Memorial Day Pics

Memorial Day is one of my favorite holidays, not because of the bbq or the campouts or the trips to the lake that make it a memorable day for so many, but because we visit graves, clean them, and remember our loved ones.  And then we have a bbq!

Everybody's ready to work!

Grandpa Joe meet your namesake!

WE HIT A DEER!!

Yes, it's true.  We hit a deer...on the way to the temple no less!  We were tooling down the road around 9am.  I was reading something to Chad when he suddenly said, "Oh no!" and the car started to swerve.  I looked up in time to see a deer flying over the hood of our car.  It smashed into my side of the windshield with an almighty CRASH and then continued its flight off into the bushes where it died...poor thing.  I give full kudos to Chad for preventing us from hitting the deer head on - our air bags didn't even go off because it hit on the front corner of the driver's side before flying up to bash into the windshield and decorate me with tiny shards of glass.  We were even able to drive home, after we assessed the damage and took some deep (hyperventilating) breaths.  We called our insurance agent, got the ball rolling to fix everything up and then climbed in the van and went to the temple anyway!

Yes, that's deer blood.  Sorry to be gross!

A Double Dose of Merritt

Merritt had a very busy end of the school year, so I have lots of pictures from all his activities.  First, he earned his Bear Badge, which was fun and exciting.  He actually earned it back in March, but it was after pack meeting and since April's pack meeting was the Pinewood Derby, that meant the award ceremony was pushed into May.  First, he gave me a Bear Pin.

 Then, he got to drink Bear's Blood!!  Dum-dum-duuuuum!!!

The verdict?  It was pretty tasty!

Finally he had his badge.  Now if only I had time to sew it on...

Every spring the fourth grade puts on a program celebrating the State of Utah.  It was developed for the centennial celebration of Utah's statehood held in 1996 and the slides are exactly the same as they were 16 years ago.  Someone needs to fork out the dough to update the photos cuz it was pretty sad.  Anyway, I only got a couple of photos because the children either stood up to sing or sat down to sing, so not a lot was going on.  Merritt actually sang, which I thought was excellent.  Singing is not his favorite thing to do.  He must be related to his father or something.  :)

All the kids were supposed to wear white shirts.  I remembered to send him out the door with a white shirt on the SECOND day!  I had to run one over to him on the first day...at least I remembered eventually though, right?

He's a good boy!

Here's Merritt and his best friend Riley.  On to 5th grade!  Sheesh...where does the time go?

Third Generation

I picked up bags of manure and some perlite (extremely lightweight volcanic glass with a high water content used for breaking up clay soils) for my garden.  We cleared the ground of the weeds that had taken root in our warmer/dryer than normal spring and then Chad dumped the fertilizer and perlite all around.  That perlite is something else...he disappeared in a cloud of white rock dust while spreading it around and I almost expected him to come out looking like he'd been flour bombed, but it all blew away.  He started up the roto-tiller and began grinding away at my dirt, taking a rock hard mess and making it soft friendly place for my bevy of plants.  After he'd done a few passes he let Merritt take a turn.  He showed him the levers and what he needed to push, pull and squeeze...

...then turned him loose!

That machine is the same one Chad's grandpa used on his farm.  He'd bring Chad out, show him how to work the levers, and then set him loose on the garden.  It's fun to think of Chad working behind this same tiller.  Now Merritt is our third generation roto-tiller operator!

The Shark Car Debuts at the Pinewood Derby

Our Cub Scout pack's annual derby this year was the Pinewood Derby.  The car kits were handed out two months prior and this year we actually got the darn thing done early.  Chad and Merritt went over to Chad's brother's house to play with his wood working tools and when they were done, Merritt had a "shark" car.  He picked out the colors he wanted and painted it very carefully, only asking me to help with a little of the finish work and decorating.  He was extremely happy with the result.

The only thing that didn't get done before the derby was the wheel installation, but I wasn't too worried until Chad called to say he had to work late.  When I realized it was up to me to put the wheels on I figured we might as well just use the car for firewood since I was bound to screw it up.  Sure enough, two of the wheels gave me fits and I ended up using some wood glue to stick the wood chunk that flew off back on.  Thankfully, the husband of one of the Wolf leaders was adding weights to all the cars so that they were equal and doing a little spruce up job on the ones that needed it so he tweaked the wheels.  Merritt's car won three of its heats, which was so fun, and came in 10th overall.  He got a little plastic trophy, which he was really excited about, and a homemade sucker shaped like a car.  It was a fun night.

Grace's Spring Recital

Grace had her spring recital and her class danced ballet to "Do Re Mi" from The Sound of Music and did tap to "Yankee Doodle Dandy."  The dances were cute and she did a really good job, but I have to say that the most entertaining dance of the evening was done by the Mini Combo (3-4 year olds).  There are three boys in the group and one of them just stood there, rocking back and forth and looking around, while the rest of the kids danced and swung imaginary bats to the tune of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame!"  Then he decided he better start doing something so he began picking his nose with all his might!  The whole crowd was laughing hysterically and when the song ended the kids got the loudest cheer of the night. It was classic!! 

Easter 2012

We began our Easter fun this year by coloring eggs.  We only do 6, which I guess is weird, but I can use up 6 hard boiled eggs a lot easier than 12.  We bought a dye kit that contained a clear wax crayon so that we could make secret designs which would be revealed after the eggs were dyed.  You know what?  It is REALLY hard to write with an invisible crayon, especially on the rounded surface of an egg.  Oh well, the kids thought it was fun.

The rest of the eggs were plastic.  We filled them with candy and Easter messages, then Chad, Heather, Jeannnine and I hid them around the yard.  When we were half-way through hiding the eggs I turned and saw three little excited faces pressed up against the boy's bedroom window.  Sneaky little darlings!  We gave Grant a head start, as he has the shortest legs, and then let them go nuts.  I really need to count the eggs before we take them out cuz I found two the next day.

When we came back inside, the kids had to open all the plastic eggs and find the folded pieces of paper.  Grant was as excited to find paper in his eggs as he was to find candy!  "Yeah!!  Paper!!" he'd say.

Once we found all the paper we put the phrases in order to reveal the Easter message: "He is risen!  He is risen!  Tell it out with joyful voice.  He has burst his three days' prison; let the whole wide earth rejoice.  Death is conquered; man is free.  Christ has won the victory."  I am so grateful for that knowledge!