Zac Brown Band Concert

      Before Spencer and I were married, I used to go to concerts all the time.  That is of course back in the day when you didn't have to take out a loan to afford a ticket!  Now-a-days, ticket prices just seem way out of control if you ask me.  But every now and then when a band comes to town whom you love, it just feels worth it.  That is exactly how I felt about the Zac Brown Band concert we attended Friday night.  I had such a great evening with Spencer!  It had been way too long since we attended a concert together.  All evening he spoiled me; first with dinner at the event center, along with cotton candy and a red rope; and second, he bought me a keepsake t-shirt.  What a nice guy!  I definitely caught him in a generous mood that night ;-)   

      Our seats for the concert were great!  We were seated directly behind the VIP section which turned out to be a great benefit for us.  Of course one of the perks of sitting in the VIP section are the endless platters of food for your enjoyment.  And as it turns out Spencer wasn't the only generous man in the complex.  One of the guys in front of us turned around and offered us his platters of food.  So there we sat passing around platters of croissant sandwiches, cheese, fruit and vegetable trays and later one with cookies.  It was actually quite comical. 

      The concert itself was AMAZING!  The band sounded just as great live as they do recorded and they played all of my favorite songs, which made me happy.  It was worth every penny!  Thank you to my wonderful, generous husband for a fabulous night out!  Let's not wait so long to do it again.

September 11th

      At 11:00 a.m. on September 11th, county workers congregated next to the flag pole for a moment of silence.  It was a neat feeling being among a group of people and feeling united.  I may not be happy with the direction our country is going, but I love living in a free country! 

God bless the U.S.A.!!! 

HTC Van Decorating

   Even though HTC technically began Friday morning on Mt. Hood, the festivities started Thursday evening when our team (minus a few members) got together to decorate vans.  Actually, Van 1 rode in an actual van, while Van 2 rode in one sweet suburban, thanks to the Habels!!  Our team name was Road Surfers so obviously we had to go with a Hawaiian type theme.  We had surf boards zip tied to our roof, but my favorite decoration was definitely the grass skirt along the front of the brush guard of the suburban.  It rocked!  I kept thinking that if our van was a character in the movie Cars, he would be one hardcore dude!  Probably with an earring or two, lol!

      So you would think that getting a good nights sleep on a night like this would be top priority, right?  Yeah, that didn't happen!  I spent the night at a teammates house with the other girls from Van 2 and we did what girls do best, stayed up late talking.  But I'm not trying to kid anyone, I wouldn't have been able to sleep anyway ... too excited!!

Hood to Coast Relay Race

      Participating in the Hood to Coast Relay Race was by far the toughest challenge I have ever tackled.  It was tough because running, for me, is not only a physical challenge, but a mental one as well.  I KNOW my body is capable of running great distances, but mentally I fight it every step of the way.  But, I love to challenge myself physically, and so no matter how much anxiety or blood, sweat and tears it was going to take, I knew I wanted to participate in this relay race.  And I did!  And I learned a valuable lesson; That even though I may not have a natural ability to run, with hard work and discipline, I became a good runner! 

      My overall experience with Hood to Coast was amazing!  It was fun; it was exhausting; and it was interesting!  Having never participated in an event like this before, I had a lot of anxiety wondering what it was going to be like spending 36 hours in a van with 5 other people, most of whom I barely knew!?  But now that all is said and done I couldn't have hand picked a better team than what was given to me.  These guys were awesome!

      I was the final runner on my team, which meant I ran legs 12, 24 & 36.  I chose this leg because it sounded exciting to be the one to run through the finish line in Seaside.  And also because it was relatively one of the easiest legs overall.  Running in the middle of the night with a head lamp on as your only light was pretty cool.  I thought it might be intimidating, but it was actually really peaceful.  The hardest part of the entire race was the lack of sleep.  I think I got about a total of 3 hours of sleep the entire time.  But adrenaline is a funny thing, it can keep you going for a long while. Here is a breakdown of my times:

• Leg 12 (5:15 p.m.):  3.07 miles  Average Pace:  8.51 min/mile  (6 kills)
• Leg 24 (4:00 a.m.):  4.92 miles  Average Pace:  9:03 min/mile  (12 kills)
• Leg 36 (3:45 p.m.):  5.23 miles  Average Pace:  8:54 min/mile  (12 kills)

Archery Hunt & Camping





      Our archery hunt this year turned into one wild and crazy camping party, which I LOVED!!!  In the planning stages it started out with our normal hunting group of 3 families, but as we got closer 3 families quickly turned into 7 families.  It was awesome!  Now granted only 5 out of the 14 adults who came actually hunted, but I think everyone had a great time whether they hunted or just camped. 

 

      This was our first year of using our new 14X16 canvas wall tent, with carpet flooring; and as far as camping goes, I definitely felt pampered!  It was very spacious and comfortable.  It gets really hot in the afternoon where we camp with temperatures reaching the high 80's so every afternoon our routine consisted of sun bathing in the creek, followed by a trip down the road for ice cream.  That's 5 days straight of ice cream for lunch, oh yeah!         



      So I guess the good news is, I shot a buck and filled my tag, which is what I hoped would happen, but this time around my experience was much more emotionally charged than my first.  After shooting 3 arrows and missing 3 times, I came upon this spike and let my arrow fly.  I knew I'd hit him, but I didn't see where before he took off.  As with almost any shot you need to wait a considerable amount of time before you follow the blood trail which will lead you to your deer.  Well unfortunately, it was getting dark so we had to leave him and come back in the morning to find him, which is the right thing to do.  The following morning we went back and found him quickly, but I was not at all happy with my shot.  As it turns out I hit him on his side near his butt which pierced a major artery, but it wasn't as quick and as clean as I would have liked and so I cried for about an hour afterwards just because I felt SO awful.  In fact, in the picture below that is a fake smile on my face, all I wanted to do was cry!  It took a good portion of the day, with lots of positive comments from other hunters, to bring me around.  Like I said, this was a WAY different experience then my text book success I had my first time.    

      Despite the fact that I struggled emotionally with the hunt, I had an absolutely wonderful time otherwise!  It was truly a great finale to a great summer.  I loved being with my own family and I loved laughing and spending time with our friends!  We played hard, we ate well, and both Spencer and I brought home some meat for our freezer!    

Back to School

      As much as I LOVE summer vacation, it's kind of nice to send the kids back to school and establish routine again into my day.  This week while I was perusing all of the pictures I took over the last few months, I realized I have a lot to journal about!  Not really knowing where to begin, I decided to start with the most recent events that are still fresh in my mind and work my back.  So here goes ...

      Beginning a new school year has been the most exciting event around our house this week.  This is the first (and only) year that all 3 of my boys will attend the same school.  Yay for that!!  Austin has now entered the 6th grade; Cameron the 3rd grade; and Andrew is now a Kindergartener.   

      I always thought that I would jump for joy the day that my baby entered Kindergarten, but it really wasn't as epic as I thought it was going to be.  Truth is, I love spending the day with Andrew.  He is so much fun and a good little companion to have around.  He is super excited about going to a big boy school and he likes his teacher and classmates.  In fact, all of my boys scored wonderful teachers this year! Austin has his first ever male teacher, who everyone says is amazing.  And I can't help but wonder if having a male teacher will make a difference in his performance!?  We'll have to wait and see...  So what do I plan to do with my 3 hours of quiet each day?  Work!  Only for the next 5 weeks though, then for some odd reason I have a strong desire to make a quilt.  Of course I'll have to squeeze my quilting in between my shows on Netflix and Bon Bon obsession; but it can be done, I assure you, lol!

Independence Day

      To celebrate our country's freedom we attended Mark & Jenn's Annual 4th of July Bash.  Spencer was in charge of supplying our fireworks for the evening and with a donation of over $400 we had quite the show!  I enjoy going to their party for many reasons, but here are my top three:

      1)  Great food

      2)  Awesome friends, and

      3)  No crowds to fight getting home!! 

Children's Museum Field Trip

      This June marked my very last preschool field trip to the Children's Museum, Hallelujah!!  The first time was fun, the second okay, but the 3, 4 & 5th time ... Ugggh!  But my boys enjoy it, and if I didn't take them I would feel like the worst Mother ever, so I endure.  Andrew, on the other hand, only wanted to go so he could hang out in the gift shop.  I found that out once we got there.  He literally could care less about any of the exhibits, he was dead set on buying something in the gift shop.  I couldn't believe it.  That made for a short field trip, which sadly I was okay with.  I loved spending time with just Andrew though.  He is such a great little companion.

 

Class of 2013

      Being able to attend Megan's graduation from high school was a real treat!  I knew this was going to be a big night for her.  She was invited to honor her Leadership teacher, which was a surprise to him, and I knew she was really excited about it.  In our high school one member of the graduating class is awarded the Rutherford Cup for "Outstanding Senior".  When the school principal started describing this years recipient, I kept getting more and more excited that it was being awarded to Megan.  This person serves in Leadership.  Yes.  This person volunteers in SHINE.  Yes.  This person will attend BYUI in the Fall.  It's her!!  I could hardly sit still.  And I was so proud of her in that moment when she was called up to receive her award.  She was also the recipient of three (3!) $1,000 scholarships during their senior awards night, just prior to graduation.  How awesome is that!?  She is one amazing young woman!!  And while I know she is off at college having the time of her life, and is where she is supposed to be, I can't help but miss her dearly and wish she was still here.  

Cameron Turns 8!

      What kind of tricks can you play on someone who's birthday falls on April Fool's Day?  I'm still trying to figure out a good one, but this year I decorated the house with the normal birthday stuff and in the morning when the kids got up I yelled, "Happy Birthday, Austin!"  Cameron teasingly told me it's not Austin's birthday, but I kept going with it.  Maybe one of these years I can come up with something more clever.

 

      Spencer and I thought it would be fun to surprise Cameron during lunch at school and took Burgerville to him.  He seemed to really enjoy having us there at school and getting to eat something special.  Before dinner he was allowed to open his presents and was super excited to find a new guitar.  He has been so anxious to learn how to play one.  He also got a brand new suit for his baptism and lots of cash.  I think it's evident by the grin in the picture below he had a great day!