Dark Canyon Lake

S'more making!

Fishing!  No fish this trip...apparently we needed worms or rainbow cheese!

Hiking and being crazy!

We love playing in the mountains.  There is just something special about fishing, hiking and cooking s'mores in God's beautiful creations.  Being in the mountains is one of my favorite childhood memories....I hope it will be for my kids, too!

We LOVE missionaries

Okay, so I am a little excited about sending out 2 missionaries to serve the Lord. Don't we look cute in the fun missionary tees that my adorable sister found for us? MM stands for missionary mom and MD stands for missionary dad. I love these pictures. Athena is in the MTC and Derek leaves for the MTC on Sept 11. I can't believe that the time is here. I still think of these two as 4 and 2 years old. How can they be 21 and 19? Anyway, I am so proud of these two!

We love to see the temple

Derek, Athena, Wynette, Whytney, Jameson and Arthur on the Shuttle bus.

Everyone but Tierra at the Brigham City Temple.

Aaron and Jimmy on the shuttle bus to the temple.

I hate being sick!

This is going to be a wimpy post...so if you continue to read....you do so at your own risk! I HATE BEING SICK! Wow! Already I feel better. Derek, Aaron and I all tested positive for Strep Throat. Yuck! I am being a baby about it too! I hurt, I can't get comfortable, reading isn't appealing, eating isn't appealing, sleeping isn't appealing...so what else can I do but blog! (I can't even remember if I am spelling appealing right.) My sister had Strep over thanksgiving weekend and she was so pleasant, cute and fun (and let me and mom win at cards!). I just want to hit anything that comes close to me. Derek has been playing the piano and eating and kicking the soccer ball and driving me crazy! Aaron has been laying on the couch watching movies. And I have been moaning and whining and driving everyone else crazy. Trina even called to cheer me up and I whined at her (poor dear)! Okay----the rant is over. Being sick has helped me to appreciate my healthy body. I know I will feel better soon and this will make me a better person?!?!?!?!

Derek took 5th!

I can't help but be proud. I know it is silly and probably vain, too--but I love it when my kids excell! This is Derek's first year at cross country (xc). He is a junior and decided to run to get in shape for soccer. Yes, this is also the reason that Derek plays basketball: to get in shape for soccer. Is there a theme here? My son is always getting in shape for soccer. (Yes, we do eat, sleep, drink, and think soccer year round at the Hawks home!) So, cross country isn't a sport that he has taken very seriously. Yes, he works hard during practice, but it is not his passion. Today was region and he took 5th overall. He placed 1st for the team. The boy's team was able to qualify for state. (we took 2nd at region, whew!) Derek paced himself during the race and SPRINTED for the finish line. I must admit, my eyes got a little sweaty! I love it when he digs down deep and finishes strong. It makes my heart leap! I am struggling with the pictures, so I will try again later when I am not tempted to use a baseball bat on this computer. ;)

Because I like to be toot!

Me: "Whytney, why are you so cute?"

Whytney: "because I like to be toot!"

Three is such a fun age. Everything she does is new and exciting and cute! I can't wait to see what she'll do or say next. I wish that I could just store all these moments and bring them out on bad days 10 years from now. Well, for now, I will just cherish these moments because she is just so cute!

Staples??

So this post is about Athena, my college student. (where did the time go?) Several weeks ago, I said to her, "Athena, Grandma Secrest wants to get you some staples to take to college." Take a minute and think what this statement means to you....... Athena had a strange look on her face and said "staples? Why would grandma want to by me staples?" I then described that staples were necessary items to fill a food pantry with, you know, flour, sugar, salt, pepper, etc. She had thought that grandma wanted to get her staples for a stapler! Wierd? Or maybe take her to the store Staples. I wanted to see if this was just an Athena thing or if it was generational. So I asked her friend Shea. Shea had a blank look instead of a confused look, but didn't know the phrase either. Athena explained the concept and he said "oh". It is a silly thing, but this account has been fun to share. I truly believe that it is the small things that bring us joy. "staples?"