The Wolverine and All Things MARVEL

Heather received a few MARVEL t-shirts for her birthday.  Although she has enough to wear a different one every day of the week, she promised she'll wear other cute shirts in between.  Here she is sporting her Hulk muscle tee before track practice.

                                     

Last night we went to see The Wolverine with our friends.  The adults loved as did the giggly fans who sat behind us.  Heather wore her other MARVEL shirt and enjoyed the show with her friend who loves the comics as well.  

 Sarah, Jenna and Heather at Johnny Rockets before the show

 Heather and Penelope just before it started...Squeeeeeeee!

High Adventure Day 4 - Sportsmanship

The plan for the last day of High Adventure was to take the guys fishing and shooting (target practice). But these young men were tired! Kelly had a hard time getting them out of bed and by the time they hit the lake, a storm had rolled in.  The photo above is blurred from rain.  It was cold and miserable, but some of the scouts stuck it out long enough to catch a few fish.  Kelly thought they would enjoy shooting practice the most, but not one of the boys was interested.  They wanted to go back to the cabin to hang out an relax.  The adults went ahead with the plans and had fun while the young men rested.

Friday Fun

After having kind of a "nothing" day on Thursday--Heather went to track, and the rest of the day was an X-Men movie marathon--we made Friday an evening out day.  We have been walking the dog the last couple of nights near sunset, and after a yummy dinner at Islands, the girls and I took Winston for a little walk.  Jenna noticed the roses in one neighbors yard, and we took a few pictures of them.  I'm glad she appreciates the flowers we see like I do.  Oh, and that first picture is my first attempt at a side braid. Jenna liked it, so win-win.

High Adventure Day 3 - The Narrows in Zion National Park

Day 3 of the High Adventure was the longest hike for Kelly, his varsity scouts and their leaders.  They hiked The Narrows in Zion National Park.  It's a 16-mile hike, most of it in the river.  Normally it's a beautiful hike with clearer water, but there had been so much rain that the river bottom was completely obscured by muddy water.  The hike was slower (eleven hours) due to the frequent slipping and tumbling over the unseen boulders and rocks and having to take things more slowly, but Kelly said it was still beautiful and very worth it.  

Oh, and this last shot is one of the items that hiked the narrows...a rain jacket plastered with dried mud from the water.  I won't mention what color Kelly's underwear ended up.  Hee, hee.

Nothing On The Calendar Today & Being 40

There was literally nothing.  Heather went to track, Jenna had a friend over and aside from a few dishes and dinner, I pretty much blogged and cleaned off a few office shelves.  It was a very relaxing day at home.

While browsing blogs tonight, I found something that was so perfectly put that I wanted to copy it hear for future reference.  A blogger friend, Jen, from Stray Junior Mint describes her feelings about turning 40.  I've been feeling so many of these things here in my mid-40's, and it is wonderful to have words to put with the feelings I've been discovering about this middle age.  Enjoy...

And so it is with getting older.  For years now and while I wasn’t looking, that narrow sky of my youth–blue and pretty as it was–has quietly spread into a vastness of purples and pinks and golds.  It has evolved from pretty to spectacular.  I am old enough to have experienced things and young enough to experience many more, and so satisfaction and anticipation greet me at this age, hand-in-hand.  I can feel my motivations shifting from what I can accomplish to what I can contribute, and I find myself worrying less about what others think and more about how others feel.  And despite what you’ve heard, I can say with authority that that delicious sense of possibility–remember it from your teens?–still exists in adulthood.  It just turns inside out.  I don’t wonder so much about what possibilities lay in wait for me; I wonder about what possibilities lie within me.  That mantra of the young adult–”What can I do?”–becomes, for a (real) adult, “What can I be?”  And I’m realizing–a little late, probably–that nobody, not a single person on the planet, is responsible for what I can become except me.  It’s comforting.  It’s terrifying.  It’s fascinating.  It’s forty.

High Adventure Day 2 - Service

The second day of High Adventure was spent clearing paths on the property where the group stayed.  High winds wreaked havoc in the are knocking down trees everywhere.  The boys earned their keep on this day!

Girl Time, Saying Good-bye to Friends, part 2 & Fire Update

Kelly left before 4:00 a.m., and I had to laugh when I got up and found this note on the front door from Heather.  I especially loved the, "try not to hurt yourself," part.  When we blog the High Adventure trip, you'll understand her concern.  The girls and I had a slow day and did some shopping at Target.  We went for a calendar for Jenna (the girl loves to keep track of her schedule), and we ended up finding some great movie deals!  The 80's movies were $4.75 each, the musical was $9, and the Hulk and X-Men movies were $9-$10.  We went a little overboard, but how fun!

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Later in the evening, Heather went to her Young Women activity, Jenna stayed home with grandpa, and I went to the good-bye party for the Neuberts (Scott and Debbie).  I was asked to photograph the event which is always fun for me.  The Neuberts are well-loved and have lived here for years, so there were many who came to say farewell.  It was a beautiful party headed up by my uber talented friend, LeAnn, and hosted at the Hoke's new home.  It was a beautiful setting, beautifully decorated, and with scrumptious food and good company it was the perfect evening.

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The Idyllwild fire disaster was helped immensely by the rain over the weekend.  It was 50% contained by Sunday, and nearly out by Monday.  The evacuation orders have been lifted, and residents have started to return home.  Dad will return home on Wednesday morning to make sure all is well.

High Adventure Day 1 - Angel's Landing in Zion National Park

What happens when the Blogger posts about a trip she wasn't on?  Well, the facts get a little muddled.  Day 1 of Kelly's High Adventure began with a trip to the Saint George Temple, but the event following that was a hike to Angel's Landing.  The Narrows hike occurred on Day 3, and I have edited that post.  Our Bishop has a cabin pretty close to the area, so base camp was at the cabin.  Angel's Landing is about a 2.5 mile hike, but the ascent is 1,500 feet.  Kelly says it is as mentally challenging as Half Dome because of the height, but it looks a little easier to moi.  I may have to go hike it myself to give the true comparison.  At any rate, Kelly reported that it was a beautiful hike with switch backs, steep slopes and breathtaking views.  

The little white dots on the rocks to the mid right of the picture are people hiking the path to the top

Nearing the top

 The home stretch to the top

Here Kelly points out where they hiked from

Saying Good-bye to Friends, part 1

Our friends, Scott and Debbie Neubert are moving to Arizona next week, and we had them over for some yummy tacos.  They are a great couple, and Scott and Kelly have worked together in Elder's Quorum, and Debbie and I in Primary.  Both are highly talented and just great people.  We wanted to do something nice for them before they left California.

We had planned on tacos and games, but it turned out that Scott had finished our entertainment center alteration and was ready to install.  When we found out they were moving and he was closing up shop, we knew we needed to ask him about the alteration for the cabinet he had originally built for us.  We knew eventually we'd want a bigger, flat screen television, and we didn't trust anyone else to make the alterations.  He agreed to squeeze us in (everyone else was scrambling to have projects done before Scott left). Scott does such beautiful work, and the alteration he made to our cabinet is amazing!  The new box is beautiful, and when we found out the cabinet was ready, we ran out and got a television (55 inch flat scree...good grief!!!).  The picture is so nice, and the cabinet looks like it was made for the new television.  Thank you  Scott!  We're looking forward to a rain check on our game night, and we'll see you in Arizona!

After dinner and instillation, Kelly got to work on his safety straps for his High Adventure trip tomorrow.  I love that my husband knows his way around a sewing machine.  He makes his mom proud, I'm sure!  We'll be posting pictures when he returns this weekend.

Heather's 14th Birthday!

Today is Heather's 14th Birthday!  Hooray!  Here comes high school, seminary, and dances...oh my!  Are we ready?  I guess we'll have to be.  But there is time for all that later.  Today, we celebrate.  Here is how Heather's party went...

Welcome to the land of Fourteenia!  Heather wanted a magical, Narnia-like party, and this was the name of the land we came up with.  Guests were summoned via invitation to join her in defeating the monster plaguing Fourteenia, and all entered through the portal in our entry way (thank you Hobby Lobby for having all of your vines and garland 50% off!).

Miss Heather requested a dragon cake and after looking at many professional cakes on line, she understood that mom could construct a much simpler one.  She was happy with that, and even though the tail melted, Heather was thrilled.  I was sad that the hump separated and melted a bit, but everyone thought it the two humps were the dragon's wings, so all was well in cake land.

We put the sodas in flasks and purchased Hot Tamales for the party gifts.  They fit perfectly with the fire breathing monster motif...Great idea Aunt Michelle!  

Here you see the monster (Dad) atop the fort lobbing water bombs at the girls while they chucked their own bombs back.  He was a little worried that these girls were much stronger and more accurate than they were in Kindergarten, but no one was seriously injured, and the goal of defeating the monster was accomplished!

Next was lunch and some needed drying off time...

then presents...

and then cake.  We put the fire in our dragon's snout, and it looked pretty cool!

The last activity was a game of "Crazy Hot Potato" that I found on the internet.  While the girls passed around a "potato," music played and stopped in the background.  If the music stopped and you had the potato, you had to reach into the bag and pull out an item of clothing or an accessory to put on.  When all the items had been drawn, the game was over.  The winner was the girl with no additional clothing or accessories, and we had one girl who made it!  These girls were good sports.  They are on the cusp of being "cool" teens, but they still let their sillies come out long enough to go along with the game.  Heather has some great friends, and it was really special for her to be able to spend her birthday with them.

At dinner time Heather chose Chick-Fil-A for her birthday dinner.  We had a scrumptious chicken dinner and then headed over to Best Buy.  Heather had been saving her money for an iPad Mini, and her birthday gifts were mostly cash and gift cards allowing her to meet her goal.  She is the proud owner of an iPad Mini!  Happy Birthday Heather!

Friday Beach Day, Sprinkles and Italian Dinner

One last beach day today!  It was a little cool and cloudy, but there was still swimming and digging to be done.  The kids spent more time digging today and had some pretty good holes going.  We hit Sprinkles Cupcakes on the way home, showered and went to Pizza D'Oro for dinner.  Yummy Italian food and great atmosphere.  It was a fun last day with our family.