Dance Fever

The elementary school had a dance program. Savannah's class danced to Hoedown Throwdown and Joe's class danced to Footloose. They did a great job and were really cute. Unfortunately, I was too far away to get any good pictures of the dances.

The finale was the whole school (over 1000 students) on the floor dancing to Staying Alive. It was pretty cute.
Unfortunately, Travis couldn't get off work to come, but Veronica and her friend slipped in during lunch (and one of their classes) and Grandpa and Grandma were able to come.

The Week In Review

Veronica turned sixteen years old this week. She was given birthday money to go to a nice restaurant, so she took the family and her best friend to Cheesecake Factory. Everyone enjoyed a delicious meal and then we shared a few desserts. It was a lot of fun.

Saturday evening we had a birthday party. I made six dozen cupcakes, we had all the fixings for s'mores and roasted starbursts, Travis built a big fire, the kids hit golf balls into the lake, sang songs (a couple of them played guitar), visited, watched part of the Jazz game, played games and had a great time. There were about twenty kids that came.

During the middle of the party, Travis held down the fort while I took Joe to Urgent Care. A reckless dunk on the neighbor's basketball hoop, off a trailer, resulted in a broken wrist for Joe. It was very painful. (This picture was taken the next day)
We enjoyed visiting Grandma Higginson and Grandma Rindlisbacher on Mother's Day. We love them both! I had a wonderful day with cards and a gift certificate to Barnes and Noble.

Bruce's friend (and future college roommate) Skyler came to visit over the weekend. We loved having him come and look forward to seeing more of him this fall.

Our Young Women had a fund-raiser for girls camp. For a $40.00 donation, we'd get a ten-minute family photo session and a disk with the two prints of our choice. These are the two we chose.

A Few Photos from the Past Week

This week's quote.
Bruce and Savannah strike a pose on Sunday afternoon.

Veronica doing what she does whenever she doesn't have homework--reading a book.

Joe with his friends, Isaac and Dylan, right after the community haircut. I pulled out the clippers, both boys got permission and we cut a lot of hair.

And I do mean a lot of hair. Most of that came from Isaac. Once again, I stink at taking before pictures.

Field Trip To Camp Floyd

This is Joe with his favorite teacher of all time, Miss Sechrest. Joe's class went to Camp Floyd, out past Cedar Fort. This is where the military was stationed when they were sent by President Buchanan to keep the Mormons from uprising. Since the Mormons weren't actually uprising, there was nothing for them to do except build up the camp, and then be bored, so there was a lot of drinking and fighting that went on out there. It was an enjoyable field trip.
The kids got to learn about military formation and how to hold and fire a gun during drills.


They got to dip candles, do a pony express relay (with stick horses), make adobe bricks and tour the commisary, hotel and school.

Usually when I go on field trips, I'm assigned four for five kids, including my own. On this field trip, I was with another mother (who was standing out of earshot on the phone doing business most of the time) and we were assigned 20 kids. Yes, I said 20.

We ate a sack lunch and had a great time. Joe is a great kid!

BUILDING, BAKING & FLOWERS

So my window looks pretty and springy, even if there is snow on the ground outside.

Joe and some of his friends enjoy birthday cake.

Veronica and Savannah making strawberry freezer jam. They enjoyed an afternoon of baking, making two kinds of muffins, fudge filled squares and freezer jam. It was kinda nice to stay home over spring break. We planted a garden, visited grandparents and cousins, baked, and relaxed.

Joe built a roller coaster and another amusement park ride with his Knex that he got for his birthday. He does a great job of building and really focuses.

Bruce and Travis worked during the spring break. Bruce was happy to get lots of hours in. We're glad he likes his job.

I got really sick the last couple of days of spring break. Travis and I were supposed to speak in church on Sunday and by Friday night I had NO voice. I got a blessing and was able to speak, but went home miserable after sacrament meeting and yesterday found out I have a sinus infection and ear infection--and again, very little voice.

I woke up at 4:00 a.m. unable to swallow or sleep, so I went downstairs, planned May's Webelos, filled out the 2010 census for our family and got pictures ready to blog. I'm really tired.

The kids weren't very excited to go back to school, but thankfully its almost over. We're really looking forward to summer.

Happy Birthday, Dear Joe

Ten years ago today (April 7), at 7:30 a.m., our lives were blessed with a beautiful baby boy. He still blesses our lives.Joe is an amazing kid. He's a great friend to everyone--friendly, inclusive and thoughtful.
He sings ALL. THE. TIME. This can be annoying at times, but most of the time I'm just glad to know he's so happy.

Joe has a great smile and an infectious laugh. When you hear him laugh, its hard not to join in.Joe would rather play than eat, sleep, or go to the bathroom. Sometimes he runs in on a dead sprint because he's waited until the last possible second to go because he's having too much fun to be bothered. We usually have to insist that he sit down and eat something.

Joe is co-ordinated and fast. He loves sports, even though, on occasion, he's a little bit too competitive. (I wonder where he gets that trait.)Joe is loving and affectionate--just what a Mom needs and loves.

Joe is a good kid. There was a time when I constantly heard from his school teachers how social and talkative he was and then on Sunday, I'd hear from his Primary teacher how perfect he was. I asked him why he couldn't be as quiet at school as he was at church and he said, very seriously, "Because church is Heavenly Father's house." You can't argue with that.

Joe is smart. He loves school, he likes to read and he loves learning.

"Joseph, how can we ever say all that we want to about you. We're so glad that you came our way. We would have perished without you." We love you, Joe. Our family wouldn't be the same without you.

Joe's Amazing Talent

(Joe is the boy who starts at the far end of the stage.)

So Joe came home a few weeks ago and said he and his friend, Ethan, wanted to be in the talent show. Since Joe is a good singer, I thought he'd sing a song. NOPE!

Joe and his friend did the worm. They auditioned, had rehearsals and then performed to a cheering crowd. Great job, Joe!

Joe Builds A Beauty!

It is pinewood derby time in cub scouts and we were very proud of Joe for his fine entry. He built the car himself with VERY little help from us. He did the carving, the sanding, the painting, and his help came mounting the wheels. The car looked good and he won 3 heats, came in second on 2 heats and third on one heat.

Great job, Joe. You're awesome!