Spiritual High

Going on a mission requires a lot of preparation! There are classes to take, videos to watch, shopping to do, shots to get, tons of interviews to have, more shopping to do, mission pictures to be taken, etc. But the most rewarding for us happened this week. On Sunday, May 19, Sawyer was ordained to the office of an Elder, and received the Melchizedek Priesthood. Then on Thursday, May 23, Sawyer went through the Idaho Falls Temple to receive his endowment. It's been a spiritual high for our family. We can already feel the blessings that come from having a missionary, and he's not even in the field yet. We're feeling very proud, overwhelmed, grateful, nervous, humble, and so many other emotions all wrapped up together. But mostly just blessed! We love you Sawyer!

Congratulations Class of 2013!

Honors Banquet

Sawyer had his honors dinner and awards banquet. He received his honors chords to wear at graduation. The best part about this was a conversation we had on graduation night. It went something like this:

Me- Sawyer, why didn't you wear your honors chords at graduation?

Sawyer- I didn't know I was supposed to.

Me- What did you think they were for?

Sawyer- I had no idea. I thought they were kind of a strange gift. Makes a lot more sense now.

I seriously about died! No one will ever be able to fill my entertainment void once he's gone!

Seminary Graduation

Sawyer has loved his four years of Seminary. It is one of the main things that has prepared him so well for his mission. He served on the seminary council his senior year. They had a nice graduation program for all the graduates. Sawyer spoke at it, and did a great job. He talked about some of his favorite seminary memories, and one thing he learned each year. The thing that touched me the most was when he said he hopes his eternal companion is a lot like Emma Smith. He has come to respect and admire her, and she is one of his heros. We're super proud of this guy! Good job Sawyer!

 Sawyer and Andrew

Bonneville Missionaries

After one of the graduation rehearsals, the kids went out to the seminary building and watched a video of all the boys opening their mission calls. These are most of the Bonneville guys who already have their calls, with so many more waiting to receive them. They are awesome guys that will be great missionaries. I can't wait to hear about all that they accomplish!

Graduation

Congratulations to the class of 2013! Sawyer graduated from High School! It's really kind of hard to wrap my mind around that. He had a great four years at Bonneville! I'm so grateful for the good kids he surrounded himself with. I will miss all the experiences that come with having a high school student, but I can't wait to see how the next few years of his life unfolds. Congrats Sawyer! We love you and are very proud of you!

Graduation announcement

All ready to graduate!

 All the guys that have already received their mission calls decorated their caps.

 The graduation march.

 Sawyer receiving his diploma!

 Throwing their caps!

 I love this picture so much! Sawyer and Andrew have been best friends since elementary school. It's crazy to think that in a few weeks they will be in different parts of the world preaching the Gospel!

 She's proud of her big brother! She has been trying not to think about him leaving, so she can enjoy each of these moments with him.

 He has a proud Grammy and Papa!

Andrew, Hailey, Sawyer, McKenzie, and Dani

I wish we could have gotten a picture of him with all of his friends, but it was cold, windy, and crazy on the field.

 Melissa and Sawyer

 Our little family. I can't imagine what life is going to be like without all four of us together.

Congratulations! Go Bees!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day felt a little somber this year. It didn't escape me that Sawyer would be graduating from High School in 2 weeks, and leaving on his mission in a month. Maybe that's why Mark went above and beyond anything I could have expected for a present! He got me a commercial treadmill! He even mounted a TV on the wall, and put up a shelf with a blue ray player! I was shocked! I've wanted one for years and years, but it's just never been a priority when I can run outside or at the gym. I LOVE it! Between me and Bailey, it definitely won't sit lonely in the basement.  Bailey also gave a talk in church and said all kinds of nice things about me :)! Our weather has been great, so Mark did a yummy BBQ for dinner. Just like usual, I was very spoiled!

Sawyer's First Job/Senior Project

Sawyer wanted to do something in broadcasting for his Senior Project. Thanks to Neil Larson, who was his mentor, Sawyer got a job as an intern at Rich Broadcasting. It was a great job, with flexible hours, and he learned a ton. He was a board operator. He loaded commercials and the weekend programs into the system, and ran the station while the djs were out on remote.

 Sawyer recording his news clip for his senior project.

 This is the board he ran.

RMMS Track

This was Bailey's first year in track, and she loved it! She had a great season! She ran the 800 meters and the 1600 meters.

Their first meet was against Sandcreek. She had no idea what to expect or how to run her races. We didn't really give her any advice other than to just have fun and get a feel for those distances. 

RMMS vs. Sandcreek:

800 meters- 2:57.5

1600 meters- 6:42

 Stretching

 Lining up for the 800 Meters.

The second meet was against Rigby and Eagle Rock.  Now that she had one meet under her belt, she knew what to expect and the jitters were gone. Holy smokes she did awesome! She dropped 7 seconds off her 800 meter time! She ran the mile in the wind and pouring rain, and still got the same time as the week before. She won both of her races.

RMMS vs, Rigby and Eagle Rock:

800 meters- 249.8

1600 meters- 6:42

We missed her third meet. It was against Sugar and Mountain View. She made big drops in her times again. Almost 3 seconds off her 800 meter time, and 10 seconds off her 1600 meters. She got second in both races.

RMMS vs. Sugar and Mountain View:

800 meters- 2:47

1600 meters- 6:32

The next meet was against Mountain View, Madison, and Eagle Rock. She got PRs in both races again. She won the 800 meters, and got second in the 1600 meters.

RMMS vs. Mountain View, Madison, and Eagle Rock:
800 meters- 2:46.2
1600 meters- 6:30

 Fighting for a win in the 800 meters.

The last meet was a 2 day conference meet. She ran the 1600 meters the first day, and the 800 meters the second day. She improved another 10 seconds in the mile and got 7th at conference. We were wishing the season was a couple weeks longer. She was improving her times every meet, and she was within range of the 800 meter school record. We knew she could get it if she had 2 more weeks. Well guess what?!? She decided to get it anyways!!! She ran an AWESOME race and just totally went for it. She dropped over 3 seconds and got the record. She got 3rd in conference.

Conference:

1600 meters- 6:20.5

800 meters- 2:42.6 (New school record)

 Final turn on the mile.

She was one happy girl! An 800 meter school record was the perfect way to end a great track season! Good job Bailey!

Senior Prom

Sawyer went to his senior prom with Dani. He wanted to go with someone fun, who he's known for a long time. She's been one of his best friends since 7th grade. To ask her, he set up a bunch of army men on her front porch. Then he put a note on her door that said, "Not even an army could stop me from asking you to the dance." And then of course he had to add one more paper that said, "Why? Because I'm Batman!" To answer him, she gave him a big Hulk action figure and said, "Hey Batman, you may have an army but I have a Hulk! And he gets very angry when I say no! So yes, I will go to prom with you!"

For their day date they went to Blastoff and played laser tag, golf, video games, and whatever else they have there, and then got pizza for lunch. 

 They came home and got all done up for the evening. They went to Jakers for dinner, then the dance, then to Sean Harker's house for dessert.

 Their flowers turned out so good.

 Dani and Sawyer

You should see how many goofy pictures we got before we actually came up with this cute one :)!

It was a bittersweet night. Prom was kind of a wake up call for him that High School was almost over. I think it hit him kind of hard that this chapter of his life is coming to an end. It went by WAY to fast for all of us!