Lot's of news to report today!

Brian and I got to go to Casper Friday and Saturday to the state wrestling meet.  We took Andy with us since Emma was already there with the cheer squad.  Our friends, the Stott's,  let Peter, Lucy, and Eric stay overnight with them.  I've never been to Casper before so I was excited to see a new city.  It took us about 2 and a half hours to get there.  The city is very spread out and seems like it should have more people than it does.

Palmer lost his first match at the state meet which put him into the wrestlebacks.  In order to place he had to win three more matches.  He won his next one on Friday.  Saturday came and Brian and I were so nervous for him!  It was his goal to place in state and two more wrestlers stood in his way.  Both Brian and I were praying so hard for him!  He pinned both his guys!  I was so happy I almost started crying!  Now he was guaranteed a place.  If he won the next match he would wrestle for 3rd and 4th, if he lost he would wrestle for 5th and 6th.  He ended up losing both, which disappointed him, especially the last one, but he placed in state!!

Emma did a great job of cheering and it was fun to watch her, she looked so cute!  Here are a couple of highlights of the two days:

152 weight class winners, Palmer is on the right.

I love this pretty picture of Emma!

Palmer during one of the matches

The boys!

Emma, the cutest cheerleader!

Here is the video of Palmer receiving his medal.  Yes that's Emma giving it to him!

Today we had a very special Sacrament meeting at church.  Two weeks ago we got the okay from the First Presidency to form a 3rd Worland ward.  The Worland Stake was created in 1980 with 6 ward units and hasn't changed for 35 years.  We've finally reached enough numbers to qualify for the creation of another ward.  Both wards met together this morning and we only had sacrament meeting.  We got to see the new ward boundaries and then listened as many people were released and many people were called including the new bishopric.  It was a very neat experience for me and I felt the Spirit very strongly.  Many members who have been here since the creation of the stake were dreading this, they would be separated from friends and family members.  However, the feeling there was one of love and excitement and courage to go forward with the new assignments.  Our family will stay in the 2nd ward, we were not impacted very much.  Brian kept all his Young Men Presidency and we lost very few youth.  I get to stay with my visiting teaching companion and all 5 of our sisters we visit.  We didn't have any members added to our ward.  This is an exciting time for us here in Worland, we will have the opportunity to reach out to more people and bring those back who have stopped attending.  Next Sunday we will again only have sacrament meeting as many organizations will have to restaff positions.  I feel very blessed to have moved here and to be involved in this work of salvation here in Worland.  The stake president said that the final piece of this puzzle was put in place as this summer many large families moved into the ward.  This desire to form a new ward has been many years in the making and I know now another reason we moved up here.  It's humbling to know that we are part of the Lord's plan for the growth here in this small section of his vineyard.

Brian and I had an adventure together yesterday.  We decided to go to Billings to go to the temple.  Brian needed to do a bunch of stuff for work along the way.  We left around 10:30 and drove to Meeteetse which is a very small town of just over 100 people about an hour away from us.  I've never been there before so I was excited to see some place new.  He was delivering some building materials to a Catholic monastery that is being built about 30 to 40 minutes up in the mountains past Meeteetse.  Believe me when I say this place is the definition of the middle of nowhere!  We drove on a very narrow paved road for awhile and then it was a dirt road that thankfully the monks had plowed so it wasn't a snowy mess.  On the way up there we saw huge herds of elk.  Brian has been to this work site a few times and he told me that the construction workers have seen grizzly bears. The monks ride around on 4 wheelers with ak47's so they can shoot bears or wolves that attack!  The monks will be producing coffee when the monastery is completed which will take another 2 years.  It was really beautiful up there, a stark sparse beauty.    These pictures don't do it justice.

This will be their cathedral

Those buildings will be the monks hermitages

Oh, and it was cold!  Windy and very cold!  Those construction workers are troupers!

I think those mountains in the far distance are part of Yellowstone park

Another view of the cathedral

I don't think I've ever been a place where there is literally nothing around me

View of the dirt road to the monastery

Brian was hoping to see one of the monks when we went, but they weren't around.  He deals mostly with the construction site manager.  The workers are all from Cody which is about an hour and a half away.

After we left the mountains we drove to Cody and Brian needed to pick up some more supplies from the Bloedorn store there.  We had a lovely lunch at Wendys!  A "real" hamburger tasted so good and I haven't had a frosty in ages!  Then we drove to Billings.  We hadn't driven to Billings on the road from Cody before.  When we go we take another road from Worland and by pass Cody, so we got to see some really beautiful scenery.  This road takes you very close to the mountains of Yellowstone, I believe they are called the Absarokas.  With the light dusting of snow on everything and the many hawks flying and deer and antelope it was sublime!  Brian felt like he really wanted to take a detour, he felt like the mountains were calling to him to come and check them out!

We made it to Billings and of course had to stop at Costco and Brian got a hair cut and we went to the temple.  It was pretty late by the time we got to the temple and their sessions are only every 2 hours.  We didn't want to get home after midnight so we decided to do some initiatory names instead of a regular session.  I love the Billings temple, the temple workers are so excited to see you since it isn't very busy.  They were just waiting around for someone to come and do initiatories, I was the only one there!

We grabbed some food after and headed back home.  Thankfully we didn't see any wildlife on the way back, deer are very common on the road back to Worland and I was driving because Brian was very tired.  The deer stayed off the road and we made it back home before 11:00.

Wonderful day with my husband and such beautiful sites, it couldn't have been better!  I never thought I would say this, but there is something to say about wide open unpopulated spaces.  It can be very peaceful.

The Worland High School Warriors Wrestling Team (that's a lot of W words!) came in second at region today.  Palmer did well enough to be able to wrestle at the state tournament next weekend.  Here's a few pictures:

Entire team.  Palmer is on the very far right by the balloons.

He wishes he would have done better, but he still has state to look forward to!

This morning I woke up to this:

The snow was almost all melted and then we got dumped on again.  

Brian and Palmer are in Douglas at the Region Wrestling Tournament.  Yesterday Palmer lost his first match in the very last second!  He won his next match.  Brian spent the night in his truck because he didn't want to pay for a hotel!  It turned out to be pretty cold, but he's a scout so it's no big deal-right?  

Since wrestling is now our thing, Peter and Eric started in a wrestling club that meets in Ten Sleep twice a week.  It's pretty cute to watch these little guys wrestle.  It looks more like a little boys dream play group jumping and tackling each other to their hearts content!  

Here's to a happy, cold Saturday!

All of Peter's cute hair was cut off tonight!  He looks so old now and a little goofy!

Sunday....aahhh....

Lovin' me some Sundays!  What a great day of the week it is!  Together as a family, no work, no projects, naps, church, making treats.

I received another calling today in addition to my current music calling.  I'm on the stake young women's camp board!  Emma thinks this is what I get for not going to girls camp when I was in young women's in Utah!  There are three of us on the board plus the stake young women's presidency.  The other two women have been doing this for a few years and they are excited to be doing it again.  They are going to a different location this year, there will be cabins and hot showers!  Awesome!  Girls camp is the second week in July.

It's time to go make some cookies!

And wrestling season continues.....

Andy is in green, he pins this guy

Palmer wrestled in Riverton this weekend.  Brian drove down on Friday and watched him.  He wrestled one of the best guys in the state.  He didn't let him pin him, but he still lost.  Then he lost his second match as well.  Dang.

Andy wrestled in Greybull today.  Brian, Lucy, Peter, and I went to watch him.  The first guy he wrestled was from Cody and he has been wrestling since he was three and hasn't lost a match in the last three years!  Andy lasted the first round, but got pinned in the second round.  He did pretty well against him, other wrestlers that met him fell after just a few seconds.  He won his second match against a guy from Powell and then we had to leave before we got to see him wrestle his final match.

Worland Middle School Wrestling Team 2015 (Andy is on the top row 4th from left)

Worland High School Wrestling Team 2015 (Palmer is on the back row 4th from right)

Emma is in Cody today cheering for the boys and the girls basketball teams and Eric went up to the Klondike this morning early, he couldn't stay overnight because he isn't 12 yet.

Worland High School Cheer Team 2015 (Emma is holding up the cheer captain, Ashtyn)

I found some of Palmer's football pictures today that I never posted so here they are:

All the seniors on the football team (there weren't very many!)

Senior night for the football team

We are going to have a guest for the next 5 days.  One of Eric's friends in our ward is going to stay with us while his parents are in Cheyenne.  His name is Tanner and he is very excited!  He is the youngest in his family by 12 years or so and is the only one left at home.  He told us he loves the chaos at our house!  Eric, Lucy, and Peter are very happy that he will be here as well.  I hope he doesn't get sick of us by Thursday!