6 May 2012 - Yardwork & Crafts

Like it or not, it's time to get the yard in shape.  The garden I put in last year had settled a good bit, so I back-filled with a yard of top soil.

The mulch in the flower beds took me two weekends.  I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out, but I'm starting to feel like Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon.

On Saturday evening, we had a girls camp kick off meeting.  I got to 'help' the girls make bird houses.

Joanne's been spending hours on this pillow for Aunt Amy.  It's pretty smashing.

29 April 2012 - Springtime

We've been enjoying warmer weather lately.  The girls were good and did their work, so they were rewarded with some outstanding Italian ice.

Our young men's and women's presidencies organized a Minute to Win It joint activity for the youth.  Here's Jessica doing a cracker balancing event.

On Saturday, Joanne and I were invited to a black tie fund raising dinner in Washington.  It was billed as "A Night at the Movies."  The entertainment was pretty good, the food was decent, and it was nice to get dressed up and have an evening out.

22 April 2012 - Emily's Birthday

Emily turned 10 this weekend.  She had a party for her friends with a Hello Kitty cake.

Then we had a family party, with a chocolate checkerboard cake.

Emily received many presents and cards (thanks to all), but the one that brought a priceless expression was her very own cell phone.  Sorry, I won't be posting her number online for ya'll.

15 April 2012 - Kid stuff

Hi all,

The girls had an event at school this past month. They made art which was printed onto any number of overpriced gizmos for parents to buy. Emily got an apron with her art, and used it to make us breakfast.

Mommy got some trivets for hot pots and pans on the kitchen table. The seascape one is Madeline's art. Jessica's school didn't do this project, so no art from her.

I've been working on my motorcycle some. I went for a ride on a warm day in March and flipped a rock into my sprocket and busted a few teeth. So I ordered a new chain and new sprockets for the bike and put them on. I've also been concerned about the girls sliding off the back when I take them for rides, so I got a sissy bar and put that on too. It has flames on it.

The girls had their swim team banquet this weekend where we all had dinner, and they received a yearbook and a stat sheet with all their race times. They're already looking forward to the upcoming summer season.

8 April 2012 - Easter

Happy Easter!  We had a nice one.  On Saturday morning we had an Easter Egg hunt.  Madeline was concerned that the egg gathering might not be fair.  They did a nice job with it though.

Even if they hadn't managed it well though, I think the girls could have managed OK.

They succeeded at bringing in a pretty good haul.

Lunch was also served, so we enjoyed the bright sunlight, despite the relatively cool breeze.

On Saturday evening, the girls colored their Easter Eggs.

And there were a few small Easter bunnies that found their way onto our table.

Emily's hair made the girls late for church on Sunday, so we needed to immortalize her fancy up-do.

We hope wherever you were and whatever you were doing, that you had a good Easter too!

1 April 2012 - General Conference

As a follow up to last week's Young Womens' shopping activity, the girls all came over on Wednesday and made cookies.  I took the opportunity to go shoot guns with the Young Men on Wednesday night.  I got home just time to help eat the cookies.

This week Jessica was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society.  She's a smart cookie.

On Friday night we took the girls swimming at W&J.  They haven't been swimming much since their team season ended, so we thought it would be good to let them splash around.  If you look closely at this picture, you'll see Emily in mid-air off the high drive.

The girls had a lot of fun trying to squirt me with their noodles.  The pool wasn't super warm, but we had good time for an hour or so.

Madeline watching General Conference....

Jessica watching General Conference...

25 Mar 2012 - Young Women

Recently, Joanne was released as first counselor in the Relief Society in the Washington Ward, and called to serve as second counselor and Beehive advisor in the Young Women's presidency.  For their activity this week, they took the girls to the grocery store and gave them a budget of $20 to buy ingredients to make cookies. 

The girls were fairly successful, given that when they checked out, the total came to exactly $20.

Aside from cookie shopping, it was a pretty quiet week for our family.  It was Spring Break at W&J, so Joanne and I worked around the house and I tried to get caught up on a bunch of things I needed to get done.  Spring has come so quickly that we even had to mow our lawn for the first time.