The "Old Men" vs. the Young Men

The Young Men in our ward, specifically the Priests, have been mouthing off for a couple of years saying they could beat our Elders/High Priests (the "old men") in basketball. The old men have said they would play whenever the young men would arrange it, but it never happened. Some believed it was out of fear.

Well, the young men needed a fund raiser and were feeling pretty good about their basketball skills ... they won the region championship for Church ball this year... so they arranged the "Big Game." We have 3 of the Snow Canyon basketball coaches and the vice principal in the ward so the game took place in the high school gym with the sound system and scoreboard going. The vice principal was the MC and he did a great job of it. He even found a "pacman" song to play when Bryan got in the game. ;)

While the Priests were playing ball, the Teachers Quorum washed cars for a $10 donation in front of the school. Then there were all kinds of treats and raffle tickets sold to make some more money. They even had an auction for Tuacahn tickets (which I won for both shows!).

The Beehives were the cheerleaders for the Priests. Courtney felt bad that the old men didn't have any cheerleaders so she grabbed a couple of friends and they were the cheerleaders. They even asked the MC if he would let them do a half-time show (well, fourth quarter show) and they were really cute. Courtney has no fear getting up and dancing in front of everyone and she can move! During the breaks in the game they had kids games to play. Courtney twirled around a bat to get dizzy and then ran to shoot a shot. Ethan had a bunch of friends at the game and they played capture the flag and other games. Everyone had a great time and I hope it becomes an annual thing.

Unfortunately, despite their age and knowledge, the old men lost the game. They didn't play that well, although many will blame the officiating. But I think they were just out played.

Camping!

Last Friday we went camping at Pine Valley. It is a lot cooler, temperature-wize, up there than in St. George and it was nice weather! We took the kids fishing, ate dinner, made s'mores and then went to bed. It was fun to watch the kids casting their lines out, but we didn't catch any fish....which wasn't bad for me because I didn't want to clean them! ;)

Saturday morning we woke up, packed up and came home (I had a baptism to attend) but we still had time to play around and have fun. I really love camping with my family.

Soccer Camp

Courtney wanted to sign up for soccer camp this summer so I found one offered by the Women's Soccer Team at Dixie State College. They offer it twice and we signed her up for both sessions.

Last week was the first session and Courtney had a BLAST!! It was from 8:30 to 10 am and she loved it. There weren't very many kids signed up and there were 8 players offering the camp, so they got a lot of personalized attention. Now Courtney can't wait to see her coaches play when the season starts at Dixie!

The Kau Wela Mini-Triathlon

Bryan had a mini-tri out at Quail Creek Reservoir. It was the first time for this particular triathlon and we were a bit nervous that there wouldn't be many participants. There were 42 who started the swim, so it wasn't too bad.

The water was 67 degrees, so Bryan had on his wetsuit and was ready to go. He started off great in the swim but pushed himself too hard at the beginning and got tired. When he finished the swim he said, "This may cure me of triathlons." It was a 400 yard swim

But then he got on his bike! He sped by quite a few people and made up a lot of time. It was a 5 mile bike ride. His run was equally impressive. It was 1 1/2 miles. The course was pretty hilly.

We are proud of him!

He was contemplating doing the Utah Summer Olympic Games Triathlon in 2 weeks but we decided to volunteer as a family to help with that one. It is at Gunlock and will ride by our house and then run at the high school. I think it will be fun to help out!

Putting on his game face:

After the bike:

On the run:

Finishing:

Ethan's Tooth

It was tooth week at our house. Friday night we took the kids to see "Kung Fu Panda 2" at the movie theater. About halfway into the movie, Ethan turned to me and said, "Mom, I may need to go out." I asked him why and he said, "I'm going to pull my tooth out.....never mind, it's out." I grabbed some napkins to have him stop the bleeding and put his tooth (wrapped in another napkin) in my purse for later. We didn't notice until we left the movie that he had blood all over the front of his shirt.

What is it with Ethan and pulling his teeth? I really think he should be a dentist. He needs to work on his timing though!

My Tooth

Courtney wanted popcorn so I made her some and thought I would have some along with her. I bit into a soft piece of popcorn (it wasn't even an old maid) and I felt something go into my gum. I thought it was a husk of a kernel or something but when I fished it out...and it was a part of my crown.

I called the dentist and they were able to fit me in. I took the kids and ran to the dentist's office. My parents came and picked them up so they wouldn't have to sit there until I was finished. The dentist told me that my porcelain crown had spider cracks all through it. He said he could fill it in and make it look good but because the other piece broke off so easily, he thought it would only be a matter of time before more pieces began breaking off. So I decided to have the crown removed and a new one put on.

Luckily that tooth had a root canal on it when the crown was put on or I would have been in serious pain! It took the dentist 45 minutes to get the crown off my tooth and it came off in little slivers of porcelain. It wasn't fun! I think I swallowed most of the crown. But I now have a temporary on my tooth and I have an appointment to have the new crown put on in 2 weeks. No fun!

And...the kicker...we had just been to the dentist the day before! Oh well. I'm just glad I don't have the dentist my mom had when she was a kid. He would give the Novocain shot, go to the bar for a drink, come back in 30 minutes (a bit tipsy) to see if you were numb, and then went to work. Yes, I appreciate my dentist!

St George Live...Again!

Last year I took Ethan, Courtney and some of their friends on the St. George LIVE tour. It's a tour of historical areas in St. George where they have local actors portray prominent people in the history of St. George and the surrounding areas. Many of the actors are descendents of those they are portraying. It passed off some Wolf requirements for Cub Scouts.

This year Ethan wanted to go again and it would pass off some different requirements for his Bear, so I took Ethan, Courtney and Ethan's best friend, Brennon. They had so much fun. There were some new stops on the tour so it wasn't all old hat, but the boys had fun anticipating what stories would be told.

It was a lot of fun. It was 2 hours of free (well, kids under 12 are free and I was $3) fun and entertainment. And the weather has been so wonderful around here that it wasn't hot at all!!