Well, so much so the calm. Joel was supposed to bring our kids plus Jan and the Tuacahn kids back to Tuacahn by 2am. The last time we texted he said he'd wake me up when he got home. When my biological clock went off at 4:45, like it does everyday, I was shocked to see that he wasn't asleep in bed beside me. I immediately texted him in hopes that he'd reply. He did. The bus had broken down in Beaver and they were waiting for the other bus driver (Roger) to bring the old yellow bus and come rescue them. They had been sitting on the side of the road for about an hour trying to figure out why the bus kept over heating. Joel would wait for the bus to cool down and then would start it up and get 5 miles before it would overheat again. Because it was the middle of the night and Tuacahn didn't have a flashlight on board Joel had a hard time seeing what was wrong with the bus. Kids with smart phones took turns in the freezing night air to come stand by Joel and shine their flashlight app on the engine to see what the problem was. It was a fan. It had stopped working and just when Joel thought he could limp off the side of the freeway the fan started throwing pieces of metal at him. They were stuck. That bus wasn't going anywhere without a tow truck carrying it. So a call to the police station was made and in minutes a highway patrol officer was there to help transport 3 kids at a time into town to a nearby Flying J that was open all night. Emily thought it was awesome! She got to sit in the front of the patrol car while Sophie and Jan sat in the "cage".
Joel had been talking to Roger since the bus overheated the first time so he knew they where having problems. By the time I talked to Joel, Roger was about a half an hour away from Beaver. By the time he got there and they unloaded the broken down, awesome, tour bus and reloaded the old, reliable, yellow bus it was close to 6am. They had boarded the bus in Provo at 10pm. They got back to Tuacahn around 8am! A 3 and a half hour bus trip took 10 hours! Joel had enough time to shower, shave, and eat something before his meetings. Then church started at 11 and he was home at 5pm. He ate and crashed. I had threatened the little boys lives if they made a peep while Joel was asleep.
Poor Jan through all of this. Left Provo on a high note and ended up having to rush home shower, change, and go do sharing time from 10 to noon. Then she crashed too. She now has pneumonia. She was sick before she left and hours upon hours in the freezing Beaver night air took hold. She is getting an antibiotic today that will hopefully kick this thing in the butt! I am eternally grateful that everyone is safe. That the bus didn't crash and that everyone had a good attitude about it. I don't even want to think of how bad it could have been.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Saturday, January 28, 2012
The quiet before the storm.
Today I sit alone in my office because Joel took Josh and Sophie up north with the Tuacahn kids and Jan to a competition. Well, the Tuacahn kids had a competition, my kids - and George and Emily - went up on the bus so Paula could pick them up so they could hang out with cousins for a couple days. Joel is the BUS DRIVER! He's the sexiest bus driver I've ever seen. This time he took the tour bus not the little yellow school bus. This Tour Bus is HUGE. Each seat has it's own TV and there's no need to stop for a potty break because there's one on the bus. Well, I guess Joel would have to stop if he needed a potty break but you get the idea. It seats 40 people and Jan only had 18 kids going so there was plenty of room for the 4 little kids to go with them. Joel gets to stay in the hotel in his own quiet little room and get some well needed sleep and peace. I haven't even texted him in fear of waking him up. The competition will get over around 10pm tonight and then Joel will drive them all back. A quick trip but fun for everyone.
Where are my other 3 kids you wonder? Well, Shayne had the Best Of EFY this morning and was up early and left early. She got home at 12:30 in time to change, eat and run to work. Ben and David are over to the Scott's house playing. It's their 2nd home. So here I sit with nothing to do. Everything is clean thanks to Shayne's date with BLAINE last night that I had to cook for. Hehehehe! (That's a future post.) And we have nothing on the schedule. I woke up, went to Jan's to let the dog's out and then came back home and went to bed. It's now 1:00 and when I look at my calendar that is usually filled with things I need to do for the upcoming week I see nothing. BLANK. Weird! Not a single basketball game, youth activity or class of any kind. UNTIL... Friday. Friday morning is the day. We leave at 8am to head up to BYU to chaperone our LAST state swim meet with Shayne. Yes I start to cry every time I think about it. So I try not to but this calm, nothing to do-ness (a new word) is leaving me with lots of time to sit and think and cry. Not good. I got on Pinterest today and that helped a little to take my mind off swimming and on Valentine's Day and the fun things I can do. It worked for awhile until someone posted a swimming picture. Danggit!
We love to Chaperone. I LOVE those kids. I love that they love each other and are one big happy family. Last year for state we gave them all pillows with pillow cases I made for them with their names, panther and State Swim 2011 ironed onto them. I stood at the door of the bus and made sure they had it before they got on so they could use it. Then during the 3 days I gave them each a pack of Uno cards with a note that said, "You're Numero UNO!" Get it? I think I'm so funny. I'm the only one that thinks that but those kids used those cards and had an Uno tournament while we were there! We also had lanyards made that had paw prints and said PINE VIEW STATE SWIM TEAM on them. The kids, in order to get into the pool have to show their credentials which are 2 little pieces of paper credit card sized. Perfect to fit in one of those badge holders that clips on the end of a ...LANYARD. It also kept them dry which was very important. The weekend was awesome and they swam their hearts out. We were so proud of them giving up all sugary goodness for the last couple of months so as the got on the bus to head back home we gave them a Pine View water bottle that was chucked full of chocolaty goodness. The problem was that the bus driver had the heat up so high on the bus that most of it melted. Note to self - No Chocolate.
This year we have made shirts that say, "I'm Sexy and I Know It!" on them. It's been a running joke with the Pine View team this year because at the first meet - Greg Fernley - Mitchel heard that song and started to strip. He had on 14 layers of clothes because it was freezing. It was so funny. Let me clarify that I do not condone stripping and for me to say that I watched a teenager strip is probably very inappropriate but I have seen these kids in Speedo's for the last 4 years and stripping is what they do before every race. Maybe not to "I'm Sexy and I Know It" but you have to know Mitchel. He is the young Jim Carrey when Jim was funny and in his Ace Ventura days. I love that kid.
We also got them little stuffed Black Panthers. They aren't good for anything but they will be a reminder of the good old days of swimming. We also got them little personal coolers that they can fill with Gatorade, granola bars, apples and whatever they will need during the meets. Getting the coolers has been a wild goose chase. Not for me but for my wonderful Dad. Let me explain... Last May I saw these little coolers at Walmart for $5.88 and thought that they'd be perfect for a swimming gift. Well, that was right before Shayne's meningitis scare and truth be told I had forgotten all about the little coolers until now. So I went to 2 different Walmart's and they only had them in blue or red. I needed BLACK. So I called the Walmart in American Fork just to see what they had knowing Joel was taking the bus this weekend and hoping I'd get lucky. Well guess what? They had 8 of them!!!! It's was a sign that I needed to do these. But I needed 13 total. I would settle for 12 and Shayne would have to miss out but I still needed more. So I called the Lindon Walmart. They had 1. Orem had 3! 12! YEAH!!! Now all I had to do is get my loving parents to use their gas and time and go round them all up and take them to Joel. My parents are the BEST I tell you. The BEST! When Joel gets home with them Shayne and I are going to paint a paw print on them and put each swimmers name on the paw print. Awwwe. It'll be fun. Plus I have nothing better to do this week. My calendar is empty. Too bad it won't keep my mind off of swimming.
Where are my other 3 kids you wonder? Well, Shayne had the Best Of EFY this morning and was up early and left early. She got home at 12:30 in time to change, eat and run to work. Ben and David are over to the Scott's house playing. It's their 2nd home. So here I sit with nothing to do. Everything is clean thanks to Shayne's date with BLAINE last night that I had to cook for. Hehehehe! (That's a future post.) And we have nothing on the schedule. I woke up, went to Jan's to let the dog's out and then came back home and went to bed. It's now 1:00 and when I look at my calendar that is usually filled with things I need to do for the upcoming week I see nothing. BLANK. Weird! Not a single basketball game, youth activity or class of any kind. UNTIL... Friday. Friday morning is the day. We leave at 8am to head up to BYU to chaperone our LAST state swim meet with Shayne. Yes I start to cry every time I think about it. So I try not to but this calm, nothing to do-ness (a new word) is leaving me with lots of time to sit and think and cry. Not good. I got on Pinterest today and that helped a little to take my mind off swimming and on Valentine's Day and the fun things I can do. It worked for awhile until someone posted a swimming picture. Danggit!
We love to Chaperone. I LOVE those kids. I love that they love each other and are one big happy family. Last year for state we gave them all pillows with pillow cases I made for them with their names, panther and State Swim 2011 ironed onto them. I stood at the door of the bus and made sure they had it before they got on so they could use it. Then during the 3 days I gave them each a pack of Uno cards with a note that said, "You're Numero UNO!" Get it? I think I'm so funny. I'm the only one that thinks that but those kids used those cards and had an Uno tournament while we were there! We also had lanyards made that had paw prints and said PINE VIEW STATE SWIM TEAM on them. The kids, in order to get into the pool have to show their credentials which are 2 little pieces of paper credit card sized. Perfect to fit in one of those badge holders that clips on the end of a ...LANYARD. It also kept them dry which was very important. The weekend was awesome and they swam their hearts out. We were so proud of them giving up all sugary goodness for the last couple of months so as the got on the bus to head back home we gave them a Pine View water bottle that was chucked full of chocolaty goodness. The problem was that the bus driver had the heat up so high on the bus that most of it melted. Note to self - No Chocolate.
This year we have made shirts that say, "I'm Sexy and I Know It!" on them. It's been a running joke with the Pine View team this year because at the first meet - Greg Fernley - Mitchel heard that song and started to strip. He had on 14 layers of clothes because it was freezing. It was so funny. Let me clarify that I do not condone stripping and for me to say that I watched a teenager strip is probably very inappropriate but I have seen these kids in Speedo's for the last 4 years and stripping is what they do before every race. Maybe not to "I'm Sexy and I Know It" but you have to know Mitchel. He is the young Jim Carrey when Jim was funny and in his Ace Ventura days. I love that kid.
We also got them little stuffed Black Panthers. They aren't good for anything but they will be a reminder of the good old days of swimming. We also got them little personal coolers that they can fill with Gatorade, granola bars, apples and whatever they will need during the meets. Getting the coolers has been a wild goose chase. Not for me but for my wonderful Dad. Let me explain... Last May I saw these little coolers at Walmart for $5.88 and thought that they'd be perfect for a swimming gift. Well, that was right before Shayne's meningitis scare and truth be told I had forgotten all about the little coolers until now. So I went to 2 different Walmart's and they only had them in blue or red. I needed BLACK. So I called the Walmart in American Fork just to see what they had knowing Joel was taking the bus this weekend and hoping I'd get lucky. Well guess what? They had 8 of them!!!! It's was a sign that I needed to do these. But I needed 13 total. I would settle for 12 and Shayne would have to miss out but I still needed more. So I called the Lindon Walmart. They had 1. Orem had 3! 12! YEAH!!! Now all I had to do is get my loving parents to use their gas and time and go round them all up and take them to Joel. My parents are the BEST I tell you. The BEST! When Joel gets home with them Shayne and I are going to paint a paw print on them and put each swimmers name on the paw print. Awwwe. It'll be fun. Plus I have nothing better to do this week. My calendar is empty. Too bad it won't keep my mind off of swimming.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Shayne's last Jr. Prom!!!
Oh man! Mitchell Hutchings. You are a ray of Sunshine on a dark day!
Mitchel is by far one of the cutest kids I know. Always smiling, making everyone laugh and the perfect date because there is no tension or even a quiet awkward moment, just fun. We've know Mitchel for a couple years now because he is an incredible swimmer. He asked Shayne to Prom but putting a sign in her room that said, "I'd be a dummy to not ask you to Jr. Prom." Then he dumped 3 huge bags of DumDum Suckers all over the room. He had written his name inside 2 of the sucker wrappers and Shayne had a hard time finding them because Josh hid them from her and made her squirm.
This is the hair Do we went with because #1 she had just gotten out of the shower from getting done with Region #2 It was fast and #3 it's fun. We call it the Messy Worm.
This is Mitchel trying to figure out a wrist corsage. FYI Shayne's dress was only $25 at DEB in the mall! It only had the right strap and was 6 inches to long so my mom and niece whacked it off and made another strap.
Since they both won 1st place at state in their races and since a blue ribbon matched the blue dress, vest and bow tie, they had to accessorize with their medals. They said that everyone at the Dance was super excited for them and thought it was awesome.
Then they went to Mitchels house for pictures. His Dad too about 300 pictures of all the kids.
These were the best ones of Shayne and Mitchel. If you scroll down fast it looks really funny.
The day was dark and rainy but luckily it rained during the swim meet in the day and didn't get the girls beautiful dresses wet that night.
They had a great time and had so much fun. Exactly what Prom should be!
Mitchel is by far one of the cutest kids I know. Always smiling, making everyone laugh and the perfect date because there is no tension or even a quiet awkward moment, just fun. We've know Mitchel for a couple years now because he is an incredible swimmer. He asked Shayne to Prom but putting a sign in her room that said, "I'd be a dummy to not ask you to Jr. Prom." Then he dumped 3 huge bags of DumDum Suckers all over the room. He had written his name inside 2 of the sucker wrappers and Shayne had a hard time finding them because Josh hid them from her and made her squirm.
This is the hair Do we went with because #1 she had just gotten out of the shower from getting done with Region #2 It was fast and #3 it's fun. We call it the Messy Worm.
This is Mitchel trying to figure out a wrist corsage. FYI Shayne's dress was only $25 at DEB in the mall! It only had the right strap and was 6 inches to long so my mom and niece whacked it off and made another strap.
Since they both won 1st place at state in their races and since a blue ribbon matched the blue dress, vest and bow tie, they had to accessorize with their medals. They said that everyone at the Dance was super excited for them and thought it was awesome.
Then they went to Mitchels house for pictures. His Dad too about 300 pictures of all the kids.
These were the best ones of Shayne and Mitchel. If you scroll down fast it looks really funny.
The day was dark and rainy but luckily it rained during the swim meet in the day and didn't get the girls beautiful dresses wet that night.
They had a great time and had so much fun. Exactly what Prom should be!
REGION!!!
Region Swim was a blast! The team did an amazing job and Shayne got a best time in both her 50 free, where she got 1st place, and her 100 Backstroke, where she placed 3rd.
The rest of this post is a picture diary for Shayne to remember her swim family.
Here is our boys and Desert Hills boys relay teams who tied for 1st place and a picture of her BFF Kyson.
This is Coach Christian. We love him! And this was supposed to be a team picture but the rest of the girls went to be girly and change into real clothes and put on makeup while Shayne continued to be herself and join in the love.
Here is our dear friend and Head Coach Dani and Coach Shawn.
Here is our Favorite, Coach Inti. He is a current soldier and has been over to Afghanistan 3 different times. We love him and all he does for us and this country. The next picture is Shayne with all the coaches talking about her race.
This is Chase. He's another Big Brother like Eric. We love him too. He came just to support and cheer for Shayne. Just like family does. And the other is the team all lined up to hear the results of the Meet. Desert Hills boys and girls won over all. Our boys took 3rd and our girls didn't take last! So everyone was happy.
This is Shayne, Courtney and Tim leading the team, after the celebratory jump in the pool, in their team cheer. And one last picture of Shayne and Courtney together.
Here is Nick and Tim
And Shayne's little sister Alex. Even though Alex is only a Jr. this was her last year swimming because she is going to Europe for her Sr. year. We will miss her terribly but know that she will have an amazing experience over there.
I want to thank everyone who has ever helped us out with our efforts to help the swimmers of PINE VIEW HIGH SCHOOL. Your donation of your time and money has greatly affected the lives of these amazing kids and in return they have greatly affected my and my family's lives. We LOVE you all!
The rest of this post is a picture diary for Shayne to remember her swim family.
Here is our boys and Desert Hills boys relay teams who tied for 1st place and a picture of her BFF Kyson.
This is Coach Christian. We love him! And this was supposed to be a team picture but the rest of the girls went to be girly and change into real clothes and put on makeup while Shayne continued to be herself and join in the love.
Here is our dear friend and Head Coach Dani and Coach Shawn.
Here is our Favorite, Coach Inti. He is a current soldier and has been over to Afghanistan 3 different times. We love him and all he does for us and this country. The next picture is Shayne with all the coaches talking about her race.
This is Chase. He's another Big Brother like Eric. We love him too. He came just to support and cheer for Shayne. Just like family does. And the other is the team all lined up to hear the results of the Meet. Desert Hills boys and girls won over all. Our boys took 3rd and our girls didn't take last! So everyone was happy.
This is Shayne, Courtney and Tim leading the team, after the celebratory jump in the pool, in their team cheer. And one last picture of Shayne and Courtney together.
Here is Nick and Tim
And Shayne's little sister Alex. Even though Alex is only a Jr. this was her last year swimming because she is going to Europe for her Sr. year. We will miss her terribly but know that she will have an amazing experience over there.
I want to thank everyone who has ever helped us out with our efforts to help the swimmers of PINE VIEW HIGH SCHOOL. Your donation of your time and money has greatly affected the lives of these amazing kids and in return they have greatly affected my and my family's lives. We LOVE you all!
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
MLK Day in Zion
Every Martin Luther King Day weekend the Utah National Parks wave all fees and let you come for free. So every year we take advantage of it. Joel and Shayne had to work so it was just me and the younger 4. We went up to Weeping Rock first and the parking lot was full so we expected a lot of people there since it was a short easy hike. But, we were surprised to see that not a soul was there. They had all gone the opposite way on the longer hike. I was sad to see that Weeping Rock was only Crying Rock. It was the driest it's ever been.
This is a picture from the bridge and Ben in the stream underneath.
The rest of these were from our hike up to the Emerald Pools. If you've never been then you should. It is 3 different pools and and usually a waterfall into each one.
The day was overcast and cold but it wasn't windy so it was bearable. It made for dark pictures but it was a great hike. No one fought, screamed or even complained. It was a MIRACLE! I think we need to buy a year pass so we can go more often.
This is a picture from the bridge and Ben in the stream underneath.
The rest of these were from our hike up to the Emerald Pools. If you've never been then you should. It is 3 different pools and and usually a waterfall into each one.
The day was overcast and cold but it wasn't windy so it was bearable. It made for dark pictures but it was a great hike. No one fought, screamed or even complained. It was a MIRACLE! I think we need to buy a year pass so we can go more often.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)