Decluttering Update

We've achieved our next prize! The children want to see the movie, Bolt.

February Fun

How much cuter can these two get?
Dallin helps us all smile more each day.

April has wanted to try out patchwork cards, and so one day she did. It took all day to make these three (with frequent interruptions). Don't expect to see many more until the children are grown and out of the house.

We've been battling illnesses for nearly half the month. Erin was hit pretty hard with a particularly nasty virus and spent many hours soaking and playing in a steamy tub (refilling with hot water as needed). The tub was the only place she could find some relief from her cough. Here she is showing off her creativity with foam soap. She ended up missing 3 storytime sessions at the library and almost earned an "inactive" slot on the Primary roll. Cross your fingers with us in the hope that she is finally on the mend.

Meet our friend Melissa! She's off to Malawi for 2 years to work
in the Peace Corps. Needless to say, we are rather jealous,
but that didn't keep us from attending her send-off party.

This is Thomas, his wife, and youngest son hanging out with Dallin.
Thomas is currently the only USU student from Malawi.

This is our 20-year-old basement furnace. What you can't see from the photo is that the circuit board is busted, meaning either 1) replace the part for several hundred dollars and hopefully get a few more years out of it, or 2) replace the entire furnace with a higher efficiency model. Ah, the joys of home ownership. We are grateful for Kevin's job and we are grateful for green air days the past week so we can burn our wood stoves while waiting for the new furnace to be installed.

Happy Birthday, Ian!

For Ian's birthday post, we thought we would share one of his current quirks: stacking objects.
Each night when we go into the bathroom to brush teeth, we find various arrangements of toiletries.

Ian was almost a Valentine's baby in 2000, missing it by about 7 hours.

As a result, this year we made the traditional V-day cookies
along with ninja star cookies for the birthday boy who,
at age 9, dislikes anything remotely mushy, like hearts.

Ian celebrated with his friends Luke and Andrew on Friday night,
then with grandparents on Sunday, his real birthday.
Due to lack of creativity on his mom's part this year,
he got a chocolate cake with a ninja star on it.

To make up for the boring (yet tasty) cake, he received some exciting toys.
His very favorites are a remote control helicopter and a new Hot Wheels track.
Thanks everyone!

200 Years Ago

Two great men in history were born 200 years ago today.
We pay tribute to both of them.

Charles Darwin(1809-1882)

We highly recommend checking out the link to learn more about this brilliant scientist. We have observed over the years that too many people have preconceived opinions and are misinformed about his contributions to science.

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

We will also be spending time today reviewing the life and contributions of one of our most admirable US Presidents.

Monster Concert Post coming soon!

The 2009 Monster Concert post is temporarily on hold until we get some decent video editing software. We are finally giving up on Windows Movie Maker because it now crashes while importing video into the program. For now you can view our videos from 2007 and 2008 while you anxiously await the 2009 installment.

Five Months!

Hi everyone! I'm five months old already!
I can grab and hold onto things now.
And I'm grunting, squealing, chewing and drooling
while waiting for my second tooth to come in.

I'm still happy most of the time.
My siblings like to make me laugh.

I discovered that I can suck my thumb today.
Mom even caught it momentarily on a short video.