Nebraska Day 1 and 2

Right after school let out, we loaded up the brand new van. We had to get as far as we could on our longest roadtrip yet. The plan was to leave by two o'clock and get as far as Cheyenne on Day 1. To be honest, there wasn't a lot of adventure. We enjoyed seeing the pronghorn that are ever present in Wyoming, and Dax spotted a bald eagle, but mostly, we just drove. We only took a few pictures at a restaurant called Penny's Diner in Rawlins. We listened to part of a Little House book, read scriptures, and talked. The boys watched a movie and listened to music. Even though it was over 400 miles, it didn't seem too bad!

We were all happy to be out of the car and eat!

We are ready for this new adventure!

Day 2 was a lot of driving, too. Basically, we drove across Wyoming on the first day, and Nebraska on the second day. We even decided to let Mark drive a bit, but as soon as he took the wheel, we entered a construction zone with very narrow lanes. He did great, but he was ready to give it up pretty soon! Luckily, we did have a few more fun stops and sights to see. We started right in Cheyenne looking at the Big Boots. They are a unique art installation located downtown. We didn't spend too long looking at them, but we enjoyed them for a while. Then we headed east.

We loved this mural in Cheyenne!

The Big Boots were 8 feet tall!

We enjoyed looking at the different murals on them.

Everyone loved this pony express rider!

On the long drive across Nebraska, we only made two stops. The first was at the world headquarters for Cabela's, which Mom wanted to see. We went in and looked at the animals, but we all thought our Lehi Cabela's was a little better. A little after noon, we stopped at a nice shady rest area and had a picnic lunch. It was quite pleasant, even though we only stopped for about 30 minutes. 

We like checking out all the Cabela's.

Seth takes the best pictures.

This picnic area was the perfect spot for lunch. We lucked out.

Finally, we made it to Winter Quarters. We had plenty of time to see the small Visitor Center there. It was run by sister missionaries, who spend the first months of their missions guiding tours before they go off to other parts of the country to proselyte. Our boys were pretty quiet, but we enjoyed learning about the two years spent in Nebraska along the Pioneer Trail. Since we didn't know a lot about this history, it was really interesting for us.

The Mormon Trail Center was a fun pioneer spot.

This was Brigham Young's travel case.

We grabbed a quick dinner, and then changed for the Winter Quarters Temple. Mark, Dax, and Dad had an appointment for baptisms. It was a tiny temple, but a member of the Temple Presidency spoke to us before we did our baptisms. That was pretty cool. By the time we got finished, Mom and Seth had checked into the hotel a cross the river in Iowa, so Seth can always remember that he got to this state first!

Mom and Dad love visiting new temples.

The boys were so excited to do baptisms in the Winter Quarters temple.

End Of School

Mom and Dad celebrated the end of school by going on a lunch date!

Ending school was kind of a big deal this year. Each of us had a bit of an emotional end because of the change coming their way. For Mark, he is graduating Junior High and moving over to the Lehi High School. He had a 4.0 GPA this year, and he learned to work really hard, so he's ready for the show. He also completed his Driver's Ed, and can get his license as soon as the school will let him take the road test. 

Here is Mark on the 4.0 list.

Mark and his buddies!

We are so proud of Mark and the hard work he has put into school.

Dax is leaving Dry Creek Elementary for the junior high. He had a very emotional day, because even though Dax is 13, he still loves dominating at recess and being with the same kids all day. For Dax, school is still a great place to be a kid. He enjoyed his pool party on the last day, though, and he is looking forward to the advanced classes.

Dax is pretty silly.

He was not happy about his Bruno dance, but he still did it with a good attitude!

6th grade clap out! Bye Bye Elementary School!

Best 6th grader in the school. He was a rock star on student council.

Seth is leaving Dry Creek, too. He will only be gone for a year as he heads at to Highland to be with Dad for fourth grade. This is exciting, and a little bit scary for both of them. Since they have the same personality, they may clash more than the other boys, but they are excited to get to be together every day. Seth is a natural at making friends, so he doesn't worry about moving to a new school at all.

Seth LOVED his dance festival dance!

He danced it perfectly!

Mrs. Burgoyne was Dax and Seth's 3rd grade teacher.

Dad is worried, though. For the first time, he'll be teaching something other than fourth grade. He has been asked to balance a 4/5 split, and he's not looking forward to it. Teaching is difficult enough without having to worry about two groups, two curriculums, and two tests. It will take a lot of time this summer planning and preparing for him to be ready.

Dad will be an amazing teacher no matter what!

Of course, Mom is support for all this. She is a major player at Dry Creek, spending three or four days a week volunteering there, so she'll have to spend her time at the other schools this coming year. In the meantime, she'll be driving all over the valley getting everyone to their destinations, and working to make each school better. She'll help us all make it a great year.

Mom loves going to all the school events! This was Seth's camping read-a-thon!

Dax's Birthday

 Dax is a teenager!! Now we have two teenagers in the house. We hope that Dax can follow in Mark's footsteps and be an easy teenager. Dax is a great middle child. He spends time with both Mark and Seth, and is happy to play toys with Seth or hang out with Mark. He is so smart, and he is our most responsible child. He is a great leader and fulfills his priesthood duties very well. Dax also is fun and silly. We are so excited to see what Dax does in middle school!

Dax loves to keep his hair longer than the other boys.

Dax is such a good boy.

The Pooles called the evening of Dax's birthday and Dax loved talking to Ben. I thought I took a screenshot of the two of them, but it's just cute Ben. He makes all of our boys laugh, and he really loves playing withthem. He and Dax share a special bond!

Ben called Dax on his birthday.

Dax had mint brownie and chocolate cake on his birthday.

Dax wanted to have his friends over for a small party. So he invited some friends to come play games. We had pizza and the boys played sports outside, and then MarioKart inside. It was fun to watch these boys laugh together.

Dad got all of these boys laughing about girls.

Dax with his buddies.

The other special birthday activity we planned for Dax was with Dad's fellow 4th grade teacher, Mr. Hermann. They went fishing! Mr. Hermann told Dad he would show them a great fishing spot on the Provo River near Utah Lake. It was a great spot, and beautiful. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate very well. It was freezing, and it rained a lot. Dad and Dax came home soaked and frozen. Not only that, but Dax cast his line into a tree, and Dad snapped the pole trying to get it down. Even after all of the misadventures, Dax said it was the best fishing day. He caught a few fish, and had a great time, which made it all worthwhile. 

They went fishing in the kayaks.

Mr. Herrmann was so nice to Dax.

There were moments when the weather seemed nice.

Dax loves fishing so much.

Dax was so excited to show Mom this picture he took of the baby ducks.