Training Session

Taz has started flag football practice. He is quarterbacking for the team. He has never done this before, but even though he can't throw the farthest, he is the most accurate. They also did a drill where they are running against one another to see who is the fastest. Taz is a very fast distant runner, but he wasn't the fastest sprinter on the team. So Garry has decided to work with him to attempt to make him faster. Last night was their first training session. Here is their workout gear. A hiking backpack and a rope.

Talon has been sick (a cold), and was going to go to the gym, but decided to stay and work out with the football trainers.

They only run about 40 yards, but apparently, it's very hard work. My job was to just take pictures and video, so they could analyze their form.

These were some of the videos that we took (we being Tanner and I, he refused to participate, which is a good thing I guess, because it almost gave Taz an asthma attack and he doesn't even have asthma!!):

Our "Staycation"

We got back into town from Oregon on August 14. Garry had reserved a room for us at the Gold Coast for Aug. 16-18. It was a local special where you buy two nights, get one free. Garry had heard that their pool was in the top 10 pools of Las Vegas and the price was right, so why not. Garry and I checked in Sunday night and spent the night. He went into work for a few hours Monday morning (his work was 10 min. away instead of his usual 35 min. commute), then we went and picked up the kids. They loved our room. It was really big and really clean and looked like they'd just renovated or something. Being as it is an older casino, on Freemont street, I had low expectations. I was pleasantly surprised. After chillin in the room for awhile, they of course, wanted to hit the pool. The pool is basically just a round shaped pool with a few water falls surrounding it, but they have a giant fish tank in the middle of the pool. In the tank we counted 5 different species of sharks and a couple other "schools" of fish. You can swim around the pool and watch the fish. BUT... there is a huge water slide that takes you right through the tank in a clear tube and so the fish are swimming around, under and over you as you slide through. Tanner refused to go through it (apparently one of his top 10 fears is sharks), but Taz and Cynjyn LOVED it.

We literally just sat in the pool watching the sharks for about 2 hours. We were finally freezing and forced ourselves to get out and warm up.

This shark...

...is going right over Taz (the blurry kid in the tube) as he slides under him. Taz was thrilled!

Cynjyn was a little scared at first. This is her first time down the tube and she said she closed her eyes as she came to the clear part because she didn't want to see what she was sliding through. But by the end of the day, she was waving to us as she slid through those sharks!

Taz came out the first time with this huge smile...no fear from him!

Who knew we were such pool loungers? Taz had just got his phone for his birthday, so he spent his whole down time texting Josh and Ella and taking pictures of the sharks and sending it to them. Garry read, Tanner slept and Cynjyn enjoyed basking in the sun in a robe at first to warm up! I just layed there and people watched.
Our room only had a king size bed and kids don't sleep free, but we snuck the kids in Monday night and brought two air mattresses for them to sleep on. In the evening, we went to Freemont street and enjoyed the light show, ate at Fitzgeralds, and played Villiage Idiot all night in the room until bedtime! It was a fun Staycation!!

My thoughts on today

Today is the first day of school. It is a day of firsts for all three of my children that are still in school. They all had father's blessings last night and each blessing was very appropriate for each child. That always amazes me. For some reason, it was a very emotional morning for me. O was looking forward to the free time I'll have, but it also meant that the kids are grwoing up very quickly and they have so much change ahead for them. Tanner started 9th grade. High School. I was very nervous for him as I drove him to school this morning. I kept asking him if he was nervous (no), and if he'd made arrangements to meet any friends (no), if he had a plan for lunch (no). As he answered each question, I became more nervous for him. But he left with a smile on his face and assured me he'd be o.k. Tanner really does amaze me. He is very quiet and layed back and spends most of his time at home. But he has always been brave about doing new things alone. He went to BYU Volleyball camp last summer all by himself with no friends. He met people, had a great time and stayed in contact with those people throughout the year. This year, he went with his best friend Hunter and came back saying he had way more fun last year because Hunter didn't want to do anything. So in a way he isn't afraid to go and do things by himself. He doesn't need that "group" surrounding him to give him confidence. I love this about him. But, I still don't picture him old enough for High School! Just driving him there this morning and seeing some of the kids that he will have to deal with daily gives me the creeps. It is so evil out there and High School just seems like the breeding ground for that. I only hope that he will be strong enough to live the teachings he's been taught his whole life and stay steadfast and immovable. He truly is remarkable and I love him!

Taz started Middle School. He was very nervous even though he's been to the school many times and we went to open house and he's already tried his locker and he know where all his classes are. He was still nervous. He was excited to see all his friends. He has a really good group of friends and I just hope that they all click and stay close to each other and open up their hearts to accecpt and support one another. Taz is so sweet and also quite emotional. I just hope that his church friends and school friends mesh and he has a good year. He seems way to little to me to be amongst such a diverse age group. Stay strong Taz, I love you!

I get to drive the morning car pool and everyone was cheery and excited today. Don't they all look so nice!!

Now, Cynjyn. She has been excited for a long time to go back to school. She loves it. She told me she was being more mature this year and so she picked out a plain backpack, she wanted nothing to do with any "Showbiz" people!! She did go for an adorable lunch box with a little monkey on it! She is going to a new school. Her old school was K-2 and right across the parking lot is the school that does 3-5. So she had a first too. She knew her teacher because Taz had the same one in 3rd grade. When we went to meet your teacher day, Mrs. Calleja came right up to her and gave her a big hug and told her she'd been waiting for her and was so excited when she saw her name on her list!! So this morning, she was ready to go...until we got to the drop off place. Her plan was for me to drop her off and go play, when we got there she asked if I'd walk her to her lineup number. It took us awhile, but we finally found it. She saw several of her friends, no of which are in her class, but reunited with them with big hugs. Then we were just standing there waiting and she leaned into me and told me she was nervous. That's when I got a little teary and told her to say a quick prayer and all would be well. After that, we did the pledge and she told me I could leave. She'll have a great year and she's a great girl. I love you precious!

When we picked up MaKenna, her and Emma had flowers in their hair. When we got home I remembered that I had bought stuff to make some with at the beginning of summer. We found that we had a pink one that matched the pink stripes in her shorts, so we quickly whipped one up, but it in and she was tickled at the results. Here she is on her way to school! I know they'll come home full of excitement and tales of their first day. All I have to say is, it's awfully quite around the house without my little friends!
Before I came home to a quiet house though, I took a little time to enjoy the stage in life when all your kids are in school all day. I invited three friends to meet me at IHOP for some breakfast. Her is Joann and I. We are the ones with kids in all day.And Linda and Toni have their youngest two starting kindergarten today, so they're still not as ready to celebrate as we are. Now, we had already eaten and Linda got an eyelash or something in her eye and she'd been to the bathroom to try to wash it out and had washed off all her makeup on one eye and so she was trying to pose with the good eye showing!! She looks a little cheeky, but she did good. It was a fun morning.

The rest of the summer in a nutshell

I have been home a week and a day now. But, as usual, life has been crazy. I finally have time to update the ole blog. The last two weeks we were in Oregon, my mom's Internet was not working, so that is why this are past due. This is what we did our last two weeks of summer bliss: We took another quick day trip to Wallowa Lake so Trampis could boat. Taz and Brian had broke the old tube, so Grandma bought a new one that the kids loved! We also enjoyed some bounties of the local farmers market, celebrated three August birthdays: Kres, Aug. 10, Grandma Aug. 12 and Taz Aug. 15. Our last week, Tanner showed back up for a Waite family Reunion. Every two years, my dad's side of the family has a reunion. It is his mother's siblings and their descendants. Well, this year, (an off year for that), my dad decided to do his Father's siblings and their descendants. That would be my grandfather Elden La Grande Waite. He had 4 brothers and a sister. The ironic thing is that in July, my grandfather's sister, the sole survivor of the siblings, passed away at age 92. We had a good turnout though. Now, I 'm sad to say that I don't know this side of my relatives as well as the other side. But, my dad grew up with these cousins and they all had a ball getting back together. Trampis and Randy came up for one day and Trampis even noticed my dad's demeanor by commenting: "Is it my imagination, or is Grandpa down right CHEERY, I don't think I've ever seen him this cheery!" It was truly fun to watch all of them reconnect and reminisce and enjoy being with each other!! That in and of itself is what makes this reunion worth all the extra time, labor, and money that my dad and mom put into it to make it go. So, without further adieu: We were quite the gang this summer. Ella spent so much time with us, she became a "GOON!" And our sweet little Beckham, we're sure going to miss him. (Kres had already hit the hay as this was a late night "party" in Grandma's cabin.)

Taz just loves getting together with Issak and Aryn Frewing. They are my cousin Amity's sons and they just really click. Taz is sitting by their dad Scott, and you can just see Amity's brother Brian on the left.

Tanner, Becks, Taz and Trampis "bonding".

Cynjyn LOVES her Uncle Randy!

Ella and Cynjyn on the slip and slide.

Taz and one of the Frewings.

Cynj and Kres.

Playing games and eating what else do you do at a family reunion??

The group picture of the people attempting the hike.

The birthday celebration: This is what Beckham thought of it!

Kris, Ky and I got grandma new curtains for her living room. She liked them!

Kres starting the opening frenzy. Taz didn't get much as Grandma had gotten him his cowboy outfit earlier and he wasn't getting one from us till he got back to Vegas. But he still got 4 small things.

Since Kres was turning three, he's been trying to get potty trained all summer. Taz was his personal trainer. Everytime Taz was with him and Taz had to go, he'd say:"Come on Kres, lets go potty." And Kres would go. One day at Grandma's he had to go "poopoo" which he's never been successful at doing in the toilet. So Taz hurried him to the pot and I got Taz a stool and a book to read him and Kres tried to do the duty, but a las, it didn't happen. BUT, Taz was so good with him all summer!

During a couple of days of downtime, Cynj and Taz picked out some fleece and made some fringed edge snuggle blankets for themselves. They both picked out the same front, but customized their own backside!

Our ride home from Wallowa was just at Sunset and the Sun and sky were gorgeous. I made Taz take a picture from the car window as we drove along. Oh, and ask Trampis how many different ways their are to sing "Once their was a Snowman!"

After a day of boating and our picnic, Taz and Trampis wanted to take a hike. So, Dad left with the girls and the boat and mom and I let Trampis and Taz hike up this hill. They loved it!

On the way back, we saw the group of big bucks in the picnic area and so Taz and Trampis wanted to see how close they could get to them. Wala!! Then, being the tween idgits that they are, they threw a pinecone at them and took of running.
The bucks basically ignored them, but they didn't know that! It was fun to see Trampis and Taz have a good time together without Tanner and Trey to interfere. They actually got a long quite well!

Trampis' injury from his last boat ride. From what I hear, Grandpa gave them the wildest ride of their lives!




This is how they looked afterwards, just sleeping in the car while the girls took their last ride!

After boating all day, we were all starving and we happy that Grandma and I had prepared a picnic with lots of sandwiches, salads and chips!

Al the tubers survived and deemed the day "awesome" and then new tube "the best ever".

Cynj and I snacking on donuts waiting for our turn on the boat.

Trampis and Taz in action. Their whole goal was to go out of the wake, and they made it!

Cynjyn is such a lite weight, she got airborn quite a few times.

The look of fear as they get on the new tube for the first time.

Ella, Cynjyn and I visited Chief Joseph's grave while waiting for our turn!

And finally, the spoils from the Farmer's Market. Cynjyn and Ella snapping beans and shucking corn.

Thanks mom and dad for a wonderful summer, and wonderful memories!