Snowbound, Science, Skating, Scoring, Superior

David's scout troop built a new sled for the Klondike this year. Here he is (BYU hat, holding rope, standing) getting the gear loaded up.

The Klondike camp was held at Maple Dell. This is the troop heading down to the knot tying game.

David is in the stretcher. They had to build the stretcher, run around an obstacle and back with an injured party and David was it. They lucked out this year and it wasn't too cold, high 20's.

This is David at the science fair at Cascade. He built Heron's Fountain. It uses water and air pressure to make a fountain. It isn't spouting in the picture, but the water comes up out of the top of the bin. The science fair is always fun.

Here is David on his way to school with his valentine's day box. This is another one of those last-day-ever events. This is the last valentine's box I will help make for my kids. It is hard to believe that time has gone so fast every time we pass another marker.

Caroline is 14!!! Happy Birthday!!! For her party, we took a bunch of her friends ice-skating and had cupcakes and hot chocolate.

Laura, Brinnan, Josie and Melanie putting skates on...

What a bunch of cute girls! They had a great time!

David and Katie came along for some fun, too.

Nelson and Katie helping each other out, what a sweet picture.

Basketball season is over for David and their team was undefeated. Here is David heading in for a shot.

...and again...

and again! Even though this picture is blurry it is fun to see the action I think.

David and Katie both just had their Solo Piano Festival and both of them received a Superior. It is truly a joy for me to have piano music being played so often in our home. It is something I love so much. I grew up hearing my grandfather and stepfather play so beautifully and am glad it is something I can still enjoy thanks to my children. Thanks, guys.

au revoir Jordan!

Our niece Jordan is entering the missionary training center tomorrow to serve in the Paris, France mission for 18 months. We went over to say our goodbyes on Sunday night. We were trying to keep everything upbeat with no crying until David just came up to Jordan and told her congratulations and gave her a hug. Well, it was sweet and we will miss her a lot. Being the oldest grandchild, ever since her arrival she has had everyone's full attention and it will be really strange to not have her around. If Michael goes on his mission right when he turns 19 they may not see each other for 3 1/2 years. We also figured out that, only counting boys, we will have a constant stream of someone gone on their mission until David gets back from his in 9 years. Wow, that's a long time to not have everyone together.

Jordan is 4'11 and Michael is 5'11. Here he is kneeling to give her a hug on her level.

Nous vous aimons, Jordan! Bonne Chance!

basketball, singing and swim

We are about halfway through basketball season and David's team is having a great season. They are a city rec team and have had pretty much the same team for the past 3 years. They haven't lost a game this season and David has been a large part of the points. Here he is on the way to a shot. David and the scouts went on the Klondike campout this weekend. I'm not into winter camping but these guys lucked out. The temperature in town was about 40, ok it was in the 20's at night and I'm sure in the mountains it was colder. He survived and has yet to unpack. If someone took pictures maybe someday I can post those.

I made an attempt to upload a video but it was taking FOREVER so I gave up. Maybe some day I will take the time to learn how to do that. I wanted to put on the video of Katie at Solo and Ensemble Festival at Orem High. She sang in a group of 6 and then a duet with Aubree. Both of her songs qualified to go to Region next month. Maybe I could video that event better than this time and figure out how to put on a video...we'll see.

Jordan goes into the MTC this Wednesday the 10th so we went to lunch last week. She chose PF Chang's and I was so glad, I LOVE the crispy honey shrimp, I have been dreaming about it ever since. OK, we can move past the food. We had a nice time and it was fun to get together one last time before she leaves. We are going to go over tonight and say our goodbyes. Sad!

This weekend was the State swim meet. Michael was a little on the grumpy side this week. I think all he could think of was this meet, his final of his high school career. Here he is at the start of the Medley relay. He led the race in the backstroke, his best stroke. His split was 27.02 split was his personal best. His team was seeded 6th and took 7th, improving their time by about 4 tenths of a second.

Next, Michael swam the Individual Medley. This picture is a little blurry but I think these diving pictures look so cool. Michael is 2nd from the left in the yellow cap. He got a great start!

Butterfly...

back and then breatstroke...free and...

Celebrating! He was seeded 9th and took 8th. He improved his time from 2:09:04 to 2:05:84!

Thanks to Grandpa Chuck for being the family's event photographer. His camera is way better than mine and I am so grateful he changed his flight reservations so they could stay and be there for the meet. Lots of family came to support Michael, too. Thanks guys!

Here is Michael and his 200 Freestyle relay team the second day. Michael, Josh, Jacob and Cody. Michael anchored this race. They were seeded 6th and took 7th, they had hoped for better, but on to the race Michael had been waiting his whole career for.

At the blocks waiting for the 100 Backstroke. This was such an exciting race. It is so fun to be in the stands for the final heat of a really close race. The crowd is so loud, and we had a lot of family there cheering with us. Michael was seeded 6th and took 4th! He improved his time from57:11 to 56:18. He was so happy! It was a great moment to share and such satisfaction for Michael at the end of his Senior year. We are so proud of you, Michael.

The Medals stand, receiving his medal.

Way to go Michael!!

Happy Birthday Nelson and Caroline!

Caroline saw a cake like this at the grocery store and loved it so we made it for her birthday. It turned out so cute!

Nelson's birthday was Saturday and Caroline's was on Sunday. 44 and 14, here they are. We went skiing on Saturday and I wish one of us had brought a camera. It was such a gorgeous day. Bright blue sky and it was warm! We found the Congers on the slopes and skied with them for the rest of the day. It was a great ski day. Then Caroline and I had costume check-off for the school play coming up, Annie. Next we went to David's basketball game. They have had a great season. Michael took pictures at the game so I will post them later. We went out to dinner with our friends Rich, Becca, Mike and Nikki and then went to the BYU vs. Utah basketball game. It was a good game! Sunday was Stake conference and we love that because Nelson gets to sit with us at church and then he gets to come home and be with us for the day. We had Caroline's chosen birthday lunch, hamburgers, onion rings, and milkshakes, YUM! Then we made the cake and went to Chuck and Oranee's for dinner. We celebrated birthdays for Kib, Nelson, Caroline, and Ali and also honored Jordan as she is about to leave for the MTC and Paris! We played crazy party games and sat around and talked a lot. Cindi reminded us that when Jordan was young, she called Nelson "Nelsie" and she called me "Nelsies". I had totally forgotten that! We will miss her for the next 18 months. Depending on when Michael gets his mission call, he may not see her for almost 3 1/2 years because he may leave just before she comes home. If Stephanie goes on a mission she and Michael will leave around the same time and then she won't see Stephanie for that long, also. How sad! This week we are looking forward to State Swim on Friday and Saturday and hopefully a birthday party for Caroline's friends.

A lot of chlorine

Chlorine has become a big part of our lives. The kids swim in it all day it seems. The odor of pool comes and goes from wet towels and occasionally dry bodies. My sinuses get a good cleansing every time we help out and time for a meet. The next part of our interaction with chlorine came in the personal appearance category. It has been tradition with the swim team for the boys to shave their heads (well, their whole bodies) the night before region swim. After Michael Phelps won 8 gold medals with a full head of hair I think that tradition became less popular and we have altered the course of history and the boys are now all going blonde, platinum to be more accurate. This is a before picture of Michael as he left to partake of the yearly pre-region ritual.

Cody Applying blue (BLUE!!) color to Michael's head. I guess it is a fascinating process. The color changes as it progresses. Cody's mom does hair so I am comforted to know that it was in fact Clairol, not Clorox, and Cody is the youngest of other swimmers and has been bleaching guys hair for years before he got hold of Michael. Is this something we should really be sharing? Maybe not.

Lovely Walmart bag on the head while the color does its magic, and....

Voila! I am used to it now but for a couple of days I kept doing double-takes.

The girls don't bleach their hair (whew) but they, too, have a tradition. They don't shave their legs for... well, a very long time. Then, the night before region they shave legs and arms for immediate results of less drag in the water. Katie took 8 seconds off of her race so maybe it really works!

Here she is waiting at the blocks for her race, the first one of the second day. Katie did Awesome! She placed 12th in the 200 Free and 9th in the 100 Fly. She scored 12 points for the girls team and earned herself an athletic letter for swim from OHS.

The boys team and the girls team each took 2nd at Region. The boys scores were so close! If they were to combine girls and boys scores for an overall score, Orem would have won 1st, but they don't so, oh well, you guys are first in my book!!

At the start of the final heat for each event they announce each swimmer by name, leaving the swimmer with the best seed time for the last. Here's Michael at the start of the 100 back when they announced his name. He was justified in the confident number 1 he held up, he took 1st and the next swimmer to the wall was over 4 seconds behind him. Way to go!

Michael getting his 1st place medal. He placed 2nd in the individual medlay and his IM relay and 200 free relay teams places 2nd as well. They did an awesome job!

Cheering on the final race of the day.

Katie and her swim buddy Natalie!

Michael and his Senior comrades.

It has been so fun having these two on the same school team this year. They have had a great time together. On to State...

Warning: real life ahead

After Christmas, we needed some excitement in our lives so we went bowling with our good friends, the Hoyals. We played pool while we waited for our lanes to become open.

Hmmmm, who's winning?

McKay (the Hoyal's 6 year old hiding behind David) beat my score, well, maybe everyone beat my score. I didn't have the best day but way to go McKay!

January is one of those months where you aren't sure what's next because you are coming off of the biggest event of the year. It has been really cold and not too snowy. I can handle the temperature better if it's pretty outside.

We have been doing a lot of just normal life stuff. Today I got my tires rotated and the oil changed. I can't tell you what a momentous occasion that was. It has needed to be done for too long. This is what my January is, catching up on the management of life. I am more relieved than my kids are that the semester is over and we have started fresh again. Teenagers are wearing me out. I have a house full (David will count as a 1/2 because he is not yet 13) and I am more and more glad each day that generally blondes don't go grey because I would so be there! I think this is a lot harder than diapers. You don't have to pray about how to change diapers or when to have nap time. Life nowadays requires a lot more brain power. Well, on to the next event...

Last week was the last regular swim meet of the year. It was the famous Battle for the Paddle. It is the Orem vs. MountainView meet. These two teams swim together twice a day all year long because they swim in the same club but for different school teams. They know each other well and this makes for quite a rivalry. Michael and Katie made a poster to take and decorate at the pool.

Here are the Orem High Swim Team Captains, Joe, Michael, Amy and Rachel, holding the coveted paddle. Orem beat MountainView pretty badly this year. This is the 11th consecutive year that the tigers have won!

Go Orem!

New Year's Day. This was a kind of heritage meal, I suppose. My mom's birthday is Jan. 1, I cooked my great-grandma Kate's ableskever's in my grandma Eleanor's pans. The taste takes me a long way back. It was just as good as I remember.

Out with the old, in with the new. We have had this desk and file cabinet in our family room almost as long as we have lived here, which will be 12 years this April. I have already mentioned the excessive number of teenagers in the house, and they need the computer all at the same time it seems. So, we sold the old desk, bought two new ones and have added another computer to avoid gridlock. It was sad to see it go, it had SO much storage space and the best part...you could just shut the top and it looked clean (such a farce). I am almost done getting the new desks situated with organizer boxes, etc. but I am really struggling not having everything in one big pile. I can't find anything anymore. I'll learn.

Here is Michael and his Preference date, Katelyn Albach. They went sledding and had cocoa for their day date.

All dressed up for the dance. Michael and I went to Saver's and found a pink shirt for $5 that matched perfectly! Sweet! They look awesome, don't they?

While Michael was at Preference, Nelson, David and I went night skiing at Sundance. This was David's first experience night skiing and he had a thousand questions on the way up. How bright was it? Where were the lights? etc, etc. We had a great time and we spent some time helping David improve his slalom. On one of his turns near the end of the night he kind of skied over the end of his pole, oops. He was proud of the damage, here it is...

Whoa.

We have decided that next year for Christmas we are not getting our kids anything except giant cardboard boxes. Maybe they are still like little kids after all. These are the boxes our new desks came in and they had two days of cardboard heaven. They cut, duct taped, decorated, napped in, and thoroughly enjoyed the 100 cubic feet of boxes left over from the desks.

Can you read what Caroline wrote on the outside of her box? After all of the stress and worry teenagers can be, I love them more than ever. "I love my life", it says it all.