BYU Football and Zion's Hike

 In September, Tom went to the first BYU Football game in Austin, Texas.  We whipped those Longhorns!!!  What a great shot with Cosmo and Tom!!

Went to Austin, TX with my buddies, Chad Prusse and Doug Chipman.  Great friends and great football.  

Later in the month our friend Dallin Everton had his Eagle court of honor and had a live eagle there---soooo cool.  Spencer is a scout now and is working so hard to get an eagle just like his older brother Kohler!

 The morning of Spencer and Dad's 3-day journey into Kolob Canyon.  What an adventure we had!

 This was our view during our descent.  It was beautiful going down, and grueling coming back out! 

 We found this grub on the way down all alone on the trail.  It was huge!  Luckily, we weren't hungry for a big grub meal!  Haha!

 Still descending as we enter the canyon at about mile 5. 

A Good view of the canyon.  We hiked all the way to near the end of the canyon to a place called, "Bear Trap Canyon".

 When we finally made it to La Verkin Creek, we were hot.  It felt so soothing to wade into the creek and cool off.  We pulled out our stove and ate lunch creekside.  No restaurant could compete with our view and taste of our hard-earned lunch! 

The infamous foot photo appears again.  Relaxing alongside the creek, enjoying the day. 

 Kolob Arch: The world's largest natural arch bridge. It was truly magnificent.  And the only way to see it, is to hike 14 miles up the canyon.  

 We had a great time in the hammock.  We read and played games stretched out on either side.  But mostly we took turns rocking rocking and relaxing.  

  On a day hike up the canyon to Bear Trap Canyon.  

 About dinner time we look over our campsite and about 10 feet away is a good sized rattle-snake making its way toward the river.  We followed after it and found a wild turkey wandering close by as well.  We opted to leave them alone and settle with our dehydrated meal.  

 Our campsite and kitchen.  Such a great campsite! 

Back at the truck, victorious.  We hiked 14 miles and climbed a mile in elevation on the way out.  It was grueling but no complaining was heard.  If Spencer can do this hike at 12 years old, he will no trouble with any scout hike he will encounter.  I was so happy and proud to be with him on this epic journey.  Can't wait to plan another one soon.  

Spencer's Encounter with Hot Chicken Grease!

Back in August I was picking Hailey up from dance and Spencer was helping me by taking the chicken out of the oven.  I was roasting a bunch of chicken breasts on a shallow pan and it was pretty heavy.  As he pulled it out of the oven, some chicken grease spilled on the floor.  Spencer stepped on the grease which made him slip and the pan flew back and the hot grease splattered on his face! It was terrible.  Tom was just walking in the door when it happened and he said it felt like being in a movie and everything was in slow motion---he couldn't get to Spencer in time to help him.  So, Tom put him under cold water and Kelsey phoned me right away.  I came home and Spencer was in a lot of pain.  I phoned Eric Peterson who came over and brought some aloe vera plant leaves which we quickly opened and put the gel on his face.  It still wasn't relieving any of the pain and he was now 1 1/2 hours under that cold water.  I didn't know what to do.  We could tell it wasn't more than a 2nd degree burn so he didn't need to go to the ER but still, the poor kid was dying.  

This is where living by the Spirit comes in:  I had a prompting to text  his scout leader and tell him that  Spencer just had a burn accident and wouldn't be coming to scouts.  They asked me how he was doing and I told him he was in a lot of pain.  His scout leader wrote back that he would be over in just a few minutes.  

 This is Brother Thatcher, Spencer's scout leader.  He just happens to be an amazing scouter and is ALWAYS prepared.  He is also a pharmacist so he has access to great remedies.  He brought over some Silvadene cream, the same cream that is used in the Phoenix Burn Unit.  Literally as soon as he applied the cream, I could see Spencer's body slowly relax as the pain seemed to subside a little.

 His other scout leader, Bro. Lee brought over some popsicles for him which made him feel very loved.  As a mother, I can't even begin to describe how helpless I felt, trying everything I could think of to help him, but to no avail.  It wasn't until this faithful scout leader came over with the right medicine that Spencer's pain was finally going away.  My heart was so full of love for these two wonderful priesthood holders who were prepared and able to help.

 My sweet mother encouraged me the next day to take him to see an eye doctor because he kept saying his vision was blurry.  I took him to our old home teacher, Dr. Richard Wood, who found some blisters on his cornea!  Amazing----some of that grease actually burned the inside of his eye.  He gave us some antibiotic drops as well as some healing drops for the blisters.  Another blessing.  

 The silvadene cream actually has silver in it so when it would dry, it turned silver/gray.  This is how he had to go to school his first day of Junior High.  But this brave kid never complained.  He was such a trooper---I couldn't believe it.  The doctor said that if he kept putting that cream on twice a day it would heal pretty much back to normal.  

Here is a picture of him several weeks later and you can't even see any scars.  It's just a little pink where the major part of the burn was but it's not bad.  I remember him saying the day after the burn, "Mom, do you think it burned my freckles off?"  I wondered if that was a good thing or a bad thing for him and then he said, "I hope not . . . cuz I like my freckles!"  How cool is this kid?  He and I share freckle faces and it's one of my favorite things about him.  I don't know what I'd do without my Spencer.  He is still our Sunshine and adds brightness to any situation.  That is such an awesome quality to have---sure love you Spence!

Remembering Kohler's Birthday back on August 18th

 When August 18th came around, I really began to miss my boy.  He is serving a full-time mission in Mendoza Argentina and I keep a weekly record of his letters on his mission blog:  elderkohlerchamberlain.blogspot.com        He is 19 years old now.

But I though it would be really fun to go through some old pictures of his when he was little.  These are from our dental school days when we lived in Oregon in our apartment.  Those were really happy days.  Tom and I were both so busy, even working 4 part time jobs at one point just to make ends meet, but we were SO happy!  Kohler and Kelsey were our world and we loved having them there to experience this new stage of life with us.

 Now this little girl is a Junior in High School and this little boy is a missionary.  How did this happen??  Yes time flies but all I keep thinking is how GRATEFUL I am that this happened and that I was privileged to be their mother.  Happy Birthday Elder Chamberlain!