Presten Goes to New York!

Presten is going to New York for the GWC Indoor Track and Field Championships! It will be bitter cold there this weekend so thank goodness it is all indoors.
He is competing in the Long Jump, Triple Jump and maybe High Jump!
Go Presten..... We love ya!

Start of a Great Year!

Tia was teasing me about not keeping up with my blog, .... I'll show her! :) I'll blog about the most exciting month EVER! (warning: this is lengthy... but soooo worth reading!)

A year ago I planned a girl friend getaway with my college buddy Loni. We set aside four days at a nice hotel in SLC to scrapbook and visit as late (or early) as we wanted. This was all going to begin on Thursday Feb. 3rd.

Everything was going fine until Wednesday morning we get a call from our friend at the Post Office. He said... "hey, I think there is something down here that you guys might be waiting for. Would you like to come get it?" I was shocked! I thought that Presten had his mission call sent to his college apt. So... Rick went to pick it up and there it sat on the shelf... waiting for Presten to find his way home to open it. Unfortunately a whole big mess was about to begin....

The plan was that I would miss my first day with Loni, go get Presten and bring him home to open his call on Thursday night, then I would take him back early Friday and join up with Loni. Then Rick called and said... " I thought I would be back from this trip to California by Thurs. night, but it's looking like it won't be until Friday. Just go ahead and open the call without me. Just call me." Then half an hour later Presten called and said... " Mom I can't come home on Thurs. cuz I have a lab early Fri. morning. Can you just get me Friday afternoon?" I tried to be positive and happy as I told him that I would be leaving my getaway, Naomi wouldn't be there, and Dad wouldn't be home til late. Needless to say... Presten was exasperated. He finally gave up trying to find a solution and hung up frustrated. I was so sad for him. I was trying to make it all work out so that the family could be together for him to open his call, but these were some big hoops to jump through. I called him back and told him not to worry about anything... I would be there to pick him up on Friday afternoon when he got out of class.

So here's the run down of my "four day getaway-missioncall opening-volleyball tourney-husband traveling-daughter turning 16-and a surprise on the end" weekend!


Left first thing Thursday... drove to north side of state... scrapbooked and visited until 2:30 a.m.... Friday...scrapbooked and visited until 1:00 p.m. drove to Presten's... then drove to south side of state... collapsed on the couch while everyone went to the basketball game... smiled big and hugged my son after he announced he was called to serve in the Paraguay, Asuncion mission... stayed up late talking with family... Saturday...got up at 4 a.m. and drove to north side of state...Presten back to school, and Naomi to her volleyball tourney... returned to my girlfriend getaway and scrapbooked and visited until 2:30 a.m... Sunday... got up took a long bath... packed up my ginormous suitcase of supplies... drove to the south side of the state... got home in time for the superbowl... at half time Tia and Ben announced that I was going to be a grandma!!!!!!... got the best night sleep in four days... Monday...took my youngest daughter at 7 a.m. to get her drivers license cuz she turned 16 that day!!! Whew... what a weekend... I can't stop smiling!!!!

May 2010... part 5

Presten received General Sterling Scholar for HHS!



Presten was the Senior Class President and conducted the graduation ceremony. The funniest moment came right after his singing group (The Rising Sons) sang an awesome arrangement of "Go the Distance". Presten sings this amazingly high note at the very end. Right after that he had to announce the next speaker... he started to speak and his voice was still in falsetto mode, he then cleared his throat and spoke in a more bass/baritone range. Everyone laughed!!!
He was a highly decorated graduate and we are so happy and excited for him. He is going to do great things in the future.


Presten is presented one of the National Elks Most Valuable Student Scholarships. It was a great evening. The Elks Club really gave out some amazing scholarships and awards to students!

May 2010... part 4

Presten and his teammates take the
STATE TITLE in Track!!!!
This is Presten's second consecutive year
with a title!
He performed well individually also
earning 2nd in the Long Jump.

Presten's 4x100 relay team set
a NEW SCHOOL RECORD!!

Tia and Ben have "his & hers" fishing poles!

Tia was thrilled to show off the flashing lights

as she reels in her catch!!!

May 2010... part 3

We spent Memorial Day at the Ranch!

Naomi practiced up on her bow skills!

She is really getting good!

Presten had fun target shooting with the 22 single shot.

He still has good skills!

Austen showed us his amazing skills by hitting

the pop can targets... 12 times in a row!

Tia and Naomi passed time playing cards.

Why does Tia have a spoon in her mouth?

Rick took some of us clear out to the knoll

to check on his wind monitor. He is really

excited about the possibilities of having a

wind generator someday.

(a side note: Naomi rode the 4 wheeler out

there, and Austen rode the motorcycle... that

was no small feat considering it is mostly sand

the whole way. :)

May 2010... part 2

Ashli and Josh moved to Logan. It was a fast and furious weekend of packing, traveling and unpacking. Their house is so cute and fun. They are so happy and excited for great adventures!!


Austen was the lone bass player in the Spring orchestra concert. He really enjoys playing the string bass and the electric bass!

Let's try a new format here...May 2010 recap part 1

As a freshman, Naomi really did well this year. She enjoyed running the 2 mile. Ugh... who could enjoy running that far? :) She would beat her own record nearly everytime she ran. She has such tenacity and grit and perseverance. She also wanted to throw the javelin. This proved to be a bit more challenging only because there were a lot of girls trying to practice throwing and only 2 javelins to use. By the time she would return from her long distance running and training they had locked up the equipment and she wasn't able to practice much. That didn't deter her. She would throw when she could. Gradually through the season she was improving and doing well in the meets. At region she was unexpectedly asked to throw for Varsity. She did great and ended up coming in 6th overall in region.