Welcome To The Jungle

Kevin's J.V. Wrestling Tournament....yes, a jungle! A High School Gym filled with Wrestlers from 15 different schools.....sweating! We were in close quarters....there to watch Kevin wrestle in his J.V. Tournament. It was an individual challenge to move to the top in his weight class.

I really didn't know how Kevin would perform. He went into the tournament undefeated as a J.V. Wrestler. I hoped for the best and he did not disappoint us. He won the first two matches quite easily and quite quickly. As he moved up the bracket, his matches became more difficult as he went against other wrestlers that were moving up from all these different schools. They were tough!

I am still a little queasy about this wrestling stuff! It is certainly an individual sport. I have to say Kevin has paid the price to compete. He has worked so hard! He has learned to control his weight through his diet (no sweets...only low-calorie, healthy food), the coaches see that they are physically ready and Kevin has to prepare mentally to be confident and in control.

I was thrilled when Kevin kept winning! He gradually made it to the top eight, then the top four and was able to wrestle the championship for his weight class! I was so nervous! As the match started you could tell his opponent was experienced and quick. Kevin had to react and try his best to out-wrestle him. It was a close match, I had my finger crossed and we were all encouraging him from the sidelines. There was only a 1 point difference when his opponent pinned him in the last 9 seconds! It was a great match....Kevin was disappointed, but we were proud of his hard work and effort. Next year.....Kevin has his eye on someone to beat!

The Parable of the Razor

I have a story to tell.....one of those where you could say "I told you so"......but that's not nice! Nor is it something a 15-year-old teenage boy wants to hear from his mother. So...it has not been said. Instead I am contemplating how I can turn the tables and have a lesson learned. Or better yet an open mind that includes listening to your parents without rolling your eyes.

Kevin is a typical teenager. Every Friday and Saturday night is spent "hanging with your friends" basically doing nothing. Kevin is teetering between being too young to drive and date (but wanting to) and being too old to stay home and spend his time with the "Fam." A difficult age, for sure. However, he is quite obedient after he has voiced his loud opinion.

He is my last child at home and I am "overly" protective and watchful. In our neighborhood there is a huge group of kids his age. Generally they are good kids. Kevin has a definite group of friends who are always together. Here's the story.....

Last week Kevin and his friends were "hanging out" all day Saturday. Going from place to place trying to find something to do. Evidently they have a friend who is a bit older who has his license. This licensed driver was with them on Saturday and had access to a car to drive Kevin and his friends where they needed to go. When Kevin asked if he could go with this driver I said NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! First of all, I don't know this boy, 2nd....he is a new driver, 3rd..... Does he even know how to drive, 4th..... there is a law in AZ about how many un-related kids can drive in a car with a new driver, 5th......It was just out of the question!

So the story goes.....whenever Kevin's friends decided to go somewhere else....Max or I would go pick up Kevin and take him to the next destination.....yeah, I know we are geeks but read on.
Kevin was surprisingly obedient. This is the funniest thing. At one point Kevin called me and said...."You can't believe what I am doing" "I am riding a dang razor to Rosa's to eat with my friends because I couldn't get in the car with them"....then he hung up! I was on the grass outside laughing so hard. It was one of those razors that you have to push with one leg to go. And yes, it was freaking hot outside! For a moment I felt sorry for him but Hey, he's a kid.

On Sunday I started to re-think my position. Kevin's friends are starting to drive and ultimately he will have to start riding with them at some point. Hmmmm what to do. I will have to think about this.

Fast forward to this weekend. Hanging out again on Saturday with the same friends. The licensed driver was not around this weekend. I volunteered to be the driver and picked Kevin and his friends up several times to take them where they wanted to go. I was grateful we did not have the same problem this weekend. I am totally willing to take them wherever they want to go. And I do make myself available. Well last night Kevin and his friends had talked about going to a girl's party to watch a movie outside. I had no problem with that. Kevin had been gone most of the day and early in the evening Max said, "I hope Kevin will come home early tonight" "Will you call him and ask him to" I said..."No, you call him and just ask him"
Well, it wasn't done. Then, an hour or so later Max said again...."I want Kevin to come home early tonight I am going to call him" So he did......he suggested to Kevin that he come home an hour or so early. But did not say he had to. Of course, Kevin announces his opinion, never saying yes or no. About half an hour later...Scot calls Kevin and says come home and watch the ASU came with me. (Keep in mind this is never the case.....Kevin NEVER comes home early!) Max and Scot did not know that each of them had called Kevin separately to come home early.

Well, about 9:00 Kevin comes strolling in the door...my first words are "What are you doing home so early?" He says "I don't know....guess I will watch the game with you guys" Shockaroo! I didn't know all this calling had gone on myself.

What's the point you wonder????? On the way home from the party all of Kevin's friends got in a car accident. They were in a car with a newly licensed driver (not the same boy as last week) and he ran a stop sign. Another car T-boned them. Two of Kevin's friends were injured and taken to the hospital....the others were found to be okay. Luckily, no one was seriously injured.....but I about DIED! Kevin would have definitely been in that car.

The funny thing is that McCall was the one to call and tell Kevin about the accident.....thanks girlie girl. Beau doesn't waste a minute! He was one of the boys injured. Anyway....I have goosebumps. I feel like Max was so impressed to make the call and ask Kevin to come home early. I hope Kevin had that little voice in his head telling him to listen-up. He was protected....I am glad nobody was seriously injured and I hope something good comes from this experience.

The moral of this story it....Obedience bring blessings. Riding a razor was never so good!

Kevin!!! You're In High School!!!

Mountain View Toros

Kev headed for wrestling practice...finally got a smile!

I'm a day late on this post.......not because I wasn't going to do it (I know Julie is laughing at me!) but because the subject of my post was unwilling to pose properly (yes, you Kevin). He thinks he is too cool now since he has hit High School to have photos of the first day of school....oh how cute! Amy tried to snap some photos on the first day, but yikes! they were not acceptable. Sooooo, today I took it upon myself to embarass Kevin and snap some photos as I picked him up from wrestling practice. So read on to get the full scoop on Kev's first day in the halls of High School.


Kevin is going to Mountain View. A huge school!!! GO TOROS!! It has been so long since I have had a child in High School I have forgotten everything that goes along with it. Kevin registered early with everyone.....and of course, nothing was right when his schedule came. We made a change just before school started....easy. On the first day, Kevin came home and had a few complaints......you know what his main complaint was????? There are no cute girls in my classes! Plus....he attended his first class....college prep chemistry....Oh No!!! too many brains in the class for him to survive! He wants out!



All kidding aside Kevin has got to tow the line this year. School is now pretty important for him and he needs to do well. He has decided to go for the wrestling team this year. Mountain View is extremely competitive and they demand time, time, time, from the students who decide to do sports. Wrestling workouts started today and Kevin has already spent four hours today working out. Up tomorrow morning at 5:45 for conditioning! I'm not sure I'm signed up for this! Wrestlemania!

He's already doing homework and going to bed earlier. I kinda like this school thing. Friends, late nights, sleeping in, hanging out, wasting time, spending money, Sonic runs and eating because you are bored have all come to a screeching halt! School's On!!!! Kev, You're in High School!

Kevin....aka Jimmy Hendrix wanna be

Kev....Kev....Kev....What's the deal with this Jimmy Hendrix fascination? Isn't it crazy that when your kids get a certain age they start to appreciate the music that you listened to when you were young! Who would have thought? Read on..........

We bought Kevin an acoustic guitar for Christmas last year. We thought...this will be great! Max was constantly begging me to find Kevin a piano teacher. I was luke warm. Chalk that up to experience with three other kids. I just didn't want to fight the practice thing and Kevin thought it was so un-cool!

Max came up with this bright idea......a guitar! I kind of jumped on the band wagon because it got me off the hook....no piano lessons. When Kevin saw his guitar at Christmas he thought it was pretty cool. I immediately found him a guitar teacher who is fabulous at letting him play the music he loves and that is how he teaches Kevin to play the guitar. No boring stuff! I like that. Well, long story short.....Kevin jumped into it. All of a sudden he loved the Beatles, James Taylor and The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Wow, I was happy. In fact, he played his guitar regularly for hours. He found music on the computer and would listen to music on his I-Pod and try and duplicate it. It was fun to watch him be so excited about playing. He was trying so hard.

Well at some point he discovered Jimmy Hendrix and became fascinated. I remember listening to him (not liking it) when I was young. What is so great about Jimmy Hendrix, except he was considered a fabulous guitar player. This leads me to the next part of the story......read on.

Kevin took his acoustic guitar to Montana and would just not put it down. He was always strummin' (so his friends say). In the little town of Polson, Montana, Kevin found a guitar store while they were on a break during their 3 on 3 basketball tournament. Of course, he found the perfect electric guitar. That was all it took. He would not take NO for an answer. He wanted that guitar. Ryan and Julie had given him a Jimmy Hendrix guitar book for Christmas and he was just itchin' to get started. You can't play Jimmy on a regular guitar!

Tryin' out the guitar

Kevin's in heaven...you wouldn't know it by the look on his face!

Max gave in (what a good dad) and let Kevin buy the guitar (with his own money). Max chipped in to buy a small amplifier. Let the noise begin. Oh my gosh! He is playing......I try not to say anything because he is constantly practicing. He needs more practice. He is now even open to singing lessons....I am surprised.....lessons are questionable. His friends are thumbs down on that.....Kevin has a terrible voice.....they all laugh and say good luck! Kevin just smiles and walks around in his Jimmy Hendrix T-shirt.....he is not easily discouraged! There may be some concerts coming up. (Bring your ear plugs)

Just a side note: We talked Kevin into playing for us (and friends) in Montana around a campfire beside the lake. Kevin was willing. He and Beau had worked up a number, Collide, which is a popular Pop song. Evidently they had been practicing at Beau's cabin. After much coaxing we talked Beau into singing while Kevin played. Oh my gosh....my jaw dropped. Beau has the most beautiful voice. I mean it is really good. Who would have guessed? I am going to have them work up a number they can do together.....I need a good bribe!

Kevin Heads For EFY

Alex, Beau and Kevin

The long awaited week arrived. Kevin flew to EFY to spend some great time with his friends, Beau and Alex, and his cousin McCall. Last year, just by luck, they were at EFY the same week. They decided to do it again this year.

Cute Cousins!

Kevin flew up by himself and Shelley picked him up. I kind of dumped a load on Shelley this year. She was responsible for getting Kevin and his friends down to EFY and back! She was a ton of help and I'm sure Kevin and his friends loved it! McCall loved it a little bit too!

Kevin had a great, great, counselor which made all the difference in his experience at EFY. He had a great time with his friends.....away from his mother's influence! He roomed with Beau and Alex roomed with a boy he didn't know from California.

They enjoyed their classes, the dances and most of all their counselor who spent lots of time with them answering all kinds of questions. I guess he was pretty cool. I'm glad Kev had a good experience!

Kev Hits the Real World

Yes, it has happened. Kev has a job. He's joined the Boyer Ranks. We couldn't go through another long, hot summer with nothing to do but play video games and swim. This summer Kevin is so busy....and he loves it!

In the morning he goes to weight training at Mountain View High School in anticipation of making the wrestling team. He comes home for a quick shower and then gets dressed for work. Max hired him this summer to help him catch up at the office. He is learning the ropes! There are a lot of things to do......the first day he worked for 20 minutes and then went to lunch with me, Max and Ryan.....hmmmmm tough job! But really, Max has a ton of things for him to do. It is great! There is not time for sitting around wondering what to do on a hot summer day. He's bringing in the bucks!

Two nights a week he trains with a former Olympic wrestler who teaches him additional wrestling skills. By the time dinner comes around he is pooped! That's what I call a good summer. Way to go Kev!

Happy Birthday Kev-Dog

Kevy....Kev-Dog.....Kevster.....Happy Birthday! Today Kevin is 15 years old! He kind of looks it too. That has not always been the case with my kids. For some reason Kevin has grown like crazy the last few months. That's a good thing in our family.


Yesterday morning at 8:00 a.m., while doing yard work.....Amy and I decided it would be fun to throw together an impromptu surprise party for Kevin. I swore I wasn't going to do anything this year. But.....the weather has been so gorgeous and our pool is heated soooooo we took it on.

Wondering how we pulled it together so fast? We walked over to our next door neighbor's house and talked to her 15-year old daughter (Kevin's friend, Emily) and asked her to text a few friends. At 8:30 last night I had a ton of kids over here I didn't even know. The beauty of texting!!! Anyway, we had such a fun time. Pizza, drinks, snacks a fire and a little music.

Now, for a few comments about Kev..............
He has been such a fun kid to have around. Unfortunately, he is the youngest so he has to take alot of grief from the older ones.....but he kinda lives in his own world, since he doesn't have a sibling to pick on. We all keep him in his place. He is a pretty sensitive and obedient child...most of the time. I don't have any complaints. He is patient when he has to listen to my corrections or concerns. Amy and I watch him like a hawk.....friends and all.

I think his favorite birthday present this year is from his Dad. Old Dad finally caved in and let him have texting on his phone. That was a tough one for Max. But Kevin waited patiently until he gave in. I have to hand it to Kev....he really didn't give us too much grief about it. He was pretty much the last one of his friends to have texting.


Kevin has done alot of new things this year...He ran track and wrestled for Stapley Junior High. I think he has decided to try and perfect his wrestling skills. He is being coached at ASU twice a week so that he can possibly make Mountain View High School wrestling team. Hmmmm don't know how I really feel about that! He has started to take guitar lessons. He got a new guitar for Christmas and is doing pretty well on the lessons. They never practice enough. The thing he most loves to do is play basketball....on the court or in the water!


I hate to see Kevin get much older. I love having him at home. He starts High School in the fall and that will be something to live through. But generally he has great friends and we love them all. We especially love the fact that Kev is our caboose! Happy birthday Kev.....we love you!

Kevin's Eagle Project

Whew! It's done....over....complete.....finished....wrapped up.....what else can I say? Kevin's Eagle Project has ended!

About a month ago Maury Tanner (our good friend) mentioned that Kevin should do his Eagle Project up at Camp Lo Mia, which is a Young Women Camp outside of Payson, Arizona. It always needs some work. Maury thought it would be a good idea to plant some beautiful, green sod in front of one of the buildings that the girls use to complete various service projects at Camp. We kind of made a snap decision and jumped into the project right away. Thank heavens for Maury, because he pretty much knew what had to be done and how. Long story short.....he got us going!


Kevin had alot of work to do. The site already had a sprinkler system installed. That was our good fortune. Kevin had to clear the ground, bring in dirt to level it, put in curbing and lay roughly 3,000 square feet of sod. In order to do this he had to raise 2,500.00 (alot more that we anticipated at first!)

Kevin, with Amy's help, made a flier and gave it out to people in our Ward boundaries outlining what he inteded to do and asked for donations. Several wonderful people donated generously! That gave Kevin a really good start! Plus, Kevin's family in Utah helped him alot with donations. That encouraged Kevin to get going and he realized that he could really accomplish this project.

Our family set up a Monday night and Max, Kevin, Ryan Bennett and I went up to preview the job ahead of us. To be honest I think we were a bit discouraged at the job we had ahead of us. I think it was a little bigger than Max anticipated. Thank heavens for Ryan Bennett, who kept an encouraging word out there and knew a little bit more of what was going on than Max and I did. He kept on moving forward and that helped us alot. We started removing all the weeds, and big rocks from the site. Max, Kevin and Ryan started marking the boundaries of the sod and digging small ditches to put in the curbing. By the time we left on Monday night we were a little more encouraged.



Max had the task of arranging for the heavy equipment and locating sod (150 miles away) to be delivered at specific times. We had to arrange for a backhoe to come and spread the dirt load and arrange for a trucking company to pick up and deliver the sod. It took alot of phone calls on Max's part. What a great dad! Kevin you're lucky.



In the meantime, Kevin had to make calls to leaders and youth to head up teams to level the ground and to lay sod and for clean-up. He did a great job.

Our ward had planned a Youth Conference up at Camp Lo Mia and Kevin's Eagle Project was going to used as the Service Project for this Youth Conference! So we automatically had help up there......about 50 youth and 10 leaders.

The day before the project was due to start, Max, Kevin and I went up to make sure everything was set to go. The topsoil had been dumped and leveled and the sod was due to arrive. Max and Kevin began to install the curbing while we waited for the sod to be delivered. It was such a beautiful day up in Payson. I want to say it was almost fun doing all this hard work! Well, the sod was delivered and a backhoe came to unload it from the truck. Kevin took charge and got it all unloaded into the proper place so it would be easy to lay the sod. We were lucky Maury was up there also.....he kind of has a take charge personality and knows how to get things done! I know Max appreciated that too, plus Maury is Kevin's Teacher's Quorum Advisor. It's good!




Come Saturday morning the kids had a great breakfast and then they all came down to work on Kevin's Project. It was so much fun. Those kids worked so hard, along with their leaders. Kevin tried really hard to direct them and keep them on task. Again, Maury was right there to help him. Ryan Boyer, Ryan Bennett and Scot and Amy also were there to help Kevin. It went so smoothly. Some of the kids were die hards and stuck to it until the end. They did a great job!


It was really satisfying to sit back and look at a job well done. It changed the look of the building so much. Hopefully they will take care of the grass up there so it can be beautiful for the Young Women when they start to attend girl's camp this year. I was proud of Kevin. He stuck to it and really did a great job organizing the kids and raising the money to pay for all the material and equipment needed to pull off his project. Thanks to all who helped! Good job Kevin! For me......I am sooooooo glad it is finished!