Trappers Baseball in Southern California

We went to Southern California for Tanner's baseball tournament with the Blacksmith Fork Trappers last week.  We had a great time.  We left on Wednesday, July 17th and drove all the way down in one day.  We spent that night at Greg's brother, Randy's house in Hemet.  It was so great to see him and his wife Diana and their two girls-Alyssa and Breya.  They made us some VERY yummy Mexican food and we visited for a little while.  The next day we drove to our hotel in Foothill Ranch.  We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott with a few other families (the Weese's, Jones' and Hall's). 

The first game was Thursday at 5:00 pm.  We got settled into our hotel and Tanner got ready and we dropped him off and then ran to get drinks and snacks.  We played our first game in Rancho Santa Margarita.  We lost the first game. We went to dinner that night with the Hansen's and the Bowler's at Round Table Pizza and then hurried back to the hotel so the kids could swim (that is the highlight when staying in a hotel!). 

On Friday our two games were in Huntington Beach.  The first was at 9:30 and the second was at noon.  Luckily, Tanner rode over with Coach Hansen and Coach Bowler so we didn't have to drive over too early.  Huntington Beach was about 30 minutes from where we were staying.  The Trappers lost both of their games.  The competition was good--in fact there were quite a few D1 commits on each team we played---but the Trappers played well, just didn't get the hits when we needed them.  After the games, we hurried to a mall so Kaden and Tanner could buy hats they saved up for.  They both bought A's hats to wear to the A's vs Angels game that we went to that night.  We had a great time at the game with the other Trappers families. It is always fun to spend an evening at a ballpark (well, unless you ask Brynn!).  The Angels won (we were rooting for the A's) and there was a great fireworks show afterwards. 

Rilee, Paige and Brynn

BP--Kaden and Tanner

Tanner waiting for game time

Kaden

Kaden and his buddy Kaden

Tanner and his buddy Bode

Denise and Brynn

On Saturday our games were in San Clemente.  Again, Tanner rode with the coaches and we got there at game time.  San Clemente was about 30 minutes Southwest from where we were staying.  We packed our swimming suits so we could go to the beach between games--we played at 9:30 am and 5:00 pm.  After the first game (we lost--again) we went to San Clemente State Beach with the Hansen's and Bowler's.  The kids had a blast playing in the water.  It wasn't very sunny and warm, but they had fun anyway!  They had never played in the beach before.  While we were there, Greg got a bright idea to take Kaden and Kaden Bowler to the A's and Angels game that night.  We worked out rides for me, Brynn and Tanner and they headed off to the hotel to change and get to the game.  The rest of us got a bite to eat (Panda Express) and watched the second game.  Tanner wasn't playing much because he can't play in the field right now due to a torn labrum AND in the first game in CA he pulled his quad.  So, since he wouldn't be playing the second game for sure, Greg didn't feel bad leaving.  After the game (we lost again), the kids went back to swim and I visited with Heidi and Paul Bowler by the pool.  Greg and Kaden had a great time and even got to see Billy Currington in concert after the game.

Tanner

Kaden, Tanner and Brynn with friends

Tanner, Kaden and Brynn with friends

Kaden and Greg at the game

Kaden and Greg at the concert

On Sunday, we had our final game at 10:00 am in Laguna Hills.  We won!!  Tanner was dhing at the end of the game and had a deep sacrifice fly that scored a run.  We were down and came back to win.  It was nice to finish up with a win.  The game ended around noon and we hurried back to our hotel to get to a 2:00 Sacrament Meeting.  We changed and had a quick snack and found the church.  It was fun to visit another ward--everyone was so friendly.  We couldn't believe how many people asked if we were new or visiting.  While we were on our way home from church--I noticed an email from Zach had arrived.  We hurried to the hotel lobby and logged on so we could read his email and chat with him a little.  It was so great to hear from him--we love his emails and look forward to Sunday afternoons!! 


We decided to drive to Laguna Beach Sunday evening.  We walked around the tide pools and watched some surfers.  The kids enjoyed being at the ocean--even though Sunday we did not swim in the water.  It was fun to spend the evening as a family.  When we got back to our hotel, we met up with the Hansen's and Bowler's and went to dinner.  It was fun to do so much with them--our kids love to hang out with their kids and it made the trip more fun.

One of the surfers we were watching

Watching the surfers

On Monday, we checked out and headed towards home.  We decided to break the drive up and stop in St. George for the night.  We stayed at my friend, Kim's place.  She was so awesome to let us stay.  She had to fly out of town for work at the last minute, but let us crash there.  The Bowler's stayed in a hotel so we all went out for dinner again Monday night and then the kids went to swim at their hotel....until a big storm blew in and the lightening kept them out. 

We stopped by in Springville for about 30 minutes to say hi to Greg's parents and then got home around 4:00 Tuesday.  We were all happy to get home--it was so great to get away and do some fun things, but it's always nice to get home! 

Goodbye, Elder Johnson!

Zach's farewell was perfect.  He did a great job on his talk and had so many friends and family there to support him.  He really is such a great kid and so many people love him.  It was evident in Sacrament meeting on Sunday.  After the meeting, we had a lunch at a park.  I was really worried about getting that all together, but my friends Carrie Johnson and Emily Smith helped me so much.  They picked up what I had at home (napkins, cups, trays, tablecloths pictures, meat, rolls, sauce ingredients, etc) and took care of everything for me.  I was so grateful!  I could have never done that with everything that took place the day before.

It was fun to see our Baseball friends, family and other friends at the park.  My sister, Debbi, flew in from Kansas City to surprise us--that was really fun to see her.  It had been 6 years.  Our summer citizen family from Phoenix came also--it was really nice to see them again.  Families of Zach's friends who are serving missions came also and it was nice for there support and those who are preparing to send their kids off on missions.

On Sunday evening, Greg, Zach and I went to meet with the Stake Presidency.  They had Zach share his testimony and other thoughts about how he will be a good missionary and then we shared some thoughts about what we felt were Zach's strengths.  It was a cool meeting--cool to hear what Zach had to say and share our own thoughts.

Greg's sister Shannon and her family stayed over night Sunday.  It was fun to visit with them.  On Monday we said goodbye to them and my sister Debbi flew home.  That night Zach was set apart as a missionary.  The Stake President and Bishop came over to our house and we had a little lesson where he shared some scriptures and thoughts and then asked the kids what they thought were Zach's strengths that he would take with him into the mission field.  It was a teary evening.  Then the Stake President set him apart.  It was a special time for our family.

Friends stopped by most of the evening to say goodbye to Zach.  Greg got him all packed up and he was ready!!

Tuesday morning was tough--we knew we were in for a rough day.  We all got ready.  Grandma and Grandpa Butler came over to say goodbye--we packed up the car and ran a few errands.  We picked up some pictures that we had printed for him to take and a few snacks for the plane, etc.  We were finally on our way around 11:30 am.  We stopped in Layton for lunch at Red Robin--Zach loves Red Robin.  It was nice to have one last meal together as a family.  We then went to Bountiful to say goodbye to Great Grandma Dee.  She is 101 and will not be around when he gets home.

Lunch at Red Robin

Grandma Dee and Elder Johnson

Then we were off to the airport.  Saying goodbye to Zach was the hardest thing we have ever done.  It was so hard.  It is a crazy thing--we don't want him here--we want him on a mission, but we also miss him like crazy.  He called us from San Fransisco on his prepaid phone--it was so good to hear his voice....oh we miss him!  Things are going well and now we know he has landed in New Zealand and we are anxiously awaiting his email.

Goodbye, Elder Johnson!!

Kaden's Scout Hike (and fall)

We have had a very busy, crazy, emotional few days!!  Let me start with Saturday....Brynn went to Scout Day Camp with her Activity Days group and Kaden went on a hike to Mt. Naomi up Logan Canyon with his scouts.  I was hoping to get a lot of things done to prepare for Zach's farewell the following day (picking up a few things, returning a few things, cleaning, cooking, weeding, etc).  Greg was mowing the lawn and getting some things done outside.  He mentioned a time or two that he was worried about Kaden and I said--he'll be fine should be home soon.  I ran a few errands and when I returned at 2:00 he was really concerned and asked me to text a lady who's husband had gone on the hike and see if she had heard from them.  Just as I was doing that--Greg got a phone call from another leader saying that Kaden had had a fall on the hike and was in bad shape.  He asked if we wanted to meet him at the ER or have him come home.  Greg had them bring him here so we could do an assessment of his injuries.  He got home a few minutes later---he had scrapes and cuts all over his arms and legs, was throwing up and his lower, right, back was killing him.  He looked terrible-was really pale and when I gave him a drink he threw up immediately--he was dehydrated.  We decided to take two cars (in case one of us could leave and get things ready for Sunday).  We went to Instacare first and I ran in to see if they could get him some fluids with an IV or if we should go to the ER.  They said they could help us so we got Kaden checked in.  He got taken back very quickly and when he described his back pain and the dr touched his back and could see how tender it was, he was concerned there was an injury to his kidney so they sent us to the ER.

We got to the ER around 4:00 pm.  They took him right back and did a trauma triage.  He was in bad shape--they got him to a room and hooked him up to an IV and started to run tests-- took his blood and he had a CT scan.  They found that he had lacerated his kidney.  They gave us the worse case scenario--life flight and have surgery at Primary's.  Wow--I kept thinking, that is not in my plan this weekend...the next possibility was surgery here in Logan.  Again--that would keep him from the farewell and taking Zach to the airport on Tuesday for sure.  Finally, the best option was the possibility to just watch and wait.  The doctor we needed to see was in surgery so we waited for hours to find out what we were doing.  They also contacted a urologist and the two decided that Kaden would be admitted and watched overnight and not have surgery.  Yea...Greg went home to get things ready and I had some friends who stopped by the house to pick up all of the stuff I had gathered for the lunch at the park the next day (the tablecloths, deocrations, pictures, meat and sauce ingredients).  I am so thankful for our friends who pulled that off for us!

Kaden was in a lot of pain but rested well Saturday night (me not so much ha ha).  When the dr came in Sunday morning at 7 am he said that he could go home so he could be at the farewell at 11 am.  I immediately got the nurses on board so we could hurry and get him out of there (everything in the hospital takes forever).  Greg got ready for church and swapped me places and got Kaden ready--we all made it to the farewell in plenty of time.

We are so grateful that Kaden is doing well and that his injuries were not worse.  He is such a trooper and getting better and better every day.