Gym awards and such

Maecee working the hula hoop at Kenna's gym party
EB doing the hula with his head

Kenna's award for not falling 0ff the beam ALL SEASON (level 6)! That is amazing! I don't think anyone else got this award.

What a great award for her to get. It fits her--exceptional attitude, hard work, emotional toughness and dedication. That is McKenna! She got it for all Level 5 and 6's.

Also a very big award that all the kids try to get is "Top Dawg". They test to see who can do the most sit ups, push ups, pull ups, etc. Supposedly there are a lot of tears and sweat that go into this award. Well McKenna competed against the optionals which is levels 7-9 (she's a level 7). Well I didn't think she really had a chance because most of the girls are LEVEL 9's and soooo strong! Well she did it. She took 3rd place! The 1st and 2nd place winners were level 9's. I was so proud of her! Way to go Kenna!

And I just had to add a picture of this cutie!

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Officially losing it...

Yes that is my fridge. Which thing doesn't belong This is when you know you've officially lost it, brain cells gone!!!! Wow I'm at a loss for words---and that doesn't happen very often!

Ethan the Great :)

Ethan and Kaidin posing for me. I just got done cutting their hair. It was momentus (sp?) because Kaidin never lets anyone use the clippers on him....except for me :) Hopefully it turns out ok, I'm not a professional by any means, just trying to save a buck or two. It's expensive to get boys hair cuts, especially when their hair grows as fast as a weed.
Silly boys, but darn cute

Okay on to the explanation of the title of this post. Yesterday we went to McKennas PT conference and I ran into Ethans class aide (I've talked to her a few times about "issues" :). I asked her how Eth was doing in class and she said "well I have to tell you about something that happened today". I'm thinking OH GREAT! She said out on the playground she saw three boys surrounding one little girl that was on the ground (my heart literally dropped!!). My face must have shown my anguish because she said "no, just listen". She walked over and started trying to figure out what was going on. Eth was trying to tell her what happened. He blurted out that he was trying to get the boys off of "this girl". It must not have looked like that, so the teacher looked at this girl and asked her if that was true. She said "yes, it's true, HE SAVED MY LIFE!" :) I guess these were BIG boys and Ethan is not big! He was so upset that they were picking on her and was trying to get them off. My heart just melted! What a sweet boy. I have been hammering into him that we should be nice to EVERYONE! No matter if they are boy, girl, big, little, black, white, purple, whatever. Then in church his teacher told him the story of the Good Samaritan and he soaked every last detail up. He came home and literally explained the whole story and more. So I asked him how he could be a good samaritan. I guess he just showed me ;)

Sneak Preview of Halloween costumes----except for Ethan's.

Chaol Canyon (I think). This was my next favorite spot. We anchored the boat and hiked up a little creek. There was quicksand, little waterfalls, frogs, sand, creek, and beautiful scenery!!! I also had to add the picture of Maecee and I "bathing". SHE DID NOT LIKE THIS AT ALL!!!!! Ok it wasn't my favorite either (the other boat we were with had a fish finder, they informed me that right where I was bathing was full of big fish, NICE!) but a girls gotta get cleaned up a little. You may also notice an "adopted" daughter in almost all our pictures. Cute Kiley wanted to be Maecee's mom----it was awesome! I knew if I didn't have my eye on Maecee her little mom did. Maecee misses her :( I told Kiley we would adopt her but would have to take one of her brothers too. Ethan would not appreciate another girl.

Relaxing

Hole in the Rock

This is the cliff that the pioneers traveled down WITH people, animals and WAGONS!!! Unbelievable! I just finished the book The Undaunted by Gerald Lund that chronicles their trip. Absolutely unbelievable what they did to get to their destination. Next time we go I would love to hike it, because you can actually see holes and marks that they made.

Brett waterskiing

Cliff Jumping

Whew! How much fun was this? It reminded me of the good ole days at Big Toe. I guess McKenna will not share my passion for extreme adrenaline rushes. She came out of the water mad! She was scowling at me (cuz everything is MY fault) and told me "I DID NOT LIKE THAT!" I don't know why I thought it was so funny, but I did :) Oh and was I sore from this!

Beautiful

Pic 1: Our mobile "car" to go from boat to boat or boat to land Pic 2: Brett and "the boys" on the tube getting the beat up Pic 3: McKenna posing for me Pic 4: The View from the front of the boat with some cute kiddies Pic 5: Moon above the red mountains Pic 6: Brett studying the map

It's kind of neat when your kids learn about something at school and then get to see unknowingly in real life. McKenna has learned about the Anasazi people and then we learned where they lived. She's also learned about the kiva. I actually don't think she really cared that she learned about it, and then saw it in person, but Brett and I did :)

Fishing in Lake Powell

More Lake Powell

I can't remember the name of this place, but it was my favorite spot (I think it's called Crystal Springs). We ate lunch there, fished, and I waterskiied out of the canyon.

McKenna kneeboarding

McKenna Kneeboarding

Lake Powell

While looking at these pictures I figured out a couple of things:

1. I pull really strange faces when I ski

2. I didn't want to crash so......I didn't do the required pull your shorts down move.....sort of wish I would have done that!

3. I can't wait to teach my kids this joy

4. Isn't it beautiful here.....awwwwww

5. I scream for joy when I'm out skiing, especially when it's glassy

6. Then the next day I feel muscles I KNOW haven't been used, at least since the last time I skiied