I enjoyed going to a Stake Relief Society conference last Saturday. I was able to attend some good classes and enjoy visiting with friends. I went to a class taught by the temple president and his wife, the Kearns, and I learned from their thoughts about finding peace in the temple. I am thankful I can go often. I enjoyed working in the library last Friday. I was subbing for someone, I normally go in Tuesday. The fun part was that the librarian was out and had a sub who is my friend from church, Laura, and the other volunteer, Sarah, I know from my other ward. So the three of us enjoyed talking about out families, life and church things as we worked with the books. Earlier this month I was flipping through the radio in the car and ran onto a new station. They play 80’s soft rock music. It is the music I listened to in high school and I have really enjoyed hearing it. Many songs I haven’t heard in a long time but I find myself singing along. When I was at BYU my room mates got me into country music and I have listened to that a lot the last 25+ years. It has been fun to go back to what I liked as a kid. I guess it helps me feel young.
Neal has worked with Andrew to do some tree trimming. I have also done a lot with the trees, especially the fruit trees, doing the pruning they need before they start to grow again. Last night Neal thought it would be fun to do a little fire and burn some of the trimmings. We have a small fire bowl thing in the yard. Neal and the boys enjoyed burning the sticks and being outside last night under the full moon. Neal had his birthday this month. He was joking around about turning 40 and wondering if we needed to have black at his party. We didn’t do any black but we did enjoy being together as a family that day.
The kids, Ruth in the pajamas she made.
Caleb likes being in pictures. The one above shows the basketball hoop that Andrew and Spencer made.
Below, Caleb likes looking like a beaver because of his missing teeth.
Below, Caleb likes looking like a beaver because of his missing teeth.
Ruth is staying busy. She works hard with school and is keeping her grades high. Last week she had to stay home one day because of being sick to her stomach and I think she was more stressed about missing classes than being sick. Thankfully she only missed one day. Last Saturday she participated in the State writing competition. She had hoped to compete in the creative short story writing, but her teacher signed her up for journalism writing. Then the person who was going to work with her group and do a mock press conference for the kids to write about got stuck with a broken car coming from Santa Fe. She got put into another group, which made a lot of kids writing on the same subject, lessening her chances to rank. She didn’t rank but did contribute to the schools over all score. The school took second place over all. She enjoyed the experience and spending time with her friend Emily. Ruth has been babysitting our neighbors twins twice a week after school for about an hour, until one of the parents gets home. She often helps the boys with their home work and enjoys being with them. She is working on getting things ready to apply to a job at a Kumon Learning center close by, to be a tutor. We found out they higher 14 year olds, so she wants to get her application in for it, even though there aren’t any openings right now. One thing she needs is a resume. We had the challenge of thinking of things to write about her since she doesn’t have much experience yet. I think this job would be ideal. Even if she doesn’t get it right away, her application will already be in, so when an opening comes up the owner could call her.
Andrew had a board of review with his scout leaders and is now a First Class Scout. I am glad he works hard to do scouting things. He enjoys scouting and his trains. He also stays up with his school work and does well. One thing that Andrew does that I like is that he always is willing to help with things he sees that need to be done. He will help me in the kitchen with cooking or dishes, he has been working with Neal with yard work, he plays well with Caleb. I am thankful for all he does for our family. He enjoys playing basketball with the scouts after their meetings on Thursday evenings. Last Saturday he went to a stake basketball time and played an actual game with other 12-13 year old kids from the stake. He loved it. One Saturday morning Andrew and Spencer made a little basketball hoop to hook onto our coat closet door. They like to throw little soft balls into it. Andrew is also enjoying playing with the jazz band at school.
Spencer loves his yo-yo. His string had a knot in it and he was frustrated with it. We were able to find some nice cotton string for yo-yo’s on Amazon and bought his some. Now he is constantly playing with it again. He is getting good at many tricks. Last week Spencer had a mild case of the flu. He was in bed for a couple days, with a fever and not wanting to do much. Then he started doing better but still stayed home for two more days. I was thankful he felt well enough to participate in the Pinewood Derby. He had worked with Neal to make his car and he was excited to race it. He was pleased with how it ran. Spencer has enjoyed reading a series of books by Spencer Quinn about a dog named Bowser. I am glad he found books to enjoy.
Spencer brought his old cars with him and ran them on the track after the official race.
Caleb has really enjoyed learning some 50’s songs at school. The second grade is preparing a musical performance for this Friday where they sing 50’s music. Caleb will even be dancing a swing dance with a partner for one of the songs. It should be fun to watch. Last Friday Caleb sang all his songs for the family and I enjoyed hearing them. One day we looked up on YouTube the songs and watched the original people singing them, he thought that was fun. Caleb has been fascinated with the game of Risk the last couple of weeks. Andrew has played it with him and Caleb also plays by himself. On the 21st we went to a Stake activity for all the kids who will be turning 8 and getting baptized this year. Caleb is really excited about it. We are happy to hear that my mom and Rachel will be able to come for the baptism in March. Caleb enjoys being with friends, yet the other day when I asked if he wanted to play with a friend he told me that sometimes he just likes having some quiet time at home. So do I.
Caleb likes playing with his bugs and blocks, and likes me to take pictures of things he makes.
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