Outstanding Performer

We just found out tonight that Spencer was chosen as 1 of 2 kids in his division as an "Outstanding Performer" for the piano festival yesterday. Basically, four times a year there is a piano festival for all of the piano students around where they play a selected piece for a judge. It's a little nerve-racking - they play in a recital hall and just the judge is there listening and critiquing. Saturday was only the 2nd time he has done this and he's only been taking piano lessons for about 6 months, so I never expect much. Evidently, he did awesome! He loves playing the piano and it really shows in how quickly he has learned. I am so excited and proud of him for doing such a great job. So now he gets to play in another recital on Thursday with the other kids selected and gets a monetary award. He can't wait because I told him it was his money and he could buy whatever he wanted. He has great plans to spend every penny on Pokemon cards. As much as I think that is a total waste of money, it's what he likes and I'm keeping my mouth shut. I'll post a video of him playing Thursday.

Happy Days

It's nice once in a while to just have happy news. It seems that there's more bad around us than good. But the last week has been full of happy news. First, we found out that Melanie & Kevin had their offer accepted on a great house in Riverton. It's super nice and will be great house for them. Besides that, it'll be so nice to have some family close. Their new house is less than 5 miles from our house, so it'll be easy to be able to do more with them. They've been back in Utah for a year, but we haven't been able to do much because they've been so far away. Spencer is super excited to have Tyler live close and Derek and davis will be able to play more. Yippee!!

The other great news is that a friend of mine just found out she's pregnant. My lips are sealed as to who it is, but it's great news. I've thought about her all weekend and how excited I am for her. Expecting a baby is so fun (except for the nausea, weight gain, bloating, etc.) I sort of miss that feeling. I've been pregnant for so many years that I never had a chance to miss it. But I'm so glad we're done having kids and I can live through someone else's joys without all the yucky stuff that goes with it. Congrats my friend!

Beginning of Baseball

This weekend we took a little trip to St. George to watch Jackson's team play baseball. It was fun to get away from the cold and into some warmer weather for a change. His team, South Jordan Slammers, weren't so hot, though. They are still building their team and are looking much better than last year. They went 1-3 in this weekend's tournament, but 2 of the losses were VERY close. The season doesn't start until the middle of April, which gives them some time to practice together as a team. They haven't been able to have a real practice yet because of all the snow this winter. The snow is much needed, but it's time to GO AWAY!!!

When we got home, we had a message from the coach of a team that Dalin has been trying out for. They want him! He really likes baseball and I think it's been hard for him to watch Jackson play on a super league team when he doesn't. Yeah for him - he gets to do it, too. Between the two of them, it looks like we'll be headed to St. George a couple of times every spring. I'm not sad at all to get to go south when it's cold here. It never takes much to get me on trip.

The kids were really good travelers, thanks to gameboys. They all had a good time swimming, going to baseball games and playing at the park. McCall was the perfect baby (of course) and never even made one squeak all the way home. She is so amazingly pleasant I just can't believe it.

The Good, The Bad & The Yucky

Well, I'm very happy to report that McCall's surgery went perfectly. We didn't have to be to the hospital until 8:30 in the morning, which gave us enough time to get kids taken care of. Thanks to some friends and family for helping out with getting kids to/from school and watching them while we where gone. I don't know what we would have done without everyone pitching in to help. THANK YOU!!! We got to the hospital and they were ready for her. They gave her some Versed to make her a little sleepy, which made it easier to hand her over to them. That is the hardest part--giving your baby to a stranger and then turning to walk away. It went so smoothly. Turns out, she had a VERY narrow duct, but it wasn't completely blocked. The doctor used a balloon to dilate it and it should now stay open. She was quite fussy and clingy after surgery, but each day is a little better. Her eye was red and a little swollen at first, but she looks great now. Yippee!!

So on to the next stress in my life--my new church calling, Scout Committee Chair. Now, you would think that with all these boys I would know a little more about scouts. But Dave has done everything with Matt & Dalin, so I've remained clueless. What they were thinking is beyond me. I have no clue about scouts, ranks, and all that stuff. To top it off, there is an Eagle board of review tomorrow, 5 other board of reviews and a committee meeting tomorrow and I'm supposed to know what I'm doing. Should be interesting. The Court of Honor is in 2 weeks and other than going to one for one of Julie's boys (probably 20 years ago), I've NEVER even gone to one. Dave takes the boys and I stay home and take care of the rest of the brood. Nothing like jumping in head first.

And since I'm using this as my sort of journal, I have to write about Spencer. He wanted to sleep in my bed with Tiara last night. All of the kids like to fall asleep in our bed, then Dave takes them to their own beds when we go to bed. Anyway, I remembered Spencer hadn't done his reading for the day, so I told him to go get a book and he could read a bedtime story to Tiara. When I went into our room 10 minutes later, there he was, reading to her. He was doing so well making his voice make the book sound interesting. But then I realized what he was reading...All About Poisonous Animals! Not exactly the best bedtime story for a 2 year old little girl. He pointed out all the pictures of snakes to her and she seemed quite interested, and luckily she didn't have any bad dreams!! I guess next time I should specify that it should be fiction. He is so smart and loves non fiction and science books, but what about Cinderella?

A Giant of a Man

I've been watching the funeral of President Hinckley and I'm so sad he will no longer be with us. As each day has passed this week, I have thought more and more about him and the great man that he was. When I first heard of his death, I was so happy for him to be with his sweet wife and home with our Father. But my sorrow has grown each day when I think that he is no longer with us. He was such a good example. I can only hope that I can live to be more like him and our Savior. I will truly miss him and his contagious smile. May the Lord bless all of us to "Stand a Little Taller". I love you and I'll miss you President Hinckley.

Love

I just have to tell you how cute my husband is. Since my van is too big to park in the garage, Dave scrapes the frost and snow off of my windows before he goes to work. Today I go out and he has shoveled the new snow away from the car so the kids don't have to walk through it. He scraped all of my windows except one---mine. Now usually I would think "what a dummy" but he had made a cute heart in the snow on the window. It just put a big smile on my face, so I had to talk about it!