to hike to the summit.

 Huge marmots.

 This wasn't their pack so they just let the marmot go, haha!

 They made it!!!  They signed the book and then took in the views.

 There's no time to dilly-dally on the summit because they had to get down.

 The hike down is the worst part of the entire trip!

 There was quite a bit of water.

 They are getting closer!  They actually found a shortcut that cut a bit off the final part of the hike.  The worst part of the hike is being able to see the parking lot at the portal for miles and miles before you get there.  Someone made a trail that cut some of that shorter and I wish I would have known that years ago!

 They made it down!

 Traditional pic

The hamburger place at the portal was closed (I think that's what happened).  So they drove to Lone Pine, checked into a motel, showered (yeah!), and then went for dinner.  They slept well that night.

Saturday morning they woke up and drove home.

Bryan was pretty scruffy.

These are random photos Bryan took before his camera died so I'm not sure what day they are on.

 They were exhausted but had a great time!