Weston's Birthday

The week after FSY, Weston turned 16!  Alex was back in time to celebrate with us.  Weston asked for a particular Lego set, so at least he was easy to shop for.  I don't think we need more Legos... but the boys still like them and have quite a collection.  Weston is still making some Lego stop-motion videos, so I guess he needs more materials for those videos. He wanted french toast, eggs, and turkey bacon for breakfast and Mongolian beef for dinner. 

Weston does have his driver's permit, but he hasn't practiced driving much.  We're still in the scary stage and have a little time before he's ready to get his license.  Maybe by January?  The other new thing for Weston is getting contact lenses.  I never thought he'd ask to get those, but he did, and he somehow figured out how to get them in and out. He mostly wanted them for running so that his glasses don't slide off when he gets sweaty.  He's getting a lot taller and has outgrown Owen (although Owen is in denial).  Weston is a great kid and still makes us laugh.  We recently came across some cute videos of him when he was 4 years old that makes me laugh every time.  

FSY

The week after the 4th of July, the kids went to a 5-day church camp called For the Strength of Youth (FSY) on a local college campus.  They got to stay in the dorms, meet new people, eat lots of food, and have a week with spirit-filled devotionals, dances, activities, and hanging out with friends.  I only got some pictures from Savannah and snagged one collage from Owen's Instagram (so his pictures aren't great resolution).  When I asked them what they liked the most, the first thing they said:

Savannah:  Testimony Meeting, then meeting new people and the classes
Weston:  Food, then the counselors
Owen:  Camp Counselors (he wants to be one later), and then the hanging out with friends

They came home on a spiritual high and most importantly with things they wanted to change.  Savannah had already been reading scriptures and taking notes.  She learned about pondering and making scripture study more about quality and not quantity.  I have also been impressed that Savannah wants to read scriptures with me, so we've been reading a chapter together every day.  Owen was inspired to make some changes in his life, and he also came back with the desire to be a camp counselor after his mission.  He came back singing the FSY music and has a play list with church music that he listens to.  Weston came back with a stronger testimony of Jesus Christ, as his friend, someone he wanted to be like, and to be a disciple of.  He also wanted to get better at sharing the gospel with friends and wanted to make more effort to talk to people.  Before FSY, they had the chance to pick a roommate.  Owen roomed with his friend Joshua.  Savannah tried to line up a friend to be her roommate, but it didn't work out.  However, she ended up being roommates with another one of her good friends, so that was a fun surprise for her.  Weston purposefully didn't choose a roommate, because he wanted to make a new friend.  This shows the mentality he has been in and a desire to be more social.  That's pretty big for Weston, who is independent and content to do his own thing.  I like how these camps are changing them for the better.  They had a great week!

4th of July

Alex was out of town for the 4th. The rest of us went to the 4th of July breakfast at the church.  After that, Owen and Weston worked most of the day, manning a parking lot.  When they got home, we had dinner and then later ventured out to watch the city fireworks.  We decided to do something we hadn't done before, which is watch the fireworks at the beach where they shoot them off.  We were so close you could FEEL them!  It was great hearing them and seeing them up close, but we didn't really enjoy some of the crowd (the ones smoking weed or setting off their own fireworks right behind us).  It didn't take us too long to get home and parking was free, so it was almost the perfect experience.  Next time we might need to get just a little bit further from the crowd.  Otherwise it was really cool to be so close to the show.