Blood, Sweat and Tears= Pine Wood Derby

Mason's Car

Jonah's Car


The boys participated in their first pinewood derby in the April pack meeting. They both designed their own cars, help cut them out, sand them and paint the cars. Mason lost the first round in the race by 4 milliseconds, so disappointing. Jonah was eliminated after the the second round. There were a few tears by the first eliminated child and I started to resent the whole pine wood derby. All the boys work so hard and try to come up with the best designs that will of coarse help their cars win and then when they don't it is so disappointing. After the race, the people running the track let all the boys continue racing for fun. This helped lighten the mood of the disheartened boys.

Jeff received an award for "The most helpful dad" since helped cut out 5 pinewood derby cars. We found out that even boys who have dads to help them sometimes have dads without the tools or the talent. Maybe next year we should start charging to help cut out cars. J/K

Appreciation

A couple of months ago I stopped by the grocery store on the way home from work. I was, of coarse, wearing my scrubs. As I was browsing items in the baking isle a very nice looking middle age woman approached my and said, "Thank you so much for all that you do for people as a nurse. I know it can be hard work and what you do is appreciated." I said,"Thank you." as she smiled at me and walked away. I remember feeling touched; and even though I do get paid for my job it is still sometimes quite a sacrifice. (Twelve hour shifts are extremely long, night shifts are exhausting and the whole family pays for those and there are times when work becomes very personal and extremely emotional. ) I was touched that this woman showed appreciation so openly to a stranger. A lasting impression was made that day on me to remind me to be openly appreciative to others.
I appreciate every police officer, fire fighter and soldier, however, I don't always tell them when I come across them. I also appreciate the nice bagger at the grocery store who often is so quick to bring my kids a balloon as we check out. (I always tell him thank you.) I recognize those who work for low pay to help the younger generation to grow; teachers, cross walk guards, nice lunch ladies, janitors and incredible PTA presidents/workers.

I am trying to be more conscientious to openly thank others for what they give to my community, family and to humanity. Showing gratitude can elevate us all.

What we've been up to.

I have taken quite a hiatus from blogging and am feeling the need to catch up.
Winter was long for all of us. I think is was Jeff being gone but the inversion made it worse. We all took a lot of Omega oil vitamins to help us.

The annual Mountain bike race in March in St. George was a welcome break from the cold. Jeff and the boys did well. Mason took 5th place and Jonah took 7th place.




We enjoyed a fun spring break to my sisters in Arizona. She moved to Tucson last year and we have been wanting to visit for a while and spring break was the perfect time. The kids and I traveled to St. George were we stayed the night, picked up my mom and then headed south. It as a longe 12+ hour drive. We stopped at the Glen Canyon Dam, the south side of the Grand Canyon and endured many potty stops on the way. We went to Saguaro National Park, to the Sonora Desert Museum and the Zoo. We enjoyed spending time with cousins and getting to no them better. I took the boys to base ball game during spring training, D'backs vs. Rockies. Mason encountered a rattle snake close up at the community pool. Luckily he looked down before he stepped on it and calmly backed away.

The Grand Canyon

Saguaro National Park with cousin Camden

Jonah and Mason at the D'Back vs. Rockies game. We hung out by the dugouts and have autographs from both teams.

The car ride back was much shorter, stopping only for potty breaks and for lunch with a longer break at Montezuma's Castle, south of Flagstaff.

We returned to St. George on late on Thursday night, April 1st. We enjoyed a leisurely 3 more days in St. George. Jeff came down and met us and we celebrated Jonah, Mason and Jessica's birthdays on Sat. the 3rd and Easter the next day. We returned grateful to be back home but bummed out to come back to snow.

We had a swimming birthday party at Grandma and Grandpa Hays clubhouse. We were grateful there were no rattle snakes at this pool.

The kids had a fun Easter hunt in Grandma and Grandpa's small yard. Due to relentless teasing from Mason about my age, Mason received only Rabbit droppings in his Easter basket. I warned him I had connections with the Easter bunny but he continued teasing. He thought it was funny initially but the tears started to brim in his eyes when he still only had droppings in his basket after 20 minutes and the other kids were eating their treats. Luckily the Easter bunny left the content of Mason's basket outside hidden in the backyard. Mason has been very complimentary about my youthfulness.



This was the day after we came home. You gotta love April in Salt Lake. "Spring is just a war between winter and Summer." ( Quote from an elementary student from Canyon Rim Academy)

Lessons learned on this vacation:

• A side jot to the Grand Canyon is never quick.
• When Grandpa says to eat a small amount of sugar free candy he means a very small amount. Montezuma visited Jonah in the middle of a look out at the Grand Canyon. He kept visiting the rest of the way but only after we had stopped at nice bathrooms and we were forced to pull of on ranch exits in the dark and befriend the sagebrush.
• Small children have small bladders and don't give much warning.
• The Wii is sometimes more fun than sight seeing. Especially when a 3 yr old cousin beats everyone.
• Most pools are not heated in Arizona and are still very cold in April @ 80 degrees.
• We like real Indian Fry Bread and Prickly Pear Cactus jelly.
• My children are safer around Cacti than the other adults in my family. (My sister and her hubby went the week after us and were all speared by cacti needles.)
• I'm scared of Rattle Snakes. (If I lived in AZ I wouldn't let my children play outside.I know, I'm paranoid.)
• Aaron makes scrambled eggs that my kids are still talking about.
• We miss our family not being close.
  

Thanks Mom and Dad for you help in driving and thanks Julie for entertaining all five of us. Maybe next time Camden will figure out which twin is which and he won't have to call him "boy".

Birthdays, Jobs and Thanksgiving

November was an exciting month. We celebrated Jeff's birthday on the 5th and Ellie's on the 19th. (We also have Grandma and Grandpa Hays' birthday, Aunt Cindy's, Uncle Brad's and cousin Cambry's birthdays this month.)
Ellie received a "Moxie doll" along with clothes and books. We had fun experimenting and making a fun cake. (We used a chocolate transfer sheet to for the pink designs.) We are excited she is 8 yrs old and can't believe the time has gone so fast.

We spent Thanksgiving this year at my parents house in St. George. We enjoyed nice weather and a marvelous Thanksgiving feast with my parents, Uncle Ray and Aunt Marianne. The boys enjoyed fun mountain biking, and we all had fun, swimming, spelunking in caves and going to the beautiful outdoor nativity at Tuachan theater.

Jeff started a job in Logan,UT on Nov. 16th. He commuted daily the first week then found a room to rent so he doesn't have to do the commute. He comes home on the weekends. It is a new experience for all of us. He enjoys the people he works with and enjoys the company.

Ellie was baptized on Friday, December 10th 2009. We had a wonderful evening with family and friends present for her baptism. There was a special spirit that night. We continued to have a special weekend as the next day my sister, Lara and her hubby were sealed to their little girl Joci in the Salt Lake Temple. My whole family was there. We rarely are all together, it was a wonderful weekend.

Happy Halloween

We had a great Halloween. What wonderful weather. Lots of candy and friends and I love having Halloween on a Saturday. I think we should officially make Halloween the last Saturday of the month. (My pictures are a little blury. Our camera started on the fritz a couple of weeks before Jeff lost his job so we have to hold very still and make do with our struggling camera. The picture of all four kids was a complete blur--oh well.)

Cowgirl Jessica


Scarecrow Ellie


Bugs Bunny Mason


Jonah as a Hobo handing out Money.

St. George Camping Trip

We spent UEA weekend camping at Snow Canyon, just outside of St. George. We were one of five families from our ward camping together. There were 17 kids total ranging in age from 9 months - 16 yrs old. Two of the men in our group ran the St. George marathon that Saturday.
We had great weather until high winds hit Sunday. We had fun hiking, biking, eating S'mores, boating and playing. A good lesson was learned when one of the boys became lost on our hike, he was found quickly thank goodness. The kids found a small tarantula on the 9months old high chair, while she was in it, and this led to screaming and high emotions until Jonah stepped on the spider. Thanks to my parents who loaned us their camper so we had quite a comfortable time.

Ellie and Jessica with friends we were camping with.

Jessica, Jonah and Ellie in the red rocks.

Mason on Bear-Claw Poppy Trail.

Jonah riding Bear-Claw Poppy Trail.

Jonah and Mason mountain biking.

Cousin Joci

Ellie holding Joci. Look at all those blue eyes.

Mason feeding Joci.

My sister and her husband came to Salt Lake the last week of Sept. so we could go see The Scarlet Pimpernel at Hale Theater. We had a fun busy weekend of a Primary breakfast, soccer games, girlie boutiques then a play and dinner. (The last two activities were with out children, so fun!!) It was a fun break for me. I've been working so many weekends it was nice to have one off.

Mason enjoyed feeding Joci. Ellie and Jessica pounce on their new baby girl cousins and the boys never get a chance. The boys act like they don't care but when the baby becomes available one boys asks if they can have a turn. She is such a cutie, we all enjoy her.