Create

Relief Society

I was so inspired by this video clip, I had to post it on my blog to share with all of you.
Just click on the Relief Society link above and then play the video clip titled "Create". Enjoy!

6 Months Come and Gone

A word to the wise: DON'T wait 6 months between posts! It is just too hard to catch up on all that has happened! The last time I posted, we were in the throws of soccer, and now with soccer once again upon us, I thought it time to fill in the gaps. Being the "Lazy" that I am though, I decided to cheat and provide a sampling of pictures to tell our story. You can fill in the blanks. Good luck! (Don't worry, if you scroll down, you'll see that I hit some of the highlights with something you can sink your teeth into!

The Odious Mr. Collins

January 29, a day to remember. After a whole semester of hard work and after school rehearsals, the debut performance of "Pride and Prejudice" at Riverglen Jr. High was spectacular. Especially noteworthy was that of "the odious Mr. Collins", played by my Matthew! (I am not partial or anything) He really did do a great job. He seems to be a natural little actor, though I don't know exactly where that gene came from! And on top of the acting, he also sang an acapella version of "Danny Boy" which was very well done. (Now there I can say he might be a chip off the old block, eh?) My mom was able to fly to Boise to watch with us and we weren't disappointed. Those kids did an outstanding performance. I wasn't able to get any really good pictures though, as it was extremely crowded and hard to see from where we were sitting. You'll just have to settle for a really crummy video.

First Lego League Champs

In December, Sterling and Jared got to compete in the First Lego League competition. After sacrificing three months of Friday nights, they hit pay dirt with a 1st place win in the Teamwork division! The object of First Lego League is to build a robot and program it to do as many tasks as you can, from a list of suggested tasks, (such as pick up a ball and move it to a specific place.) They had a really good time and would do it again in a heartbeat! The tragic side of this story is that they didn't get to go to the state competition because their coach ended up moving. They were crushed, but the overall experience was very memorable.

Darrell turns 50!

Most of you know that I married an old man, and now it is official! Darrell is 50!! Me, of course, I am still a spring chicken! We had a really low key celebration for him at home. They boys all gave him silly gifts, for example: a Cowboys and Indians set (with real cap guns), and of course you can't turn 50 without getting your dream car, so we gave him a camero (is that how you spell it?)--the hot wheels version! I suppose that way he can't get into too much trouble, right? We even played pin the tail on the donkey! All in an effort to make him feel younger, but it didn't really work. I guess once you reach that old, there just isn't any pretending, you are just OLD! (Just kidding Darrell, we are going to live a hundred more years)

It's Soccer Time!

Soccer is here once again! This fall Jared and Mason are both playing. Jared's team call themselves the Spinning Llamas! (I know I know I told you they were the Kodiaks, but that was sooo last week!) Amd I have to tell you these guys are pretty darn good! So far, 3 games into the season, they are not just undefeated, they have never been scored against! This weekend, they won their game 12-0, one of which was scored by J! He was so excited! Mason is again playing PAKS which is the parents and kids soccer league, and is really enjoying it. He will finally be old enough to play on a team this spring--yeah!

Happy Birthday Mason!

Mason is now officially 5, and what a fun day he had. It started out kinda bumpy as he felt great disappointment when he found out he had to go to preschool on his birthday! But after a few melt downs, and a yummy birthday breakfast, off he went. He had a great time there. They did several birthday activities, including a cake (although it was plastic-weird huh?) and the usual singing happy birthday. He also got to pick a book from the birthday basket, which he was immensely proud of! When preschool was over, we picked him up and took him home, where he and Dad and Matthew played some Mario Kart, one of his favorites. After opening presents and playing with them a bit, it was off to McDonalds the real celebration! We ate dinner, played hard, or at least the kids did, and ended with a spiderman cake baked, frosted and decorated by Matthew! It turned out really cute and Mason loved it! As you can tell from the pictures, Mason got a spiderman costume for his birthday, and he loved it! In fact, he really hasn't taken it off since! He even had to wear it to soccer yesterday, and we had to pretty much peel it off of him when it was time for him to play! Mason really did enjoy his birthday, and looks forward to having a party with a few friends early this week. We are taking them to a place called Kidventure Island, which is a big soft playland designed to look like a big pirate ship. He absolutely loves that place! I can't believe he is 5 already! It goes so fast!

Mason tried really hard to blow those candles out, but it did take several breaths to finally get out all 5 candles. (just wait until he is as old as I am, it may take him all day!)
With 5 hungry boys (Mason's friend Jethro came for a bit to have cake with us) the cake was pretty much devoured within minutes!
Mason is such a poser! Here his is in his new Spiderman baseball cap and of course, his superman cape!
And here is our little Spiderman ,himself! Isn't he so cute?
The Hulk hands were also a big hit not just with Mason, but with all the boys! They make smashing sounds when you swing or pound them. Doesn't get much cooler than that does it?
Here is the cake Matthew made. We all thought he did such a good job! Mason loved it!
All in all, it was a fun night. The kids came home happy and exhausted! Happy Birthday Mason! We love you!