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!!