MARK'S MEETING, LITTLE MERMAID AND FISHING

FIVE THINGS WE LEARNED IN DISNEYLAND ABOUT TEENAGE BOYS

1.  Boys don’t put the lid down.

2.  Full is not in their vocabulary.

3.  Anything is better than waiting.

4.  Boys feet stink.

5.  Mother’s food tops all.

clemantis

Sunday was a wonderful day.  We went to Eagle Mountain for church to hear Elder Mark Cochran give his report.  It was so good.  Wow!  

He taught the Doctrine of Christ so well and gave such a good report, not of his mission but of his growth in the gospel and his knowledge of our Savior and the Holy Ghost. 

 It was powerful.  The Bayles and Cochran families filled half of the cultural hall.  The place was full clear to the back.  The priesthood had to set up more chairs.

After church we went to Neptune Park for dinner.  What an incredible park.   Sherrie had plenty of food and everyone seemed to bring even more.   I took pictures but didn’t get everyone.  I’m posting them but just pictures; not much in the way of stories.  It was an extremely windy day but it kept us cool.

Bruce, Cory and Neldon Cochran

Erin and David

Robert, wife  and oldest son

youngest son

Sheri and Steven

Stephen, Bruce, Cory, Neldon and I don't know who is who

Uncle Mark's

Uncle Mark and Aunt Kay

Ty, Addie, Debi

Hal

Kyle and Christianna

Uncle Lyman and Aunt Jean

kids

The playground at this park was unbelievable.  It had toys I have never seen and just so many things for many children.  The kids played and played.  I didn't even get many pictures but it was still fun.  When I saw Nixon on the whatever I had to take pictures.  It was enormous and very high.  It was like a giant jungle gym with netting in places.  I guess Ava climbed clear to the top.

Beth and Nixon

After an absolutely great day with tons of family , we went to SLC to see Milt.  Again, he looked so good.  He visited with us for about an hour again and was even smiling.  I called Del so Milt could talk to him and both of them were so glad to hear each other.  Milt loves that his name is on several temple rolls and he feels the prayers.  He is now on solids and just cried when he said the sweetest thing he has tasted was the sacrament.  He is a very humble man and knows it is the tender mercies and prayers that have kept him alive.  He still has  much more to go, but he is grateful for where he has come.  They are going to take him out of MICU so he is getting better.  Thank you so much for your prayers.

Lily turned 9 on Tuesday.  She is such a sweet little girl.  She has a smile that can melt ice.   She loves her family and anything she can do with them.  She is especially good with children and loves to tend for her aunts or anyone who needs her.  She is anxious to be in fourth grade next year and will do very well.  We are looking forward for the time when we get to take her on a trip.  She will be so much fun.

Wednesday Bethany and Shanelle picked me up at 12:30 and we headed for St George and our ladies' 3 days party.  It was a fun trip and we loved getting to our condo when the other 2 cars got there.  Dianne and girls were first with Tiffani and Kristin a close second.  Kristin had to have David take her to Charlotte NC to fly to Houston, then San Francisco and then on to Las Vegas for Tiffani to drive her and Baylie to St. George.  What a long flight but they made it.
We unloaded our cars and headed to Pizza Factory for dinner.  We had so darn much fun.  It was fun to be with every girl in the family.  

After dinner we headed to Toucan for "The Little Mermaid" production.  It was amazing. 

They had to wait for it to get darker.

 The girls were so happy and glued to the stage.  It really was good and so much fun. 

 It didn't end until after midnight so we were very late getting to bed.  The girls went immediately and fell asleep.  Not so the daughters.  They talked until 2:30.  I couldn't go to bed for fear they might say something I would miss out on.  Boy are they fun.
We got up when we wanted Thursday and let the girls swim to their hearts desire.  They had so much fun and played under a waterfall and in the hot tub. 

watching a ladybug

 We went to Paradise Cafe for lunch and then off on a huge and long shopping spree.  Never did I shop with my girls like they did.  It was a marathon but again, so much fun.  Everyone ended happy. 

 We went back to the pool and chips and dip for dinner.

How Mermaids shower.

After putting the girls to bed the daughters again talked 'till 2:30.  Bethany started us off with a game of questions and must say I learned a lot.
We got up Friday morning, cleaned the condo and headed out for home. 

time to say good- by

 Kristin flew from St. George to Denver, to DC and then after waiting for a flight to Columbia, flew at 2:30 AM to Savanah, Georgia where David picked her up at 4:00 AM and drove all night getting in at 9.  The rest of us had a much easier time.  All in all we can't wait to repeat it next year.
While we were in St. George, the boys spent time with Granddad camping, fishing and catching chipmunks.  He will add what they did here.

While the girls were away in St. George,  the boys went on a little camping trip to Deer Creek reservoir.  I took the pop up trailer up on Wednesday and set up camp.  Unfortunately, I discovered that the reservations I had made were for the following week.  Fortunately, there were plenty of campsites available, so I was able to salvage the camping trip. 

I set up the trailer and walker around a little and checked out the campsite.  Erik and his boys came up in the afternoon. 

 We lounged around camp for awhile then went over to a place called the sailboat beach and I tried to fish and the boys swam a little. 

 It was windy and the water was cold so we gave it up and we went back to camp.  I told the boys how I used to catch chipmunks with a a box, a stick and a string with some nuts for bait.  (Somebody also told them how I took it to church!  But fortunately, we never caught one we could keep, so we didn't have to worry about a repeat of that episode.) We found some equipment, and they began their "trapping".  They had a great time.  Clark, and his boys got there about eight o’clock, and we had dinner.  We sat around and talked about books they had read.  (Cheaper than shopping in St. George!)  It was fun to just sit around and visit. 

We slept eight of us in the trailer.  Asher told Erik he “didn’t want to sleep in the trailer with Grandad because he makes loud noises”.  Thanks a lot family. 

Clark and Riley had to leave  early in the morning, and Jonny stayed with me.  The boys spent the morning trapping chipmunks.  They caught a couple, but they got away. 

 We took the boys fishing , but we didn’t have any luck.  Asher did throw a lot of rocks in the water.   Erik ‘s crew provided lunch. (Shanelle’s contribution)  It was tasty.  After lunch, Erik and his boys had to go home.  Jonny and I continued to try and catch some chipmunks.  We caught one, but it got away when we tried to put it in a bag.  We went to Heber City to buy a few groceries.  Jonny fell asleep and had a good nap.  (So did I!) 

We stopped at Granny’s for a shake.  After our shopping, we went back to camp and waited for Scotty and Nixon and for Clark and Riley.  We had another enjoyable evening around the fire.  More talk about books read by the boys.  Tyler, Ashely’s husband  joined us for dinner. 

Friday, Clark and his boys headed home.  Scotty, Nixon and I went fishing again.  We finally had a little success.  I caught a nice trout, and Scotty “had one that got away”.  Nixon wanted to swim.  He is not afraid of anything.

We had lunch, and then packed up the trailer and headed for home.  Although  nothing really noteworthy happened, we had a great time just being together and enjoying the fire and the company.  I love being with family.

We got up at 6 AM to head to Jordanelle for the triathalon.  The boys did so well.  Erik did the sprint and came in 8th in his age group and 15th overall.  Clark and Scott did the Olympic and Clark came in 2nd in his age group and came in 13th overall.  Scott did very well for his first Olympic.  It was so fun for all. 

Clark out of water with encouragement

Erik out of water

Scott out of water with encouragement

Erik and Scott on bike
missed Clark

                                   

Erik run

Clark's run 

second loop

Scott coming in with Ava and Nixon

Clark 2nd place winner

                                   

three brothers

winners

                                 Scott and Family had to head home after but the rest of us went to the Summit Inn for pizza.  What a fun time.

waiting

We left Kamas to go to SLC to see my brother, Milt.  He is doing much better.  They did amputate again just below the knee.  He is out of ICU but very weak.  He is trying so hard to be positive.  We arrived home very tired but still did some laundry.  
Our life seems to be full and we love every minute.  We love our family and the sealing power of the priesthood in the temple of our God.  The restored gospel is so true and we love the teachings of our prophets who teach us what we need to know to continue on our learning to endure to the end.

DISNEYLAND WITH RILEY AND PARKER

Riley and Parker chose for their trip with Grammy and Granddad, Disneyland.  Shocker!  We flew out of Provo which was so nice.  Erik picked us up June 1^st at 8:30 AM. We were all so excited.  Riley had spent the night with Parker so they could be close.  Our flight was wonderful.  It was a full flight.  We arrived in Los Angeles and went straight to the Super Shuttle which took us to the Castle Inn Hotel.  

Riley

We checked in and went straight to Down Town Disney.  The day before we left I had dropped a huge window grate on my feet and was afraid I wouldn’t be able to walk well but all was perfect.  (Of course the cortisone shot and the steroid pills didn’t hurt.)  We started at the Lego store to see what was on display.  It was amazing.  We have no idea how they make such incredible formations.

  The Innovemtions (in Tomorrowland) was also interesting. (This actually occurred later in the week, but so what.)

 It was just fun to be together.  Parker was our guide and took us to every souvenir store there.  Later we ate at Tortilla Joes and had such good meals.  We finally went to our room and turned in for the night. 

Monday we got up early so we could get to the park when it opened.  I awakened them with the BYU fight song.  They loved it I’m sure.  We had a devotional 2 of the 4 days.  Slipped up on 2 of them.

 They wanted to do Disneyland the first day and went right to the Jungle Ride and then souvenir shops. Remember when Parker was little and kept his eyes glued to the map all day?  Now he was glued to my phone for 4 days (traded a map for an "ap") and knew every souvenir shop and what was in each one the entire time. He continually reported on the facts of the park and life without even taking a breath.  We got such a kick out of him.  Riley is now filled with such knowledge.  We did every ride they wanted and were thrilled when they got granddad wet on the log ride.  We love Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion and Thunder Mountain Railroad.  Riley went on Indiana Jones and we just did everything we wanted. 

 Parker insisted we do the Winnie the Pooh ride.  I have great memories of the little girls on that ride. 

See how excited Riley is?

I have no idea about this picture.

We never had to wait in a line for very long.  We ate anything we wanted whenever we wanted.  We had their wonderful corn dogs for lunch.  We love those.  We went back to the hotel for a rest (The boys were tired and wanted to swim. We way out did them,)  We went back in the park and played, watched the parade and stayed for Fantasmic.  We all loved that show.  We ate at Captain Kidds which was not very good food.  We dropped into bed. The boys were almost asleep before family prayer.  What a great day.

Tuesday they decided to do California Adventure.  Again I awakened them with my beautiful singing. The minute we got in Parker guided us to the Radiator Springs Racers fast pass line. It was a 55 min wait so it was good to get a fast pass. 

have no idea where this is

 We then went on Soaring over California, Riley insisted we do this ride, which had no line at all.  We all loved that ride.  

Riley went alone on this ride.  He got a headache.  Go figure.

Riley did this ride in honor of his sisters.  He styled Parker's hair.

The boys went on the California Screamin’ 3 times.  I think they were a little dizzy after that.  There is no way I can tell all the things we did in this blog but believe me we did all we wanted and then some.  Radiator Springs is worth going to if one did nothing else. 

 It so reminded us of San Juan and the beauty of the red rock cliffs there. 

no idea when or where I took this picture

 It was Parker’s 13^th birthday and I got him a pin that said Happy Birthday so everyone he passed wished him a Happy Birthday.  We think he still missed his family.  He is such a fine young man who wants and tries so hard to do the right things.  We are so proud of the way he looks after us.  He was always stopping to make sure we were okay and that we didn't need anything. 

hair by Riley

 He excels in school and gets all A's.  He loves taking different kinds of classes and wants to know something or everything about all things.  His love is football which he also does well.   He knows the ins and outs of that game.  We love watching him.  He honors his priesthood which is most important to us and he loves his family which was shown by how important the right gift was for each one.  
We did the other rides there and even went on Tower of Terror. 

 Parker was so tipsy from Screamin’ he didn’t do the tower. Again the boys were tired so we went back to the hotel for our daily rest. (Which we were grateful for) When we went back we told him we would eat wherever he wanted for his birthday. 
 He chose Flo’s Cafe and boy was that a great meal. 

 It was just like home cookin’  Again we did whatever they wanted and Parker took us to all the gift shops.  He was constantly on my phone seeing how long the waits were and what gift was the right one for his brothers.  Those two boys were so kind, polite and fun the entire time.  It was rewarding just to be with them.  Both boys ran into families from home while in the park.  We did some more Radiator Springs.

 We had passes to the World of Color that evening and it was also amazing.  After the show we headed back to the hotel.  I think Riley was asleep before his head even hit the pillow.

The last day they decided to go to California Adventure first and then end the day with Disneyland. 

The boys wanted to try something different. Right!

It was not crowded at all so we did all we wanted and then went back to Disneyland.  Another corn dog, Mickey pretzels, ice cream, junk from home and our favorite Dole pineapple drinks, more junk food and just fun.  We did Star Tours 4 times in all and loved every second.  We even went on the Peter Pan ride.  We did Pirates again and visited every gift shop again.  I even bought something.  

The boys were really tired so we headed back to the hotel to rest and swim.  We did more in Disneyland and then headed to Down Town Disney again.  Gosh we loved everything.  We ate at the ESPN Zone while we watched the hockey game.  Parker order a hot dog that was bigger than him.  It was half a pound and covered his plate.  Riley ordered a hamburger that he could not get his mouth around.  

We think Parker could have finished his hot dog if he hadn’t had 4 glasses of Power Aid, and all his French fries first. 

unfinished

 He was headed to the boys room before we left.  We laughed our heads off.  That boy can eat all day.  We were shocked that Riley finished all his dinner and many drinks. 

After we finished our meal.

 We took the monorail back to Disneyland and told the boys we were going back to the hotel but they wanted to stay until the park closed.  Before we even got to the hotel they called to say they were too tired to stay so we all went back together.  I don’t know how we could have had more fun.  What great memories we have of these two young men and the time we were able to spend together.  We love them so much.
Something to cheer you is the new prices at Disneyland.   Ouch!

We had a time stuffing all the souvenirs in our bag but we made it.  We had to juggle things to be within our weight at the airport the next morning but all ended well.  Erik met us at the airport and we went to our house to get things straight and then they headed to Erik’s.

I was thinking about the wonderful time we had with two such prepared young men when I thought of Helaman's stripling young warriors.  They had been taught in their youth to serve the Lord and follow the teachings of their parents.  They did not waver when needed to leave home and fight for their homes families and their God.    I felt such tender yearnings as I thought of the mothers and fathers who sent their sons to fight grown men.  How hard that must have been.  We honor them and the example set for us to strengthen our faith in our Savior. These two young men are of the same caliber. They have been taught while yet in their youth. They are sons of God and will always follow Him.  They love their Savior, Jesus Christ, and their families.  They will help in bringing the world His truth.  We love them so much. 

We met the three boys and their families a few hours later at Deer Creek Reservoir so Clark. Erik and Scott could swim in preparation for their tri next weekend. 

Clark, Scott, Erik

We just brought our own food and played in the water and had a great time.  Even Ashley and Tyler were there.

Asher and Nixon after a swim

 Friday we got up and spent 5 hours in the garden.  There were more weeds than veggies.  We were so tired.  We then went to SLC to see Milt.  He was so improved.  He talked to us for an hour.  He is off all machines and doing much better.

Saturday we got up early and worked in the yard again. 

lunch break

 The boys came to mow the lawns and we tended Ava and Nixon so we had a huge water game and they shot each other with water guns. 

 What a fun time.  We love being with family.  It is the great plan our Father in Heaven has freely given us if we but live the Doctrine of Christ.  We love our family and the restored gospel.  It blesses us daily.