Relay For Life

I have always wanted to participate in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. When I was in high school some of my friends did it and said it was so fun. I have never had the opportunity to participate but since battling cancer, I felt like it is something I really needed to do from now on. I felt like it was one way I could give back.  So we got a team together and did it!

So our team consisted basically of our family. We were also with friend, Brandy Sutton, and her family. Brandy is currently battling ovarian cancer for the second time. She is really doing well though and almost done with chemo. Our team was called Warriors For Life.

So for Relay for Life, you raise money to donate to the American Cancer Society. You pledge to run or walk for 24 hours to represent that cancer never sleeps and those affected by it live with the disease 24/7 until it is beat.  The event started at noon on June 29 and went until noon on June 30.  Russell had taken the boys to scout camp so the girls and I started the Relay without them and they came later that night.

During the day, there were a lot of activities going on to keep us busy as well as a lot of walking around the track at Willow Park.

The kids had a great time playing on the bounce houses, listening to stories, playing pop the balloon games, and other fun activities. During the pop the balloon game, the other people tried to pop your balloon tied to your leg. Charlotte did not want her balloon popped so she wouldn't go into the playing field. She kept her balloon for quite a while until this mean girl tracked her down at the bounce house and stepped on her balloon to pop it. Charlotte was heartbroken and I was a little mad at the girl too. I was able to get her another balloon but it just wasn't the same.

Well all of the stress and fun finally tuckered her out and she fell asleep. Emily and I continued to walk around the track while she slept. For each lap we walked, we collected beads. By the end of the Relay, we had over 100 beads which we turned in for tickets in the final drawing.

Russell and the boys finally made it that night and we walked around as a family.

I sure have a great support system!! Especially a loving and helpful family. At night the track was lined with these luminary sacks that were decorated and dedicated to cancer survivors and their families and friends. This is the luminary I dedicated to these wonderful people.

The theme of the Relay was Dr Seuss so there were a lot of fun photo booths around the park. Here are my Things 1-4.

The best sign around the park was the sign that said, "I do not like Cancer here or there... I do not like cancer ANYWHERE!!". Isn't that so true!

That night there was a Survivor's Dinner and a Survivor's Lap. This was definitely something special to be part of.

As I walked with all of these other survivors, I felt very inadequate. But it was also very humbling to know that I was not alone in this, there were others who had gone through this thing like I had and they had made it through as well. Some may have had a harder or easier time, we don't know, but we all made it through. The best was seeing my family cheer for me at the end. I really wanted to cheer for them instead because I could not have done it without them. 

We continued to walk after the dinner and on through the night.

The kids thought it was so fun to be able to camp out at the park and sleep in the tent. They had been looking forward to it for a while.

The night activities were also very fun. First the kids loved the black light dance party on the stage. Emily and Logan ran up there to participate but Colby is more like me and held back and just watched. 

The best part of the night was the Luminary Ceremony. This was very emotional as they honored and recognized everyone that had battled or was battling or had lost the battle to cancer. The amazing part was when they had everyone turn off all of their lights and we sat in the darkness. One by one, they read scenarios of people who were affected by cancer and one by one, we held up glow sticks until pretty much everyone in the whole park had their glow stick raised. It was amazing because you didn't really realize how many people were affected by cancer until you looked out and saw all of those glow sticks in the dark. It was pretty awesome and sad at the same time.

Another fun activity at night was the Epic Electric Run. This was done at about 1:00 am until 4:00 am. The entire track was lit with black lights and we painted our faces and arms with black light paint and ran around the path. It was fun and I ran 7 miles around and around that track during the Run. That was 28 laps!

The Relay for Life was really fun and I am glad that we were able to be a part of this great cause.

Scout Camp

YM's Scout camp. Camp Disciple was held up Logan Canyon this year. It was the first church sponsored camp for our stake. I was only planning on going for a day and coming home for work so Tiffany could get to her Relay for Life, but Brother Rich came up to me and said they really needed help with a medical person. The other people he got backed out last minute, so we rearranged our schedules and I made it to camp all but one day. We all met at Tyson Booth's house in the afternoon and we piled into cars and headed up the canyon. Once we got up to camp, it was fun to watch the boys set up camp. We had to keep them focused on the task at hand or it would have taken forever. It is crazy to see the difference in years with scouts. When I was a scout I do not remember having issues with not knowing what needed to be done. The first day was relaxing and playing around until it was time for the fireside. 

Once the fireside was over it was down to camp and off to bed. Ha ha, ya right, they would  have stayed up all night if we were not forcing them to bed around midnight. Some of the leaders and boys wondered where my tent was. I told them it was a nice rain proof room with four walls and a  mattress. They said that was not fair. Well the perks of being part of the staff and Brother Rich needing me in the cabin just in case something happened.

I went home and worked one day and came back up with these two yahoo's to finish the rest of the camp. It is awesome they are getting old enough I can take them on these kind of trips. The boys were excited to go and play on the mountain.

 My job was easy, I got to walk around and do what ever I wanted as long as I was available if something happened. So the boys and I went down to the river and checked it out and found a great area to cool off. I showed the boys how to use their hats to catch water and put it on their heads to cool off. This was a hit. Every time one of them got hot they came up to me and said, "Dad, let's go dip our hats in the water." They were great kids the whole camp and they had a blast. We got to help with service projects and when we went to check in at the cabin, Sister Rich had a great time with the boys telling stories and playing games with them.

The funnest activity they both did was carving. Steve Coppieters brought a bunch of soap for the carving merit badge and Colby and Logan both got one to carve. Colby's was amazing. He carved a turtle by looking at Steve's turtle. Logan just had fun carving with a knife. It was the first time I got to teach him how to use a knife and carve, so he just wanted the knife and to carve. Colby even found a really soft wood that he carved the center out of and he thought it was the coolest thing ever.

We had really good food and fun camp fires at night both days. The boys loved the fire and eating smores. The picture above is of Colby's stick he hollowed out. Each morning they had an opening exercises and a flag ceremony up above camp, so we had to trek our chairs up and down the road every morning and evening. During the night the boys played with the scouts. They played football and night games and had fun laughs with them around the fire.

The last day of camp was a fun day for Logan. There was the fire bucket with water in it to put out the fire if needed. Logan decided to make camp soup with it. He found everything he could to put in the bucket. Some of the boys even helped him make it. He was so excited to make soup. Thank goodness he was running around staying busy because once he sat down he was out. 

Logan played so hard and did not want to admit he was tired. So he found himself a bag of pretzels and before he could get the one off his finger he was a sleep. What a great picture for the end of a great scout camp. I am sure glad I had two little buddies with me up at camp for company. They were bummed we had to leave and head home.  We really had a good time with the scouts.

Rodeo Time

The Hyrum Star Spangled Rodeo has become a tradition for us since moving here.

 It is a fun rodeo and we always have a good time together. I just wish the rodeo talent was a little better. This year only a couple of cowboys could ride for the full 8 seconds. The barrel racers were pretty good though and that is my favorite anyway.

This year Emily's best friend Ayzleigh was the rodeo princess for Hyrum. Emily thought it was so cool that she knew the princess and it was fun to cheer for Ayzleigh every time we saw her.

Before the rodeo started, I took the kids down to the rodeo grounds to see the animals.

This is a tradition we started in St. George during the Dixie Roundup Rodeo so it is great that we can continue it up here as well. The kids absolutely loved seeing the animals.  Charlotte mooed and baaed at everything she saw. Her favorite I think was the sheep because they were not as scary as the cows. Every time the cows mooed at her she would get scared. The horses were also a favorite.

We love the rodeo and look forward to it every year. 

Baseball Players

You know it is summer when the baseball mitts and bats start coming out.  The kids had a great time playing baseball this summer. They learned a lot and got better with each practice and game.

They especially liked playing catch with each other after dinner.  Charlotte thought she was as big as the others and liked playing ball too. Even though the bat was bigger than her, she loved hauling it around playing with everyone else.

Emily's softball team was the Hurricanes.

She played player pitch this year so one of the girls pitched during the game rather than the coach. She said that was harder but she still managed to get a few pretty good hits in during the season. She loved running the bases and also did well in the field.

Colby's team was the New York Yankees.

Colby loved baseball and recently told me that he was going to be a champion baseball player when he got older.

This year he played machine pitch baseball. This was a new experience because last year he just played T-ball. The pitches were fast but he was able to connect for a few good hits. By the end of the season, he was really getting the hang of baseball and was doing really well in the field too.

Logan played T-ball for the first time this year. His team was the Blue Claws.

Logan loved T-ball mostly because he got to be with all of his friends. He was really only there for the social aspect of the game. He made a lot of friends and had a good time.

He did learn a few things about baseball though like catching and throwing. He was so excited for every game and would wear his jersey all day on game days. 

All of the kids had a great time and cannot wait for next season to play again.

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day, Russell!  

Russell had to work on Father's Day this year so the kids and I decided to take dinner and our gifts to him at the Fire Station.  It was a good surprise and a fun time.

Each of the kids made him a card and wrote him a special note.  They were so excited to give him their gifts.  Emily and Colby's rocket cards said "We love you to the moon and back."  Logan wrote his own note telling Dad that he loved him.  It was a fun day.  We sure love our dad and don't know what we would do without him!  Thank you Russell for being such a great husband and father.  You definitely are the best ever!!  We love you!

Road Trip - Day 11 - Going Home

As our trip drew to a close, it was time to start the long drive back home. We were glad we were in a car and not a handcart. After leaving Winter Quarters we drove as far as we could before it got too late. We made it through Nebraska and a little ways into Wyoming before stopping for the night at a Walmart.

The next morning we continued our trip through Wyoming and back into Utah. Before we left Walmart though, Russell discovered he had a tick in his leg! We have no idea where it came from because there were so many bugs everywhere on our trip.  Russell finally got it out but the whole way home we were worried about getting Lymes disease or something worse.

Another crazy thing that happened was that we ran out of gas! We had been filling up anytime we got to a half tank but this time we thought we could plug along to the next town. Well the town we thought we would fill up in ended up not having any gas stations...  We were pretty worried by this time because the gas light had come on and the next town was 20 miles away. We drove about five more miles and the truck just lost power and we barely made it to the side of the road. We didn't know what we were going to do because Kimmer, WY was still 15 miles away. Colby instantly said "We should say a prayer!" So we did. Just then, some utility workers drove by on their way to check some power lines right next to where we were stuck. We asked them if they could give us a ride or if they had gas and they said they would help when they got done checking the power lines. When they came back a few minutes later, they brought 5 gallons of gas! We were so grateful and tried to pay them for the gas but they told us not to worry about it. That much gas was just enough to get us to Kimmer. What a blessing and answer to the prayer and faith of a child.

We finally made it home safe and sound. We had a great trip and one we will remember always.

Since coming home,  the kids have been talking about the trip and even playing like they are pioneers in Nauvoo.

Here they are with their covered wagons trekking from their rooms to the front room. They pretend that was their trek to Nauvoo.

And here is their Nauvoo settlement. With log homes and barns. They are so funny but I love that they learned so much from the trip and are reenacting it at home.

Since coming home, my focus has turned to church history as well. There were many stories that I recognized but a lot more that I didn't. I realized that I really need to learn more about the history of the church and its roots. So lately I have been reading church history Institute and Sunday school manuals and even started reading the Work and the Glory series which is a historical novel based on church history. I am loving all of the new facts and stories I am learning and reading about.  I definitely have a greater appreciation and understanding of church history since going on this trip and studying on my own.  Now we need to plan a trip to Palmyra and Kirtland and some other places further east.