Fall Break in Moab

For fall break this year, we went to Moab with our friends the Harlan's. The Harlan's used to live in our neighborhood. We both moved in about the same time, had kids about the same ages, and became fast friends. We went camping together lots of times, and have many great memories of time spent together. It's been way too long since we've done anything with them, and our younger kids don't really know each other.

Thursday, we drove to Moab, had lunch, checked into our hotel, and let the kids swim for a while. Then we decided to go into Arches National Park and hike to Delicate Arch. By this time it was about 5:30, and the sun was starting to set. I am a slow hiker any time, but I was just getting over the flu, and was having a hard time breathing. So.... we made it to Delicate Arch, and I thought I was going to die. I was out of breath, coughing, and pretty much out of water. This is how dark it was when we got there. Beautiful sunset, but too late to be out hiking.


Ammon, Jordyn, Hailey, Chloe and Emma at Delicate Arch.


As soon as I caught my breath, we needed to head back down because it was getting dark. Everyone else was kind of hurrying to get down, but I was still plodding along. Michael was great and stayed right with me the whole time. Dennis was carrying Jordyn, and trying to bridge the gap, keeping and eye on those in front, yet not losing sight of Michael and me. At one point, we lost the trail, and it was so dark, we couldn't see anything. It was a little scary for a minute. We got back on the trail, and Dennis came back to walk with us. We finally made it to the car. What a relief!!



The next day, Friday, we decided it would be fun to try something different. We rented a jeep so we could go off-roading. It had a convertible top, and in the rental agreement it said there was a $40 charge if they had to put the top back on. Well, now we know why! That bugger was impossible!! The boys spent a good amount of time trying to figure out how to get it off, and finally gave up and left it on.

The jeep only sat 5, so Dennis took Michael, Ammon, Hailey and Chloe out for the 1st turn while Dave, Katrina and I took Matthew, Jordyn and Emma to Canyonlands National Park. None of us had ever been there before and we wanted to see it. It was beautiful, but very different from Arches. The park is huge, and has 3 very distinct areas, we only saw a tiny bit.

Emma and Matthew got along great, and the girls all really took to Jordyn. Especially Emma, she really just took care of her, and Jordyn loved it!




After that, we went back to the hotel and switched. The kids wanted to swim, so the adults and Matthew went out in the jeep. We were on a pretty tame road, but it was still a little nerve wracking for me. I guess if you did it all the time and were comfortable in knowing what you and your vehicle could do it would be different, but we were pretty cautious.



It was a fun trip, but it was pretty weird to go on vacation without the whole family. Jennifer had school, and Jayme couldn't get off work. I guess that's the way it is when your family gets older and kids move out, but it was still weird. We did manage to have a good time without them though!

Ammon Football

Ammon just finished another year of football. We tried something different this year, which I swore I never would do. Michael played club football in 7th grade, and it was a pretty bad experience. They were out sized and got killed every year, and I swore that we would never do that again. Well..... Ammon was asked to play on a club team this year, and we relented. Ammon has played city league the past 2 years, and last year he was too big to carry the ball, an "X" man because of the big X on the helmets of the boys ineligible to carry the ball. Ammon is big, but not lineman big, so we let him play on a team where he could play all positions. So, he played for the UVFL Falcons.

The team did fairly well in regular season play, 3-2 in the season after losing both of their pre-season games. Ammon played a lot, and personally he did very well. He scored in almost every game, and was a key defensive player. The problems came when the team was losing games and the coaches couldn't control their tempers. One week it was so bad, one of the coaches got ejected from the game. Now, I understand that there is a certain amount of yelling in football, I'm not completely ignorant. However, when the screaming becomes derogatory and degrading and abusive to the boys, I have a problem. Ammon played his heart out every single day, and he was ready to walk away and quit the team. We were behind whatever his decision was, I was ok with hanging in and finishing the season, but if he didn't want to subject himself to the abuse, I was ok with that too. Ammon decided to quit the team, the coach found out and called him to find out why. I was so proud of Ammon, he stood up to his coach and told him that all the yelling took the fun out of the game and he didn't want to play anymore. The coach promised that he would stop yelling if Ammon came back.

Well, they ended up losing their next two games and getting eliminated in the first round of play-offs. I was proud of Ammon for not puttting up with the abuse, but also for sticking it out and finishing a tough season. Good job Ammon, I love you!! Go #20!

Happy Birthday Michael!

How is it possible that my little boy could be 18? Michael's birthday was September 25. He was such a joyous addition to our family. You can see how happy Jayme and Jennifer were when he was born. He was such a sweet, happy baby, and we were thrilled to have him.


Here is Michael with his Grandpa Johnson. Wasn't he the cutest little boy ever??



Here he is now, 6'0" and 190 lbs (at least according to his football stats -- I think that's a little inflated ;)). Michael is such a great young man, and I am so proud of him. He is (usually) kind and gentle. You should see him with Jordyn, he is the cutest! He is going to be such a wonderful dad someday. He has made good choices in life, and is working hard to accomplish his goals. As a senior this year, he is enjoying playing football as starting varsity linebacker, and is having a successful year. He is also looking forward to wrestling season to avenge his rough season last year. Michael is a great example to his younger brothers and cousins who look up to him.

He is a strong and determined young man, and I can't believe he will be going on a mission in only one year!!

Ammon and Jordyn and I had fun decorating his car for him!!





I love you Michael!!

Matthew Soccer

Matthew just finished his fall soccer season. He played on the Spartans and Dale Phillips was his coach for the second year in a row. Matthew had lots of fun, and his team did pretty well too.


Matt likes playing defender or mid-fielder best, and he does a pretty good job of keeping the ball away from the goal box. We even discovered that he could run pretty fast when he wants to!

Being aggressive has never been Matthew's strong suit, but he is learning to really get in there and fight for the ball. What I love most about watching Matt play soccer though is his smile. Even when he is racing down the field to beat another kid to the ball, he has a huge smile on his face. You can tell he is in it for the fun and that he enjoys the game, and I think that's great!

Sugar Cookies and Memories of Grandma

My daughter Jayme is the best big sister in the whole world!! She said that one of her favorite memories of Grandma Johnson, was making sugar cookies. Because Jordyn doesn't have any grandmas around to make cookies with, Jayme made sugar cookies with Jordyn and Matthew tonight so they could have that experience. I love you Jayme!!

Swimming Lessons and Seven Peaks

We decide for something fun and different that we would get season passes to Seven Peaks this year. None of the boys were playing baseball, and "gee mom, we have to do something this summer"... It was fun and Ammon and Matthew really enjoyed it. It was a bit of a pain to take Jordyn though because she didn't like getting wet. Jenn and Michael were working everyday, so it was pretty much Jayme and I taking the littler kids.

Then came swimming lessons. After the first lesson, Jordyn was putting her face in the water, going down slides, and letting her teacher help her float. Granted, he was pretty cute, but this was huge!!

Matthew wasn't a very good swimmer, and I haven't been a very good mom as far as swimming lessons goes. I know that they have to know how to swim, it's never been an option, but I haven't pushed them as much as I should have. Matthew did great though, and by the end of class, he was swimming across the pool!!


This is Jayme and Jennifer on the Boomerang. The slide is basically a half-pipe, and you go back and forth until you stop. I love this pic!!



Matthew on the Boomerang.


Jayme and Matthew coming off of one of the slides.


Jenn and Jordyn


On the last day of swimming lessons, they pretty much got to play in the park without anyone else there. Because there were so few people, they got out a couple of surfboards for the wave pool. Here's Matthew, Hang Ten!!


We never really saw Ammon at the park, he was always hanging with one of his buddies or being chased by some teenie bopper girls. Seven Peaks is teenie bopper heaven!! Michael only went once or twice, and I'm still trying to get a refund for Dennis' season pass. It was never used. :(

Happy Birthday Matthew!!

I'm a little late with this one, but better late than never, right?? Matthew had his eleventh birthday on July 25. He went to Seven Peaks with his friend for the day, and then had his choice of where to go for dinner. Most of the kids choose something special or fancy, but Matthew wanted IHOP. His favorite thing is breakfast for dinner!! So Dennis and I took him to IHOP for dinner on his birthday. The next day was Sunday, so we had Grandpa, Uncle Scott and the cousins over for cake and ice cream.



The next Friday, we took Matthew and a couple of his friends Laser Tagging. The kids had a ball, and we finished with pizza and cupcakes. Matthew had a great birthday!!

Matthew is such a wonderful addition to our family. He is gentle and kind (most of the time) and has a sweet and loving personality. I am so proud of the person he is and grateful he is my son. I love you Matthew!!