We're still here

With no posts for the last several weeks you are probably wondering what is going on with our family. Rest assured, we are all doing well. Things have just been incredibly busy of late and we have found ourselves too tired to post to the blog at the end of the day. Here is a quick update on some of our recent events.

Jon participated in the pinewood derby for his cub scout pack and got 3rd place for speed. He also won the Mario Sunshine Shines award for his car. He was excited. The dad of the boy who won ordered special wheels for his car. That seems a little unfair, but Jon was proud that he mostly did his car himself. Mike cut it out and sanded the wheels, but that was it.

We planted 8 raised garden beds this year. Lena is happy to see that we are seeing some good growth already. We have been eating fresh salad from the gardens this past week. Take a look at our fresh spinach! Now we just have to figure out how to protect the gardens from animals.

Ethan did a little magic show for family home evening this week. He pulled quite a few items out of the magic top hat that he found in the attic (a.k.a. The Room of Requirement). Here's a photo of Ethan the Magnificent.

Alyssa loves shoes. She can regularly be found wearing any pair of shoes that she can lay her hands on. Ethan's had been left on the floor of the living room and she promptly put them on and walked around the room. We'll have to get more pictures of her with the assortment of different shoes she likes to wear.

Lena made a some batches of fig jam flavored with Jell-O. You can find the recipe here. The strawberry is one of our favorites. Lena also made raspberry and black raspberry. Alyssa found some and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Mike and the kids went fishing with Grandpa a couple times recently at a friends pond. The first time Kirsten caught a fish, but she didn't want to eat it. So we threw it back. The second time we didn't catch anything, but did get several bites that got away. The kids still had a lot of fun fishing with Grandpa.

Many Acheivements

Jon and Rebecca went to the District Science Fair on Tuesday since they were both in the top three for their categories. Jon got 4th place in Earth Science and Rebecca got 2nd place in Physics. Jon was a little disappointed that Rebecca's project ranked higher than his, but overall they both did very well.

Jon's cub scout pack had their Blue and Gold Banquet this week. Jon received his swimming, archery, and BB gun belt loops. Jon volunteered Lena to make a cake and the requirements for the cake were fairly specific (lemon, colors, 100 year theme, etc.). It turned out good despite the fact that Lena did not have very much time to work on it.

Jon participated in a piano recital and played "Intrada", which is itallian for introduction. He did a good job. The other kids liked the refreshments afterwards.

A Penny a Pine Cone

We had a great Family Home Evening on Monday. We learned about Captain Moroni and the Title of Liberty from the Book of Mormon. You can find the story in Alma chapter 46. After our lesson we made our own "Title of Liberty," which basically reminds the Nephites what they are fighting for. "In memory of our God, our religion, our peace, our freedom, our wives and our children." The kids drew pictures representing all of these things and put it on our own banner. Then we decorated "Title of Liberty" cookies. Alyssa really liked the frosting.


Our cousins came for a visit this weekend. We celebrated with slushes at Sonic on Friday. $3.78 for 7/van wasn't a bad price. On Saturday, after a fun breakfast of pancakes and buttermilk syrup, the kids went to work picking up pine cones in the front yard. At a penny a pine cone the kids were raking in the dough. Rebecca alone picked up 500. Grandma was nice to provide the payroll and help count all those cones. In the process she discovered what it is that she's been allergic to this last year. Yikes!



Mike and Grandpa planted 10 fruit trees for me. Yea! Too bad it will take about 5 years before we can enjoy the "fruits" of our labors. Ha, ha.

On Sunday I was a little nervous about 10 kids getting ready for church. Especially since I'm not around Sunday mornings to help anyone get ready because of a class I have to teach before church. I ended my class early and came home to find half the kids already on their way to church, (thanks Grandma and Grandpa!) and the others almost ready to go. I combed five heads, and we headed out the door. The kids were really good. We were a little snug with 10 kids and 3 adults in our row. At least the kids are small. Any bigger and we would have had to expand to two rows in the chapel.

Thanks for coming to visit! We had a blast with our cousins.

Let it Snow!

Well, this seems to be the year of snow. I can't believe how much snow everyone has been getting all across the country. Even we didn't miss out on the action and got about 5-6 inches of the fluffy white cold stuff. The kids had a blast for two whole days. Snowball fights, snow men, sledding, snow angels, and forts. Grandma and Grandpa even got in on the fun!

Secrets of the Universe

Jon and Rebecca both participated in the School Science Fair this year. We only had about a week's notice for some reason and had to scramble to get them done in time. We found ScienceBuddies to be a great resource for science fair ideas. Rebecca chose to measure wind speed for her project. Mike helped her build an anemometer using Styrofoam cups, sraws, and a pin. We found that the wind was fastest high up on a hill where trees couldn't block the wind. Rebecca won first place for the first grade!
Jon decided to experiment with craters. We filled a pan with flour and then dropped round objects of different sizes and weights from varying heights. The kids enjoyed it. It was a little messy with the flour, but not as bad as we originally thought it would be. Jon won 2nd place in the 3rd grade!

Kablooie! Look at all they flour getting thrown up by the "meteor" impact!

Alyssa started nursery at church. The adjustment is a little hard for her. It doesn't help that it coincides with her typical nap time. It's hard to believe she's that old already.
Some days we kind of wish the kids would grow up faster and be more responsible, but they really grow up way too fast. We were talking about how old each of the kids will be by the end of the year and were really shocked. We need to try harder to just enjoy the time that we have now with them because it will be gone before we know it.