Go Ninja, Go Ninja, Go!

Tonight we had our stake camp rally. The pictures say it all.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Today was camp rally practice and I must say it went well. Our skit and dance are just adorable. All of the girls have put in a huge effort to make it great. Millie is lucky to be a first year during the summer of 2008. I have LOTS to do to be ready for next Tuesday. Joe and Doug are also going to camp (a boys' camp in California that is) and then straight on to a lacrosse tournament in Newport Beach. So all of us, save Bret, have to be ready for a week of camping by Friday. All of our gear will be heading up to the mountain to be set up Saturday. Jenna and Bret will be going to visit their Mom on Wednesday and Thursday this week, so that means I have til 5 tomorrow night to get all Jenna's camp gear out and looked over to make sure she is not in need of anything. Last year when she got home we decided to keep all of her stuff in one spot in the shed, but I can't remember if she needed a new something or other and any additional supplies. Since Doug is not going up this year I won't have Mr. Honey Do to do things for me. I have been so spoiled these last 4 years with him up there all week. He was such a huge part of camp for the girls and was a huge help to me. He would get all of our fire wood stacked and light a fire for us every night, carry down our trash, bring us treats at night, put up a hammock for us etc. He just did everything up there, from giving homesick girls blessings, to helping cook meals, to setting up tents to running through camps at night playing tricks right along with the rest of us! The best part was just having him there. Each year he would do a special fire side about 'covenant keepers' that made a huge impact on the girls. Ya, ya I know I am bragging about him a little, but why not? He is worthy of much praise. Anyhow, Doug or no Doug, we are almost ready to head out into the woods.
Tonight we had our camp fun night at Dee's. We sang and ate pizza and practiced the dance one last time. Tomorrow night is rally! Wish us luck.

Provo/ Salt Lake 2008

Y trip 2008

Just back from our annual trip to the Y for sports camps. This is a trip Dee and I have been doing for a few years now. The first year, just Joe and Johnson were old enough to attend, so Dee and I did a week long Provo/ Salt Lake trip with the 6 younger kids while the boys camped. The next year, we put Bret and Sam in a Cubs Lax program where we had to pick them up each afternoon and drop them off each morning while the older boys attended the overnighter. Last year we were back to just the older boys at camp, but this year Both sets of boys were able to attend the overnight camp, Jenna went to Volleyball camp with Hannah and Mary and Quincy went to EFY. Dee and I were on our own with just Millie and Em for the week and it was oh so much fun!

This post will be a long one as I give you a snapshot of each day. We left Vegas last Sunday after church and traveled up for the better part of the day. The kids broke into groups, the girl car and the boy car. I ended up with the girl car. Lucky us, we had the use of a friends house, so we were able to pile all of the kids into their huge basement for the night before drop off.

MONDAY: Morning came quickly for our house filled with late night chatter bugs. Off we went to BYU for check in with the sleepy, but excited crew. Did I mention we not only had our 8 children, but two extras who rode up with us and another friend we were to meet up with at the Y. We dropped off the boys and girls and after about 3 hours of getting all eleven of them situated in their dorm rooms we headed over for some lunch and a little shopping at bookstore. Here is a picture of Millie with all the loot!

Later that day we snuck back to campus where I shot some photos of Bret and Joey playing our on the fields. Lucky I was there. As I snapped some pictures of Joe I watched as he took a poke check through his helmet. The hit caused his contact to pop outs, a nice gash just outside of his eye and a shiner for the next few days. Later we drove up to Sundance and visited Bridal veil falls. Just breathtaking. We ended the day at our favorite Provo eatery; Brick Oven.

TUESDAY: Tuesday was our busiest day of the trip. We got up and headed to Hoggle Zoo in Salt Lake, went over to This is The Place park, went on to U of U to check out the campus, and toured Temple Square for the billionth time. We even took a carriage ride to Memory park and back to the Temple. We ended the day with a shopping trip to the Gateway mall and dinner at California Pizza Kitchen. I could not believe we fit it all in in one short day!CAN YOU BELIEVE THE TONGUE!

WEDNESDAY: Wednesday was Seven Peaks day for the entire crew. All of the sports camps at BYU spend an evening at this wonderful waterpark. Dee and I headed over at about 11 with the girls and met up with our kids later. We told all of the kids they could act like we were not there if they wanted to be on their own but they all chose to come and hang out with us. They brought all their new pals along with them! That night, keeping with Mecham/Moody tradition we ate at Stan's and brought plenty over to the dorms for the kids before we left for home. It was a long day in the sun and this

turned to this

before we knew it!

Doug was headed up to Zech's wedding in Spokane so he made a detour and visited all the kids in the dorms on Wednesday night.

THURSDAY: We got up kind of late and decided to hike to the Timpanogos Caves. When we arrived at the trail head we found it we should have planned better and made reservations. Oh well. We played around in the picnic area and put the hike on hold until tomorrow. It was perfect and gave us plenty of time to just enjoy nature.

I have always been a little bit of a tree hugger.

After a couple of hours of playing around it was time to go and get the kids. Johnson was heading out on a flight to come back to Vegas for the Priests' hike and Joe was going with a friend to his Grandma's in salt lake until Saturday. We arrived early enough to watch the playoff games. Bret's team won the championship and so did Joe's! Joe was awarded one of the coveted top player awards. The coaches pick a dream team and Joe was first pick for mid field. Oh happy day! Not only that I was approached by Jason Lamb, BYU's head lacrosse coach and was told Joe was one of the top 5 players at the camp! He said he 'fully anticipates Joe playing for the Cougars' in college! Joe met a friend from Boston, MA who happens to be the son of a college mate of my cousin from his years at West Point. Small World! After the lacrosse action was over at 4pm we had two hours to burn til it was time for Jenna's final game. I went over and helped her pack up her dorm room and got her all checked out and then it was on the court for her final volley ball tournament. She was great! She really held her own among girls who have been playing for much longer than she has. Here is Joe getting his award and Jenna with her great serve!

That night we took the whole crew to Brick Oven again for dinner. Jenna and Bret never would have forgiven me if they missed it! Besides, my cold had finally gone away so I could actually taste what I was eating!

FRIDAY: Up early and on the road to the Timpanogos caves. We ended up buying our tickets and having three hours to burn so we headed further up the road to the Tibble Creek reservoir. The water was icy cold and the kids were having so much fun they just did not want to leave! We made it back in time to have a snack at the snack bar and headed up the hill. We all did the hike and enjoyed the cave tour immensely. It was nothing like the 4th year hike up Mt Charleston, but it was a good hike nonetheless. Here is a photo from our hike.

Friday night, Dee got a massive headache so the kids and I played outside in the neighborhood park til after ten. Then we came in and watched a movie and readied our self for the arrival of the three older kids returning from EFY and Salt lake the next day.

SATURDAY: Joe, Mary and Quincy returned and we headed out to Lagoon for the day. Another Mecham/Moody trip tradition. Not much to say except, the kids loved it and we closed the park down at midnight. The place was crazy crowded but it did not deter the kids one ounce! Oh, I rode the Rocket!!! Del Taco on the way home and finally in bed at 2am. The three amigos below:

On Sunday it was home to Vegas and bye bye BYU til next year!

Say Cheese!

Today Doug surprised me with a new camera! I can't wait to use it. It is a Sony Cyber ShotDSC H50. I am taking it up to BYU to try it out, so next week you should see lots of pictures. I told Doug not too long ago I really wanted a camera I could 'zoom' with out losing image quality. Of all the features I wanted, the ability to shoot the kids during sports and other activities was most important to me. So we researched a bit and found three we liked...a luminex by panasonic, the canon powershot and this sony. Doug went out today and got it for me. Go ahead and say awwww how sweet! Ya, he is like that. I am SOOOOOOO excited to get started with it. I am half tempted to let Johnson drive my car up to Provo and ride shotgun, so I can get to know my new camera!

On a more spiritual note, Doug and I attended the Temple tonight for Fay and Howard Niccum, his grandparents. It was a wonderful experience and far to personal to go into details, but suffice to say, it was my first experience doing temple work for someone I know. I am glad I got to be part of such a joyful occasion.

The kids are all packed up and ready to go to Provo. Hoorah for our annual trip up to the Y! Dee and I won't know what to do with ourselves with just Millie and Emmie to take around.. The kids, they do grow. The excitement for the camps is at a fever pitch here in Mecham manner. Wish us luck on the drive! 2 moms, 8 of our own children and 2 extras. That is a 1 to 5 ratio and I am betting I have the 'boy' car. The girls will be calling Dee's van so they can watch movies the whole way up there. Yikes! It may be along ride.

For a good cause

Tonight our ward had their annual auction to help pay for Scout camp. Mike Smith MC'd the event and he was charming as usual. He does a great job getting the program going and is able to quickly move through things while keeping everyone entertained. Bret was visiting his mom for the past couple days so he worked on his cake at her house. He did a great job and made a pizza cake that looked so real his mom thought she might need to pin a note to it so it would not get confused with the real pizzas our scouts provided for dinner. His pie sold to Jeff and Kristie and as you can see here old Pres. Lytle is a real pizza lover!

Joey auctioned off a strawberry shortcake that I made. It was all from scratch and it came up pretty good if I do say so myself.

We raised quite a bit of money for the troop. Doug won bids on a cake made by Wesley Fonbuena and also a 5 course dinner for 4 prepared by Chef Peck. It was pricey, but I know it will be worth it.

You can see Joe's cake
and Bret's Pizza in the picture
After the auction The girls ran over to the Ellsworths for a girls' night with Reggie, Erin, and Britney and Doug and I went to Batman with our boys, Dee, Todd and Sam. It was a pretty good show with lots of action. Our boys loved it but it was a little dark for my taste. Tomorrow we have a busy day and lots to get ready before we head up to Provo. The boys have lacrosse in the morning and I need to get two lessons ready for Sunday plus I am speaking about my experience on the hike. Bishop is out of town so it will be a busy day for Doug on Sunday too. Doug and I are making another trip to the temple tomorrow night with John and Di and the girls are babysitting for the McCormack family while we go. Hopefully, somewhere in there we will have time to pack.

Never a dull moment

Early this evening Sunny called me with an emergency: She needed to cook a brussels sprout, no, cabbage, no ARTICHOKE. Yup that is seriously how that conversation went. Needless to say I got on my bike and Millie hopped on hers and we had a little dinner 911. I ended up helping Sunny make a yummy dinner of grilled salmon, asparagus, steamed artichokes and Millie whipped up a little pasta. It was really funny and reminded me of when Millie and Regan were young. Back then, Sunny and I did lots of cooking together. Sunny hates to cook and I am glad to help her out because in most situations, Sunny is helping me out. It is the least I can do. While we were there, Quincy, Millie and Regan started the 'plot'. At 7:30 I went to lacrosse practice with Joe and while I sat and chatted with Keith Buck, I got this text, "Mom, can we use a tent." Well, Millie, Regan, Mary, Quincy and Kelsey decided to 'practice' girls' camp tonight in our yard. They are so cute out there with their guitars and blankets. It is really late, but we just took them to Taco Bell to add to the fun. I love our neighborhood and the good times our kids have with their friends. Never a dull moment.

It is all about FAMILY

Today, Faye Niccum and Howard Niccum became members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Jenna and Bret, their great grandchildren served as proxy for their baptisms and confirmations. It was a wonderful experience for us. Today was Bret's first temple baptism so it is wonderful he, like the two older kids, was able to go the first time with Doug. Next month when Millie turns twelve we will be able to do the work for my four grandparents. Can't wait!

US