Cam's got skills!

Cam has learned to start off on the swing himself. He is in love with the swings now that he doesn't need someone to push for him. Whenever he has time, he asks me if he can go into the backyard and swing. I love to watch how excited he is about it. The other day he took a radio with headphones out and listened to music while he was swinging. What could be better than that?

The boys and their project

I am not sure if the obsession started with the movie "Down and Derby" or if it started when Scott was Scoutmaster, but our boys have been in love with pinewood derby cars for some time. They have been playing with Scott's cars (saved by grandma) from when he was a scout. Well last weekend we cleaned out the garage and the boys got the idea that a clean workbench needs a project. Why not make their own "down and derby" cars? So, they spent the weekend working with dad on shaping their blocks of wood into "the hottest, fastest, cars around". I stepped in to help paint and the result was... well, you judge for yourself.

I've been tagged!- Random about things about me

I feel so welcomed into the blogging world now that I have been "tagged" to post about myself by my friend Annie (who by the way is one of the truly amazing people I've met). Here goes:

10 years ago:
I was on my mission in Russia. Oh, where do I start? As I thought about where I was and what I was doing, I realized that I faithfully kept a journal on my mission (oh, how things change- if I can write in a journal every few months these days... that is why I blog, right?). Anyway, I fished it out of a box from our basement and read the entries from the end of April and the beginning of May 1998. It was such a fantastic time warp- thank you Annie for bringing me to this point. I wrote about how we were teaching a couple whom we had just told they needed to get married before being baptized. "It was a good lesson for me about being honest. Too often I try to please people by saying what they want to hear. That isn't right. I need to work on being more honest. Our president said 'The Spirit doesn't offend.' How true- the Spirit will always testify of what is true- but also give us hope that we can do what is right and live as He tells us."

Things on my to-do list for Monday:
-Do the 30- day shred workout
-Call Annie and wish her a Happy Birthday
-Clip Elle's fingernails (they grow SO fast!)
-Register for Women's Conference (nothing like the last minute)
-Go to Costco for fruit (and nothing else- I promise)
-Sweep and Mop (I think this is always on the list, but one of the first things I like to avoid- along with most other cleaning)
-Go visiting teaching
-Plan an inspiring FHE while still engaging a 6, 4 and 1 year old (actually I'll just settle for planned)

What I would do if I suddenly had a billion dollars: (Isn't this a sign of our times- it isn't a million anymore- it's a Billion)
-Pay off the house
-Put away money for all the future stuff we expect (missions, college, weddings, missions, travel) and the stuff we don't want to (death, illness, tradgedy)
-Buy a road bike (I've been wanting one for a while, but have never really ridden one)
-Start searching for that piece of land that is just right (near the mountains, maybe a stream, mature trees) to build my dream "green" home.
-Annonymously pay off some of the biggest bills at Primary Children's Medical Center (so when I'm rich and actually do this- don't tell anyone it was me)
-Book some service trips to do with the kids this summer (like build schools in South America or teach families in Africa how to treat their drinking water- you know, worthy stuff like that)
-Travel LOTS (you name it, I probably want to go there)
-Hire a professional chef, a housekeeper, a gardner, and a really great photographer to capture my kids at a moment's notice

It's fun to dream!

3 of my bad habits:
-I am often late (thanks to Scott we are on time more than I would be by myself)
-I leave dishes in the sink overnight
-I can fall asleep almost anywhere (and I have- church, the temple, while driving!- I'm not proud of it)

Places I have lived:
Salt Lake City, UT (born)
Murray, UT (raised- do those count as two separate places?)
Logan, UT (Utah State University)
Moscow, Russia (teaching English)
Guangzhou, China (teaching English)
Rostov-na-Donu, Russia (mission)
San Antonio, TX (our first jobs out of college)
Shreveport, LA (where Davis was born)
Cedar Hills (currently and most likely for a long time)

Jobs I've had:
-Babysitting (I even had a 'kit' and took CPR classes- I was good)
-Selling doughnuts going from business to business every morning until my 'crate' was empty
-Cashier at the Taco Maker in Fashion Place Mall
-Police Cadet (truly a highlight of my HS years)
-Preschool teacher (Learning Tree preschool/ daycare)
-Running the go-carts at Saltair (it was hardly work- I worked with Christina and no one ever came, so we just raced each other)
-Data taker for a research project (I watched kids play and took notes)
-Receptionist/dispatcher at a construction company
-Credit analyst for American Express (I secretly loved looking at other people's credit reports)
-Secretary at Huntsman Chemical (I did accounts recievable-love, love their cafeteria)
-First grade teacher (Tremonton, UT)
-Fifth grade teacher (San Antonio, TX)
(I think that is all- I am having a hard time remembering- Update 5-1: I knew there were more, I just added three- I forgot until I read Pookies list)

5 things most people don't know about me:
1. I like to REALLY separate my laundry (one too many laundry mishaps has led to this one-reds only go with reds, blacks with blacks, of course whites with whites- so when I wash one set everyone has the same color of clean clothes all at once. Sometimes it looks like we are trying to be a matchy family- but really it is what is clean at the time)
2. One of my dreams growing up was to be a pediatrician (I would still love to if I didn't have to make my family suffer through all the years of hard work- I mostly am fascinated with how the body works)
3. Swimming in lakes creeps me out - the ocean is even worse. (I will do it sometimes if I am really feeling fun and brave. Once when I was a leader at girl's camp, I went down a zip line and was supposed to drop into a mountain lake (freezing!). Instead of letting go I begged the man at the top to pull me back up. I jumped in later because the YW gave me such a hard time)
4. When I was in high school and college I used to eat junk food for meals (I think Scott sometimes thinks he was tricked since I am such a health food fan now. He would love to have some frozen pizzas in the house or Grandma's cookies, or Cherry Pepsi- any one of which could have been my lunch back in the day)
5. I was having a hard time thinking of something else so I asked Scott (this is really revealing). He said "You snore and you stink really bad when you get back from running". Gotta love it- can you tell we have been married almost 9 years. Good thing I just posted about honesty.

I tag anyone who hasn't done this yet. It was fun to do- I'd love to read yours.

Our Charlie Brown Tree

When we got back from Mesquite, we decided to finally get a fruit tree. We have been wanting one since we moved in, but have never actually done the planting. Well- we got a tiny stick with leaves- the nursery said it is a nectarine tree. In 2 or 3 years it should produce fruit. We are sort of kicking ourselves that we didn't plant it when we moved in because if we did we would already have an established tree. Oh well. Fun times planting it, we dug a hole that was way too big (we had no idea). Our neighbor came over and was like "why did you make the hole so big?" We like to learn everything the hard way.

Mesquite wrap-up

We had fun each morning (Davis would wake up feeling good) in Mesquite for Spring Break- then in the afternoon Davis's fever would return and we spent our time watching movies. I think I watched more movies in one week than the previous 6 months. We went home early on Friday to get Davis into the doctor. It was strep. Yipee that an antibiotic can get him feeling better- too bad I didn't take him in earlier in the week. The rest of us have managed to steer clear. The sunshine in these pictures looks appealing especially since it has been snowing (what?) off and on while I have been blogging.

Here are a few shots of the highlights.

Davis "laying out" after a breif swim.Cam is such a ham- notice the "Alfalfa" style he is sporting
Throwing palm leaves into the pool was great entertainment for Elle

Elle driving grandpa's car. She thinks she is so big- moving around, trying to steer, and pushing buttons of course. Thankfully she didn't break anything- even though he has a soft spot for Elle, I wouldn't want to have to tell him. He has been enjoying the finished product of years of restoration to get his convertable just right.

Spring Break!

We are spring breaking it in Mesquite- another long drive with the kids- but not bad now that we have figured out that snacks and movies buy a lot of drving time. We are visiting my parents while Scott works in Las Vegas (fun corporate meetings) and will finish up the week with a little camping at Capitol Reef with Scott's parents. As I write this, I realize that it sounds like we are never home, but really this month is an exception. Our normal is school, work, take-home reading, soccer, and play outside (the kids- including Elle want to be out as much as possible). Here we get to swim, ride the four-wheeler, take walks, and catch lizards. Anyway, we are enjoying our break from the norm- the only bummer is that Davis was laid up on the couch at grandma's with a fever today. Hopefully tommorrow he will be back to his lizard-catching self.

More travelog

One of the highlights of our trip was a show they call "Jedi Training". Our boys love Star Wars as much as the next little guy (you know, lightsabers- good vs. bad). So we decided to go to the show. The best part is that they call a few lucky kids up to participate in the program and eventually fight Darth Vader or Darth Maul. Both of our boys got chosen! I don't know who was jumping up and down more- me or them. Only Davis got to do the actual figthing at the end (I think they pull the youngest ones aside since it is pretty realistic- check out Darth Maul's creepy face!), but they both learned all the moves. It was so thrilling.











Elle loved it too.

We're back!

What a great trip we had! We loved being together and playing everyday. The kids are at such fun ages to enjoy all the "magic". It is the year of a million dreams- so they are giving away all kinds of things. We got free mouse ears and a "dream fast pass" (you can skip the lines on a few rides). Fun, fun- we felt like celebrities for "winning" something. We had great weather- a little overcast each day- and then sun. We were able to swim at the pool when the park was crowded and we spent part of one day at the beach. It was a nice break and I have to admit I was a little glad to hear that we escaped some bad weather here (although today we had snow off and on all day- what?)

Davis being cheesy (notice the mouse ears we "won").;Elle on the carousel- she was such a fan of the rides and wanted to go on everything.; Cam at the pool (he didn't leave the kiddie pool- it was warm and he could touch).










The kids on the beach at Newport
(I had them pose for this- I wanted to get one
worthy of enlarging- does it look posed?)