Update from the Mechams

Summer 2008

Hello from Salt Lake City! We are doing well despite the fact that Scott is the only male in a household with 4 hormonal women! We got a male puppy this summer to balance out the hormone levels. We named him D. Willy (we call him Willy) after Caitlin's favorite Jazz player, Deron Williams (D. Will).

Caitlin (19) spent this summer at home after being in Logan at Utah State University last school year. She spent a couple weeks in August in Peru working in an orphanage El Girosel (The Sunflower) which cares for street children. She had an incredible experience. She raised all her own money to go as well as money to contribute to the projects they accomplished to build waterways, security systems and school house. She got to got to Machu Pichu and climb before she came home. I will try to post her blog separately. Caitlin is back up at USU this fall and loving school. She is majoring in Dietetics and hopes to get a masters degree so she can travel the world to help women and children with nutritional needs in developing countries.

Sarah (14) is our typical teenage girl. She is with her friends 25 hours a day. She started high school this fall at East High (yes, the famous "High School Musical" school). She is on the soccer team and is busy this fall with soccer season. Their record is 2-2 so far. Sarah scored the winning goal in their game against Park City last week. She plays the piano and is active in Young Women.

Emily (12) started middle school last week. She is full of energy. She is either going to grow up to be an architect or a litigator. She spends hours playing Sims on the computer or arguing her point of view with her Mom in her spare time. She also plays soccer and plays 5 days a week for a competitive team. She plays the piano too.

Our family spent a couple of weeks in Mexico in June attending a cousin's wedding on the Mecham side. (This is the photo we took at the reception). The wedding was in the Colonial Juarez temple in Chihuahua. We then traveled to central Mexico to another wedding party in Queretero, home of the groom. We spent a week traveling through some amazing colonial places in central Mexico: Guanajuato, San Miguel, Mexico City and the Sun and the Moon pyramids. It felt like we were in Spain, Italy and France all combined. We had a great time.

Scott, Sarah and I had a great experience in July treking the Mormon trail in Wyoming for our stake youth trek. We accompanied 250 youth from our stake to Martin's Cove along the Sweetwater river trail and into Rock Creek Hollow. We walked on the actual pioneer trail where the Willey and Martin Handcart companies died and were rescued. The land has been dedicated by Pres. Hinckley. It is sacred ground and has an incredible spirit. Scott was the official historian and compiled a video of the experience that will be shown at a fireside this month and given to the youth who participated. We did some pioneer research and discovered I have an ancestors on my dad's side who was a survivor, Margaretta Clark of the Martin Handcart company who married her rescuer, Anson Call. (Ryan, Allyson and Whitney did the same trail this summer for their stake trek. Allyson has true pioneer stock, she did it 7 months pregnant!)

Scott and I are doing the typical parent juggling act: Working hard, catering to all the kids needs, dishing out money, nagging to get practicing done, church callings, making a living, shooing away the teenage boys, setting curfews, driving everywhere for a soccer game, and collapsing in bed exhausted every night. We wouldn't want it any other way. These are the days!