Pinewood Derby 2015

In past years Xander has not had much success with the Pinewood Derby. The first year he refused to participate and then the next two years found Xander's car floundering in last place in most of the races. Some of you might recall the extremely sourpuss face that was displayed in most of the pictures from last year's Pinewood Derby.  This year I kinda gave David a hard time about Xander's string of losses and since this was his last year doing the derby it might be nice if he had a better car. David started researching tips and tricks to a better Pinewood Derby car and then he and Xander got to work!  
And here we go - Pinewood Derby 2015!

Xander's sleek silver car.

Noah also made a car, with David's help, for the siblings races. It needed a few final touches.

A car that fits Noah - a dragon van!

Savannah's 49ers car served her well last year so she brought it out again.

Xander had a big part to play in the Derby this year - he helped keep track of the races...

and carried the race results to the computer.

A full house,

with lots of excitement in the air!

My favorite part of the Derby was listening to Xander announce the races. He really got into his role, elongating names and adding a little humor to the event.

Towards the end of the Derby we realized that Xander had won all his races and his car was headed in to the finals. To determine the ultimate winner they took the top 3 cars and raced them against each other three times; in each race the cars were placed in different slots to ensure that all was fair. In this picture Xander's car is in the 2nd slot. Go Xander!!

Xander's reaction when his car went undefeated!! Love the pure joy! And the best thing was that the car was all his - he cut it, painted it, attached everything, and implemented all of David's hints that he had found. We were so proud of him!

Next up were the siblings' cars. Go Noah and his Dragon car!

What a cute group of little kids.  They were just as into the races as their older brothers had been!

Unfortunately Noah's car didn't do so well but Savannah's 49ers car rocked it once again!

The winners of the 2015 Pinewood Derby.

The siblings winners!

A proud dad!

Way to go out in style, Xander! No grumpy expressions this year.

ABBY Time!

It took a couple months but Noah finally earned that award he had been working for since the start of the school year - the ABBY behavior award. David and I headed to the school in January to cheer on our No!

I love his teacher's face in this picture!

A congratulatory handshake from the principal.

I tried to get him to at least try to look presentable for today's award ceremony but he opted to wear his Steve Smith, falling apart, old team, Carolina Panthers jersey. He presents such a stark contrast to the cute little girl from his class who knew how to dress for the occasion. Oh, well, we can't have everything - if he can't dress at least he knows how to behave.

Noah and his teacher, Ms. Koehler; he adores her!

I always have a little worry in the back of my mind about how Noah, my ever-so-exuberant child, is behaving at school. Awards like this help ease those concerns. We are definitely proud of our Noah!

His picture in the school's front hallway.

88 Years Young!

My sweet friend Audrey turned 88 in January! To celebrate this fun occasion I invited a bunch of ladies from church to surprise her with a big birthday lunch bash. Audrey had been telling me for several weeks that she was in the mood for a big hamburger and, since she had been so sick for a couple of months and hadn't been eating well, this was great news.  When someone wants good ole' fashioned hamburgers, you head to Red Robin!
Ann, Audrey, and Phoebe. Joyce brought the Birthday Cake and Candle hat which we insisted Audrey wear!

It was quite the celebration!

Love this lady!!

One Last Party

One of the hardest things about the ward split was losing a bunch of our wonderful Young Women to the new ward. So, we decided to have one last hurrah! Bring on the party!!

Not only did we hang out, talk, and laugh but we had pizza and treats...

and played games.

Our Beehives: Sydney, Savannah, Carolyn, Catie, Natalie, Emma, Elizabeth, Ashton, Sami, and Bekah.

our Mia Maids: June, Sydney, Eda, Anna, Mary, Emma, Kamaria, Carrie, and Natalie.

our Laurels: Girl from other ward, Inaeja, Kendal, Rachel, Rachel, and Alex.

and the leaders: Elinor, Nichole, Heidi, me, Melissa, Catherine, and Debbie.

Had to throw in a silly one!

I lost all of my Mia Maids to the new ward, just when we were really starting to gel and develop a great relationship with each other. I miss those girls every week!!

A New Call to Serve

Two weeks before Christmas David received a phone call to schedule an appointment for us both to meet with the Stake President. We were both thrilled, knowing that after over 4 years serving on the high council that David was finally going to be released. However, what we did not really think about was why President Brady wanted to meet with both of us; it didn't even cross our minds. When we got to the church President Brady said he wanted to meet for a few minutes with David alone; still I was not comprehending the situation. After waiting in the hall for about 15 minutes David came and got me, and as he led me down to the room he whispered that the ward was being split and that he had been called to serve as the bishop of the Winters Run Ward. Whoa! Wasn't expecting that one! When Bishop Brady was called to serve as Stake President in May, Todd Lyman was called to serve as bishop and that was that.  This call to serve definitely surprised us both but obviously it was a call that we easily accepted, knowing what awesome spiritual growth and experience, as well as service opportunities, it would give our family. The hardest part of the situation was keeping it on the down low. No one was told about the upcoming split until the Sunday after Christmas when it was announced over the pulpit and even then that was just to inform church members that the new ward boundaries would not be given until a special sacrament meeting held on January 11th. In total that was one month of keeping our mouths shut about what we knew about the ward split, which was absolutely everything, and staying mum about David's new calling. With ward members speculating and having a hard time dealing with the upcoming change, staying silent was extremely difficult. Looking at my beautiful Mia Maids each week, knowing that I was going to lose absolutely every single one of them, just about broke my heart. David and I leaned on each other, as well as the Lord, heavily during that extremely difficult month until finally that special Sunday arrived. We told the kids the night before that David was being called to serve as bishop and Noah's classic response was, "Daddy is going to be bishop? That's a miracle!" Yes, a splendid miracle and blessing in our lives and one that David had been prepared for for the past few years. I know that not everyone has been happy with the change (it's always hard to be removed from those we love and basically consider family) but I have already seen and felt such amazing blessings in our lives. The first week after David was sustained and set apart I felt like I was walking on cloud nine; I just felt so happy and alive and absolutely joyous! By mid-week the thought came to me that I was feeling this way because of the prayers that were being offered in my family's behalf. The thought stunned and humbled me and I have been so grateful, each and every day, for this wonderful opportunity to serve.
The ward realignment even made the local newspaper! With such great growth in our area, the change affected 3 wards, splitting up the Winters Run Ward and drawing a few families from 2 other wards to form a new ward called Bynum Run. The article included a great picture of the 3 bishops of the wards most affected, including my own cute husband.

Life With Boys

Lots of smiles, laughter, jokes, pranks, and just plain silliness...

holes in walls, broken furniture, pictures knocked off walls, writing on floor, ceiling, furniture, and bodies, football and baseball in the house, bath tubs that become pirate ships, beds that are climbing walls. ...

monkeys in my house...

swords, knives, light sabers, guns of all kinds, darts flying out of nowhere, constant battles and warfare...

kung fu kicks, tag, chasing each other through the house, thumps, bumps, fights, some for fun and most not...

messes, dirty clothes strewn everywhere, rocks in pockets, splatters all over toilets as well as bathroom floors and walls, toothpaste on counter and in sink, legos all over the floor and then piercing my feet, burps, toots, lots of potty talk, and who could forget the frozen socks from being left out over night...

eye rolling, some sass, "No" echoing through the house, empty snack bags in the basement and under beds, crumbs, ant attacks on hidden food, higher grocery bills, never-ending snacking and eating, endless drinking of juice boxes...

lots of help with cooking and baking, garbage taker-outers, retrievers of items I am too lazy to get up and get...

bumps, bruises, cuts, scrapes, goose eggs, and blood...

shouts, screams, crying, noise, noise, noise! Little notes, picked flowers, "I love you", artwork, drawings, stories, imagination in full force, serenades...

hugs, snuggles, cuddles, tickle fights, wrestling, dates with mommy, and dude dates.

I wouldn't have it any other way! Love these two!!