Spacewood Derby

We had our "Spacewood Derby" for Pack Meeting. Mark and Ethan had a fun time making/decorating the spaceship. When it came to racing tho, I think the dad's had more fun!

Ethan proudly displaying his Spacewood Derby

The "team" that made it happen.

Prepping for take-off....................

Winding the propeller.....................

Off it goes!

Waiting for landing.

Ethan receiving his "Webelos" patch and Spacewood award.

"Most Colorful" award.

Morning Surprise!

I told Ethan to go outside and get the newspaper Monday morning. He came running inside saying there was a hot air balloon right over our house. We opened our front door and there it was - floating directly above us! The kids had a great time waving to the people in the basket. The balloon was so low, they were able to see us. We continued watching as it floated away. What a way to start a Monday morning!

State Solo/Ensemble

Shelby advanced to the state level with her Viola solo. She performed her beautiful solo at Lone Peak High School on Saturday, April 25th. She did a wonderful job. Our thanks go out to her talented accompianist, Gail W. Gail is in our ward. She is an extremely talented individual and even sings for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Gail W. was Shelby's wonderful accompianist!

Spring Break!

For Spring Break we went to St. George for the week. We spent a cold and wet day in Zions. Mark and I kept talking about "shuttling" our way through the park since they don't allow vehicles during peak seasons. Before we left for the Park, Elisha asked "Why do we have to 'shovel' our way through the park?" We got quite the laugh. Maybe she thought there was a mudslide! In Las Vegas we took the kids to Circus Circus for awhile. We had to remind Ethan that the slot machines WERE NOT arcade games. The last time we went to Vegas, he went running towards the machines wanting to play the games! After showing the kids the Las Vegas temple we went to the Monte Carlo Resort to see the Lance Burton Magic Show. The kids were absolutely mesmerized by the show. When we were leaving Ethan said, "He sure was a good 'musician'." He obviously attends too many orchestra concerts! The weather was not as warm as we would have liked (high 60's - low 70's), but we kept having to remind ourselves that it was a blizzard in Utah County.

This is the trailer we pulled on our trip. It was filled with stuff for the condo. We are in the Pizza Factory parking lot in Cedar City. I guess the kids have created a new tradition that we have to eat at the Pizza Factory when we go to St. George. This is very easy since there is one in Cedar City and THREE in St. George.

Thanks to Mark's wireless connection on his lap-top, Elisha was able to send off some e-mails concerning her results for guard auditions. We would have waited until St. George but Elisha was a nervous wreck in the car!

The beauty of going on vacation is getting away from distractions and getting back to basics. We LOVE doing puzzles!

Shelby fell in love with a word search and sudoku book while Mark caught up on some reading. It must be a boring book (he is yawning).

In case no one believes us about Ethan's behavior at times, we are now starting to document it with pictures and video! This is just one of those "moments". Gotta love him!

Elisha was in an exceptional mood and decided to teach Ethan how to ride her brand new Rip-Stick. This was in front of our condo.

Zions National Park

Zions National Park

We are trying to get pictures of the kids in front of all the Temples we visit. This is the Las Vegas Temple. The kids REALLY appreciated it's beauty and serenity after spending a couple of hours in Circus Circus! What a contrast.

Handsome fellows!

Together in Pictures!

My kids are finally to the point where they can actually take decent pictures without cutting off body parts, putting their finger on the lense etc. I decided to take advantage of the situation and have some pictures taken of us together. Mark was quite annoyed with me at the temple! (hee hee) I kept changing poses for the pictures as I was teasing him to "induldge" me and pretend like we were doing wedding pictures again! He relented and kept the smile glued to his face. What a great guy!

Happy Easter!

The Easter Bunny had to postpone his visit until AFTER Stake Conference Sunday morning. It was all I could do to keep the kids in their Sunday clothes so I could take these pictures! The Easter bunny makes things a little more difficult since the kids are getting older. They are each told what color of egg they need to find throughout the house. The eggs are filled with money or a "token" which is exchanged for a prize. It is fun watching the kids run around the house frantically looking for their eggs!

This is how my kids REALLY want to act when I am trying to take their pictures! It is all I can do to make them look presentable and perfect. Well.......... I personally think they look great no matter what pose they strike!

Embrace Youth While You Can!

Elisha turned 15 today. You would think this would make her extremely excited since she is one year closer to dating/driving. However, she is just the opposite. She is realizing that she is growing up too fast and misses "the good old days" when she was young. I told her to enjoy each stage and phase of life as she is living it instead of yearning for the past or wishing for the future. I told her we would blow bubbles and use sidewalk chalk over Spring Break! That seemed to help a little.

My "baby" is an adult now!

Shelby officially turned 18 today at 4:18 a.m. It seems like yesterday I was giving birth to my little 7 lb 15 oz girl then agonizing for 21 days as she spent her first few weeks at UVRMC and PCMC before being able to bring her home. Happy Birthday sweetie. You have brought us nothing but joy, peace and happiness into our lives. We love you!

April Fools!

Sydney decided to pull a prank on Ethan for April Fools. She froze his toothbrush in water. It was quite the surprise!