Bye Bye Birdie

Tonight's project

Today's shopping list: large pvc, small pvc, rubbing alcohol, foam padding, and a grill ignition switch. Add Jer, water bottles, a 2-liter bottle, a glue gun, a drill, and a soldering iron...

Benatis came for conference!!

General Conference, October 4th (and 5th) 2014:

Sergio & Geni came from São Paulo for conference and for Heid's citizenship ceremony (next week). We got to attend the Saturday afternoon session all together (thanks to Mike and Bro. Howell for arranging the tickets!) Sergio got a Priesthood Session ticket, too, so the boys (Mike and Jonny and Jer, who's first Priesthood Session it was,) managed to get tickets to it, too. (Small miracles all around yesterday.)

In front of Heid's house

Conference Center, Salt Lake City

(The prophet enters...)

During the Men's session, Geni, Heid, Jen, Jessie and I got to spend some time downtown. We checked out Deseret Book (and got orange rolls!), and then we  spent some time in the South Visitors' Center. Once the boys were done, we all went out to dinner at the Blue Lemon. Yum! Fun! Good times! A very special day!!

(The Benatis got to attend this morning's session, too, and then we'll get to see them later in the week.)

Miss Independant

I'm so proud of Jen! She bought her own cell phone! She has been telling me for several months that there's something she was saving for, and that she was just trying to decide if she would get it. It sounded major. But she didn't want to tell me what it was. Instead she said I would find out when she actually bought it-if she did.

Well, Mike and I got a series of mysterious phone calls last night. I finally put it together, RAN upstairs, and saw her lovely new purchase. SO proud of her for doing it herself! (We've told the kids we won't buy phones for them, that they have to get them if they want them, but she never even complained. She just DID it!)    :D

Mike's birthday (and the last weekend of Summer)

For Mike's 41st birthday, he wanted to go to Moab.  YEA!!!

We decided to camp (yes, he volunteered to,) so of course we brought the appropriately-sized tent for both of us to share!  (The Richard Dreyfuss Spa, Hotel, & Casino)

We rode the Slickrock practice loop at sunset.  (Mike did awesome! ...Cynth walked/hiked most of it!)

We took a full-day river-rafting trip down the Colorado.

We celebrated Mike's special day with something "close" to a birthday cake and candles...

We drove the La Sal Mountain Loop...

...and Mike rode down it (from the La Sals to the Colorado!)

We also hiked to Bowtie Arch and Corona Arch...

...and got caught in a flash flood!

(Here's Cynth "riding it out" directly under Corona Arch...)

It will be super memorable, and the aftermath was incredibly beautiful!

Happy Birthday!!!

The Falling Trees concert!

Meet The Falling Trees. These guys have been playing together all summer, thanks to the awesome efforts of Uncle Kirk. They played a concert last Saturday in Woodland Hills and sounded fantastic!

That's my guy! Shyness totally gives way when Jer is on stage with a guitar. This has been a great summer!

Check out the crowd! What a fun evening!

First Day of School!

Here we go!  :)

Wowsers!!

Tonight Mike, Jonny, AND Jess rode all the way out to Highland! Good job, guys, and especially Jess-way to go!!

Bragging rights...

Congrats to Jonathan!  It's been a big couple of days, and his hard work, determination, and lack of sleep has been paying off.  He just got his AP score back--he passed AP Human Geography with a 4!!!  He also was just notified that he won a web design contest--his site design won over 24 other pro entries (and with a substantial cash prize)!  Go Jonny!

This summer's friends

This summer, Jeremy has been watching a family of birds (nested and hatched in our upstairs dryer vent...this year we just blocked it off and let them have at it!); a family of squirrels (2 live under our front porch, and this season they had 3 little ones, one of whom Jer has already caught with a homemade trap and an apple); a bird he caught and released one morning; and several snakes (he caught 2 different kinds one day, and the neighborhood kids all came to the "zoo" to check them out!)

p.s.  Notice his "protective snake gear" (canvas jacket, gardening gloves, and a stick).  Should I, as his mother, feel better?  ;0)

Look Familiar?

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Yellowstone!

We had a couple of days free-FINALLY!!!-this weekend, so we took the kids on a quick drive to Yellowstone National Park.  We left Friday and came back Sunday night (just in time to gather with family for dinner and load the ward girls' camp trailer!)  Here are some highlights from the trip: