Elle = Delicious

I get such sweet satisfaction watching that little blondie of ours skirt around the house in her high heels with her purse of Princesses and piles of stuffed animals in tow. She’s always tossing her hair back from her face and pursing her glossed-up lips. She completes us. She’s the melt-in-your-mouth dessert after a lip-smacking five-course meal.

Raking in the Cash

The big kids have been scraping the bottom of their budgets lately, especially MK who's always out of gas money. Luckily, Grandpa stepped in and offered them a job opportunity. So, the kids have been sleeping over at Grandma's on a couple of weekend nights to rake leaves...

paint Ashley's bathroom...

and take down Grandma's Christmas village (more like a metropolitan area :)

They cleaned up! (Grandpa pays really well.)

Video Games and Volumizing Products

Getty, Cy, and Cam have just about driven me over the edge with their fixation for video gaming. Screen time is still one hour in my book, but many times they finagle their way around it (like by setting their alarms for 6 a.m. to play for an hour before school. Not allowed! But am I up at 6 a.m. to shut that down? I think we all know the answer to that one.) They also talk incessantly about the new games they want, what you can do with the new technology, their latest feats of skill, what level they are on…. I should care, right? And I pretend to. But enough is enough already. Finally I took Getty by the shoulders and said, “Getty—I’m a GIRL. I don’t care about video games. I’m SO BORED by now. Do you want me to tell you all about my hair products and makeup?! Because I can tell you that I love my new hairspray that volumizes the hair strand and doesn’t weigh it down and also keeps some shape to the curl, and that Biotin I’m taking is improving my hair texture and strength and life cycle and my nails are getting that goodness too and… and… and....” He burst out laughing.

P.S. I went militant and announced video gaming allowed on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays ONLY. The strange thing is, aside from a minor initial meltdown and Cam's on-going grieving process, I haven't heard much about it. They must be in the planning stages of a coup d'etat ("a sudden, violent, and illegal seizure of power from a [parent])" haha

U2: The Sweetest Thing

People watching. I thought this couple in front of us looked like a teen with his mom. She's got this pretty tailored, belted coat and conservative bob; he's got his tat and distressed jeans :) Cute.

Wally and Carol. Thanks for the tix!

In the Name of LOVE!

It was a Beautiful Day.

Family Scripture Schedule Goal

[Rob's missionary scriptures are top middle]

Since Rob intends to publish this blog every Christmas, I've gotten clear with myself about the purpose of our blog. My main focus is writing for our posterity, with one of the goals in mind of encouraging them to gain testimonies of the gospel. I love that I can also keep in touch with family and friends through blogging, but I worry that I get pretty personal and maybe gag-worthy, if you catch my drift. Try not to cringe if this post sounds self-righteous. Here goes....

It all started when President Hinckley challenged everyone in August of 2005 to read the Book of Mormon before the new year. Our family finally got on board in October, and I was hooked. A goal like that was all it took to motivate us to get down to business with the scriptures. So, when the New Year's deadline came and went, I suggested we each make a goal to read the New Testament before Easter. Then we could read the Pearl of Great Price before Mother's Day. Next we could read the Doctrine & Covenants before Pioneer Day, and then start over with the Book of Mormon until New Year's Day. All of the standard works except the Old Testament every year. Whoa, was I excited about that.

Excited? What, am I mental? Yes, yes I am. But, aside from that, I had read that the Church Education System did a study that found two major predictors in teen years of future church activity, temple marriage, and missions. Those two predictors were: 1) personal prayer and 2) personal scripture study. Those two were absolutely key to gaining personal testimony and commitment. That was huge motivation for me to get the kids on board with a scripture goal schedule to help motivate them and get them into a regular habit of personal study.

All of the readers at that time (Rob, M&M, and I) did it the first year, and mostly did it the second and third years. Since then, MK follows her seminary reading schedule instead, Mia is basically OVER it (but reads regularly—got to give her credit), and Getty and Cy have joined in with a revised goal to read about a third or half of each book. Cy reads Cam whichever scripture storybook we're on. It sounds a little overboard (just a bit! ha), but I found to my amazement that it was doable. At the most, it's about 4 pages a day. It's even easier listening to it on an ipod or in the car. What I love is, we've read more and longer than we ever would have without a goal (by a long shot), and now we know it's possible.

So grandkids and great-grandkids, figure a way to motivate yourself to study your scriptures and challenge yourself to make them a priority in your life. You can probably study more than you think you can.
And say your prayers.
And don't believe all the crazy stories your parents tell you about how I raised them :)

Spring Soccer

Lost to La Roca in the semi-finals of the State Cup.   It was zero's until they hit a penalty shot in the goal box, with FIVE minutes left in the game. @*&#@@!!@!   (not swearing, just playing with my keys :)

I call 'em Brown & Whites

Sandwiches. One slice wheat, one white. One day I decided to try to sneak the wheat slice under Cam and Elle's sandwiches, but they caught on immediately. I called them Brown & Whites and served them in a lunch basket anyway. And, much to my surprise, they went for it. I counted it as a fluke.
So, today at lunchtime, Cam says, "We want Brown & Whites."
I'm going into shock. Need to lie down with a warm blanket over me. Ahhhh.

What's so smurfy about the Pinewood Derby?

April 5th: Pinewood Derby is coming up. Rob says, “Oh ya, we’ve got to work on that snowmobile thing.”

April 25th, day before Pinewood Derby: Grandpa calls Rob's old friend, who has a wood shop in his garage, about his derby cars. The friend invites Rob over to choose one to rent (rent?) for the "big night." Rob walks into a garage full of derby cars and race tracks. After some catching up, Rob picks one to rent and asks how much he owes. "That'll be $50 to rent, or $250 to buy it."

OH. MY. GOSH.

He dropped the car and hightailed it out of there, right? Nope. (Peer pressure isn't just for teenagers.)

April 26th, day of Pinewood Derby: 

Cy's first race, the car flew several feet off the end of the track. In subsequent races, it broke the track record. Twice. It was clocked at 226 mph to scale. To say that the car won every race would be an understatement. To say that we were pleased would be inaccurate. More like embarrassed. 
(Cy was pleased.) 

Is that the worst spirit of scouting story you've ever heard? 

Rob didn't take the credit as the dad's gathered around him. And, in our defense (because we discovered we needed one), we didn't rent it to win. We rented it to avoid having one more project to pile on our "to do" list. (I found out later we could've just bought one all ready-to-go at Hobby Lobby for $15). 
Maybe I'm not familiar enough with the whole process, but it seems to me that the boys aren't the ones who build and carve out these cars with power tools—the adult men do. I figure the car represents the boy in the races. Oh well. 

But wait, there's more...
April 27th: day after Pinewood Derby. Remember how the car flew off the end of the track on its first race? Well, apparently that landing caused a hairline fracture rendering the car unsellable. Cost to us? An additional $150.
Not even kidding.
Not even funny.

So, for the next Pinewood Derby, we'll have to hide the fact that we actually paid $200 for a stupid derby car (is it the car that's stupid?). I'm just going to tell the cub master up front to disqualify us. Anyone who would pay $50 to get out of sanding a tiny car should be hung in the Scouter's Hall of Shame. (And they have one.)

It's something to do...

Bored? Wrestling in sleeping bags is always an option :)

A Deal's A Deal

Rob to MK: "If Dillon can beat me at ping pong, I won't ground you."
Then, to me he whispers, "Nobody can beat me."

Later he tells me his strategy. "It's a mental game. Young 'uns always go for the big plays. I just play defense and let him make all the mistakes."
Being 43's not so bad.

Dillon did his best, but sorry to say MK's still grounded this week :)

We did drop a day for his valiant effort. MK bounced up and down and ran to her ping pong hero (Dill).
And I hugged and kissed mine.

"Beards and Freckles"

Prom #2 with Zona

[Lots going on with MK lately.]
I never knew what Zona's real name was until tonight (Zach). He told me there were two Zach's on his basketball team, and since he had just moved from Arizona, he got dubbed Zona.

Haha—love MK's face in that one.
Jason and BFF Cara (beautiful!) with Zona and MK (can you believe she asked me for an up-do?)

Cara and MK

Kaitlyn and Kim came over to approve make-up and hairstyle choices.

Last night for their "day" date, Zona took her along with 5 other couples to Lowe's Extreme Air Sports for some serious trampoline, foam pit, rock wall antics.

Looking gorgeous, that girl of mine. She said, "If I were a boy, I'd be Zona."

 Too cute!

It's not about soccer.

Rob brings home a new soccer ball for MK. It's covered in Dixie State college logos. Tucked inside is a printout of an email.
"McKenzie, Are you ready to give a verbal commitment?" —Linda Huddleston, Head Women's Soccer Coach, Dixie State College.
This was her reaction:

 "I don't know why I'm crying. I've just worked so hard for this."

[Mia stared at these pictures, "Mom, I've never seen McKenzie cry before."]

So, MK turned to Natty, her Celtic Storm coach for advice. Coach said, "We need to have 'the talk.'"

They arranged to meet on Saturday, and Rob tagged along. Coach said, "This is not about soccer. This is about Heavenly Father's plan for your life. You'll need to partner with Him to make this decision. It's the first major decision about your future independent life without your parents.

"Girls who make the decision purely about soccer end up miserable at college. Realize you'll be playing soccer 3 hours a day. Consider the environment, consider your education, consider your goals and the kind of social life you hope for. You need to make a list of pro's and con's. If soccer is the only 'pro,' chances are, you'll end up miserable at Dixie. If you can set aside soccer and still feel that Dixie is a good fit for you, that's important, but recognize the answer from Heavenly Father could be 'no.' Be open to that possibility.

"Heavenly Father is a far better coordinator than we are. He knows what school is best for your future. Be glad it's just Dixie you're considering for now. If you had been on our team two years ago, we'd be dealing with 5 or 6 offers by now. Some girls have committed early [before February] and then regretted it. Some didn't commit and waited for another offer, which never came and ended up missing out on the prior offer. One girl got a track scholarship out of the blue and decided to go that route instead of soccer and ended up meeting her future husband on the track team. It's not about soccer. It's about your life."

I figure I owe that Coach a big favor. It's invaluable advice coming from a trusted adult, outside of her parents, who has the experience and wisdom to counsel MK in the ways Rob and I would hope for. So grateful to her for helping Rob and I navigate this momentous transition in McKenzie's life.