“Proud to Be an American” Program

Rara is on the Bountiful Historical Committee, and they have been working to raise money to build the Bountiful Historical Museum. The committee planned an event (Rara pretty much planned the event) as a fundraiser. It was held July 9 and 10 at Woods Cross High School. Rara invited Ryan and I to go, to listen to the speakers and to support the event.

Senator Orrin Hatch was one of the speakers, and we were able to speak with him for quite a while after he spoke.
The Fab Five performed (and Ryan met them)…Jon McNaughton discussed his painting, “One Nation Under God.” We purchased one, and had him sign it…Kimberly Smith & her son, Bryan Dennis (descendants of Joseph Smith, but converts to the Church) spoke about their conversion and sang songs they had written about Joseph, Emma, and some of the events of the Restoration. It was neat talking with them, too.Howard Carlos Smith, a high school classmate of Rara’s, spoke about his book, “Keeper of the Prophet’s Sword,” and we were fascinated by the sword.Sister Mary Ellen Smoot, former General Relief Society President, spoke about the history of Centerville, and the partnership between Bountiful and Centerville over the years. It was fun to talk with Sister Smoot and her husband over lunch and during the program.It was a neat weekend. We were able to meet some amazing people and learn some wonderful things. Ryan and I were two of the youngest people there. Everyone kept commenting at how well-behaved Ryan was, and how impressed they were that he was there and paying attention to all of the speakers! He loved all of the different speakers and everything they shared. I'm proud of him for being such a wonderful young man!

Independence Day Weekend

We had a fun Independence Day weekend, participating in a few of our annual traditions. On July 3, the Eaglewood Golf Course in North Salt Lake always has a big carnival, and then a program with paratroopers, a flyover, and fireworks.July 4 fell on a Sunday this year, so we had a low-key celebration at Rara & Papa’s, watching the fun programs from Washington DC and Boston, and then doing our own sparklers.Our main celebration was on Monday, since we all had it off of work. Marc & Frances and Alice & Claire came to Rara & Papa’s, too. We enjoyed playing with the girls in the little pool, and a yummy BBQ pizza assortment for lunch. Then the girls tried sparklers (while avoiding all of the bugs in the front yard).We had a great time celebrating the Independence Day holiday, so much so that our celebrating continued into the following weekend! See the next post for the details.

What Sort of Thinker Are You?

Those of you on Facebook know that there are about a gazillion “What type of (fill in the blank) are you?” quizzes on Facebook. I have never taken one before, since most of them seem rather pointless. I don’t need to know what type of cheese or vegetable, or which Avatar or Twilight character I am. However, there was one a few days ago that caught my attention: “What Sort of Thinker Are You? Strategist, Theorist, Ethicist, or Philosopher?” I HAD to take it!

Here’s my outcome:

You’re a Social Reform Theorist: Like Voltaire.

You have a strong sense of social morality, equity, and public comment similar to: Francois-Marie Arouet: lived from 1694 to 1778 and is best known by his pen name, “Voltaire.” He was a writer during the French Enlightenment and was known for his defense of civil liberties, philosophical sport and sharp satires. Although he wrote around 20,000 letters and over two thousand books and pamphlets, his work, “Candide, o l’Optimisme” remains his best known.

I just finished a Cyberethics course, which included discussions on justice, morality, and social responsibility. I wonder if that had anything to do with the outcome, or if this is what I would be, regardless of my current readings. Interesting!

Cub Scout Egg Launch

Thursday, July 1 was the annual Cub Scout district egg launch. The first year Ryan was in scouts, we were on vacation, so he wasn’t able to participate. Last year, I was involved with my WGU meetings, so Rara & Papa helped him make his rocket and took him to the egg launch. So, in Ryan’s three years in cub scouts, this was the first time I’ve been able to go with him.

It was hilarious! It was held at the usual location – at a park with tennis courts. The rockets were launched in the tennis courts, and I believe the idea was that they would stay within the fenced area of the tennis courts. Well, about every fourth or fifth rocket went WAY outside of the tennis court fencing. I was sitting with my friend, Kim. We quickly realized that we couldn’t chit chat until our own kid’s rocket was launched, we had to pay attention and watch the whole thing!

Several rockets went into trees. One Cub Scout leader ran around, scampering up the trees like a squirrel to retrieve the errant rockets.

Here’s one of the launchers picking up Ryan’s rocket.Ryan’s rocket waiting in line.Something happened to my camera during the launch. It acted like it was out of batteries! So I didn’t get pictures of the actual launch. Sorry! Just moments after Ryan's was launched, it was fine again! Oh well!

The park has an amazing statue of Lord Robert Baden-Powell, who founded the scouting program. We thought it would be fun for Ryan to pose in front of the Lord Baden-Powell statue (and the scout oath).

Two different patches are awarded at the egg launch event: one smiling egg, awarded to boys whose eggs stay intact; and a frowning egg with cracks, awarded to boys whose eggs crack during the launch and subsequent crash landing. Ryan earned the smiling egg last year, since his egg survived the launch intact. He really wanted his egg to break this year so he could get the other patch. He was even tempted to smack the rocket against the step as we left home.

No need. With the crazy launching this year, his egg broke. The frowny-face patch put a smiley face on Ryan!

HAST Swim Meet

On Wednesday, June 30, Ryan competed in the HAST (Hilltop Aquatic Swim Team) Red, White & Blue swim meet in American Fork. Since I was back at work, Rara & Papa took Ryan. They left at about 7:00 am to be there for warm-ups at 8:00 am.Ryan swam 4 events, the 50 Backstroke, 50 Breaststroke, 50 Butterfly, and 50 Freestyle. There were a total of 64 events, and most events had three heats, so they were there most of the day. All of Ryan’s events had between 24 and 28 kids competing.

Here are a couple of pictures of his Backstroke…

Breaststroke…The end of his Butterfly. You can see – he knew he did well! (far right)Freestyle…The meet officials were good to calculate the results quickly, so the first two sets of results had already posted by the time Ryan finished his events and they left. He placed 9th in Backstroke (and got a ribbon for that). He placed 17th in Breaststroke, but this was the first time he did this event, so I’m very proud of him for doing so well.

The most exciting news came a few days after the meet. The head coach of the team came to practice to distribute the awards. He pulled Ryan’s awards out, and he took THIRD PLACE in Butterfly! He won a BRONZE MEDAL!!! I think I’ve mentioned before that his coach calls him “Fly-man” since he does so well at the Butterfly. She was standing a few feet away when the kids were getting their awards, so Ryan was excited to go show her his medal. He said, “I won a bronze in Butterfly!” Her response was so cute – “I expected nothing less.”

Here is his “Michael Phelps Medals Pose.” He just needs seven more!

Family Reunion

On Saturday, June 26, we had our annual family reunion. This is the reunion with my grandpa’s siblings’ posterity. Only one of my grandpa’s siblings is still living, Aunt Billie. She brought some things to display that belonged to her parents and other family members.We had a great time visiting, eating, and playing.Every family came up (descendants of each sibling). Here is our family photo.Those attending from my mom’s generation, with Aunt Billie…Those attending from my generation. (Justin - far left - was a competitive swimmer through high school & college, and continues swimming to this day. He & Ryan really hit it off!)I was the oldest of my first cousins, then Jon, and then Marc. Our other six cousins are all younger than Marc. Now that we’re older, we spend more time together. When we were younger, I spent more time with two of my second cousins that are closer to my age. This is us now…Mary, Holly, and me.One of my cousins, his wife and son are currently living in my ward. They are moving to Illinois in just a couple of weeks for graduate school. It was fun to spend some time with them, too. (Nick, Kelly, and Luke Reynolds, far left.)The family reunion was held up Hobble Creek Canyon (above Springville), so it was a long day. But we had a great time together, and enjoyed catching up and seeing everyone.