SCUBA 2014

 We decided to help with the stake's yearly SCUBA trip after Aubree and I saw how much planning, preparation and work it was. We helped bring equipment and food from the valley, and facilitated the shuttling back and forth of the different SCUBA groups to the marina. We also came up with a printed itinerary and ideas of what to do in San Diego when the groups weren't diving. We stay at a scout camp in Balboa Park. The plan was to help cook, transport, entertain and help keep everything organized, and then stay for a few extra days in San Diego after everyone else went home.

 We enjoy spending time with the Bitter family. They have kids around our kids' same ages. Bro. Bitter is in charge of the SCUBA trip for our stake and his wife did all the cooking the year Aubree and I certified. Here we are unloading gear from the truck.

                         Coordinating permission slips, equipment and schedules at the marina. They dive 2 days off the boat and once from the beach at La Jolla Cove. There are usually 2 dive groups. One dives in the morning, and the other group comes in the afternoon. Then that same group dives the next morning, and the first group does the last afternoon dive. At the cove, they have to share equipment, so if you get the equipment first, you have to hurry and do your dive so the next person has time to dive before we have to go back and break camp.

                                             I got to help design the dive shirt this year. :)

 We paid for Aubree to go on this dive trip as a graduation present. It's something she enjoys and it's a good trip for our family. This trip, she saw star fish, lobster, anemones, a sting ray, and lots of fish.

Receiving instructions on how far to go and what to avoid so you don't get yelled at by the life guards at the cove.

SCUBA 2015

Rylee and Dad decided to certify for SCUBA this year. :)This is their Discover SCUBA at the Central Arizona College pool. This is an opportunity to see if you even like SCUBA diving. They give you all the equipment, show you the basics of how to use it, and then let you play around a little bit.

 If you decide to continue, there is a class you take that shows you what you need to know and certifies you to dive in open water up to 60 ft deep. Then you have to do a closed water dive, in the pool, to show that you know what you're doing. After that is the open water dive at Lake Pleasant so you can demonstrate your knowledge in a real world setting.

 This is the Lake Pleasant dive. Aubree and I also dove at this time to refresh our memory. They ask you to do a refresher if it's been more than 6 months since your last dive.

 Now we head to San Diego where the water is cold! We always charter the same boat every year because we know the captain and he's familiar with what we do and who we'll be bringing. This is Aubree's 3rd year diving. Captain Eric nick named her purple from her first dive because her wet suit was black and purple. I don't think he knows her real name, but when we show up year after year, he remembers her and calls her purple. :)

This is most of our group helping to load gear onto the boat at the marina. We had a record number of girls diving this trip. 3 moms, 4 daughters, and a friend. I think we had 39 people in all, including the Bitter family and ours, because we do all the planning and organizing. It's a blast every year and we'll keep doing it as long as we have time and it's still fun!

                                                            LOVE THE BEACH!!!

Happy Independence Day!!

This is our annual Morris Family 4th of July BBQ/swim/rocket launch get-together. I'm grateful to live in a country that allows me the freedoms to grow and teach my family the way I choose. God (please!) bless America so it can remain the land of the free and the home of the brave.

 Love these smiles!

 I was just teasing Scott about the angle of the launcher because the first rocket nearly landed in the busy street full of traffic.

 Canon honored himself with the title "Rocket King".

 Everyone got in on the rocket recovery fun. This rocket lost it's shock cord, so Raegan recovered the nose while someone else went after the body. Running around in this heat definitely takes it's toll. Raegan wasn't feeling well for a full day afterwards.

Why be Miss America when you can be Mrs. Captain America?? Silly, beautiful girls :)

Grandpa Lua

 We took a trip to Utah to visit Grandma and Grandpa Moore on their mission to Temple Square. We also stopped by St. George on the way home to visit with Grandpa Lua. He always teased the grand kids and great-grand kids with his cane, and rarely smiled for pictures. This is where Scott, Rylee and Canon's round heads and chubby cheeks come from.

 Scott has many fond memories of spending summers in Page, for weeks at a time, with his grandma and grandpa. But as Grandpa Lua got older and his health required more attention, he was moved to a care facility in St. George.

Since he couldn't walk with a cane anymore, it was the great grand kids turn to tease him and race him down the hallway in his wheelchair. :) This was the last time we got to spend time with him in this life.

Music Man

 For the 2012-2013 school year, Legacy put on a production of "The Music Man". Rylee was a member of the barbershop quartet and had a lot of fun figuring out how to harmonize with no music to keep them on key. Raegan got to be a concerned citizen. I was backstage again, but helped with practices, memorizing lines and expression.

Aladdin

 We love to be in plays! The girls like to sing and act and I like to be backstage making sure all the props and scenes go on when they're supposed to. This year, Aubree had moved up to the high school and done "Rebel Without A Cause" but she came back to help me backstage.

 For the 2011-1012 school year, Legacy decided to put on Aladdin. Rylee got to be one of the narrators, Kiersten was a harem girl and Raegan was a harem extra.

I love watching them have fun together!

Shooting rockets- July 4, 2012

 We have a tradition in the Morris Family. We like to build and shoot off model rockets. For the past decade or so, we've done it on the 4th of July. It's a little hot, but we bring lots of water and watermelon. This particular year, the weather cooperated nicely, and it was overcast and breezy. Still hot, but bearable. We usually start with swimming at Grandma and Grandpa's recreation center pool and have a BBQ at their house. Then we head over to the "sump" by Dobson High School and shoot our rockets. We used to end the night by watching a fireworks display at Mesa Community College, but they don't do it anymore.

 Canon doesn't like the loud sound when the rocket shoots off.

 We like to build a new rocket every year and name and number it. Hopefully, we bring it home and it sits in the rocket collection until the next year. But, sadly, sometimes we lose rockets and then we have to retire that number and observe a moment of silence. :)

 This year, Kim and Trent brought hoola hoops to keep the kids busy while the parents figure out how to set up the launch pads. We caught Grandma and Grandpa having a contest.

 A rare moment.

 My sweet boy is getting too big for my lap. :( The heat tires the kids out fast when they run around all afternoon trying to catch the rockets before they hit the ground.