3K, Culinary Fest, Firepit and Swim weekend!

My little plant helper

If you're not living in St. George, and more precisely, our school district, then you've been unaware of the hardships going on!

In the last year the high school has had two strange deaths; a boy who drowned and later in the year a girl who was crushed when a sand hole collapsed in on her.

In the last two months at the intermediate school there have been two 12 year old girl suicides.

And in the last several weeks, at the elementary level a teacher lost her husband to a blood clot following a surgery and at another school a 10 year old boy died after a severe peanut allergy reaction.

Friday, the little boys and I did a memorial 3k at Nathans school for the teacher who lost her husband.  We raced (walked with vigor) around the track 10 times to qualify for the 3k distance, and then did one more 'victory lap' This was so that Nathan could complete his 'mileage club' punch card and collect his '25' laps charm for his charm necklace.  I'm proud of the little squirt for participating in this program.  And I was proud of his attitude about "helping someone who needs some help."  Sweet little Ashton slept for almost the entire event, which was surprising to me.  I thought he'd want to run with all the kids, but he wisely chose to close his eyes and let me stroll him in the comfort of the stroller.

A Thank you note for Summer Shepherd

After our 3K event we went to the Culinary Festival at the Vernon Worthern Park.  There were about 30 booths offering tasty shares of their wares.  The boys bounced in the bounce houses (Ashton was awake by then) for about 45 minutes before relenting to taste Shakes from The Iceberg and cinnamon rolls from Toblers bakery.  Tickets were a dollar a piece, and each food item was a certain number of tickets.  For $10 we had quite a variety and amount of food.  Worth a repeat sometime! We had some pizza and ravioli and made it home right behind Shane.

Hop like a frog and measure the distance using spoons for a homework assignment

Saturday, with the weather calm, I thought it might be fun to roast hotdogs for lunch.  So we prepped the fire pit and had a little outside picnic!  We added oranges, chips and capri sun to our meal.  We do some big-boy pants training in the mornings - so in the fire pit pictures you'll see Ashton stripped down to his big-boy underwear.

After the picnic, we though it might be nice to go for a swim.  Ashton was determined and insisted on going down large indoor water slide.  I had my doubts, considering how much he dislikes carnival rides and swings at the park.  I walked him to the very top of the stairs, anticipating he'd change his mind.  He surprised me, he still wanted to go and even gladly put on a life vest in order to stay within the rules!  He rode with me and loved it!  And wanted to go again and again and again!  And he would've have continued to go down, I'm SURE, except that by then the sunburn on his back was stinging him and the little nerve endings were driving him crazy. I imagine it had to do with being in the chlorinated water.  I held him and rocked him and sang to him while Nathan did a few more activities, then we showered up and made it home in time for a lengthy nap.

Next day at church, Shane was called as 2nd councilor in the Elder's Quorum.  I was a very strange visitor to the Priesthood meeting as he was sustained and set apart. 

That's the news from Petty's Place as of late!

Fun Stuff: Horse Races, Soccer, Art Festival!

The Petty's have been doing fun stuff!  I've been pretty motivated to GET OUT THERE and experience fun things with the kids.  I really making an effort to MAKE IT HAPPEN!  They'll be children for not very long, and, as we all know, life happens quickly.  I've got the "Don't save something for a special day.  Every day is special" mentality.  On that note, we've been doing some special stuff!  (Sadly, Shane can't join us for all of it, but we're happy to share pictures and experiences later!)


The Horse Races:
Saturday, April 6, the boys' only request was that we went to a park. And maybe get a burger.  I had bigger aspirations.  I wanted to go to the races!  Lucky for us - the Dixie Downs track over in Hurricane would provide EVERYTHING we needed!  We loaded up a whole hour before post time.  The fair grounds come with a lovely little playground right in the center of the grounds.  So we played there for about 40 minutes or so. Check!  The Lions Club was selling hamburgers on a flame grill.  Delicious.  Check! We sat down to eat with the first race starting about 4 minuets later.  We stayed and watched four horse races! Check! Check! Check!  The boys made fast friends with the people sitting behind us.  They brought three toy breed dogs with them.  The boys were in doggie petting heaven!!  About 2:00, I could see that Ashton's attitude would soon dissolve into tantrum and tired, so we packed up and headed home, with BOTH boys fast asleep before I hit the freeway entrance!

Enjoying the burger.

My Carbavoir eating "the bread."

The racers!

Us checking out the starting gates.

Modeling his rock in the parking lot.

 Later that evening, after naps and getting going again, Shane and I were working on unplugging sprinkler heads in the lawn.  The boys took the express opportunity to run wildly through the water again and again and again.  They were like drowned rats at the end of the evening.

General Conference day.  After a delightful meal of Chicken Paprikash and cous cous, with grapes, the boys started cleaning up dishes for me.  Lunch was late and conference was starting.  Through the magic of Dish Network, Sling link, and a Smart Phone, the boys watched LIVE streaming TV through Shane's phone as they did dishes!! If you squint, you can see Mo Tab singing on his phone!!  This is an AMAZING day and age, isn't it?!

Soccer has begun again for NQ.  He's still playing up a division, so he can play with his primary friends.  So he's the youngest kid on the team.  The rest are all 1st graders. They're all improved over last year.  And Nathan is FAST!  However, he's got to reverse everything he's learned about social interaction!!!  Yes, it's okay to take the ball away from someone.  Yes, it's okay to kick it away from the other team.  Yes, it's okay to be in someone's personal space...etc.  He's such a cute little midget. He gets up and down the field in record speed, just never for the ball!  I don't care, he enjoys his friends and being there.

I LOVE the view from the soccer fields!

 The Art Festival:
A week after the horse races, we hit the Kayenta Art Festival.  They have local artists and high school students making Phenomenal art work on the ground with chalk pastels.  The one directly to the right of Nathans head in the picture below was so beautiful, I wish I'd taken a picture.  

Luckily for the kids, an artist had outlined this very large piece that the general public was allowed to help with!  The artist in charge put you in a spot and told you what colors she wanted it, and away you went!

The "Let's save the desert Tortoise" foundation (not the real name) was there too, with some live tortoises.  This was Ashton's favorite place to visit. he loved the tortoises and spent most of the time there - until finally he was making a nuisance of himself   by trying to share/feed his toys to them.  They came right over to investigate, so once it was apparent that they would LIKE to take a taste of plastic snowboarder, there was no discouraging my three year old from complying.  He was NOT happy about leaving the shelled ones.

 We came to the festival with our friends down the street again, so Nathan and Ethan colored their little hearts out.  They were a colorful mess when all was done!

Nathan is standing over the red area that he, Ashton and I worked on.  After coloring, we sat down and watched a group of girls singing and dancing on a little stage.  Nathan found a little friend from school and sat and talked with her.  They were shy and cute as they sat by each other, excited to see each other away from the classroom.

We probably would have stayed a little longer, but I was finally motivated by fear to get my Relief Society lesson organized and finished for the next day. (It went well.  So I hear.) I think all you have to do is mention the word trial and women start to cry.  But I did my best to focus on the SUNSHINE and strength we receive through trial...and I had some great quotes.  So that was good :)

Keep tuned, like I said at the beginning, I really want to have the everyday be a special day! 

Easter Time!

Easter Time:
We celebrated for a whole week!  We started getting into the spirit of Easter by dying Easter Eggs.  I did the 'bake them in the oven at 325 for 30 minutes' technique, and it worked beautifully!

We went to an Easter egg hunt and craft day that one of the mom's from Kindergarten had set up. The kiddos loved that.  They made little 'baskets' dyed an egg, followed the bunny footprints, had a chalk coloring contest outside and ended up with a little egg hunt with prizes.  That was fun.

The local grocery store had a coloring page to color, and when it was returned they got some eggs filled with candies.  The boys enjoyed seeing the 'bunny girl' and getting candy.

We also started a puzzle that we found in the "Friend" church magazine.  Everyday you did a Christ centered activity: sing a song, read a scripture, draw/color a favorite story of Jesus, etc.  When the picture was completed it was of the empty tomb with Mary and Peter looking in with the message, "He has risen." The kids enjoyed doing a puzzle piece everyday. 

On Easter Sunday, the bunny dropped by another egg hunt and some gifts including some summer outfits, some 'finger lights', a punching ball, and some beautiful artworks for their bedrooms.  Each got a picture of Christ, a temple picture and a Book of Mormon "Hero" poster. 

Our bare walls are still bare.  I would love to paint and decorate, I just haven't completed any sort of scheme yet.  So one day, things will be decorated.  Maybe.  But this gift helped get the boys walls a little life.

After church we went to the Shepherd's house where a feast was held! Ham, "Happy anytime potatoes" (not funeral) rolls, jam,  fresh green beans, jello salad Easter eclairs and cupcakes were happily devoured.  Then Summer Shepherd had done a special egg hunt for the boys.  They loved the lizards and mini sports balls hidden in the big eggs! Seriously, the lizards have been a huge hit, for weeks!  I find them everywhere!

Mindy played the harp, the guys talked about Dish Network service and "the Walking Dead" and we just enjoyed having some nice family time together!

Great - GREAT Holiday!