Sammi the smarty

Sammi has had a really successful school year this year. She was the class winner for the geography bee and the spelling bee. She got to move on to the school competitions for both of those and did well. She took 6th place overall in the school spelling bee and she is only in fourth grade. She completed against the other class winners in the 4th, 5th and 6th grades. She also participated in the Timpanogos Storytelling festival. She was the overall winner for the fourth grade and got to tell her story The Gum Chewing Rattler by Joe Hayes to the entire school and the panel of judges She entertained the audience of about 750 with her amazing storytelling skills. She did such a great job! She didn't even act nervous even though she said that her legs felt like jello. Way to go Sammi! We are proud of your hard work and talents.

Feb. 24 - Draper Temple Open House

We got to go to the Draper Temple Open House on Tuesday, Feb. 24. We went right after school and missed all of the long lines and waiting. Jacob loves buses. His dreams came true that day when he finally got to ride on the bus from the church building up to the temple and back. He still talks about riding on the bus everyday.

When we were in the temple Jacob was so good. We took his stroller to keep him confined. It worked wonderfully. He was so quiet too. I think he knew that is was a special place. Joe was whispering to me, asking me a question and Jacob said, "Shh.. Joe." It was pretty cute. When we were in the sealing room both Sammi and Joe told us that this is where they wanted to get married. We told to them to always remember that and work toward that goal. It was nice to have the children in the temple with us all as a family.

Family Fun

We love spending time together! Jacob misses the kids so much when they are gone. He gets so excited on Fridays when they come back. We are so blessed to get to have them with us 50%. They bring so much fun, excitement and love in our home and family. One night we played the flour game. It is pretty fun, but a little messy. You compress flour in a small cup. Then turn the cup over a plate, leaving behind a compress pile of flour. Place a piece of candy or a penny on top. Then using a butter knife you take turns slicing away some of the flour. Whoever knocks the candy off the pile has to get it out of the flour with their mouth, without using their hands. I was the only one who didn't knock off the candy. Mark, Sammi and Joe all had to go searching for their piece of candy.

Bryce Canyon Winter Fest 2009

Mark and I went away for the weekend to celebrate Valentines, Mark's birthday and our 4th anniversary. We went to Bryce Canyon National Park. We stayed at Ruby's Inn. They were having their 24th annual Winter Festival. They have classes in archery, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, watercolor, kids arts/crafts, kayaking, photography, geocaching and more. There were ranger talks and cross-country ski and snowshoe tours with the rangers. All of the classes and events were free and they also provide the snowshoes or cross-country skis if you needed them. We had so much fun! We went into the park and saw most of the park. We went to a geology class and an astronomy class with the rangers. We went to an archery class and also a snowshoe tour. We went and watched the sunrise on Sunrise point. It was so pretty. The park is so amazing in the winter. We were tired, because we were so busy. We ended up having beautiful weather, it was a bit cold, but it is winter after all and we were prepared for it so it wasn't bad. We would love to take the whole family down next year. The kids would love it! It was such a fun weekend. Thanks Shelly and Mom for keeping Jacob for the weekend. While we were there we bought our Annual pass to the National Parks and so we are now thinking about how we can see as many National Parks as possible. What fun lies ahead for us!

Feb. 7, 2009 - Eagle Day

We went to Eagle Day in Fountain Green. There was a display up at the fish hatchery along with a map of good viewing areas in Sanpete County. You drive around to the viewing areas to look for eagles. We had such a nice day. It was a beautiful day. The kids were so good. Shelly and Grandma came along with us. We saw 18 bald eagles and 4 golden eagles. We also saw a few hawks. The kids had so much fun looking through the binoculars. Jacob even had his little kaleidoscope that he kept looking through, thinking he was looking at the eagles. Shelly has some more great pictures that she will post on her blog.

Oh, Boy! My boy!

I was getting ready for school today. I had made Jacob his peanut butter and jam sandwich and he was suppose to be eating while I went to the bathroom for a second to put in my contacts and a little bit of make-up. Which is a rare thing. This evening I had my parent conferences and I wanted to look better than my usual, natural look. I heard Jacob say, "Mom, mmm." Well, I was thinking that he just thought that his sandwich was good. As I went in the kitchen to check on him this is what I found. He reached up on the counter and got the jar of peanut butter. He took the lid off and decided that he wanted some, so why not with both hands. He had his hands in his mouth and was saying mmm...

I was trying to hurry and get a few things done that I needed to do for parent conferences tonight. Of course, I can never be early or even on time for anything. There always seems to be something exciting like this going on at our house. A few weeks ago it was Vicks Vaporub, now peanut butter! At least peanut butter doesn't sting like vicks and it probably tastes better too!





I can't leave him alone for even a minute. He always seems to find some trouble to get into! Boy, I love this messy boy, even if he makes me tired and causes a lot of clean-up for Mom!
















































Mmm, mmm, finger licking good!