Jr. All Star Photos

It's that time again for Pizazz group photos.  The boys left Friday afternoon for a campout so Courtney and I had a girls night.  We started by curling her hair then spraying the heck out of it to try and get the curls to stay.  We then got her into her lyrical costume and argued over whether or not she should wear a robe in the van so she didn't get it dirty...she wore a robe.  Then we went over to Washington to Nisson Park for the photos.

Courtney had individual photos taken first.  No one would volunteer to have their photo taken so I told Courtney to just get up there.  She did a regular pose and then an action show that was...of course...a toe touch.  Then we had to wait around while everyone else had individual shots.

 It didn't take as long as it usually does but it still seemed like forever until it was time for their group shot.  Yes, I did have a mini-breakdown when they had her sit on the grass in her white lyrical dress.  But it helped that she was as panicked as I was and so she was extremely careful!  There are only 6 girls on Jr. All Stars.

 We had taken a girl from our neighborhood who is an All Star so we had to wait around until her photos were finished.  Courtney asked me to take some photos of her with  my phone and this is what we ended up with...along with a lot more.

 Two other Jr. All Star girls waited around to watch the All Stars have their photos taken.  They all have so much fun together.  This has been a good experience.  Here are Courtney, Bella and Emily being girls.

Scrimmage

Courtney had her first scrimmage on Thursday.  It was a crazy day because Ethan had been to the orthodontist on Tuesday but a wire was poking his cheek.  I called and they weren't in their office by our house so they made him an appointment at the office clear across town.

Courtney had SEPs all week so they were out at 1:15 and Ethan was out at 2:00.  They did homework and then we left so we could get to his 3:20 ortho appointment across town.  After they snipped of the end of the wire that was bothering him, we rushed back home so Courtney could get into her soccer uniform and I could get her to piano by 4:00.  We picked her up and rushed to Little Valley for her 5:00 scrimmage but we couldn't find anyone.  I sent a text to her coach asking where they were and was told that the location had changed.  We rushed to the new locating, which was in Washington, and got there at 5:20.

Courtney, and a few other girls who had been at the wrong field, warmed up and then they were put in the game.  Courtney can't play in the regular games but she can play in the scrimmages for experience.  Their team was creamed (no one kept score) and the game went on until about 6:45 (which was really long) and it was cold but she had a good time.

Courtney is number 2:

Drama

The last trimester started after the President's Day holiday so Ethan is now in Drama.  He says he doesn't like it but he is pretty good at it.  He came home one day and told me about an activity they had to do.  They all had to make up a character.  They partnered up and had to interview their partner who was in character.  Ethan started doing his character for me and I cracked up.  I just had to video it and share it with everyone.

Here is Ethan Pack...

Courtney, of course, couldn't be left out of the action so here is her character...

I think they both are characters!

Snow

We had our annual snow storm but it wasn't as bad as the one last year.  We woke up Monday morning to this:

Ethan had me check online to see if school had been cancelled but it hadn't so he had to go. There was an email saying that if your student rode the bus and you lived near a hill that you would have to get your own child to school that day because the buses couldn't go up and down hills because of the snow.  We don't have a hill near us to get to school so I sent him.

None of the moms of his friends would let their sons ride their bikes to school so they all ended up carpooling.  Ethan wasn't happy about this.  He wanted to ride his bike in the snow but didn't want to go alone.

Courtney spent the morning playing outside in the cold stuff.  I remember when she was really little and she HATED snow.  She would yell "Get the white stuff off of me NOW!"  Oh how times have changed.

Ethan wasn't happy at all when I picked him up after school.  Apparently the hill on Pioneer counts as a hill the bus wouldn't go up or down so the kids in our neighborhood in middle and high school decided not to go to school.  The intermediate schools didn't take attendance either and the missed day won't count against anyone.  Ethan wasn't happy that I didn't let him stay home.  I told him that he would be "One day smarter than the other kids" but he wasn't buying it.

It melted pretty quickly.  I was glad because I hate driving in the stuff!  But it was pretty to see and the kids had fun playing in it.  Ethan and his friends had a huge snow ball fight and he was soaked when he came home from hanging out with them.

Baby Shower, Baby Lucy and Unveiling

Great-Grandpa Pack turned 95 in January.  John, Bob and Brent hired an artist, Jeff Hein, to paint a portrait of Great-Grandpa Pack.  The portrait was finished and on February 21st they were having the unveiling at the Hein Academy in Salt Lake City where Bob has been studying art.

We left home on Saturday  morning really early because Courtney and I were invited to a baby shower for Jessica that started at 10:30 a.m. in Pleasant Grove.  The weather was great and the roads were fine, so we made good time.  Bryan and I talked for long time and then switched drivers so he could work on the computer while I drove.

The baby shower was a lot of fun with good food and a lot of laughs.  Courtney and I went with Grandma Pack while the boys (Bryan, Ethan, Grandpa Pack and Andrew) went to BYU's art museum and saw an origami display.  They said it was really neat.

 We met up at the hotel after the baby shower (which actually was a baby snow because it started snowing during the party but it didn't snow very long).  Grandpa and Grandma needed to get to the art gallery so they took off and we went to David and Jenny's house to pick up some disks of photos that Grandma had forgotten there.  So we got to see Lucy!!  She is so tiny.  We got to hold her and it was fun to see the kids with her.

Here is the oldest grandchild holding the youngest...

 Courtney holding Lucy:

When we finished with our "baby fix" we took off for Salt Lake for the unveiling.  They were actually doing 2 unveiling ceremonies because there were family members who had different schedules but who wanted to see the portrait.  I was surprised of was how young the artist was when we met him.  I expected him to be quite a bit older.  He was very nice and a bit surprised to see all the people who had come to see his painting.

We all crowded in Bob's studio with Great-Grandpa Pack sitting front and center.  Bob gave an introduction and then pulled the cloth off the portrait and this is what we saw:

It was so silent while we all stood there looking at the painting.  Great-Grandpa Pack sat for 9 hours (3 hours at a time with only a few minutes for a break once-in-a-while) for the portrait.  They kept commenting that he was one of the best models because he was such a trooper.  I don't know what I expected but this was much better than I could have imagined.

When we had all finished ooh-ing and aah-ing over the painting, we went to Little America for dinner.  At 7 p.m. it was time to go back to the studio for the second unveiling.  Bob did his same introduction but this time when he took the cloth off the painting there was a collective hushed "WOW" from everyone and then silence.  I haven't ever heard awe like that before.  It was great to be a part of something to honor Great-Grandpa Pack.

We then went back to the hotel where Bryan took Courtney swimming and Ethan and I went to bed.

Sunday morning we went to Church in Andrew and Jessica's ward where we heard her parent's give their farewell talks before leaving on their mission.  We changed clothes, checked out of the hotel and were off for home.  They were predicting really bad weather and we wanted to beat it so we took off as soon as we could.  The roads were wet and snowy in just a few places but it wasn't too bad.  The slowest we had to go was 55, so that was good.  After we went through there was a huge storm that hit Cedar City and closed down some of the smaller roads.  I couldn't believe photos they showed online of the area we had been through just hours before.  We were very blessed to get through when we did so we didn't have to  mess with snow because I hate driving, or being a passenger in a car that is driving, through snow.

Here is more info on the artist, if anyone is interested: Jeff Hein

Fishing With Grandpa

Grandpa Oman wanted to take Ethan fishing and Courtney wanted to try too.  Leigh Ann was in town for Presidents Day and it was Valentine's Day.  We all went out to a little pond where they stock the fish and Grandpa got everyone going.  Ethan enjoys fishing and has fun catching and releasing the fish.

Ethan caught the first fish.  Courtney was playing across the pond with the net so we had to call her back so they could scoop the fish out of the water (I don't know why he can't just reel it in and then lift up the line with the fish on the end, but oh well).  She was pretty excited that he had caught a fish and kept trying to find fish to catch with the net.

Bryan and I left to go on a date and that's when Courtney caught her fish.  They had a great time!

 Grandpa is getting it ready:

 Courtney caught a fish too!

 Ethan caught a few fish.

Pizazz at Dixie State

Courtney had a dance performance during halftime of a Dixie State girls game.  I got her ready and we ran down to the game.  It was on a Wednesday so the boys were at Young Men's.  The girls did a great job!

Here are the Jr. All Stars (Courtney is on the back row, right side):

Here are the 3rd-5th grade girls (Courtney is on the right side):

Cute haircut!

Ethan was looking really shaggy so I called Lori and asked if she had time to cut his hair.  I don't like cutting it now that he is older so I have her do it.  I walked him over after school and let him tell her what he wanted.  He wanted it a little longer than a buzz so she complied and I think she did a great job.  He's a cute kid.

He kept up with the gel for about 3 days and now it's back to usual.  He does comb it though so I'm not complaining!

Late Birthday Present

The Stake RS Presidency always gives the Ward RS Presidency members cute things for our birthdays.  One year we got a necklace, another year we got an apron, another year...I can't remember what we got. My birthday is in January and always seems to sneak up on them.  This year they had a woman helping them with the gift who had to leave town suddenly so they called to wish me Happy Birthday and told me my present would be coming.  The other day I was driving out of our neighborhood when the Stake RS President flagged me down to give me my gift...

Isn't it cute?  It was a paper box shaped like a piece of cake with a cupcake inside.  I thought it was so cute and something I would never take the time to make myself but it was pretty to look at.  I think people who have the patience and talent to do things like this are amazing!

I was very appreciative.

Visiting Teaching Interviews

Okay, I will admit it, doing Visiting Teaching interviews is one of my least favorite things to do each year.  I learn great information from the sisters and find out better ways to serve them, but I hate dressing up and taking 3 days waiting for sisters to show up at the Church at their appointed time so we can talk to them. So this year we searched for something new to do and found a Visiting Teaching Tune Up.

The lady who did it made it sound so fun and easy.  I emailed her asking if it would be possible to get her files with the clipart and she sent me everything...clip art, hand outs, interview sheets, questionnaires, and everything we could possibly need to make it a success.  I was amazed and how much she gave us.

We began announcing it a month ahead of time, put posters up 2 weeks before, and gave out a personal invitation to each sister the week before.  It was announced on our Path account, Facebook, through email and via text message.  Everyone and their dog knew what we were doing.

Bryan and the kids helped me the night before to put labels on mini water bottles and then put them and some papers in a bag to give to each sister.  I was very optimistic and made about 100 of them so we wouldn't run out.

We had 3 times set up so the sisters could drive by the Stake Center on their way to drop kids off, on their way home from dropping kids off, on their way to work, on their way home from work, and whenever they wanted to drop by. We had traffic cones set up to make lanes with lane lines so they wouldn't get lost.  Balloons were marking the entrance to the parking lot and we had volunteers from the RS meeting committee to hand out questionnaires and their treat afterward (a water bottle with some handouts).  We were so excited.....

And we bombed out!!  We have over 100 active sisters and only 30 showed ... total...all day long!  The sisters who showed up loved it because they didn't even have to get out of their cars.  They would roll down the window and we would go through their questionnaire with them. They said it was so much fun but we had a really poor turn out.  More sisters show up when they have to dress up and make an appointment.

I was a cold and windy morning so we were pretty miserable.  The afternoon was nice...I got a sunburn but it really doesn't take much for me to get a sunburn. The Bishop suggested that next year we have the sisters make appointments to drive through and maybe that will get more of them.  I think that the ones who had problems or needed to tell us something were the ones who showed up.

Anyway, the next night we had a 2 1/2 hour presidency meeting just going over the Visiting Teaching and what changes needed to be made based on our interviews and the mass amount of new move ins we have had in the past couple of months. I think we got it all figured out.

We decided to try the idea again next year but with appointments, as the Bishop suggested, to see if we can get more sisters to come.

I still have about 70 mini bottles of water in red bags in my garage.  I think I'll take them to our next activity and let those who didn't show up have one.  They are just taking up space in my garage. ;)

Soccer Girl!

A few weeks ago on a Thursday Courtney asked me to eat lunch with her.  I had a really busy day and was trying to figure out how to let her down easy when Bryan talked some sense into me. So I rushed around to get things done I needed to and found myself at 11:50 sitting at the lunch table with Courtney and her friends.  They were a talkative bunch so it was pretty fun.

Courtney had been talking about signing up for softball and the girls we were sitting with had played on her team a few years ago when she tried softball the first time.  So I asked them if they were going to sign up again this year to play softball.  They said, "Oh no.  We are playing soccer."  Courtney's eyes lit up so I asked some follow up questions and found out that they are playing on the Galaxy competitive team.  One girl said, "We still need team members so Courtney should totally sign up with us."  They told me the practices were on Monday, Thursday and Friday, which would work for Courtney.  So I asked one girl to have her mom call me that night for details.

That afternoon there was a knock on the door and one of the girls, and her dad, were at our door to pick Courtney up for practice.  Apparently they were all really excited about the idea of her playing on their team.  I had to explain that Courtney was at piano and that I needed details before we could commit.  I got the number for the coach and gave her a call.

The Galaxy team was started by two Dixie State soccer players.  The guy coaches the boys team while the girl coaches the girls team.  They are a U11 competitive league with the goal of helping the girls improve while having a positive environment.  But they believe in working hard and conditioning so the girls can get through a game without dying.  I was really excited and it sounded great.  We have been really frustrated in the past because Courtney has been on teams with really inexperienced girls who just goof around.  And because of the cut off date, Courtney was always playing with really young girls.

The coach took our information and asked that Courtney come to Friday's practice.  I got her birth certificate out, took a head shot of her and got her all excited....

Then Friday morning I got a phone call from the coach saying that they had double checked the rules and asked the league and found out that players are only allowed to play up 1 year.  Meaning that a 9 year old can play on a U10 team or a 10 year old can play on a U11 team but a 9 year old can't play on  U11 team. The deadline was July 31st.  That meant that Courtney was 12 days off of being able to play on their team.  I was bummed but the coach told me that Courtney can still practice with the team, wear a jersey and play in the scrimmage games.  She just can't play in the regulation games.  She also told me that we wouldn't have to pay for anything but the uniform since Courtney isn't able to play in games.

Courtney was really sad but decided she would rather have a chance to play in scrimmages and play soccer with her friends (something she hasn't done before because they all have birthdays before August) than not play at all.  So we started her on games and she has been having a lot of fun.  Practices are hard and they are working them but she is having a great time and enjoys it!

I am so glad Courtney asked me to lunch and Bryan convinced me to take a break and go!!

Zits is my life...

We are keeping this on our fridge for future reference. Think it works?

Unsolicited Advertisement for the Fun Run

It's time to gear up for the 2nd Santa Clara Elementary Run for a Reason fun run!  We did so well last year that we were able to get the sunshades put up at the elementary school.  We met last month to figure out what we wanted to run for this year and, with the input of some of the teachers, we decided to raise money to buy iPads for the classrooms. 

The four of us who have organized it last year got together in January and started to figure out what we needed to do.  Last year we only had 6 weeks to put together the race and we had no clue what we were doing.  This year we have a bit longer and we actually have experience, so we are so excited!

We are looking for sponsors so if you know of a company wanting to get their logo on the back of a t-shirt, let me know!  We have some amazingly generous neighbors who have already given money so it's been great!  For $50 your company name will be on the t-shirt, for $100 your company logo will be on the t-shirt, and for $135 your logo will be on the t-shirt and you get a family race entry. Score!

If anyone wants to come and run it, we will, once again, have some awesome prizes.  It's the same route as last year.  All runners will get a t-shirt and there will be popcorn and snow cones at the end, along with the usual fruit for those health conscience runners. :)  And there will be a prize drawing after the race and we will be having some awesome prizes.  One prize for 2 people is being donated from SkyWest Airlines, so let your imagination run with that one (but not to Hawaii or any place like that). 

The race is the morning of March 28th which is the same day as the General Women's Broadcast.  If anyone wants to run it, I have the registration form you can fill out, just let me know!  

We've Gone Solar!

After a lot of research, talking to 3 different solar companies, and a lot of prodding, we finally decided to go solar.  I have had some guilt with it because they are closing down coal mines in Emery County and my dad worked at the power company for years but ultimately it is what's best for us.

We chose a solar company that we liked the best and signed the paperwork at the end of December.  They spent 3 days at the end of January installing the 26 panels in three different locations on our roof.  It was really loud!  I felt bad for them too because it was raining 2 of those days so they were on the roof in the rain.  There wasn't lightening so I wasn't nervous about that but I was afraid someone would fall off.

The electrical inspection with Ivins City went without a problem and Rocky Mountain Power changed out our electrical box the next day.  We switched it all one and...ask us in 6 months if we're happy or not.  It's only been 3 days so we haven't seen benefits yet and it's been rainy but it's fun to go out and watch the backward arrow show up on our electrical box...not that I go out and check it numerous times a day.

We also have a box inside our house that we can use to monitor the system to see how much we are producing.  They are sending us a website log-in where we can look and see how much each individual panel is producing and keep an eye on things.  I'm sure it will be easy to be obsessive about it but it's kind of fun.  Now my goal is to switch all the light bulbs in the house to be LED so they use less electricity.

Our new electrical box looks a big scary with all the red warning tags all over it!

 See the backward pointing arrow on the left?

 

Pizazz at Snow Canyon

We were so excited to see that the Pizazz girls were dancing at the Snow Canyon basketball game!  It's such a plus when we get to watch her perform while watching our team.  Ethan was getting ready to go on the Klondike so he didn't have young men's that Wednesday, so we made him come too.

They had the entire team there so the Jr. All Stars went first, followed by the 7th-college team, followed by the Jr. All Stars, then the 3rd-6th team, followed by the K-2nd team, and ending with the entire group dancing together.  Courtney loves dancing and has the biggest smile on her face.  I love watching her because she enjoys it so much and she is improving this year in leaps and bounds...literally.  Just watch the video to see her toe touch!

Here is the Jr. All Star routine.  Courtney is in the back on the right.

Here is the routine for her entire class of 3rd-6th grade girls.  Again, she is on the right hand side.

Great job COURTNEY!!

She Did It!

Courtney is now a "Rockin' Rad Reader!" Each year the librarian at the elementary school starts a program for the kids to read all the Beehive Nominee books for the year.  They have to read the picture books and the chapter books.  Courtney took care of the picture books during the summer with our little book club but she had to read the chapter books during the school year.  Some of them are pretty long and dry so they are difficult.  But she has wanted to be a Rockin' Rad Reader for years...because Ethan was one year.

Over Christmas break she read a book and then she only had a couple books left when she went back to school.  Because of the incentive to gain time to play on her iPod, she read a lot and finally finished the last of the books.  She had to take comprehension tests on each book but was able to easily pass them and finish up.  She got a t-shirt (she picked the same one Ethan had been given when he did it), a dog tag, a brag tag, a book and a bookmark.  They also announced her name over the intercom and she had her picture taken for the screen saver in the library.  It was a huge deal and she was so excited to have finished!

I was so happy for her because it wasn't an easy goal.  She tried to do it last year but just didn't have the interest in the books.  This year, her teacher told them that he would give a party to anyone who finished before the end of the 2nd trimester and this was incentive enough for her!  What a rockin' rad reader we have in our house!

Okay, I promise her jeans are clean!  They are yellow and are so stained that they look filthy all the time.  But I wash them and wash them, they just aren't coming any cleaner.  So don't judge. ;)

Zion's

It was free entrance day to Zion's National Park on Martin Luther King Jr day so we decided to take advantage of it.  Bryan had to work in the morning so we went in the afternoon.  The kids and I bought some KFC on our way to pick him up so we could have something for lunch.  We drove to Zion's, got in for free and drove to the Lodge.  I couldn't believe how many people were there.  Usually when we go it is during the summer when you have to take the shuttle so I didn't realize how little parking there is in the park.  Bryan dropped us off at the Lodge to find some parking.  We ate outside the Lodge on the tables they have there.  It was FREEZING!  I was so cold.  But I knew I would warm up when we were hiking.

After lunch we drove through the tunnel to the overlook hike.  It is only about a mile and pretty easy so we figured we could do it in good time.  The kids had a lot of fun taking pictures of the various sights and chatting away.  Courtney used her new camera a lot and Ethan took pictures with his phone.  No one complained and it was a fun hike.

Then we drove home.  It was a good way to spend a day off of school.

Changing Rooms

Last month, Courtney decided she didn't want a bed frame anymore.  So she took her bed apart and put the frame and box springs downstairs, by herself.  I didn't like it because it made her room look like a mess all the time but I had to pick my battles.  She did it by herself so I couldn't complain too much, especially when I didn't know it was happening.

After Christmas, she decided that she needed to switch rooms with Ethan because she wanted a change.  Ethan, on the other hand, did not want to give up the bigger room to his sister.  They tried to convince us to finish the basement "right now" so they can move down there.  That is the ultimate goal and we would like to do it really soon, but there just isn't any way to do it "right now."

Courtney, being the smartie she is, looked around and decided that she wanted to move into the office.  This is a tiny room with no closet or windows that was supposed to be a baby's room, if we had more kids.  We decided to let her try it but she had to clean her old room out first.  This didn't go well because it was a huge mess.  But she worked on it and on the Friday after my birthday, I helped her finish up and switch rooms.

There had been a little bit of confusion though.  She thought that Bryan told her she could have both rooms and I thought the understanding was that she would have the closet in her old room to use but not the rest of it.  So there was a lively debate about that before things were figured out.

We moved the office stuff (except for the couch which I couldn't figure out how we had gotten it in there) into the hallway and then moved her bed into the office.  We strung some Christmas lights around the ceiling to give it a more "princessy" feel and hung decorations on the wall.  It turned out really cute.

On Saturday, we moved the couch and file cabinet out of her room and into the new office (her old room) and then moved her dresser into her new room.  It worked out really well and the new office is my new favorite room.  It has so much light and isn't so hot because there is air circulation.  Ethan loves to hang out in there and read on the couch so it's turned into our family gathering spot.  And, since the TV is in the other room, it isn't turned on as much as it used to be.  So it's a win-win for everyone.

We now have a real guest room because the couch bed fits perfectly in the new office.  The closet is still Courtney's so it's kind of a mess but that's life.  She loves her new room and we love the new office!

My birthday!

I have to say that I have such a kind, wonderful, considerate daughter who is just awesome.  She wanted to make my 40th birthday something wonderful.  She wanted to throw me a surprise party but Bryan talked her out of it and instead took her to the Party Store where she bought 40th birthday decorations to her hearts content.  Bryan, under Courtney's direction, decorated the night before with balloons, streamers and party hats.  It is so fun to see her get so into it!  (Thanks to Bryan for talking her out of the surprise party.)

 They made me breakfast of crepes and then Courtney made lunches so I wouldn't have to.  Bryan cleaned up the house and then everyone was off to work/school.  Bryan took me to lunch and then made my favorite dinner.  My family all came over that night to have cake/ice cream with us and wish me happy birthday.

Courtney insisted that I wear my birthday tiara and she had party hats for everyone else, with their names written on the inside.  Yes, she is a mini-me.  Doesn't my dad look great in his hat?

I was spoiled.  I got cards, money, gift cards and a coupon for a manicure from Courtney.  Ethan was excited to give me Amazon gift cards so I could buy bike stuff. Thanks everyone for helping to make my birthday fun!

Crazy!

Bryan and I went on a date and we saw this car...motorcycle...whatever.  It looked like an old guy had bought a car kit and put it together.  We had to take a picture and text it to Ethan because it was really cool!  I'm sure the man is used to people taking pictures of him.  Why else do you have a bright orange custom built car-thing?

It Snowed!

Ethan didn't get his snowstorm in December but he did get one.  You can't tell from the first picture, but it was starting to snow and Ethan went outside to be in it.

 It was cold enough at night that the snow stuck and this is what it looked like the next morning.

 There wasn't enough to play in but there was enough that the kids were able to get cold!

New Years

There's not much to say.  Ethan went to bed.  Courtney stayed up.  Happy 2015!

Movies

We used Christmas and New Years to catch up on all the movies we have wanted to watch but didn't have time to watch before.  We took the kids to movies they wanted to watch and then Bryan and I went on dates to watch the others.  I grew up watching movies all the time so I loved it.  Bryan isn't so much of a movie guy so I really appreciated him watching all the movies with me!

We also have a tradition of watching all the Harry Potter movies in the week leading up to Christmas.  Then we watch the Lord of the Rings movies the week before New Years.  It's fun although the kids usually don't watch the Lord of the Rings movies.  They are a bit too intense for them.  Although this year they did watch quite a bit.

Contract

Since Santa gave Ethan a cell phone for Christmas we had to put together a parental cell phone contract that Ethan would sign explaining the rules for his cell phone use.  And, since Bryan is an attorney, it was filled with a lot of conditions.  I found some contracts I liked and gave them to Bryan to mix together to make a good one for our situation.  Ethan wasn't too thrilled to have to read through it all with Bryan but we wanted to make sure he understood all the rules.  It's a really good contract.

We signed him up for a Ting wireless plan so it's only $15-20 per month so it isn't too bad.  Ethan doesn't really want a phone to use as a phone, he just wants something to play games on.  His old iPod 3rd generation was at it's limit and he couldn't download new games anymore.  I'm sure he will text on it but that's about it.  And it has strict parental limits so there isn't too much he can do with it.

Ethan gave Courtney his old iPod (he had promised her before Christmas that if he got an iPhone he would give her his old iPod but he had a hard time giving it up) so she had to sign her own usage contract with us.  She is the one I worry about because she already "borrows" my phone to use without letting me know so I was concerned about what she would do if she had her own device.  But, luckily for us, all the texting apps won't work on a 3rd generation anymore so she just listens to music on it. And it doesn't have a camera so no selfie problems.  We are taking baby steps with her.

We all got to sign the contracts and they know the consequences to their actions.  No devices in bedrooms, they can only use them if they have accumulated time (which they get from reading and doing Scout things), and the parents have rights to look at their devices whenever we want.  Ethan also can't delete texts without letting me go through them first.  He can't use it at Church unless he is reading the scriptures. And if he gets calls from someone not in his contacts, he is not allowed to answer them.  Or it will be taken away!

Isn't he glad had got an iPhone?

The Park

The kids wanted to go to Unity Park to ride their penny boards.  They had a great time and there is a sloping hill that is perfect for riding down.  They don't go too fast  but it takes them a long way.  It was great and they were able to figure things out.  Both of them say that the penny board is a lot easier to use than a regular skate board, so that's great.

Ethan found out that he is too long to ride on the board on his bum but he had fun trying.

Here is a video:

Violin Girl

Courtney LOVES playing her violin.  She also loves having videos taken of her playing the violin.  I am fine with that because she practices that way!

Goofy Kids

These two crack me up.  They are so hilarious and Ethan loves to make his sister smile!  She was practicing one day and I told her not to poke Ethan with her bow.  He took advantage of that and decided to be funny.  You can tell they both enjoyed it!

Christmas!!

The kids woke up really early, I mean REALLY EARLY, and went to to check out what they got from Santa.  We could hear Ethan jumping up and down from our bedroom.  He was pretty excited that Santa brought him an iPhone 4. Courtney had really wanted a pink violin case from Santa so she was a bit disappointed when she got a camera, but she said it was okay.  (Aunt Leigh Ann gave her the pink violin case so it all worked out.)

They quickly tore through their stockings to see what else there was.  Courtney got a gift card to Red Robin and a reading light.  Ethan got a gift card to Red Lobster and a rubber band shooter.

 They both got penny boards from Grandma and Grandpa Pack.  They were pretty excited about those because they had been wanting them "really bad."

 Ethan got a life jacket from Grandma and Grandpa Oman.  He had an inkling as to why but wasn't sure.

 Bryan gave Courtney a mitt so they could play catch and she would have one that fit.

  This is the reason why Ethan got a life jacket.  Grandma and Grandpa Oman gave him a kayak!  When we had finished opening all our presents, they took us out to the Pathfinder where they had a kayak in the back.  Ethan was so excited!!!  Now it just has to warm up enough for him to go to Ivins Reservoir to kayak.

I think he's excited!

 Ethan also got a Giants jacket.  It's huge but he'll grow into it, right?

It was a great Christmas!