Summer Wrap-up

We've had lots of events lined up to finish out the summer.

Ulcer

I decided to ride in the U(tah)L(ake)C(entennial)E(pic)R(ide) again this year. I didn't have time to train as much as I would have liked. I rode with my bishop (who is also my next door neighbor.) I made quite a bit better time this year, but I didn't have to deal with a blown tire this year. You can find official ride photos of me at this link. There are quite a few of them.

RS Pres

On one of our training rides, the bishop started asking me about Marsha. It wasn't outside of normal neighborly conversation. He started probing deeper. Finally I realized something was up and said, "If you are asking if I think Marsha would do well in a presidency of some sort, the answer is yes." He was quiet for a minute and then he said, "We are going to call her to be the Relief Society President." OK. She has done an outstanding job already.

Ordination

In preparation for attending BYU, we ordained Mark an Elder in the Melchizadek Priesthood. Grandpa and Grandma Lindsey were in town for a wedding (Stephen Dearden's.) Grandpa and Grandma Sorenson came down for the ordination. It was a great experience. Here is a picture of Mark with the grandparents right after the ordination. Congratulations Mark!

School Starting

Here are our FDOS pictures

Joseph starting 1st grade

 Joseph started a Chinese immersion program this year. He has a half day of class in English (reading, social studies, etc.) and a half day in Chinese (math, Chinese, etc.) We are excited about it. We will see how it goes. Ryan was disappointed that he couldn't take it as well. They are currently only offering it starting in first grade. They may expand to other grades in the future.

Ryan starting 3rd grade

 Ryan has tons of homework already. He does pretty well at it, but he'd rather be outside. He love, love, loves being outside.

Lauren starting 9th grade

Lauren is excited to be on the yearbook staff this year. She really loves that kind of thing.

Starting BYU

We drove Mark down to BYU the day after school started for the other kids. He is living in Carroll Hall (Old Heritage.) It is right across from campus. He's got 5 roommates. He was friends with one of them in HS. He says he gets along well with all of them.

Mark moving into his dorm

I think he's having the time of his life. He gets to study a lot and do stuff with friends all the time. We don't see him much less than when he was living at home, but it's strange that he's out of the house. Wasn't he just 5 years old?


Topaz Mountain

Ryan has been bugging me for months to go back to Topaz Mountain. You may remember our earlier blog post about going there. I finally caved and took him and Joseph. To get there, you drive to the middle of nowhere, turn left and drive for 40 more miles. You can actually find pretty nice pieces of topaz there. We found several pieces. Most are pretty small. The largest is probably about 1/2 inch long. Joseph had a decent time, but Ryan thought he had died and gone to heaven. He could have stayed there for the rest of the month.

Waiting out a rainstorm at Topaz mountain

Overhanging rocks provide a nice umbrella

Searching for topaz

We also went to a place not too far from topaz mountain and found a bunch of Apache Tears (small round pieces of obsidian.)

The most outstanding part of the trip (according to Ryan) was that we were able to catch a horned lizard to bring home. Ryan has had two lizards in the past, but both have died. He was ready for a replacement. Ryan is hilarious with his lizard names. He names them as if they were human. The last one was Trevor. This one is Gavin.

Gavin in his new home

 BTW: As is our Labor Day tradition, we went to Payson and picked raspberries and blackberries. Delicious.

It's been a fun summer.