What We've Been Up To...

In April, Brian attended Woodbadge...something he had been putting off doing for a couple years now. I would even go so far to say he was dreading going...haha. But he obediently (finally) signed up and headed down to the scout office to buy his (probably first ever) scout uniform. 

You can tell how excited he was as he mockingly posed for a picture for me. :

 But he came back...a FIRM BELIEVER!!!! He loved everything he learned and thinks EVERYONE needs to go through Woodbadge. What he loved most is that it was not necessarily about scouting, but it was about teaching those that work with the youth how to lead them and make positive impressions on their lives.The things he learned are applicable to all areas of life and he might even go so far as to say it was "life changing"! :)

This next story took a couple years off my life. One Sunday night, Nick went up to the neighbors to feed their huge snake...which he has done many times before. When he came back, he was sneaking into the house backwards while we were chatting with a girl Bryson brought over. I immediately thought he was sneaking an animal down to the basement so I yelled, "Stop! Turn around". When he turned around I just saw his shirt covered in blood. He had been BITTEN by the huge snake and bled profusely. Brian and I thought we needed to get him to Instacare immediately but Nick showed us that it had stopped bleeding and it was not a venomous snake so there was really nothing to be done at Instacare. I just know that I nearly had a heart attack when he turned around and I just saw blood!!!!

Hailey just wrapped up another season of basketball...this time she played both rec league and the AAU league back to back...made for some busy weeks!

Bryson had surgery on his jaw bone. This was originally a big scare for us because we were basically told to be prepared for his bone biopsy to be cancerous. Luckily, both tests came back benign but he did have a lot of fibrous cells in his bone so they had to go in and remove them. He was pretty funny coming out of the anesthesia! :)

 We also had a kitten adopt us for a couple days. Nick went out in the backyard and heard some very loud "meowing" and found this cute little kitten staring up at him. (I like kittens but I do not like cats.) He of course, brought it to the back door and showed me that it was practically skin and bones so of course I had to feed it...tuna and milk. :) She ate like she hadn't eaten in days!!! We knocked on a lot of doors trying to find the owner but no one claimed it and I could tell the kids were getting more and more attached. AAAAHHHHHHH The bad thing is that even Brian and I were thinking this kitty was adorable...we just had to keep reminding ourselves that it would grow up to be a cat! :)

 After making it a home in our puppy kennel out on the back porch and actually breaking down and buying  a few cans of kitty food, and debating over and over again what to do with it...........it ran away. I guess that takes care of that.

I have an assignment on the stake young women's camp committee so we headed up to the camp sites a couple Saturdays ago in the pouring rain & hail to check out the cabins, kitchens, etc...Yes, cabins & kitchens...it's definitely not the camping we've done in the past with the girls...it was awesome! :). It was nice though to get up in the mountains and see these deer wandering right next to us...very cool!

 With it being the last few weeks of school we've been busy attending all the end of the year events. Below is Hailey getting super excited to play the triangle for one of the songs in the band concert. :)

Nick went over to a friends house a couple weeks ago and came home with a pillowcase full of 8 tiny baby birds that had fallen out of a nest and been abandoned. So he researched what he could feed them and put it in a syringe to squirt into their mouths. They ate like champs. But he found out that sadly you have to feed them about every 30 minutes and it is nearly impossible to raise birds this little without their mama. By the next day, only 2 were still alive and they both died that following night. He tried!

 I had to take this picture of my daughter who was completely bald until she was about 2 years old and now has this gorgeous head of hair!!!! I know it's against the commandments, but I envy her hair. :)

 Hailey wrapped up her first year doing track with making Alpine Days in the shotput. Way to go girl!

 We received a letter in the mail last week saying that Nick was going to receive an award at 9th Grade Honors Night. It was a neat night and he received a certificate for High Honors for having a 4.0 grade point average and was given the Outstanding Student award from his Foods Teacher, Mrs. Case.

 I thought it was neat that they read a short note to each student from the teacher who selected them with the reasons why they were selected.

 Nick's friend Masey was selected as Outstanding Student from her Drama Teacher.

 His friend Nick also received a certificate for High Honors for also having a 4.0 grade point average.

 I think just about every one of Nick's friends earned an award on this night...Jacob receiving a High Honors certificate, Nathan receiving the same certificate, plus $100 scholarship for his Pioneering Spirit Essay. I absolutely love that Nick has surrounded himself with such amazing friends!!!

 This is Mrs. Case, the teacher that selected Nick for the award.

 ...and here's where my "Mother of Year" award should come in...Nick's biology teacher asked him to bring in his snake, his frog and live mice for them to eat for pet day. So guess who gets to transport that to the school...MOM! Nick, being the awesome kid that he is, had everything put in containers inside a bin so all I had to do is pick up the bin and put it in the car. Then I texted him when I got there and he came out and got it. I was freaked out all the way over though that one of those creatures was going to get loose in my car!!!!! I'm still having nightmares about that!!!! But they were a big hit and Nick was THRILLED to show them off!

 Unfortunately the frog wouldn't eat with all the commotion around him but the snake did!

 And last but not least, Bryson headed up for more Marine training which he was very excited about...NOT! He hates this uniform but I think he's so handsome in his Marine gear!!!!! :)