3rd Place in the Nation!

June 21, 2024

Jaden broke in Extemporaneous Commentary to the top 6 in the nation.
Here he is doing his last speech with the top 6 in his last competition this year.

Everyone on the team here at the awards ceremony.

These are the top six who all competed with Jaden in the last round of Commentary speech.

They even made Jaden into a meme. 😂😍

Here they all are at the awards ceremony, waiting to find out who won.

When it got down to the top 4 our fingers were crossed for Jaden.

Jaden was pleased to make it to 3rd place and get a $250 scholarship.

Sondrup and Vance were great coaches and helped Jaden do well.

It was great to get a picture with most of the team on the last day.

Creed is graduating this year, but Jaden and Creed have been in this together for the last few years.
Creed took 9th in top speaker for Lincoln Douglas debate.
What a happy day!

Tournament Time

June 18, 2024

Jaden went and competed at a different school than I was judging in.

Jaden competed in Extemporaneous Speech. 

I judged Public Forum Debate.

Cadence and Breanna were a team competing in Public Forum Debate.

Breanna and Cadence at Roosevelt High School

We went to dinner at this yummy Mexican restaurant, but we all got full off the chips and salsa they provided for appetizers, so we ended up taking our meals home.

 

Speech and Debate Nationals Expo

July 16, 2024

We went to the Speech and Debate Expo at the Iowa Events center and saw lots of colleges and got lots of swag.
We took a picture with Cornelius.

We were able to watch church online, and I loved seeing Grant and James singing for Father's Day.

Breanna, Cadence, Jackson, and Jaden and I went to Cane's for lunch.

Buzzard Billy's was quite the place for dinner.

We had fries, hush puppies, coleslaw, alligator bites, and 2 other kinds of meat.

 

$50 Bet

June 15, 2024

Jaden and I flew from Salt Lake to Minneapolis, then from Minneapolis to Kansas City, Missouri with the Rigby Speech & Debate team to Nationals. We drove about 3 hours to where we are staying in Des Moines, Iowa. We ate dinner at A&W and Long John Silvers. The food was okay and rather expensive. 

We went to a crazy, indoor football game with the Des Moines Barnstormers playing. The football field was smaller and the football, itself, looked like it was a Styrofoam ball. But it was fun to watch. This guy bet Jaden $50 about the team not making a goal. When they did, he gave Jaden a 50 dollar bill. We were all pleasantly surprised and thought the guy was just joking with Jaden. He kept asking Jaden where he was going to spend the money and told him to spend it wisely. Jaden was pretty happy getting the money, and the team thought Jaden was one lucky guy.

Here we are in the nice, fancy rental car driving from Kansas City, Missouri to Des Moines, Iowa.
Any time I veered over the line, the car wheel would vibrate to let me know.
It was a cool car, much nicer than the ones I drive.

 

Memories of Ann

June 14, 2024

I loved seeing my sister, Ann, with her 2 oldest children in pictures from the past.

I miss my sister and I know how much she loved her children.

I hope one day to reunite with her children that ended up being adopted by their foster homes because my sister had some mental challenges as well as relationship challenges.

 

Serving the Lord

My nephew got his mission call on his birthday, June 13th.
We were excited that he was called to Phoenix, Arizona.
He wanted to go stateside, so he got what he wished for.
He is serving where his older brother served a few years ago.

This was a great family event for all.

 

Exercise and Hiking

I jogged/walked 4 miles this morning after talking to our Brazil missionary, Hiram.

We hiked the Menan Buttes.
Fun to get out and enjoy the good weather with a nice breeze.

At the top of the Butte.

Hiking down, almost finished.

Hiking and Swimming

We went swimming at Rigby Lake.
Grant and James had fun with us in the water.

Grant slapped Dad on the back, and Dad had no idea the funny prints left on his back until I shared this picture with him. 🤣😂😆

James and I went hiking up the Menan Buttes this morning. 
Thankfully it was cool with a nice breeze.

The views were nice, too.

Sleeping in and Hiking

I went into Grant's room at 11am to see if he was alive.
He was and finally woke up.
This kid must be going through a growth spurt.

Here's Grandpa reading and riding his stationary bike.
He exercises well every day, usually getting in 4 miles of walking and 2-4 miles of biking.

Grant and I took the dogs hiking up the Menan Buttes this afternoon. 
It was so 🔥 🥵 hot, a d the dogs kept running to every bit of shade to rest.

Grant was a great buddy to go hiking with.