Denver and the Cabin!

This week started out with a trip to the Denver Museum of Natures and Science.  We went into the special exhibit on the Giant Sauropods.   It was super interesting - it talked about a lot of things I hadn't really considered - like the mechanics of these HUGE bodies and how gravity affected blood flow and how much food they would need to cosume to fuel them.   We also spent time wandering around the space exhibit, which has changed quite a bit and had some fun new areas.  David was excited to go into the Egyptian exhibit and we explored mummies for a bit.  It's always been one of our favorite museums and we had a great time!!  

Mandatory picture with the statues outside - thankfully, it was a cool day and the metal wasn't too hot.  

Tuesday, the kids spent the morning sleeping in - I went to the store to get the stuff for potato salad and made that up before heading over to Grandpa's for a bit.  Then we went back to the air bnb to grab the food and head to Doug's place for a BBQ.  The food was great and the company even better!  Sandi and the kids arrived in time to come enjoy some food and some nerf gun wars with us.  Then in the evening, Sandi, Doug, Mark, Julia and I went to Karaoke.  We had a blast!!  It was a fun little place with lots of fun and encouraging people! 

Wednesday we all went to hike around Dinosaur Ridge.  It was hot and some of the kids didn't last very long.  But the hike was beautiful and we had fun together!  In the evening, we had a family dinner with Grandpa and the aunts and uncles and cousins at Grandpa's place.  We loved getting to talk and reminice about our time at the cabin and listening to the kids stories was so much fun!  

The next morning, we checked out and headed up to the cabin.  We stopped at Tiny Town along the way - and had fun wandering around, riding the train and playing on the playground.  I keep expecting my kids to grow out of the playground, but so far, they haven't, they had a blast with their cousins playing groundies.  

After getting up to the cabin, we got settled in and the kids went up to check out the changes to the old mine.  It's really gone...  It was a bit sad for all of us, there are still lots of places to look for and find cool rocks and pyrite, but the mine has totally changed.  

Friday morning, we went into Fairplay and went to South Park City.  

We explored all over and of course had fun climbing on the train and finding the answers to questions on the scavenger hunt.  After, we went walking around downtown fairplay - checking out the bead shop and some other fun little places along the street before we went to get ice cream.  It was a fun morning, then we went back up to the cabin for lunch and hiking and playing and maybe some napping.  :) 

Doug has been introducing the kids to Lord of the Rings.  James and Evelyn especially loved it, but we didn't get to the last one, so we told them they would have to watch with Dad when they got home.  

Saturday, we went out to Breckenridge.  We were trying to get all the things Evelyn wanted to do in before she flew back to OR to start her job and Terra Nova.  We went to an interactive art echibit in Breckenridge and wandered around the town.  

Then in the evening, we roasted marshmallows and had smores.  There was a fire ban, so we couldn't have a traditional fire.  It's so dry up there, the creek is already dry and it's only June.  But Doug had a little propane thing that we used and sang songs around.  It was a wonderful evening!!  

Sunday, we watched our own ward online instead of heading down to Frisco for church.  Ben Bennion and Taylor Starkey were giving their homecoming talks post mission and I wanted to hear those.  It was father's day, so we got to chat with Anna for awhile and she got to say hello to everyone up at the cabin.  Then Grandma took Evelyn and went back down to Denver to spend some time with Great Grandpa.  She got Evelyn to the airport and safely on her airplane.  Evie was a bit nervous, but made it home safely.  

That night, we started the DnD campaign that Mark had prepared for us.  We had a great time exploring and slaying monsters and goofing off together!  Doug acted as a little "angel" on David's shoulder, promting him with ideas and things he could do, but David did GREAT and had a blast and is talking about wanting to do it again.  

Last week of school and off on new adventures

The kids last week of school this week!  It was a mostly pretty chill week.  Dan was out of town for a conference for his new company ACVIM.  It is a company that works a lot with Veternarians, so he kept sending pictures of animals to us!  

We had our usual activities, swimming, work, water polo and friends.  Thursday was the last official day of school.  David had a friend invite him over for a last day of school party at his house.  He went and had fun playing games and eating food.  

I spent what little free time I had trying to get ready for the trip.  Started to pack things that could be packed and make lists for what to do and what to pack.  

James graduated from Middle School this week - he had lots of fun activities with his fellow graduating 8th graders, but didn't tell me about his graudation ceremony.  None of the other kids had one, so we didn't even know they were a thing and missed it. :(  James was super excited about his stuffed husky that he got and even more excited to be done with middle school!

David was bummed about the end of school.  He came out on the last day grumpy and sad.  And not happy about me taking his picture....  

Friday morning, we got up and finished up all our packing, then headed out for Idaho and an overnight stay with Grandma and Grandpa Jones who planned a little Graduation surprise for Aaron - complete with cake and balloons and a gift.  

Saturday, we made the long haul into Colorado (Thank goodness for Evie and Aaron being willing and able to drive!!)  We stopped at Little America for gas and ice cream and some playing.  We got in late, but not too miserably late.  We got settled into the airbnb in Denver, and I still had time to run to King Soopers to be able to get food for the next couple days.  

Sunday, we went to a nearby building for church.  While we were there, I realized that we knew the organist!  It was the kids old piano teacher Stephanie Hendrickson.  It was fun to see her and chat with her for a couple minutes.  Church was great and then we went back to the air bnb to eat and wait for Grandma to get in.  We went over to Grandpa's place for the afternoon to see him and play at the park.  We had brought a volleyball and football to play with, plus the playground was great for groundies.  Then in the evening, Doug and Julia and Mark came over for a bit to hang out.  David ended up doing a sleepover with Mark at Doug's house.  

Aaron's done!

This was Aaron's last week - he still had seminary in the mornings, and he a few senior things to go to, but, he didn't have much going on this week for school since Auto tech is most of his class load right now.  Graduation was this week, but he decided to not walk for graduation, so Evie went to play with the band, and Aaron didn't....   lol

Tonight was his seminary graduation though.  He had to go to that, mom needs something.  :)  He graduated and I only cried a little.  It was helped by the fact that he got a bloody nose right before they started calling up the graduates.....  

David had his last day of swim lessons this week.  After spending the entire second session being mad at me for signing him up, he managed to get another level up and started talking about maybe doing them again....  It was funny, I was watching then they handed him his card so i could see his reaction, so I watched his face light up when he saw his new level.  Then I went downstairs to meet him, and when he came out of the locker room, he tried to play it off and act all cool.  He said casually "well, I guess I'm just too good!"  It was so funny!  

He had water polo practice on Friday and Saturday and had a great time - he's getting better and better.  He and Paxon had a fun time on Saturday, but Paxton couldn't make Friday because of a baseball game.  

Evelyn has kept busy with friends and getting ready for the end of the school year.  Dan is keeping busy with his new job and his time spent as the admin for THills water polo and running and helping keep our family going! 

Friday night after David's water polo, Dan and I went to the Wilde's house for a game night and had a great time with friends playing games.  

I've been keeping busy with work and coaching and family - and I'm looking forward to this trip and a chance to get away from it all for a bit!  I spent some time this week getting things ready - there's still a ton to do, but I'm feeling a bit less stressed.  The hard part is figuring out how to get everything done without Dan!  

Dan is leaving town tomorrow for a trip for his new company.  It's funny, this is the first job change he's had that hasn't included a huge move and life change for the rest of us.  

Counting Down

The kids are really starting to get eager for the end of school.  Less than 2 weeks now.  This week, the kids had no school on Monday, so I took Evelyn out swim suit shopping - she has plenty of suits, but they are all for swimming, not leisure, and/or they are Anna's.  So we hit a few stores until we found something she liked.   Then I took Eileen grocery shopping.  Dan went and played games in the evening with friends, but my energy was all gone by that point, so I just stayed home and called it an early night.  

Tuesday was a mostly casual day - school, work, coaching score, all the stuff.   

Wednesday was busy as usual, school, work, water polo, friends and such.  Aaron also had his CDL orientation meeting and dinner.  Dan went since I had coaching.  We are so excited for Aaron getting into this program and excited to see him eagerly pursuing this path!

Thursday was my lazy day, slept in, got David to school, took a nap and then went to work.  After, David and I forgot about his swim lessons and, so we kinda had a lazy afternoon too.  In the evening, I went to play water polo.  Eileen and Aaron went to Institute and Evelyn went to SWAT.  

Aaron really seems to be enjoying going to the YSA ward and their activities.  It's neat seeing him take these steps into adulthood.  

Saturday, David had water polo, I took him and Paxton to their scrimmage - they are both getting much better and doing so well!  They love the scrimmage part - much more than just the practice.  :) 

In the evening, Evelyn went to Mormon Prom with a group of friends and their dates.  They all had a great time!  They also stopped by our house early for some snacks and games.  

Sunday was msotly quiet.  Church was wonderful!  In the afternoon, I had to go to a Head Guard in-service.   It was fun, then I got home for dinner and games and now... bed time.  :)

Birthday Boy

This week, Evelyn had her State band competition.  They took 2nd in State!  I'm so glad she gets to be a part of this amazing band program.  

Tuesday was Dan's birthday.  Evelyn made the cake.  We had a fun evening together!  We are so blessed to have him in our family!  

The week progressed as normal - with me still feeling tired and like I was recovering from last weekend's tournament, until Thursday.  Thursday, there was a fire in the shop room at Mountainside and the school was shut down and all indoor activities cancelled for the weekend.  Varsity track Districts still happened since it was outdoors.  Amelia and Megan did awesome!  

Friday night, James had a sleepover with a friend - Alex and David slept over at Paxton's house, so we had a pretty empty house! 

Friday night, Dan got us tickets to go on a Haunted Shanghai tunnels tour in Old Town Portland.  We went with Marcos and Gabi and had a great time!  After, we went to the Melting Pot for dinner - we left, happy, stuffed and excited to do another double date sometime! 

Saturday morning, the youth had a temple trip, so I tagged along.  I'm so glad our kids have such awesome friends in the area! 

The play that Evie's friend Natalie was in was supposed to have 4 more performances and they had to cancel them.  :(  The drama teacher managed to figure out a way to try to do one last performance outside in the courtyard for anyone who wanted to come.  Evelyn went, and I stopped by after Parkrose water polo.  The kids did an amazing job and the outdoor venue ended up being really fun!  

In the evening, I went to open polo with Aaron.  

Sunday was a busy day - the ward choir was singing today, so we practiced before church today and performed during Sacrament meeting - they did an awesome job!!  Also, I was giving a talk today.  While I really don't like speaking, I do love the Old Testament, so if I have to speak, at least I get to talk about the Old Testament!!!  Primary was fun, then after, we went home for lunch and some games with James and the kids who wanted to play.  

Aaron has decided to start going to the YSA ward and it's activities.  It's fun to see him making his steps into adulthood.  

In the afternoon, Dan and I went to go visit a friend of Dan's from High School who is in the hospital up here after his 3rd surgery for brain cancer.  We had a great visit and his friend seemed really glad to see him. 

After, we had dinner and scriptures and more games and now to bed!!!  

Friends and Water Polo and Pole Vaulting and stuff.... oh my!

Monday, I got to meet up with Emily and Sara for lunch.  It is always wonderful getting together with them! We went to an Indian place and the food was great, but not as great as the company!  

Evelyn had JV Districts for track this week - she placed 1st in JV and got a PR jumping 8'6".  It's so much fun to watch her grow in the sport!  The weather was on and off rainy all day, but it held off for her jumping! 

On Friday, David had water polo and the school was having their Spring Fair, so we hurried over after water polo to check out the book fair, get his face painted, play with friends and have some fun.  He asked to have his face painted like a monkey since he's my little monkey!  

This weekend was my masters tournament.  Two days, 8 games and 3 teams.  :)  I was there playing with the co-ed masters team, but I also helped out with a couple of the women's teams during their games.  So by the end of the week, I was exhausted!!!  Between games, we had a great time hanging out together.  We got brunch at a great little place called Word of Mouth - it was an hour wait, but we had a fun time.  We only won our last game, but we had a great time!  

While I was down in Salem, Dan was being an amazing dad.  He let David and his friend, but Paxton's little brother Payton and his friend Aden come over and decorate cakes.  They had a blast and used barely any frosting, but insane quantities of sprinkles....  

Since we have been unable to get the organ working, and I finally said, he could get rid of it, Dan let the boys dismantle it and explore it's inner workings.  They had fun messing around with it, and now we have more room in our front room.....  Now it just needs furniture.... 

 

Mother's Are Awesome!

It's been a busy week and it's crazy to think that we are already 10 days into May.  Kids are doing well in school.  Aaron is definitely feeling the Senion-itis.  He's decided that he doesn't really want to walk after all, so we are again looking at a no-work graduation.  Next year will be very different....  

Evelyn had a home track meet against Southridge this week.  She did great, but was feeling a bit down because she hasn't PR'ed again - but she matched her PR this week, so she did amazing!

Wednesday was also Anna's travel day - so after a LONG day of travel, she arrived at the Canade Montreal Mission - and we got an email from her mission president saying the new missionaries had arrived safely and sent pictures.  

Anna's first area is on Prince Edward Island - which Evelyn is SUPER excited about because it is where "Anne with and E" takes place and she has been watching that show and loving it.  So when she found out that is where Anna is - she Squeeee-ed.  

This weekend was a Water Polo clinic at the 50M pool.  I was there most of Saturday for the clinic - it was awesome - it was great to get to absorb and learn and get new ideas!  

Mother's Day was wonderful!  Dan made Heart Shaped biscuits and honey butter.  mmmmm.    Church was great.  I did a Mother's Day Mad Lib with the kids and it went great - the kids really got a kick out of the end story and we had fun singing and celebrating our mothers!  

After church, we played games - did a bit of napping and some summer planning.  Plus I got to talk to my mom and dad and Sandi.  Dad is going to Scotland again soon and already getting excited about next year's trip with David.  

I also got some sweet messages from friends wishing me happy mother's day - including one sent through Evie from one of my water polo players - Amelia.  

We played more games after a yummy dinner of Eggs Benedict made by Dan and James and they were nice enough to let me win some of them.  :)  

And More Water Polo

As usual, a busy week with sports and school and music and stuff.  We are starting to approach some of the end of school year madness.  Evelyn has band competitions and track meets.  Weather is getting nice and the kids want to stay and play after school for as long as we will let them.  

Wednesday, after I got off work, I met up with my Mom and Sandi for our Spa trip.  We went to a place down in Newberg - got checked in - enjoyed the steam room for a bit, then showered off and went to La Sierra Mexican food restaraunt for dinner.  Then settled in for the night in our room.  

In the morning, we ordered room service and enjoyed Eggs Benedict.  Then we headed down to enjoy the sauna and steam room a bit before our treatments.  We each got a massage and a facial.  We had lunch brought to us by the pool between the two - french toast! mmmmm  

After we got checked out, we went and got pedicures together before heading home.  Then I drove my mom out to the airport in the convertible since the weather was beautiful!  I headed straight to water polo after than and we had a great turn out - 8 women and 6 men - it was awesome to have more women than men!!!   After, we went to McMennamins for a bit to socialize - it's a fun group!  

David's school was having a STEM night - so Dan took David, it mostly consisted of bubbles - but he had fun!  

Friday Night, Evelyn went to Mormon Prom with her boyfriend Truman.  They had lots of fun and looked so cute together!!

Saturday, David and I went down to Newberg for another tournament.  This one was Elementary School age kids - so David and Paxton played again.  They won all their games this weekend and were tournament champs for their age group!  They were super excited - the most exciting part for the coaches was watching how much playing in these tournaments has helped them grow as players!  Also watching them bond and hang out together and become friends!  Paxton is also saying he wants to do water polo again now.  :) 

Saturday was also a youth temple trip down to the Open House for the new Willamette Valley Temple.  They got to go to a devotional and then waited in line to go through the temple.  The wait was long - but it's timing was perfect, because it coincided with a break between games, so we all got on a facebook chat call with Anna to talk to her and hear how she's doing!  She's doing great - loving learning!  She's had a lot of sickness going around her district, but she's hoping they will all be well and ready to travel next week when they leave for their missions!  

Church today was wonderful - it was a great Fast and Testimony meeting and primary went well!  In the evening, we went to Evelyn's final encore concert for the year - it was amazing!  The best one yet!  

The kids decided the guinea pig cage needed a good cleaning - so they took it outside with the hose and soap and got it good and clean and themselves good and wet!  They had fun soaking eachother and playing together!

And She's Off....

This week has been full of awesomeness and some tears.  Wednesday morning (at the crack of dawn) Dan and I took Anna to the airport to head out on her mission.  We left the house at 3:45 am and got he there is plenty of time for her flight - she slept most of the flight and arrived safely at the MTC - met her companion and got settled in before starting classes and all the amazing parts of the MTC.  

Evelyn had a track meet on Wednesday as usu and did a great job on her pole vaulting - her friend Megan also had an amazing day pole vaulting!  It was great to watch her and see her cheering on her friends.  

We are super excited for Aaron who was accepted into the CDL program for this summer - he will get to go through the whole training process to get his CDL for free - it will be a lot of work, but such an awesome opportunity for him - we are so excited and so proud of the initative he is taking as he approaches graduation! 

The weather this weekend was great, so Dan took him up to skydive again and he got to do his first solo jump!  He was so excited!!  

This weekend was the THills age group tournament.  David played for the 10U team and Paxton played also - we needed more kids to make sure we had numbers for a team, so Blake asked me to see if Paxton was interested - and he was.  The boys and I had a great time hanging out at the pool all weekend - they played so well - 2 games on Saturday and 2 on Sunday.  They didn't win, their team was mostly new and less experienced - but they did awesome!  David and Paxton and their friend Aiden were all rockstars and they all worked hard and learned.   They both had to "iron man" their second game since they had no subs.  David got out of the pool complaining that his arms felt like noodles.   But he was a super speedy rock star winning 3 of 4 sprints.  Paxton was also an amazing passer - he would get the ball - David would spring down the field and Paxton would pass it to him.  They played hard and we had fun.  

I also had games - they ran some masters/high schoolers exhibition games - we had a good turn out and put together some great teams and had a lot of fun.  David decided to act as coach for one of the teams and the hillarious part was that he was usually right with what he was saying!  LOL  funny how much they absorb!  Between games, the boys played in the warm up area of the pool - so by the end of the weekend, they were exhausted and chlorine soaked and happy.   They did so good, so I took them for ice cream Saturday after their second game - and Sunday, Nicole brought donuts for the team!  

This weekend was also Stake Conference.  Lots of amazing-ness!  Sunday afternoon, The Wilde's invited us over for dinner and games - so I went over as soon as clean up was done for the tournament and met them there - the food was amazing and we had a great time!  

Finally, we went to Evelyn's Encore concert - she did amazing!  

Home MTC

This week has been a busy one. 

Tuesday evening, after I got back from coaching Score, the Stake President came over to set Anna apart as a Sister Missionary.  It was a wonderful experience! 

Anna has been doing Home MTC this week - she's up early and on zoom classes most of the day.  She gets some time off to exercise and eat, but mostly she's had to sit at a computer - which is hard, but still exciting and she's says she's learning lots.  

On Wednesday I was chaperoning David's field trip.  It was fun!  We went to the Tualatin Hills Nature Reserve and they got to do a Bug Safari.  They had fun finding bugs together and the kids were all great!  It was funny - one of the girls in my group while standing near me said "something smells like the pool" and I was just like " yeah, that's me....." At least there are worse things to smell like!  

While we were walking around the nature trails - we got to see Dan who goes for a run there often, and so he timed his run to bump into us on the field trip!  

After, David came home a bit early with me, so we met up with Dan and went to Cold Stone for some ice cream.  David said it was the BEST DAY EVER!

Dan has been taking Aaron skydiving quite a bit on weekends - this is kinda serving as his Senior Trip and he is LOVING it!  

It's gettin' real...

Monday, the kids didn't have school, so I took David to get his hair cut like I promised him I would - He just wanted a trim around the edges - and I got mine trimmed too.  The lady who cut our hair was very sweet, but had a VERY hard time understanding that it was David and I getting our hair cut and not 2 people named Dan Jones....  

We've had our usual crazy busy week with school and work and friends and sports.  Evelyn had a meet at Beaverton on Wednesday - she struggled a bit on this meet, but hurdles went better than last time!  She's so brave!! 

Aaron had a Auto Tech competition this weekend as well as a water polo tournament.  He competed in the auto tech thing Friday and Saturday and took 3rd, then today he went and played in the two games his team had today.  

David is still doing water polo on Fridays and Saturdays and he's doing so well - it's obvious that he is now the more experienced water polo players in the begginner group and he's starting to think about wanting to move up to the next level, so I talked to Blake and we are thinking maybe in the Fall would be a good time - then he'll be 9 and ready to join the 12U's.  In the meantime, I will bring him to a few Monday's here and there to get ready before tournaments.  

On Saturday, Dan asked Anna if she had recieved her tags for her mission yet....  she said, no, but she hadn't checked the mail, so she checked the mailbox and sure enough... there they were - English and French name tags :)  She was super excited! 

Saturday evening, she and I went to Open Polo - She had run into water polo friends at the temple earlier that day and they were going, so she went too.  She ended up seeing a LOT of friends there, many of whom she hadn't seen for awhile and all of whom she wouldn't see again for a year and a half or more.  After last week with 8 people, it was nice to have the pool packed!  

Today our ward had fast and testimony meeting and it got way too real for me that her time at home is almost over and she will be leaving on her mission soon - it hit me that this was her last fast and testimony meeting before she left.  And I lost it for a bit....  

Easter

We've had a busy week this week leading up to Easter!!

This week leading up to Easter, I've taken charge of the Scripture time, at least on the days when I was home.  We've had some nice discussions and fun time together! 

Tuesday, I got a call from Sunset about coaching the score program there - I hadn't realized that I was still doing that since I had thought it didn't have enough people.  But I was wrong, so I hurried up there and we had fun learning some water polo stuff!  Then I came home and Dan and I spent some time watching a movie.  He had rented Pride and Prejudice and Zombies from the library....  I tried... I really did, and I might have made it through more if Darcy hadn't been so awful....  

Evelyn had her first track meet of the season on Wednesday.  She did both pole vault and hurtles.  She PR'd on the pole vault - she jumped 8'!  She said hurtles didn't go as well, but it's was an exciting first meet.  There was a bit of rain at first, but it had cleared by the time she had to jump!  

Between Evelyn's meet on Wednesday, my work schedule, my swimming and work out and dropping off and picking up David and then coaching in the evening - I was barely home all day and hardly had time to eat - so by the end of my day, I was TOTALLY exhausted! 

Thursday I mostly took it easy.  David had swim lessons after school (I almost forgot) but we got him there and he did great - he is clearly more comfortable in the water than most of the other kids - water polo is making a big difference.  Then in the evening, I went to masters at Sunset - numbers were a bit low, but Laura brought a friend from work who is a goalie and Warren was there, so we had a lot of goalies, so I had some fun playing field too!  

Friday, David had water polo in the evening - the time has changed and is now a bit earlier, so we were done a bit earlier, so Dan and I went out for dinner after, then came back to watch a movie.  We had thought about going to a theater, but there weren't really any good times that we could make.  We waached the new Anaconda movie - it was fun!  Landon B also stayed the night.  David wanted a sleepover with him and it worked out perfectly for him to come over while his family went down to Eugene for the night (he really didn't want to go anyway, so us asking for a sleepover was well timed!) 

Saturday was the beginning of our General Conference weekend.  And Easter weekend!  And all the stuff!  It was kinda crazy busy!  We started with the morning session, then I went with Eileen to the grocery store to get Easter stuff and conference food stuff and weekend stuff.  By the time we got home, it was time for me to get David ready for water polo.  He had fun and did a great job, and we got home just as the second session was ending.  So I finally got myself some food and watched the second session a bit late and got Easter stuff ready...ish.  In the evening, Evelyn had a concert and we went to the Reamer's for dinner.  The food was super good and we had a fun time playing with the kids and chatting with friends!  Then we got home, did scriptures and got David to bed, then I went to Open Polo - numbers have been pretty low lately, we only had 8 people there total and by 10:30, we had 4.....  

Sunday morning, Dan and Anna went to watch the morning session at the church, I stayed home with the other kids, then we all met at the church for a potluck lunch.  We had a great time and Anna even met another person who had served in the Montreal, Canada mission.  Then we went home and started the cooking for the afternoon session snacks.  James came over to watch the afternoon session with us and play games.  We enjoyed the 7-layer dip and monkey bread!  

After, we had an Easter Egg hunt with the kids.  They had fun finding and Dan and James had fun hiding and watching and laughing.  Then we played a game of Dominion before heading to the church for a baptism.  It was wonderful and she's an amazing lady!!  Then after, Mhanita Kunzler had some food for everyone - she had made her amazing spring rolls and curry and rice along with fruit and cookies - it was all amazing.  (Yes, we've eaten way too much today!!!)  

We came home, did scriptures, played more games, and now we are all exhausted from a busy, but incredible weekend.  Conference weekends are the BEST!

Aaron's actually Sky Diving

Aaron had an amazing weekend - he got to actually skydive this weekend.  He got his first real tandem jump in and he LOVED it.  He was grinning ear to ear and bouncing all day Saturday - both with anticipation before and excitment after!  

Aaron was also at the CDL classes this week - he had a great time learning and using simulators and checking out different companies in the area.  

This week was Spring Break for the kids, so they kept busy at home - we didn't really have any plans - too much else going on!  David spent at lot of time with Paxton and some other friends including a sleepover.  Evelyn had track practices all week and Anna and I had our usual work schedules.  

David asked if he could dye his hair, so on Thursday after I got home from work, we used the box dye I got on Monday and turned him into an "orange-head" (he gets annoyed when people call him a redhead...)  I think it turned out pretty good though, and he's had fun showing it off!  

This weekend was exciting - the Messiah Choir had their final rehearsals and then our performance tonight!  It went well and we had a great time.  Dan's friends Ed and Ben came to the concert and it was fun having friends there!  

It was also our Easter program this week at church - Anna was accompanying two numbers - I was directing the choir for two numbers and Evelyn had put together a group for a number.  Everyone was amazing - Evelyn's number was especially beautiful - especially after all the trouble she had getting it together -  she had 3 of the 4 friends she had asked to help with it back out on her - one last minute.  But with Anna taking over piano and some help from friends she made it work and it was beautiful!!!  

Aaron's Skydiving...almost

Aaron decided that for his 'senior trip' he was going to do a week long school to get certified to skydive.  Before that happens this summer, there are some pre-requisites.  He took care of the first this weekend - he went to a safety course.  Dan just hung out and got a couple jumps in, Aaron had a blast doing this class - every time he came out, he was grinning from ear to ear.  While he was doing that, mom was running errands and playing water polo.  Evelyn was with a bunch of friends out at the coast.  Anna had work and the temple and David was at Paxton's house.  So it was really only James and Eileen home to greet Grandpa when he arrived.  He flew in to be here for Anna's farewell talk on Sunday.  Anna spoke, and she and I performed O Divine Redeemer again.  David invited Paxton's family to church and it was a great day to have them there.  The lessons and talks were wonderful!  

The rest of the week was pretty normal craziness - school, sports and friends.  Evelyn is doing track and Aaron has started Club water polo.  Anna is keeping busy with work and the temple - though she is getting very tired of the early morning shift!  

Weather has been nice, so we've stayed after school to play most days and the kids love getting to hang out with friends and play on the playground

We hosted a youth activity at our house and the kids ate cookies and played games - everyone had fun!