Happy Birthday, Matthew!

Back to School Again

I was going to take the summer off, but then I decided that I would like to lessen my load in the Fall and Spring.  I am taking 2 online classes.  Easy, peasy!  And guess who else is taking classes at the good ol' SLCC (pronounced "slick" up here in these parts)?  BRENT!!!!  He is taking  10 credit hours, all online.  I am so proud of him for making that decision. If he does well with these classes then he will continue to go to school and eventually get a degree in Wildlife Sciences. 

Unfortunately for me, that means that I actually have to do housework.  I have not really done very much housework for about 3 years.  Not even laundry.  Brent has taken on the role of domestic god for those 3 years.  We have been doing spring cleaning and trying to decide  how to divide up the chores. 

Alex is still working full time at Chick-fil-a.  He is preparing to serve a full time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  He gets his wisdom teeth out tomorrow and then we will send in his paperwork.  If he feels well on Sunday, he will get interviewed for the Melchizedek Priesthood.  Holy cow!  I may be saying goodbye to my son in about two months.

Tyler is working at the West Valley Fitness center in the snack bar.  You would think that they would serve healthy things like fruits and protein drinks.  Not so much.  They do serve those, but nachos,  hot dogs, and pizza are the usual fair.  He loves his job, though.  It is a really laid back, easy job.  Just right for Tyler. Tyler is going to Cyprus full-time next year.

Matthew is finishing up his online charter school this year.  I would not recommend K12 to anyone.  If you want to send your kid to a charter school, find a brick and mortar one.  Which is what we are going to be doing with Matthew this year.  He will be going to Entheos Academy.  He will be going to Cyprus for 10th grade so we thought that this would be a good transition from home school to regular public school. 

So this fall all the members of the King household will be in school; some in college, one in public school, one in a charter school, and one in the Lord's school.

Prom for Ty-Ty

Tyler and Sydnie attended their second Prom together this year.  They double dated with Cameron and Starly. They played games at our house, then the girls got ready and they were off!  They went to dinner, the Prom, and then they went to see the Avengers.  They had a great time!

Treasure Hunt Hike #3

We tried to do the Treasure Hunt hike again, but it was about 2 weeks too early.  I also slipped through the snow and it cut up my leg and gave me some bruises.  Brent slipped, too and he has a bruise.  Not very fun, but I did see a cool looking bird.

Chopped

Tonight for Family Home Evening Tyler had the lesson.  He told us a story from the Ensign and then he had an activity for us. We did a version of Chopped (a show on Food Network).  He gave us our ingredients and then we had 30 minutes to make a dish. We were allowed to use ingredients from the pantry.

 

We each got to our task:

 Matthew made a tower of chocolate and Cheerio's and covered it in caramel sauce.

 Brent made a smoothie with Milk, cookie dough ice cream, chocolate syrup, cheerios, baking chocolate, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, cinnamon roll, pizza, pickle relish, peanut butter, whole kiwi (skin and all), sugar, Tabasco sauce.

  I was mixing Cheerios, milk chocolate, white chocolate chips, and cinnamon sugar.

Our finished products:

 Brent's

 Mine

 

 Matthew's

Then it was time for judging.  Alex, Jasmin (new girlfriend), and Angelique (girlfriend's sister):

And the winner is...

1st Hike of the Season!

We went to Pleasant Grove to Battle Creek Falls.  It was just me, Brent, and Matthew.  It was pretty short, but the water falls were cool.  We plan on going on a hike every Monday this summer. 

 The Circle of Life

 The View

Walk on Water

So, I had a stroke a little over nine years ago.  I don't have too many lingering effects; just getting tired and forgetting words late at night and not being able to do math very well.  A few weeks ago I went to the doctor for help with my shin splints.  She gave me some exercises to do and wanted to see me again in a few weeks.  I went back today and she did some more tests.  My whole left side of my body is weaker than my right side.  This is the side that I had problems with right after my stroke.  She does not want me to run at all.  I have to build up the muscles in my feet, ankles, shins, and hips. She also wants me to use orthotics in my shoes when I exercise.  That makes me feel old for some reason.

As of now, I cannot walk further than three miles.  Brent had signed me up for a half marathon in June in Seattle.  Guess who won't be doing that?  I cried all the way home. I loved to run.  I never ran very far, but it helped me to stay skinnier than I am now.  I am just so sad.

Okay.  I am still sad, but I have been thinking of different activities that I can do.  Brent suggested that we do a triathlon relay.  I love to swim!  My boys are all awesome runners, so they would be able to be the third part of the relay. I have also heard of a Masters Swimming program that is available for adult swimmers.  They even have races. I can also do modified aerobics.  

 

That's totally me. Uh-huh.

photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/gcwest/136945653/

 

So Cal for This Gal

(there are a few posts, so just click on "The Royal Family", then you will be able to see all the posts from this trip)

For Alex's 18th birthday we promised him a trip anywhere in the United States that we could drive to.  He chose Southern California, but with his work schedule and my school schedule we weren't able to take the trip until after his 19th birthday!  We left for Cali at about 9:30 on Saturday evening, stopping in Cedar City for the night.  I must give a shout out to my cousin, Rachel.  She has mentioned how much she loves Foster the People, so a few months ago I became hooked.  We got their CD for the trip and we listened to it so many times going there and back!  We also stopped in St. George so Alex could get some Muse CD's. I also talked him into getting me a Ricky Nelson CD, which I promptly tortured my boys with.  I love taking car trips with my family.  They keep me laughing and all of the craziness that ensues drives Brent nuts!  I love it!

 

We got to San Diego around 5:30.  Our hotel that we booked through hotwire.com was the Crowne Plaza Hana lei Resort (that's almost like Hawaii, right?).  By booking through hotwire.com we were able to get the room for about $80 cheaper per night.  I definitiely recommend hotwire.com.  We drove around showing the kids San Diego; they hadn't been since 2005.  We ate at Popeye's for dinner because I have a rule while we are on vacay that we can't eat from a restaurant that we can get in Salt Lake. It was only 63 degrees, but it felt so much warmer there than it would here.  My legs were sore from doing my PT on them, so me,Tyler and Matthew soaked in the hot tub.  

 Our hotel room

 

 We were on the 7th floor and had a view of the golf course

The Place of his Birth

The next day, Alex wanted to go to the place of his birth, so we were off to the San Diego Zoo.  Can I just tell you how much I love this zoo?  I really, really do. We had to sit at the back of the bus for the tour, so we could all be silly. 

 He is trying to look like a flamingo

 Tyler loves being a trainer

 One of my fav exhibits

Matthew frightened of the animal on the ledge

 Panda

 Bird of Paradise-not an actual bird, BTW

 Orangutan

 Me and my honey

Where Alex was born

Old Town

I still cannot believe how much we squeezed into one day.  After the Zoo we headed to Old Town where we went to get some old fashioned taffy and then we went to the Whaley House.  It is supposedly the most haunted house in the United States.  We didn't see any apparitions, though.  After that we went up the hill to the Mormon Battalion site. I haven't ever been; Brent said that they had redone it since he was there last.  It was informative and Tyler got to be a recruit for the Mormon Battalion.  After that we went to Casa Guadalajara in Old Town.  It was sooooo good!! 

 

This is supposed to be of me and Brent. Tyler was always photo-bombing.

   

Tyler as a Mormon Battalion recruit

 

Matthew showing some love to his big bro

 

 Tyler's seafood salad

 

 My chicken mole enchiladas

 Alex paid Tyler $$ to take a drink of this.  Water, salsa, all of the fake sugars, real sugar, and salt. YUCK!

 Old Town

 Whalley House, daughter's bedroom

 Theater room in the Whalley House