trip continued (part 2)

The highlight of our time in Utah was our ski/snowboard trip. I have to admit that I wasn't excited about going to begin with. I had been sick for so long that I thought I was in no condition to hit the slopes and I was being a bit of a penny pincher, too. Boy am I glad that Rick pushed the trip. We all had so much fun that I'm sure we will try to do it again next year.


We hadn't been skiing since Erin was 6. I simply refuse to go to the man-made snow in So. Cal. and we never go to Utah during the winter. So this trip we decided that the boys definately had to take snowboarding lessons since it was their first time. We put them in the morning class and headed up the slopes. The first run was pretty miserable. Erin was freaking out! She said that she "has a serious fear of going fast". Rick banished me from being near Erin and gave her a private tutorial. I was glad to be banished since I couldn't handle the shrieks coming from Erin every time she buckled and fell. I thought we were in for a very long day on the mountain. Well, after the first run, I took Erin to the bunny slopes where the boys lessons were. We went down the bunny hill a few times where Erin finally figured out how to turn - YEA!!! Then we headed back up to the real slopes and Erin didn't have any more trouble.


When the boys lesson was over, we met them for lunch and then they wanted to go on the real slopes, too. I thought we were in for a repeat of Erin's first run, but I was pleasantly surprised. The boys didn't struggle much with snowboarding. They did, however, spend quite a bit of time on their behinds. They learned that if they were going too fast or out of control, they could just fall down and start over again. Bryant learned that "slow and steady wins the race" and so he didn't fall very much. Parker, on the other hand, loves speed and had great form going down the mountain - if only he knew how to stop!!!


This skiing experience reaffirmed to Rick that he never wants to snowboard. He is a very good skier and picked up right where he left off. Why teach an OLD dog new tricks???! I was surprised at how well I was able to ski. I was able to take the camera up the whole afternoon so that I could get pics to remember our trip better.

trip continued...

Everytime we go to Utah, we have to make time to go bowling at BYU. The kids love going there, but we realized that we aren't very good anymore. I think the bowling on the wii has messed with our game, Rick didn't even break 100. Even though we did badly, I'm sure the tradition of bowling at BYU will continue the next time we're in Utah.

Our Utah trip

The morning after we arrived in Utah, Rick went on the computer to find out what cool things we could do at BYU while we were there. Much to his delight, he found out that there would be a baseball game that afternoon! He asked me if I wanted to go, and since I was having such a hard time with my allergies to his parent's cats, I thought the fresh air would be great. We got there early and were able to enjoy the beautiful scenery from our seats - we loved the mountains in the background. The weather was perfect during the game and the Cougars won 10-5.

Parker's 3rd grade solar system performance

Every year at Parker's school they do a performance based on something they have been learning. The third graders did one this year about the solar system. They sang songs, danced and had speaking parts. Parker tryed out to be a "milky way rap dancer" and got it. He was so excited but he wouldn't show us the dance until that night. He especially liked sporting the cool sunglasses!

Student of the month

Parker finally got a student of the month award. It's painful for the kids to wait each month hoping that they will get one. Here are a couple of pics of Parker's award for "Academic Excellence in ALL areas"!

Long time, no blog....

It's been a few weeks since my last blog. I was sick for a week and a half and right when I was starting to feel better, we went on vacation to Utah for a week. Now I'm back and have lots of pictures to add to my blog. I'll start with the boys' baseball games. Before I got sick, I enjoyed a few of their games. They are both doing great so far this season which makes it much more fun for me to watch. Parker is playing mostly 1st base and just got a game ball for not ever letting anything by him. He has hit a few doubles and a triple, but for the most part, he hasn't quite shown how much power he really has. Bryant is playing left field with some time at 2nd base. He is doing great at bat - the pitchers have a hard time finding his little strike zone, so he walks a lot, but he hit a rocket that almost got to the fence that was very impressive on one of his last at bats.

I'm the scorekeeper for both of the boys teams, so I don't have a lot of opportunity to take pictures, especially of Bryant since it's much more important to keep accurate stats at his level.

Bryant's a Deacon now!

Last night Bryant was ordained to be a Deacon. It was a great evening at our house with family and friends here to support him. I can't wait until next Sunday when he gets to pass the sacrament for the first time!
Grandpa Jim and Grandma Sharrid came all the way from Illinios to be here for Bryant.
Bishop Chase, Erin, Coco, Elizabeth, Aunt Kelly and Shannon.

Bryant sporting his new suit - which we are going to have to replace with a bigger one very soon.
Bryant with his adopted grandma, Dee Adamson
Bryant with his Primary teacher, Bro. Tiernan.
Rick and Bryant - Bryant loves his dad so much!
All the men that participated in the ordination - Jim Duvall, Ron Rock, Uncle Bobby, Rick, Grandpa Jim, Bro. Tiernan, and Bishop Chase.

Bryant's birthday

Bryant had a great birthday! Right after we got home from church, the "other" Chase's arrived at our house. The cousins always have such a great time horsing around. Since it was fast Sunday, we didn't eat for awhile, so we had Bryant open his presents so that he could enjoy them during the early afternoon. He received some great presents and also money and gift cards. We had a huge brisket with baked beans for dinner and when I went to get seconds, they were all gone.........bummer! Maybe we need 2 smokers so that I can have more next time. Some day one of the kids is going to get hurt wrestling - but they won't listen to our warnings!
All ready for the next scout campout.

Blokus is a great game but it takes a few rounds to figure out a winning stategy. Bryant loves any game that involves strategy!

Bryant's sleepover party

I am not a fan of sleepovers, especially for teenagers, but for Bryant's 12th birthday I had a moment of weekness and gave in to his request. I was smart in limiting him to 4 of his best friends, Nathan Rock, Cameron Pidgeon, Jake Beck and Jeremy Brito (plus Emmett Rock since he's Nathan's little brother and practically part of our family, anyway). When Bryant asked what time he could start the party, I told him at 6:30. Much to my surprise, kids started arriving just before 6:00, hmmm...... The kids ate pizza and LOTS of candy while they watched The Bourne Ultimatum. After the movie they played on the wii for a long time and then participated in some covert ops (I can't say much about it, but it did require some toiletries). The party had to end at the early hour of 9:00am so that Bryant could leave to get to his baseball pictures on time. That required me to make an early trip to the donut shop to load up on a wide variety of the sugary "breakfast" items. I would have to say that the party was a success and the boys all had a great time.