Teen Choices and Dylan

Kars is taking a class this semester called Teen Choices. The class is designed to cover heavy issues that teens will likely encounter and help prepare them to make educated decisions. As part of the  class Karsyn got to bring home a RealCare infant simulator for a long weekend. 

It just so happened that it was the same time we were in Jackson so we missed out on some of the fun. Luckily she had Ashlee and her sisters to help her out. She chose a boy baby and Emmrey named him Dylan Mark. This is the text Ashlee sent me on the day he arrived home. 

The babies are equipped with a sensor that monitors their care.  He cried when he's hungry, needs changed and sometimes just because babies cry. 

  He slept right on her bedroom floor and Kars was up every few hours during the night to take care of baby Dylan.

 The "parents" have a bracelet that is compatible with the baby so while they can have help with the occasional feeding or walking, they cannot ever be too far away and have to be the one to assess it's needs by scanning their bracelet to the baby.

not thrilled about his 14 year old having a baby

 There were tears in this process and not just from baby. Kars was STRESSED, frustrated, overwhelmed and exhausted .... mostly exhausted! We lent a hand once in a while, but didn't want to make it too easy on her.

We had some good discussions and I hope she learned that becoming a parent is not something to be taken lightly. She kept saying she never realized how tiring having a baby was and I kept telling her she didn't know the half of it;)

her face the entire 4 days

I was surprised to see my not so naturally nurturing girl be so attentive. She took good care of Dylan but was not sad to return him to school. 

Emmrey on the other hand still misses him. Maybe she is the one we should be worried about;)

 A huge thanks to my sister for helping her get settled in with baby Dylan and making sure she had opportunities to show him off (aka out it public). And .... for taking time off to come stay with our girls. Without her our trip to Jackson wouldn't have been possible!

 

:)

Jackson

Mark and I were able to sneak in a little getaway to Jackson last week. It originated because of an AIS meeting he needed to attend.  We picked up Ashlee from the airport late Tuesday evening and were on the road by 5 am Wednesday so Mark could make the meeting by noon. 

We hit some amazing views at sunrise near Laramie.

Our accommodations were pretty sweet at the Snow King Resort. A little more upscale than we would normally go, but it was technically a work trip and this is where the meeting was held.

 That first afternoon I spent time working on some photo projects while Mark went to his meeting. Later we walked around the Town Square and grabbed some dinner at Merry Piglets Mexican Grill. We knew Emmrey would love all the piggies they had on the walls so we took a few pics to show her.

 The following day was filled with more meetings for Mark. I enjoyed some quiet time with my photos. When he finished up late afternoon, we took off for a hike to Phelps Lake in Grand Teton.  As we neared the trail head (in our car) we came smack face to face with this guy. Literally in the middle of the road until he spooked. We pulled off and watched him for a bit. By the end of this trip we had seen a Black Bear, Grizzly, Moose, Elk, Bison and several other critters.

The trail is a pretty easy (albeit a bit soggy) 4 mile hike. If I wasn't so uneasy about the bear sighting, it would have been even more enjoyable.

 The scene at our destination was absolutely gorgeous!

We took some time to relax and take in the scenery before heading back.

We arrived back in Jackson in time for dinner.  Mark commented that when just the two of us travel it seems like all we do is eat. That is not entirely true but we do enjoy trying places we might not if we had the girls in tow. We had pizza at Caldera (which actually is a place we have been with the girls). It was delicious but we definitely over ordered and had a bit of a pesto overdose.

 Friday was a "field trip" for those attending the meeting. Mark opted for the two of us go into Yellowstone instead. We branched out from our morning bagel and tried E.leaven for a breakfast burrito. It was pretty darn tasty.

 We stopped for a quick look at Lewis River Falls. 

Things sure feel different in the park when there is snow.

 We went to Old Faithful and walked the Midway Geyser Basin. Since we have seen OF go off so many times, we are more entertained listening to the visitors who are watching it erupt for the first time. Despite knowing we "really don't need another picture of Old Faithful" we somehow manage to come away with one. It is pretty spectacular.

  It was surprising how busy it was. We thought we would almost have the place to ourselves. Our much anticipated quiet cozy lunch at the Geyser Grill was nothing of the sort ... in fact it was chaos.     

After learning it was UEA break it all made sense. 

A trip around Biscuit Basin

 One more stop with the Tetons as the backdrop and we were on our way!

 We had dinner (eating again?) at Snake River Brewery. We had some interesting dishes. Mark had a Caesar salad with charred Brussels Sprouts and I had Pasta topped with smoked pork and pickle-pepper relish. I thought the combination of ingredients was so unusual it could only have been conjured up by someone who knew what they were doing. It was so weird but good.

 We spent our last night wandering the streets of Jackson. It was definitely wintery compared to the nice fall weather we left, but I just love it there and loved spending some extra time with Mark.

Fortress of Faith

My heart is swelling with pride. For the past two months, my teenage daughters have sacrificed time every Wednesday and most Saturdays to be a part of the Fort Collins Temple Cultural Celebration.

These two were up bright and early to be at the stadium by 8 am. 

By this point they were both ready for it to be over.

Nearly 4,000 youth from 13 stakes in the Fort Collins Temple district came together in song and dance to present Fortress of Faith. Neither Bay or Kars are big on the dancing thing so there was a lot of humor involved on their part.

From what I heard, more than 17,000 people filled the stadium—

Waiting for the show to start

The celebration was a series of song, dance and history of the Fort Collins area. There were numbers that represented different cultures of the early settlers.

The girls YW president's family was sitting near us. Once their kids caught sight of us, we had some little visitors for a good part of the show.

Our Stake did a couple of numbers at the end of the show. The focus was on some of the natural disasters in the area and the faith building experiences surrounding them.

Bailee and Karsyn are the first two standing on the 20 yard line

It was a long process and an especially long and HOT day of final rehearsal. The finished product was pretty amazing to see and I am so so happy these two got to be a part of it. I hope they feel the same way too.  Apparently they were on the Jumbotron quite often as the cameraman was right in front of them most of their performance. We were too busy finding them on the field but several people who watched the live stream passed that on. You can see a recording of the cultural celebration at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUk15MS__S4. The girls part starts at the end and you can see them close up for a half a second around the 1:01:20 mark.

The following day they went to the Temple Dedication with their YW leader. They had spent several hours crocheting the edges of these beautiful handkerchiefs to take with them. I am so proud of these girls of mine and am grateful they got to have this experience. I hope it will stay with them forever!

Harvest Farm

While the older girls were baking in the sun at their all day rehearsal at the stadium, Emmrey and I were doing our own baking at Harvest Farm. The difference is we only lasted a few hours and we had Kona Ice to cool us off.  Her soccer coach had coordinated a little end of season get together. The Fall Festival can hit you hard in the pocket book, so the fact that we were able to go at a group rate sealed the deal.

I'm really not complaining about the weather. How often do you have 80 degree temperatures in October. If I would have dressed for summer it would have been perfect. 

There is no shortage of activities at the farm. In between visiting the animals and watching the pig races, Emmrey did a scavenger hunt and shot corn from the cannons .. .. she loved that!

 They also had a bubble making station

 And before we left we joined most of her team for a trip through the corn maze

We also did a hayride and learned all about the mission of Harvest Farm. I knew most of what our guide told us from volunteering there before, but I love the good they do there to help men dealing with addiction/homelessness get their life back on track. We need more programs like this!

Silly Soccer

Emmrey played fall soccer this year. After having half the season rained out last spring, we decided to give fall a try which is what we always did in Cody. The weather was beautiful the entire season! Aside from a few practices, we didn't have one cancellation.

 Emmrey was so fun to watch. She gets a little more aggressive with each season

 She had an interesting team and coach this time. They keep the teams small so the kids get more play time. She had a team of four most of the season (2 kids consistently didn't show up) which meant they got a whole lot more playing time than the kids really wanted ... they like those breaks! 

Coach Jen was nice enough and very organized which wins her points with me, but she wasn't much for actually coaching and teaching the kids skills. You could definitely count on her to come to games with a cooler packed with drinks and snacks. She coined the phrase "goof off practice" which she said the kids earned (after every game ... which they usually lost). Basically every practice was a goof off practice filled with Silly String (possibly the reason for the losses?) For one of the practices she planned a parents v kids game. That was actually pretty fun. Other than getting kicked in the shins;)

I get that it is more about having fun than winning, but gaining confidence by improving skills would be alright too;) New this season was the parent tunnel. After each game the parents formed a tunnel for the kids to run through. Depending on the teams we either had a strong parent showing or dismal. The last game had a pretty awesome tunnel ... this was just as it was beginning.

The important thing is Emmrey had a great time .... especially the Silly String and snacks!

Lilly, Ian, Bella, Kestral, Elliot and Emm