BYU bound

The day Trey has been waiting for finally arrived.  He's officially a college student at BYU!!!  Trey was made for BYU.  There couldn't be a better fit.  We are still struggling to let go, but seeing how happy he is sure makes things easier.  He loves his roommate, has met TONS of new people and it has pretty much been a party from the time he stepped into the dorms.  The first night he stayed there he was out with people he just met until 1:30 a.m.  His favorite activity so far: sledding on cardboard boxes in a rainstorm.  Classes started this week and he loves his schedule.  David and I felt so grateful to be able to see him integrate into his new surroundings, meet some of his new friends, and see how ready he was for it all.

 The Sunday before Trey left all the aunts/uncles/grandparents, who have been such an important part of Trey's life since birth, spent some time together and shared memories of Trey and gave him advice.  It was such a special night and I know he will never forget it.  We liked it so much, the night before Trey left for BYU we had the kids give Trey some advice as well.  Here's what they said:

Connor:  Think hard.  And when you go bowling get higher than a 60. (he still remembers visiting the bowling alley in the Wilk and considers it a big bonus to attending BYU)

Tanner:  Study a lot, because tests are hard.  My teachers told me that.  And be nice like you always are.  And study

Sydney:  If there's an emergency, go to Brad's house.

Allie:  Have fun, date a lot, don't study past midnight

Trey at the bookstore

home sweet home

The Canon Center Cafeteria = all you can eat ice cream

Helaman Halls

And the HUGE extra bonus to taking Trey out to BYU is getting to see more family!!  A big thank you to the Lehi and Provo Barbers for letting us stay with you.  Thanks for helping make this transition easier and thanks in advance for taking over as surrogate parents!  We love you!

first day of school 2011

 "Mom, can you make sure my hair isn't puffy?"

 "This is my favorite back-to-school outfit I've had so far!"

"mom, I need new shoes!"

After all her excitement of driving to school on the first day, Allie forgot to pick up a parking permit....She did get one the next day!

Wisdom Teeth

Trey, 30 min. post surgery, still loopy and unknowingly drooling frosty all down his chin

This was the summer of getting your wisdom teeth.  Pretty much all the teenagers in our ward from the ages of 16 to 18 got their wisdom teeth out this summer, Trey and Allie included.  I was completely impressed with the system in place for getting them out.  They think of everything nowadays (steroid packs that practically eliminate swelling, wrap around your head ice packs) and it really is a pretty simple event.

Allie went first because she wanted to get it over with as soon as possible.  Trey had a busier schedule and finally got it done this week.  Allie did really well with recovery except for the dry socket!  (the Dr. said there is no real science as to what causes this, except that suction, say caused by a drinking a smoothie king with a straw bought 2 days after surgery, could be a possibility) I have to commend her on handling the pain.  I have often heard people say that a dry socket is the worst pain they have experienced.  Allie really was a trooper with the whole experience.  She had to go in 3 times to get the incision cite packed with clove gauze.

Trey only had 3 wisdom teeth. While Allie was a little frustrated and agitated coming out of the anesthesia, Trey on the other hand was talkative and happy.  Although I talked to him on the way home, picked up a frosty upon his request, he later said he didn't remember any of that.  I was talking to him as we went through the drive thru and then a few minutes later he "whoa, I don't remember getting that!" He kept repeating himself to me, which was quite entertaining.  For example, He was eating his frosty at the kitchen counter, and mumbled "oh, if I didn't already tell you this, thanks for the frosty mom".  Then he would just smile at me while I tried to hide my laughter and told him he just thanked me 5 minutes ago.  He also told me "oh, I do remember one thing, Dr. Brooks said I would recover faster than Allie".  (he was right...he went on a date the next night and is completely off pain pills on day 2)  Then about 10 minutes later he said the exact same thing to me with no recollection of saying it before.  When he asked me for the 3rd or 4th time if he woke up in the car because he didn't remember walking out to the car, I started thinking how this is what it would be like to live with some who had short term memory loss.  He also had 5 visitors within the first 30 minutes of being home, so they got to enjoy some of the goofy Trey as well.

Oak Island 2011

We celebrated the 4th of July at the beach again this year at Oak Island.  With perfect beach weather, great company (the CRUZES!), lots of good food, and lots of Dominion tournaments, it was the perfect week.

Scott started something that I'm sure will be a continued tradition at the beach....night crab catching.  He took the kids down to the beach one night with one flashlight, a bucket and a net.  When they all came back to the beach house, no one could stop talking about catching crabs.  There was this awesomely spooky heat lightening that night, so that, combined with crabs darting toward you in the dark was pretty exciting.  We all went the next night and it was just as exciting as the kids described.  David held the flashlight, Trey held the net and caught any poor crab that happened to come across our beam and then Scott would pick it up and put it in the bucket.  The best part was when the kids would gather around the net watching when all of a sudden the crab would get away and go right toward them, sending everyone, including me, screaming and running.  I wish I had some pictures of that adventure.

 Afton became everybody's friend!!

My favorite beach moment was when Sydney surprised me by buying me an icee on the beach with her own money.  And then she wouldn't let anyone take any bites of it. (:

Last year Trey and Lydia became beach buddies.  I'm not sure it happened, but Lydia always hung out with Trey in the water.  This year it seemed like Lydia remembered this and they has some more Lydia/Trey beach time.

CHOPPED, Father's Day Edition

Sydney has been a avid viewer of the show "chopped" forever.  And she has been begging me to let her do a "chopped" competition for just as long.  When the Langford's blogged about doing one, I knew I could no longer put it off.  We decided to do a special Father's Day version.  So the competition began.  The mystery ingredients that were required to be used in their desserts were:  Peanut butter, frosted flakes and cinnamon.

Meet the contestants:

TEAM ALLIE/SYDNEY

TEAM TREY/TANNER:

Final Products:
Can you tell which one belongs to who?  The boys made a chocolate cake with straight peanut butter for icing.  They used the cinnamon in the cake mix and made a smiley face out of the frosted flakes and some marshmellow cream on top.  The girls made chocolate cupcakes and mixed the peanut butter with cream cheese frosting and using it inside the cupcake and on top with frosted flakes as a crumble.  They also made a smootie with various melted chocolates drizzled on top.  Connor helped David and I judge......and the winner was........ the girls.

Congratulations to the chefs!

Taylor Swift Concert!

Taylor Swift has been a long time favorite in our house, so we were so excited to be able to get tickets to her concert in Knoxville.  It's so nice to be able to attend a wholesome concert with your teenagers and see the smile never leave their faces the whole night!

                                                   Eating at Tomato Head before the concert