Pi and basketball

I made this pie because Katie's math teacher is "not" giving extra credit for bringing a pie and "not" having a party tomorrow during class and they are "not" eating pie in honor of pi day, March 14, or 3.14. That is the official statement from the math department. They would "not" do that because it is against policy. Yum.

I'm not sure how many of you have March madness but it is stronger than ever this year at our house. BYU has done very well this year in basketball and it brings us cougar fans to pay attention to what actually goes on in the rest of the country this time of year. Tonight for our family home evening activity, Michael chose that we each fill out NCAA brackets and predict who will win the NCAA basketball tournament this year. I went for the random-try-not-to-look-at-the-seeds-when-filling-out-your-bracket strategy. We'll see who wins now!!! Just kidding. Is this even Kosher? Does this verge on gambling or something? I guess it doesn't if nothing is at stake, which there isn't. Oh well. Caroline says next time it's her turn to pick our family night activity she is going to pick playing with barbies. Can you tell how excited she was about this activity?

Katie's First Date

Nelson thought he would wait at the door and sharpen knives for Katie's date to arrive. No, really he did this for Katie and put it all away before the poor guy arrived. I'm sure her date has a sense of humor but we don't want this to be her only date, ever, if this gets around.

Taft Green came to pick her up and yes, I had to get pictures. They are triple dating with friends so it will be a lot of fun. They played mini golf (Katie totally won), then went to Costco for pizza and hide-and-seek and then treats at Iceberg. It's kinda funny because even though these kids are old enough to drive and they have a licence, they can't drive anyone who is not a family member for 6 months after they get their licence. So, Moms and Dads play chauffeur and drive them around for dates for a while. Taft said it was ok that I wanted a picture because the dad driver for this date loves to take pictures and was planning on photographing the whole date. Maybe I will have more pictures later.

So, Taft and Katie have a first date.....

After their former role as husband and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Mayor, Whoville, dustspeck. I couldn't help myself. These pictures are so fun and I started my blog after Seussical was over, so here are some fun ones of the two of them.

Taft and Katie had a great time on stage and I'm sure they will in real life, too.

Jazz Band and Barbara's 50th

Just because I thought I'd put another picture of Katie playing the piano with the Jazz Band. I love how Mr. Summers the band director has them turn up the microphones for the piano. When Katie played at Canyon View, it was practically impossible to ever hear the piano. He has them turn it up nice and loud so you can actually hear her. He also picks quite a few pieces where she gets solos and intros without all of the brass blasting her out. It's fun.

Here I am with Barbara and Tammy. It is Barbara's 50th birthday today and she looks fabulous! Her neighbor had a surprise party for her last night and we went. The three of us have been friends for 15 plus years. They are both dear treasures to me. We have been through good times and bad, a lot of exercising mornings and birthday lunches. For her birthday, Barbara and her husband are going to St. George and are going zip-lining and repelling. How fun!

Skiing, more celebrating,more skiing and BYU!

This picture is blurry but I put it in anyway. It was night skiing and we couldn't figure out how to turn on the flash fast enough after asking someone to take a break from their skiing to take our family picture. We were going to try again this week but all of us didn't end up going. I am determined to get all 6 of us on the slopes for a decent picture!

The full moon rose above the mountain tops and looked so big! It looks so tiny in this picture, though!

Katie had a party with friends to celebrate her 16th birthday.

David was standing by to remind her to make a wish this time. She forgot earlier in the week when it was just us.

They made their own little pizzas, played a bunch of games, watched Brian Regan the comedian and then played more games. What fun!

We had a big snowstorm and enjoyed the new snow! The sun even came out and we had a great day of Spring skiing.

It's fun to see the kids getting so much better. Katie has ventured into the black diamond world and is doing great! She kept a running tally of how many times she fell and kept updating us throughout the day. You are getting really brave! Hey, I even fell today, the first time in a LONG time. I do not like to fall, it hurts. We love to ski!

As a follow up to the question of Michael's status at BYU, I called and we found out how to go online and see the actual acceptance letter. YES, he has been accepted and he replied online that he will be attending BYU! So, I got my wish, reading the letter with Michael and enjoying what a great feeling it was. I am really excited for him!

Sweetheart's, 16 Candles, and BYU?

"Nerds in Love" was the theme for Orem High's Sweetheart's dance this year. Michael and his group of friends went to the basement of the BYU library in the stacks for their pictures. I love the scout shirt, Steinia! They had a great time.

Michael says Steinia is smarter than him because her stack has more books.

They went to Tucano's for dinner. Yum!!

Sixteen Candles! Yes, that is a pumpkin pie. That's what she asked for! I am sure you can't believe it because I am still in shock that Katie is 16. So, we venture into dating, driving and a lot more growing up. I can't possibly be old enough for this to be happening. Katie will have to wait for the official driving stuff until June when she is signed up for drivers ed. She doesn't have enough room in her school schedule to take drivers ed until then so we just keep practicing on our own with her permit. Isn't she a cutie! Tonight she will sing at the region solo and ensemble festival for choir and next week it is region festival for jazz band. She and Michael have started running with the track team since swim season is over. Busy, busy, busy.

After dinner, Michael and Katie played Heart and Soul for a good 30-40 minutes. Now, this might seem like an annoyance after that many minutes but it was very entertaining actually. After a round or two, they would call out a key change. They worked their way through I don't know how many different keys but it was really fun to listen to them having so much fun together. What am I going to do when all of my piano players eventually grow up and move out? It will be far too quiet. I love to be continually serenaded. What a treat!

We have been waiting to hear officially from BYU whether Michael was accepted or not and well, I guess he was. The reason I say this is because we haven't received an e-mail or letter or any correspondence of any kind but Michael has looked online at the student directory and it has him listed as an incoming Freshman next year. Congratulations? I guess I need to call and check for sure just because I think there should at least be proof or something before I go saying something like that. Well anyway, I thought it would be some exciting event, hey the mail came, gather round, read the letter over and over..."you are officially accepted..."blah blah. Well, I guess that shows my age more than anything. Who gets mail anymore?

Annie

Caroline was in the Junior High's production of Annie. She was in Hooverville and NYC. Here she is getting her share in the soup line.

Life is miserable in Hooverville.

This is the NYC number. She was a shopper, and bought a Christmas wreath.

The final bows. My kids sure have enjoyed being in these plays. There is usually a cast of 80-100 kids with several costume changes and lots of dance routines. I am glad that I may get to see her more in the future. Although, track is starting and she has said she wants to do that next. So much for having her around!

Michael and Caroline after closing night.

A Real Vacation

Yes, a real vacation. I talked to my dad yesterday and told him we had been on a vacation. His definition of a vacation is something you do without children or in-laws. Yep, this is the real deal. No offense anyone but it was wonderful. The weather was cold for the Caribbean but not rainy and it didn't even matter. We got away from it all and thoroughly enjoyed every second. This picture is at the dining room table on the first formal night of the cruise. I guess some people don't like the whole dressing up thing but I think it's fun. How often at home do we get to wear glitz and get away with it?

The first stop was Belize. We floated on inner-tubes in an underground river. We had headlamps on our helmets because it was dark. There were stalactites and bats on the ceiling. It was really cool!

Next, we went on a zip-line in this amazing rain forest.

Here I am getting my gear all set for a ride. It was a lot of fun.

The next day, we got off the ship in Costa Maya, Mexico. This is just a sleepy little beachfront town. They were wiped out by a hurricane 3 years ago and looks like they have rebuilt quite a bit already. We found a little dive shop and they took just the two of us on their boat out for a dive. I am always a little nervous to dive the first time on a trip. Living in a land locked state doesn't present itself with a lot of opportunities to scuba dive. In the past, we have gone on big boats that have ladders to walk down into the water with and this time we had to do the fall-backwards-into-the-water-from-the-side-of-the-boat entry. Not exactly my comfort zone but I did it and we saw some fun coral and big fish.

The next day we stopped in Cozumel, Mexico. We took a cab down to Palancar beach and went on a dive with two other girls from our ship. The guide brought a camera and got some great pictures. The reef we drifted along was amazing. The fish were really big and bright. It was probably the best scuba diving I have ever done. I loved it!

Our guide found a crab on the bottom and brought it for us to hold. He's pretty big!

The resident turtle came out long enough for us to have a photo op. He was much more friendly than the turtles in Hawaii. They swim away and don't let you get anywhere near them. This guy was close enough to touch but I didn't. I wanted to go home with all of the fingers I came with.

Oops, this picture got in twice and I don't know how to delete it.

This ship had so many fun things to do on it. I must admit we had moments of guilt because our kids would have LOVED this ship. This is Nelson getting on the flow rider. It sprays water from the bottom and you can boogie board and surf just like you were on the ocean.

Nelson was a lot braver than I was and got up on his knees.

This ship was huge compared to other ones we have been on. There is a 10 story open space area in the middle of the ship with a promenade at the bottom. There are shops and restaurants, walking bridges and staterooms with windows overlooking everything. Can you see the spaceship looking appendage on the upper part of the ship? That is a cantilevered whirlpool. It is the size of a small swimming pool and you can look out the windows and over the edge from inside. The best part, it's for adults only. Aaahhhh, can you feel the relaxation? It was our favorite hang out place on the ship, not too far from the self serve ice-cream cone station.

This is the second formal night, in the dining room. I could live on lobster and creme brulee.

We went on the rock climbing wall a couple of times. Not in a row, mind you, this was killer! It's a sad statement on how wimpy I have become. However, I made it to the top both times and rang the bell to celebrate.

Here's Nelson on the way up. It was a pretty big climbing wall!

Here it is. Proof that I did this. It's a little scary because the water is coming at you at 35mph but I did it!!

Well, our minds and bodies had a rest and now we are back to the usual frenzy that we exist in. If someone figures out how to live day to day without chaos, please let me know because I loved the vacation state of mind while it lasted!