Mini golfing

We decided to go mini golfing for a family activity.  It was warm outside but it wasn't too bad.  We went to Fiesta Fun because it's the only place in town. ;)

It was pretty crowded but we didn't have to wait too long on any of the holes.  Courtney and I are not the best at mini golf but we have a lot of fun.  Bryan and Ethan know the angles and have an easier time. It was a fun family activity.

She made the team!

Tryouts for the SCHS soccer team were this week and Courtney made the team for her senior year.  We figured she would so it wasn't too stressful, but you never know.

After their first practice as a team, they had a parent's meeting where they got their swag and everything.  The coaches are new and haven't coached girls before but they say they are loving it.  The girls were given their team swag and their uniforms.  They didn't get the same numbers as last year.  At the end of last season, they were asked to put down 3 numbers they would want and then the coaches tried to get them those numbers.  The uniforms are new this year.  The coaches asked the girls to find their soccer bag and they had all their swag in it.  Courtney is #28, which was one of the numbers she had requested.  It is Buster Posey's number so she was really happy!

The coaches gave the girls a rose at the end of the meeting.  The first pic is of Courtney and Sammie with Courtney giving me her fake smile.  I got her to give me a real smile for the second one!

Here's to another soccer year!!

Rain

We have been praying for rain and we finally got some!  It was great to get rain although some parts flooded because it came down too fast and the ground couldn't soak it up.  But we didn't have any problems.  I hope it continues!

Tired Courtney

FSY wore Courtney out!  She went to Grandpa's house to mow the lawn and fell asleep on the couch.  She never takes naps, so when she does it means she is really tired.

FSY

Courtney and Hayley went to FSY at Dixie State.  They did not have very high expectations because of past experience at activities like these, but they went in with low expectations and good attitudes. It paid off!  

They were put in a room with 4 rooms.  Two of the rooms were singles and the other two were doubles.  Courtney and Hayley happened to get the single rooms, so they started off thrilled.  Then the people in their company were great!  The people you are with make all the difference and it was so true for Courtney.  She had a great time and learned so much.  She had fun.  One day, she was texting me asking how the Gospel Library notebooks section worked.  I was happy to answer her questions and grateful that she was in a place where they were encouraging her to use the resources and it wasn't just me telling her she should use them.  Her counselors were great too and she really connected with them.

They have a group chat going now that FSY is over and plan on getting together again.  I am grateful that the Church has changed to the FSY program so all kids can have the experience.  And I'm grateful that Courtney went into it with a good attitude and low expectations because those low expectations were exceeded. ;)

If you didn't know, Courtney can find just about anything on the internet.  It's kind of scary!

Courtney and Hayley are front row on the left:

Courtney is in the front with the white shirt and back turned to the camera:

Courtney is in the middle:

Courtney is front row, 3rd from the left:

Courtney is front, 2nd from the right:

Courtney is back row on the left:

Courtney and her counselor:

Courtney is 3rd from the left:

Welcome Home!

Ethan spoke in our ward and did an amazing job.  He talked about faith and how Christ is the center of everything.  It was a great talk and I was impressed with how eloquent he was when he spoke.  You could tell he had matured a lot during his mission. 

"The Boys": Brennon Brown, Monte Evans, Duncan Richey, Ashton Thayne, Ethan, and Ivan Dodds.

Sunday evening, we had people over to welcome Ethan home.  A group of his friends came and camped out all evening long.  They had a great time talking about things that had changed and catching Ethan up on the happenings while he was gone.  Many other ward members showed up to say hi.  We had ice cream as a treat.

Ethan said he now feels like he is officially home.

Family pictures

I wanted to get family pictures taken before things got crazy and right when Ethan got home from his mission.  A girl who grew up in our neighborhood is a photographer so I scheduled it with her.  We were going to have pics taken at Ivins Reservoir but there were too many people there.  She suggested we go to Snow Canyon and I am so glad we did.  She knew of a really cool place that made for great pics.

Pine Valley

Grandma and Grandpa Pack were here for Ethan's welcome home.  We decided to get out of the heat and go to Pine Valley for dinner.  We loaded up the dutch ovens, our shade tent, chairs, and some games.  We were taking a chance because it was a busy weekend and there weren't any open spots to reserve.  We drove around and wondered if we had made a mistake when we saw a campsite open.  After talking to the camp host, she directed us to an even better spot.  We paid for an overnight spot (even though we weren't going to use it overnight, it was the only thing we could find) and set up to start our dutch oven dinner.

Grandma and Grandpa Oman and Aunt Leigh Ann came up and we all had dinner together.  We played games, talked, looked around, and then came back home.  It was so nice to sit in the cooler weather of Pine Valley and just visit.

Senior lunch

The YW leaders wanted to get to know the older girls a little better.  They decided to have a senior lunch but then invited all the older girls, so it should have just been a lunch.  We went to the Homestead Cafe which has baked treats.  It is really popular so a lot of people were there.  We snagged a table outside and then went to order.  It was kind of hot to be sitting outside but we made due.

We have some great girls in our ward and it was fun to sit and chat with them.  They are so busy that Wednesday nights don't always work. 

Civil War display

At the St. George Tabernacle, there was a display of Civil War memorabilia that I wanted to see.  It was on display for the 4th of July so we decided to go see it.  They had flags from all different times in the history of the US.  They had the cuffs that Lincoln was wearing when he was killed.  They had the history of the flag on display also.  Then they had this...

 I had NO IDEA that Darth Vader and Superman were in the Civil War!  That wasn't something my teachers ever taught me in history class. ;)  I don't know why those were part of the display but they were the original ones used in the movies so that was cool to see.

4th of July

 Our usual 4th of July tradition is to bike to Snow Canyon and have cinnamon rolls.  We didn't want to bike this year because it was hot, but we decided to go disc golfing (so Ethan could show off his skills) and have cinnamon rolls.  I woke up early to make the cinnamon rolls, then we loaded in the van and went to Mathus Park where they have disc golf set up.

When we got there, we found the first hole and started.  Ethan showed us all how it was done.

Ethan knew what he was doing and Bryan got the hang of it, but Courtney and I had a rough time getting the disc to go where we wanted it to.  Luckily, it was a forgiving course and we weren't keeping track of throws.  We had a lot of fun and the course was pretty small.  Ethan did have to ask a couple of times where the next hole was.  People are super nice and one man gave us a run down of where all the holes were.  It was a fun morning.  We then ate our cinnamon rolls and went home.

Church

I had to take a pic of the first Sunday that we were all back together.  This was Ethan and Courtney as they were walking to Church.

Some things don't change.  When Ethan showed up at Church, they asked if he would help by blessing the sacrament.  He slipped right back into the role he had in our ward before his mission.  It was fun to see him do it once again.

A lot of people were gone because it was the holiday weekend, but it was good to see all the people who welcomed Ethan home.  The ward certainly has changed since he has left.