Youth Conference

She didn't end up taking this backpack, but Courtney was getting ready for youth conference in style!
It was Stake Youth Conference and the first time it was all 3 of us there at the same time (Bryan stayed home to work).  It was at Heber Valley Girls Camp and it was so nice.  We were in cabins or yurts with showers, running water, flush toilets, and a covered pavilion.  SO NICE!

  



Our theme was "It's a Jungle out there!"


I drove up early with another member of the Stake YW presidency to set things up.  It had been rainy so we were praying that the rain would hold off and let us have a great youth conference.  It did rain a bit but we didn't have too many problems because of it.  The problem we did have was a tanker full of propane crashed into the reservoir near there so they shut the road for a while.  This made it hard for the groups to get to camp and for one of our speakers to get there but it all worked out.

Our ward didn't have enough YW leaders go up so Barbara Andersen, my counselor, and I stayed with them in their yurt.  I wasn't sure if Courtney would be okay with that but we had so much fun bunking together.  I was on the top bunk and so was Courtney so we could chat with each other.  It was fun.  Ethan was in a cabin with a bunch of YM from our ward and they had a lot of fun too.



The first night we had Brad Wilcox come up and speak to the youth.  They loved him and he was so much fun to listen to.  My sister-in-law had gotten him for us and I was so grateful to her for helping out.  He explained the Gather of Isreal to the youth and how they are a part of it.  They had fun and he was energetic with the kids.

  

Then we had an opening dance.  I embarrassed the kids when I danced, but they lived through it.  And they even danced too!

The second day was the zipline and challenge course days.  The youth had different rotation classes while waiting for their challenge course time.  Then they hiked to the challenge courses.  I didn't get to see them but I was told that the kids did a great job.

There are our boys hiking off to go to the challenge courses.
  

The next day the youth played games and had fun.  We had deer and moose in our camps, so that was fun.  They did a huge service project that was HUGE!  We didn't realize how intense it was going to be so it ended up being a bit too long.  But that's okay.

Here are some pics I found of Courtney playing games.
    

That night we had Tanner Hutchens share his conversion story with us.  He did an amazing job and the youth listened to him for over 1 1/2 hours!  The didn't want him to stop.  You can learn more about him here: Tanner Hutchen's story

Then we had another dance.  This one wasn't as fun because the kids were pretty tired.

Friday, we packed up and went home.  It was a long week but I think the youth had a good time and learned a lot of good things.

Burning their books

Courtney and her friends got together at our house and use our fire pit to burn their old homework and papers from the last year.  School is over and they wanted to celebrate.  They had so much fun and we had the stuff to make s'mores so it was a fun time for everyone.

    

Ethan and his camera

Ethan got a really nice camera for his birthday and he has had fun going to Snow Canyon to take pictures.  And Courtney likes taking pictures of Ethan while he is taking pictures. ;)





He is putting his photos on a blog for people to look at.  He only has a few pics on there so far but hopefully, he will get more.  https://scenesofstgeorge.blogspot.com/

Ethan's awards

We thought Ethan had missed the awards for Success Academy this year but then we got an email letting us know that they would be taking place at the end of May.  I was glad he didn't miss them because he got two awards.  Great job Ethan!!

He's 17!

I have a hard time believing it, but Ethan is 17 years old now.



He went to the movies in April with his buddies as his birthday party so he just had a family party on Sunday.



He got his traditional Texas donut for breakfast.  Then he got to open presents.  He got an Alexa, ties, a nice camera, and some games.  It was a great day for him.

   

   
Ethan's birthday dinner was strawberry fluff, shrimp scampi, wild rice, and mashed potatoes. 
   

Soccer Tournament

Courtney's United soccer coach runs a soccer tournament business so the girls were invited to participate in a tournament in Ivins.  It was on Ethan's birthday but he said he wouldn't mind because it was in the morning. 

There were enough girls that they had to split their United team into 2 separate 5v5 team.  There were 4 teams all together in their age bracket.  Courtney's team came in 3rd and the other United team came in 4th.  It was a fun day.

County Attorney's Office

At the end of February, I began working part-time at the County Attorney's Office.  I was hired to be a backup receptionist and to help run criminal histories and anything else they needed.  The people who work there are really nice.  I didn't have any background in criminal law (except my internship at the Public Defender's Office years ago) so it was pretty new stuff for me.  But I had general knowledge so it wasn't too steep of a learning curve.  I learned a few computer programs they use to keep their cases straight and to run criminal histories.  It was interesting but when I was hired I let them know that there was another full-time job I was waiting to open and, if I was offered that job, I would be leaving.  They said they would take me as long as they could get me.

In May the job I was waiting for opened, I interviewed and was offered the job, and I will be the Registrar/Secretary at Snow Canyon Middle School next year.  I gave my notice at the County Attorney's Office.  I had worked there for almost 3 months.

Everyone was really understanding about why I was leaving and they were very nice. 

Ethan's game came

Ethan saved his money and then pre-ordered a game he really wanted.  But it took months for it to be released and to come.  He waited and waited until it finally came!  He was pretty happy.

Road Show

Ethan has been a counselor for Special Needs Mutual and they had a road show in February.  We were able to go and watch and it was the best experience.  Those kids did a great job...all of them!  There were 2 special needs mutual groups that got together so there were 2 shows.  The one Ethan was in was "The Greatest Show" and they did an amazing job!

Ethan's special friend doesn't like dances and stuff so Ethan thought he would get out of the road show.  But his friend wanted to do it so he ended up there too, and it was great.

Here is the opening scene:

Ethan is in the back on the left.  His special friend is on the far left and Ethan is next to him.

Ethan's head is just to the left of the girl's purple bow in her hair.

Everyone was in tears by the end because there was such a strong Spirit in the room.  It was really a great experience and I am so glad he has been involved.

Orthodontist

Courtney has some funky teeth. She is missing her eye teeth.  On one side of her two front teeth she has a baby tooth without a root that is hanging because it is being squeezed between two other teeth.  She doesn't want it to come out until she has braces because she would only have her two front teeth.  On the other side of her front teeth, she has an adult tooth growing in and taking the spot that was vacated by the baby eye tooth.  So the tooth it should be pushing out is firmly still rooted in her gums.  That means that we will have to go to the dentist to have that one pulled sometime after she has braces put on and they can make space for it to come out.

They figure that, with only those two baby teeth left (one not even attached by a root) that it's time to start braces.  We are waiting until August, for insurance reasons, but then she will get braces.  They will make space and then pull the two baby teeth.  She will need implants when she is 18 or 19 years old, but until then, they will make a fake tooth and use it so the spaces are accounted for where she doesn't have teeth coming in.

When the orthodontist checked her teeth he saw her molar baby tooth that was hanging on but the adult tooth wasn't able to push it out.  It was only partly there so he used the other end of the little mirror tool as a crowbar and he pried her tooth out.  She has a pretty high pain tolerance because she wasn't in any pain.  But he got it out!

We scheduled the braces and then she was given a blue icee.  The orthodontist gives these to kids after their appointment and it always turns her mouth different colors.

Ugh!

Color Blast Party

The middle school always has an end of the year color blast party.  Courtney had a lot of fun with her friends.  They had a bunch of games, popcorn, otter pops, color packets, and a climbing wall. 

PDT 20 Years!

We thought we were finished with dance recitals but we had one more to go to.  Courtney's old dance team, Pizazz or PDT, was celebrating 20 years.  So they asked any former dancers to come and do a flash mob with them.  They had one rehearsal, the night before, then we went to the performance and acted like we were there just to watch the dancers.  At the end, they did the flash mob and it was so fun to watch.  The video is below.

 Courtney is in the shorts and white shirt in the front.

Courtney is on the left and is kneeling.

You'll have to turn your computer on its side after a bit because I didn't realize how I was filming.