The Fun Run

Yes, another school year is drawing to a close which means another Fun Run has come and gone. As a reminder, the Rock Canyon Fun Run is a 5K for the students to run around the school and surrounding neighborhoods. The winners from each grade are awarded medals in front of the school in an assembly. It's become a pretty competitive deal.

This year, like last year, Dan ran with Taylor and I ran with Loryn. The intent was to help pace them and push them when necessary. Not to our surprise, however, they each left us in the dust. They both ran sooo fast and we were very proud of them.

I have never aspired to be a runner, nor do I even pretend to be, but I think I'll have to train this year so I can at least keep up with a first grader! Loryn did so well.

Taylor nabbed the 3rd place medal for girls in the fourth grade, and Loryn narrowly missed the podium with an impressive fourth place. (But she's convinced some "butting" took place at the finish gates.) Either way, I can't tell you how proud I am of my little girls.

Swimming at the Basin

Well, it's offical. Summer must be on it's way because there is mountain water in our park. Despite the fact that there was an impending storm and it wasn't extremely warm, the kids insisted on participating in this annual rite. So, on Saturday, we took them up to brave the icy cold mountain run-off. And we got in a lot of fun before the clouds opened up.

Women's Conference

All in all, we had 1250 flowers made. That was less than we hoped for because about 100 of the kits were not returned. Regardless, it was a contribution. These are a few of the spiral felt flowers that were made. I wasn't smart enough to get pictures of the two other types of flowers we made, but they turned out just as cute. Our service project was a take and make, which meant the conference goers picked up a kit, made it at conference, and then turned it back into us. This meant most of our time was spent in pre-work. Everything had to be pre-cut and assembled, as the ladies wouldn't have scissors. We had to package needles, buttons and beads, wind thread, etc. It took forever, but our family was so good to help us. We had ten family members show up over Conference weekend and spend all day helping us. Wow!

So, as I write this, Women's Conference has come and gone and our flowers have been successfully delieved to various agencies, including hospitals and women's shelters. Sarah and I had never attended Women's Conference before, so we didn't really know what to expect. The morning of the grand "pass out" was craziness, but I think we did a pretty good job. For the next two days, we sat at a collection booth and fixed dilapidated flowers, hot glued on clips, and packaged the flowers. We even managed to squeeze in a few classes when our volunteers arrived.

I guess I never fully appreciated the scope or magnitude of the these service projects until a follow up meeting a week later. Literally thousands of humanitarian kits, blankets, children's supplies, etc. were made and assembled. It was truly amazing to be a part of. Months of work finally paid off. It took Sarah and I about another two weeks of work after the conference to finish everything up, but we are officially done now!

Sarah's mom, Maureen, and my mother-in-law, Jody are best friends and sewing geniuses, so they were kind enough to help us pass out kits Thursday morning and answer questions for befuddled conference-goers.

Sarah and I had lots of help from other family, friends, and neighbors and we couldn't have done it without them, particulary when the line starting wrapping around the Marriott Center (who knew?)

Easter Sunday

I'm feeling more than a little sad that I didn't get a traditional Easter picture with all of us dressed up nicely. But, with 9 0'clock church and after-church meetings, things kind of got away from me. Luckily, I was able to nab Fisher before he changed his clothes. Isn't he a handsome devil?

We had Easter dinner at my parent's house and then we headed over to Brint and Natalie's (Dan's brother) in Springville for the annual grandkids easter egg hunt. Fisher thought this was the most wonderful thing ever. And we topped it all off with a chocolate fountain intended for dipping fruit, but I'm pretty sure it just ended up all over their faces. All in all, a wonderful day.

Easter Fun

The kids loved their Easter-themed singing class. Aren't they the cutest little bunnies you ever saw?

Y Day

This year, I taught switched off every week teaching preschool to these two little kiddos. Her mother would take one week and I would take the other. As we brought the year to a close, the last week I taught was the letter Y. I took the kids to the BYU bookstore to find all the Y's we could and bought them each a Y shirt. And we topped in all off with donuts at the Cougar Eat.

Through all of this, I have decided that I am not nearly as patient as I thought I was, particularly with other people's children. I've also decided that I'm not cut out for teaching preschool. Every time I have that fleeting thought of homeschooling, I can remember preschool and embrace the goodness of public schooling once again! But, regardless, it was a good experience and I think the kids had a good time and learned a lot.

Grandma and Grandpa's Racoon

Our Grandma and Grandpa Fisher have a couple of recurring visitors at their house every season. There is Perry the Squirrel who has lived under their porch for years. There are the deer that pass through their backyard daily. And for the last couple springs, there is this mother Raccoon. For the past two seasons, she has given birth to her babies in my parent's chimney. When she leaves them, they whimper and cry until my mother starts to cry herself. Anyway, animal control left this little trap for mama so they could relocate her after she had removed her babies. All very sad, but we had to take advantage of the photo op nonetheless.

Sunday Afternoons

Daddy was trying to catch a quick nap in between a couple Sunday afternoon meetings. And the kids thought this would be a great idea. Don't they look pleased with themselves?

Spring Break, Day 6

We took the kids on a walk/bike ride up the canyon and had a picnic at one of the picnic areas. They absolutely loved it. We spent forever throwing the frisbee, tossing the football, flying kites, and climbing rocks. We stayed until it was almost dark and had a great time. This will definitely be an encore activity.

Spring Break, Day 4-5

I'll be honest, its starting to get a little blurry.

On Thursday, my mom took us to see Hop in celebration for Easter. It was a cute movie and it got the kids really excited to see the Easter Bunny the following weekend.

Somewhere in there, I developed a nasty and painful throat condition that was driving me bananas and prompted my first doctor's visit in my married life (excluding pregnancy visits of course.) It turns out I'm just a whiner and was suffering from severe heartburn. Nothing a little Nexium and a few days didn't cure. Clearly, all the Spring Break festivities are getting to me!

And we also worked like mad on Taylor's Utah County projects (Ok, so my mom worked liked mad and we were a very attentive support crew.) Then Dan and I took the kids to eat at Pizza Pie Cafe.

Spring Break, Day 3

On Wednesday, before the Hansens left for the weekend, we met at the ever beloved Trafalga. Every kid's dream, every mother's nightmare. The kids loved the rock climbing, laser tag, bumper boats, mini golf, and kiddie rides. I didn't love my migraine.

A Hospital Visit

Oh, and I forgot, we also made a hospital visit on Tuesday night. Our Auntie Tiffany, who is a school teacher in our district and was also on Spring Break thought it would be impeccable timing for her to have a gall bladder attack and appendicitis. She had surgery and we visited her to laugh at her medication-induced comedy. She never fails to keep us laughing. The girls decided to strike a pose with the sculpture in the hospital. With their addition, it makes our family exactly! (although we're a little less serene and put together than this sculpture.)

Spring Break, Day 2

Every Tuesday, my mom and Jeffrey visit our Papa Ace, so we decided to tag along this time. Luckily, my kids love visiting Papa Ace because his retirement home has an aviary, fish tank, and duck pond. In addition, he is always so excited to see them and insists they drink his mini apple juices and cashews. They don't put up much of a fight, either. My sweet Papa Ace tears up every time we show up too. Such a tender heart.

It being springtime, with all the birds and the bees out (if you get my drift), we encountered some very feisty male ducks and some very pathetic beleagured female ducks. It was traumatic for us to watch, so we ditched the duck-feeding after a while and headed for McDonald's where the kids ate and played on the playplace. (I know, I know, my germophobe friends are panicking right now, and they have every right to be.) But I think they had fun and narrowly escaped without any major viruses.

After some naps and regrouping, we met up with our Hansen cousins for some bowling at Fat Cats. Quincy has never lasted happily through an entire game and Taylor hit Loryn in the face with a bowling ball and bloodied her lip, but other than those few hiccups, I think we had a good time!

Spring Break, Day 1

Spring Break was an entire week this year, which presents a bit of a challenge for families that don't actually "go" anywhere. How am I to live up to my kids' expectations of Spring Break when their friends are going on cruises or to Disneyland? Anyway, I am posting our Spring Break festivities only to remind my children that I made a valiant effort to keep them entertained. And I think we had fun! On Monday, we spent the day at the park just letting the kids play and enjoy the sun. Later that night, we grilled some hamburgers with the Hansens and roasted marshmallows in their backyard.