This past weekend we were able to go to Mesquite for a football tournament.  It was fun to get away before all the craziness that is sure to come with the holidays.  It was beautiful weather, 60-65 in the day and a little cooler at night.  We had quite a crew go this year - Colby, Parker, Zac, Kaden, Grandpa, Allen and I.  We stopped in St. George and went up to "the narrows".  Colby, Parker, and Grandpa have never been there.  Parker loved it, he loves rock climbing! 

'the St. George narrows'

Allen and Colby

Kaden and Parker

Grandpa

Parker and Colby

Parker and Allen

Kaden and Parker

Zac

Since there is not alot to do in Mesquite, the boys went bowling between the football games. 

Parker

Kaden

Colby

The football games were great, my favorite part.  The team played well, Colby got an interception in the first game, that was exciting! 

Zac, Grandpa, Parker, Kaden

It was a great trip, but I am so sad to know that this season of our life is over. 



We enjoyed having so many share this trip with us. 

Kaden, Grandpa, Colby

Kaden, Jack, Colby, and Elf



Lovely bunch of Coconuts

I love when my kids want to experience new things.  I just wish they would ask first.  Parker and Colby went to Harmon's where they have all kinds of exotic things.  The boys decided they must have a coconut! They snuck took the coconut quietly downstairs (why not the garage, I ask?) along with a hammer,screw driver, a few pocket knives, a youtube video and proceeded to crack it.  They both tasted the milk and hated it. So then they dug out some of the meat to try, hated it also.  They spent the next little while digging out all the coconut so they could save the shells.  They want to go back and buy starfruit, guava, and dragonfruit. 



check out the tools they used to dig out the meat



Grandpa Retires

Grandpa has finally decided to retire.  On November 4th, he cleaned out his truck and turned in his keys.  Grandma called to see if Colby wanted to come down and say his goodbyes (to the truck), so I took him down after school.  I have always wanted to learn how to drive a truck and this seemed like my chance.  We took the truck down to the church parking lot and I got a few quick lessons, made a few trips around the parking, even backing it up a bit.  We are all so proud of dad (grandpa).  Jeremy wrote a nice tribute to him on his facebook page ;   After 40 something years of driving, my dad retired today. He and his trusty Peterbilt went to 49 states, 4.8 million miles, and saw every kind of blizzard, tornado, hurricane, flood, and wildfire, that mother nature could produce. He always supported his family (still does) and always made it home safe. You'll always be my hero Pa..10-4

It has been a great experience for many to go on trips with dad.  All of the boys have been able to go at one time or another.  They have logged a lot of miles with grandpa and they all have fond memories of the time they spent with him in the truck!  He has always been a very powerful influence on our family.  We love him dearly and hope retirement is great! 

Homecoming

 Parker asked sweet Emily Sullenger to go to Homecoming with him.  Friday night after the football game (which Emily had to perform at) a group of them went to a place in Ogden that has trampolines, foam pits, etc.  They rented out the place for 2 hours- from 10-midnight.  They had a great time.  On Saturday, they went to Tepanyaki for dinner and then to the dance at the school.  Afterwards, they went to one of the boys houses to watch a movie, Parker fell asleep. (great impression for a first date, don't you think?)  I think they had a great time.  Emily looked beautiful and Parker didn't look too bad either.   

Martin Boys 1st Annual Roadtrip

The boys and I thought it would be great to go to a NFL game and watch our favorite team play. As we discussed when we should go, the usual concerns arose. How cold will it be?  How can we all fly to New York for a weekend and justify spending that much money for such a short time?  The solution?  We decided that we could drive to Phoenix and watched the Giants and the Cardinals play. And since the game was in Phoenix, and it was 98 degrees, the cold would not be a issue. So on Saturday, the 1st of October, we went to Colby's football game, which they won, and then left home at 1:30 to start our journey to Phoenix. This was acutally a great road trip -all 11 hours. The boys never had a bad thing to say to each other and had some great conversations all the way to Phoenix. The boys excitement must have overwhelmed them since they were up and ready to go after only sleeping for about 7 hours.  Zac had a great idea of leaving 4 hours before the game so we could tailgate. Since this was our 1st NFL game we all agreed and headed out to the stadium.  Tailgating at a professional game is so much different than a high school or college game.  It's very serious business.

When we ordered our tickets we also ordered our parking pass. Parking was as close to the stadium as you could get. Our seats were on the 10 yard line and up 21 rows. Wow!  What great seats and an even  better game. The Giants won.

 Monday morning wasn't quite the same getting up as the morning before. No one was excited for the 11 hour drive home, but they were all troopers and made the best of it. What a great experience for all of us, I hope it's something that the boys will always remember.  We want to plan on going to an NFL game every year, but mom said we will just have to see. We will have a second annual event with just the boys, but we will have to see what interesting things we all come up with and agree to do. GO GIANTS!