Coloring Eggs!!!

It is that time of year again!!!  Yes, the time when we color Easter Eggs with one of our favorite families!  We love doing this every year with the Albrights!  It is a ton of fun.  Our eggs turned out pretty darn good!  We have some mad skills when it comes to coloring eggs!  When we were done the teenagers hide candy filled eggs for the kids.  Now anyone that knows Austin and Dallin knows those eggs were hid very well.  Too well!  Everyone had fun today!!

First 10 - Mile Hike By Don

 

Now that Ian is "officially" a member of the Boy Scouts of America, we have been working hard since his birthday in December to start earning merit badges. When I think about Boy Scouts of America my mind immediately thinks about camping and hiking. One of the merit badges that I believe every Boy Scout should earn is the hiking merit badge.....so Ian and I decided to work on this one together. In order for a Boy Scout to earn this merit badge they must complete five 10-mile hikes and one 20-mile hike along with a number of other requirements. I love this merit badge because it obviously cannot be earned quickly (it usually takes 2-3 years to complete) and it allows me, as a father, to spend precious time with my Boy Scout sons. Ian and I decided to make our first 10-mile hike relatively simple by hiking close to our home and not trying a physically difficult trail. We hiked near our home at Red Rock Canyon on a trail called the White Mountain Loop.

Here is Ian posing for the famous picture that every hiker MUST have....the beginning of the hike. Behind him is White Mountain. The trail looped around the base of entire mountain with us ending up at the same place that we started.

                       Ian shows off his "bouldering" skills by climbing this huge boulder along the trail.

                                       Time for a brief break at the Willow Springs picnic area.

 In order for Ian to get a full 10-mile hike, we had to add additional "side trails". This was a 2-mile "side" trail that took us to Le Madre Springs (Spanish for the mother). As you can see from the next three pictures, there is water in the desert and wherever there is water there is lots of vegetation.

At this point, Ian and I have completed half of the loop and we are on the back side of White Mountain......I prefer this side because the rock formations are much more interesting to look at.

                                                      Hiking through the hidden forest.

 

Ian and I decided to stop and eat lunch of these really strange rock formations. We were laughing so hard because people were hiking on the trail below us and they had no idea we were eating lunch above them.

The last two miles of the trail as we descend towards the parking lot where we started. It took us a total of 6 hours to complete the entire hike. I was very proud of Ian....he did a great job. I look forward to many more hikes with him over the next few years as we complete this merit badge.

Flag Football Update!

It was another wonderful day for flag football.  Don and Austin had to go to St. George for rugby, so I was on my own for football and dance.  I didn't mind at all, it was so great to get out of the house!  Once again, Ian's team rocked it!  They won!!!  They are playing so good.  Ian made some great plays.  It is funny to hear the parents of the other team talk about us.  You hear, "Oh they are the best in the league!", or "This team has played together forever, that's why they are so good!".  I am not used to hearing those things about our little team.  They did do wonderful.  Ian played against one of his friends, so at the end of the game, they took a picture together.

Math Competition!

Ian was asked to join his friends and compete in a math competition.  We were kind of surprise he wanted to do this since he got a "C" in math this trimester!  Whatever!  He was excited to spend time with his friends!  Their team name was, "Math J.I.M."  J.I.M. represents the first letters of their first names.  I wasn't able to go and see this competition.  I had chemo and Don wouldn't let me go.  Don said it was kind of, well, quiet.  We don't know how the boys did yet.  I am waiting to hear.  At first I wasn't going to include all of these pictures, but I love the looks on the boys faces!  It just reminds me of them and how they interact with each other! 

Rugby Update!

This week Austin played rugby here in Las Vegas.  It was awesome to get a chance to see him play.  His team lost, but it was just fun to watch him.  He gets a huge smile on his face when he plays!  He loves it, and we were so lucky to watch him!