A Dozen Surprises

1. Having GR walk through the door at 5:30pm on a Wednesday ... totally unheard of and on any other day of the week we're lucky if we see him by 6:30 or 7, especially over the last month+ and telling me to pack for a four day anniversary trip, "your parents left a hour ago, they'll be here by 8:30pm." Hallelujah! ... hours later I was able to pry out of him two clues, we're driving, and the weather, low 40s - high 60s.
2. Actually having more than one conversation with my husband in a week a day.  He drove the entire trip and let me sleep whenever I wanted to, what bliss! 
3. Arriving in Breckenridge, CO at a beautiful, beautiful bed and breakfast. 
4. Having dinner at an amazing little place in downtown Breckenridge called Hearthstone, where I had New Zealand Elk with a blackberry demi-glaze, baby carrots and mashed potatoes.  GR had Idaho trout stuffed with crab, asparagus and mashed potatoes.   Hands down our best meal of the weekend. 
5. Finding out what was in the Eddie Bauer box that arrived weeks ago and had to come on the trip ... apparently they are needed for Thursday mornings surprise.  

Thursday morning, signing my name 2 dozen times on a three page release form so I could participate in our next surprise adventure, that unfortunately didn't come with a granny speed or with a granny course ... but did come with a 2 hour climb through the mountains, covering about 20 miles and 2000 some feet in elevation, and breathtakingly beautiful scenery!  Man did we have a blast!  And I only, nearly hit a tree once ...  


6. Riding through beautiful old mining camps straight from a book I started the day before we left.

7. Driving through Independence Pass and stopping when ever we wanted to take pictures of anything and everything.  

8. Having lunch in Aspen ... walked past stores that were way too rich for me to even walk in front of. 
9. Watching a fox look both ways and cross the main street in downtown Breck, as we drove home after dinner.
10. Having our early Saturday morning surprise adventure rain out and loving the alternative just as much ... walking in the rain, window shopping, having lunch in Keystone on the top of the mountain (thanks to a great gondola ride), chilling in our room watching a redbox movie, ordering Pizza at the best place in town (based on the recommendation of the guy @ Mary's Mountain Cookies - we brought 2 dozen home for the kids) and having enough left over it will last us a week (we tried to offer a couple pieces to the guy in the cookie shop, but he just started P90X and turned us down ... but gave us the local's price on our two sandwich cookies we bought for dessert!)
11. Waking up Sunday morning to beautiful, huge, white snowflakes falling outside our window and 5 inches of snow on the car.  Then stunning thunderstorms across central Kansas. 

Thank you, my Love, for an planning every detail for an perfect weekend together.  
Thank you for always making our getaways a total surprise. 
Thank you for getting me out of my comfort zone so I can experience new and exciting things I would never consider doing if it were left up to just me. 
Thank you for loving me for my strengths and my failings. 
Thank you for taking care of me, for being my man, while still letting me and expecting me to be independent. 
Thank you for making the last twelve years a good solid foundation for the next twelve years, and the twelve after that.  They've been filled with one surprise after another, and I know the future will bring much of the same. I wouldn't want to experience it with anyone else.

VBS - SonQuest Rainforest

Alexander blew me away last night.  I was working with Sam to help him memorize the scripture for tomorrow ... John 3:16 (the girls already have it memorized from primary earlier in the year).  Sam was thoroughly convinced he couldn't memorize it - totally reminded me of half my seminary students - he clearly picked something up from them in utero.  

After working with Sam on the scripture for five minutes or so he totally had it down pat.  I turned to Alexander and asked him what he new about the scripture.  He had picked up all the core concepts, all while dancing around the girls room where Sam and I were working, not paying a bit of attention to us, that it only took a little bit of work for him to have the scripture memorized too!  When he recited the scripture to "parable parrot" for a cracker this morning after VBS, she was blown away that this little preschooler was doing it.  I love how Alex recites it too ... so cute.  I've gotta try and get a video clip done and loaded on here.  

But pictures ... 

As you walked in these two large "trees" flanked each side of the registration and information table.  I love how all of the decorations used were handmade ... half crafted or constructed art, like this tree, and the other half created art in the form of traditional painting or drawing.   They did use a few purchased props - stuffed monkeys, plastic frogs - but for the most part everything else was done with some sort of paper as the main structure.  And the effect was fantastic for everyone!  

Each morning the children gather in the "gym/cultural hall" and on the stage was this huge 4 panel mural. 

On the far right of the stage, was the jungle lab used by two characters who helped the VBS narrator talk to the kids about the days theme. 

On the walls in the entry/foyer surrounding the registration tables, were mini murals with the daily scriptures the kids will focus on each day this week. 

New Wallpaper

Desktop wallpaper that is.  GR's been desperate for new collages for his work computers, and last night he gave up waiting for me to do them and did them himself.  I teased that I was going to throw them up on the blog as a post and then decided it really wasn't a bad idea since you haven't see all of them.  He just wanted to make sure I didn't take credit for making the collage, which I'm not going to do ... but I can take credit for taking 10 of the 14 pictures shown below.

The kids are attending a bible school this week with their good friends from our old neighborhood. I was completely blown away by the set up this morning when I took the kids in ... there were TONS of kids and the entire church was decked out better than any prom I've been too.  Seriously.  They are encouraging the kids to memorize scriptures.  Really, one for each day, along with a challenge verse.  We're having the kids learn the verses in King James lingo, but they are so excited about it!   I hope to get pictures taken so you can all see just how amazing this set up is.  

The Girls

Picture of my girls snapped last night before bed. So cute!!  Emily right now is all about hair ... has been for most of this school year.  It's always fun to see how she's braided or done up her hair for the day. 

I made the dress Anna is wearing Monday afternoon melding two different tutorials out there, this tutorial for the pattern, and this for the embellishments. I'll write more about the dress on my TS blog in the coming weeks.

Berry Picking

A week ago a friend stopped by and said she needed my help and to grab a couple large kitchen container.  After sending me back to the kitchen for larger containers, she proceeded to dump the contents of two large ice cream buckets into two largest mixing bowls.  Beautiful, red, juicy strawberries!  

She's getting a bumper crop and has more than she knows what to do with, and we got her "leftovers" - such a sacrifice!  If only we were asked to help out like this more.  Saturday she called to say the patch is still loaded with berries and wondered if the family would like to go out and pick berries sometime.
 

As you know, we really like to pick berries, so today, after attending a pancake breakfast and flag raising at the church to benefit the boy scouts, we drove out to the strawberry patch and picked berries for about an hour, coming home with 15 qts or so of beautiful, sweet strawberries.  I'm thinking I may need to make jam this week!  Especially since the kids want to go back later this week. 

On a side note.  We discovered the super scoops featured in FamilyFun Magazine a while back make excellent berry picking buckets, specifically for kids!  Even Anna could pick up a jug and walk around the patch without spilling any berries.  If your picking berries on larger bushes ... say blue berries or black berries, tie the jug around your waist with a belt or length of rope threaded through the jugs handle.  That way you can pick with both hands and not have to bend over to dump the berries in your bucket.  I'm also thinking these will make good containers for the kids to use in the garden (if it survives our really wet spring!) when it comes time to pick tomatoes, peppers, green beans, peas, our own strawberries, and onions.

I've been using a half dozen or so super scoops in the craft room to hold some of the kids craft supplies ... markers, glue, glue sticks, scissors, etc.  I like that they are made from something I have all the time.  I like how easy they are to make, and how nicely fit on the cupboard shelf.  And I like that the contents are always so easy to access for me and the kids.  I think it would be cool to hang them from a rod along the wall using an s hook of some kind maybe, but for now, they are fine sitting on a shelf, or floating around the house from art project to art project.

The Launch

Friday night the big girls spent the night with Grandma and Grandpa and we took the three little kids on an adventure.  An evening balloon launch was held not too far away and we thought it would be fun to go watch.  Thanks to mainly back roads (see all the dust from the gravel roads?), and leaving a bit later than we expected (thank you Old Navy 50% off clearance!) it took longer to get there than we expected, but it was a great sight to see so many balloons in the air.  And the kids LOVED it!

GR came into some new-to-him camera lenses which he used to shoot most of these pictures: 

They had one balloon tethered to the ground so people could get close and see how it works.  Kids and parents, lined up to climb in the basket and watch the propane fueled engine fire hot, hot flames up in to the balloon, heating the air.  Alex was the first little kid they'd seen who was excited to get inside and wanted to see the flame and know how it worked.  I love the look on Alex's face in this shot, and Sam's delight at both of their enjoyment.

We had hoped to take the girls back Saturday night, but once again the day was too full, and something had to give.  Instead, the kids played out back in the field with papa, while I helped a friend pack up her kitchen.  We are planning a return trip to this park for more intensive play.  It is AMAZING.  Built a couple years ago, it's prefect for multi-age kids!  It has a little tikes play area, sand pit, larger kids play area, huge web-like climbing tower, long bumpy slides, rock climbing structure, large covered pavilion, pond, ball fields, soccer fields, and probably more.  I'm looking forward to going back when it isn't covered with a couple hundred kids (which it easily accommodated).

In other news, Bob's been helping us get the pool ready to swim.  It won't be ready for Memorial Day, but by the weekend it will be close.  When it is, I hope you'll "come on!" over and join us for a dip. 

[Anna motioning to Papa to come on! and walk with us]

The New Resident

It seams my friends, that we have a new house guest. Meet Oscar, he lives under our deck and we are pretty sure he is a groundhog.


Oscar comes out when the yard is quiet ... he drinks from the little creek that goes around the deck, he eats grass and weeds from the yard, and then of course he poops in places I'd rather he not poop. But it's super fun to watch him stand up on his hind legs and look around the yard ... so far that's making up for the poop in the flower beds and planters.

When I asked GR, what my chances were for potty training a groundhog, he wasn't too encouraging, and offered to have someone trap it. I'm not there, yet. So far, it seems "he" is following the house rules and as long as he follows the rules ... don't damage the property, play nicely, don't poop around the house (he has a grace period, but I'm not sure I'm willing to give him the same period of time we've given Alexander ... a year's a long time), etc., he can stay, otherwise we'll issue an eviction notice.

I'm not sure how long he's lived under our deck, but we just recently noticed him. Our first introduction was on Rebecca's birthday -- it had pooped in one of my planters on the upper deck ... right on top of a sweet pea plant.

This picture was taken through the kitchen window. He's about 30+ feet from the house, just past the little line of trees that goes long the lower deck. I've tried to get closer, but every time I've gone so far as to unlatch the back door, he's shot back under the deck.

Petite Chefs

Rebecca started planning her birthday party in December.  With the move, we finally had to tell her we couldn't discuss the party plans until April 1st.  For most of April party plans were being discusses right and left with modifications being given almost as quickly ... I don't think the plans were truly decided on until right before the party ... our conversations went something like this ... 

yes cake decorating would be a great idea, 
we can bake pizzas too, 
I don't see how there's time to bake cookies too, 
no a competition would not be a good idea, even if Emily and Halle are going to be the judges, and I don't think teams are a great idea either, let's just let everyone do their own, okay?
if you're going to invite 8 of the 10 girls in your class, you should invite all of them, I understand they don't all get along, if they don't want to come that's their choice.
you're going to have to choose between watching a movie and all these other things you want to do, I don't think a six hour party is going to work, honey. 
ooohh sequins monograms would be lovely, but not at $6 a letter. 

In the end she settled on a handful of girls, her good chums from school, to come for a night of cake decorating, making pizzas and well, eating and giggling.  It was one of the best birthday parties we've held, by way of my personal enjoyment and stress level, and the girls had a great time.  

We had a 6" cake for each girl to decorate with lots of candies and icing and sprinkles.  They also decorated cupcakes which we used as Rebecca's birthday cake at the end of the party.  While the girls decorated their cakes, I made pizza dough so they could each make their own personal pizza for dinner.  

Becca and I toyed with the idea of decorating aprons but that quickly became cost and time prohibited, so I opted to make the girls aprons, and I'm so pleased I did.  The end result was so much better than anything I could have hoped for.  To make them a bit more fun, I made each girl a little flower pin using scraps from the aprons and coordinating fabrics.  I love this tutorial!   


While the girls and I were doing the party, GR took the four other kids to dinner, and then Mother's Day shopping.  Becca got upset that she didn't get to go out to dinner, and Emily and Sam were sad they didn't get to decorate cakes.  How do you win?!

I'm hoping I can figure out how to help the this summers birthday parties be just as fun and easy going for us and the kids.  For sure we need to have one for Emily.  The poor kid hasn't had a birthday party with friends, that I can remember since she was three or four maybe.  So, this is the year, wish me luck that I don't get totally wiped out by the rest of the summer and poop out. 

Double Digits

[A couple of years ago my mother started sending email announcements to the extended family about birthdays. Her hope was that this would be a unifying exercise given that both sides of the extended family -- my mothers family and my fathers family -- live all over creation. Her secret dream is that the email announcement will spur family members to send either personal or public "shout outs" to the individual celebrating their birthday or anniversary.]

Today, Rebecca is 10! I sent my family the following spot light on Rebecca and decided to include it the blog ... enjoy and feel free to add your own insights about Rebecca in the comments.

Rebecca is a hands on creator. She is constantly making something out of anything and everything she can find ... paper, fabric, boxes and cans from the recycling bin, etc. Right now she has two different quilts pinned together on the floor of the craft room. [quilt she made last year, and another she did the year before] Rebecca also enjoys designing things on the computer. Using Microsoft Publisher to design invitations, books, labels, business cards, fliers, etc.

Rebecca is an avid reader and excellent student. She caught on to reading quickly as a kindergartner and fell in love with the Junie B. Jones series. Since then she's found lots of favorites ... All of the Ramona Quimby books, both Penderwick books, Judy Moody is another favorite. But recently, Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian has been her books of choice. She read all four books in two weeks. Rebecca is one who will re-read books. They are her good friends, and when she finds a book she loves, she will read it again, and again.

Rebecca is a planner. Birthdays, vacations, etc. When she wants to do something she plans it all out her in head with very detailed ideas about how she wants things. She and her friends had her birthday party planned by mid-January this year.

Back in early March she started planning our family garden ("her" garden, as she calls it). She called her primary teacher for advice on what fruit trees to plant in Kansas (we're holding off on this stage of the garden). She then called my visiting teacher & her husband, avid gardeners too, for advice on what to plant - even arranged for them to come over and advise us on where to plant, making a list of their suggestions of what to grow in Kansas. And she called her Great Grandfather to talk with him about gardening and started reading the book he published about gardening.


Rebecca has always been a black and white, right or wrong kind of kid. She works hard to figure out how to do something correctly and she will not deviate from it. She is not easily intimidated by adults or peers and freely speaks her mind.

Since a young toddler Rebecca has taught us the importance of making people feel loved and accepted. She is an incredible example of being a friend, and extending a hand of fellowship to all she knows. She says hello to everyone. She is always excited to see you, and will greet you with a smile, hug and ask you how you are. Even if she only met you for a brief moment, she will remember you and excitedly greet you the next time you see each other (and remind you how you know each other if necessary).

Last night Rebecca was asked by a member of our Stake Presidency to speak in Stake Conference today. She was asked to share her favorite scripture about the Savior, share why and bare her testimony [side note: 10 members - 2 each: primary, youth, young adult, male, female - were asked to do this, along with a member of the stake presidency. Becca was one of the two primary children, and she was the youngest].

Last night she excitedly accepted, but this morning her confidence was gone and she was a puddle of tears; scared, nervous and completely unsure of what to share. Thanks to calm assurances from her parents, a phone call to her primary teacher, and the answer to GR and I's silent fervent prayers that the spirit would bring peace and calm to her heart, she began to prepare and choose a scripture they recently studied in her primary class. She wrote a few key words down as notes, and shared her scripture and testimony in Stake Conference this afternoon. She didn't even get flustered when she realized that the scriptures she had marked and put her notes in didn't make it in the car and she had to write out her notes again.

The scripture she shared was: Mark 14:21-25. So fitting for a 10 year old who 2 years ago was baptized and has such a vivid memory of her baptism, and the covenants she made in that ordinance, and renews each Sunday when she partakes of the sacrament. Her testimony was basic, simple, as all first testimonies are.

Rebecca is a pretty mature 10 year old. She is asked to shoulder a lot of responsibilities in our family. Even today we needed to celebrate with a birthday breakfast rather than our traditional birthday dinner because GR had BYC and was the speaker for the tri-ward Bishops devotional for the youth tonight. She bravely and maturely agreed to have her birthday dinner Monday night instead of Sunday night. No need to feel too poorly for her. We celebrated in style this morning with pancakes, sweet rolls, all her favorite fresh fruits, sausage and donuts!

She opened her presents in a small break this evening before GR left for the church. While he was gone, the girls and I put Rebecca's new bedding on her bed. Her new favorite color is green, and everything she got today was green (with a couple minor exceptions). Green scriptures, green sports watch (that will show military time), green sheets, green bedspread, green print pillowcases (made using this tutorial, but awaiting the crocheted trim), and some fun new artwork (from this website) for that big blank wall!

Good Mail

I got an email this afternoon from Sam's teacher Mrs. H.

"I just wanted to let you know that I had a sub two days ago. When I returned I was told the class did not do well, outside of 4 students that were fabulous. Sam was one of the four. Not surprising as he is always wonderful. I just thought you would like to know."

When I asked Sam about it after school, he modestly said, "I know." And then added, "everyone had to write Mr. &%?$ a note saying they were sorry. I didn't though. Colin didn't either, he wasn't at school Monday."

Love it!

Turning back time

Some "old" friends were in town for the weekend and we had a chance to hang out after church for a bit, let the kids run wild in the fields and eat a good dinner. We got a picture of all the kids together, just before they pulled out for the night. Dawn and Rebecca are a day shy of being 3 months apart. Her parents moved into our ward midway through her pregnancy and they have been good friends ever since. I dug through our picture archives and pulled up some fun photos of the kids together over the last 10 years. There are some holes given my picture deleting incident, and living many, many miles apart.

It seems like only yesterday they were toddlers playing together, and yet, in the same breath, a life time ago in all they have experienced. Both families have added four more babies (actually they are about to add baby number five this summer). There is something so grounding and comforting in relationships like these.

The Reward II

I woke up to Emily telling me she would be playing in the Teachers vs. Student basketball game during the last portion of the school day. If you aren't familiar with this new tradition at the kids school, read this post from last year.


Emily was so excited to participate this year. She and Rebecca both totally rocked their exams - surprising even their teachers with their high marks!

At events like these, I am always impressed by the children who understand how to play as a team, and share the ball with everyone who is participating. It is so hard to trust others, and hand the ball off to someone else who may not score a point for the team. I wish they encouraged the students to make sure each person on the team has an opportunity to handle the ball during their 5 minutes on the court. I always feel bad for those who never get a chance to dribble or even shoot the basketball. They are all so every excited to participate, it must be disappointing to not get a chance to contribute. They are not selected because of their athletic skills, they are selected because of their academic performance ... hummm I haven't decided if it's worth talking with any of the teachers about this.

They are very careful to make sure everyone ends up happy in the end. Once again the students beat the teachers 88 to 71. It was a much needed break from the intensity of the school week!

Sleeps 11

For the last two nights we've had four house guests. GR picked them up Monday night. Four guys who are members of BYU-I Sound Alliance and Vocal Union. Actually three of them are band members and one singer. They are doing a two week midwest tour benefiting a variety of different charities. Tuesday night they put on a fantastic Jazz concert that we took the kids too. You can't beat $5 a ticket, especially when 100% of the proceeds go to the charity.

They were a great group of guys (they are between Alex and GR on the back row) and our family loved having them, although the kids only got to see them during breakfast. Housing singers/dancers is definitely something we'd like to do again. Thanks Jason, Stephen, Dave and Brandon for a great experience.

My new country life:

We're ticking items off our list to prep for closing on this house April 20th. Wednesday was the home inspection, Monday will be the appraisal. Any guesses on what they did today?

Reading with Boys

My girls read constantly. They are incredibly strong readers, reading well above their grade level. They devour every book they choose to pick up. I haven't quite gotten them to the point that they will read anything handed them, but I'm making progress and am learning fun ways to get them to read books they previously decided they didn't want to read. Consequently my girl library is pretty good.

When Sam started kindergarten, I started searching for more "boy" books to add to our library. Flat Stanley, Magic Tree House, Ready Freddy, Encyclopedia Brown. Anyone else struggling to find good early reader boy books that your boys find interesting. Sadly none of these have really captured his interest. (He'd still rather read Junie B. Jones ... which is fine. She's hilarious!) So while he remains a strong reader, he doesn't have books he loves, driving him to read more and more ... that is until now:


Saturday night GR came home with two new books he was interested in reading ... one of them was "Diary of a Wimpy Kid." "Really?!", I said. "This book?!"

The second the kids saw it, it became the book they all wanted to read. Rebecca is already finished with the first book and ready to read the second. Emily is doing her best to get equal time so she too can read it. Sam continues to call out what page number he's on and how many he's read since the last time he announced it. It's totally and completely above his reading level, but he's plodding his way through the book, and while it isn't real literature (to me), it is funny. Even Alexander has taken to laying on the couch with the book, "reading" it.

Last night I purchased the next three books in the series. (desperate sucker!)


Monday night we took the four big kids to the movies. There had been a request to see "How to Train Your Dragon" in 3-D at the IMAX. After choking that the IMAX ticket prices ($11/each) don't ever change (typically a movie during the week is about half the price of weekend ticket prices), we took the plunge and purchased six tickets. The movie is fantastic and well worth the small fortune we spent to see it. Hands down one of the best movies GR and I have seen and the kids loved every second of it! Even little Alexander stayed glued to his seat (minus the quick potty break mid way through).

Turns out, the movie is based on a book, by Cressida Cowell, and there is a whole series! Yep, we'll be adding these to our boy library too! As soon as the school book order arrives, we'll have the first four books in the Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian series. These are more for Sam in a year or two, but it's a start.

Any recommendations on 100 page chapter books for boys?

Attitude

I got a call a couple days from Sam's teacher, Mrs. H, letting me know Sam would receive a character of the month award during a pod assembly at the end of the day Friday. I told her it was a little answer to prayer. Sam's watched his sisters receive an award nearly every year, and he's been disappointed that he hasn't had a turn to be recognized for the good student he is in class, and friend he is to those around him. As you can see he's beaming! And his teacher couldn't have said it better:

"Sam is a student that is very eager to learn everything he can. He is extremely inquisitive and always trying to learn more about everything. He is always one to share stories or ask questions. He is one that everyone wants to work with as he is friendly and excited about the projects we work on. He always strives for more."

Holy Guacamole

Tonight is our Relief Society Birthday dinner, and this is half my kitchen island. Mom and I are spending the day making 40 cups of guacamole. And it looks like we'll just make our deadline!


Until this week I'd never made guacamole. So we've done a number of test runs this week, including purchasing ready made varieties, and, if we like them, reading the ingredient list so we know what to add to our recipe. Our final recipe tastes pretty good if I dare say so:

4 avocados, diced and slightly smashed with a fork
1/2 cup yellow onion chopped
1/4 cup red onion chopped
2 Roma tomatoes diced
1 tablespoon jalapeno puree
juice of a lime
1 teaspoon salt
2 dashes of pepper


This little judge things the guac is better than the chips! Let's just hope the ladies do too!

Back to the Earth

The snows nearly gone and things are starting to warm up again. We've got garden plans on the brain and are slowly working our way to making those dreams a reality.

Spring Break 2010

Sunday night: Late night dinner making homemade pizza's. Monday night: GR and I have a fun night out on the town - dinner and Bon Jovi!

Wednesday afternoon: Ceramics!This is something I've wanted to do with the kids for two years now, but never known quite how to pull it off with everyone. Mom stayed with Anna, I took a deep breath, and we jumped right in with both feet. We met some friends there and had a great time. I'm so pleased with how everyone's projects turned out ... so great! (picture is of their projects before they got fired)
Thursday: Kangaroo Math Contest for Rebecca, Emily and Sam. Sam was the youngest child participating in this national math competition. We'll get the results in May. In looking over the exam and their answers, they did well. More importantly, they had a good time and enjoyed being with some of their classmates for the afternoon - even if they were quietly sitting in a classroom taking a test.
From Kangaroo Math, we went straight to Ann's for haircuts for the four older kids, although Anna needs one too: Friday: picked up new library books, had friends over for dinner, temperatures dropped 30 degrees.

Saturday: SNOW! Spent the day watching movies, hanging out and playing in the snow.

Sunday Night Devotionals

As a youth I attended many Sunday night firesides at members homes. Typically they were held at youth leaders homes, or the homes of fellow youth, but occasionally they were held in other members homes. When GR mentioned at the beginning of the year that they were going to start having more youth firesides ... now called devotionals cause fireside really is a confusing term, since they are rarely held at the side of a fire ... and wanted to have them held in members home whenever possible, I got excited for the youth.

Tonight we got a chance to host the first one, and I think the youth had a great time. The speaker (pictured left), I'm told, did a bang up job as always. Sadly, my plan to listen in from the back door didn't happen. Just as he got started, Alex had an accident and my mother called totally lost in KC. I'm still trying to figure out exactly where she was. After driving around the suburbs for a while and consulting google maps, we finally got her back on the right highway and she eventually made it here to spend Spring Break with us (Daddy's out of town for the week, so she's spending it with us!).

Thankfully, it was just dry enough and just warm enough to have it outside around the fire pit. We rounded up all the fleece and wool blankets in the house for them to wrap up in and served a good amount of hot chocolate, s'mores and fruity rice krispie treats. I hope we'll be able to host more things like this, where we can provide a fun place for the youth to hang out, feel the spirit and allow their testimonies to grow in a safe environment. And I'm excited for other families in the ward to provide the same kind of space for the youth this year too.