Issue 88

Yellow Belt

Saturday was one of those crazy "divide and conquer" days. As in, "I'll take Steve to Mock Trial practice, and plan the menu and shopping list, and open the high school for the Liberty Bowl, while you take Janey Girl Scout cookie selling and Daniel to karate. Then, I'll pick up Steve from Mock Trial practice, take Whitney to Liberty Bowl practice, and then pick Daniel up from karate." Oops, we both tried to pick Daniel up. At least we didn't both forget him. Then it's "while your taking Janey on a lunch date to In-and-Out Burger and doing the grocery shopping, I'll be at the High School with Whitney, helping run the Liberty Bowl. Thanks for taking Daniel to his yellow belt test this afternoon, I wish I could be there too." Then it's, "So glad you and the camera made it in time for the last Liberty Bowl round and medals ceremony." And finally it's "Thank you for cooking dinner for our company tonight while I vacuumed the High School and locked it down. It tastes wonderful, and the flowers are lovely."

Daniel started taking karate (Kung Fu style) in December. He attends 4 times a week: one private lesson and three group lessons. In just over a month he qualified to test for his yellow belt. Dad and the kids got to see the belt ceremony and then came to the high school to show Whitney and I the awesome new belt.

What Daniel says about the experience:

"They had us do 100 jumping jacks, we had to stand in a squat and keep our arms out straight (like an airplane) for 10 minutes, 50 sit-ups, 50 push ups, 50 squats, and a whole lot of other exercises. Then he made us run from one side of the wall to the other 25 times as fast as we could. Then he tested us on all our blocks and kicks and punches. Then we did some other stuff and then I got my yellow belt. It felt pretty great but exhausting!"

Liberty Bowl by Whitney

This Saturday I was in the Liberty Bowl! The liberty bowl is a buzzer competition were teams of four compete to see which teams can answer historical questions the fastest. The competition is comprised of a number of rounds in which two teams go up against each other. The wins and losses, along with the points scored for each question, are totaled to determine the winner.

I have done lib. bowl for three years now. The first year I was in the Jr. division. I didn't meet with my team beforehand and found out who they were when I got there. It turned out that none of them knew any of the questions, and I myself had only done a cramming session the night before. I ended up dragging my team to a totally unexpected bronze medal!

The next year (last year) I was added to the Natalie team. It is called the Natalie team because Natalie is on it. She is a homeschooler who wakes up at four in the morning every day to study! She is amazing and I'm glad that she is my friend. Last year we studied multiple times a week and scored a gold medal.

This year we studied about three to four times a week and got a silver medal. It's kind of weird because we actually won the most points of all, but we lost more rounds than the first place team. So we actually should have gotten first place, but there was a mess up wen they were figuring it out so we all went home with silver.

But I'm not bitter.

One of the cool things though is that now I have a bronze, a silver, and a gold metal! It looks really cool on my wall. They are framed.

I really enjoyed it and the cool thing is that my cousin Brooklyn was competing in the Jr. division, (I am in the senior division) and her team won second place too! So that was really neat. Steve didn't compete but he wants to do it next year. The next competition is in Jan. so we usually start practicing around October.

The funny thing is, is that Natalie had never ever gotten less than first in a liberty bowl competition before and was genuinely shocked that her team hadn't won this year. Before, the only round she had ever lost in her four years of competing was to me, (which is why she asked me to be on her team). So she was very distraught. I was talking to her after and joked, "So practice next Tuesday?" and she said, "yeah, pretty much." and walked off with a straight face.

I've talked to the rest of my team and the thing is we all think that she is serious.

Issue 87

Mexican Fiesta!

The much anticipated Girl Scout Daddy/Daughter Mexican Fiesta finally arrived! I say finally, because it was all Janey could talk about for 2 weeks straight. The girls helped plan and decorate a fun evenings with their dads. Tacos, Pinata, Mexican Hat Dancing, pictures and scones made for an unforgettable night!

Ellie Update

Some storms blew in this week and chased the gunk out of the air. Ellie is breathing much easier, but according to her pulmonary test this week, only at 59% of her lung capacity. We go back in three weeks for another test to see what her capacity is when she is well.

Her first trip out of the house (besides the hospital and doctor's office) was to go get the boys' hair cut. Ellie never wants to be left out, so I let her get a hair cut too. I think the pixie style suits her spunky personality perfectly.

Klondike by Steve L.

The Klondike derby. A winter camp high in the mountains, where scouts come to try their skills against nature. Building emergency shelters, rescuing comrades from ice flows, treating for hypothermia and other trials of wits strength and endurance. After arriving near dark and hiking up to our cabin, we had a delicious dinner of stew and chips (a camping classic.) The night was fun, with a lot of games, running around the cabin and pummeling each-other with stuffed animals. The next morning, after packing up and a nice breakfast of pop-tarts and go-gurts, also a camping classic, we headed down to the pavilion for opening ceremonies. Then we set out for the stations. At each station they give us a situation and then we have to use our scout training to survive each scenario. Then the leaders of each station score us according to how well we do. The stations include; rescuing a scout from an ice flow in at least 60 seconds and using 6 different knots, lighting a fire and melting a bowl of snow in 7 minuets, showing how to treat someone for hypothermia, and making an emergency shelter out of a tarp and 2 sticks. Then we ran a timed sled race about a mile long, uphill both ways. :) We had a lot of fun!

p.s. thanks for the awesome sled bro. carter!

Issue 86

A Little Scare

For all of our readers who don't live in Utah right now, you'll be breathing easier than those of us who are. The inversion rolled in on Monday, and seems to be here to stay.

We always spend Monday afternoon at a little park while Daniel is at tutoring. This Monday as Ellie was climbing around the playground getting some exercise, I looked at the mucky sky and wondered if it was such a good idea. Turns out it wasn't. When I picked Whitney up from school shortly after, she ran to the car with her nose buried in her shirt. She informed me that our part of Utah officially has the most polluted air in the nation right now. She went on to inform me that being outside in it was equivalent to smoking a pack of cigarettes on your lungs. "Oh no! What have I done?" was all I could think.

Sure enough, Ellie spun into an asthma attack that got worse as the week went on. I was up most the night Thursday giving treatments and counting breaths per minute. It finally landed us in Primary Children's Emergency room by Friday. Thankfully they didn't keep us overnight this time, but her very high temp. that night had me worried we might be back. Her fever broke, but her cough is going to be much slower to go.

She is doing much better, but will have to stay in for a good week because her medication lowers her immune system. She is already bored and bouncing off the walls (her medication also makes her extra everything.) I dragged her bike inside yesterday and let her ride it around the kitchen just to help her get some energy out. We've also had extra snuggle time and some naps together.

Thanks to everyone who's called to check on her and for your continued prayers for her quick recovery. Steve and I decided that next January we are going to spend the money on a hotel in the mountains of Park City when the inversion rolls in, instead of spending the money on hospital bills!

Cookie Time by Janey

I am selling Girl Scout cookies! This is my second year selling. My goal this year is to sell 1000 boxes. Last year I sold 500. If you want to buy any girl scout cookies, just call me! My favorites are thin mints and lemon creams. What are your favorites?

Aquarium

At Christmas Santa gave me a twenty gallon fish tank! Before Christmas I had two three-and-a-half inch goldfish and a crayfish named Huka. Now I am the proud owner of two dalmatian mollies, (four-inch fish that look like floating sticks of granite) four sunburst playties, (three-inch yellow and orange fish) five neon tetras,(teeny little one-inch guys that are patriotically colored) and two Octocincluses (little two-inch guys that eat the algae off the tank wall and have racing stripes).

They are awesome, I suggest that you look up photos of them because I am not good at aquarium photography yet. This is my very first tropical tank, which means that it isn't room temperature like a goldfish tank, it has a heater, and with the species of fish that I have there is a tiny bit of aquarium salt. It isn't salt water, it is salty water.

Here is a picture of my tank.

P.S. I think that one of my dalmatian mollies is going to have babies, (Mollies anyone?) :)

Issue 85

Behind the Scenes

Steve L. was finished with his Cinematography merit badge, except for a tour of a TV or movie studio. Great field trip fodder! Friday found us at the LDS motion picture studio for a very impressive hour and a half tour. We got to see everything that goes into making a motion picture, from sets to costumes, props to sound, back lots to editing. The best part was having our cousins come too and topping it all off at In-and-Out burger.

Issue 84

Holiday Highlights

Holidays are for family, and we were blessed to have lots of family surrounding us for the holidays. We were so busy playing and visiting, hosting and helping that we didn't remember to take any pictures, but we made lots of memories. Here are the highlights:

• Sleeping at Grandma's and Grandpa's Christmas Eve, and opening our presents with our Aunts, Uncles and cousins.


• Going to our other Grandma and Grandpa's house for Christmas dinner and a lovely Christmas program with cousins everywhere.


• Seeing our 8 Idaho cousins we haven't seen in almost a year!


• Going to the movies with the kids - The Frog Prince (fun music), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (delightful, we'll be quoting this one for years), and Alvin and the Chipmunks, the Squeekuel (don't bother, better yet, run away screaming!)


• Going fun places with our cousins, like the Children's museum, the Aquarium, bowling and out to eat.


• Sledding with cousins (did I mention we have lots of cousins?)


• Our newest cousin's baby blessing.


• Daniel shaking hands with President Eyring, from the First Presidency. I tell you, that boy has no fear!


• Seminary Council reunion dinner for Steve's council from 20 years ago!


• Attending my now famous author sister's Book Launch formal dinner, and Book debut speech and signing (packed to the rafters with fans, friends and family. We were lucky the fire marshal didn't show up!)


• Our Suburban blowing up. OK, I know that doesn't sound like a highlight. Especially at midnight on a freezing night when it's spewing black smoke from under the hood and your stranded. But the highlight here is our brand new 2010 Honda Odyssey mini-van! It's so gorgeous, clean and fun to drive! I'll post pictures next week.