Fall, Football and Fun

Nothing tops kicking off the crisp fall air than our week up at Snowbird.  

We are so lucky to have these majestic canyons so near to where we live that we can pop up anytime.  Saving that week 36 for Petrick-fest makes it all the more amazing up there.  

We hike, swim, play games, talk small walks, play bingo if we are up that day-we still go up and down with school, work, dance, lacrosse, etc.  The older Snowbird patrons are not sad when the McArthurs miss Bingo.  It brings a new level of intensity and a decibel they don't endorse at typical Bingo events.  

Dave has decided he doesn't love to sleep up there since there is no air conditioning.  He needs that cool night air, so he comes up and down the most.  He was describing his drive up and trying to relay a story when he fumbled for his words a bunch.  

Now, mind you, the Presidential Debate between Trump and Biden had just aired so as he was searching for words, Harrison says 'hello Joe Biden.'  Yikes.  Dave gathered his thoughts quick and continued on with determination.  hahaha

Katelee brought multiple friends groups up throughout the week and Harrison and I spent a lot of time enjoying the gorgeous setting.  But, he and I did have to go down to coach Katelee's Powder Puff football team.  

Katelee won the championship last year and she claims it is one of her highlights of HS, so to be stuck on a team with Buffy and me as coaches has not been thrilling for her.  It had been quite the drama as the teams were clearly stacked.  But, that's why we called in the big guns, our secret weapon-Coach Harrison McArthur aka the dominator

He made a whole playbook based off his plays from flag football 

that we bound and flipped around as we tried to lead the girls to victory...but alas we just couldn't catch  a break and we had some frustrating games.  We had a good time but Katelee will not be able to end her high school homecoming football tournament on a win.  She will have to look back on junior for all of time as the best time of life.  

I took Harrison to a game or two at the high school with me.  He painted his white generic helmet he got one Christmas.  I had begged him not to, he had insisted and it actually turned out pretty well.  I need to trust this artist-he knows his stuff.  

He was completely covered in color from the elementary school fundraiser fun run!  Not sure if he thought those colors blended, but I got a good kick out of it when he came in the door...notice the picture had to be taken in the garage because I wouldn't let him step foot in the house in that state.  

Katelee didn't just have the powder puff game to look forward to homecoming week-she also went to the dance with her good friend, John Coleman.  

She had a fabulous time!  yes...that is my thumb, but she looked so cute in this photo, I still wanted to save it.  After the dinner and dance, they went to a haunted house downtown.  I had asked Katelee to take her earrings out that she borrowed because she has lost some of them in the past at dances.  I wanted her to just put them in her bag as soon as she was done with picts.  Well, she forgot and yay that she did because while they were getting their fright on their car was being broken into.  The glass was smashed in and all their belongings were swiped.  Someone has a nice new homecoming dress now, cuz Katelee had it in her bag.  One boy had his wallet taken, but the saddest awas her friend how had her great grandmother's heirloom jewelry that had been passed down in her purse that was taken.  Stinking thieves! 

Brenna is fully in dance mode...as if that ever stops.  She is dancing at the studio  more than ever this year and is even assisting a couple of younger classes.  

She is also taking some honors and an AP class at school, so she is always busy.  

We just keep running running running...but not our refridgerator.  It decided to no longer run at all.  We kept seeing little puddles of water on the kitchen floor and we thought maybe ice cubes hadn't been picked up (stinkin kids do that sometimes ;)  but, nope everything was defrosting.  Once we realized it, I spent a whole day trying to save the meat we had in there- boiling, baking, shredding, grilling, etc.  Harrison ate so many chicken nuggets and bacon etc he turned to me and expressed, "I hate to say it, but I think I need some vegetables."  hahaha!  New fridge, more veggies coming right up! 

Getting Big

We blinked and another birthday/school year is upon us.  This stud is now 11!!

Harrison is the GOAT.  He brings so much happiness, laughter, historical insight and massages to our house.  We love celebrating this caboose.  

We took a few of his friends (Dash, Paxton, Mason and Camden) to this park he had been eying in Spanish Fork.  They hung out for an hour or two and then we took the little turkeys to dinner at Brick Oven for pizza.  

He had a couple of others join us at our house after and then they got wild and we told parents we were ready for their boys to be picked up.  hahaha!  

His designing talents came through as he decided he wanted to have a go at the cake, not baking it, but just ensuring it had a great BYU Cougar on it.  Costco made it, Harrison added the blue cougar. Not too shabby.

He still loves all things sports related.  He follows football intensely but he loves playing basketball the most.  

It has been fun to see him play flag foot ball as a 49er. 

He hasn't been the only one getting a workout at these games.  These three thought it was a good time to work on planks...I opted to sit and watch.  

Fall brings football- here is Grant when he came down to go to a game with Dave.  He got to see his buddy Cameron who recently returned from a mission.  

And, more important than football (although Harrison would disagree), fall brings new school years! 

Brenna has her final year in junior high.  She is a freshman, but we do 9th grade in our middle schools, much to her dismay.  

Harrison will be in Mrs Earl's 5th grade class, which we hear is a great fit for him because she is a history guru, so we anticipate he will be in the perfect class, even though none of his friends are in there.  

and our little Katelee is a SENIOR!  dang it.  She has one final year in high school and is determined to make it memorable.  I think everyone is off to a great start.  

Except me... hopefully we are not buying into omens/signs for the school year because on one of my first days back in the school library, I had quite the mishap.  My right cheek was hanging out and I had to run out of the media center with my hands covering my back side and get home to change my britches.

Maybe it is just an indication that we will need to be ready for change and to go with the flow this school year.  We will go with that!  

 

Meeting the Mediterranean

It has been a minute since Dave and I went on an ADP President's Club trip.  When the destination was announced last year as a Mediterranean cruise, we knew this was the one we wanted to make a reappearance with.  

We flew out a couple of days early to spend some time in Athens, make sure we didn't have any travel hiccups or delays that would cause us to miss our boat, and because I do not adjust to long distance travel well.  It was a perfect place to get acclimated.   

Athens was phenomenal.  We dined overlooking the Acropolis, spent some time there as well.  We went to the Acropolis museum (and by that I mean I explored it and Dave sat on the benches inside til I was ready to leave).  But he did love journeying up to the Parthenon and looking around.  The history of that city is incredible.  We loved walking around with the exception of the blistering heat.  

We pretty much felt like we were going to melt into a bubbling puddle and decided walking was not our best option, so the electric bike tour alleviated the heat just a tad with a little breeze.  

It seriously was so fun.  

We zipped along the small streets, up and around the palace place with the changing of the guard all the views and historical sites we could fit in.  

Plus we got to chill with our guide Alex, who took us to eat some of his favorite local snacks.  One of the highlights of travel is getting to meet and connect with fabulous people and see their lives, perspectives and culture.  We love Alex! 

We do wish we had grabbed more street food and gyros in Athens, but we had a couple good meals.

Dave wasn't sure the Mediterranean diet would be up his alley, but he ended up loving the cuisine.  Not necessarily the Greek salad that I kept ordering, but much of the other local fare.

We said goodbye to our little Athens experience so we could board the ADP boat and meet up with his colleagues for the cruise adventure.  

There was a welcome party and meet and greet where Dave connected with the ADP peeps and we were off!  Our first port was in Santorini.  

We strolled the streets, took in the scenery, overlooked the beautiful water with the white buildings against the cliffs,

had a surreal lunch overlooking the sea, and took respite in shade whenever we could. Santorini was beautiful.

Our next port was in Kusadasi Turkey.  We chose to take the tour of Ephesus and it was amazing! We didn't do the longest tour because, again, we were in fear of the earth/sun scorching us out of existence.  There was in fact a spontaneous fire that ignited off the side of the road as other tour groups were leaving after us, they had to evacuate.  But, anyway...

It is unbelievable what is preserved still from this ancient city-with so much left to uncover.  We loved every bit of it.  We walked little around the port and then our friends asked us if we wanted to sign up for a Turkish bath.  We did indeed.  

We traveled a short distance from the port to a little hotel that had a mini spa in the basement.  We had to start our couples Turkish bath in the sauna for an exceedingly long amount of time where I was sure I was going to perish.  I got up and told Dave I didn't think I would make it and had to open the door to stick my mouth out and get fresh air.  Finally our service ladies came to retrieve us and escorted us to a room where there were giant marble slabs for us each to lay on.  They had me roll down my swim top and those gals scrubbed us good.  They drenched us with water, had these long towel things they would squeeze out immense suds and foam us up.  They lathered and scrubbed, rinsed and massaged a bit. We are big fans of Turkish baths.  

After feeling refreshed and revived, we made it back to the boat for a day at sea and to prep for Dave's award ceremonies.  

One of the reasons we wanted to go on this President's Club was because Dave hit his 15th Club- which is a huge accomplishment.  He was recognized on stage and the crowd went wild ;).  He works so hard and we are so proud and lucky to have his ethic and drive as an example to our family.  ADP has been challenging, but good to us for sure.  

Our final destination on the cruise was Mykonos, Greece.  We were going to take this boat tour we hopped on as an extra excursion, but when the loaded all the passengers on this ship, the winds were whipping so fiercely, we had to get off the boat and cancel plans, which turned out to the best ever.  We walked to the Hertz car rental and the two of us spent the day exploring the little island at our own leisure.  

We stopped at multiple bakeries/eateries and beaches.  Did we happen upon a nudie beach, yes we did.  Did we stay and get in the water?  Yes we did.  When it Greece, right? 

Final night party was gold themed and lots of music and celebration.  

It was a really great trip.  Next time head that way, we will do it when we are not in danger of heat related maladies, but we sure would love to see it again.  How lucky were we!  

The kiddos did great at home.  Katelee mostly just ran the house (as Grant was away in Minnesota for sales) and did a wonderful job being momma.  I am sure she liked the freedom and opportunity to run the fam as she saw fit.  We had hidden tons of these little animals around the house, I labeled them on the bottom with their number so throughout the trip, they would happen upon a little dino or chicken or what not.  They found most of them, but there are a few missing so the fun will continue for months to come I guess!  

 

We Be Trippin

Summer has been going according to plan...lots of sun for some, lots of sunscreen for others, as exhibited in this side by side of my leg and Katelee's.  

Katelee started off this month traveling down to Lake Powell with her friend Berkeley and family.  Berkeley invited a couple of guy friends as well, which turned into Katelee bringing home a 'buddy' for the summer.  We missed her during the Fourth of July celebrations

I mean, who would choose Lake Powell over that delightful image?  

Independence week was full of fun- a movie with Jaylee and Porter

the local parade followed by swimming and sparklers

at our neighbors, the Sanchez's. 

The morning of the 4th was a family 5k beginning and ending at the city park.  I have been doing some jogging/walking each week so I thought I would join the peeps this year.  

Harrison pretty much killed it, coming in 3rd in his age division and he didn't even know he was doing that well.  He wanted to go faster, but he stayed with Dave- so next time that 1st place may be around his neck!  I, however, am fairly certain my feet will never be the same.  I mean, I did great, but the dag gum plantar fascitis has got me good.  Checking that off my list.  

We love eating at our house and enjoying the fireworks with family on the 4th, but it was a crazy one- a fatal accident, a gun shot fatality by police after the show as everyone was leaving.  Brenna went with friends to the carnival a night later and there was the full police force surrounding the rides...it was unsettling.  

The next week was GIRLS CAMP for my ladies.  

When Katelee asked to go to Lake Powell over the 4th I made a deal with her that she had to go to her LAST girls camp and do it without any complaints...cuz I had been hearing grumbles.  And so she started off with her sis and a smile.  

Brenna had a great time and when I asked Katelee if she liked it she said, nope.  hahaha!  But, I had so many people come up to me after saying how impressed they were with Katelee.  She and I had a discussion before about how at this age, as a youth leader, camp and much of life isn't about just what we want but being there for the others and making it great for them.   And she did just that.  Our little neighbor came back thinking Katelee is a bestie, an adult leader said she watched Katelee make bracelets and serve the little gals for hours in pretty much a crafting sweat shop.  She may not have loved it, but she made it so others could and I adore her for that.  

Brenna had another camp (third for the summer!) up at OFY in Idaho.  She was so brave and went all by herself-without a friend or roomie.  

She got to do a ropes course, white water raft, skits, etc.  All the campy stuff.  She called homesick one day which was super sad, but when I got up to Idaho to pick her up at the end of the week she was good.  

Would she do it again?  No she said she would not...but she learned a lot and stuck through it, growing and finding the good.  Very proud of this little camper who now finished up all the camps and could spend fun time at home and doing dance, of course.  We were happy to have her home for the Demolition Derby and annual Bees game we go to each summer.  

Harrison got to do a couple night campout while the girls were gone.  There was a minor moose attack, but Shannon and Paige saved the people and all was well. 

Next year he may have some YM activities/camps to keep him entertained, but this year, we had to keep looking for things.  He and I had a taste off date...(I would happily encourage this activity again ;) )

While Brenna was at OFY, I took him and his buddy to the float preview, 

and he has been trying to keep up with his ballin skills.  

 Katelee was MIA for most of July- Powell, Girls Camp and then the trip she has been waiting for TONGA!!!  It was her turn to have a humanitarian experience (as Grant went to Columbia when he was 17) she chose the South Pacific Isle of Tonga....  

Dave took Katelee out to LA in the morning to meet up with her group at the airport.  They shopped and went to a nice dinner place and then he dropped her off.  Right before she was boarding, she called telling him she forgot her camera in her bag at his hotel, and she had literally 20 min before her group would be loading onto the plane.  He called me and asked if he should even attempt to get it to her and I said, 'if anyone can do it, you can.'  It was a literal miracle of catching an uber just as he walked out, getting dropped off in the right place, having a break in a line, a worker not noticing he wasn't flying til tomorrow, a kind employee letting him through and a mad dash in flip flops to her gate.  He explained it to me like a group of people were chanting, clapping and cheering him on as he met up with her...she may explain differently, but miracle of miracles, the girl got her camera, and that made her (and us) so happy.  

I won't be able to give the trip recap justice, so I will just give some highlights.  The group started off with some play time in a mud bath and fun in Fiji.  They got to spend their first weekend exploring a private island, which was just magical.  

During the work week, they worked hard.  Digging, rebar, hauling, sweating and smiling.  That was what the trip was all about- building and connecting with the locals there.  

They got to spend evenings at mutual activities, family home evenings, a luau, and her most favorite local activity- an intense Rugby game between the HS teams on the different islands. The championship game ended in a rainstorm and wild chaos as the home team barely won.  Katelee said it was the most hype event she has ever been to and loved it soooo much.  

The Tongans loved this service group and adopted them as friends and family...and possibly potential spouses!  haha.  Katelee came home moved by the love that was extended by complete strangers who came up and hugged and accepted and adored them.  Katelee did have one extreme attack by gluten.  She said it was the worst that has happened in years and it took her out for a good day or two.  

Luckily she had an incredible trip leader, Jenna who took care of her and Katelee made an eternal friend with a girl, Liv who stayed by her side and kept her company while others did the work and events.  

The absolute adventure of the trip was incredible- the private island, the clear waters, the cave swimming, etc.  But the best part was hearing about the love Katelee experienced.  She developed lasting friendships that can cross the country and the world. She was immersed in a culture that throws its arms open to engulf each person.  She was able to see how people live and are content with a completely different environment and econmic status and she was able to see how we all are one.   Trip of a lifetime!