Issue 24

Halloween

My children were replaced the other night by a hillbilly, a robot, a black knight, a scary witch and a beautiful Snow White. First we had fun Trick-or-Treating at Great-grandma's assisted living home in the afternoon. It was fun to show off our costumes and the kids brought in a haul, Trick-or-Treating at the residents' open doors. Then they canvased the neighborhood on a surprisingly warm evening. We had fun placing familiar faces with their houses. Whitney offered to stay home and man the candy bowl every time the doorbell rang, so it was the first time I got to go Trick-or-Treating since becoming a mom.

A close up of Steve's awesome handmade costume. I love to see his creative spirit shine.

Toothfairy

"When will my tooth fall out?!" This question has been my constant companion since Janey first noticed a small wiggle in a bottom tooth a few weeks ago. The fateful day finally arrived, and Janey produced the world's smallest baby tooth for the Tooth Fairy. It was a proud day for her and she loves showing off the front and center gap in her delightful smile. Tonight she noticed the neighboring tooth was loose, and I have a feeling that I'll be hearing for the next few weeks, "When will my next tooth fall out?"

The Willows by Steve L.

Two weeks ago I went on a scout camp to the Willows. I had chess class, so I got there late. We had a dinner of hot dogs and hamburgers and stayed up until 11:00 playing Kubb (if you don't know what that is, it's the funnest game on earth. When we got up in the morning we went on a big bike ride. We would have ridden all the way to Thanksgiving Point, (the trail went right by there) but Eric (one of the other scouts) almost got frost bite, so we had to turn back. When we got back to camp we packed up and went home. It was fun. I'm going to go back there and ride the whole trial sometime when it's not so cold.

This is Kubb. It rocks!


Me, Eric, and Jared coming back with the kill. It took us over a half an hour to saw this off a dead tree. It was worth it, plus it was fun celebrating.

Cold morning (Under 20 degrees F). We had to warm our hands over the stove before we could start the fire.

Homecomming and Choir by Whitney

Last week at school there were two exciting things that happened. First was the Homecoming dance. It was really cool and I went with my friend Aubry. I borrowed my mum's blue taffeta skirt and a white blouse. I went over to Aubry's house to get ready, and then we went to the dance. It was really cool and I got home at 12:30. It ended at 11:00, but I went to Aubry's to get my stuff and we were tired, so it took ten times longer than it should.

I also had a choir concert too. It was really neat. There are three choirs. Anyone one can get into concert choir, but you have to audition to get into Bel Conto (A woman's only choir, I'm this one), and Madrigals, which is a choir for girls and boys. And the different bands where playing too. It went really well. Bel Conto sang three songs; Johnny said "No", Vois Tushionmea (A french song), and Al Shlosha (a Hebrew song). We sounded really good and we got a standing ovation from the crowd and the madrigals. It was really neat, and Mrs. Steinman said we where so good, that we are going to perform at temple square at Christmas time! I can't wait. (Eventhough we have to memorize five new songs that I've never heard before.)

Opoutere

We found the loveliest spot in all of New Zealand quite by accident. Opoutere is an enchanting campground that borders a pine forest. A short walk through the woods puts you onto the worlds most gorgeous beach and rare bird preserve. We originally signed up for two nights and ended up staying 8. We just couldn't tear ourselves away. We took the North Island at a much slower pace compared to the whirlwind South Island Trip. We filled our time with morning and evening walks on the beach, ice cream novelties, buying fresh plums from roadside stands, flashlight searches for eels at night in the river, and playing board games.

Opoutere happens to be the best place to view the New Zealand night sky in January in the entire country. Opoutere boasts it's own resident professional astronomer for five weeks every summer. He comes from Wellington to study the stars and gives evening lectures to everyone interested. The children were fascinated and asked great questions. We were fortunate enough to be present the week that McNaught's comet streaked past. We got to view it in the astronomers telescope and see it with the naked eye. (Click on the above image to make it larger.) This was a rare and unforgettable experience!

To see a map of the places we traveled so far in this series, click on this link: <http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&ie=UTF8&ll=-40.359103,172.875366&spn=8.067848,12.128906&z=6&msid=116765397961150020384.000451b63510a46db34d4>

Issue 23

Mommy and Me by Ellie age 4

Ellie handed me this portrait of us the other day and said, "Here mommy, will you put this on your blog?" I am fascinated with the evolution of her artistic ability. This week, on her own, she has gone from stick figures to people with bodies, fingers and hair. I know there is a natural progression in the way children learn to draw and now I'm interested in studying the reasons behind it.

Go Cougars!

Andy and Marsha (Steve's parents) invited us to the BYU vs. UNLV football game on Saturday. It can all be described in one word. Perfect. Perfect weather, perfect company, perfect to have my husband to myself all afternoon, and a perfectly suspenseful ending to a fun football game. (BYU won, but it was dicey to the end.) Thanks for the invite. Go Cougars!

Speech Competion

Clubs are an important part of our family's education. Janey participates in Liberty Girls, the boys attend Knights of Freedom and Steve and Whitney participate in Statesman Club. All of the clubs belong to American Youth Leadership Institute, a non-profit organization that seeks to build Statesman. I am privileged to be a co-leader for the SL Statesman Club this year that Steve L. attends. The youth learn public speaking, parliamentary procedure, have book groups, compete in Mock Trials, the Freedom Bowl (Jeopardy style competition on the Declaration or Constitution) and participate in a week long government simulation.

Thursday was our club's speech competition. The youth wrote and delivered two minute speeches on Benjamin Franklin. Our contest was judged by the very gracious president of the SL Toastmaster's Group. Steve L. competed and did a stellar job! He has a natural talent for public speaking and really enjoys himself. The judge scored him 96 out of 100 and said he had "perfect vocal variety." His score won him a spot at the statewide Statesman Club speech competition in Dec. (managed this year by yours truly.) Way to go Steve! (I feel a public speaking merit badge coming on.)

Shallow Leaves by Steve L.

Steve L. got creative while raking our inaugural leaf pile of the season.

L&P and Hot Water Beach by Noreen

Our favorite beverage in New Zealand is called L&P, a Sprite type drink (only much better) bottled in Paroa from their spring water. We couldn't resist a tourist picture with a giant bottle while passing through town. Their label claims "World Famous in New Zealand!"

Our next stop was Hot Water Beach. Because of an underground lava flow you can dig down a couple of feet in the sand and reach positively HOT water. Sometimes you burrow down with your feet and jump back out with singed toes. Come prepared with a shovel and dig yourself a whole. It fills with very warm water and you have your own jacuzzi!

To see a map of the places we traveled so far in this series, click on this link: <http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&ie=UTF8&ll=-40.359103,172.875366&spn=8.067848,12.128906&z=6&msid=116765397961150020384.000451b63510a46db34d4>

Issue 22

Our Family "Staycation"

Whitney had a long weekend off from High School and we had been trying to come up with a family vacation to take advantage of the time. It wasn't enough time to go very far and none of the ideas we came up with really appealed to us. We added up what 3 nights hotel and gas would cost us and decided to follow the national trend and take a "staycation." We invited everyone to pick one activity that they would like to do during the weekend, to make it fun, and took a vacation from the comfort of our own home.

Dad picked touring downtown Salt Lake City. What a great State we live in! We picked Dad up from the airport Friday morning (he was returning from a business trip to California) and we toured the Joseph Smith Memorial building. We enjoyed the view of the Temple from the 10th floor.

Then we toured the Church History and Art museum. This is one of Noreen's favorite paintings there.

From the roof top of the Conference Center. After touring we stopped at the Lion House Pantry for a great lunch.

Whitney picked going to a corn maze. We had never been to one before, and had fun finding all 10 markers (although not in order) in the maze.

Dad spent Saturday afternoon building our family a "Kubb" (rhymes with cube) lawn game. He had played it at the scout Jamboral and it's so fun to have our own set. I think of Kubb as a cross between lawn bowling, horse shoes and chess. We took our new game with us to Steve's parents' home where we spent the night and played lots of rounds. It was so nice to spend time with Grandparents and go to their ward the next day.

Daniel chose Discovery Gateway the Children's museum. Dad had never been, so it was fun to explore it with him on Monday.

Discovery Gateway was Ellie's choice too. Monday was her birthday and it was such a joy to spend the whole day together doing fun things.

Steve L. picked having a read-a-thon, so we stopped at the store for some mostly healthy snacks and the library for piles of books. Janey picked swimming, which we are going to do for Family Night on Monday, because we just ran out of time to do so many fun things.

Mom picked going to The Spaghetti Factory for dinner. It was a fun way to celebrate Ellie's birthday - with meatballs almost as big as her! We had a delightful and relaxing 4 days together and the "staycation" was declared a success!

Ellie Turns 4!

Ellie is so proud to tell everyone she meets that now she's 4! She somehow got magically even cuter and more precocious on her birthday, which I didn't even know was possible.

Ellie is all about princesses. Mom and Dad got her the Fisher Price Castle and Carriage.

Her siblings went in on a Littlest Pet Shop Vet center and Janey made her a pretty fleece scarf in Liberty Girls.

Happy Birthday Ellie!