Teenage Driver!

Kori gets her driving permit in a couple of weeks when she turns 15, can you believe it?  It was a nice day today, so I decided to take her driving!  This was her first time behind the wheel of the little truck she will drive.  She has named it "Chulita."  Chulita is a little tricky since it is a stick shift, but Kori may as well learn to drive what she'll actually be driving!  We went up to the Stake Center parking lot.  I think she was a tiny bit nervous, but once she got going she loved it.  She didn't get out of first gear today, but she practiced starting and stopping a number of times.  She did awesome for her first driving experience.  Only one year and 40 hours of driving before she can get her license!

Dropping Off Elder T

Here are some pics of our day at the MTC:

MTC

Colton has entered the mission field!  It was an excellent day at the MTC for all of us.  We spent about an hour at the temple grounds right before we dropped him off, talking, taking pictures, and saying our goodbyes.  We talked to a lot of other families doing the same thing.  We even met one Sister whose grandparents are in the same ward as my mom and dad.  She got her call the same day as Colton, to the same mission, entering the MTC the same day.  We had heard about her through my mom, but who would have thought we would have met her there!  Sometimes it's a small world, especially in the church.  The curbside drop off is literally just that!  There was an Elder there to greet Colton and take his bags.  Then they just walked off into the MTC together!  We didn't even get out of the car!  We had been told to say our goodbyes elsewhere which was good advice.  We cried a little while pulling out of the parking lot, and all the way home we kept wondering what Colton was doing.  But mostly we feel excited and comforted.  Colton is right where he should be, and we know that this will be an incredible experience for all of us.  I have a lot of photos to post, but unfortunately, my computer is freaking out this morning and I'm taking it in to get fixed.  I'm writing this on Colton's laptop.  So I will post some pics when I can!!

Missionary Pics

My very talented friend, Eileen, took some missionary photos of Colton, and she threw in a few extra for Kori. Isn't she nice? Thank you so much, Eileen, we love them!! Here are just a few:

Happy Birthday Colton!

Colton turns 19 today! We celebrated big on Monday when we went to iFLY and out to eat. Tonight, we are chillin' at home with Colton's requested home cooked meal and some fun with the fam! Here are a few reasons to love YOU, Colton!
*You have been so much fun to have around the house these past couple of months!
*You like Jimmy John's a lot!
*You are tough to beat at Settlers!
*You are so stinkin' smart!
*You have a lot of ingenuity!
*You are HOT like a tamale!
*You laugh at "Zits" and Clint's jokes!
*You are easy to get along with!
*You like a lot of good music!
*You are an awesome big brother and example!
*You are a missionary!
*You make your whole family proud!!
Happy #19, Colton, we love you!!

iFLY!

This is Colton's birthday present this year.  Since we've just completely outfitted him for a mission and didn't know what else he really needed, we gave him a memory instead of a gift to open.  We went to iFLY in Ogden to do a little indoor skydiving.  Unfortunately, we couldn't take photos of ourselves while we were flying, so this is all I've got to share.  We did bring home a video of the entire experience from inside the wind chamber, and it is hilarious to watch!  I can't get the video to upload to my blog, but you can check out the facility if you want by clicking the iFLY link above.   We had a great time, here are some thoughts about the whole experience:

This is my new favorite family photo!  Here we are in our flight gear, ready to go!  You can kind of see the wind chamber in the background.  We really did fly!  One at a time, we just fell into the chamber and let our legs and arms float up into flying position.  There was a guide inside with us to help us get into position and keep us from crashing against the glass!  We took turns in 1 minute rotations and we each flew for 3 minutes.

You can see how excited Colton was, look at that anticipation in his face!  I, on the other hand, am wearing a totally fake, nervous smile in this photo!  I was absolutely panicked about doing this since I have an intense fear of falling.  My family is proud of me that I did not chicken out.  It actually doesn't feel at all like falling, it just feels like you're floating on a cloud.  All those flying dreams that you have, it really feels like that!  Kori said it was the coolest physical sensation ever, and even though she was a little nervous as well, she thought it was like a dream come true. 

Clint was like a little bird in there, he just flew right into position and floated.  Wes loved it!  He was ready to go 10 more times!  Wes and Colton both floated up pretty high!  I was actually very impressed at how well our family flew.  Our instructor even told us how coordinated we were.  He promised he doesn't say that to all the first timers, but I don't know!  Here are Clint and Colton in front of the wind chamber after we were all done, holding their iFLY certificates.  What an awesome night!  We went out to eat at a yummy Mexican restaurant afterward.  Colton was very happy with his birthday gift!