Fall Events

 Sports aside, it was a busy Fall!

Cameron was inducted into the National Honor Society.

Pyper Hatch and Cameron

Hannah went to Homecoming (or HoCo as the kids like to say).  She went with a few friends because the dates did not end up working out.  She borrowed a dress because we could not find one that was acceptable to both of us.  Her word to describe homecoming was "lame".  Cameron invited his girlfriend, Lizzy, to Homecoming but they could not go because Lizzy does not go to Marcos.  (I do not think this is normal but Covid related).  So, they got dressed up as if they were going, went to dinner with Moss and Pyper (who did go) and then they changed and just hung out.

Anna, Grace,  Hannah, Marley

We toured the Mesa Temple just before it was rededicated after undergoing major renovations and being closed for several years.

For Halloween, Christian and Hannah went trick-or-treating with a friends in their neighborhoods.  I did not get a picture of Hannah but I do not think I would have approved of her costume.  She was a cave woman.

We ran the Turkey Trot for the 21st consecutive year.  Despite having pre-registered, when we got there, all the timing chips were gone, so we did not get timed.  The Palmers were in town for Thanksgiving so Sarah and Ellie joined us for the run.  All the kids ran the 5K while Chuck and I ran the 10K.  It was actually not perfect weather like usual.  It was a little windy making the gradual climb a bit more challenging.  

In addition to the Palmers, Camera and Emily and their families joined us for dinner. 

Fall Sports

Sports kept us busy this Fall.  There was football for Cameron (of course), swimming for Hannah, and baseball and cross country for Christian.

Cameron played on the Varsity team and was the first string (maybe the only string) long snapper.  He also got a little playing time as a tight end.  The season had its ups and downs but mostly downs.  It started with the 7 on 7 games during the summer.  Cameron attended every practice and worked his butt off only to stand on the sidelines of those games.  As the school year began, Cameron continued to attend every practice, work his butt off while keeping his grades up (most players did not) and he continued to spend most of his time on the sideline.  There were times when he would come home quite discouraged.  The coaches would tell the kids they could not play if they were not passing, but they still did.  The coaches also said that the reward for working hard was playing time, but that did not prove to be true in Cameron's case.  But despite all this, Cameron did not want to quit and remained loyal to the team.

I made the mistake of watching a bit of practice on a couple occasions, and I was appalled at how the coaches talked to the players and the language they used.  So, it was not surprising when at the game against our neighboring school, a fight broke out that included not only players, but coaches and parents as well.  One of the Marcos's players hit one of his own coaches!  The fans were told to leave, and we figured they would call the game and the players would be right behind us. But it was a long time before Cameron got home.  When he got home, he told us they finished the game and they won.  They received a police escort to the bus and back to the school.  Yep, this is the school we are sending our kids to.  Not only were we not informed that the game would continue, but we never heard a word from the coach and nothing much was said to the players.  We did hear from the principal though.  She received an email from Chuck that warranted a phone call, not just a reply to the email.  Fortunately, we never again saw the player or his mom that were the most involved.  Unfortunately, the coaching staff remained and nothing seemed to change.  

I do admire Cameron's dedication and drive when it comes to football.  And I love that he has a passion. The biggest high of the season came when he was nominated for the All-Region 1st Team!  The players are selected by the other coaches in the region.  So, he might not get recognized by his coaches but other coaches are noticing him. 

Hannah started out the Fall season wanting to play volleyball.  She went to 2 days of try outs and had a horrible experience.  I will never really know what happened, but in addition to not being very good, she said the coach was mean and things seemed really disorganized.  I convinced her to join the swim team (there were no tryouts because the team is so small) and she ended up loving it!  I loved it too.  She did not have to sit thru study hall, the bus was always back at school when it was scheduled to be, and she was always home for dinner.  In addition, the coaches were respectful to the kids and the kids got along with the swimmers from other teams, they encouraged each other and re-connected with friends they went to grade and elementary school with.  Basically, it was the complete opposite of football.  

Hannah was awarded the most improved swimmer award.  She also lettered, which is unusual for a first-year swimmer.  She showed so much dedication and drive.  At the awards banquet, her coach said that Hannah would work to the point of pain and that most kids did not really get there until their junior year (if ever). We are so proud of her!  

Christian decided to run cross country for his school.  Everyone made the team which might the sport more appealing to him.  It was a short, intense season.  They raced every Tuesday and Thursday for about 3 weeks and practiced the other days.  All that running was hard on Christian and he complained a lot about heel pain.  I hope it was a combination of too much running and being in pivotal growth years and that he won't continue to have pain.  His fastest time was 12:45.8 with the courses being 1.5miles. But most importantly, he never let Sam beat him and that was always the goal.   He was so dedicated and worked so hard, even running thru pain.  We are so proud of him!

Christian also played Fall Ball.  He was placed on a team with a coach we had some reservations about.  But he turned out to be a great guy and a great coach.  (It might not have hurt that Chuck and I volunteered as umpire coordinators and that Christian has become friends with the coach's son).  Christian had an amazing season and after last Spring, he really needed to have some good things happen.  Christian mostly played catcher and was very successful behind the plate.  He was also successful when he was asked to pitch.  He hit almost every time he was at the plate and if not, he did not go down without swinging.  Cameron did a little umpiring, but football kept him a little too busy to do much.

Trek 2021

Every 4 years, the stakes (at least in this part of the country) in the church organize a pioneer trek.  It is designed to give the kids, ages 14+, a little taste (very little taste) of what the pioneers went thru as they traveled across the plains.  It takes a lot of people to pull this off.  Last year just before Covid hit, Chuck and I were asked to be a Ma and a Pa.  I really did not want to go.  I have so much respect and admiration for the pioneers, but I hate pioneer stories and songs.  I do not find them to be faith promoting or inspiring.  I find them to be depressing and it makes me question why the Lord made it so hard for the early Saints.  And I do not like to camp.  Before I had a chance to say no, the trek was cancelled.  Whew, dodged a bullet there.  The Trek was rescheduled for this year but Chuck and I were not asked to go.  Hannah was planning to go.  Cameron was not.  He felt obligated to stay home and play football even though it was Fall break and there should not have been a football game AND even though going on trek is a once in a childhood opportunity. 

Then two weeks before Trek, we received a call asking us to be a Ma and Pa on the Trek.  They were desperate.  Apparently, the organizers, the Turners, started with a list of 25 couples to ask.  After having to delay for a year, of the 7 couples, some were no longer able to go, so the Turners worked on another list of 25 names.  All of them said no.  They started calling bishops to ask for suggestions and our bishop gave them our names.  We were the 19th couple they called.  Chuck already had the week off and my parents were planning on being in town to help with Emily's girls so they could keep an eye on Cameron and Christian.  Even though I still had no desire to go, I felt like everything had fallen in place, making it impossible for us to say no.  Plus, I knew Chuck has always wanted to go.  I knew I needed to take one for the team.

We met at the church on Thursday morning and met our kids.  We had 8 kids (Emily, Ana, Dehlia, London, JD, Mason, Alex, Hayden) a big brother and big sister who were adults (Jeff and Sarah).  We really lucked out with our family.  We had great kids including our big brother and sister.  We drove to Forest Lakes where we assembled and packed our handcarts.  Everyone put their personal items in a 5-gallon paint bucket (which I learned we would also use as a chair) and bedding was put in a large trash bag.  We had a picnic lunch (provided by the caterer as all food was) before we hit the "trail" which was a forest access road.  It was very easy going.  We walked between 8 and 9 miles in perfect weather for the day.  We had several stops on the way where we were able to use porta-a-potties and hear pioneer stories.  At one point, we were chased off by a "mob".  When we got to camp, our tents had been dropped off by the wranglers and dinner was prepared for us.  We set up camp and had dinner and dessert as a family with a devotional before bed. 

The girls slept in a tent, the boys in another, Chuck and Jeff (big brother) slept under the stars, and I slept in my own tent.  Okay, I didn't really sleep, but attempted to sleep.  In the morning we had breakfast and hit the trail.  We probably didn't do more than about 6 miles.  We had the women's pull where only the girls were allowed to pull the cart and it probably was not more than about one quarter of a mile, but it was steeper than what we had been doing.  I think the idea is to help the girls to understand that sometimes the pioneer women did not have the help of their husbands (because they had died) and to help them understand that they can do hard things.  The problem I have with the women's pull is that it feels like the underlying belief is that women are weak.  I disagree with that.  Yes, comparatively speaking, men are physically stronger than women.  But women are not weak.  There were times during the trek that we had all our girls in the yoke and Hannah spent most of her time in the yoke.  Anyway... we got to camp in the early afternoon and the kids were allowed to wander around and participate in different pioneer activities and games like making butter and candles.  That evening after dinner the kids had a devotional with the stake president followed by a dance, where they  actually danced.  

Then it was another sleepless night for me.  The wind was blowing pretty hard, making lots of noise, but I would not have slept regardless.  In the morning we had an hour of quiet time where the kids were supposed to go off by themselves and journal, read, pray, etc.  I thought there was no way they would do this, but they actually did.  After that was a testimony meeting for the kids.  Then we packed up and hit the trail for our final day.  It was a very short hike out, maybe 2 miles.  After we go to our final destination, we took the carts apart, got our things to the car and had lunch.  We drove home and said good bye to our families.

The following Sunday we had a fireside where we listened to some speakers and watched the slide show (there were cameras, camera men and go pros all over the place). Overall, Trek was a great experience.  I was very impressed with the way it was organized and I am so glad we went.