First day of School 2010

Today the kids started school. Drew 8th grade, Adam 4th grade and Madi 2nd grade. They were all so excited and a little nervous.

Drew was so excited to see his friends more than anything. He bought his first shirt this year while shopping with his friend. Tell me what you think....bright huh? I think I had a shirt this color the year I graduated from high school, 20 + years ago. I thought it was just as cool as he does. Day-glow yellow is all the rage apparently. He picked it out and it doesn't have nasty words or images on it so I can not complain. He wears it whenever he can. He just started taking some medicine to help him concentrate and it seems to be helping. He got his homework done in 10 minutes. I was flabbergasted. It would have taken at least 1 hour previously. Let's hope it stays that way.

Adam has his first male teacher this year. He was the most apprehensive about the new year mostly due to his teacher. His teacher seems like a nice guy and very tech savvy. Mr. H is young and just graduated from college a few years ago. He is a good teacher and fun. Because he is into media, I should have not problem getting Adam's homework. It will be posted on the class website as well as on twitter. I got an awesome You tube tutorial around the class website from Mr. H. It was six minutes, and very informative. Although nervous, Adam seems to be adjusting and enjoying things so far. He is growing up fast a very sweet kid. He picked out his own messenger bag and hoodie. His favorite school supply item for school is his "black white board" and neon dry erase markers. I have to say, it is cool.

Madi is in the 2nd grade this year. Her teacher Mrs. A has been a teacher for nine years. This is the first year at our school. She is a Mom, with 4 children that loves to teach. She loves school and has several kids she knows in her class. She picked out her outfit and did her own hair. She made her headband with Grandma Fillerup a few months ago. Her backpack is one she picked out from target. Of course it was twice the price of the rest of those we looked out. It is white with darling turquoise, yellow and magenta birds on it. It is of high quality and should last her for several years. It was a bit of out of the budget, but she was determined to get it. She even offered to pay the difference from the budget. We are hoping it goes on sale in the next few weeks so that we will both be happy. :)

Mom & Drew Hike Timpanogos

Sunrise on Mount Timpanogos summit.

We had the opportunity to hike Mount Timpanogos with the Young Men and Young Women. We started at midnight and finished at 11 am the next morning. We made it all the way to the top, where the shack is. We arrived just in time to see the sun rise. It was beautiful.

We were one of 10 that made it to top in our group. There were about 30 of us total. It was freezing cold and windy. Drew invited his friend Crosby to come with us.

They did very well. It is 14 miles roundtrip. It was fun but not something I would plan to do again in the near future.

This is us coming down from the top at the "Saddle".

Fillerup Family Summer 2010

Wow! I cannot believe that the summer is almost over. We have 10 days left before school starts Aug 25th. This summer has been a hectic one. Unfortunately, we have been working and haven't had the opportunity to do many family outings. I will attempt to do a recap of the summer for you.





June--Started out pretty calm. Drew played lacrosse for the first few weeks and attended lacrosse camp. Drew started playing Lacrosse for the first time in May. His team was located in Orem due to the fact that all the Highland teams decided to play in the Salt Lake league. Because we were newbies we were uninformed. It worked to our benefit however. Drew had an awesome coach named Dana. He is actually a neighbor of the Senior Fillerup clan of Orem and Northridge. It was a crazy schedule to get him to practices and games 3 to 4 times a week, but he was in heaven. Drew plays Middie and Attack positions. Because we are new to the sport of lacrosse, Jared took it upon himself to become educated. He Googled the sport, rules etc. The most helpful was YouTube. We could see what the game was and learned a lot. Lacrosse is a combination of soccer, football, and hockey. You have a team set up like soccer, you can hit like football with pads, and you have a stick like hockey. Drew is a pretty skinny fellow, but he is almost as tall as me now and can hold his own in a helmet, shoulder pads, elbow pads, and gloves. He attended his first camp put on by several BYU/UVU college players. It was a two a day session camp for one week. He learned a ton and improved more. He loved it and looks forward to playing again next spring.



Adam went to scout camp at Camp Jeremiah Johnson. He spent the day shooting BB guns, shooting a bow, canoeing and making model planes. Because it is the 100th anniversary of scouting he earned an extra award and a dog tag with the scout logo on it. It was the highlight of the camp.



Madi and Jared spent the month playing softball twice a week. Jared coached the Angels Filly league coach pitch softball. The team consisted of 8 7-8 year old girls. As grouchy as my husband can be, he was a great coach for these girls. They loved him and he enjoyed it as well. They learned to throw like boys ;) , hit a pitched ball, run bases and play each position. My favorite drill was where the girls played catch with each other. They would each make a T with their arms, point with the hand with the glove on it and then throw across their body to the other girl. Such a simple way to teach the point and follow through. I should never hear, that our daughter throws like a girl. Hence the reason he coached and I didn't.



Jared and Drew attended scout camp in the Boulder Mountains again this year. A week of hiking, fishing and scouting. Jared is the YM 2nd Counselor and over the Deacons. They took close to 30 people. 17 of which were scouts. It was not as relaxing as you would think for the leaders of such a large group. Drew had a good time though and passed off several new merit badges.

Adam, Madi, and Luke spent most of the week at Grandma and Grampa Fillerup's. They had some some other cousins staying there as well. They spent the week swimming at the neighborhood pool and playing with Grampa's new chickens. They named each of them. Adam named his chicken, Mohawk, Madi's was Livvy and Lukey's was Elephant.

As for me, I spent most of the week in Orlando, Florida for work. I have a new job as a salesman for a few new MRI products. I went to a conference there. I took a red-eye flight Tuesday night and stayed until Saturday afternoon. It was a long trip and I missed my family very much. It was a very educational experience. There was not as much sales traffic as I expected but I learned a lot from the classes taught. I even got to earn some CE credits. I ended up being on my own which made it a bit lonely. I didn't get to see much of Florida either. I rode the water taxi from the conference center to the Universal Studios shops and then took a taxi back to my hotel. It was very hot and humid. The closest I got to a beach was a some sand at the faux beach near the water taxi stop. I just wish my family could have come and that I actually got to see Florida.

I worked 40-50 hours a week during the month. Starting the 15 of June I got a guaranteed shift every Thursday from 12-8 at a local clinic. I pick up shifts at the hospital for another 10-15 hours and then do sales 20 hours a week. My babysitters are a few girls that live nearby and Drew. They split up the days into 4 hours shifts and take turns. My kind friend Crystelle, mom of my sitters, fills in when they can't. The kids love being home and playing with their friends. I am glad that they are safe. But I worked way to much.

July was crazy too. We spent the 4th of July at home. Because it was on a Sunday, most of Utah County celebrated Saturday, July 3rd. We spent the day in our yard, then went to see Toy Story 3. We loved it. Luke has been waiting for Woody and Buzz for months. We all cried at the end. The "Clawwwwww" is our hero. We went to Thanksgiving Point for the fireworks. We parked in the industrial park behind the golf course and we were home at 10:40. Not bad for a firework show that lasted about 20 min.

Monday, July 5 th was busy. I was Camp director this year for girl's Camp. They went Tuesday-Friday at camp Mutal Dell. I spent the day shopping for food and packing for 20+ campers. Jared took the boys fishing up the Provo River. On their way back to the car, with Luke on his shoulders, Jared slipped on some rocks and twisted his knee. After walking another mile to the car, he decided that something was very wrong. Besides the fact that he couldn't straighten his leg, he was in excruciating pain. I got an unpleasant phone call and an "I screwed up my knee". Because it was a holiday, no doctors were in. We had no "good" drugs either. Jared spent the night very uncomfortable on ibuprofen, and soaking wet from a leaking ice pack.

Tuesday was very eventful. I had 20 campers show up with their gear at 8 am. I made arrangements for Jared to see a orthopedic surgeon Wednesday. However, because we had no pain meds, and he needed an MRI before he saw the Dr. he had to go see his GP. The local doc was not the most helpful. He tried to talk him out of an MRI, saying "Don't you want to wait and see what happens?" Jared said, "No thank you, please order the MRI and give me drugs so I can function." His MRI was at 7 pm that night. Thanks to my kind friends. I am so glad to have good friends as co-workers. It was hard to be at camp and not able to communicate with home. We had a good time and ate a lot of junk. Our theme was "Incredi-girls". I slept where I could see the stars and slept great after a Tylenol PM.

Wednesday, I finally got a hold of Jared. I had got "permission" from the camp host to use the phone. He said my friend thought he had a pretty good meniscus tear and that he would see the Dr. that afternoon. Because he went prepared with his MRI, they were able to schedule his surgery for the next afternoon. I came home that night. I was not going to let him go to surgery without me. I was sad to leave, but my family comes first. After the evening activities of skits, game of "Chickie chickie", and campfire songs I headed out. The kids were very happy to see me and I was grateful for a warm shower and my bed.

The surgery went well. Jared had a large bucket handle meniscus tear that was in the joint space of his left knee. He was unable to straighten his leg. The meniscus that was removed was the size of a pinkie finger. He felt so good after surgery that he over did it. Morphine is awesome, but we waited too long to get more meds on board. We got a little behind his pain and it was a pretty rough night. He did get to sleep about 4 am and felt much better with good meds. I returned to camp Friday morning to help the girls pack up. I was disappointed to miss testimony meeting and heard it was fantastic. Everyone seemed to have a good time and got along really well. I was very impressed with the leadership the 15-16 year old youth leaders showed the younger girls.

Jared's recovery has gone well. He has returned to fishing and has been riding his bike. He has recruited Drew to go with him. Drew has found a new hobby in mountain biking. Since Drew and I share a bicycle we have to take turns going. He likes going down the hills, but up hill is a challenge. Drew is almost as tall as I am and a very handsome boy. He still has his braces, but had his HERBST removed a in July. He will get his braces off before Christmas, we hope.

I only traveled out of state once this month, and it was just for a day. I spent a day in Boise, ID. My day started at 4 am, and ended at 11:30 pm. I traveled with a colleague and didn't drive so I got a short nap on the way back. I realized a couple of things on this trip. First, I have been working way to much. Second, promises are worthless unless they are on paper. Third, my family is the most important thing in my life. It was an enlightening day to say the least.

Since then I have been spending more time at home and haven't traveled at all. It is amazing how easy a week can be working only 30 hours. The kids and I have been making up for lost time. We have been swimming, seen several movies, gone to the library, and hanging out at home. It is awesome. I have been taking a break from traveling and sales except from home. I am still trying to decide if it is worth the toll it takes on the family and my emotional well being. I think it is something I am good at but I don't know if now is the time to pursue a career that takes me away from home some much. I'll let you know when I figure it out myself. lol

We spent the 24th of July at Strawberry Reservoir. We had a great time craw-dad fishing. We planned on catching our fill, then boiling them up on shore, but then forgot a key ingredient for our Jambalaya....pasta. So after taking a full camp kitchen with us, we didn't even use them. However, the kids had fun throwing out the chicken legs tied to a string and netting them at the shore. Lukey loved using the net to capture the critters. We took Jared's fishing tube, kick boat and the kids enjoyed riding it from shore to shore. Jared had to go to swim after it once when they let go of it and didn't have it tied to shore. We were in a small cove and had the shore mostly to ourselves. People kept asking what we were doing and we had fun showing them our growing catch. We caught about a hundred of them before we left. We headed back home to cook them up. Each child named one and all of them touched them eventually. They were delicious, atleast for Jared and I. The kids didn't want to eat their friends after all.

The last week of July was just as busy as the first. We have been cleaning closets, cupboards, and blinds. We are hoping to have a yard sale soon. This has helped give my children incentive to get rid of things. I love having a clean house. We have also been weeding outside too. Madi is trying to buy another American Girl Doll and weeding for money. She is a hard worker and will do almost anything for money.

As much as I like a clean house, Jared likes a full hay shed. He had the opportunity to purchase hay from a friend in Lakeshore at a good price. With his hurt knee and sore back I was worried about him bucking 120 bales of hay. He did great with the help of the kids and me. We didn't do too bad. But I think bucking hay is my least favorite farm chore. We did it two days in a row. I ended up with blisters on 4 fingers even though I wore leather gloves. I also had scratches up and down my forearms. I decided to wear a long sleeve shirt despite the 90 degree heat. I did feel like a she-woman though. Those things are heavy. Jared was a little sore but very happy the horses have food for the winter.

August has been much less eventful so far. Drew and Jared attended Youth Conference at Heber Valley Camp. They had a good time. Drew was up til 3 am on a sugar induced high. He was pretty tired when he got home. They also learned to make survival bracelets with 10 feet of rope. We all had one by the end of the night they arrived home.

Well, that is the recap for now. I will add more photos later. I promise not to wait a year to update again.