Teenager #2 - D.J.'s 13th Birthday

D.J. has entered the world of teenage hood.  He is excited to be a part of it, I think.  While there are some teenagery things about him, he remains a good-hearted, easy-going, intuitive kind of guy.  We think he's pretty great and quite entertaining.

D.J.'s birthday fell on one of the only free weekends we could do a family "stay-cation" so he agreed to celebrate his birthday in Eden, Utah in a vacation condo.  Not a bad way to spend a birthday!

D.J. was quite excited to get an adult size rip stick so he didn't have to borrow James's mini.

He had asked for a remote control quadracopter before and we hesitated, fearing it would go the way of all remote control toys. But so far, he's taken care of it, other than hooking it on the gutter.  A close second to the entertainment it provided was the entertainment Mark provided while reading the horrible grammar and mistakes in the book of directions.

What really brought the smiles and excitement was Sting.  Sting is the sword that both Bilbo and Frodo Baggins carried on their adventures.  This one doesn't glow blue when orcs are near, but it is pretty handy when cutting birthday cake (see pictures below).  

It is quite real, more real than I expected, so we've given him some guidelines, especially after Dad made an example of it's capabilities on a box.

D.J. is in a Superhero mode, so a few posters from the brothers, a Hydra t-shirt and Captain America watch completed the birthday celebration.

D.J. requested a Hydra/S.H.I.E.L.D. cake in keeping with the Superhero mania.  A fun discovery was what black food coloring does to digestive products.

Cutting his own cake. With his sharp sword.

No tongues (or other body parts) were hurt in the making of this birthday joy.

Happy birthday D.J.!

Wheeler Reunion 2015 - RED, RED, RED!

Every other year the Wheeler gang gets together.  You could say we reunite.  We reunionize!

We missed Grandma, who stayed in her nursing home, but thought and talked of her often.  Her favorite color is red, so we all wore red and Kaye had some red decorations from girls' camp, so there was red all over - in addition to all the red Grandma decorated the cabin with.

Mychigan and Andrea are sporting red outfits that they found in Grandma's closet: a red quilted jogging type outfit and a red leather-ish jacket.

Bottom: Jordan, Andrea, Sawyer, Ryver, Daisy, Wyllow

Middle: Lisa, James (not feeling well), D.J.

Top: Brandie, Artemis, Jason, Astrid, Riley, Kaye, Spencer, Jan, Sabryna, Dell, Stephnie, Mychigan

Todd, Amy and Wolfgang joined us for the previous evening's activities.

My boys went straight to the bow and arrows. Having recent scout camp experience helped them to be safe.

Though Spencer's devil horns made me wonder. . . 

My cousin Jason, being a game aficionado, brought a lot of games to play, so all (who didn't care for Nertz) were entertained.  My boys learned a cool hand game at wrestling camp this year.

Another remnant of girls' camp was a giant Jenga game made from 2x4's.  Highly entertaining and collaborative.  D.J. got chided a number of times for trying to crawl under the table.

James was more than chided when he pushed the whole tower over.

I got to help rehang the Wheeler Gang sign while Spencer, D.J., Riley, Jason and Dell helped hoist it.

I helped Spencer and Riley scrounge for hardware and rope in the shed and sawmill to help hang this tire swing for toddlers.  I think they like it!

It was a fun weekend to get away from our normal lives, remember cousins, hunt lizards, make great memories!

School Days, Sept. 2015

While driving down the street today, watching kids walk to and from school, it seems that we only took just a few weeks off from the end of the last school year.  It really is hard to believe that 2 1/2 months have passed and we're facing a new school year.  We had a great summer, so the kids were reticent to start school, but there is always the excitement of seeing friends again, the anticipation of new teachers and new classes and getting back to a schedule.  Mom seems to appreciate the schedule part more than the boys, but they benefit nonetheless.

Here they are, ready to start a successful year!

Spencer, 9th Grade

D.J. 8th Grade

James, 5th Grade

Friend "Camping" June 2015

Each summer for the past four years or so, the Larsens, Stringhams, Astlings and Gregersen's have been planning a camping trip.  This year we made it happen!  Though our "camping" was in two "cabins" which were more like homes, but they were in the mountains!

The funnest things for the boys was a game/movie room in the basement with their own room to retreat to and hang out without adults and eat whatever they could sneak out of the kitchen.

There were two cabins, but since one was higher up, three families stayed in the lower cabin and one in the higher.  Both cabins were just East of beautiful Heber Valley.  We made sure to stop at Dairy Keen for the "best hamburgers ever," before we ascended the mountain.

The girls went for a walk to escape the noise and marshmallow shooters.

We played a lot of games: chess, a game that is like Nertz, Nertz, puzzles, and more.  The kids also devoured a large barrel of cheese puffs, candy without number, free flowing soda, and maybe an apple or two.  What are vacations for?

Brock brought a hammock and hung it between the Aspens in the back yard.  You can see Brock well. D.J. is to the left sitting in the hammock.

Before we ascended to the second cabin, we had to lift Camille's van out of the ditch she backed into. We were on the verge of calling Triple A, when two guys pulled up and offered to help lift it out.  They are our heroes! 

After a delicious dinner, pool games, piano playing, puzzling and game playing, the kids had a mini-dance with lights and all on the porch.

Saturday morning we hiked on the Moose Trail, which was beautiful, but not as well marked as we had hoped.  After back tracking for a little bit, we found a great spot to cool off in the water, while rock throwing commenced.

It was great to spend time with friends!

Preacher Activity June 2015

It's not what it sounds like.  Spencer is part of the Teachers group at church and there is a group of Young Men called the Priests (each group having separate responsibilities).  They are also all scouts, so it was really a scouting outing (haha).  When they go to Southern Utah to descend and scale rock it becomes easier to call the outing: Preacher Activity. Judging from the pictures, I don't think any preaching happened.  But there were a lot of life lessons learned (LLL for short).

Spencer took these pictures with a small camera (do you remember those?) so he is not in most of the pictures.

Sleeping arrangements are always memorable on scout outings. Artem looks like he is protecting his territory.  Or avoiding a picture.

Seth's helmet was a favorite amongst the scouts.

They rappelled 7 different cliffs, ranging from 20-140 ft.  Spencer isn't fond of heights, but worked up courage to do all of the rappels.  One of his leaders called Spencer inspiring, watching him overcome his fear.

They also hiked in the narrows, wading through water at points.

It's a long way down. . . 

. . . and a little hole to get through.

Here is the only picture with Spencer, the one in the gray shorts.  He had a great time being with some of the older boys, and was accompanied by some great leaders.  Those in attendance: Alex and Artem Kinkno, Justin and Rock Hadley, Austin and Jeff Bassett, Seth and Ethan Larsen, Kevin Samuelson, Davis Forbush and Russell Stringham.

A Special Celebration; Granna turns 70!

Priscila turned 70 this year!!  All Astlings converged in Deer Valley to watch/listen to Fantasia, performed by the Utah Symphony.  We were prepared for rain, but were lucky to avoid it.  We prepared a picnic dinner and devoured it.  We were prepared for relaxation and tapping our toes to the beat and we experienced that!  What a great way to celebrate a wonderful woman!

Priscilla requested sandwiches, chips, potato salad, fruit, lemonade and pecan pie (bars).  A great dinner, in beautiful scenery and with wonderful people!

Even my boys were entertained by the performance and James and Spencer cuddled a little to keep each other warm.

Much of the conversation was about Lieve and David's upcoming life-changer - a baby!  We are so excited for them!

Granna requested patio furniture for her birthday.  She was unable to settle on a whole set, but she did get an umbrella that will help her enjoy a quiet, shaded moment in her back yard. It took the input of all present to assemble and raise the umbrella and in the end came out with pleasing placement.

Before raising the umbrella we enjoyed a family dinner at Famous Dave's BBQ because Priscilla was hankerin' for something Southern.  We also celebrated Lieve's birthday there with cake and singing!

I love celebrating with family!

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO GRANNA!