Issue 104 - Two Year Blog Anniversary!

The Windy City

Steve and I took our traditional, annual trip this week, this time to Chicago. Although it's a working vacation for both of us, we still manage to relax and have a lot of fun. Steve worked at the conference booth for the first 2 days, while I did my summer and fall/winter school planning. The third day they were short at the booth, so I got don a work Jersey and help reel people in for their presentation. That was the working part. For the relaxing part we read, napped, took baths, went walking, ate out, went to the movies, sight seeing, and caught a Cub's baseball game. Three trip highlights for me were the Architectural Boat Tour (thanks for the suggestion Brooke and Luke!), singing "Take Me out to the Ball Game" during the 7th inning stretch with Steve's boss, and the "Chocolate Bag." Steve had this dessert on a trip to Chicago 14 years ago and has talked about it ever since. Now I know why!

Ellie's First Recital

For months, Ellie has talked non-stop about being able to dance on a stage for her recital. The big day finally arrived and she couldn't have been happier. She performed a ballet number "Kimbo Bop" and a tap number "The Codfish Ball." Ellie takes her dancing seriously, and while most of the class stood frozen on the stage, she tried hard to remember and perform all the moves. The highlight of her evening was receiving her first dance trophy at the end of the performance.

Issue 103

Foam Finger Ellie

Ellie and Dad had the opportunity to go to a soccer game for our home team, and past MLS Champions, Real Salt Lake. We made it a date and had a hamburger before heading to the game. The one thing that Elie said she wanted at the game was a foam finger (?). I don't know how she knew about foam fingers, but she described it to me in detail before we even got there. Wouldn't you know it, the first booth we approached outside the stadium was giving away red foam fingers! The game was a lot of fun with a decisive 3:1 win over Houston Dynamo. Best of all was to be with Ellie, give her a ride on my shoulders back to the car after the game, and enjoy her fun personality.

Order of the Arrow

The Order of the Arrow is the national honor society of scouting. Last Friday night, Steve and two of his good friends took part in an initiation ceremony centered around the attributes of self discipline, hard work, and service. They spent a night under the stars and then worked the following day, full day, with little to eat and without being able to speak to one another. The day was hard, but this experience proves that Steve can do hard things, indeed that is the purpose of scouting, to help young men see that they have the capacity to lead out and act different than the norm. Steve passed the test and is now an official member of the Order of the Arrow.

Issue 102

Two Favorites

Janey played in her first violin recital this week. She has been playing violin for about 4 months now and really loves it. She performed the "Poka Dot Waltz" for her recital piece.

Janey's second favorite thing, besides playing the violin, is ice skating. She's only been once before, years ago, but she was sure she would love it. She has been begging for months to go, and was so thrilled when we went as a Girl Scout Troop this week. She was a natural on the ice, declaring it was just like roller blading, another favorite activity of Janey's.

Issue 101

First 5K of the Season!

It's been about 7 years since I ran any races, so I wasn't sure I could pull off our Relief Society 5K. With just a few training runs, I was able to run the whole way, my first goal, and beat my best training time, my second goal. I'm so greatful that all my previous years of running are paying off. Steve says he'll run the next race with me. We'll see if he can keep up!

A Comedy of Errors

Steve L.'s Shakespeare class just finished their production of Shakespeare's "Comedy of Errors." Steve was cast in a lead roll, as Antiphilus of Syracuse. He had over 200 lines to memorize and did an outstanding job! The entire production was first rate, and all the actors did a great job and had a lot of fun. They will take the production to Heber at the end of this month and the different Shakespeare Troops in the state with perform for each other.

This is one of the reasons I love homeschooling! It's amazing what a bunch of families coming together can create!

Steve with Cousin Weston who came with his family to see the play.

Some of the cast after one of the shows.

Issue 100!

Park City

We had originally planned a trip to St. George last weekend, but Steve L. couldn't miss any play practices and Whitney had the "Student Showcase" at school, so we opted for Park City instead. Steve was able to take Janey and Daniel up Thursday night and the rest of us joined them Friday night. We enjoyed the Olympic Park, swimming for hours, rock climbing, nature walks and snowball fights, games, movies, eating out and eating in, and browsing main street. Thanks mom and dad for letting us use the condo for a long overdue vacation!

Ellie was born the wear "gum boots" (as they are called in NZ.) They are the best for splashing and exporing!

Looking at some pins from the olympic pin collection.

Watch out world! Here we come!

Needle Felting Queen

Whitney blew away the judges with her knowledge of alpacas, wool, wet felting and needle felting at the annual student showcase. They were judged on knowledge, creativity, presentation, and communication. Whitney walked away with the grand prize of $100! Her favorite part was seeing the school's Yoga teacher carrying "The Encyclopedia of Felting" through the hall this week having been inspired by Whitney's project. A huge thanks to the Dixons in New Zealand for introducing Whitney to caring for and showing Alpacas and the art of felting!

Old Hollywood

Whitney's high school had an "Old Hollywood" theme dance this weekend. Whitney put together this costume for the dance. I think the fur hat she made is especially clever.