Issue 82

Seasoned Scouter

Steve scored a couple more merit badges for his sash this week (Citizenship in the Community and Fishing) and now has 27 in all. Then they headed off to winter camp for some snow shoeing and messing around in the snow. BRRRR is all I can say, but Steve and his dad had a blast.

Merry Christmas!

Sleeping under the tree!

We enjoyed some of our favorite holiday traditions this week to get into the spirit of the Christmas season. Listening to "A Christmas Carol" (unabridged of course) with popcorn and hot chocolate, sleeping under the Christmas tree, decorating cookies, making homemade gifts, and watching "It's a Wonderful Life." What are your favorite traditions?

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Issue 81

Birthday and Christmas Rolled into One!

One of our favorite holiday traditions is Grandma B's birthday and family Christmas party. Grandma is 87 and although her health is slowing her down a little, she is still going strong. Grandma shared lovely stories and recipes with us and there was a surprise appearance from Santa Clause. I enjoyed watching Ellie's first ever interview with the Big Man himself!

Stosignaphobia by Steve L.

STOSIGNAPHOBIA:

the fear that somehow, somewhere, a stop-sign is gonna get you

Discovery

Fridays are for field trips. I think the world would be a better place if once a week, every child was allowed to venture out and explore, play, build, dream, create, and discover. Sometimes our field trips are new and blog worthy and sometimes we repeat favorites. This week was a repeat of one of our favorite destinations, Discovery Gateway. But, I couldn't resist a few pictures.

Ellie is my water baby. Probably has something to do with spending a year at beaches in New Zealand.

The boys making some impressive stop animation films.

The Forgotten Carols by Whitney

This week we went to see the play of The Forgotten Carols. It was amazing! There was excellent acting with an enteraining and meaningful plot line. The songs that it featured were amazing, and I wish that we had bought the DVD. My favorite song was "Homeless". I hope that I will be able to see it again next year. Thanks to Uncle Tyler who got us tickets!

Issue 80

NaNoWriMo by Whitney

I MADE IT! I finished NaNoWriMo! (National Novel Writing Month.) I wrote a 50,000 word novel in 30 days! This totals to 175 pages! My book isn't finished yet, but wow, talk about a sense of accomplishment!

I am still writing, and one of the prizes I got for winning is a free paperback copy of my book, professionally printed with the cover of my choice. Cool or what? I am totally converted to NaNo, and I will be doing it next year too. It was many sleepless nights and calories consumed, and my laptop does not appreciate the daily workout it received, but by Jove, I did it!


Typing the 50,000th word in front of us at family night. (Mom asked her to wait an hour and a half so we could see her and celebrate together, but I'm sure it almost killed her to do it!)

Here is a teaser for Whitney's novel:

Mitchell is thirteen and he hasn't seen his mother since he was five and his dad ran off with him. Since then, he has moved around the country dozens of times. His father is usually gone on "business trips" and pretty much leaves Mitch to fend for himself. When he is home he is mean and perhaps slightly insane. Now Mitch is living in an apartment complex in Minnesota and meets up with an old family friend, who seems to keep popping up throughout his childhood. Odd things start to occur and he discovers that he is part of something bigger than he thought. Both sides are fighting to have him and during his adventure he ultimately has to decide which side to take, because apparently he has the ability to tip the scales in either direction.

A Christmas Carol by Whitney

(Photo by Michael Chow/ The Arizona Republic)

This week my dad and I went to the Hale Centre Theatre to see their productions of "A Christmas Carol. It was amazing! The actors were very good and the special effects were astounding. They had real snow and the props rose unexpectedly out of the floor! They used a fog machine a lot, and they had lots of different lights. In short, this production will not disappoint you. It is an amazing and worthwhile presentation of Charles Dickens' beloved Christmas story.

Deck the Halls

Janey danced in her first clogging recital on Saturday to Donny Osmonds' Deck the Halls. Janey really enjoys clogging and says she wants to get good enough to compete. Her Grandma (from whom she gets her middle name) was a folk dancer at BYU, so maybe she'll follow in her footsteps!

Much Ado about... by Steve L.

We went to see the play much ado about nothing last Friday. A Shakespeare original, the Utah Vally University actors put an interesting twist on things by instead of placing the scene in Italy, like it's supposed to be, they put it in Mexico! It's an interesting tale of two people in love, a scheming rival, a hilarious guard and many surprising twists and turns. If you want to know the full story - read, listen to, or watch much ado about nothing. You can probably find it at your library. (I probably sound like a commercial).

And the Winner Is . . . .

All of the Statesmanship clubs from the state came together Saturday at the Salt Lake County Council Chambers to watch the top 20 speakers compete. All of the speeches were on John and/or Abigail Adams. Steve spoke on the conflict and friendship between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. All his practice this year in his speech and debate class paid off, and he came in first place! Among other prizes he won a $100 Barns and Noble gift card.

His cousin Brooke came in second! Great speaking must run in the genes. Way to go Steve and Brooke! We are so proud of all your hard work!

Issue 79