June wasn't much different than May,
now that I think about it!
The last day of School was June 2nd.
Ty had his last Jr. High Assembly, so I went there very first, so I wouldn't miss a thing.
He and a bunch of his buddies and girls were doing a big dance,
and I wanted to be there.
Plus, I wanted to say goodbye to all of the educators and administration
that were so good to him while he was there!
It was a fun morning being there!
Ty danced with Kaysha Herfel.....which was a little awkward for him,
seeing as they broke off their "Friendship" :) just a few days before!
But, they both handled things that morning really great,
and I was glad it didn't make it so Ty couldn't participate in that with all of their friends.
(I'm sure he loves that I added this in, but it needed to be said! ha ha!)
It was a fun surprise to see Mr. Williams get up
part way through the assembly and call Ty up for the
District Male Track Athlete Award!
That was voted on by all of the Track Coach's in the District
and they picked Ty!
Pretty Dang Cool!
Mrs. Howard, Ty and Ms. Rivera
HOPE Squad Counselors
Ty and Mr. Powers....Assistant Principal.
He was always so supportive of Ty!
They were great friends!
Ty and Ashley Suarez
Lance, Ty and Damion
Ty was an aid in the Special needs class,
and these were two of the students he helped in class.
They loved Ty, and Ty loved them.
I witnessed many times while I was at the Jr. High,
them running to Ty for a Hi-five, or Ty seeking them out and giving them a hug!
I loved watching this!
Before the end of school last year,
I received a phone call from Ms. Rivera, one of the counselors at the Jr. High.
She informed me that Ty had been chosen to be on the HOPE Squad for his 9th grade year.
I had no idea what that even was.
She explained to me that the HOPE Squad was a school "club" so to speak,
that had been put in place to help prevent Suicide in Teens.
At the end of every year, the student body votes.
They are asked to write down a name of someone that they would want to run
into in the halls at school, if they were having a bad day and needed cheering up.
She told me that Ty had been voted on as one of those they'd want to run into!
Ms. Rivera said that she and the other counselors were so thrilled that Ty was one of them.
They were really looking forward to having him on the HOPE Squad,
and just needed my signature and Ty's acceptance.
She asked me to talk to Ty when he got home.
When I first brought it up to Ty, he was apprehensive.
He wondered if his friends would make fun of him for being part of that,
and at first didn't really want to do it.
We had a really good talk about how he had been chosen by his peers to do that,
and that he had a real opportunity to make a difference.
He was nervous, but he accepted.
I know this sounds like a total Mom thing to say,
but I was so proud he accepted and even more proud when I realized at the end
of the year, how much of a difference he had made.
His counselors told me at this closing assembly, that he made HOPE Squad a cool place to be,
and that he helped to turn around the Stigma regarding the HOPE Squad.
He had also helped a few students that they were concerned about.
They felt comfortable coming to Ty for help, and in turn, he was able to get them the
help they needed and got them in touch with the counselors.
I remember one night, walking into his room to hear
him on the phone with a girl who was struggling.
I called Ms. Rivera the next day and she was so proud of the way Ty had handled it,
and they were able to get the police over to her home to speak with her and her Dad,
to stop her from hurting herself.
I worried at one point how this would affect Ty, in having this pressure on him.....
he handled it beautifully, and Trav and I were so proud.
Once he decided he was going to be part of it,
he jumped in with both feet and really took it seriously.
I even watched him cry a few times over wanting to help these kids!
I went with him to the Suicide Walk in Ogden,
and he got to participate in many of the assemblies!
It was an awesome opportunity for him!
They wanted him on the High School HOPE Squad too, but with football and basketball,
his time was limited on the high school level.
Usually on the last day of school, I go with the kids to the Elementary,
give their teachers a gift, take pictures and say our goodbyes,
so that when school is over, I can pick the kids up and go home.
Because of the assembly that morning, I went over to Julia's classroom
at the end of the day in order to do all of that.
Julia had Mrs. Carson for her English teacher and Ms. Ren for Chinese.
Sis LOVED these two wonderful ladies!
I was so grateful to them......they are the kind of teachers you never forget!
Both of them truly helped Julia to increase her abilities with Reading and Math
this year and helped her grow so much!
I cried when we had to leave both of them as well!
It was a wonderful last day of school!
The next day, Saturday, June 3 was the day we all wait for!
The Start of High School Football!!
Garrett and Ty participated in the Ute Shoot -
High School 7 on 7 at the U of U.
It was so dang fun to watch them both play Varsity together - side by side!
Our team did awesome and made it to the 2nd round of the playoffs.
Cannot wait for the season to officially start!
The next weekend the boys were involved in the High School Basketball Camp
back down at the U of U.
They didn't stay over, like they used to at UVU camps,
which is what they usually love about these camps.
The camp was held June 8-10.
We didn't get many pictures since we were recording.....
but it ended up being a fun camp and our team did ok....
they beat Davis in the Huntsman Center...
that was worth attending the camp in and of itself! Ha ha!
Julia's Ballet Recital was Saturday, June 24 at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Grandma Davies, Dad and I all attended in the afternoon,
and then that night...
Garrett, Ty, Grandpa Randle and I attended the night performance
while Trav stayed home to watch Austy.
I LOVE watching Sis dance.
She is so beautiful and elegant.
It's so fun to see her hard work pay off.....she loves being on the stage too....
and wearing make up!
Beautiful Dancer Sis!
We are so very proud of you!
We finished the month off with one of the greatest experiences of our summer.....
the Syracuse Utah Bluff Stake
Pioneer Trek at Martin's Cove
Thursday, June 22 - Saturday, June 24th.
Early in the year, Trav and I were called to be a Ma and Pa for our ward.
I was so dang excited!!!
5 years before, I was serving as the Young Women's President in our ward,
and when I was diagnosed with MS, the Dr. wouldn't clear me to go
on trek with my young women.
I did a ton of work towards Trek and then wasn't able to experience it with my girls.
I stood at the Stake Center at 4 a.m. when they left on the bus,
and cried all day, wishing I was with them.
So.....to be able to have the chance to experience Trek with Trav
and Garrett and Ty this year was a highlight for me!
It was fun to have our Trek family over for Breakfast to get to know them better.
Trav and I had Travis Reynertson, Carter Rhodes, Dawson Padelsky, Bryson Sckenck,
Isaac Morris, Mary Sessions,Chance Heap, and Breanna Edwards in our group!
We LOVE these kids!!
In preparation to go, we were asked to search our family tree and find
a name of one of our Pioneer Ancestors to Trek in honor of.
We searched on Family Search and found some!
Trav trekked for William Seeley Lish.
William was one of those who was called upon to carry
the Prophet Joseph Smith's body from Carthage Jail after he was killed.
He also was friends with Brigham Young.
Brigham Young gave William $5.00 to purchase a new pair of shoes,
because William was so helpful to him.
I trekked for my Great - Great Grandmother through my Dad's side -
Lucy Jane Ingram Holley.
Lucy's husband James, was the captain of their Company.
Just before Martin's Cove, Lucy gave birth to a baby.
Their Company joined up with the Willie Martin Handcart company to try and help them,
and because of such, ended up getting caught on the plains in the horrible weather
with them, and then needed rescuing themselves.
They were rescued and made it to the Salt Lake Valley,
where the Prophet Brigham Young asked them to leave towards Springville,
to help settle the area down there.
Ty walked for my Great-Great Grandpa Moroni Fuller,
and Garrett Trekked for Sanford Fuller, Moroni's Brother.
Sanford came to the Salt Lake Valley with Brigham Young,
and then was called back to the Plains as a rescuer to the
Martin Handcart Company.
Through the research, I found that all 3 - Lucy, Sanford and Moroni,
were all buried in Mapleton and Springville.
Once I knew this, I couldn't get there fast enough to find their graves.
We spent a Sunday afternoon before Trek,
traveling to Springville and searching the cemeteries until we found them!
It was so awesome to see where they were buried and then to head off on Trek
and honor their memory and their sacrifice.
At first the kids weren't very thrilled to drive down there to find them,
but once we got there and began looking for them, it was fun!
We found several more of our ancestors on my dads side as well.
While we were there, we noticed some graves had a gold pioneer
memorial on them.
I wanted our ancestors to have one as well, so I contacted the
Sons of Utah Pioneers and I was able to buy 3 from them.
They arrived just before we left to Trek, so we made plans to go back
to Springville after Trek and place them.
We had to be at the Stake Center at 4 a.m. on Thursday, June 22nd.
Trav and I rounded up our Trek family and loaded the bus.
Our bus was somewhat of a nightmare ride up there!
We were weaving all over the road, making many of us sick to our stomachs!
We stopped at the Little America in Wyoming on the way for a break,
and a snack provided by the Stake,
then it was back to the busses to finish the ride to Martin's Cove.
We arrived safely to an awesome lunch before trekking out to our camp.
We sang songs the whole mile or two out to camp!
Once we got there the wind kicked up horribly....
so we had to wait it out before setting up our tents.
That night we ate dinner, and had a nice fireside, then went back
to our own little camps and had a devotional with our Trek Families.
The next morning, we trekked up to the Cove.
That was a sweet experience in there being with our boys!
Our Trek Family
Garrett's Trek Family - Ma and Pa were Bro. and Sis. Rhodes
Ty's Trek Family - Ma and Pa were Bro. and Sis. Anderson
The rest of the day was spent doing the Women's Pull.
This is one of my favorite parts of Trek.
The Boys are pulled aside and are taught about the importance
of Women in their lives, respecting them and honoring them.
The girls are taught about the Priesthood and how blessed we are to have
the men in our lives as well.
Then, the men line a steep hill on both sides,
as the women pull and push the carts up the hill by themselves.
This gives everyone the opportunity to understand what it was like
for the pioneer men and women, when the men were called off to war,
and the women were left to continue trekking to the Salt Lake Valley
on their own, until they returned and could help them, or met them in SLC.
When we made it back to camp, we had dinner and a square dance
with a tug-of-war game, stilts and stick pull games going on!
That was a fun night!
When that was all finished, letters were delivered from the Martin's Cove missionaries
to each of the Trek participants from their parents and spouses.
We were given time to go off by ourselves to read our letters,
then met back at our ward camp fires for testimony meeting.
The next morning we packed up camp, and trekked back to the visitors center.
We sang our Trek song in the cabin there and watched a video
the missionaries showed us.
As we walked out of the cabin, Garrett ran and found me and told me
I had to go back in the cabin to see what he had found!!
There, on the wall, were mine, Garrett's and Ty's Pioneer Ancestors names
we had trekked in honor of!!
That was so neat to see them honored on that wall!
We had a long bus ride home, including stopping at Rock Creek Hollow for
a devotional there!
It felt good to see Sis and Aust again and to shower!!
What a blessing it is that the Lord provides this opportunity for the youth of our church.
Our testimonies were strengthened and we are better for having experienced
some of what our ancestors did in order for us to enjoy the blessings of the Gospel!
(Our whole ward that attended Trek)
The following Sunday, we invited Grandpa Randle down to Springville with us.
It was a neat experience to show my Dad where his Grandparents and ancestors are buried.
He helped us put the Pioneer Plaques on their graves.
I was so proud to be able to do that for them.
I was even more proud to have walked where they walked.
I feel as if I know them and cannot wait to meet them one day!
It was a fun night doing that for our family members!
I can say that I truly love them, and am so grateful for their sacrifice!
What a wonderful start to our summer!
We had a busy and awesome June!
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