Very Special Delivery

On Tuesday December 20th at 3PM a very special delivery arrived (for our family) at the San Diego airport, this gift wasn't wrapped in colorful paper or a fancy bow but instead this gift was wrapped in a suit & tie, this gift was not something you could buy quickly in a store... this gift was 2 years in the making.... are you stumped? Well, this very special delivery was our oldest son who returned from serving a mission in the Michigan Detroit Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

He left a boy & returned a man.

We are so proud of him & so happy to have this very special gift home with us again!

Thanks to all of our family & friends who came to the airport & our home to help us welcome him home!

Boraccio

Eric has been doing theater this year and has enjoyed it so much.  It's a lot of work, but he's getting his best grades in all his classes ever, and having fun at the same time.  I am also happy because it helps with the sting of lonliness he has for his brothers. 

Last night we went to his performance of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing".  Eric did a great job and it was so fun watching him perform.  It was a little weird that he played a drunken womanizer, though.  At least he got to stretch himself!  There weren't enough guys in theater, so several girls had to play men.  They all did such a great job and I really appreciate his teacher for spending so much time with these students.  It was also fun watching our friend Chance, who we've known since he was about 4 years old.  He's grown into such a nice young man and such a good actor.

We're super proud of Eric and all his hard work.  He has always been a ham and loved to be the center of attention.  Whatever he chooses to do in life, he will do it well.

Who Does This???

Today we had Souper Saturday for our Relief Society Activity.  It was a lot of fun and there was such a great turn out.  When I got home I piled stuff on the countertops and was cleaning up.  I had a little cup of grease that I had set out from dinner a couple nights ago to get hard and then throw out.  As I moved a pan, I noticed this...

I screamed and ran down the hall to ask David (who was taking a nap) if he played a joke on me.  He looked at his watch (only 10 minutes into his nap) and answered with annoyance "Yes.  It was in the bottom of the pool".   And closed his eyes to go back to sleep.  So now I can't go in the kitchen to cook or clean.  He may be buying me dinner after all tonight, is all I can say!!  Who even does this kind of thing?  I'm so grossed out, but of course, I had to run in there and get a picture to blog about it.  If I can't be in the kitchen, I may as well be at the computer:)  I'm kinda wondering if he is the only husband who would dare do this kind of thing!  Ah, his sense of humor.  Or should I say UGH!!!

Haunted House 2011

Halloween is David's favorite holiday.  He started doing haunted houses years ago in the Spring Valley Ward.  Some of those were a little over the top, and he's reigned himself in a bit.  But he is still known for his enjoyment of the holiday and willingness to help out.  Our friend Becky is the new Stake YW President and was in charge of the Halloween Dance.  She got David to be in charge of the haunted house.  Thank goodness there was a TON of help this year!  I didn't get too many pictures of the finished product, but thought it would be interesting to see just how much goes in to putting on one of these things. 

If it were me putting it together, I would just put plastic everywhere.  But maybe it's David's construction background that requires wood - a lot of wood - to build anything. 

And every haunted house needs a sewer to crawl through!  What a great idea!!  This is how they put the sewer/tunnel together.  Tables to lead them and plywood over the whole top.  Not sure what Don is doing there, but I'm sure he was working hard:)  Kevin & Eric also worked hard, screwing all the wood so it wouldn't topple.

Freddie Krueger welcomed the victims through the sewer. Jessica, Becky and I stuffed the monsters.

Here we are getting a little closer to being ready.  JR was the bloody victim getting his leg drilled.  He was so good at yelling "Help Me!" Bishop & Don were bloody construction workers with power tools chasing people into the sewer.

Jessica was in the tunnel and would scream as the visitors would crawl through.  When she screamed, all the girls would scream too.  That would trigger the floppy rat with red eyes. 

There was also a dead baby (prop) that you can see in the back of my car.  That was in the tunnel as well.  When people would crawl by it, it's head would spin and eyes lit up, and made a creepy noise.

The wooden box that you see has a hole cut out and a picture of Freddie Krueger is lit up as they come through the end of the tunnel.  There's a bat that activates that drops down and was pretty awesome too, and of course a few monsters in corners.  Kevin was in the last room with some sort of power tool (can't remember) scaring people as well.

As the people left the room, they were relieved that it was over...until they saw monster Ian with a chainsaw.  Screams and running out of the building!  Awesome!!!

It was a super busy day.  Lots of prep time for David, setting up from everyone for about 5 hours, and back at the haunted house and then clean up for another 4 hours.  Our only problem - too many power tools!!!  (saws, air guns, with tons of strobes, fog machines, and the big light on Freddie's picture)  We kept blowing fuses and had to try to get that worked out, so unfortunately there was about a 20-30 minute delay. 

There was great feedback and the youth had a lot of fun.  The adults were all exhausted Sunday, but smiling and having lots of laughs about the previous day.

The Wait is Over

Eric is such a good sport - in more sense than one.  He got his letter for swim back in May, but had to wait until October to finally get his jacket.  I'm so glad he's such a patient boy!  He's so excited to finally have it, and it's nice that the weather is a little cooler so he can actually wear it.  I'm so proud of him for achieving his letter his Freshman year.  What an accomplishment!!

Latest Project

It seems that everything goes wrong at once.  Things are breaking like crazy around here.  After getting the pool vacuum fixed, I noticed something laying in the bottom of the pool.  I thought "Kirby" broke again.  As I looked a little closer, I noticed it was actually a piece of pool tile.  We knew that we were going to have to fix these particular tiles sooner than later, but we weren't planning soooo soon, since David's been in the middle of a big project anyway.  That would have to wait, since we couldn't run the filter still.

   

 It's amazing how cold the pool gets after Labor Day!  He put on his wet suit and snorkel, drained some water, and got to work. 

 In between working on the tile, he cleaned the pool up a bit.

It's amazing how a little project can take so long, but he finally got it finished and our pool is filling up with the filter running once again.

Now back to his other projects that he's in the middle of, and the ones that haven't started yet.  Haunted House, VALT training and fixing the car, just to name a few.  He was really thankful to have broken his leg to get those 4 weeks off!  Always looking at the bright side, and soooo cute!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

It's been some time since I've posted, sorry... here I was whining about people who have a blog & never post anything. Wow, I should talk! BUT I do have a good reason for it taking me so long (this time).

So many changes in our family, it's been a crazy couple of weeks! I was just recently released from being the stake young women's president - which I was very sad about. I love the girls in our stake! I think living with a bunch of boys makes me appreciate a bunch of teenage girls so much more than the average mom. I am thankful that I don't have to deal with the daily drama that comes along with those girls though! So of course after serving in the stake young women's presidency for about 6 years (not all as president though thankfully), I was curious as to what new calling I would be getting.

I'd love to say I was surprised when they asked me to be a seminary teacher, but I would be lying. Some how (I'm sure it was the spirit) I knew that it was the right calling as soon as it was said. Which is a good thing because teaching seminary is one of the 2 callings I thought I could NEVER do. So when the spirit confirmed it's where I needed to be, I knew I could do it. But do it well??? Well, that's a learning process for sure!! Ha ha

Luckily for me, I know most of the kids in our class- one of which is my son!! No more complaining about how early he has to get up to me... because I am right there with him!

It has also been nice having Jamey get up with us & accompany us to the church to keep the kids in line (ha ha).

Jamey also got a new calling recently... now that he is planning on being home for longer periods of time, they snatched him up! He is the second counselor in the Elders Quorum serving with Trent Black. He's excited for this new chapter in his life. I am proud of him for accepting it as well.

Nate was just called as the second counselor in his Elders Quorum (singles ward) too. It's awesome to see my boys accept callings & serve our Father in Heaven.

Life is moving so quickly for the Prescott family. I can hardly believe how fast our boys are growing up. Where does the time go?

REXBURG!

This is Jason's new home for the next 3 months.  He has a small microwave, fridge and freezer in his dorm that is shared between him and his roommate.  There is one wall that is closets with drawers, and a loft bed with desk underneath on either side of the room. One of those drawers is his snack drawer:)   The bathroom is long with a lot of  storage. 

There is not kitchen or sink, so he will be making his kool aid in the bathroom, as well as washing his dishes.  YUM!  The door on the bottom is his dorm.

We got him all organized and moved in, and thankfully the boxes we shipped got there the afternoon of move-in day.  There were activities for the new students, which Jason did a few of them.  He met his new roommates and even has a girl following him around already.  His roommates were pretty bummed about that! 

If you've never been to Rexburg, Idaho, here's the lowdown.  There is a main street, (which isn't Main Street) that has all the happenin' places.  Mc D's, Jack in the Box, Arby's, KFC, Wendy's, Wal Mart, K mart, Deseret Book, DI, a movie theater and bowling alley.  It's about a 1/2 mile long thru this part.  Main Street has Taco Bell, the local grocery store, and a Jamba Juice.  The college campus is probably bigger than the town, and the temple is right across the street from campus.  Why I didn't get any pictures of any of that is besides me!!  And that, my friends, is Rexburg! 

The big deal Wednesday night was that Wendy's ran out of baked potatoes.  Seriously!  

Idaho = Potatoes:)

Jason is having a bit of culture shock.  School starts tomorrow for him, so hopefully he will be settled in and feeling confident for his first day of college.  Emily was saying that the hardest time was the 2nd week of college.  I asked why and she said, "EFY is over".  That pretty much sums it up.  (Especially For Youth is a week long church program that occurs on college campuses throughout the US.  There are classes, games, and many activities for the youth.)

Good luck, Jason.  I know you can do it!  And the best thing about BYU schools is that the semesters are 3 months.  Which means a harder semester, but it's over sooner.  He is also happy that he is on the Fall/Spring track, so he will get to come home for a San Diego winter.  REXBURG!!

Road Trip

Summer has come to an end, and time to take Jason to college.  He reluctantly accepted at BYU Idaho.  It helped that our friend, Laura, has already done one year at BYUI.  She was so nice to drive with us and tell Jason all about schoool, as well as point out places of interest along the way. 

 I probably am the ONLY Mormon never to have been to that state!  (My parents told me we had been there before, but I was too young to remember.)  I was so excited when I saw the first temple at St. George, Utah. We pulled off the freeway and took some pictures.  Then had lunch.  Utah was feeling pretty exciting to me.  It is super clean and the people are friendly.  The big plus, is there's a Tai Pan Trading in St. George.  Reluctantly we didn't stop, we had to continue on.  I was so excited to see more.  Little did I know, it would be a few more hours to the next real town.

As we passed Provo where the MTC and BYU are, I got so excited thinking about how Troy recently spent 2 months there.  We kept going just past Provo to Orem, where Laura's Grandma lives. (approx 733 miles at this point)  We went to dinner together, then to Tai Pan (YAY).  Grandma and I sat on the porch swing and talked, looking at beautiful Mt. Timpanogos as the sun set.  It was really a sight to behold.

Later, Emily who is from Spring Valley, too, came to visit. She goes to BYU.  It was so fun chatting with those girls and Jason. 

Wednesday morning we left Grandma's and stopped to get gas before getting on the freeway.  The car wouldn't start.  We determined it was the battery.  That slowed us down a bit, but we were able to take some pictures of that poor little Saturn.   

It was really packed!

Jason was such a trooper fixing the car.  He didn't complain, but he was getting pretty stressed out with his "crappy tools" and grease on his white shirt.  Laura and I were laughing a lot.  Jason - not so much.

We finally made it to Salt Lake City, which was our goal for the day.  Those two were so sweet to accommodate me and see whatever I wanted to see.  Laura has been there several times, so she directed us to the best places to visit.  Besides walking into the temple thinking it was the visitor's center, it was all good:) 

I can't even begin to explain the feeling in this room.  There was an overpowering sense of the spirit! 

 We were able to go inside the tabernacle.  We also went to the Beehive house that was down the street. 

Here is Jason at 7/11 in Salt Lake City.   Apparently there are no 7/11's in Idaho.  GASP!!  So Jason had his last slurpee for a few months - unless he wants to take a 3 hour road trip to Utah!

Everyone kept telling me that it was a long drive to Rexburg.  They weren't kidding. 14 hours or so. Jason is not so excited for the drive home, but he will be very happy to have a car while he's there! 

Back to School

Tuesday was Eric's first day of 10th grade!  I wasn't home to take him to his first day of school this year because I was on the road taking Jason to college.  It really made me sad not to take Eric, but he could really have cared less (or so he says).  So after texting him for a back to school picture, I pulled out the big guns.  I got his dad on the phone and convinced him I NEEDED a picture of him on that day.  So David took a picture on Eric's cell phone and texted it to me.  Eric even has a bit of a smile!!

Eric has a full load this year, with seminary starting at 6am and 7 school periods until 3pm.  He has Spanish I, Biology, Honors Geometry, Honors English, Weights, World History and Theater.  I hope he can hang in there and keep up with his busy schedule and classwork.  But he won't have any brothers home bothering him during his homework this semester, either!

Swim Lessons

Jason was asked by some friends to teach their kids how to swim. There are two 3 year olds and a 5 year old. 

It has been so fun watching him this week with these sweet little girls.  I wasn't really sure how he would do, but kids have always loved him.  This experience seems nothing less.  He laughs with them, and is so good at teaching them.  He looks genuinely happy as he works with them, which makes me even more proud of him.  I know, I'm a dork, but one of the things that makes me happiest is to see my kids laugh and smile.  So much of the time they are serious or don't show a lot of emotion.  I told Troy once that when he laughs it makes my heart smile.  They all laugh at me about that, but it's true.  It's so great to see them laugh and having fun.  And it's so cute when they leave they all wave and say, "bye, Jason!!" over and over again. 

I think Jason will remember this week fondly, and hopefully those little cuties will be on their way to being super swimmers.

Wakeboarding

This last weekend we rented a boat and David spent his weekend in heaven!!  Friday morning he went out with the "big boys" and had a blast.  Within the first hour he had tweaked his knee and was done for good.  He was supposed to have the day off, but that didn't go according to plans either, so he hobbled back to work for a few hours.   It was Hurdsman family time, and they went tubing and enjoyed the day at the lake.

Friday evening we were able to get back and try a little wakeboarding and tubing with Nate and Jason's friend Courtney.  It was so fun, but just not long enough!! 

Saturday morning it was the scout's turn.  They tubed and boarded, and had a wonderful time as well.  I love to see my husband happy, and I must say that behing the wheel of a boat, or being towed behind it, he is at his happiest.  I wish I could make you happy every week of the year, babe!! 

Havasupai 2011

This year high adventure camp was to Havasu Falls in Arizona.  It's my favorite place that the kids go to every 3-4 years.  The only boy from our ward that wanted to go was Eric, so he tagged on to Spring Valley's ward, with Lemon Grove ward going too.  The Prescott boys almost outnumbered the other group!!  Simon, Noah, Eric & Jason represented.

Jason and Troy had gone there a few years ago, so Jason went as an adult leader.  He was able to show everyone where all the cool falls were. 

They jump and dive from crazy heights - up to 50'.  This year the highest they jumped off of was 30'.  The water and falls are so beautiful!! 

It's a long drive to get there.  Then they get to hike 1 hard mile down and 10 miles out to the falls.  The hard part is getting BACK to the car.  I am so proud of one of the boys for hiking out with all his gear, then going back to get others who were struggling and carry their gear out. 

The boys all had such a great time.  The leaders loved how they all worked together and were one team throughout the week.

I asked Eric what he thought about the trip.  His response was "It was horrible and amazing".  Just the way high adventure camp should be!!

It's Official!

We just got the official word this week of when Zak will be coming home.... seems according to transfers he was due to come home December 28th - but the mission president (being the loving, kind man that he is) got special permission from "the powers that be" to send all the missionaries that went out with Zak home before Christmas! Woo hoo, to say I am excited is an understatement indeed!
I don't know if Zak even knows because we found out Monday afternoon (after his email)... I'm guessing he won't say anything to me for a while. If you happen to write to him anytime soon, please don't say anything to him about this. He does NOT want to talk about OR think about coming home until he has landed in his home town. I am thankful that he is doing all that he can not to get "trunky". I will be proud to have him return with honor.

On another note: We are so proud of our friend Marcus for the decisions he is making in his life... & so excited for him as he prepares to serve our Father in Heaven in Madagascar! Those people are so blessed to have a missionary like you coming their way!!

Fun Family Day

Saturday was the perfect summer day.  We had some family and friends over to swim and get cooled off. 

Here is Wyatt practicing his "surf's up" move

The kids were so cute and really enjoyed playing in the water this time.

 Even their dad got to play a lot between the "daddy sit" game.

Us girls mostly laid on the rafts and talked about girls camp, or held on to something to keep us from getting our hair too wet!  Although the boys thought it was fun to see how wet they could get us with their dives and cannon balls.

Finally a picture of the big boys together, even though they were moving on to Black Ops.

The day ended with a bbq at Kevin & Kathryn's, and Jamey arriving home from a very long time away.  Perfect!!

Jason's Graduation

Last Thursday Jason graduated from High School. 

He is a great student (except the homework thing again...that's a theme in our household for some reason!!) But he managed to graduate with honors - getting an average gpa of 3.5 for all 4 years.

Jason is a very smart young man, and will be going to BYU Idaho in the fall majoring in Mechanical Engineering.  He wants to go there for a year, then hopefully a mission, then go to BYU Hawaii for his last 3 years of college.  I think he might need his mom to come visit a lot there!!

After his graduation,  friends and family came over to congratulate him and visit. 

It was such a good day!! 

Here's our friend, Haley.  Jason and Haley liked each other for awhile in their Freshman and Sophomore years.  She is one of my favorite people, as well as her parents.  Her dad is the swim coach at MV and has done so much for my boys.  Their whole family is just amazing!!

Haley was Salutatorian, and gave an amazing speech.  She's got such a great personality, as well as her gpa of 4.5 or some crazy number like that!  Haley will be going to University of Redlands in the fall.

Way to go, class of 2011!!  Go show the world what you've got!

Jason's 18th Birthday

Jason is now 18 years old.  As a baby, he won the best crier award hands down!  When he was born, I didn't get to hold him much.  They had the team called in during delivery - and he was a c-section!  I could hear him for hours while I was in recovery just crying.  I asked David if that was our baby, and he said he was pretty sure it was.  The nurses came in and said to me, "Oh boy, you're not going to take this one home, are you?"  For months I knew something was wrong with him, and all the doctors just said it was colic.  After doing EVERYTHING I could possibly do, I took him to a chiropractor upon advice from a few different people when Jason was about 11 months old.  It was like magic.  A few touch of the thumbs onto Jason's back, and wallah, a new baby.  It ended up being that during delivery he got twisted and it messed up his poor little body.  He still has issues from that!! 

So I actually remember the first day Jason laughed and was REALLY happy - where we were and what we were doing.  It was winter and we were at the Pine Valley Park playing in the snow.  That will give you an idea of how absolutely horrible our first year was. 

Jason since then has grown (literally) to be a strong, healthy young man.  He is so kind and thoughtful about other's feelings. He is so super smart and capable.  He is my go-to for getting things fixed around the house when his dad's not home.  Actually, Jason is a carbon copy of his dad.  We all love him so much!!  Happy 18th birthday to you, son.  You make me proud to be your mom.

So here are a some pictures of Jason as he grew up.  Enjoy!

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Pinch Me!

It is hard to believe that six months from this Thursday (June 16th) Zak will have completed 2 years on a mission. In the beginning if you had told me the time would fly by, I would not have believed you... but it has!
I'd have to say that the last year & a half has been hard for me (for many reasons) but we have been continually blessed. I have felt the Lord's hand on my shoulder many times since Zak left & I know it is because he is being a faithful servant. I would never trade this time for anything. Until you have a missionary of your own you truly do not understand the growth & strength that they gain during their time serving.
Zak has become a disciple of Jesus Christ & I know that he is a better man because of it. He will also be a better husband, father & Priesthood holder.
Zak was recently transferred from Port Huron to Canton & is serving with Elder Smith. It sounds like he loves serving with Elder Smith - you can see by the picture they must have a good time together! Saturday we received a copy of a letter in the mail that was to Zak from his Mission President asking Zak to be a zone leader. I know Zak is happy about that because he loves working with President Holmes!
Although we still don't know the exact date Zak will be coming home, it's still crazy to know that we could be reunited by Christmas! What an awesome present!

Zak still found time (occasional p-day) to have some fun on his skateboard.... but in his last area he was feeling like he needed to get rid of it for the remainder of his mission. So he gave it to an investigator that liked to skateboard. He knows that the Lord will bless him to remember all of his tricks & then some when he returns... if he serves by giving 100%.

I am thankful for a son who didn't even think twice about serving the Lord. I know that he has had hard times while he has been gone but it has never changed his attitude about doing the Lord's work. I know that his Father in Heaven is proud of him... because I am too!

Swim Season 2011

I have been a terrible mother this year. Swim season is over, and I never posted a darn thing! But here it is in a nutshell...Jason was captain for his 2nd year. He had a good year, except being sick for awhile. His times for the year are:

50 free - 24.26

100 free - 58.25

100 breast - 1:05:51

200 IM - 2:28:79

He now has the top 7th spot in the history of Monte Vista for his 100 breast stroke. 21st & 23rd best for 200 Yard Medley Relay, 17th & 18th for 200 yard freestyle relay (Troy holds 22nd place), and 19th & 20th for 400 yard freestyle relay. Way to go, Jason! Hopefully his name will be on the school records for a long time.

He made it to CIF for his 100 breast stroke. It was so cold at CIF, he GAINED 2.5 seconds - which is a lot of time. The skinny kids all added time, and the beefier kids did the same or better as their fastest times. No insulation to keep them warm!!

At banquet last night, he received another letter, captain's star, MVP, and CIF patch, as well as the Union Tribune All-Academic Award for having a gpa of 3.73 and participating in sports.

Eric did great his first year of swim. MV JV's team won league finals, and Eric's relay team came in 2nd place. His times for the year are:

50 free - 30.67

100 free - 1:07:27

200 free - 2:50:66

50 back - 37:35

100 back - 1:20:02

At banquet he got a medal for leagues, and had enough points for doing so good, he got a varsity letter!! He is looking forward to doing swim next year, as well, following in his big brothers' footsteps. Eric already has tons of awards for placing in so many events. He would even like to try dive, like Troy. Troy was the only diver on the school team in the last 4 years. Coach wanted Eric to wait until next year so he can organize his coaching for dive. I'm so proud of them and all the hard work they put out this year. It was a lot of fun, but always a little sad to see the seniors go. I get so attached to the kids and their parents!!

It's been a fun year and we have some great memories to carry with us.