March Memories

Pinewood Derby

Grandma C got to come spend a few days with us during her Spring Break. It was so fun to have her stay with us. That week was so crazy busy, but she got to see a lot of cool events that the boys were involved in, which made it even more special. One of those events was the Pinewood Derby. 

It was a little extra stressful this year because we didn't have a Cub Committee Chair at the time, so the responsibility fell to me as the Primary Counselor over Cub Scouts. I had to find a track, coordinate decorating, and do all the advertising. We also had a couple of problems coordinating with the other ward in our building, so I was frustrated for quite a long time. It was a lot of work, but it eventually all worked out. Jonathon was very busy too, so we were working on our cars at the very last minute. I hate last minute work, but unfortunately, I am starting to get used to it.

Since our Cub Scout group is really small, any family member who wanted could participate in the racing. Of course all three of our boys wanted to make cars, so Jonathon had a lot of work to do. They all turned out cute though, and the boys were thrilled. Christian's car was blue with a fire design at the back, Andrew's was a Legend of Zelda design-- complete with the master sword, and Hyrum's was patterned after his favorite stuffed animal, Monkey Bunky Wunky. They are getting old enough to do most of the painting by themselves, so that made it a lot easier on me. I helped Hyrum paint a picture of monkey, but they did the rest. Here is a picture of Monkey with his look-a-like car. So cute!

All the cars ran well, but Christian's actually won the family division, which was pretty cool. We've never had a car win anything, so that was pretty exciting. It was fun to have Grandma there to cheer them on and make a big deal about their cool cars.  

Jonathon's Birthday

Jonathon turned 37 in March! We are decidedly middle aged now, which is weird to consider. We both agree, however, that we like where we are. We like the lessons we have learned through the years, and wouldn't change them for anything. Time flies by, and we are thankful for the wonderful lives that we have been blessed with.

As usual, we went to Tucanos for his birthday. During your birthday month, you get a buy one, get one free meal. Since it is a bit expensive to eat there, we always go during our birthday months. Tucanos served Brazilian barbecue, and it is absolutely delicious. They bring around an endless supply of divine meats, pineapple, and vegetables. We always enjoy ourselves. Other than Tucanos, the festivities were pretty casual. We had a small family party at our house with a few presents. We also had an extended family party on Sunday at Mom and Dad's. We had steak for dinner and brownie sundaes afterward, which were delicious.

Helping Joe and Kym 

Joe and Kym were able to buy a house down in Price. They have lived in a tiny house for several years, and really needed some extra space. We were just so thrilled for them when their offer was accepted on a much bigger house on a bigger lot. It will be so great for their family. It is old and needs some work, but they are willing to put in the time and effort. We were able to go down there two weekends in March to help them.

The first weekend Jonathon and Joe put in laminate floors while I painted a couple rooms and a closet. The kids had a great time playing together and exploring the new yard and surroundings. The second weekend Joe and Jonathon put up gutters while Kym and I took the kids to clean their old house. We scrubbed walls for a few hours and then worked on painting the kitchen cabinets. We got a lot accomplished, but I wish we could have done more. They have a lot of work ahead of them, and I could see that they were tired and worn out from the move. Perhaps we will find some time to go down again.

The whole situation took me back to when we moved to Utah and bought our first house in Layton. The house was a complete disaster, and it needed so much work. So many people came and helped us paint our entire house. I will forever be thankful for the many hours that Jonathon's family put in to help us. That is why I felt so strongly about helping Joe and Kym as much as we could. We really wanted to pay it forward as a sign of our gratitude for what we received. So many things in life are like that. I am constantly learning that there are seasons in our lives when we have to be willing to accept help and seasons when we have the opportunity to be on the giving end. We tried to emphasize all of this to our kids so they understood the importance of always serving each other.

 

BYU Pow Wow

Now that Christian is in eleven year old scouts, we have been working like crazy to try to earn merit badges and rank advancements. Christian likes scouting right now and isn't too busy, so it is the perfect time to make a lot of progress. From what I have seen of scouting, boys that do a lot early are much more likely to get their Eagle Scout awards. My brothers all earned their Eagles when they were 14, so that is our goal for Christian. One of the really cool opportunities that we have living here is the chance for him to participate in the Boy Scout Pow Wow at BYU. It is two weekends devoted to earning merit badges. They can choose to do three merit badges over the course of those two weekends. They have some homework to do, but other than that, it is a really slick way to earn some merit badges. It also is super fun that his best friend, Rubin, goes with him. Rubin's cousin, Caleb, and one of the other boys in our ward, Carter Price, also attended with them. I think they had a lot of fun going together.

In the Fall, they did Citizenship in the Nation, Inventing, and Game Design. During the Spring Pow Wow this March, they did Personal Management and Astrononomy (a 2 hour class). Everything went really well, minus the fact that Rubin and Caleb got lost half-way through. There were some tense moments where we were calling back and forth with Christian and Janelle, but luckily, everyone finally found each other again. When I was talking to Rubin's mom about it, we both mentioned that if they had to learn this lesson anywhere, we were glad it was somewhere safe like the BYU Pow Wow. It is a safe campus, and there were people everywhere to help them. You never want to see your kids get stressed out and scared, but I think all of them learned a really important lesson from it. And, it all worked out well and relatively quickly, so we were thankful about that.

Of all the merit badges that he has done so far, I think that Astronomy was his favorite. We got to go to a Planetarium Show, use a telescope, go star gazing, and learn about the constellations. We did some of it together as a family, and we all had fun learning new things. Five merit badges down, lots to go!

Carter, Christian, Rubin, and Caleb

Andrew's Wax Museum

All of the third graders at Andrew's school had a chance to participate in the wax museum. They got to choose an important historical figure that they would like to research and then present a poster and dress up as that person. With a little prodding from me, Andrew chose Ulysses S. Grant. Christian did Grant for his wax museum the year before, and I didn't really feel up to making a whole new costume, so I was happy that Andrew was okay with reusing it. It didn't hurt that it was a really cool costume!

Andrew put a lot of time and effort into this project. He was really excited to do it and practically begged me daily to help him get started on it. One thing that is really great about Andrew is that he does really good school work. He puts a lot of effort into things that are important, and this project was no different. He read a book about Ulysses S. Grant and then typed up a bunch of important facts about him. Then he chose some pictures to go with them. I helped him edit and put the final poster together, but other than that, it was all Andrew.

He looked great and was sure proud to present his poster at the wax museum. I'm not sure how many more times I can reuse this costume, but I am definitely not going to feel guilty!

Singing Group

Last fall, my friend, Brittany Vom Lehn, invited me to be part of a little singing group that she does weekly at her house. I was hesitant because I am intimidated by social situations where I don't know the people very well. I also know that I'm not the greatest singer. I was just feeling a lot of self-doubt about the whole thing. I actually sat down and wrote her an email telling her that I didn't think it would work out. About halfway through the email, I decided that I should just give it a try, so I told her that I would join. That decision has really changed my life in small, but significant ways. 

I know that I have very little vocal training, but the women in the group are so great, and I never feel judged. We are all just there to enjoy singing, so it really isn't a big deal. They are all women from our ward, but I didn't know most of them very well until I joined. Brittany graduated from a choir school back east, so she is fabulous at teaching us how to sing. I had no idea that there were so many techniques involved. 

We meet every week for an hour or two to practice various songs. To be honest though, the majority of the time is spent talking and bonding with each other. It is our weekly mommy therapy session, and I can't believe how much I needed it. They are all so supportive, and it is nice to be able to talk to other women. Everyone brings their kids and they play with each other while we sing and talk.

We have learned some really fun songs like Kuimba, How Can I Keep From Singing, and If Ye Love Me. We also learned some Christmas songs and went caroling over the holidays. Brittany had a baby in early January, so singing group was canceled for 6 weeks. It was amazing how much I missed it. I am so thankful that I went out of my comfort zone and gave it a try. I never would have known how much I was missing.