More 1st day of School(s)...

Derrek started his SENIOR year this last Monday. I cannot believe I have a Senior!

This is a picture of him on his first day of school for his Senior year (Okay...Derrek...you need your hair cut! Of course Alec and Calvin said it looked awesome)! He knew I wanted a picture and was so sweet to remember! I hate not being there to capture pictures...but he's taking care of me and what I'm missing. He has a good schedule this year. He is really excited about Graphic Arts 2, which takes up two block hours. It is probably his favorite class. He is also taking Chemistry, Language Arts, US History, and Lifetime Activities...whatever that is. I was looking at his classes and noticed that he already has 150% in his Language Arts class. Calvin said "over-achiever". Calvin's one to talk, because he tries to do the same thing (Derrek's a good example). Derrek was thinking of changing some of his classes around, but decided to keep what he has.

Now to the best news...SCOTT GOT INTO THE MORTUARY SCIENCE PROGRAM!!!! We FINALLY got the official letter on Tuesday, but found out Monday because he bugged them again. The crazy thing is, school starts tomorrow and the only information they gave him for it was to just show up on Monday...not any specific place or anything...just show up to the school. Luckily, it's a program in it's own building out in the middle of nowhere (they are working with the dead...), so it shouldn't be too long tomorrow until he figures out what is going on. It seriously is a miracle that we have gotten this far, especially considering the lack of communication this school has "provided". We are just glad he is in and on his way.

The only bad thing is that he will now have his hours at work cut to half day and I seriously don't know how it's all going to work out financially (it's already ridiculous at $10/hour.). To be honest, I can't even think about it because I get so stressed out I feel I am going to have a mental breakdown...and sometimes there are days that I do. It's extremely frustrating knowing that I am perfectly capable to work and can't find a job or as Aunt Dar said "the right job will find you". There was a talk today in church, I know it was for me because as soon as she started I knew and then there were things she said that literally had me in tears...it was about patience and how it isn't about sitting back and doing nothing (which is what I have been feeling like doing because the past couple of days have felt that I can't do this anymore), but it is actively going about and having hope and faith...UGH! I know this and in the past have truly lived and believed it, but this time has tested my patience more than I feel I should have to wait. It's been hard, too, because I have been able to see the blessings from not having to work, like being there for my kids, which is SO important to me, and seeing blessings of money coming to us in ways that we never expected, and yet, when those blessings come, I have felt..."okay, THAT must have been the reason we were to wait" and then expect everything else to fall into place as I think it should be. I have good ideas...but I have to trust that the Lord has a better idea. It's hard. I just want to know what He knows!

Other news...Scott got a calling this morning at church. It was funny because the Bishop saw us walk in and literally almost jumped at us to talk with us. I was glad Scott was getting a calling. He has been wanting to serve and has felt misplaced because the calling wasn't coming, but it too has been an interesting process because the Stake took a couple people from our ward to serve and therefore left spots open for those who have just moved in, and Scott was one of those spots. Anyway, he is called to be Priest Quorum Advisor and Varsity Scout Leader...and in this ward...it is no small calling. Scott is really excited, though. He will be with Alec, and in a couple months, with Calvin. He will be teaching lessons and going on camp outs and the Bishop knew, as soon as the Stake took the brother that was serving in this position, that Scott was being saved for this position.

Anyway, we are settling in better to the area. The boys are still doing good with school. Alec and Calvin have a wonderful friend, Jonathan Hooper, who has taken them under his wing and helped them make this difficult time tolerable. Jonathan is a REALLY good kid. He is in our ward and reminds me a lot of Derrek, how he is always trying to do his best and afraid of messing up, and just an all around GOOD kid. Anyway, Jon has been trying to work out after school three days a week because he wants to get better for Volleyball tryouts so that he can be on Varsity this year. Well, Alec was thinking of trying out for it this year and Jon said that he would help Alec train and teach him how to jump and stuff. So, Jon takes them to the rec. center after school MWF and they "train", doing cardio (running, elliptical, etc.), weight lifting and other exercises. I asked his mom is Jon is doing okay with them tagging along and she said that he is loving it because it pushes him to do a little bit better and teaching them is helping him also. It's been a really good experience and they come home really happy and feeling accomplished (especially Calvin...he loves a good workout). Dallen and Ashton are still doing really good.

Well, this week we have birthdays (Scott and Alec...Scott's 40th!) and the Bowler Adult Getaway (we can only go for a day, but it should be fun).

Finally...a schedule!

Summer is always hard because we, at our house, tend to fall out of a schedule and then days turn into weeks and then you start feeling unproductive and sluggish...well, not anymore :). Here is a picture of the kids on their 3rd day of school. I kept forgetting to take their picture the first two days. Let me set up the week for you...

Monday, we went and did a last summer "hurrah" with Heidi, Kathie, Rachel, & Rebecca at Peter Piper Pizza (where we always go). They have the lunch buffet, which I am pretty sure I score on that!

Tuesday, it was down to business day since school started on Wednesday. We went and grabbed Alec and Calvin's schedules and walked around their school to make sure they knew where to go. As I was walking around, I had an overwhelming feeling of gratitude because I have been feeling anxious and frustrated because I haven't been able to get a job, yet also praying that the Lord will help me make my family come first. I had a quiet thought as we were walking around of "aren't you glad you don't have a job yet so that you can do this with them?". I almost broke into tears because I was SO grateful. This school is huge (3,300 students this year!) and I CANNOT imagine telling them that they had to drive there and pick up their schedules and figure all this out on their own. It was overwhelming to me, and I have experience with this kind of stuff, but to them, it would have almost felt impossible. I asked Calvin and Alec if they were grateful that I didn't have a job yet, so that I could walk around with them and Calvin said "I would have never forgiven you"...and at that time, I know that would have definitely been something he would have a hard time getting over. I was so grateful that I could be there. As we were walking around, Ashton said, "I just realized I'm coming here next year!"...yeah, it was big! After the high school, we headed over to Ashton's school and while we were driving, I got a call from Dallen's school asking if he had gotten his 6th grade shots...um NO! And why were they telling me this the day before school?!? UGH! She said Dallen had to have them that day or he couldn't start school the next day without them! Mind you, this call came at 12:30 in the afternoon...the shot clinic is only open so long and knowing it was the day before school, there was probably going to be a long line. So, I took Ashton around his school. We accidentally got locked out and had to go to the beginning and start all over. He got it enough to start the next day. He said he has managed to get lost a couple of times, but really, compared to the high school, this was a cake walk! We then headed over to the shot clinic and got there about 15 minutes before it opened back up and so we hadn't eaten yet and decided to go eat. We got back and the parking lot was packed! So, in line we waited...it took about an hour, but Dallen was legal to go! We then were able to do a little school shopping. We were VERY grateful because Calvin and Alec have both grown...again and are out of their size 12 shoes into size 13. Ashton and Dallen had no shorts/pants because they too have grown since the end of school in May! So, we were very grateful that we had a little cash that we could do that for them. All I was praying for was that I could afford to buy them paper and pencils that they needed. Instead we were blessed with a little extra that we could buy shoes and shorts that they needed. Then later that night, Scott gave them Father's Blessings. He kept telling Calvin in his blessing that it will be hard for the first couple of weeks and if he used his humor and saw the good in people, he would soon have friends and it will become easier for him. Well, the second day, he was able to use his humor...as only Calvin can. He was walking to his next class and a kid flipped him off and Calvin said "You're cool" and the kid said "shut-up" and then under his breath Calvin said "I wanna be just like you". I thought it was funny and instead of getting offended, he just took it and laughed about it as he was telling me the story. He's a gem :)

The first day of school was great for Dallen and Ashton. They both made several friends and Ashton rode the bus and had friends to sit by on the bus. Dallen's teacher cannot seem to be able to pronounce his name correctly. It's pretty funny because people act like they have never heard that name here...they call him Dillon or Dallas. His teacher calls him "Daylan". She was very nice, though, and sent an e-mail to see how Dallen was doing and adjusting and that she was going to try to get his name right. Alec and Calvin came home the first day ready to head back to St. George. We were going to get in line, after school, to change their schedules, but the line was long and they didn't want to be there another minute. So, I told them that I would go with them in the morning to work on their schedule. Because of the time when they go to school and the time Dallen and Ashton go to school, I told them I would just go and call them out of class when I get there. Well, I got there and the line was long! I got in line and decided that I would call them out of class when I got a little closer. It took me TWO HOURS until I called them out of class and then it was another hour before we were finally done. There was a girl a couple kids behind me and she said to me "Are you here in line for your kid?" and I said, "yes" and she said "you are seriously an awesome mom! My mom would never do that for me". I was just glad I could do it. I can't imagine them literally missing 3 hours of class just to talk to the counselor...and it counts against their absences! Once we got in, the counselor was AWESOME and totally helped us see what they needed to take and help them set themselves up for the next couple years. The lady we had when we first did the schedules was not helpful at all, and it probably didn't help that Alec and Calvin were goofing around because they were so wound up from the thought of starting at a new school...it was just not a good day...So, we got them all situated and they actually came into the school with extra credit because of the way Utah does their semesters (on the block system) and so they don't have to take 6 classes like everyone else, they are ok taking 5 and release time seminary. This made them happy and the next couple of days have been good.

As for Scott, it isn't official that he in the Mortuary Science program, but he talked to the admissions lady and she said that because all his prerequisites are done, he is for sure in the program. He and four others were the only ones out of the 33 fighting for the last 13 spots to have completed everything to enter the program. Those that finished get first priority, since it is a first come/first serve basis. It has been, seriously, a huge blessing that he has been able to get all his classes. Since last December, little things keep popping up that have helped him accomplish being done before the program started. This last month, even though he was gone all the time, he was able to take one more class, which he needed, because his boss said "I think we'll just work you part-time this month" and Scott thought "now what am I going to do with all this extra time?"...so he looked into taking another class and the one that he needed was offered at the exact time that he needed to take it and there was ONE spot left to fill...and it was his! Seriously, not a coincidence. We are so grateful that we have been constantly watched over. I can't even describe to anyone how it has been. For one, living on Scott's $10/hour job seems almost ludicrous...and would be if we didn't have the Lord watching out for us. On paper, none of it makes sense...blessings all around!

As for Derrek, in St. George, he starts school tomorrow. I am going to try and have them take his first day of school picture :). He will be a Senior. It will be a good year for him, and will go fast...faster than I can stand it. It's hard to have them grow up. I know what's waiting for them and it's hard and scary...but I hope I have trained him so that he is prepared. He also managed to get another part-time job that he thinks will start tomorrow. It is posting packages for this guy and taking them to the UPS store to be shipped. He said that it pays really well. He really needed that boost because he has been really struggling with McDonald's and just wanted a change. I hope it works out for him. Other than that, he sounds like he is doing good. He is such a good kid and is living with a great family. I know he is where he should be right now in his life...even though we miss him dearly. It's the little things like when we were giving the boys Father's Blessings, and Derrek wasn't here to get his...and now he will have to get it from either my dad or Steve (the dad he is living with)(grateful that they honor their Priesthood and are able to do that for Derrek). It's just hard because we selfishly want to be the ones to provide that for him. Oh well...change happens.

Just one last thing, I think is so funny...This is a picture of Dallen with Angel in the pool. Somehow he is able to get her to lie on her back and he holds here there for a long time, floating around the pool. She is as calm as calm can be and just really trusts him to let him do that with her. He definitely has a way with animals...I keep telling him he needs to do something with animals and being outside and then I told him he should be a veterinarian! Who knows!?!

Celebrate!!!

We are currently celebrating the fact that we have made it through the month of July with Scott's HORRIBLE schedule of being gone from 8 am to 10 pm and basically not seeing him at all even when he was home because it was filled with homework. He made straight A's!!! He had Medical Anatomy, English, and Psychology classes! Do you realize how much writing and studying that requires in just a month's time?!? We are all very proud of him and grateful we haven't damaged our relationship with him too much from not having him around!



So, I haven't written for awhile because I was trying to collect the pictures that went along with my stories, but the guy that has the pictures is a flight attendant and I haven't seen him at church for the past few Sundays and so I guess I have to document with words and the pictures will have to come later.


First was Alec, Calvin, and Ashton going to Scout Camp..."Camp Petty" (named after the Young Men's President, Brother Petty). Can I just tell you the amount of men that went and participated in this camp?!? It was impressive. They went to Durango, Colorado because most of the campground here are closed due to the recent fires. So, they went north...They had river rafting, fishing, hiking, canoes, etc. planned for the boys. Alec said that the overnight hike that he did about killed him. He said that the truck that they were riding had a hose that broke and so they had to use their water to put back into the radiator to get to where they were going to start their hike. So, most of the boys started off with little or no water. Then, I am pretty sure Alec had one of the oldest backpacks that are still around, but it was the only one that we had. We might need to invest in better equipment, especially considering the fact that this troop does this often. So, his 12 mile hike in was probably one of the hardest he has ever done, but he said that when he got to the fishing spot, it was the most beautiful place he had ever seen. He instantly pulled out his fly-fishing pole and just was in HEAVEN. Any of you that know Alec, know that he is one that loves to be out in nature. He could live off the land, in a tent with his dog and be totally happy. He could care less about money or anything like that. He just loves nature. Anyway, Bishop said that everyone else there loved watching Alec fish with his fly-fishing pole. He said that Alec was so graceful and made it look so easy and it was a joy to watch him. I am glad they got to see that side of Alec. Alec caught 9 fish and was on cloud nine. Calvin said that he had fun and his favorite experience was the "white-water rafting". He said it got his adrenalin going and the water felt so good. He said it was fun and scary when they would go down and then up this big waves and one minute see other rafts and then they couldn't see them. He said he fell in once and that was crazy (that's all he would say...). Ashton said that he had fun, but mostly played all week because all but one merit badge that they were working on, he already had. He was bummed because he really like earning a lot of merit badges at camp (probably because grandpa pays him for his badges!).



Dallen and I had a fun time during that week. We planned an activity every day so we could have something to look forward to. I really liked having time with just him. It was fun. He, though, by the end of the week was wanting to be around others...he wanted others his age! We went up to Sedona with Kathie and her kids to play in the river. It was so pretty and really fun. Below is a little slide show of that. Kathie has more pictures, but these are the ones I took with my phone. They caught SO many crawdads. The poor things were being packed into water bottles. There were easily over 40 of them. We brought them home and the thing with crawdads is that if the healthy ones see and are around dying ones, they start to do poorly...so, slowly, one by one they all died. But, Dallen sure had fun playing with them. Kathie's family had tadpoles and have been raising them into frogs. Very fun! Dallen and I also went to the science center and watched a couple movies at the theatre and I think his favorite was playing with cousins.


The boys got home from Scout camp Saturday afternoon and Sunday I told them we were going to St. George for the week on Monday. They were SO excited. The reason for the trip was that my Grandma Nyquist (Steurer) had decided to move into the Beehive Cottages. It's not the assisted living home, but the ones where they have their own apartments/condos and can come and go as they please, yet they have all their meals taken care of and someone around if they need medical attention. There is just a little more security there for her. So, my dad called and asked me if I would help her go through her stuff so that she could figure out what she wanted to keep and what she wanted to get rid of. This was a big task because my grandma has always been amazing at food storage/preparedness and how do you let go of feeling so prepared and being okay with the little that you do take? She was moving into a 700 sq foot home from at least 4000 sq feet...it was a task. I really enjoyed the opportunity to work with my grandma like this because I never thought I would ever hear her say the words "just get rid of it" or "give it to DI". She was amazing going through everything. She still took a lot (in my book), but most of it was memories of family and trips and ancestors. I literally did not see my kids all week. Alec took the car the whole week and transported everyone to friends and movies and whatever else they did. They were grateful that they got to see friends. Calvin mentioned to me that he was glad for the trip because he realized that he still had his friends and that nothing had changed just because he moved to Mesa. Alec went on a date (with two girls at the same time...they actually are his friends, but we never let him just "hang out" with them before). Dallen and Ashton played a lot with Porter, their cousin, and that was fun that they got to do that. They saw three movies (Harry Potter, Captain America, and Transformers). They were so happy about that. It was a crazy week for me emotionally. I realized how much I missed and loved my children and how I don't ever want "stuff" to come between us. It just isn't important, especially seeing how fast it can be taken away (we had cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. come in and divide up grandma's stuff...that was insane...even after all they took, there was still a huge load to DI!). We are grateful to Grandma, though, for the things she sent home with us. All the toilet tissue and paper towels as well as the bar stools that have made our home that much better.
This is just a small portion of what grandma gave to us. In the boxes behind the water jugs were all filled with Kleenex and everything you see is a couple layers deep! This seriously doesn't even scratch the surfice of what she had to take and give. There was SO much stuff and at times it was overwhelming, and I was grateful for the realization of how un-important it really is in our lives. I didn't realize how emotionally draining this project was. It's nice to have security for when things happen, and I will do my best for that, but there comes a point where things just don't matter and that my kids and my relationship with them matters the most. I love my boys! Speaking of which, I was really glad we got to see Derrek. I'm not sure he was too happy. I think he had just gotten used to the idea of us being gone and then here we were again. But, he and Alec hung out and he was awesome to let us see him and eat with the Graves and dip into his new world.


The next week, I literally crashed to recover from the trip to St. George. I didn't realize how much it took out of me and I could only imagine/have sympathy for grandma because if I was this worn out, I can only imagine how she must be feeling. Seriously she was amazing. I really don't remember much about that week. I remember Heidi came back from her trip to Colorado and we went to Peter Piper Pizza with all the mom's and kids in the family...that's always fun. It's funny because Rachel had just gotten back from cleaning her mom's house (who has hoarding tendancies) and so we were telling stories. I had mine of Grandma's 8 or more black trash bags full of brand new Kleenex boxes and just as much toilet paper and paper towels. It was amazing. Rachel found sheets that were in a laundry basket since she lived there in high school! It was therapudic! Rebecca also has a mom that keeps everything and sent us a funny comic about the subject that she had been saving since 2002!...we thought it was funny...


We have been getting ready for school to start. Ashton finally decided to get glasses again. I have been trying to get him to wear something, but he kept telling me he could see just fine without them. Well, finally he decided it was bad enough to wear glasses again. He was funny in the doctor's office. When he had to read the chart he said "I could actually see the last line. That's never happened to me!". Then he got his glasses and was so excited to be able to read what was on the t.v. (come to find out that his brothers had been reading it for him!). Calvin and Alec sold some stuff (iPod and wakeskate) and bought a XBox 360. They were so excited...little did they know that they would need me to put in another $100! That was the ticket for them to let Dallen and Ashton use it. Anyway, this last week I have not cared that it is on all the time. It's time for school to start! It starts this Wednesday, August 10th. It will be an adjustment and I know Calvin and Alec are really nervous...for me I get nervous for them at lunch time. I hope that Alec and Calvin at least have lunch together so that they will have someone to sit by. That is the worst! Or that someone will invite them to sit with them. It is such a hard age, especially being the new kid. Ashton seems a little nervous. We need to go walk through the school so he will know where to go, but other than that, he doesn't seem to mind. Dallen is super friendly, and so I am not too worried about him fitting in quickly. He is still nervous, but he does know some kids from church and so I am glad that he can eat with them at lunch!


Still no job for me, but in a way it's been a blessing and our needs have been taken care of without me having a job and I am so grateful for those blessings. It's been amazing to see. I did, though, get a calling at church as Primary Chorister. It is seriously one of my favorite callings (this will be my 3rd time). I love being goofy with the kids and teaching them the Primary songs and having those songs stuck in my head ALL WEEK LONG! It's already been so much fun. I found on a web-page an idea that I fell in love with. I made "wiggle weebles" (that's what I named them) and they had wiggle songs attached to them, but the only way they could "come out and play" was for the wiggliest kid to pick it out...so the kids had to wiggle the best that they could in order to pick one of the weebles. It was funny because one of the boys in the back said "I can't do it anymore...my head hurts!". It was awesome and soon all the wiggles were gone :). Scott doesn't have a calling, and the funny thing is that one member of the Bishopric comes up to him every Sunday and asks a question of his schedule or likes or things he's done in the past or something and then they say "we are just trying to find the right calling for you...it's going to be good". I am pretty sure he hasn't gotten one yet because he literally was gone and wouldn't have been able to do anything. Now his schedule is 8-5...school in the morning (if he gets in the program...we find out tomorrow) and work in the afternoon. It will be nice to have a schedule...for all of us.