Bridger and Chase's Scout Camp

Parker, Jamison, Chase, Joseph, Sam C, Sam B, Brenden and Easton

A week after we moved, our old ward was having their scout camp.  So we got permission for Chase to come back and go to their scout camp with all of his fiends.  We came down Sunday night so I could drop him off at 6:00!!  He stayed at scout camp Monday and then came home Friday night with his friend Brenden.  Then Shan took Chase up to Island Park on Saturday with her.  Chase had a great time at scout camp.  He earned several merritt badges.  It was perfect for Chase to have one last party with his friends!!

It worked out perfectly because Bridger's scout group was going to JJ camp on the same Monday that Chase left.  I dropped Chase off and then I went over to the church and dropped Bridger off at 6:30.  Bridger was so happy to see his friends again even though it had only been a week.  When he got out of the car, all of his friends ran over to him and surrounded him in a big hug.  Bridger spent half a day at JJ camp and loved every minute of it.  He got to use a bow and arrow, pull a handcart, row a boat, shoot a riffle and make a craft. He had a great time!

Happy 70th Birthday Dad

Mom really wanted to pull off a surprise party for Dad's 70th birthday.  His official birthday will be while we're at the cabin so Mom decided to have a party for him a week before his birthday.  Everyone showed up to the house around 11:00.  Mom got the missionaries involved to get Dad out of the house.  He went up the church to set up chairs for a funeral.  It worked out perfectly because we got lunch all ready and then waited for him on the front porch.  Mom called Dad and told him that a cousin had stopped by and he needed to come home.  When dad pulled in the driveway, we were all waiting on the front porch yelling "Surprise!"  Dad was very surprised and happy with the party!

I love this picture of Dad looking at his cake because he has such a smile of contentment on his face.  After lunch, everyone headed over to L for some fun.  The cousins had such a great time riding all the rides together.

Rob, Maddie, Chase and Bridger got soaked riding Cliff Hanger.  Unfortunately Matt was first call so he couldn't come to the festivities.  We sure missed him.  Since everyone was already wet, they decided to ride Rattle snakes rapid.  If there was a dry spot on them, it didn't last because they got drenched again on that ride.

The ladies "sacrificed" and stayed with the little kids/babies.

Caleb's favorite ride is Bulgy the Whale.  He loves to put his hands up on this ride.  He rode it probably 4-5 times.  Bridger barely was short enough to ride this with Caleb.  He barely fits into the seat.

It's so cute to see Bridger and Caleb on the rides together.  It's just like Maddie and Chase.  They love being goofy on the rides.  We had a great day being today.  We love Dad so much and appreciate all that he does for us!!

Bridger's Baseball Season

All the neighborhood boys, even Bronco. Back row:  Brody, Noah, Bridger, Justin C, Isaac, Bronco. Front row:  Jack B, Logan, and Daxon.

Bridger had a great baseball season  with coach M.  He was on the Braves team again.  All of his friends from the neighborhood were on his team except for Bronco.  Bridger took some baseball classes over the winter and they really paid off.  His swing/hitting improved dramatically and he's more accurate at throwing the ball.  Coach mainly had him play pitcher, one of the bases or short stop. He loved going to his games.  They only lost two games and one of those was to the same team in the championship game.

Chase and Easton were great cheerleaders.

 Grandpa and Grandma R were sweet to make it to a game.

One of the Saturday games it was raining and they were still having to play in the rain.  So I stayed in the car with Tanner.  Grandpa and Grandma A came to a couple of games.

It was a crazy week because we spent the week finishing packing and then moving all of our stuff up to T.  The movers came Thursday and moved most of the boxes and all of the big stuff.  But we came back later that night to pack up the rest.  We moved everything else and cleaned on Friday.  Bridger had his championship game on Saturday so we got up early Saturday morning and came back to AF for the championship game.  When Bridger got out of the van, all of his friends shouted "Bridger's here!!!"and then they ran over and hugged him.  Bridger had the biggest smile on his face and said "Bridger's back!"  He's such a funny kid!  Unfortunately they played a really hard team and just couldn't pull off a win.  But it was still worth all the driving for Bridger to be there.

  What a great group of boys!!!  Go Braves!  Back row:  Coach B (Noah and Jack's dad), Coach M (Daxon's dad), and Coach B (Logan's dad). Middle row:  Logan, Bridger, Tyson, Brody, ?Carson's brother, ?.  Front row:  Justin, Jack, Noah, Daxon, Isaac and ?.

Saying Goodbye!

Saying goodbye to all of our friends was heart breaking.  We've gained so many friends over the last 12 years.  Sweet Kip threw us a neighborhood moving away party.  So many of our friends and neighbors came by to wish us good luck.  We will always look back at our time in AF with wonderful memories.  We went out to dinner to our favorite Thai restaurant one last time with Dan and Cathy.   There was one point in time where we were eating here once a week.  They've been such great friends!  We tease them that they'll have to drive up to watch the Black List with us on Monday nights.  We're sure going to miss them and all of the fun double dates.  Now who is Matt supposed to go see all those "dumb" movies with?  

On my last bike ride, I stopped and took a picture of the temple.  I'm going to miss having a temple 5 minutes away from us.  I love ridding and driving past it all the time.  We still sing "I love to see the temple" every time we drive past it.  (We started that when Chase was a baby)

So we hired some movers that a friend recommended.  When I opened the door and met them, I was disappointed.  I thought "this scrawny guy is going to move my big furniture?"  But we ended up being pleasantly surprised by them because they were amazing!  They did a great job moving all of our stuff, including our heavy stuff.  We rented a Uhaul  truck and then the movers put all the stuff in it, drove up to T, and then unloaded it at our new house.  They spent the whole day with us and were so delightful!  We couldn't have asked for better help.  They were very hard workers and positive.  They left a note for us at our old house when we came back late that night.  We had the movers come on Thursday, that way we had a couple of days to do the last minute cleaning once everything was cleared out. 

Mom, Dad, and Marilyn came down Thursday to help us with the big move.  I thought I was ready but there were a few cabinets in the kitchen that I forgot about so luckily Mom and Marilyn tackled those.  Dad and Matt stayed busy helping the movers.  Mom and Marilyn brought a bunch of food with them so we had plenty of yummy food to keep us fueled.  It was so nice to have their help with the kids too!  It was Mom, Dad, Marilyn, and Bridger's first time seeing our new house.  It's going to be a great rental house.  I'm so grateful for it!!!  There's plenty of space for us and a great backyard for the kids and Sophie.

Chase and Bridger were awesome helpers!!!  We moved boxes in as fast as we could because it was getting late.  Mom and Marilyn wiped out some cupboards for me.  Mom and Marilyn kept Tanner out of the way.

Saturday was our final day in our house.  Bridger had a game at 11:00 so we went to that and then came back and wrapped things up.  Ardell and Charlene came down to help us.  Charlene was wonderful to take Tanner so I could clean.  It seemed surreal to see the house so empty.  I have such a feeling of sadness.  I remember crying my eyes out when we left Minnesota and I was worried that I would do that again.  But I think I was too stressed out.  I was able to take a quick final walkthrough the house and say goodbye.  I had a quick little cry and then that was it.  Time to move on.  I've loved everything about this wonderful house!!  We have loved our neighbors!  It's been a fantastic neighborhood for our boys.  The schools been wonderful.  It would have made it a lot easier to move if we hated it here.  But I'm so grateful for the fond memories!!!

Luckily we were able to find our cat Lizzy hiding in a window well before we left.  I was worried about getting her up to T but it all worked out.  I careful put her in a carrier and off we went.  When we got to our new house I let her out.  She was looking around and then Sophie got out and immediately chased Lizzy away.  We were worried that we would never see her again.  On Sunday we still hadn't seen her so Bridger said he was fasting for Lizzy.  He's been praying every day that we'll find her.  Luckily a few days later, she came to me one night as I was calling for her.  I don't think she likes her new outdoor home.

We finally made it up here around 7:00 on Saturday night.  There were boxes everywhere!!!  But we managed to find the table and eat some pizza.  Unpacking was a little overwhelming but I focused on Tanner's room first so he could have a bed and then the kitchen.  After that I just tackled a room at a time.  Things were mostly unpacked by the time we left for the cabin a week later.  I was an unpacking machine!!!