South & North

Tanner and David headed south with the Deacons to do some rafting and hiking in the Moab area. Here they are ready to get started.

Tanner is the one in the front on the right. Actually the one on the left in the front is a Tanner also. You may find it interesting that there were actually 4 boys named Tanner on this trip.... and we thought we were so original when we picked that name. Oh well.

David and Tanner getting ready to eat.

They went on a hike and obviously saw lots of RED rock.

Joshua headed north to Wyoming with the Teachers during the same few days. They went to a scout camp up there and it was snowing when they arrived. What a bummer. It rained all day the next day but then it cleared up and they had a great time. Wish I had some pictures but David wasn't on that trip.

A Lot Can Happen in a Week

Sorry this is going to be kind of a long one. It seems that life is just getting busier and busier.

CAMP ALMA

Our stake had a 2 day mission preparation conference for all young men 16 to 18 years old. I understand it was great. Jared went and David went as a leader. Oh... Jared's papers are in and he should have a mission call in about 2 weeks. Oh my goodness!! How exciting!!

All the young future missionaries in front of the Salt Lake Temple.

Jared helping out with breakfast.

YOUTH CONFERENCE

Then Jared came home and youth conference started for all the kids 14 to 18 years of age. It lasted 3 days and was held at the U of U. Joshua said it was great and David said it was really good too but he wished he could've had a little more sleep. 

The youth starting youth conference at the Draper Temple

Joshua

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID!! 

We celebrated a little late because he was at Youth Conference.

NEW FENCE

We're also getting a fence put in. If it would just stop raining for a little while, maybe they could finish.

OQUIRRH MOUNTAIN TEMPLE

We went to the Oquirrh (even Rebecca can spell that now) Mountain Temple Open House today. It was so beautiful. The colors inside were just gorgeous and you just can't believe the chandeliers. I couldn't even begin to describe them. Of course they are huge but as you look up at them they are in the shape of stars. Words just can't do it justice. Here's a picture that shows the chandelier and I think you can see the star shape.

David contemplating

Adam in his "Hong Kong" outfit

This is a view of the Draper Temple way out there from the Oquirrh Mountain Temple.

DAVID GOT A JOB

For those of you who didn't know, David lost his job May 1st. Lot's has happened since then but he starts a new job next Monday.

Weather

The house that is at the beginning of the video is behind our house and over one. I still think it was a tornado.

Strange Happenings

We had the strangest storm today. Major rain, wind, hail, lightening and thunder..... crazy but very exciting. After the storm, I noticed some of my neighbors' fences. See above. I noticed a few trampolines that had been picked up, twisted up, and plopped down someplace else. I examined the actual holes in the fences. Fascinating. There was a fairly good sized tree that was just snapped off its trunk but the tree was laying on the other side of the yard. I concluded that it was a tornado. It has all the signs of a tornado but tonight on the news they said it was a microburst. I guess I was close to the right answer. Anyways, luckily nobody was hurt and only a few fences in the neighborhood were damaged. The news did say that a huge play structure in someone's yard got rolled along the ground like a tumble weed. Scary.

Then I took Rebecca and Tanner to the dentist. I also had an orthodontist look at Rebecca's teeth. After they took full x-rays of her mouth, they told me she is missing 6 adult teeth. They just aren't there. They said they don't know why that happens sometimes but they think it's genetic. Usually only 2 or 4 teeth are missing... not 6. Very weird. Anyway, the 6 missing teeth are causing all sorts of development problems like the jaw didn't develop properly, some of her teeth are caving in and messing up the bone structure, etc. The good news is that it can all be fixed pretty well. She just has to get braces in the next 6 months and after she is full grown she will have to have 4 implants to put artificial teeth in. Wow. Poor Rebecca. I'm just glad they know how to make it as good as possible.

A New Addition to the Powell Pets

Meet Oreo. This is Rachel's new little mouse. Rebecca agreed to let Rachel's Oreo live with Rice and Krispy as long as Rachel agreed to help clean out the cage every week. A deal was made and now we have 3 mice instead of 2. The other part of the deal is that Rachel's mouse is a male and Rebecca's are females. I guess you all know what that means. We may have many little mice in our future. The girls will share the baby mice.

Joshua and Tanner are trying to convince them that the breeding program would be a great way to feed a big snake which they would consent to buy, care for, and feed so that we won't end up with quite so many mice in the end. What do you think? Should we allow such attrocities to take place in our home all in the name of "it's just nature taking its course"?

Tanner Advances Rank

At the Court of Honor on Sunday, Tanner received 3 merit badges as well as the rank advancement to Star. Congratulations!!!

Adam said .....

At church on Sunday, Adam said to me, "Mom, I want to sit on your lap." I said, "I want to sit on your lap." His eyes got really big and laughingly he said, "No mom, you'll kill me."

Cousins

Micah and Julie (David's sister) came to town last weekend for a visit and we had a great time!!  My kids loved having their cousins here and we wish we lived closer so we could play with them more often.  Thank you Micah and Julie for coming.  

  

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Adam Is Back!!

It has been 15 days since Adam got his cast off (which was a week earlier than planned). He has not walked on it much until about 4 days ago. Now he is really doing well and we are so happy that he is finally up and about. The video clip shows him walking (with kind of a shuffle limp), riding his bike (the first time was today), and jumping on the trampoline. All recorded today. Yes... we are crazy parents letting him back on the trampoline but the doctor said it is OK and we didn't want him to be scared to do things.

Draper Temple Celebration

Joshua and Tanner got to perform in the Draper Temple Celebration to celebrate the opening of the Draper Temple.  It was held at the Conference Center last Friday, May 29, 2009.  It was a fantastic performance with 7000 kids performing from the temple district.  They did sort of a history of Utah through dance.  For example, it started with a Native American dance to represent the Utes and other tribes that lived in Utah before the pioneers. Then there were several pioneer dances to represent the different stages of settlement (entering the valley, homesteading, building towns, etc.).  Then they did the train coming to Utah, different ethnic groups who immigrated to Utah, the 20's, the 40's, a salute to the military, and a few songs celebrating the youth today and the new temple in their midst.  It really was great to see and great for the kids to participate in.  

The prophet spoke to the kids for a few minutes at the beginning and as always, he was so loving and we could all feel the Spirit so strongly.  He even had all of us sing "Happy Birthday" to President Eyring since Friday was his birthday.  It was very fun. 

Our stake did the Charleston for the 20's.  The kids did a great job!!  All the boys were dressed like the boy on the left above.  Joshua is the 3rd one from the left.

The girls wore flapper dresses like the 2 on the left below.

Joshua and Tanner with a couple friends.

The boys in our ward.... having lots of fun at the pizza party after the performance.