Fathers and Sons

Our annual Fathers and Sons campout put on by our ward took place a couple weeks ago. We went to Airplane Flats campground which is close to Canyon Creek and the Canyon Creek Fish Hatchery. We left on Friday afternoon around 2 pm and headed up to the campground. We had an uneventful trip stopping in Payson to fill the water tank on our trailer. We discovered at that time that the hose which runs to the water tank had developed a large leak from age and heat. Fortunately, the tank sits higher than the hose so most of the water remained in the tank.

The campout was well attended and we had a great time. The weather was perfect and we enjoyed being in the outdoors. We had a campfire program on Friday night and a fabulous breakfast was provided by the ward on Saturday morning. After breakfast, we relaxed and went fishing in Canyon Creek. Soon it was time to clean up and head home so we could finish our preparations for Mother's Day.

Shooting a Potato Gun

It's just not any fun unless you're several feet from the ground!

Wild Hogs vs Stormin' Mormons

Our neighbor, James, has a Fat Boy Harley-Davidson motorcycle and has talked to Jerel for a while now about renting a motorcycle and going on a day ride with him and some other guys.

So of course, Jerel invited his brother Shad to go too since he loves to ride motorcycles. One night they even got together with some of the guys who had expressed an interest in going, ate a bunch of food and watched "Wild Hogs." Well, this past weekend was the BIG DAY!

In the days and weeks leading up to the ride, several people in our ward indicated they would like to come along. When all was said and done, 6 guys (5 in our ward plus Shad) made the trip. They left around 7 am with plans to be gone most of the day. They had a route in mind but not really any particular destination - just ride and enjoy the sights. One member of the group was Jay Klepinger who is Chase's teacher's quorum advisor. When Jay pulled up on his Harley, complete with doo rag and leather vest, Chase said, "Oh wow!"

The event went off without a hitch arriving home around 4:30. No mechanical problems and no accidents or incidents to report. They traveled around 300 miles stopping along the way including breakfast in Fountain Hills and lunch in Globe. Jerel had a great time and they have already begun planning their next trip.

Here's James with his Harley.

Shad on his sport bike.

Jerel ready to ride!

"Word of the Day"

Word of the day #1:
ostracize -- to exclude, by general consent, from society, friendship, conversation, privileges, etc.

Story: I was doing several things on the computer--updating Quicken, trying to blog, upload pictures, etc. Well, Chase wanted to use it and was frustrated when I told him I wasn't done yet, was in the middle of a lot of things, and he might have to wait a while. He then replied, "Could you get off the computer and quit ostracizing it?" Good thing Chase is good natured and let me post this. He quickly corrected himself and said, "I meant monopolize." But it was still funny and I couldn't help posting it.

Word of the day #2:
monopolize -- to acquire, have; to obtain exclusive possession of; keep entirely to oneself

Battle of the Books update

Well, as you know, tonight was the district finals for Battle of the Books. Tanner's team didn't miss a single question until the very last question on the very last round. They ended up in a tie for 5th place. His team did such a great job and were VERY disappointed at the end--we all were. To take 5th place out of our entire school district is not too shabby, but it's still hurting a little tonight. They all were awarded with a pin for participation.

Battle of the Books

Battle of the Books is a program for 5th and 6th graders where students are put into teams of three, read 12 books of the district's choosing, then answer questions about those 12 books for points. The questions are judged very strictly and have to be answered in 20-30 seconds depending on the type of question. For example, if the questions asks "In what book . . . ?" and the answer is "The Door in the Wall." If you just say "Door in the Wall" then the answer is incorrect. You have to say "THE Door in the Wall." The competition begins at your local school and is divided throughout the school year into three rounds (4 books for each round). Tanner's team did really well during the first 2 rounds but missed 2 questions which put them into 3rd place going into the final round. His team was perfect and got every question right in the 3rd round while the 2 teams in front of them missed just enough questions to put Tanner's team into first place for his school. This is the final school competition.

Last week, Tanner's team competed in the district semi-finals which consists of winning teams from the other elementary schools in the district. Due to the large number of schools (I think there are 37 schools that competed), the semi-finals are divided into 3 heats with the top 4 teams from each heat advancing to the finals. Tanner's team was the only team that answered every question correctly, and therefore won their heat. They will compete again tonight against the other advancing teams in the district finals. We are excited to see them compete and hope they can take home the district title!! And here they are at the semi-finals.

The winners of the semi-finals!