Elder Garrett Caleb Tebbs...

Garrett said he couldn't sleep last night because he was so anxious to open his call.  (That's how I've been for 4 days while its been sitting on our kitchen table waiting for him to get home from St. George!!!)

He had 6 close friends, our immediate family, Hillary and Patrick and my parents who came to watch him open it.

I think he was happy and excited when he read he would be serving in the Mexico Leon Mission, reporting to the MTC on Nov. 28.  He took a couple of years of "high school" Spanish so he'll at least be able to say "hello" and "where's the bathroom"...

Everyone cheered and we are thrilled for this next adventure in his life.  He will have wonderful experiences and opportunities that will continue to shape him into the man he is becoming.

 

Garrett was impressed President Monson had an "inked" signature and not a stamp.

Garrett will be a fabulous missionary and we are proud that he is willing and worthy to serve.

St. George--Something for Everyone...

Each time we go to St. George we try and find something new to add to our agenda... This time we went to Sand Hollow Reservoir (off the Hurricane Exit) and rented a couple of wave runners and a tube.

Hailey brought a friend and Garrett brought four, so we had a houseful and they had a blast together.

 I enjoyed relaxing in the sun with the beautiful scenery surrounding me.

  

John enjoyed relaxing in the shade.

 

 Hailey found an island of cliffs to practice her back flips off of...

And we all enjoyed watching Cooper swim out to me every time I went into the water to cool off.

 

 

We were so happy they allowed dogs--truly something for everyone...

 

 

Handcart Days Parade

 All 3 of my kids AND John were in the parade so I sat with my parents and John's--all pushing 80 years but still lots of spunk!

Hailey came through first on the WXHS float with the cheerleaders and officers.  She's a co-captain this year and is excited for her Senior year.

THEN... what we were all waiting for--the 2000+ Strippling Warriors.

Everyone stood up as they passed by and Grayson and Garrett marched.

John was a water boy in the back :)

Our ward had 15 boys participate which was a great turnout in our stake and they had a great experience doing it.  My favorite part was when they stopped, hit their sticks rapidly on the ground and then stopped and shouted, "We Will Not Doubt."  Chills!

Intensity!

Grayson competes on two competition teams that tend to overlap each other on occasion.  His Utah Hustle basketball team recently competed in the Big Mountain Jam tournament at South Towne Center against teams from New Mexico, Canada and all over Utah.

Several of his normal team members were out of town so his coach brought in a few guest players.  Since Grayson is one of the key players, the coach never pulled him out and he really had to dig deep to find the energy and intensity to play his game.

Grayson's Forza soccer team played in the Impact Tournament this past week and again, his coach never pulled him out.

In basketball he's point guard so he controls the plays.  In soccer he plays defense and keeps the other team from scoring.

Whatever he plays, he is intense!

 His team won all four games--even in the 103 heat!--and took home gold medals.

Island Park 2012

We went to Island Park, ID with John's siblings and their families last week.  We'd done it the year before and the kids enjoyed bonding with their cousins so much that we're trying to make it an annual trip.

The cabin we rented was huge and slept 30 people comfortably with 7 big bedrooms (all with their own attached bath) and 3 great rooms, large kitchen, etc.  We made and ate LOTS of food...

Took lots of naps...

Played lots of games...

Had a couple of boat mishaps...

and a face plant on the dock mishap...

All of our kids were there... and one "friend" :)

Each child enjoyed different boating activities--Hillary: wakeboarding

Hailey: kneeboarding

Garrett: passenger (still recouping from wisdom teeth removal and sickness episode)

Grayson: tubing

We enjoyed a very fun 4th of July week and even fit a day in Yellowstone but we forgot the camera...