Flagstaff Extreme - February 2014

Brianna has had her heart set on going to Flagstaff Extreme for quite some time! It is a ropes/zipline course in the trees near Flagstaff. There are five courses, ranging in difficulty and height off the ground from around 30 feet to over 60 feet. If you complete all five course (only about 15% of those who try do) you are allowed to purchase the Black Course finishers shirt.  Brianna, Logan and Scott earned that right! I am proud to report that I finished three of the courses, and it was absolutely terrifying and exhausting. I am so impressed with my family for finishing as much as they did. Scott and Logan are so completely fearless it is ridiculous.  Brianna was amazing and super helpful talking me across some of the elements. Some parts are really difficult. The pictures don't do this justice.

I wish you could see the light snowfall we had during some of the time we were there. It was beautiful and peaceful.

Heading Up!

I'm still smiling, it must have been one of the first obstacles because it was really scary!

Are you kidding me? Look at those swings we had to walk across!



Logan and Scott crossed on the zip lines mid-air. Logan is on the line above Scott.



I think this was the most difficult thing on the course! They had to put their feet in the iron rings to cross, with exhausted arms and legs AND it was over 60 feet high.

April Happenings

Lyndsee had  a Harry Potter Party




 

Cauldron Cakes



Chocolate Frogs

Wand Making Station



Logan followed in his sister's footsteps in track and managed to not run any events in Track this year. He threw shotput and discus and high jumped.




Brianna was inducted in to the National Honor Society



And then she was inducted into the French Honor Society.  I didn't put a picture but then she was honored as a Golden Scholar. Yep, she's a smarty pants!



Lyndsee flew on a trapeze, it was amazing!



Logan's face is still on the school busses



The Lee's came for a visit and hiked Flatiron with Scott and Logan's scout troop



My parents came over :)



Lyndsee played some ball - she LOVES it!



Logan's YMCA team won the division championship and got to play the final game at US Airways Arena. It was a great game but they lost to the West Valley by just a few points

Prom 2013

Brianna was invited to Prom by Colton this year. Colton asked her with a Batman theme and Brianna answered him by projecting a Batsignal on his house so it seemed appropriate for her to wear her Batman necklace.  They looked adorable and it was a really fun group of kids. Most she has grown up with, including Colton. We cut it close on getting her ready, her dress arrived in the mail just a day before the dance and needed some alterations, but we did it.  She looked beautiful!

Brianna, Colton, Dana, Jackson, Emily, Remington, Riley, Spencer, Maddy and Jeremy

December 2012

I hope your December was filled with fun and family. We had a great holiday season and are enjoying some lazy time before school starts in January. Here are a few pictures to summarize.

Lyndsee had her first Piano Recital.

Brianna had her first Cheer Competition.

We went to Temple Lights with the Widowski's, I am LOVING this picture!

Brianna went to Temple lights three times this year, with friends, with Young Women's and with us.

Brianna had a Birthday Party, this a few of the kids before we left.

24 kids for a barbecue and campfire in the desert! Super fun Sweet 16 party!

Christmas Eve with the Harper's

Logan got the Sperry's he's been wanting

Santa Came! (Bella got decked out for Christmas too.)



Brianna had her first date! She wouldn't let me take a picture, apparantly that would be embarrassing!

 

Turkey Hunt - Santa Cruz, CA

Logan and Scott headed to Santa Cruz on Friday to hunt turkeys with Nate, Tanner and Greg. Logan's uncle Nate set this trip up and has been talking with the boys about it for years. He ordered them guns and I hear he had an arsenal of them himself. They got up to Santa Cruz on Saturday morning and it sounds like they had a GREAT time. No turkeys lost their lives, but there are a few less birds and one less gopher on the ranch today.

They headed back to Brendas late Sunday and then got to spend some time with family, including meeting Cindi and Nate's sweet new baby Neva. I'm jealous, I admit it.

 

 We really appreciate Nate for setting this trip up and making it a great experience for the boys.

Here are a few of the pictures Scott shared with me.

Alaska - June 2012

We left the day after school got out this year for a cruise to Alaska. It was a great experience. We travelled on the Norwegian Pearl from Seattle and stopped in Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan, Alaska. We also spent one evening in Victoria, BC, Canada.

Our first day of vacation we spent exploring Seattle. We went to Pike Place Market, the Space Needle, wandered through a statue garden at the art museum and had dinner at Ivars near Pike Place Market. We walked a lot, probably too much but we wanted to see what we could in the short time we had in Seattle. The next morning we went to the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks and watched some ships moving from the lake level down to sea level. It was definitely interesting. There was a fish ladder there too but unfortunately we were too early to see the salmon moving up them. This was a bummer in a lot of places on the trip - I think it would be really interesting to go to Alaska in July and see the salmon moving upstream but we missed it. Luckily there were a lot of other interesting things to see.

It's all GUM! So gross, but oddly fascinating.



My parents waiting for us to board the ship. They were very patient with us. :)

We got on the ship in the afternoon. As we were waiting in line to go through the boarding process we realized that we had accidentally brought two birth certificates for Lyndsee and none for Logan. We had fun teasing him about leaving him in Seattle for the week. Lucky for him the person who boarded us chose to pretend he had seen his birth certificate and we boarded without a problem.

Lyndsee was the Rock Wall Champion.

It was fun to explore the ship and we patiently sat through the safety briefing and had a nice dinner that night. Logan and Brianna went to the Teen Centers "Bon Voyage" get together and met several friends that they spent a lot of time with over the next week. They usually would attend the shows at night with the teen group and spent time playing games, shooting baskets, watching movies and just hanging out with their friends. They usually had breakfast and dinner with us on the ship, other than that we would just pass them occasionally, and they usually had an ice cream cone in one hand and a brownie in the other. 

The first of many bus stops. There was only ONE seat!

Our first port was Juneau where we went to see the Mendenhall Glacier. It was spectacular with an incredible waterfall right next to it. We wandered through several little trails near there and then decided to walk the mile and a half to catch the city bus back to the port. Usually we don't mind city busses, but this time it was a big mistake. We were quickly joined on the bus by several very inebriated passengers. Two women and a couple were especially problematic. Lets just say they should have "gotten a room"! Ugh.

Totem Poles were everywhere



A rainy day in Ketchikan

We went across this beautiful stream multiple times

In Skagway we did an amazing zip line tour through the rainforest. The scenery was spectacular and the kids had fun flipping, flying upside down and sideways on the zip lines. I was happy that I didn't have a panic attack. The worst one was a line that you had to take a running start off the edge of a cliff! We all had a great time, and apparantly it was exhausting because Logan fell asleep on the busride back to the docks.

Chillaxin



Scott and I in Glacier Bay, so cold!

We had other scenic stops in Ketchikan (rainy) and Victoria BC (beautiful.) We also spent a day cruising through Glacier Bay where there was a ton of wildlife, we saw a bear, lots of whales and sea otters and eagles.  It was fun and relaxing and had spectacular scenery. I would definitely do a cruise again...but next time someplace warm!



We were photo bombed in Victoria, look closely at the tree behind me.



Lyndsee loved the totem poles and her coon tail hat!