Danny's last week before his mission

First morning:  hiking Paratutu with me.




Roasting marshmallows (indoors) and wrestling with the girls.


Photoshoot and weight lifting with Dad:



Saturday outing to Three Sisters.  An evening pot luck with the Hillary team.

Oak's shot

Danny's farewell.  The Swansons drove for over an hour out of respect for Danny. . .and to have one last chance to exclaim over his height.

The first time Jack had ever been to a church service of any kind -  Charlotte nearly the same - so I appreciate them all the more for coming to hear Danny.

Danny also gave a youth/YSA devotional for our district on Sunday evening, including his first vocal solo.  Mercy on the way home: "You have a legit solo voice, Danny!"

On Tuesday we drove to Hamilton for Danny to be set apart by the mission president and for Oak to receive his patriarchal blessing.





Then we drove up to Auckland, where we were extremely relieved that Danny and Sage could board the same flight for SLC as planned.

Nana and Gramps sent Noah off to the MTC a couple of years ago, and now they've sent Danny off, as well.  I can't imagine anyone getting a more loving, faithful send-off.  In addition, Danny received a bonus send-off from Andrew and Allison and boys!

I loved Danny's talk about COURAGE, with concrete examples from his own experiences and observations:

• Courage to make decisions.
• Courage to overcome fears.  Make decisions based on courage rather than fear.
• Courage to do what is right.
• Courage to change.
• Courage to be who we really are, or who we really want to be.  Let others see it.  Don't be a hypocrite in either direction.  

Hillary Challenge Video 2018

Oak enjoyed creating this year's Hillary Challenge video.

Hillary Challenge Video 2018

The first half of the video documents the adventure racing training season.

The second half of the video documents the 5-day Hillary Challenge 2018.  The 8-person Hillary Challenge team is chosen from the adventure racing squad.

0:00-0:20.  The opening video is Oak's friend, Jason, running on the north crater of Tongariro.  Jason's trademark, ripped-up shorts flap around his legs.

Many of the videos and time lapses were taken by Mike, who is one of the parents who can actually keep up with the squad on their training expeditions (Go, Mike!).  The time lapse that Mike took at 2:33-2:37 is my favourite.

0:45 Jason drinks from a stream.  Jason is wearing more trademark gear:  his Milo cap with Nathan Fa'avae's autograph.

At 1:12 A girl points excitedly behind her.  She's pointing out the rugby star, Richie McCaw, who took up expedition racing after retiring from rugby.

At 1:40 you'll see local coach and legend, Nick Collins, trying to learn 'the Floss' from Georgia.  At 65+ years, he's another one of the adults who can keep up with the squad.  His curly blond hair can be spotted in throughout this video.

In the Utah desert, where I was raised, the lower elevations are brown and the higher elevations are green.  On the north island of New Zealand it's the opposite - the lower elevations are green and the higher elevations are brown.

2:48.  Look for Oak, Noah and Mercy.

Hillary Challenge:

3:11 - 4:44 . The first two days of the Hillary Challenge are initiatives, each lasting 1 hour.  The initiatives are physically and mentally demanding, and always race the team against the clock.

4:44 - 5:35.  The third and fourth days consist of an overnight expedition-rogaine.  Teams are given a map with checkpoints.  The teams have 2 days to reach as many of the checkpoints as possible.  The navigation is off-trail.  Our team covered 60 km in the 2 days, which was more than any other team.  Although this is the most photo-worthy segment of the Challenge, it is also the segment with the fewest photos because there is no access for coaches or parents.

5:35 - 6:23.  The fifth day is a 50km multi-sport race:  paddling, running, biking and navigation.

6:43 - 7:08.  The tag at the end of the video features rare footage of the elusive Phil Hewlett, who is the team's coach and the mastermind behind many years of success in New Plymouth adventure racing.


Finally, one more shout-out to to the great partnership between Jason and Oak:

Phases of Life

Here are the phases of my mother-life, categorized by the bits and pieces:

We went through a lengthy lego and marble phase.

It wasn't that my boys played marbles or legos excessively, but just that there were several YEARS when these little pieces constantly turned up in the darndest places.  

There seemed to be some secret, never-ending supply.

Legos and marbles gradually morphed into a nerf-gun-bullet phase.



I no longer see lego pieces or nerf gun bullets, and only rarely do I find a marble, but this is what I have now:  elastic hair bands and water bottles.

They turn up in corners when I sweep, in the laundry, on every counter,
on the floor of the car, and in the bottom of drawers.

Water bottles (or 'drink bottles') are especially likely to congregate in the car, in cubbies, and near the kitchen sink, but appear every which place in between.

I wonder what's next?

Next week:  more on the NPBHS 2018 Ball

Books of the week:

Working on A Gentleman from Moscow by Amor Towles and Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson.

Life is Good

Here are some of the more exciting things that have happened in the last couple of weeks...

• hear Sage and Joyce contrast/compare the three versions of Annie (which they watched in a weekend.)

This is my girls' favorite Annie. 
They thought Cameron Diaz, in the 2014 version, "when she's nice at the end," looks like their Aunt Amy.  :)

• watch Mercy and Oak come and go from various, awesome activities, including orienteering trip to Auckland.

A nice morning for Oak and Poppy to be at the tarns.

• talk with Mike about our upcoming winter holidays.  Some of the kids are going to cousins' camp in the USA and then we are all going on a 2-week camping holiday to the Queensland Coast - our first time in Australia!  

• bought a new car from the Webers, who will leave a big gap when they move from our branch this week.  

BYU and Texas Longhorn insignias already installed on the rear window.

• moved the furniture in the girls' room as part of a big Fall clean-out day around the house.

organized shelves in the kitchen

• worked on a school research project on Angela Wanhalla, New Zealand historian.  

    

• Also, learned about Buddhist monks and enjoyed finding similarities with Mormon missionaries.  In some Buddhist countries, all male Buddhists are expected to spend at least some time living as a monk.  They take on saffron robes during an ordination rite, renounce their families for a time, live by a code of 227 rules including rules which outline a life of celibacy and poverty.  They spend time learning from older monks, studying religious texts and teaching Buddhism to lay members.  Their service earns themselves and their families spiritual merit.  Maybe this is what you'd be doing in a few weeks, Danny, if you'd been born in Myanmar.

• I haven't finished any books, but I did have a fun time lining up some audiobooks for our Aussie trip!