Another Eagle Scout Project

Colby has been collecting cell phones to donate to an organization called "Cell Phones for Soldiers".  They recycle the old phones and with the money they collect, they buy calling cards to send to the soldiers that are serving overseas.  (Mostly Irag and Afghanistan)  He collected around the neighborhood, at church, from cell phone stores, and his last phase of the project was handing out information and collecting phones at our local Smith's grocery store.  He has been able to gather 164 cell phones.  Each phone is worth about $8.00 which would be approx. 1 hour of talk time on a calling card.  We are really proud of Colby for all his hard work and are looking forward to doing a combined Eagle Scout Court of Honor for him and Parker.

Lake Powell (post written by Parker)



       

Our view from camp

 Dad, Colby, and I went to Powell this past week for a YM super activity. We drove down on Wednesday night about 5:30 PM and got to our campground in Wahweap just after 12:30 AM. That night we all just kind of crashed under the stars, and Colby and I slept in Grandpa's truck.



Camp



        The next morning we woke up and loaded up all the boats and started heading out around 8:30. We left the marina and went about 8 miles to our camp for the day. The day consisted mainly of 'tube wars' and 'last man standing on the tubes'.  I went a round with Colby and few other boys, and after my gracious victory, I willingly retired from the sport so I wouldn't have to defend my title against some of those bigger guys.

Preparing for 'tube wars'

 We ate lunch at the beach which was just simple sandwiches (literally SANDwiches) and chips. After lunch Dad asked if we wanted to try wakeboarding, so we geared up, and headed out. The first few times were a little difficult, but I eventually got up on the board and soon started cutting and jumping the wake.

   After a very long and tiring day, we headed back to the marina, packed up, and went back to the campground. Some of our very giving leaders headed to Page, Az. and returned with 23 Little Caesar's pizzas. Following a very filling and greasy dinner, the leaders gathered us up, and we had a brief devotional. As soon as that was over, a majority of the boys fell asleep, including myself.  Dad asked if I wanted to sleep in the boat, so I did. It was nice.

When we woke up the next morning we did all the same stuff, but we headed in a different direction, and went towards Last Chance Bay.

        It was originally supposed to be a 15 mile trip, but our navigators weren't the brightest, and we ended up taking many detours, including one through Navajo Canyon. James immediately took charge and led us right to our destination. After a very long and treacherous boat ride, we finally got to the bay, and set up on a really nice beach, next to a VERY big cliff.

         Day 2 was a whole bunch of tube wars and wake boarding. I went with one of the leaders wakeboarding and actually surprised myself at how quick I improved. After a quite hard fall (and sad attempt at a trick) I was done for the day and sat in the boat for the rest of the day.

Parker

Colin and Colby

Around 5 o'clock we left Last Chance, and went back to camp. This time around the water was much more calm, but we ran into a bit of a stalemate, when our champion boat ran out of gas about 5 miles short of the marina. Luckily, our YM's secretary was nice enough to pull us behind his boat. We finally got back to the marina and then to our camp.

         Dinner that night was a bit small great. We headed to town and went to the Mandarin Gourmet  'all- you- can eat'  buffet. When we went back to Wahweap, we had a nice devotional again and I hopped back in the boat, and fell into a deep slumber.

        On our third and final day, we packed up and hit the lake for one last time. Colby, Dad, Colin, and I all stuck to our boat and wake boarded for the day. Sadly around 1:30, we decided to leave.

We got all our stuff together and headed out of Wahweap. Seven hours and one blown tire (not ours, luckily) later, we arrived safely home. It was a great trip.





June 5, 2011

Parker was ordained to the office of a Priest.  We are so proud of you.

Plant or Pet?

Parker just brought home a Venus flytrap.  It's pretty small and seems fairly harmless right now.  I read online (and everything on the internet is true) that they can live 20-30 years.  I wonder how big they grow...I hope it doesn't get big and eat the cat.  

Another Driver!

Tuesday, May 31st. The Big Day.  After much anticipation it was finally time, and not only for Parker, but for Grandma too.  Her license was up for renewal.  They decided it would be fun to go together, grandma even bought Parker a new car.  Not too much stress or waiting and they both passed the eye test.  Good job!  We are excited and proud of you Parker.  

   

May

Another month has come and gone.  We have done our share of celebrating this month.  We had the family over for a Mother's Day BBQ.  It was alot of fun and it was actually a nice day compared to the rest of the month.  Zac had to work on his birthday but I made him a chocolate satin pie to take to work and his crew surprised him with a little party.  Josh didn't want to party much (at least not with us).  All he wanted for his birthday was new (expensive) shoes.  We had to take him to pick them out and try them on, so it wasn't much of a surprise.  We had a week reprieve until Parker's big day.  His birthday fell on Memorial Day this year, so no school, long weekend.  Should be fun, right?  Not so much.  Saturday was fairly nice.  We worked in the yard and planted our garden.  Then it rained, and rained, and rained.  All night and most of Sunday.  Allen and I went to the cemetary on Sunday, it was cool and windy, but not raining when we went.  Monday morning, we woke up to a light dusting of snow.  Yes, SNOW.  IN MAY.  Then more rain, and hail.  (our poor little garden plants...) Unbelievable and very depressing. By late afternoon, it cleared up a bit and Zac took Parker and Colby to the driving range. (golf)  We ended our weekend with dinner out as a family.  May ended up being the wettest May in history.  Tons of rain and we still have snow in the mountains.  I sure hope summer comes soon.