Shooting in the Desert

On Saturday, April 16th, Brent, Grant and I headed out toward Four Peaks to do some target practice. We traveled north on Highway 260 until we reached an area near Sycamore Creek. As we headed down the road toward Sycamore Creek, several people had parked their vehicles on the side of the road and were taking off on dirt bikes. There are lots of desert trails to ride on in this area. Further down the road are places for target practice and more dirt bike riding. We turned off the dry, dirt road at this site. It was an extremely littered area. Debris from many people covered the ground; all of it riddled with holes. I was shocked that people would come to the beautiful desert and not clean up after themselves. It would take an army of people and many, many large garbage bags to clean up this one site. Pretty sad.

Grant received a BB gun for his birthday. This was the first time he was able to take the gun out and shoot it. Brent brought his old BB gun and his 22.

Brent and Grant got along very well on this trip. They talked about what they were shooting, if their sites were working, had contests on who could hit specific targets the quickest, and which gun fired better. It was great to watch them getting along. I don't know what it is about guns and men, but they seem to go together very well. These two could have stayed out here in the desert all day if it wasn't so hot.

Grant has great aim with a gun. He hits his target 90% of the time on the first shot. Not bad for a kid who hasn't had much shooting practice. He really enjoys this activity. Although it was hot and boring for me, we will have to go and do this again :)

On a crazy side note, a little further down the road was a group of people shooting at stuff. We listened to their high powered automatic guns. A few times they set off bombs. My whole body vibrated when they did that. Who would have thought that it was legal to set off bombs in the desert?

Grant's Birthday - Round 3

On Grant's actual birthday, March 21st, we went out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Yummy! Grant and Mitchell didn't want their picture taken while we waited for our feast to arrive.

Brent and I didn't mind being photographed. :)

Grant ordered steak and a double order of cheesy bacon french fries. He LOVED the cheesy fries!

At the end of the evening the Texas Roadhouse staff made Grant sit on a saddle, swing a napkin around in the air, and listen to them give him a big Yee Haw!

Happy 14th Birthday Grant! We all love you!

Grant's Birthday Round 2

We celebrated Grant's 14th birthday on Friday, March 18th. Since it was spring break, only his buddy, Abram, was able to attend. Grant and Abram went to Fiddlesticks, an amusement park. They drove go-carts, played miniature golf, rode in bumper boats and rode on other equipment. It was difficult to get the two of them out of there are the end of the evening. After a dinner of pizza, Grant was anxious to open his presents. Actually, Mitchell was extremely curious to find out what Grant received. He even postponed going out with friends so he wouldn't miss out.

The first gift opened was a BB Gun from Brent & I. Grant is bummed that it is illegal to shoot them within the city limits but he is excited that he gets to go to the desert and fire it off later.

The next gift was a PSP game from Abram. Grant seems to really enjoy all of the military games that are available. Now he can curl up in his bed with his PSP and kill bad guys and zombies. What a way to wind down for a night!

Grant received a gift card to McDonald's from Grandma & Gramps. He LOVES McDonald's! He also received something special from Great-Grandma Sweeney. The last gift he opened was night vision goggles. He has been asking for these for a while. They work pretty good too. Now he won't need a flashlight to sneak around the house at midnight, he can use the goggles!

This is Grant's Jello Cake with the #14 on it. I know it's not nearly as cool as his purple Elmo cake Aunt Sarah made but it's very yummy!

I'm very worried about Grant's lung capacity. He had a difficult time blowing out the candles on his own. Mitchell ended up helping him out. (They weren't trick candles!) :)

The birthday evening ended with Grant and Abram playing video games until 1 in the morning and then watching a movie until they fell asleep.

The final round in Grant's birthday party extravaganza will be on his birthday, Monday night, when we go out to dinner as a family. Grant hasn't decided where we will be going yet.

Grant's Birthday Round 1

On Saturday, Grant and I drove up to Flagstaff to go to Macy's baby blessing and to spend some time with Sarah and her family. When Sarah realized that Grant's 14th birthday was a week a way, she insisted we have a birthday party for him. On Monday night, 8 of Grant's cousins gathered together to celebrate his birthday. We had a yummy chicken quesedilla dinner and then cake and ice cream.

Sarah wanted to make Grant a special Elmo cake. When there wasn't any red food coloring in the house, we opted to make it a purple Elmo cake. Can't you see the resemblance between this masterful creation and Elmo?

All of the party guests were under the age of 6. Grant had to feel very mature in their presence.

Yes, this is Grant acting very mature as he devoured his Elmo cake and ice cream.

When no one was looking, Andrew and Madison started to torture the remaining Elmo parts. They quickly ate his eyes then ate his arms without using a fork or their hands. It was quite a funny site to watch.

After cake and ice cream, all of the kiddos ran around the house chasing each other with guns and saying they were zombies. What a night of fun! I'm not sure if Grant will be able to top this fun when he has his friends over on Friday.

MiniTown - 3rd Year

The weekend of February 18th through 20th, I had the privilege of attending the Aprende Mini Town in Prescott, AZ. The adult advisers and teenage counselors arrived at the AnyTown campsite on Thursday night the 17th. There is a long story about how I was lost for about an hour and how my group was the last to arrive that evening in the dark. I will fill you in later. The leadership group was able to get acquainted, go over programming and prepare for the students' arrival the next morning.

This is the AnyTown Mess Hall. This is what it looked like after 18 hours of snow. Here is the majority of our students, counselors and advisers. I'm under the red umbrella. It was snowing when we took the picture. Many of the students had never been in snow before so this was a real treat for them.

The buses were right on time Friday morning. The weather was brisk but bearable. I hate being cold so I am wearing a big NAU sweatshirt, a black alpaca hat and a CamelPack filled with water. The leadership team swarmed the buses to welcome the "delegates" to camp. Before the delegates could go to their cabins, we did an orientation under the Ramada. The leadership staff introduced themselves. I'm at the very end on the right wearing my alpaca hat. I, of course, am cheering loudly for everyone. It's so much fun to be out of the classroom and get to act a little crazy and energetic for a while!!!

Before every meal, we gather in a circle in front of the Mess Hall. Whichever cabin is in charge at the meal, gets to lead a song or an activity before we go in. Since it is sprinkling, I am wearing my red windbreaker/rain coat. I get to run around the circle while singing a song, stop in front of someone, dance crazy moves, they have to repeat the moves, and then we switch positions and he/she gets to go around the circle. So much fun!

This is my discussion group. We are in a heated conversation about what our skit should look like. [If you think I look disgusting, its okay, I know I do. The showering facilities at this camp are disgusting! I refused to shower the entire time I was there! So by the time Sunday came around, my hair was a little greasey and not that great to look at.]

After our group performed, the audience had to guess what emotion management strategy the star of our skit showed.

Another activity our discussion group did was create "minitown" out of toothpicks and gum drops. It was quite yummy. From left to right is Angie (black hair), me, Maggie (blue sweatshirt), Tessa (purple hat), Savannah (multi-colored hat and scarf and the counselor of our group), Grant (our token boy - not my Grant though), Melissa (in the very back - she was sick), Hannah (in the black sweatshirt), and Myah (in the maroon sweatshirt). We had a fantastic time together.

The last night before we left camp, we had a dance party. We roasted marshmallows, played music, and danced. Here is the cabin I stayed in. This is what the ground looked like after 6 hours of snow. The cabin had an incredible heater and we stayed very warm each night.

Trying to leave Sunday morning was a bit of a challenge. There is about 8 inches of snow on the ground and my van is frozen shut. Thankfully, other members of our staff who had more snow experience than I, helped me clear the snow from my windshield and get my van off the incline and on to the makeshift road. The only time I have driven in snow is when I was with Brent in Utah. It was nerve-wracking to drive in the snow alone. Even though the main highway was plowed, it was still slick and I slid around from time to time. The road signs were also covered in snow and I couldn't read them to know where to turn. I was so glad to finally get out of Prescott and into Dewey where it wasn't snowing.

It was a great trip and I'm glad I was able to be a part of it for the third year in a row!

What a SAVE!

For our family, church starts at 9am. However, Brent and Grant have to be a church 30 minutes early to set up chairs. This means I get to meander in right at 9am and claim my seat next to them.

Today I strolled in as the Bishop was announcing the opening hymn. I sat down between Brent and Grant on the pew and arranged my things as the opening hymn was sung. Once the prayer was said, I opened the meeting program to see who was speaking in Sacrament Meeting. To my surprise the program listed Grant Ward. I nudged Grant, pointed to his name in the program and asked him if he knew he was speaking in church today. His head promptly fell into his hands as horror swept across his face. I turned to Brent and asked him if he knew about this. He said that Brother Harmon had asked him, in passing, if he could ask Grant to speak, but Brent claimed to not know when that assignment would be. I asked Grant what his topic was that he was to speak on and he could not remember.

I found this to be rather humorous. Grant tries to get away with doing the least amount of work possible. He deliberately doesn't tell me about homework assignments so that I don't hound him to do it. I thought it was funny that he was going to have to confront, head on, his procrastination/forgetfulness problem in front of the congregation.

Grant asked what he was supposed to do. The meeting had started, an empty seat on the stand next to Brother Harmon beckoned him. I gave him two options. Option 1, go up and just bear your testimony. Option 2, go up and tell Brother Harmon that you forgot and see what he suggests for you to do.

Grant was scheduled to be the first speaker after the sacrament had been passed. As the sacrament hymn was sung, Grant made his way up to the stand and sat next to Brother Harmon. Brother Harmon started laughing as Grant must have told him his dilemma. I couldn't see Grant from the angle I was sitting at, but he remained on the stand. I assumed that he was going to stay on the stand and just bear his testimony.

As the sacrament was finished being passed, the bishop stood and announced the program for the meeting. He said Grant would be the first speaker. No mention was made that Grant had forgotten or that he was just going to bear his testimony.

Grant got up and told the congregation that he just remembered his speaking assignment as he sat in the meeting. Then Grant said his talk was about honesty. He read from "The Strength of Youth Pamphlet" about the meaning and importance of honesty. Then he read a scripture (from Brother Harmon's scriptures) about honesty. Next he read a quote from President Kimball about honesty. In closing, he bore his testimony about the importance of honesty.

I was so impressed that he pulled off a complete talk in a matter of minutes. I am so grateful to Brother Harmon and Bishop McCook who reminded him of his speaking topic and gave him information to present. No one in the audience would have known that Grant came to church completely unprepared to speak if Grant hadn't told them.

When the meeting was over and I was able to talk to Grant, he said that was the most stressful experience of his life. Great job Grant! I'm sure he will never "accidentally" forget a speaking assignment again!

You Know You are Loved When...

You know you are loved when your teenage son tells his friend how lucky he is to be invited over for dinner when his mom made Pork Roast. He said the Pork Roast tastes like heaven.