Triathalon

This weekend, the 14-15 yr old boys (Varsities) in our ward went over to the Gila Valley to participate in a Micro-Sprint Triathalon. Lafe is one of their leaders, and he actually did it last year with them so he was excited to go again. If I remember right, I think it's a 2 mile run, 7 mile bike ride, and 75 meter swim. Ethan LOVED it and did AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! 33 out of 500 in his age group, and 96 out of 1040 over all!

If you see him, tell him to do cross-country :)

The whole group!

Play in a Day

Our Stake out here does "Play in a Day" for our youth, and they usually end up pretty funny! They get together on a Saturday, and are assigned to a group. They learn the little 10 minute play the whole day and then perform it in the evening for the Stake. This year's theme Disney Movies, and they were great! They made each one into a message of good things to do...

Erin was "Raja" in "Aladdin" - only, she was a person instead of a tiger, with speaking parts - she didn't realize that when she volunteered :) She did great, though! It was out of character, for sure, because she was trying to convince Jasmine to wear something immodest to the dance.

This is toward the end of the dance, but you can see Frauke and Nadine, our friend's student - they were good sports to go and do this all day with these kids! I think they had fun, though. Their theme, of course, was Modesty and they set it to the song, "I'm Modest and I know it" - funny!

Ethan was Robin Hood - the main character - I KNOW!!! I guess he kind-of got volunteered to do it and then agreed without really knowing what he agreed to - typical. But, he did really good. Their theme was Service and they had a service competition to see who got to dance with Maid Marion - "Rob" didn't win because he was helping another player (service), but he got the dance anyway. I love this picture because it shows how awkward they felt :)

Poetry Contest

Jamie won 3rd place in the Quad-Campus Poetry Contest this year for 7th grade!!! She's really enjoyed writing this year and has some great stories!!!

Her cousin, Emma, also won for poetry in her grade, and Laura was serving us at the banquet because she's in Student Council this year. Fun evening!!!

And, because I'm her mom, here's her poem:

FRIEND FOR LIFE

The little hands tighten around the small dress,

She loves and adores her, like a boy loves a mess,

Treats it with comfort and a place on her bed,

She rocks her to sleep and kisses her head.

And prays she will have her from morn until night,

For this little doll brightens her life.

Now under the bed is her place in the room,

Hoping and thinking she'll remember her soon.

Then in through the doorway, comes the teenage girl,

Maybe perhaps she'll find her and say,

"Oh there you are my dear old friend,

Come sit upon my bed."

And she'll pray that she can have her from morn until night

For this little doll has brightened her life.

Now shaky and old the girl is,

For her husband has passed away.

Wishing for a friend to lay with her,

On the last day.

She remembers her small treasure, in her chestnut box.

Rises up from the bed and carries herself,

To open the golden locks.

The soft, fragile hands tighten, around the small dress,

Her prayers have been answered from morn until night,

For this little doll had brightened her life.

Ice-Blocking!

For those of you not from Arizona, you might laugh historically at my next post..... But, when you NEVER get snow, you come up with other ways......ICE BLOCKING!!!!!! Some good friends of ours are also hosting an exchange student and called to see if we would go ice-blocking with them - we had never been before, but we had a BLAST!!!!

Lafe pulling Laura down the hill - at first you have to get the ice slippery, so it wasn't working so well.

Sorry, it's blurry (working on that on my camera!), but here's Erin sliding down.

Here's Frauke, our exchange student, on her first try - oh, and Talin in the background. Laura, Kelcie, and Talin had actually done it before with some friends, so they knew what to do.

A Race! Frauke, Erin, and Ethan

WIPEOUT!!! This is usually how it ended - we tried hard to get to the bottom of the hill.

One of the many trains - that was funny!!! On one of them, half of the group left without the back... Great activity! We saved the blocks if any wants to go :)

Easter

This was Easter Morning at our house - sorry, I didn't get the greatest pictures this year. If you notice that we have 7 kids in this picture, it's not a mistake - We have a German Exchange student staying with us for a few weeks, and this was her first day here.

Finding out what's in the baskets...

The HUNT, of course! The Easter Bunny hid over 100 eggs - yikes!

And, did you know that you can dye brown eggs? And, blue eggs? With the chickens, we've had PLENTY of eggs lately, so I wasn't about to go buy 5 dozen eggs for my kids to color. So, we tried coloring our brown and blue ones - who knew? In fact, the color was super-vibrant - but that could have been the kit we used.

Quick Trip

Our nephew, Kyler, was getting married and we all planned to go up to the wedding, but then things came up so that it turned into almost a Daddy-Daughter trip. Lafe took Jamie, Laura, and Kelcie and drove with his brother, Brian, and his daughter, Autumn, up to Provo, Utah. We had reserved a condo because it's cheaper for our size of family to do that than to get a hotel.

Cool sleeping arrangements!

Beautiful blossoms

Same blossoms the next morning! My girls were THRILLED that it was snowing!!!!!! They had never seen snow fall, and were just ecstatic!

Experiencing snow!

Kyler and his beautiful new bride.

While the girls were waiting, all the girl cousins went up to a Beauty School and got their hair done - SO MUCH FUN!!!!

All the girls cousins - that were there..... Can you believe there's a few missing? Yes, we had a girl boom in our family from about 1997 to 2004!

On the drive home they stopped to see some dinosaur fossils...

What a fun trip and great memories! So glad they could go and have so much fun!

The big 13!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jamie turned 13!!!!!!!!!!!! I have 3 official teenagers in my house now!!!

The kids got her a purple, bunny pillow-pet!

We got her new bedding - a down comforter and pillow from Ikea - she's been asking for one and was so excited to sleep in them!

Jamie on her birthday, ready for school! Wearing her new shirt she got from Eric and Sonya, and sporting her new glasses (that I forgot to post about :) ).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JAMIE!!!!!

We're so glad you're in our family!!!

T-Ball

Talin's playing T-ball!!! He's been going to practice for about a month, and now he finally gets to play the games! He's so darn cute in his uniform that the girls and I finally had to quit telling him how cute he was :)

Very intent in the first inning.....

Up to bat.....

How he felt about half way through :) "When is it over, mom?"

HUGE smile as he got to run all the bases because he was the last hitter!!!

His first game he decided it was long - but I think a lot of that was because he didn't know what to expect or really what he was supposed to do, so it was long because he was unsure. Last night's game he said he had a good time. Can I just say how hilarious it is to watch 10 5-yr old boys??? I feel for the coach! He does a great job and is very patient! And, wouldn't you know there's another boy on the team with his name? He spells it different, but it's VERY confusing.

Kirk Adams for Congress

Last night we hosted a "Meet and Greet" for our good friend, Kirk Adams. We got to know Kirk and his family well when we lived up in Mesa and really enjoyed their family. We were really glad we could help with his campaign for Congress. I really enjoyed listening to him speak last night. He had great ideas, and has proven he's not afraid to fight for what he believes in - even within his own party. We were very impressed and I think everyone who came was impressed also. It gives me hope to hear someone that has real, do-able ideas for the issues in our country and an honest outlook on thing. Thanks, Kirk! We're glad we could be a part of your run for Congress!

Eagle Court of Honor

Ethan had his Eagle Court of Honor last Sunday - it was so nice! He and two other boys got their Eagles at the same time, and it was so nice to share the Court of Honor! So proud of my boy!

The Oath

Receiving his Eagle

Getting my mother pin :)

Ethan's table. I made a board with lots of pictures - some really cute ones from Cub Scouts, too! Lafe sent away for a flag that had been flown over the Nation's Capital in honor of Ethan - so neat! Then, I had a picture matte for everyone to sign who came.

Grandma Starr teasing him :) Ethan chose his Great Grandpa Allan as his mentor, and because he's already passed away, he gave the Mentor Pin to Grandma. Ethan noticed that Grandpa Allan had received the Silver Beaver Award in Scouting, and had decided that he wanted to get as high as he could in scouting. He was able to get one of Grandpa's old neckerchief slides at one of the reunions, and has loved having it. So grateful for Grandpa Allan's incredible example still present in his grandchildren's lives.

Grandma and Grandpa Starr

Grandma and Grandpa Carroll

Congratulations, Ethan!!!

More Birthday...

For his birthday, Talin got a gift card to go and get a Build-a-Bear! We've been to Build-a-Bear with the kids twice - both times for Spring Break instead of going somewhere because I was pregnant and due that week (with Talin), and then the next time he was a baby. So, although we made him a bear both times so he could be included, he doesn't remember that and has never had that experience. Plus, Lafe took me for our anniversary and the gift cards were half off :)

He picked one pretty quick! A Green (his favorite color) Camoflouge Bear.

He liked giving him a bath - he really wants to go and buy a brush for him when he saves his money ( I thought that was funny!)

Giving him a name - Meet Wiggly!

With "Cars" clothes, of course!

Miracle

Happy Easter!

THis is so beautiful! THe Atonement became a miracle in my life when I realized that even if I was the only person on the earth, He would have come and Atoned for me. And, when I realize its the same for every person here, it is beautiful and wonderful and makes you truly want to rejoice!

Guess who's 5 ?!?

Talin is 5!!!!!!!!!

Talin turned five!!! He's been SO EXCITED!!!!! He wanted a friend party, and our schedule lately has been/is CRAZY, so we were lucky to find a time for a party. Lucky boy, he also got to register for Kindergarten on the same day!
He had a "Ball" Party. The invitations said, "Bounce on over.." and we gave them each a bouncy ball. I've heard that many of them carried that ball around and even slept with it :) So, all the games had to do with balls. This one was marble racing (yes, pinterest) - it was a hit!

Baseball

Basketball

Hot Potato/ Popcorn - this looked so fun, I want to try it!

Human Bowling - so funny!

Opening presents..... He has NO expression! It drives me crazy! At least we got him to say thank-you. He loves his presents, just no expression.

Blowing out candles....

All the goods - see, he is happy!