Lindsey the Physics Whiz

Lindsey recently participated in a Physics competition sponsered by Utah State. She has been part of a program at the elementary school where they use the Lego Mindstorm program and build robots and program them. Lindsey and her partner made it to the team and competed. They got to go to Lagoon for the competition. Lindsey came home with a grin on her face and told me that they didn't win a single thing. My response was something along the lines of "at least you tried" "I'm proud of you for doing your best" etc, etc. She couldn't contain her excitement for long and she cut me off to tell me they had gotten second place. She said she and her partner were surprised when their name was called. They weren't expecting to do well. They got medals and gift certificates to a couple of places. I think the real prize, however, was getting to go to Lagoon on a school day.

Smudge!

Yesterday, we welcomed a new member to the family, Smudge. After the kids turned over every cent they had, signed three contracts each, and created a meticulous job chart, we purchased a dog. I'm not sure if the poor dog has had a moments peace since she got here. The kids put blankets in the living room to sleep next to her (her only night in the house), and I noticed they brought down a lamp to read her a bedtime story. She sure is a cute little dog, and so far, has been very mild mannered.

Spring has finally sprung--I hope

We have had some crazy weather and we keep waiting for it to get warm. I have to remind myself that this happens every year. We are tempted in the early spring with some nice weather then the snows come again and we have to scrounge around looking for long pants because we've already changed out the wardrobes. We have not been disappointed this year with the same weather pattern. We have had some really cold weather but it seems warmer days may be on the way. Where is global warming when you need it?

Luke's Cello Career

Luke decided he wanted to try the cello for school orchestra. He was following in his dad's footsteps. For those who don't know, James played the cello for a short time in his life. I think Luke is following exactly in his footsteps and making his cello career short. He has informed me that he doesn't want to continue with the school orchestra. Oh well, he had fun for a while and learned a little bit about a new instrument. If anyone is interested, we have a cello for sale!

Lindsey Turns 11

Lindsey had her birthday this week. The best way to describe her birthday is to give a rundown of her desserts. Her birthday was Monday. She started off with breakfast in bed and opened her presents. Her biggest gift this year was a bike. She informed me she had outgrown her old bike. Thank goodness you can get inexpensive bikes at Wal-Mart because they sure outgrow them fast. Lindsey was spotlighted in her school class. We brought doughnuts to share with everyone there. Later that evening we had a birthday celebration for Family Home Evening. She had a chocolate strawberry cake for that celebration. We were fortunate enough to share family home evening with some friends from our ward, Brother and Sister Anderson and their kids. One of their sons is from Lubbock, Texas. We had a good time talking about Jeff and Nicole and Lubbock. I think they've convinced us to visit. They were much more encouraging about the area than Nicole has been about visiting. I think I'll book the plane tickets.

The next night, we had Lindsey's birthday dinner. She chose to go to Crown Burgers for dinner. We had cream puffs after dinner for her actual choice of dessert. That is her favorite dessert. We had fun singing to her and telling her how much we love her.

At the end of the week, she had her party with her friends. She decided to have a movie-making party. We came up with a script and then worked out the parts and filmed it. At the end of the party we watched it. Girls at that age like to watch themselves on video. They appeared to have fun. At the end of the night we had pie and ice cream for her dessert. Razzleberry pie is her other favorite dessert. I think we all gained a few pounds from all the desserts but we had fun celebrating with Lindsey.