Ward Spaghetti Dinner

We have been looking forward to our Ward Spaghetti dinner for a while now.

Our neighbors cook some AMAZING spaghetti and Lasagna.

The Young Women's had a bake sale to raise money for Girls' Camp.

We even had a magician come and trick us pretty good.

He even taught us a good trick too.

All in all, it was a great night to visit with friends, enjoy some delicious food, and enjoy great entertainment.

6th Place District Speller

Noah took 6th place in the District Spelling Bee.

The word he got out on was "coincidence".

He spelled it "coincEdence".

He made it through 14 rounds.

He was sad to get out, but happy now that he doesn't have to study anymore.

A Sour patch shake from Artic Circle made it all worth it.

Easter Egg Hunt

With family over, yesterday, for Jaden's baptism, we had an Easter Egg Hunt.

There we're lots of eggs everywhere

We had some good lookers and everyone came away with quite a bit of loot.

We had a happy, beautiful day with lots to treasure and remember.

Grant walked around to his siblings and some cousins and asked them if they'd like some magic.

He, then, would pretend to give them some and then say, "Now we're friends forever."

For primary singing time, today, we had an Easter Egg hunt of our own.

My "Super Singers" were picked to find an Easter Egg hidden in the room.

In the egg, was a treat and a paper with a song on it.

The kids sang really well and were anxious to be picked.

Happy Palm Sunday!

Jaden's Baptism

Jaden chose to follow Jesus' example and be baptized by his dad, who holds priesthood authority.

It was a special day with lots of caring family in attendance.

Thank you Grandpa and Grandma from both sides for coming.

Thank you to Uncle David, both Uncle John's, Aunt Carol, Uncle Dell, Aunt Linda, Uncle Kent, Aunt Jamie, and Aunt Jen I and your families for driving the distance to come.

Jaden is one lucky boy to have so much loving family attend.

The Spirit was strong and it was neat to see Daddy acting as John the Baptist did and worthily baptize his son.

I am grateful for Jaden's example of goodness and hope he can always keep the spirit with him.

Karate

Hiram, Jaden and James enjoyed their last day of Karate this last Wednesday.

They learned a lot about self-defense and self-discipline.

They ended with a pizza party.

They were able to practice what they were taught and had fun beating up on their teacher. 

Even Grant got to get in on the action.

They had such a good teacher who taught them so much.

Happy Birthday, Joyanne!

Joyanne is now officially a teenager.

She's been acting like one for months, but now she IS one.

Joyanne turned 13 years old.

This girl definitely had one happy day.

After opening her gifts, she picked muffins for breakfast.

She got checked out and taken to lunch with Daddy.

Joyanne spent a couple hours with her cousin, Bree.

Then cereal for dinner was delicious for her.

With strawberry cheesecake for dessert, Joyanne was one happy girl.

Chalk Art

The patio out back is the perfect place for chalk drawing.

Joyanne used her creative talent to draw all sorts of pictures for her brothers.

Jaden loved the large piano.

She made a home for Grant complete with a kitchen, a living room, a backyard, a bathroom and a bedroom.

I love seeing my kids use their talents and have fun using them.

Joyanne's Loft

Joyanne let her brothers come up in her loft for quiet time.

I sure need a quiet time when Daddy has to work on Sunday.

I sure love the Sabbath Day and a chance to rest from all my weekly labors.

I also LOVE my primary chorister calling.

I enjoy teaching kids music and helping them come closer to Christ through the primary songs.

I feel the Lord's inspiration as I teach His children.

Game Night

While the kids watched a movie out in the family room, Noah watched a basketball game in our room.

Go Duke!

Daddy and I went to a game night our Stake put on.

We had fun playing "Headbandz" and "Tenzi".

Puzzles and Presents

Daddy has been working on this puzzle for about a week now, with my occasional help.

It has not been an easy puzzle.

So many pieces looked exactly the same.

But today, Daddy had a few remaining pieces and finished it!

Grant and James have been receiving birthday money for a couple of years now without spending it.

I took them shopping today to pick out a few presents.

James picked out a "Lego Movie" lego set and a treat.

Gran was excited about his own flashlight and a sword and a treat. 

Then James and Grant still had money leftover to go and get lunch at Artic Circle.

What a treat!

 

Joyanne had her soccer draft.

She's excited to be getting started in a sport of her own.

Joyanne also started teaching Jaden piano.

She was so impressed with how quickly Jaden picks up his pieces and how well he plays them.

 

Hiram had fun going around with his friends this afternoon.

He played with Ellie today, but also likes to play with Karson and Aiden.

He is making quite a few friends and loves riding bikes or running around outside playing games.

 

Has March Madness started at your house?

It has at ours.

Tonight we watched Cincinatti beat Purdue.

Daddy and Noah really got into it, each rivals against the other.

Daddy, Noah and I filled out NCAA brackets with who we think will win.

Hopefully Kentucky beats Hampton tonight.

Happy St. Patricks!

Happy St. Patricks Day!

We have had some great years in the past.

In 2010 Grandma gave the kids some cute shirts to wear.

In 2011 we owned our own party store, The Ultimate Party Adventure, and had fun hats and necklaces.

 

 

In 2012 we had a pajama day and our dinner was green; green salad, green grapes, dyed-green fetticini and a cake frosted green.

 

This year I almost forgot it was St. Patricks Day until Jaden ran upstairs and started pinching those who weren't wearing green.

We all wore some type of green.

Dinner was once again dyed-green fetticini, broccoli and cauliflower, dyed-green cottage cheese and dyed-green apple juice.

It was a happy, warm day.

The buds on the trees are starting to appear, the grass is coming in green, and flowers are starting to appear.

Spring is coming early and it's looking beautiful!

Mommy of Cute Boys

The weather was too beautiful to not go to the park today.

Grant kept asking me to take his picture, so I complied.

Grant and James like playing educational games on my Kindle after they read and do their workbooks.

I enjoyed being mommy to my cute boys.

Happy Birthday, Jaden!

Jaden had a great 8th birthday.

He was up early, searching for his hidden presents.

He loved everything he received.

Daddy got most of the gifts and geared them towards Jaden's creative mind.

He loves the mazes, the 4 different rubiks cubes, and the 3 balls that each do different, unique things.

What a happy day for a superb kid!

Experiments

This morning we headed out to the ATK site and watched a rocket launch into the side of the mountain.

There was lots of smoke and a rumbling that could be felt beneath our feet.

 

Noah worked on his science experiment.

He took 3 different pitchers and poured apple juice in each one, then dyed 2 of them blue and green.

He went around with the 3 drinks in little cups and had people try them to see if they could tell what each drink was.

His hypothesis was that the different colors would make people think the drink was something other than apple juice.

 

I enjoy going to watch Jaden, James and Hiram at Karate.

They are learning some great defensive moves and good discipline. 

 

Relief Society was uplifting and inspiring.

We watched a movie about all the General Relief Society Presidencies.

I learned about charity and am anxious to go out and serve more.

History Fair

Joyanne had History Fair today at USU.

She has worked for MONTHS preparing for this.

She studied Beethoven and had so much information on this amazing composer.

She enjoyed the day with Daddy, setting up, eating lunch and walking and talking around campus.

She learned so much through the whole process.

 

Tonight, Noah was able to go bowling with Dad and the Young Mens.

He's only 11, but was able to go.

He felt pretty special to be able to go. 

 

As for me and myself, my body is screaming with soreness.

If you haven't tried Jillian Michaels for a workout, she will put you to the test.

My muscles are getting a workout and they sure can feel it.

My hamstrings are sore, my sides, my bum, my abs and my shoulders.

I guess no pain, no gain.

I'm enjoying getting up at 5:15a.m. to go work out with friends at the church and lose a little weight.

I've lost 10 pounds with about 5 more I want to still lose.

I am amazed what the body can handle and do.

Federation and Swimming

Joyanne participated in Federation yesterday morning.

She played 2 pieces.

She received a superior for her score.

After Daddy came home camping with the Young Men, we were able to go swimming at the Natitorium. 

We had fun spending time with our cousins all day yesterday.

Frosting

Grant had such a cute mustache from his "Cookie Monster" donut, but he was grumpy when we were taking him to wash off his face.

Noah got his birthday cake a day later and was halfway through it before we realized that we never sang to him, so we quickly put candles on his piece of cake, sang to him and he blew out those candles with a wish in mind. 

 

Daddy's out camping with the boy scouts in the coldest place in Utah and the 2nd coldest place in the United States.

Hopefully he will stay warm enough tonight.

Birthday Boy and Spelling Bee Champ

Noah turned 11 years old.

He was up earlier than usual, so excited.

I brought Noah lunch from Artic Circle.

He liked that delicious, yummy surprise.

 

Then came the Spelling Bee.

Noah and Hiram decided to enter the spelling bee.

Last night we worked for a few hours going over words with them. 

 

We were pleased to see each of them make it through the first round.

Then they made another round and another.

After 5 rounds Hiram got out on the word "Scenario".

He forgot the "c".

Hiram was in 5th place.

 

Noah and another girl, Natalie, were up against each other as the final contestants.

They spelled word after word.

Sometimes Noah would spell a word wrong, but then Natalie would too.

In the end, it was Noah won 1st place.

What a great birthday present. 

Noah he and Natalie will go on to the district spelling bee on March 30th.

Serious study time begins.

 

Noah had a couple friends over this afternoon.

They were able to watch "Big Hero 6."

Noah enjoyed the presents, the attention and winning the Spelling Bee for his birthday. 

It was a wonderful day!