Track Team

Because Courtney can't stand to not be doing something, she joined the track team.  It will be really great for soccer because she can learn how to sprint. She is going to do the 100 meter sprint and the 200 meter sprint.  I think she just likes the shoes and the outfit.

We had to get her some spikes. The Running Store had a "Spike Night" where you could buy spikes on clearance.  We got some obnoxiously colored ones (Courtney's favorite) for $19 so that was awesome! 





I'm excited for track meets.

Book of Mormon Read-a-thon

Courtney had wanted to do a Book of Mormon read-a-thon for a while.  A lot of yw needed to finish reading the Book of Mormon for their Honor Bee or Personal Progress.  It was hard to find a date that would work for the majority of the girls and it ended up being a day that wasn't that great for Courtney but she made it work.

They did it!  But I think they were a handful for their leaders.  At one point, they had Courtney tape her mouth shut so she would be quiet.









 They ate a lot of junk food, had a bomb fire to give them a break, and had a lot of fun together.  I'm glad they did it but Courtney doesn't want to do it ever again.

Young Mens

The Priests went to Dixie Applied Technology for a YM activity.  I love it when their leaders send pictures so we get a little idea of what the boys do when they are together.

Goofing Off

Courtney likes to come to my office to say hi and hang out when she has a boring class. Many times I'm not in there so she will hide or goof off until I come back.

Preference

Kylie Jones asked me if Ethan had been asked to Preference yet.  I told her no but she didn't know if she was going to be able to go or not because the basketball team had a game.  It turned out that the basketball team's game was the night before, so on the Wednesday before the dance she asked Ethan to the dance.  The next day, I ran to the party store to get his answer.

How she asked...

How Ethan answered...




They had a fun time.  The day date was going to Zion on a hike with a huge group of kids.  They had a lot of fun and the rain stopped so they didn't have to get all wet when they hiked.  They ate dinner and then came home to get ready for the dance.

They took pictures, ate dinner and went to Laser Mania to play games before the dance. Unfortunately, one kid got too involved in playing the games and split his head open.  He had to be taken to the hospital for staples in his head but his date went to the dance without him.  Crazy kids!

Ethan and Kylie are the second couple from the right.

Mission Papers

Ethan's missionary portal was opened so he could start filling out his mission papers.  His usual 6 month dental appointment was coming up and he already had a physical scheduled (his doctor is so in demand that they require you to have a physical every 2 years or sooner or they drop you as a patient) so we thought it was a great time to do the papers.

The dentist was uneventful but the doctor was a whole different story.  We didn't have the correct papers for the doctor so the nurse had to get them off Ethan's portal.  Then he had to get a shot, a TB test (which is the picture below) and a finger prick.  The nurse asked what order he wanted and he didn't care.  She did the finger prick first and that's not fun.  Then she surprised him with the shot.  And lastly, she did the "one that is the easiest" she said.  She took a syringe and put a bubble of stuff under his skin.  He said it hurt really bad and he didn't like it at all.  It was weird.  It was the TB test and he didn't react so it was negative.

We took his picture to finish up his papers and then they were submitted.  Now we wait!

BYU

Bryan and I came home from our Valentine's Day date (a bit early) and Ethan said "Well, I got into BYU." That's it!!  That's all he said!

I screamed and ran to hug him.  He is so chill that he doesn't always show his excitement but he did it!!  I am so excited for him.

He was a cute cougar cub!


They sent emails now to tell students that they are in.


BYU sent a welcome kit afterward with socks and a bumper sticker.  He is in!!


He is going to defer his enrollment until after his mission.  Exciting!!

Basketball

It was Senior Night for basketball!  Courtney got to play in the Sophomore game and it was fun to watch her.  She made some free throws!!

It was the Freshman team's last game so they decided to have fun with the game.  Their coaches were amazing and let them do some funny plays.  The girls called a few that worked and some that didn't!

These girls worked hard during the season and had a great time together!  It was fun to watch them.  They didn't win any games but you wouldn't know it by how they acted each time someone made a basket.  They were so supportive of each other.

Courtney and Kylie Jones.  Kylie is a senior and in our ward. 

The principal, Mr. Bench, brought the girls some Gaterade at their last game to tell them how happy and proud he was of them.  He, or the vice principal, were at every game (home and away) to show their support of the girls.  It was great to see the support.


The team with their 2 coaches!  These are the sophomore and freshman players.

Scout stuff

I bought a couple of shadow boxes to put Ethan's scout stuff in.  A husband of a friend had one that was done by his mom so he sent me a picture I could get inspiration from. I didn't want to hold on to his shirts forever and have them collecting dust in the closet.  So I thought the shadow boxes would be the best thing to do to show off his stuff.

I think they turned out really well.  It was fun to do.  Now I just need to figure out where to put them. ;)



Cub Scouts


Boy Scouts

Rough Game

Courtney had a rough basketball game where she got beat up.  I thought her nose may have been broken because she got knocked in the nose two different times, once resulted in a bloody nose.  She also had a huge bruise on her knee.

Poor nose...

Huge bruise on the knee

Bloody uniform

scratches on her arm


Basketball is a very contact sport!

Youth Cook-Off

The youth had a combined activity where they had a cook-off.  They had a lot of fun.

Ethan's socks

Ethan loves crazy socks.  He was so happy to be given these socks by a couple in our ward to congratulate him on his Eagle.

Sight Seeing in St. George

In the morning before Ethan's Court of Honor, we took Grandma and Grandpa Pack on a sight-seeing tour of St. George.  We took them to see Jacob Hamlin's house, Brigham Young's home, St. George Tabernacle, and the Temple Visitor's Center.  It was fun to go to those places again because it's been a while since we have been there and Courtney didn't remember the last time she had been to Brigham Young's home.  The Opera House and the Art Museum weren't open, but we can take them to those next time they come to town.

Yes, Ethan has his hand on Courtney's head.  The sister mission told him to stop but it was after we had already taken this picture. haha!

Court of Honor

On February 1st, we had Ethan's court of honor.  We decorated the cultural hall with memorabilia from his scouting days.

I worked really hard to get as many letters of congratulations that I could.  It was hilarious.  I asked the usual ones (governor, senators, congressmen, attorney general, US Navy, Coast Guard, Army, Air Force Blue Angels, Coast Guard, American Legion, Order of the Arrow, NASA) but then I went for some non-traditional ones (Pedro the official mailburro for Boys' Life magazine, US Fish and Wildlife, National Parks Service, National Rifle Association, Mike Rowe). I couldn't believe how many were willing to do Eagle Scout letters.  It was cool to see how much support Eagle Scouts give to each other.

We had family who came to town to support Ethan and it meant a lot to him to have them there.  We also had a big turnout from the Ward members.  Ethan didn't want to have a long court of honor, we have been to some that were really long and drawn out, so we made it short and sweet.

 

Ethan gave his two Mentor Pins to some leaders who have made a huge impact on his life, his deacon leader and his teacher/priest leader.  It was fun to watch him award those pins.  Then we asked the boys to give some closing remarks.  Here is what Ethan said:

I'm so glad he pushed through and finished because he learned so much!  Proud of him!