We enjoyed having my parents stay with us for general conference weekend, and Aunt Jeannie stay with us for spring break. We were able to do some fun activities--a trip to Trafalga (fun center), a tour of Mrs. Cavanaugh's Chocolate factory (with free samples), out to dinner, movies, and some outdoor play. To reward the kids for all their hard work and excellent grades at school we got them the "Pass of All Passes" which includes free entrance to the Trafalga fun centers and both Seven Peaks Water Parks, so that will be our "staycation" this summer.
The week before Easter we read some special scriptures each night to commemorate the last week of the Savior's life. The day before Easter we did an egg/treasure hunt where the kids found a letter in each egg and had to put together a clue which led them to their big present--a trampoline (which we had bought on killer sale on Black Friday and stashed away). They have enjoyed using it very much. We enjoyed a lovely Easter Sunday with wonderful church meetings, lots of family time together, and a delicious Easter dinner.
Derek:
1. For working so many long and late hours over the last several months, his boss gave him a free dinner at one of the poshest gourmet restaurants in Salt Lake, Cusina Toscana. So, he took me there for our anniversary back in December and it was sooo nice and fun--the kind of place we'd never eat at unless it was for free. =)
2. He's been stumped by a misfiring engine cylinder, so his Dad kindly took over and fixed it for us. Also lent us one of their vehicles. Love our family mechanic! It's still acting strange, so Derek's going to try replacing a part from the old engine and see how that works. Fun!
3. Accompanied the 12 and 13 year old scouts on a fun campout.
4. We attended our first local caucus meeting, which was an educational and neat experience. We got to vote for district and state representatives for our area and be a part of the democratic process here. Awesome!
Me:
1. For the past 6 weeks or so I've been running three days a week for 1.5-2 miles. It's the first time I've really run because I've had back issues since college. It causes be daily back and neck pain, but I'm hoping if I do yoga the days I don't run that it will help counter the pain. We'll see how that goes.
2. I was approached by a new design team, Anna Griffin, to do some work for their HSN, QVC, and trade shows. Hopefully I'll get to continue doing that in the future.
3. I'm also working on a new online workshop that will take place in August and I'm really excited about it.
4. For a service project I cleaned our church with the activity day girls (8-12 years old) and leaders and that was a good experience for all of us.
James:
1. James also had his first babysitting job and has been asked back a few times since. It's a family with twin 5 year old boys, and a 2 year old girl. He came home apologizing for how much he and Jeffrey fought when they were five, and also shocked at how much he was paid because we're so cheap when we pay him for babysitting!
2. Has had his friend from school, Sam, over a few times to play video games. What else do 14 year old boys do when they get together?
3. Earned and saved his money to buy a new corn snake since poor George has not turned up. He calls the new snake Charles Alexander Dosdall.
4. He is struggling with a new history teacher this semester, and has not done very well in the class. I think this is a wake up call to him that school won't always be so easy and I hope he rises to the occasion.
Jeffrey:
1. Competed in the State Math Contest and Math Counts District as well as State. He did very well in all of them. Sadly he missed one of his competitions because he forgot that he had to meet at school early to catch the bus. Bummer. He also received an award from the BYU Math Department at a special recognition ceremony for math students from all over the state of Utah.
2. He and James have had several band performances and festivals lately, and have played really well.
3. He spent the whole week of spring break off his meds and did a pretty good job. I think I was only on the verge of tying him up once or twice. =)
4. He and James received their Eagle Scout awards last night at an Eagle Court of Honor. They finished their projects and paperwork by last summer and have been anticipating getting their awards for a while. Derek's parents and his sister, Jeannie, were able to attend and it was a really cool evening celebrating four Eagle scouts from our troop.
Ashley:
1. Ashley enjoyed her first official babysitting job and has been asked back a few times since then.
2. She has been sick a few times this winter with strep throat and a stomach virus, but she's doing much better.
3. She did an awesome job in her ballet performance of Cinderella. Her group was the ballet class that was teaching the step sisters how to dance (unsuccessfully, of course). She had a feature roll along with three other girls.
4. She has been the recipient of boxes full of hand-me-down clothes from the girl next door. Most of them have fit her, but others are too small and fit Lexie. It's been like Christmas around here, and our budget sure appreciates the help. =)
Lexie:
1. Enjoyed her school reading week. They got to wear mismatched socks and shoes, hats, PJ's, etc
2. Enjoyed having a cousin sleepover the weekend of Ashley's ballet performance. The girls had a great time in spite of a stomach bug incident.
3. Played very well in her 3rd grade ukulele concert. She had a solo on the electric ukulele and rocked that. My parents were able to arrive from Vegas just in time to watch her.
4. Starts soccer season next week. She's attending a soccer clinic this weekend with a couple of BYU soccer players and is looking forward to her first game.
Faith:
1. One night I laid down with Faith to put her to bed. Once she fell sound asleep I left the room to go downstairs and work on some projects. Not more than two or three minutes later I hear this crazy maniacal laughter at the top of the stairs, "Heh, heh, heh. HEH, HEH, HEH, HEH, HEH!!!" And there she was just standing there wide awake laughing this fake evil laugh. HUH???? This girl is such a nut!!!
2. She loves to sing songs like "The Wootsy Wootsy Spider", "Chim Chimeny" from Mary Poppins, "The Candy Man" from Madagascar, and various primary songs she picks up from nursery at church.
3. She is so into princesses and dress up clothes right now. She changes into three or four pretty princess dresses every day, and sometimes even sleeps in them and wears them when we go out to the store.
4. She keeps coming in our bed every night. Which would be okay except she kicks and pushes and is pretty grumpy, so we end up putting her back into her bed. She knows Derek won't even let her get in out bed, so she runs as fast as she can past his side to get to me, because I'll let her at least start out in our bed until she gets too wiggly.
5. The other day she had a messy diaper so I said, "Faith, let's go change your diaper. I think you're stinky." She replied very firmly, "I not Stinky!! I Fay-Fay!!" Good times. =)
Well, I think that's more than enough. I'll leave you with some photos from the last couple of months.
 |
| events from march and april |
 |
| Easter Sunday |
 |
| eagle court of honor for james and jeffrey |
No comments:
Post a Comment