Iris

I know I posted about this before but I can't get over the fact that I didn't kill the iris bulbs I got!!! Check them out...

Cute Courtney

For some reason, Courtney has decided that I am talented enough to do her hair. So we have been having fun with her hair lately. 

Here is what she looked like on Sunday (although you really can't see her hair, she still wanted a "cute" picture taken.

No More Braces!!!

Today was the day!  After 2 years 8 months and 1 day in braces...they came off!!  But it was kind of an ordeal.  Ethan has end of year testing for the next few weeks so it was hard to find an appointment time that would work around the testing schedule.  Then, he had a peg tooth that the dentist would need to use composite to build up and make look normal.  So we had to make sure the dentist had a time on the same day the orthodontist had a time...you get the picture.

So Ethan got to skip school today to go through all the fun stuff of getting his braces off.  We drove across town to their office and at 8:40 they began working on him.  They put in his permanent retainer on the bottom teeth then they took off his brackets.  It was so weird.

They had to take more xrays and pictures.



Brace-less...


They gave him a goodie bag full of all the things he wasn't supposed to eat while he had braces.  "There were things I wasn't supposed to eat?  Oops"


What a cute smile..


Then we had to waste time for about an hour before running to our side of town and going to the dentist.  This when it got bad...The dentist had told us over and over again that to build up the tooth was "no big deal."  He said he just had to get composite material and build it up.  They made it sound like it wasn't any big deal.

After waiting for almost 30  minutes the hygienist walked us back to the chair and immediately asked Ethan, "Would you like some laughing gas?"  We both looked at her and Ethan started to panic.  I told her that he wasn't supposed to have any shots because it was just a simple composite buildup on his tooth.  She said "Well, I guess we will let the dentist explain it to you."  I knew we were in trouble.

The dentist came in and said that he was going to give Ethan a shot.  Again, I said he shouldn't have to because it was a simple build up.  He said that it is a simple build up but that the plastic dividers they would put in between Ethan's teeth would probably but him if they didn't numb him.  I should have let Ethan decide whether he wanted the pain of the dividers or the numbness of the shot.  But I was in shock that it wasn't going to be as simple as we had been led to believe.

EXPECTATIONS, people.  The number one rule: Manage expectations!  I had failed miserably and Ethan was not happy.

After an hour of Ethan being drilled, poked, sculpted and everything, Ethan had a new tooth.  But he wasn't happy.  His face was really numb and he was starving but didn't feel like eating anything while numb.

We went home to wait for Courtney to get out of school before heading back to the orthodontist office across town.  Ethan couldn't have the mold done for his retainer because they needed his tooth to be built up before they could do the mold.  So we had to go back and have the mold done (which is AWFUL because it feels like you are choking).  We then waited for another hour for them to make the retainer.  It's nice though because he only has to wear it at night and it's invisible.  Times have changed.

I would have taken an after picture, but when we left the dentist's office, he was too peeved and wouldn't let me near him.  He has now been fed and his face is no longer numb, so he is a happy camper.

So he went from this...



to this..



to this...



I just noticed that he has the same shirt on.  haha!  They are given extra "points" towards prizes if they wear their shirt to each appointment.  He has gotten a ton of points so in a few months, after he is checked for the final time with his retainer, he is going to cash them out and see what he can get.

Iris

Last July a family in our ward was putting in a pool and they had a backyard full of irises.  The landscaper told them he didn't want to dig them up and asked them to find people to come and take them for their yards.  I guess the bulbs are pricey for this type of iris and he didn't want them to go to waste.  The family had recently bought the house so they weren't attached to them.

The wife called me and I went running over.  I got about 20 or more of the iris bulbs and put them in our front yard.  I thought I had killed them because we transplanted them in July...which Google tells you not to do, and we all know that Google knows EVERYTHING!

But I was so happy when I saw this in the front yard this week...

And there are a bunch more that are getting ready to bloom.  They are so pretty!

Ethan is a National

Ethan is on the Nationals baseball team.  They don't have their uniforms yet so they were told to wear a red shirt for their first game.  Ethan did really well in the outfield and had a great catch.  I got there just in time to see the catch (I had to pick Courtney up from soccer practice).  They ended up losing the game but it was a long one!

The Popper

Courtney came out of school really excited because she had gotten a popper (a toy that you turn inside out and then watch it until it pops back out).  She had put it on her forehead and suctioned it there.  She waited for it to pop off.  Well...I hated to tell her but it made a round bruise in the center of her forehead.  I laughed so hard!

Cougar Choir

We had another "last".  Courtney was in her very last Cougar Choir concert!  They had a "groovy" concert so they sang really weird songs from the 70s and some fun songs from other eras.  Their choir teacher had them tie-dye their shirts so they would look the part.  Courtney is in the center in the picture below.  (Courtney's best friend is on a row a few behind her so you will see her in the video looking back to see her friend).

Here are some of their songs:

Hippy-Hippy Shake:

Here Comes the Sun:

Aquarius:

Happy Together:

We Will (my favorite song they sing):

Biking Dirty

Ethan had me take him out so he could go mountain biking.  There is a really great place not far from our house, so I drove him out there.  He had a great time biking around but he was so dusty/dirty when he got home!

50th Wedding Anniversary

March 26, 2016, was my parent's 50th wedding anniversary.

We had the announcement put in the papers in Carbon and Emery County and also in the Washington County newspaper.  I think it turned out really well.

I made them a memory book using their old wedding album.  I asked family to send me their well wishes and then I put them in the back of the book.  I had it printed so I could give it to them.

Since everything was crazy on Saturday (the General Women Session), we decided we would do a dinner for them on Sunday after Church.  They wanted a Thanksgiving-type dinner (turkey, stuffing, rolls, etc.) so we had one.

I made them a wedding-type cake.  I hadn't done swoops in a long time so they aren't as even as I would have liked them, but it turned out okay.  The top was spice cake (like their original wedding cake) and the bottom was chocolate (because that's what everyone likes).

Happy Anniversary to my amazing parents!

Easter

As Courtney said it, "Our Easter Bunny is really chill."  Yup!  Ethan got a tie and some candy.  Courtney got a dress and some candy.  Voila!  I tried to take the traditional Easter Sunday shot by the banks rose in the backyard but this is what I got...









I finally got a pretty good one...

Pizazz Pictures

Courtney had Pizazz pictures on a windy day behind the new Harmon's store.  Kind of an odd location but they turned out ok.  She is such a beautiful girl!

The Jr. All Starzz...


Courtney and her friend...


Here are the pictures we purchased...

All of Pizazz:

3rd to 5th grade class:

Jr, All Starzz

Jr. All Starzz

Courtney's action shot:

Courtney:

Family Game

Each Sunday we play a family game.  We rotate who gets to choose the game.  Bryan loves games with maps, Courtney likes long game (Life, Monopoly), Ethan liked quick games, and I like Settlers (because everyone can play and have fun).

Ethan choose Risk and he won!  He was pretty happy to beat Bryan.

Dance Competition

Courtney's dance competition went really well.  She was in 4 dance performances.  Three of the dances came in 2nd place and one came in 3rd place.  They were very happy about that!  I hadn't seen the two lyrical dances and I was very impressed.

This is the lyrical dance for the 3rd through 5th grade dance class:

This is the dance for the Jr. All Starzz (Courtney comes in and is on the front row on the right):

Santa Clara Fun Run

It was time once again for the Santa Clara Elementary Run for a Reason Fun Run!  ...and this is my last one.  Getting ready for this year's race was tough for the committee of moms.  The 4 of us were just so busy and were involved in other activities in other schools so it was crazy.  But we pulled it off.

Easter Break was the same time as our usual date for our run so we had to switch it to the weekend before...just like everyone else did.  So it was a busy weekend which affected our numbers but not too much.  We did have a hard time getting anyone to bring their race arch for us to use.  I had a great idea and called the vice principal at the high school to ask if we could borrow the Warrior football head they use for the football team to run through.  They were so nice and sent the rugby team to set it up and be there to motivate our kids.  We live in such a great area!

Bryan asked if he could pop the popcorn again this year (great memories from last year).  So Friday night was spent with our house smelling like a movie theater.  He popped so much popcorn!

The day of the race was really crazy because Courtney had a dance competition that day also.  I ran her to her competition at 8:00 and she was finished with her first dance by 8:30.  She changed and then we went to the elementary school and were there in time for her to run....make up and all.  She id really well and had a blast.

When the runners were back, we gave out treats/water/fruit/popcorn/snow cones, and then had a prize drawing.  It was then time for me to get Courtney back to the dance competition, so Bryan and Ethan stayed to help clean up.

I don't know the final numbers on how much we raised but it was a great time and people loved it!

Minefield

The Stake Young Women Presidency was in charge of the Stake Standards Night.  This was by far the most difficult activity I have ever had to plan...in my life.  BECAUSE, I was not supposed to be the one with the ideas.  Our job was to use the Stake Youth Council to plan the meeting.  We had to meet with them, help them come up with an idea, make the idea do-able, split the youth up so they were on a subcommittee with an adult leader, pray that everyone would follow through, and then have faith that it would all work out.

The Stake Young Men Presidency was amazing and helped us so much.  The youth came up with an idea of doing the "Minefield of Life" and helping the youth understand that the standards can keep them safe.  One of the counselors in the Stake YM had built a minefield on a smaller scale so he took the task of putting it together.

When we showed up at the Stake Center Wednesday night, this is what we found in both sections of the cultural hall:

He built some amazing minefields.

When the youth and their parents showed up, the Youth Council gave them a program with a colored dot on it (blue, yellow, red, or white) to each of the youth.  We had a woman from our Stake, who went blind while serving her mission, talk to us about how she uses tools to keep herself safe.  She likened that to the standards of the Church keeping the youth safe.  She is an amazing woman.

The youth then were asked to leave the Chapel by color.  The red dot people went first, blue dot next, etc.  The youth committee gave them blindfolds and the youth went through the minefield blindfolded with someone who could see as their guide.  When they have gone through, they rotated to the second section of the cultural hall and switched rolls.  That way each youth was able to be blindfolded and be a guide.

While the youth were in the minefield, the Stake YM secretary presented a "How to parent ME" class to the parents of the youth.  He had surveyed the youth in our stake to find out how they feel about their lives and how things are going.  It was a very eye opening experience to hear how the kids want to be parented.  It was something a lot of parents appreciated.

When the youth were finished, they came back into the Chapel where I gave a short wrap up talk and then the sister missionaries spoke for about 5 minutes (following up on a monthly challenge they had given our youth).  The closing prayer was said and ice cream sandwiches were served as dessert.

It went really well and we had A TON of youth attend, a lot more than we had anticipated (YEAH).  We were worried about doing a minefield for that many youth at once, but it worked out and everyone had great comments afterward.  Ethan told me before the activity that he didn't think it would work and it didn't sound like it would be fun.  Afterward he told me it went great and he had a lot of fun.  YEAH!