Emmy's XC Camp at BYU

Whelp . . . she didn't hate it! We surprised Emmy by signing her up for BYU's Cross-Country camp and she wasn't too thrilled about it. Maybe because she doesn't love running and was going without a friend. So I think she was a bit nervous - okay, a lot nervous. She even told Ben and I at one point that she hopes she has a miserable time and that we feel badly about it. Haha, oh the joys of Emmy!

Well . . . she had a really, really great time! She made friends and had a lot of fun with them. She liked the seminars and learned a lot from them. She met two BYU Olympians (running the marathon in Paris this year!). She endured the runs - which were very hill, as in run up a big hill for half the time and then back down. (Her calves were mad at her by the end.) And she had the "best night ever" at the dance - not because of any boy or slow-dances. Just because she and her friends just moshed it the whole night. :) 

Ben took her up on Sunday and dropped her off at BYU on Monday. I came up on Wednesday with Lucy. We got in late because Lucy had her first of two big dentist appointments (a total of 8 cavities for her!) on Wednesday. On Thursday I dropped Lucy off with her bestie from here who moved to Layton, Lila. I visited with Heather for a bit, then I had to drive to Riverton to get Emmy's car's title signed by the previous owner. From there I went to the temple because my mom suggested and I had nothing else to do . . . It just opened like the week before. It's very beautiful. Then I went and picked up Emmy. We ate dinner at the Brick Oven and had a fun evening watching "McFarland" together at my parents'. Friday morning Emmy and I squeezed in a little bike and run session (getting ready for our up-coming triathlon) and then met up with Heather and Lucy and then off we were back to Montrose. Fun times. :)

Pictures in random order:

Emmy's dorm room for the week.

Emmy and her friends.

Emmy and Connor Mantz - the Olympian. :)

Emmy and her running coach for the week - a BYU XC team member. His name is Jacob Stanford and his twin brother is on the team, too. Emmy loved him!

The gal in front was their dorm counselor - Krissy maybe? Emmy LOVED her. :)

Moshing it up at the dance. Emmy's white shoes (new for summer) were ruined by the end of it!

The beautiful Riverton temple.

Post carb-loading - it's a thing!

This might have been Emmy's running group?

Anyways, so glad Emmy went and, despite all her desires, had a fabulous time. :)

Father's Day 2024

A recent picture of Dad Benjamin. He dropped Emmy off at BYU's Cross-Country camp and they got this cute picture with Cosmo.

Here are the answers from our 2024 questions. Pretty fun. :)

Father's day was a bit of the usual, with church and dinner and such. Ben chose to have his French "Chicken in a Pot" with carrots, Poldark rolls, and mashed potatoes. Complete with a rhubarb pie and homemade ice cream for dessert. We invited the missionaries over and so that was fun. That evening we played a few games and watched a little show - with the girls giving Ben a back-rub. We got to visit with Miles for a good hour and so that was pretty great, too. Jonas was able to call us for about 5 minutes and it was what we kind of expected: the awful, boring, stupid reception period. Jonas is hoping to get transferred to his area on Thursday and then begin his official AIT on Monday, the 23rd.

I got my dad a Pepsi shirt and socks and my mom dressed him up for a photo. :)

Haha, what a cute dad I have!

Our family has been tremendously and forever blessed by the good fathers in it. From Ben, to Jim and Jim, and continuing on thru grandfathers, etc. Lucky us!

A Miles Update

Hola! So Miles continues to do great on his mission. He is ALWAYS happy and smiling when we facetime him on Mondays. He finally got transferred to a new town/area his last transfer - which was the last Thursday in May. Miles is now serving in both the state and city of San Luis Potosi - which is about 2 hours west of Aguascalientes. He misses Aguascalientes, but likes where he is as well! He likes his mission companion, Elder Wahlin. Fun connection: Elder Wahlin is like best-friends with an Elder currently serving in our ward, Elder Evans. So fun! (Ben talked to Elder Evans today about it and I guess Elder Wahlin's mom is so happy that her son has Miles as his companion - I guess her son has had some pretty difficult companions as of late. Which is nice for Elder Wahlin and nice to say about Miles! But also makes me worried about Miles' possible future mission companions . . . but that's just part of the mission experience, I guess!)

It's been a while since I have posted the random pictures Miles sends me, so here we go! (They are from most-recent to older.) I will comment on those that I know something about!

His new chapel/building in San Luis Potosi.

I think this is his companion, Elder Wahlin. But I don't really know!

Some yummy bread thing Miles tells us about. :)

His new apartment in San Luis Potosi - it looks so clean and nice, albeit sterile! Miles said it's his nicest place thus far and reminds him of a hotel room.

I think this man was the Ward Mission leader in Miles' old area in Aguascalientes. Miles really liked him! I think he was the one dressed up as batman in the earlier picture.

Miles said they were served TWO of these gigantic quesadillas! They all only got through one . . .

That red thing is what a member cooked their dinner on one night. :)

Miles was happy to stick around in Aguascalientes in the beginning of May because there is this annual festival. He had fun checking it out! See one of the videos below for what this picture is about - crazy!

And some even more random videos! (I usually have to hit the play button 2-3 times for it to begin to play.)

We all love and miss this kid! But happy he's happy and doing good things with his life right now!

End of May Happenings

 Well May is always a fun and busy time of the year and this year was no exception!

Lucy got her pretty professional gym photos. I think they turned out so great! The above photo is the Platinum team: June, Gracie, and Lucy front row and Sari, Reese, Alaina, and Nicole back row.

The obligatory jump on the last day of school! Lucy all done with 8th grade AND middle school. So wild.

Emmy done with her sophomore year - crazy, too!

Emmy and her friend wanted to buy a cake for her math teacher. They loved him and just loved chatting with him about their lives. :) This is what Emmy requested I write on it, "Hope you enjoyed our tea sessions, we'll miss you!" He's not returning to teach at their school. "Tea sessions" is slang for gossip sessions - to "spill the tea" per se. :)

Jonas' end-of-year candy gram. Pretty sure I use a lot of the same candies each year . . . but I just had to use Charleston again because I doubt I ever will again, ha!

Jonas,

You did it! You actually graduated from high school - congrats to us all in getting you there! You started off the school year back in South Carolina - finishing up Boot Camp and then vacationing in beautiful Charleston for a few extra days. Then it was back to real life and school. You tried bulking up, but still stayed pretty darn SLIM - yet were still super strong!! You kept on LIFEguarding and SAVING niños mexicanos. While school was never fully enjoyed by you, you had a pretty decent schedule - including auto, math for life (which you rocked and were like a genius at), and finishing up at noon every day your last semester. You rebuilt your jeep’s engine and had a lot of FUN jeeping around! You also enjoyed your biggest PAYDAY ever when someone crashed into your truck and insurance paid you pretty darn well!!

You’re a FUN ONE and it’s been a good 18 years with ya! We’re excited for your future and wish you the very best and love you the very most.

Emmy's candy gram.

Emmy,

I DO NOT know how you did it, but you survived another year of high school. Yay! Two down and two to go! Spanish was definitely NO BUENO for you and it made perfect sense to not continue with it your second semester, haha. At least LUNCH was better this year as you could go out with friends or just drive yourself home. Thank goodness. Speaking of driving, that was for-sure your highlight of the year. Even though no matter what road you were on - be it Chipeta or 5th AVENUE - the cops always seemed to find you . . . 

Unfortunately you ended the year and our Flex with a COLLISION with the curb - and subsequently our neighbor’s parked car. It was so sad (though we were so glad no one was hurt) and we all miss the Flex. But fun times are ahead with your super-cute Mini I am sure. You were no ANGEL to deal this year, but we know you’re a great kid and we love you tons and tons. Keep up the good work, Emmy. You can do it all - and more!

And Lucy's candy gram. 

Lucy,

Your year was quite DINAMITA and FILLED with so much fun and so many good things! 

You ended up achieving lots of MEDALS again - however, this year it wasn’t just for gymnastics. You tried track and did really well in the 100-dash, taking home medals at every meet. Go you for trying something new and being awesome at it. You went NUTS at State for gymnastics and ended up coming home with three medals - nice work! Your favorite thing, though, was your friends. You are always with your friends and you have a lot of great ones. Whenever you’re with them, there are lots of LAFFs - especially from you! You wowed us academically as you earned the President’s Award for Excellence at your last 8th-grade assembly. Alrighty, high school here you come!!!

We love you so much! Love, mom and POP

We went to the one baseball game of the year we watch - a JUCO game on Memorial Day. We went to the evening game and that was pretty nice - not as hot as it usually is! Jonas and Aby joined us and so that was pretty great, too. The game was good and the team we decided to root for crushed the other team. :) Go us. (I say us because I cannot remember the name of the team that won, ha.)

Jonas, Aby, Aidan, and Chad went to Moab and finally got some jeeping in! While it was a bit sketchy driving on the highway, Jonas' jeep jeeped great. :) Aby was a trooper and stayed in the jeep for most of the Hell's Revenge trail - only getting out once per Jonas' request. Aby is way braver than I am!

And that's a wrap on May!