Noah's First Pinewood Derby

No last minute Pinewood Derby cars this year! David would be in Salt Lake the week leading up to the Derby and would still be there the day of the event so he made sure Noah got that car done before he left town. As always the boys do all the work with only a little help with the major tools from Dad.  I love his little ear plugs!

Noah decided he wanted a car like Xander's but with a different paint color and was super excited with how it turned out. I, however, was a little nervous that something might happen to it before the Derby even started and that David wouldn't be around to fix it so I didn't let Noah touch it even once that whole week.

The Pinewood Derby 2016!!!

We got there way early to make sure there were no mishaps during weigh-in. We knew he was a little below weight and I would need to help him glue some weights on which totally freaked me out...yes, I was a complete worry wart about the whole thing...but everything went smoothly.

His stylin' black car!!

Because we got there so early Noah then had to sit and wait for awhile which is kinda tough when you're ready to RACE!!!

Once his buddies showed up things perked up a bit.

Apparently Brother Mullins thought Xander did such a great job announcing last year that he asked him to do it again this year.

Savannah showing her sisterly support. What a trooper!

Noah's first race. I can tell by the little smile on his face that he was excited but definitely nervous.

Brother Knox lining up the cars - Noah's is in lane 3.

The anticipation...

And we have a winner! Noah was very excited and I think a little surprised.

Watching another race. Noah's car raced four times before the final races, winning twice, and coming in second once, and third once. The third place was a bummer because Noah had put his car on the track for that race and he put it on crooked which caused his car to go off the track half way down. Oh, well, thems the breaks of Derby racing.

I caught a winning moment here! Noah's car was super fast!

And the announcer was definitely a winner in my books as well. It took him a few minutes to get warmed up but once again Xander did a fabulous job announcing the races.

Enjoying some food before the final races.

They had Noah and Jackson race three times to see who would win 2nd place.

Owen Young won all of his races, earning first place. Noah came in second and Jackson third. Noah was elated and kept saying, "I can't believe I came in second!"

He especially loved his prize and wanted me to pin it on him right away!

Time for the family races! Savannah and Xander were both ready to compete.  Sim Hutchinson had told Xander all morning that he had made adjustments from last year and this year Xander's car was going down.

Ahhh, the excitement!

Savannah's car did okay but once again Xander's car prevailed, even over Sim's new and improved car. In fact, Xander raced his car against Owen's car, the winner of the Derby this year, and Xander beat him. Clearly last year Xander and David created a masterpiece, ha ha! I had to tease Sim a little about taking a winning spot away from a child; there's just something wrong with that.

Another winning year for Xander!

Xander's Scout Trip

From December 31st to January 2nd Xander was away on a scout Orienteering Camp out. Although I was a bit nervous to have him gone, he was so over-the-top excited about it and he ended up having a blast. Thursday night they camped out in the backyard of one of the leaders and then  Friday they headed down to DC for some orienteering and sightseeing, staying in a hotel down there and then returning home late Saturday after more wandering around the capital.
One of the leader's wives was kind enough to post some pictures of the boys in DC. They hit some of the Smithsonian museums...

and saw some of our most important buildings and monuments.

Obviously there was A LOT of walking that went on and many of the boys were worn out. It's nice to see that Xander was able to keep his head up!

This meal was one of his favorite parts of the trip!

I asked Xander to send me his pictures of the things that he most enjoyed seeing. Here's what I got: the Lincoln Memorial...

the White House...

the Capitol...

and a statue of Martin Luther King Jr.

And of course I love his selfie with the Washington Monument!

New Year's Eve Pierce Style

We didn't have any big plans for New Year's Eve but what else is new. David and I went to dinner at our favorite sushi place but that was it for the going out excitement.
Xander was away at a scout camp out which was a total bummer though he was super excited about it. We did have this cute girl with us until 8:30 and then she was off to babysit little Paxton .

And so there were just three of us. For the majority of the night we were in the family room, Noah watching a movie on his portable DVD player...

David watching college football playoffs...

and I was putting together Legos. I know, we are party animals!!

Both football games were boring so we ended up watching Lord of the Rings. I remember when just the mere glimpse of Gollum freaked Noah out!

Thank goodness this movie was on - it was the only way we all made it until midnight! It's definitely a good one!

Except for the humongous spider...Noah hates it and refuses to watch that part!

Savannah got home around 12:30 and then it was off to bed for all us so we could rest up and be ready to face 2016 in the morning!

Gingerbread Houses

Decorating gingerbread houses is becoming an after-Christmas tradition around here; we just never seem to have time to do them until Christmas vacation. I absolutely love the pre-assembled house kits - just pull them out and decorate, easy, peesy!

Don't quite know what's up with the lips...

Such concentration on that frosting!

The finished product:

I think they all got a little bored hence the small amount of frosting and candy on their houses. Still, it was a fun 15 minutes, ha ha! Still not sure about Xander's lips!