Released from Stake Young Women

I was released from my calling as the Little Valley Stake Young Women Secretary on Sunday. It is a bitter sweet ending to four fabulous years working with the amazing young women and their leaders of our stake. I have many fond memories of the trek, the youth conference at Brianhead, fun girls' camps on Cedar Mountain, firesides, standard's night, youth committees, SLC training meeting trips, early Sunday morning meetings, 5th year overnighters, lunch meetings, and just working with such an elite group of people. The youth are wonderful and so capable of serving. The Stake Presidency and high council have been so supportive. It has been a fabulous ride and I will certainly miss my association with such wonderful stake and ward youth leaders.

I was called Sunday to be the Relief Society Compassionate Service Leader. This will be fun and help me to get to know the ladies in our ward better.

September Flake Family Newsletter

Grandpa Dan holds little Alexa!

Dear Flake Family,

Fall should be soon approaching! We are anxiously awaiting cooler temps! We had a wonderful Labor Day Weekend and were happy to share it with many of you. Thanks to those of you who were able to visit with Danielle and Steve and meet baby Alexa while they were in Orem for the baby blessing. We enjoyed a nice picnic at Art and Apryl’s canyon lot on Sunday night. What a crowd! The pig handler’s even came. It is fun seeing all of the new babies and their parents who are taking good care of them.

So the pig wrestling was a hit! There must have been 20 plus pig wrestlers from the Flake family. The little kids did just as good as the older ones. That was a lot of work for the Troyer family but it was a lot of fun for the kids and spectators. Good job! My boys proudly wear their Ultimate Pig Wrestling T-shirts.

So we’ve all had colds since Labor Day. Maybe it was a touch of “swine flu” from those pigs! Dan is bidding on jobs and hoping to find some work. He and the boys are starting on our guest home in the back so it will be ready when momma wants to move in or when the economy busts even more and everybody moves in!

School is off to a great start! It is busy and hard but I really enjoy working with the high school kids. SEOP’s this week. Dawson is tearing it up at Dixie State. He was happy to get a 90 on his first math test. Justin is looking for work and hoping to soon be found to be a Utah resident so he can start college. Andrew is busy with cross country and is celebrating Homecoming at his school this week. He is on a Volleyball team competing this week during the festivities.

Alexa is getting bigger and is sure fun for the family. She is a sweetheart. Danielle has three more classes to take by BYU Independent Study so she can graduate. Steve is in his second year of dental school. Lindsey is tired of emailing, but she is still working hard. It is fun to start planning for her return.

Thanksgiving is being held in St. George and you are all invited! We have our church reserved and Lindsey is doing her homecoming that Sunday and Ben and Emy are blessing their new baby, little Darrell Gardner Flake. Hope you can make it!

It is fun to help Grandma with the newsletter because I get to be the first one to read your letters. Please keep them coming!
Love, Shelly, Dan and kids

Andrew's Fall Cross Country

Andrew has had fun this fall running as a 10th grader on the DHHS Cross Country Team. The picture just above, is the only picture posted in the Desert News Paper after the big BYU invitational and Andrew is in it. Notice how calm his face is compared to the other runners who are expressing how hard and long a 5 k is!

The other photos are from a race in Cedar City that we went up and watched. His cousins Justin and Morgan are with us and Morgan's friend from SUU. Run, Andrew, Run!!

Baby Alexa's Blessing Day

Beautiful baby Alexa was given a name and a blessing by her father on Sunday, September 6, 2009. Those who stood in the circle were her father, Stephen Michael Jackson, her grandfathers, Kim Jackson and Dan Flake, her great grandfather, Denzel Datwyer, and her uncles Kim, Brandon and Sean. We should have gotten Dawson ordained an Elder so he could have participated. He turns 19 in December. Alexa was dressed in the beautiful dress that Danielle and Lindsey were both blessed in. It has been in my Cedar Chest all of these years. She was an angle today.

After attending a nice Fast and Testimony meeting we met at the Jackson home and enjoyed a nice lunch at the park in their backyard. We had sub sandwiches, salads, chips, lemonade, and lots of yummy desserts. It was nice to have my brother, Bryan and his family attend as well as Heather and Jenifer, and my parents on my side and Dan's brother Jon, Lesa and their family, and Morgan Gibson and Justin Griffy, Julie's kids. The Jackson's had a number of friends and family members attend as well. It was a beautiful day in the park. We went back to Jon's later and had a nap and then went up to the Troyer's lot up Payson canyon and had a pot luck dinner with all of the Troyer family and a few other cousins. It is always fun to be with family.

Labor Day Weekend in Provo

We headed up to Provo at 2:30 on Friday. Dawson was done with college at noon, Andrew was out for Labor Day weekend and mom is always off on Fridays, and Dan is always ready for the weekend. I baked for three house straight making treats for Alexa's blessing luncheon after church on Sunday. I made Peanut butter bars, mint brownies, peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, lemon squares, and Shanna Jones' famous ultra rich brownies. I love to bake but don't usually make desserts anymore because I'd just eat them and I can't afford to do that!

Andrew rode the bus up to Provo with his cross country team so we had room to take Sam, Mia and Trent Saaralainen up to visit their dad. We met up with Elyse, their sister at BYU. Dawson stayed and hung out with her and more of their PVHS friends. Theya attended a dance and Dawson got a chance to see what BYU life was about.

We went and bought Krispy Kreme doughnuts for the Cross Country team and took them

and some hats to the Cotton Tree Inn where the kids were staying. It is a tradition for us to take doughnuts to the kids when they are in Provo at EFY or something. Dan and I got a hot doughnut off the conveyer belt while we were there. Good thing that I don't live in Provo. It was very tasty!!

We went to Dan brother, Jon's house and spent the night. We kicked Jonba out of his room! Next morning we went to BYU to watch the Cross Country Meet. It is very exhilerating to watch all of the runners at this meet. The beautiful mountains behind the campus are inspiring. Andrew did a good job and has been on the Varsity team the last two years, even though he is only in 10th grade.

We left right after his race to drive to SLC and pick up Danielle and Steve and baby Alexa who had just flown in from Portland. It was so great to see my little grandbaby again! Danielle requested that we head right to Cafe Rio for lunch.

Ultimate Pig Wrestling!

Planning their strategy!

Andrew, Darrell, Justin and Dawson after the battle!

Jeremiah with the fro, Andrew, Darrell, Monson, Dawson and Jonathon.

Piggy slips away from all of them!

The girl Flake Cousins mix it up in the mud!

Ultimate Pig Wrestling was brought as part of Payson City Onion Days by our relatives, the Troyer Family. Of course our boys were eager to give it a go. Participants have one minute to catch the porker and put him in a barrell, behind first. The fun part is that they are in some extra slippery mud and have to dress up to participate. Dawson, Andrew and their cousins Darrell and Justin entered as team Troglodytes, Cave man. Dan remembered a song from the 70's about Troglodytes and we found it on Itunes. Anyway, it fit the boys and their caveman get up and they went in search of their piggy. The darn hog just kept slipping away until Justin got him in a head lock and the boys each grbbed the pig and they got him in right at the buzzer.
It was a fun, crazy event and I'm sure we'll be back next year to participate!