Karate: Summer 2011

Eric and I both grew up doing Karate so naturally it's something we want our kids to learn!

Karate classes around here would've cost us a FORTUNE for our FOUR boys so we got a little creative (and set ourselves up for a TON of fun)...

Since Eric is a triple black belt in a few forms of Karate, is a licensed instructor, and has taught for many years, we decided to start our own neighborhood Karate class!

We charged just enough to cover cost of equipment and uniforms and the boys LOVED it!!!

28 students all under the age of 10 years old!

Our boys made fast friends in the class, learned self control, increased their indominable spirit, sharpened their integrity, and grew in courage and kindness. (The Tenants of Tae Kwon Do)

Push-ups, sit-ups, running in place, etc. were also part of the curriculum!

Usually neighborhood kids would hitch a ride with us but sometimes a teenage neighbor sister would drive the boys in the cool golf cart!

The two classes (4-6 yr olds & 8-11yr olds) worked really hard but BOY did they love wrestling and playing around with SaBoNim (Eric) after class!!!! They got the best of both worlds.

They even got to begin sparring for fun (another FAVORITE part!!)

Our goals for the summer were met: having our boys learn a sport we love (Karate), helping our boys connect and make friends better with kids in the neighborhood, saving $, and having FUN!!

Road Trip June 2011

We made a stop at this flooded and awesome campground:

Because of the flooding, there were picnic tables that turned into "islands", water to safely splash in away from the raging river, animals to see, and so much to explore!

We could barely hold Genevieve back from the river! She wants to SWIM so badly!

We finally gave in to Genevieve's need to swim and stripped her down to let her splash in the shallow waters... she was mad when we had to put her clothes back on and leave!! :p

Our picnic tale island we had to cross on boulder bridges to get to!

Daddy, Ammon, & Aaron were expert Lizard catchers. Daddy caught one for Aaron and Ammon caught one. Ammon named his "La Serta" & Aaron named his "Bite" because he latched on to Daddy's thumb and wouldn't let go. Bite "bit" everyoone EXCEPT for Aaron. Bite knew Aaron was his special protector and caregiver. He never bit him! The boys begged Daddy to keep the Lizards so he made a deal with them to pay for their home (aquarium), light, and food and they could keep them! The whole family was ecstatic!!

Papa spotted a family of Mountain Goats and we got within 30 feet of them. They just stared at us and we at them. They wanted to walk to the water where we were to get a drink. We stepped aside so they could feel safe going to the water; and they did.

We had so much fun and as is usual, Michael, Asher, and Genevieve fell asleep. This picture is quintessentially how our boys feel about each other. It is nice to be able to catch it on camera once in a while. Their love is solid.

Aaron's Baptism June 2011

Our family was so excited to be together the day and night before Aaron's Baptism. We spent time together swimming, talking about baptism, laughing, meeting "Holy Monkey", reading testimonies from the family's testimony book that Mamma put together, and just being together. Being together is our favorite thing!

Our family was met by Madee & Papa at Genese park where we hiked, built a fort out of branches and rocks, ate lunch, and had a testimony meeting under the canopy of the trees. Aaron picked a bunch of flowers for me (as usual!) and requested (several times) that I wear a flower that he picked for me in my hair to the baptism he said, "because I love you the most". I did exactly that. (He made sure several times during the Baptism that the flower was still in my hair.) It was an absolute gorgeous day!

Mamma got out our matching ties and new white shirts. We talked about how our family likes symbolism the way the scriptures teach in symbolism sometimes. At Easter and Christmas we have so much symbolism in our traditions. There was no exemption for this wonderful and meaningful day!! 1) We all wore white to symbolize our dedication to remain clean after Baptism. 2) We wore our best and newest clothes symbolizing that we always want to treat our bodies as Temples and to show our respect for the Sabbath Day (and occasions such as Baptism). 3) We wore matching clothes and colors symbolizing that our family is a united force and that we ALL want to do our best in the Gospel so that we can be an Eternal Family. 4) We chose green accents to our WHITE to symbolize that on this Baptism day we recognize the knowledge (knowledge is represented in the church as the color GREEN) that our Father in Heaven has blessed us with regarding Baptism and the Holy Ghost.

We talked about these things as a family before Aaron's Baptism. You never saw more proud children to be a part of something bigger than just a nice outfit. We were there for Aaron and to show him our love. We were there with respect to our Father in Heaven and with a dedication as a FAMILY to do our best to show thanks for this covenant Aaron was about to take part in.

Aaron wanted no part in anyone else besides me, his Daddy and brothers and cute lil' sis. We had to remind him several times to give his other family members (his mom, Grandpa, & Grandma) hugs and acknowledgement. Begrudgingly he did so but always swiftly came back to us. His eyes were strictly on us and we gave him all the love & attention he could want. We were SO proud of his decision to get baptized that day! Madee cuddled sweet Genevieve, Ammon leaned & snuggled me the whole baptism (except for when his Grandpa asked him to sit with him up front), Michael sat in my lap, Asher would not leave his Daddy's lap and Aaron was in the middle of us all. We are a happy family who loves each other very very much.

My Baptism Day by Aaron Durtschi

"The water was warm. I felt happy and scared both at the same time. Happy to get Baptized and scared because there was a whole bunch of people that I didn’t know. There was another girl there, Kelsey, sharing my Baptism day.

My Papa Baptized me and Grandpa gave me the Holy Ghost. I was happy that my family was there and proud that there were people there to support me.

I got a beautiful shell that represented listening to the Holy Ghost from the person who gave a talk on the Holy Ghost.

My brothers (Ammon, Asher, Michael) & I sang “I Am a Child of God”. It was cool to be able to sing and play a part in my own Baptism with my family.

We went to Genese Park and had a picnic with Madee and Papa and had a Family testimony meeting under the trees. Mamma made a Baptism book with pictures in it and testimonies written from my family. We read through some of the testimonies of family who wasn’t there and then Daddy, Mamma, Papa, Madee, and Ammon shared their Testimonies. Asher and Michael shared their feelings about Jesus too. Their choice of words got a little funny (Michael started talking about a movie theater or something) but we all understood that they loved church and Jesus and me.

Also, I got the Holy Monkey (my white monkey). He represents me. If he gets dirty I throw him in the washing machine to get clean. If I get “dirty” (I take a bath- just kidding) or if I make a mistake, I take the sacrament and pray to Heavenly Father that I am sorry and want to try harder to not make the same mistake."

Fun Happenings June 2011

These brothers can't get enough love from their sweet lil' sis. Sooooo cute.

Trying to build a house for Puzzle (aka Poo Stain)

Visiting the Bean Museum (a free Museum at BYU). We all went GAGA over this place! Every type of animal you could ever hope to see! We all decided upon an animal to adopt if we could have any animal in the whole world. :p We were all hooked at the riveting videos they showed about the circle of life including ticks, maggots, and Giraffes... gross- unless you're a family of boys like us. Then the word gross is translated into: FASCINATING. lol.

Happy Father's Day!! 2011

To the very BEST Daddy ever!

We started out the day getting gifts (we all had a present at the breakfast table- matching ties and accessories to look just like Daddy!). Then we read Pancakes! Pancakes! by Eric Carle and ate pancakes, since Daddy is the best pancake maker!!! (seriously, this guy's pancakes are unreal!) and we were all thankful that our pancakes come so much simpler than the poor kid in Carle's book. :p

The kids spent a long time on saturday making signs for a photo booth photo shoot we did for Daddy to add to our Father's Day book of photos. The signs were sweet and FULL of love! Genevieve was even in the photo booth pictures!

We gave Daddy our signs & sang a Happy Father's Day song.

Our Daddy is the center of our family! We love him so much and are proud of everything he does for us and teaches us.

The boys all expressed what they loved about their Daddy. It was such a sweet day and wonderful moment to hear all the things Eric does for them to show them he loves them (listens to me, plays with me, wrestles with me, spends time with me, reads to me, makes up stories with me... the list went on and on!). You can tell they get so much attention from, feel safe with their Daddy, and KNOW that their Daddy loves them more than anyone else in the world!!!!

June 2011 Randomness

Some friends invited us to smore's making in AF Canyon one evening. Genevieve was posing next to this rock and looked WAY too cute not to share!

My mom and I at "The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie" Book Club. If you haven't read it I gave it a 4 star rating. It's a fun, quick, and different read!

Michael at his first (of a series!) of cooking classes with his friend London. Great pals!

Don't ask how I got included in this awesome experience ;p. I was the only "outsider" who danced in the Tongan stake's Polynesian dance night. The dance was SUPER fun to learn and the people were even more fun to get to know! I loved spending so much time with my friend Billie Jean.

Eric and I at a Tennessee friend and famiy reunion! Elvis made a special appearance! What a BLAST!!!! Thanks Bitty & Julina!!!

Daybreak Triathlon - June 2011

Here are our times...

SWIM/750 Meters BIKE COURSE 23.5K Run 5k

74   134 Eric Durtschi  M3539   16:13    3:00   46:58    1:54   30:06     1:38:10.0 

181  133 Cass Durtschi  F3034   27:29    3:46   58:53    1:58   44:40     2:16:44.2

the Durtschi / Droke Team!

Aesha & Karina's FIRST Triathlon! They ROCKED IT!

Jennifer placed 2nd in her division. Aesha and Karina placed 2nd & 3rd in their division!!

I was 4 months pregnant and puking my guts out. Still had fun though!! (I only puked twice- but it slowed my time WAY down!!)

Eric got CUH-RAZY runner's asthma on his run. He usually runs a solid 7:30/8 min mile. This was just NUTZ!

Great job Heman & SheWomen!! Besides the puking and random runner's asthma, we still had a BLAST and can't wait for the next one!!

Hiking Maple Canyon June 2011

More Adventures in one of our favorite places:

MAPLE CANYON!

All the boys, with Daddy's help ;), made it to the top of the "Dragon's Lair"!!!!

Genevieve didn't go in the Dragon's Lair but she had fun eating rocks in the shade...

Michael and Asher ran all up and down and around and through Maple Canyon! They found a dried up 'old dead mouse and held it up proud saying, "Look what we found!!!" We quickly had them drop it & had a short lesson on picking up dead animals... and live ones for that matter! They had fun playing in the shrubbery, water, & rocks anyway!

Day Out with Thomas! May 30, 2011

We spent a Day Out with Thomas at the Heber Valley Railroad especially for Michael!

We got to go on a train ride pulled by Thomas himself, we met Sir Topham Hatt, played miniature golf, watched a Magic Show, and Daddy even got Michael a real wooden train whistle!