BRITTANI'S NEW ADVENTURE

Well, the dreaded day came way too fast.  It is time for our baby girl to move onto a new chapter in her life. She packed for days, prolonging what she knew was coming, and although I know she was excited, she also commented over and over how much she was going to miss "home".  We have been connected at the hip, Brittani and I, for 18 years now, but especially for the last year.  We talk about everything, have inside jokes, understand each other, and need each other.  When I'm stressed, she swoops in and starts helping without me ever having to tell her what to do.  When one of us is in a goofy mood, we get each other like no one else does.  When it's that time of the month, we laugh together about our mutual dislike for men!  I often wonder how in the world I've been so lucky to have Brittani as my daughter.

But it is time.  Time for her to spread her wings and fly.  Time for her to stand on her own two feet.  Time for her to make her own decisions, and find out who she really is.

Who is she?  She is amazing.  She is wonderful.  She is smart and strong and funny.  She is kind.  She is giving.  She is tender and caring and loving.  She is everything I have ever wanted a daughter to be and more.

Rick keeps reminding me that it will take a couple of weeks for her to get her barrings, for her to get the excitement of freedom out of her system, and then she will show us what Brittani Finlayson is made of.  It's amazing how much she has already learned in just 2 short weeks.  She has grown more than I ever thought possible in such a short amount of time.  She has always amazed me, and this is no different.

I love you Britt!  Go have fun.  Experience college.  Love life.  And if you ever, EVER need us, we are right here.

TOUR OF UTAH

Our family loves it when the professional cyclists come to Utah.  We try to make it to every stage we can to cheer on these amazing riders.  The first stage we went to was a team time trial at Miller Sports Park.  After the race was over, we got a picture of Nathan with Jens Voigt from Radioshack.  Jens Voigt seemed so cool and down to earth, and commented that Nathan reminded him so much of his son.  It was awesome.

QUOTE OF THE DAY FROM JULY 15, 2012

Brittani yelling down from upstairs - "Is anyone else in this house struggling with constipation, or is it just me?"

Never a dull moment at the Finlayson home!

NATHAN'S MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR

For Nathan's Magical Mystery Tour, they went on a Mexican Cruse, and I got to join!  Lucky Me!  We had a ton of fun.  I think everyone's favorite thing was kayaking to the blow hole which was amazing.  It is fun for me to spend time with Nathan - he is such an amazing young man and I'm so glad he's mine.  Thanks Grandma Raynee for a great trip!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRITTANI!

What do you get someone who is turning 18 and heading off for college in a month?  A TV, clothes drying rack, and something to play her music on!  She got hooked up!  HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE MOST WONDERFUL DAUGHTER IN THE WORLD!

PROUD TO BE HIS DAUGHTER

Growing up, anytime anyone would find out my last name, they would ask me if I was Gary Bengtzen's daughter.  I never had to hesitate, I always knew that I could proudly say that yes, I was.  Today as I was picking raspberries, enjoying the perfect fall temperature, and listening to my friend's lively chatter, my friend and I put together that I grew up in the same neighborhood as her grandma.  Her dad popped his head up from the next row of raspberries over, and asked me if my dad was Gary Bengtzen.  He went on to tell me that he grew up with my dad, went to high school with him, that my dad was an amazing bishop to his mother.  "Your dad is a great man",  he said.  I could have listened to him talk about my dad all day, and my heart ached  all the way home.  I get so caught up in my everyday life that I can almost forget how much I miss my dad.  I miss the giggle he would have had as we moved Brittani into the "U", or how proud he would have been as he watched Nathan playing the saxophone.  I will miss him on the sidelines of Connor's football game, telling me how proud he is that Rick takes time out of his busy schedule to coach, telling me that Connor played a perfect game.  I love you and miss you dad.  I have always been proud to be your daughter.I

STILL CATCHING UP!

Ok, so we are now to mid June, and summer break is in full swing.  Brittani went on her Magical Mystery Tour with Caitlin, Tyson, Cory and Grandma Raynee to New York City.  They saw so many amazing things and had a ton of fun.

The Monday after Brittani got home, she started practicing with the University of Utah swim team.  Dee Loose, Brittani's swim coach for the past 5 years, resigned from coaching at HAST so that he could coach BYU's swim team.  It was a hard few days for Britt as she realized how much things were going to change for her over the next few months, but after practicing with the Utah swim team, she also realized it was time to move on.

Nathan went to EFY with his best friend Brandon Wright the week after school got out.  They had so much fun, learned a lot, grew a lot, and found a lot of cute girls!  Isn't that what EFY is all about?  Finding cute girls?  That's what I thought!

Connor started swim team for Lehi Rec.  He LOVES summer swim team and he always does really well.  His favorite stroke is the breast stroke - it runs in the family - and he is fast at it!

Brittani and Nathan taught 4 sessions of swimming lessons at my mom's house this summer.  They would come home dog tired and a little out of patience, but I think at the end of the day they enjoyed it.  It was so fun for me to go up with them and see how much progress so many of the children made because of Brittani and Nathan and their amazing teaching abilities.

As a family, we tried to fit in as many fun things as we could.  We went with the Lacompt family and played on their Rhinos, we went bowling, to 7 peaks, to the zoo, Tracy Aviary, to Snowbird, and we ended the summer with Nathan and I going on a cruise for his Magical Mystery Tour.  The summer went by way too fast.

LET'S CATCH UP!

Since I'm not very good at keeping up on this blog (hopefully that will change...I've set goals!), I need to do a little catch up.  Here are the highlights of March 2012-August 2012.

SPRING BREAK 2012 - MEXICAN STYLE

We decided that we needed to try Mexico in the Spring, so over Spring Break our family and the Smith family headed down for one of the best adventures we have ever experienced.  We slept very little, partied a lot, ate enough food to feed an army (I think the Smith family said they gained around 20 lbs between the 6 of them!  We didn't dare weigh ourselves!), went deep sea fishing, played on the beach and in the pools for hours every day, went to the market and bought a ton of crap, hung with the Valenzuela family, went on the banana boat and wave runners, and had the time of our lives.  Brittani made an amazing video that I will have her put on here, but here are some pictures for the time being.

 This is how the Mexicans roll

 The tough boys and their tats

 Playing games with the Valenzuela family

 Oh yeah!  The booby glasses!

 Hanging out at Mari Blu - Julio's restaurant  

 Brittani, Kylie and their new friend from the market

 Stone, Connor and Jaxon

 Laker, Kylie, Brittani and Lisa

 Deep Sea Fishing

 Britt and Kylie

 The Smith Family

 Nathan and Laker Smith

LONE PEAK KNIGHT OF EXCELLENCE

Brittani was invited to an evening highlighting all of the graduating students from Lone Peak that had received a scholarship.  She was only one of five that were going to attend the University of Utah, but she was proud as she stood on the stage and made the sign of the "U" with her hands!

Britt has done amazing through high school, making the most of every opportunity.  She was able to transfer over 40 credit hours to the U, making it so that she only has one semester before she is a Junior in college.  She amazes me - she got her smarts from her dad for sure!

CLASS OF 2012

My journal entry from 5/29/2012:

Today was perfect!  Britt's graduation!  She looked beautiful, had a great time, LOVED her car and just seemed to enjoy the day.  I still can't believe she graduated - makes me so sad to know this part of life is ending, but I'm so excited for her next stage of life.  "Oh The Places She'll Go"!  I'm so proud of the girl she is and the good choices she makes.  Love you Britt... to infinity and beyond.

 Britt and Christian Graff

 Brittani and Brooke Anderson

 The whole gang

 Britt and her grandmas

 Britt and Uncle Kirk

 Brittani and her great grandma Rene

 Britt and Grandma Raynee

 Britt and Grandma Leslie

 Britt and Will

 Brittani and Amanda Finlayson

 Brittani and Kaitlin Lindley - one of her very best friends since 9th grade

 Rick always told Brittani that if she received a scholarship, he would buy her a car...so here it is...Brittani's new car.

AND THE RACE SEASON BEGINS...IN PINK

In our spare time, Rick and I love to ride our bikes.  Every year, Rick and Alejandro Vargas get together and design the new up and coming "race kit" for their team.  It's always fun watching Rick spend hours tweaking and making changes trying to get the kit just right.  This year Rick and Alejandro decided to go pink.  They didn't tell anyone about the color choice because, well, you know, men in pink spandex means one thing!  But, as always, the kits turned out perfect, and almost everyone loves them.  I was probably the worst critic of the pink, but I have to admit that now I love to watch as the train of pink rides past - it's inspiring!

Ok...this post is getting too long, so I'll publish it and continue catching up on the next post.  I secretly just want more posts!