Student of the Month!

Tyler was chosen as the student of the month in his class for March. The theme was responsibility and his teacher wrote that Tyler and responsibility are synonomous in his book. Too bad Tyler doesn't know what synonomous means. He thought he meant he was anonymous---which as quiet as Tyler is that may be true also. Even though he doesn't like attention, I think he was quite excited that he was chosen. He is definitely the model student.

Megan on the other hand saw Mammy, Emily and I right off in the gym and she thought we were there for her. She told me when the assembly started and she learned that it was for someone responsible, though, she figured out it was probably Tyler and not her. Megan told me her desk is a "pit" and that is why she isn't responsible. I guess that is part of being responsible.

Way to Go Tyler!

Philadelphia, PA

Wendell was able to travel back to Philadelphia this past week to attend a training for an accounting system. We were just a little jealous that he got to see so many cool things from history. Tyler was really fascinated in the Liberty Bell and the buildings that can be seen in "National Treasure." (Yes, his view of history comes from the movies.) The kids anxiously awaited his return to see what souvenirs he would bring.
Tyler did get a miniature Bell and Emily and Megan each got whistles and tops. My favorite part was when he passed out the "proof" set quarters. I told him I would give Emily 1 day before she took scissors to hers. I underestimated her. It only took 12 hours.
Overall he had a great time touring the city and visiting places that Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson frequented.

I'll Go Inside Some Day

Last Sunday we had the opportunity to attend the Dedication Services for the Draper Temple---that is except for Emily who made it abundantly clear that she was not happy she was little. Tyler and Megan each had a white handkerchief and the prized yellow ticket. Megan actually used the handkerchief that my great-grandma had made.
We did have to sit for almost 45 minutes before the satellite feed even started. That made over 2 hours on the hard chairs, but Megan and Tyler did remarkably well sitting for that long. I think it helped that Cade and Kallie came with us.
I'm not sure what Tyler was expecting, but before we left for the church he thought that he would be throwing his handkerchief in the air. I had to tell him it wasn't a party, but like being in the temple. It's always nice to listen to the prophet and have Megan and Tyler as a captive audience.

Flippin' Fun!

Saturday, March 28th, was another tumbling competition. Luckily, Megan is past all of her foot injuries and did really well. She finally got past a couple of girls in her class to capture 2nd place. The difference between 1st and 2nd place was only .20---the difference was the degree of difficulty. It was really fun to watch. Double-mini didn't go quite as well, but the floor is her forte. All smiles to finally be on the podium. Megan was especially happy considering there were 12 other girls and some of them were 12-year-olds.

The video shows her 2nd pass on the tumbling floor---her hardest one.

Surf's Up---Part 2!

I am using a new program to edit pictures and haven't quite figured out how to get all pictures downloaded at once. Here are the rest of the mighty surfing pictures.




I think I had just as much fun watching as the surfers had in the water.

Surf's Up!

For Christmas, Megan and Jeff were given gift certificates to try the FlowRider. Well, it closed the end of December for repairs which meant March was the first time they could actually try out their skills with the waves. It almost didn't happen last Friday either. Apparently there is a rule that at least 4 or 5 people have to sign up for a session to run. Up until Friday afternoon Megan and Jeff were the only 2 and so we recruited. We got Tyler, Wendell, and Cade to make up our 5. As you can see from the pictures right before we got there another 7 people showed up. Definitely enough to run.
Tyler picked up on the balance part pretty quickly and could sit in the waves for minutes on end---much to the dismay of everyone in line. He was worn out pretty quickly also.
Megan and Cade also did really well.
Wendell had a hard time staying in the waves. He didn't stay afloat nearly as long as the kids. Part of the fun, though, was being thrown up to the top of the rider.
Jeff spent most of his time trying to stand on the surfing side. He did pretty well considering we don't exactly live near the ocean.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Besides the wearing of green on St. Paddy's Day we like to try to make as much green food as we can for dinner that day. This year we decided on pizza and breadsticks. This is Emily's finished creation. It is cheese and not coconut on her pizza.

Tyler is showing off the breadsticks and can of green pineapple for the pizza.

Megan was convinced that the green cheese in the bag was mold. I finally had to get out the original bag to show her it was fresh and the green was all part of the experience.

This is our all green meal. The pineapple and cheese looked the most disgusting, but of course it all tasted great. Tyler and Emily even set the table with all green plates and cups. No pinching going on in this house. (Tyler wanted me to say that his braces have green brackets and his socks are green). He just doesn't have a green stuntman shirt to wear.

Day at the Farm

With the sun shining on Saturday afternoon, Wendell decided it was the perfect day to show Tyler and Emily around his uncles' farm. (Megan had better things to do like go swimming with her friend.) Emily was in heaven seeing all the baby calves. She is definitely an animal lover and loved feeding the babies with a giant bottle. Notice how Tyler is standing off to the side---he just doesn't love animals like his sister does.

Tyler told me this is where over 600 cows are milked 3 times a day. Quite the operation and fieldtrip. Emily did ask me later that day is she could get a baby cow for our backyard. She figured Daddy wasn't allergic and it would be the perfect pet. She must have missed the fact that the babies grow up to be the big cows---a lesson for the next fieldtrip.

Friday the 13th!

We decided since Friday the 13th is supposed to be bad luck, we planned a party and celebrated it instead. We invited our friends and neighbors over for dinner. Emily and Sarah spent most of the night trying on dresses and dancing. I guess that is what they think a party should be.

The older girls played games.

And the boys entertained themselves with the Wii and Legos. As for the adults' celebration, we were all just relieved the kids can now entertain themselves. That's the best luck!

What's better than food and friends? Tyler said that it was the best day ever and not the worst. He thinks the superstition is backwards. I guess it all depends on your perception.

I Love to See the Temple

On Friday we went to the open house of the Draper temple with Mammy and Grandma Grace. The handling of the crowds is like a well-oiled machine there. First we arrived at a church and waited maybe 20 minutes to watch a short video. Then we were taken by bus up to the temple. From the street we entered a maze of tents to get to the door of the temple. There were a ton of people, but we all managed to get through all the rooms in pretty good time. After we followed another maze of tents (heated of course) to a church next door for cookies and water. Emily dressed in her best dress for the temple and kept saying, "Ooh! This is so beautiful!"

We never actually got outside to get pictures of the temple---we were in too many tents. This is the best we could do. It really is a beautiful building.

Tyler and Megan were pretty happy with the cookies. Tyler loved the room with the animals painted on the walls and Megan was pretty impressed with everything. She was a little worried that the huge chandelier in the Celestial room would fall because it was spinning a little. Definitely our worrier.

These are the lines to get back on the buses to get to our cars. They could pack those buses to the doors. Even the wait to get to the church was only about 15 minutes.

It was a great night that I hope the kids will remember.

Thar She Blows!

Tyler's class has been learning about rocks and volcanoes in his class. His teacher asked them all to build a volcano to bring to class and erupt. Parents all came to watch the explosions and add to the "oohs" and "ahhs" of the kids.

This is the start of the volcano building process. Emily was more than happy to help with the clay and molding. Good thing we started on Wednesday for a Friday explosion. The clay took forever to dry. I ended up having to bake it on low a few times.

Tyler then painted the mound. He insisted that the entire volcano had to be black because that is the color of lava. He wasn't into decorating it. He wanted it true to life. He told me that no trees would be around because they would be blown apart by the explosion--good point.

This was the big eruption. They used a ton of baking soda and red vinegar. Who knew 3rd graders would find this so exciting? Now we have to find a place to store the volcano---the garbage is not an option with Tyler.

Blue & Gold Banquet

Our Blue and Gold Banquet was held on Feb. 18th. We served a ton of hot dogs and I shredded 40 lbs of bar-b-que pork. To say we had a ton of food left over was an understatement. I didn't feel so bad about the meet after I saw the potato salad another Mom made with 15 lbs of potatoes. At least no one went home hungry. This is a picture of Tyler's den. They definitely have a lot of energy, but we are able to get things done.

All of the boys carried in flags from all over the world. Tyler is always happy to help with the flag ceremonies as long as he doesn't have to say anything.

The boys then stood at attention guarding the flags. I'm not sure why they had to guard them other than the pack master simply forgot they were there. A parent finally had to ask if they could come and eat. At least they take their jobs serious.

Our den did a skit about a puppy in a box. Tyler and all the boys licked the box and thought it tasted good until another boy came back and said thanks for holding my puppy. Yes, a typical scout skit. I was happy that I just had to hold the microphone. Tyler was excited he actually earned 2 beads and a beltloop. He's hoping to get his wolf badge as soon as the weather warms up.