22 February 2015 - New Beginnings, More Swim

February is usually a busy month for swim meets.  March and April are usually Regional and National tournaments, so February is the last chance for swimmers to get qualified.  We had another meet this week, and Jessica and Emily both qualified in several events for the regional meet.  Here is Emily coiled up and ready to spring.

This week was also New Beginnings, so Joanne was super-busy.  She themed it "Port Faith", and had the girls and some leaders set up tables around the gym where we went on a cruise through the Young Women's Values.  I didn't take any pictures, which bummed me out a little bit, but at least here is the logo Joanne made for the main theme of the night.  It was very successful.

15 February 2015 - Cakes!

This week we were invited over to Eric and Lara's because Shaylee had made Valentine's heart cakes.  Everyone got to decorate their own.

Here is Jessica (her hands at least), working diligently on her cake, which she promptly ate.

Madeline had a school ski outing, so we took advantage of the opportunity to get in a little more skiing as well.  If you look at the background behind Jessica and Emily, you can see how badly we need some additional snow.

I didn't get any pictures, but I did take Joanne on a Valentine's date.  We went to dinner at a local Caldwell steakhouse, then saw Into the Woods, on the stage, not the movie that's currently out (although we did see that one as well).

8 February 2015 - Winter Carnival, McCall, ID

This weekend, Aunt Kathy invited us to McCall for the Winter Carnival.  She has a timeshare that has a property in McCall and had been up for the carnival before.  One of the highlights is the snow sculpture competition.

We liked this elephant the best.

Or maybe the Star Wars themed set of sculptures was our favorite...

This gigantic snowman was dubbed Grand Marshall.

On Friday, we skied at Brundage Resort.  The resort was not crowded at all (no lift lines all day), and for most of the day we skied on groomed corduroy.  These are the front tips of my skis while in motion.  

Joanne and Jessica on the 'Temptation' run.

Madeline giving the thumbs up as she shoots past.

By Saturday morning, the warm temperatures had taken their toll on the sculptures.  You could tell what some of them had been, but they were a shell of their former selves.  This one, titled Davey Jones' Locker, was one you could actually walk through, but they were afraid it would collapse at any time and weren't letting people go through anymore by Saturday morning.  You can also see that one of the two dolphin/shark sculptures is all but gone.

We stayed for the closing ceremony fireworks on Saturday night.  We had a great time and were grateful to Aunt Kathy for inviting us.

1 February 2015 - Twin Falls Swim Meet

Ok, so this week's update is pretty lame as far as pictures go.  My cell phone had to go to the hospital to get its charging port repaired, so I was using an old back up cell phone.  The girls had a swim meet in Twin Falls, and this is the only picture I got that was even close to decent.  Jessica is swimming freestyle in lane 1 here.

The pool is actually an outdoor pool that they put a bubble over during the winter.  It's better than nothing, but not great.  The girls didn't have their greatest meet, largely because of the setup, but we did still have a few best times.  Jessica got disqualified in the backstroke, which would have been a new best time.  She's still not sure why she got disqualified.  At any rate, that was our big event for this week.

25 January 2015 - Skiing, Supper, Sewing

Since it was Martin Luther King Day, Phil and Dianne were able to stay with us until Monday.  We went skiing, then went out for empanadas for lunch.  Epic day.

For part of her Faith in God work, Madeline wanted to make a nice dinner for her mom.  I took her to the store and we bought food, then came home and made filet mignon, barbecued ribs, mashed potatoes and salad.  It was way good.

An up-close view of the bounty (complete with real candles and fresh flowers).

Joanne has been going to sewing school with her new machine.  Every week she comes home all excited to try new things.  Here is an embroidered heart she did this week.

18 January 2015 - Jessica's Play

This week Jessica was in a play at school.  The play was called Popularity.  It was about a group of girls who take great pains to identify and date the most popular boys in school.  It is set in the 1950s and used many songs from that era.  Jessica was a cheerleader (not a natural fit for her, but she did a fine job).

Here's Jessica at the prom at the end of play.

Jessica doing a swing dance.

All of the cast gathering for a photo op after the play.

Phil and Dianne came up for Jessica's play and stayed the weekend with us.  Madeline has been learning chess as part of a gifted program at school this week, and she took Phil on a few times over the weekend.

11 January 2015 - Finishing Emily's Room

As we all headed back to school this week, we also finished up the sprucing up of Emily's room.  Joanne did all of the woodwork on this valance over Emily's window.

She also did all of these custom shelves, complete with Mod Podged details.

In her spare time, Joanne returned to quilting.  The wife of the Young Men's president in our ward is having a baby boy, and this is for him.