Youth Conference day 2

This was a packed day.  They had rotations where they learned more about the new For the Strength of Youth handbook and made a caron necklace to remind them.  The youth were then split into groups and one group went river rafting while the other group went to the ropes courses.  Courtney had a blast on the river.  Their raft had 6 people in it and the guide was really cool.  He let them get out and float down the river.  The river is running really high right now and the rapids are great so the kids had a lot of fun.  They played wars and pulled each other out of their rafts.  Courtney can't wait to go back with the family at the end of June.

After rafting, Courtney's group did the obstacle and ropes courses.  She said it was hard because there were a lot of teamwork games where you had to work as a team, but she had fun.  The best part was the swing.  They hooked someone up in the swing and the rest of the group pulled them high.  The person then had to let go of the rope and freefall until the swing caught.  Courtney did it first so she didn't know what to expect but she loved it. Here's the video proof.

Youth Conference day 1

Our youth went to Big Rock Candy Mountain and stayed at Big Rock Adventures in their cabins.  I was excited to see how it all worked out because we are going river rafting with the group for the Pack family reunion later. 

The youth met at the Church for breakfast and to pack up.  Then they were off.  They made a pit stop at Cove Fort before they were on their way to Marysvale.

They got to the camp and settled into their cabins (which weren't very good cabins).  Then they played some games.  In case you didn't know, Courtney is super competitive.  I'll show you the video.

Fat Man's Misery

It was a really long day for Bryan, Ethan, and Courtney.  They left our house at 5:30 am and didn't get back home until around 10:30 pm.  But they had a great time.  They were sore, tired, and ready for baths and bed but the next day they all said they would do it again.

I got a few pictures from Bryan's phone.  His phone took a swim and, unfortunately, didn't survive Fat Man's, but some of the pictures were downloaded beforehand.

They saw big horned sheep.

Ethan's car

When Ethan was driving down for the weekend, a semi's shredded tire was bouncing around the road. Ethan saw it bounce under the car in front of him and swerved just in time for the tire piece to miss hitting his windshield.  Unfortunately, the tire piece totally obliterated his side view mirror on the passenger side.

The mirror was still attached by the wires so Ethan pulled over and cut the wires so he wouldn't lose the mirror.  He was a little shaken up but said it wasn't too bad.  He was grateful it hadn't hit his windshield though.  It would have completely smashed the windshield up if it had.

We are glad he is safe.  Bryan and I were in the temple (or just leaving it) when it happened and I was praying hard that Ethan would get home safely.  Prayer works.

Getting ready

Bryan, Ethan, and Courtney are going to do Fat Man's Misery on Saturday so Bryan had to get all the gear ready. I don't like clutter and messes, but this one is the best kind of mess so it's just fine with me.

Seminary graduation

One last graduation to go and on Wednesday, President Hales came over to meet with Courtney.  He asked her if she would give a talk at seminary graduation.  She said she would but she wasn't thrilled about it. She prepared her talk well and did a great job.

Ethan's birthday

We decided to go to Provo for a few days to celebrate Ethan's birthday. We got an Airbnb in Provo, which turned out to actually be exactly as described.  We waited until Ethan finished class and went to dinner.  He chose Olive Garden, which was yummy.  Then we went back to the condo, opened presents, and had cake and ice cream (which we sent home with him because we were all full).

We couldn't find any matches or a lighter so Ethan pretended to blow out his candles. haha!

He is now 21 years old!!

Mother's Day eve

We always go on a hike for Mother's Day and this year was no exception.  We went to Zion and did part of the hike up to Scout's Lookout.  It was crazy packed with people and hot so we only went partway up but it was still a fun time with each other.

We finished with lunch at Oscar's in Springdale.  That's our tradition and we missed Ethan and his Big [Butt] burger he usually gets.

I then got an early Mother's Day gift when Ethan had Crumbl delivered.  I loved it! I definitely had help eating these.

Success Academy Graduation

This was the best graduation I think I have been to.  It wasn't long (there were only 76 graduates, I think) clocking in at about 1 1/2 hours. The speakers were good and kept their speeches short and to the point.  And Courtney had a great group to support her.

Hayley, Kooper, and Courtney - the Three Musketeers.  They wouldn't have gotten through Success without each other.  This has been the best friend group Courtney could have asked for!

She did it!!

Last club soccer game

Courtney played her last club soccer game.  I thought she would be sad about it but she was fine and actually really relieved to take her cleats off.  We will see what is in store for her but this chapter has finished.  We no longer have late soccer games, cold soccer games, tournaments, etc.  It will be weird but I'm sure we will adjust just fine.

Abby, Coach, and Courtney

Abby is Courtney's good friend and another of the seniors on the team.

Utah Tech graduation

This was a LONG graduation! Courtney had to be there 1 1/2 hours early so she got ready and caught a ride with Hayley.

  

They had to line up with the other Success Academy students pretty early.  They all had time to play around.

There were a lot of graduates so the processional took about 30 minutes.  I thought they did a great job keeping it in order.  With that many people, there are all kinds of ways things can go wrong.  The Success kids were at the end so it took them forever to enter and find their seats.

Courtney is in there somewhere.  After almost 3 hours, it was Courtney's turn to cross the stage!

Then she was finished!  And they set off fireworks.