The Suns and Sixers came to Monterrey to play a pre-season exhibition game. Andy and Jake attended a reception at the consul-general's house and got to chat and get pictures with some NBA players! Of course, they had a fantastic time!
Waiting for the players to arrive...
Jake with Grant Hill
Amare Stoudemire...
Channing Frye...
Eddie Jordan...
Elton Brand...
Jason Kapono digs Jake's hair...
NBA doctor...
Steve Kerr...
Steve Nash...
And the Suns dancers...
What a night!
I am in the school choir. We practice on Monday and Friday. We're almost starting performing. I think choir is fun. -Sarah
There she is...Jane Goodall, right before your eyes! I had to do a wax museum project where I stood still until someone pressed my button. Then, I started talking about myself. I was Jane Goodall. -Grace
I love the first day of school when the kids are so excited to get up and go! It's not quite as easy for me to get them all up now... Rachel is in preschool everyday now too, so it has been nice for me to be able to get lots of things done without having to find a babysitter for her or bring her with me on boring errands. She loves it too! I am so pleased with all of our teachers, and I know we'll have a great year.
On our way back home, we stopped to see the sights! We hiked up this cool natural arch(that I of course forgot the name of) in our flip-flops! Sarah beat everyone up to the top, and she and Andy were the only ones that didn't have problems getting there. We found Jake and Grace's names carved into the rock too. I promise we didn't do it.
We went out of our way to stop at the monument at Four Corners--where Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado all meet in one spot. Aside from the fun of having each of my four kids in a different state at the same time, there wasn't much to see. Just a lot of vendors. I kinda thought there would be a little museum or something, but there wasn't. No electricity out there either. I was hoping to be able to charge our camera battery for a minute to get a picture of my kids in 4 different states, but no luck. If I can ever figure out how to get pictures off my phone, I'll post one of Four Corners.
Our last sight-seeing stop was in Roswell, but the only alien we came in contact with came home with us...he is now on our refrigerator next to Mr. Jelly Belly, Mickey Mouse and a Canadian flag!
Not only did my first born turn 12 years old, but Andy ordained him a Deacon too! It was really great to have both sides of our family all together on this day. I really wanted a picture of all of the men who have been such great examples to Jake, and though several are missing, I love the picture of all the guys together. Jake is a lucky kid to have so many relatives who love him! I am happy for the righteous young man Jake is becoming. He takes his priesthood responsibilities seriously. He loves attending the priesthood session of general conference and passing the sacrament, and has been Andy's unofficial home teaching companion for a year now. He taught our Family Home Evening lesson tonight, and it was so fun to hear him teach and share his testimony with our family.
After the Patrick Clan arrived in Utah, most of us headed up the canyon to Snowbird to ride the alpine slide. We had thought about going to Park City, but decided it was just too long of a drive for all the little kids. We were so happy with our decision. The slide was great at Snowbird! All of the kids were a little nervous about the chair lift, as they had never ridden on one before, but everyone made it to the top of the hill safely. Now to go back down! The line at the top was pretty long, but well worth the wait. I was so happy the kids all enjoyed it. We even went through the whole process to ride it again! My cute mom volunteered to stay at the bottom with the littlest Patricks so the rest of us could ride. Next time, she and dad get to race! While we were there, we even ran into some old friends from Beale who now live in Oklahoma, the Williquettes. Small world!
There aren't many things better than a BBQ at Vicki and Larry's on a beautiful Utah summer evening! It was filling and relaxing, yet very entertaining, to get to visit with all the Ricketts clan. The kids all get along so well whenever we're all together. I love having family--we always just pick up where we left off on the last visit! This evening was one of several large group get togethers that Vicki and Larry arranged while we were there. They really went above and beyond what I would have planned, and seemed happy to do it for us. I really appreciate them and the hospitality they always show us when we visit!
