Pierced Ears

Courtney really wanted to get her ears pierced when she was little and we told her to wait until she was 16.  As the years went by, she didn't really mention it much.  Once in a while, she would say that she would like to get them pierced but never pushed it.  I figured she had changed her mind and wasn't really interested anymore.

Girls camp is next month and the leaders asked if the girls wanted necklaces or earrings.  Courtney decided she wanted to get her ears pierced.  She is old enough to make the decision, so we told her it was fine with us.

I was going to take her over to the mall to have it done (because that's where her friends had their ears pierced) on Monday but, after her soccer game, we decided to just go and get it done.  Boy were we in for a surprise.  I didn't realize that it was "National Ear Piercing Day" until we saw the line at the mall.  It really wasn't too bad, there were only 2 groups ahead of us but they were taking forever.  After waiting for over an hour, it was Courtney's turn.  By this time she had seen 5 people get their ears pierced and was ready for her turn, although you could tell she was a bit nervous.

We filled out the paperwork, picked out the studs she wanted, and then it was her turn in the chair.  The girl marked her ears and we checked them to make sure they looked ok.  And then it was time.  Here is how it went:

Courtney really didn't even flinch and was surprised at how painless it was.  She didn't have any problems.

They turned out cute and we got free swag because it was "National Ear Piercing Day" so that was a bonus.  Times have changed because now, she only has to keep in the studs for 3 weeks.  It was 6 weeks when I was a kid.  And they didn't hurt afterward.  I remember mine hurting to sleep on for a few days.

She is very happy she got her ears pierced but it will take a while to get used to seeing.

Last Game of the Season

 The 7 Elite team had their last game of the season and the last game for quite a few of the seniors.  The moms had to take pictures of the team before everything changes.

Courtney is in the middle in the back.

After the game, the team mom gave some gifts to the seniors who will be leaving to go to college.  Then they organized a swim party at one of the girl's homes. I offered to take Courtney home to get her swimsuit but she said she was fine.  A mom bought them sandwiches and they hung out for a couple of hours.  Only a couple of girls ended up swimming but the house they were at was a mansion!

Courtney got a ride to the swim party with another girl in her convertible with the top down.  What a life!

Here is Courtney's 7 Elite pin she got from a tournament they played in.

We are goofy!

Ethan called on Tuesday, as usual.  He is getting transferred and was kind of bummed but excited to go back to Wyoming.  We were goofing off with the filters and Ethan took screenshots.  Ethan started it by turning himself into a pickle and then Courtney had to get in the fun. When we finished talking, Ethan sent the screenshots to me and we were laughing so hard.

Ethan was amused.

We have a lot of fun as a family, even when we are far from each other!

Mother's Day

It was a good Mother's Day.  The Primary children and young women sang in Sacrament Meeting.  I cried.  We had Relief Society in person, which is wonderful, and the bishopric gave us all mini bundt cakes for our gift.  

We got to talk to Ethan in the afternoon.  He is doing really well on his mission and was going to find out about transfers that evening.  It is always fun to talk to him.

We had dinner with my parents and Leigh Ann.  Bryan made a wonderful roast, mashed potatoes, and veggie tray.  I made a chocolate Dutch oven cake that we ate with ice cream.  It was a wonderful meal.

I am grateful for all the mothers in my life!

Hiking in Zion and Oscars

We have a tradition of going on a hike the Saturday before Mother's Day and then eating lunch at Oscar's in Springdale.  If you haven't been to Zion lately, you need to do your homework and figure it out before you go.  

The shuttle is the only way to get around within the park.  Private vehicles aren't allowed unless they are going straight through.  If you want to go to any of the hikes in the park, you have to take the shuttle.  In order to get on the shuttle, you have to buy a ticket beforehand and the ticket is for a specific day and time.  Tickets go quickly but you have to get them ahead of time.  They release tickets on Friday at 5 pm and, if you are quick, you can get one the day before you want to go to Zion.  We were lucky and got tickets Friday for a Saturday shuttle.  You can get on the shuttle without tickets if you go in the afternoon and stand in a long, Disneyland length line in order for a chance to get on the shuttle without a pre-purchased ticket.

You have to pay for parking when you get close to Zion and there are kiosk machines where you put in your license plate number and then pay for your time.  These lots are usually crowded the closer you get to the park.  We lucked out and found an open spot close to the park entrance but the line at the kiosk was long.  We didn't have too much wiggle room before we had to get on the shuttle and we still had to buy a parking pass, so I went ahead to buy a National Park pass while Bryan and Courtney stayed to pay for parking.

When I got to the booth to buy a pass I found out that they don't take cash.  So I didn't save any time but we still were able to make our shuttle time without a problem.  After the ranger scans your ticket, you get a wrist band that allows you to get on and off the shuttle as much as you want but if you go back to the visitor's center, you have to get off and you're done.

We decided to hike to the lower and middle Emerald Pools.  There wasn't much water but it was still a fun hike.  The weather was perfect and it wasn't crowded (because they use the ticket system and limit the amount of people).  After that hike, we decided to go to the River Walk hike.  We didn't get very far before we got hungry and decided to go to Oscar's.

We took the shuttle down to the visitor's center (and were amazed at all the people in line to get on the shuttle without tickets), loaded in our car, drove to Oscar's, and got right in.  They have the best food and, as Bryan says, the best restaurant salsa ever.  We had a good lunch and then came home.

It was a wonderful day!

Youth Day of Service

The Southern Utah area had a youth day of service on May 8th.  More than 3,100 youth and leaders in the St. George area got together to do over 36 different clean-up projects around the area. Our Stake was assigned to clean up on Highway 18 (going towards Veyo) between mile markers 9 and 10.  The YW leaders in our ward weren't going to be able to go so they asked parents to come and supervise.  We usually go hiking on the Saturday before Mother's Day but we decided to go a little bit later than usual so we could help with the project.  

We woke Courtney up and were at the Church by 8 am to get our assignments and start cleaning up.  They gave us the cute (haha) yellow vests that say "Mormon.org" to wear and keep because they have the old website on them.  We took a group picture, loaded in our car, and we were off.  

Did I mention that Courtney was the only young woman in our ward who showed up?  Yup.  She was the only one so Bryan and I went with her and told her we only had to stay for a little while.

We got to our designated spot by about 8:45-ish and began cleaning up.  It really wasn't a bad place to clean up trash because there wasn't much of it.  The young men in our ward helped and, at around 9:25 we left to come home.

Courtney wasn't happy to wake up early and clean up, especially when she was the only girl, but I was glad that she did it so she could do service for others.

If you want to read about the Day of Service, this is a link to the Church News article: Youth Day of Service.

Courtney refused to wear the cute yellow vests.  

Last Day of Finals!

It was Courtney's last final for Success Academy so we had to celebrate.  She took her English one last Friday, Culinary Chemistry on Monday, Science Research on Tuesday, and Math on Thursday. It was a tough week but she survived (and so did we).

I blew up some balloons, bought her a Texas donut and raspberry lemonade, and waited for her to get home.  She was excited and ate the donut in 2 sittings (whoa!).

Courtney still has to attend her Spanish 2 class and seminary at Snow Canyon.  So it's not really summer for her yet, but she does get to sleep in every morning now.