Reno

Garth has training in Reno and I did something I haven't done before - I went with him! The kids are with my parents and doing well, I hear. Here is the best part. Garth and I went to Colton's baseball game and then to Dairy Queen after. It was too short but great to see them.

I'm back!

Well, it has been forever since I have updated my blog. My lame excuses are technical issues. First, the camera broke. Then Garth changed the computer and it took a long time for him to train me again. Lame. I know.

So here are some pictures I took. They are a little old but I had good intentions.

We have had a strange spring as far as weather goes. This picture (above) was taken today. Today was one of the only days that have been really nice. We were all outside playing for a while after conference.

This picture was taken one week ago today (March 29). It was a beautiful winter storm. It would have been much nicer if it wasn't spring!


R2 has started piano lessons. He is doing really well and learns quickly. I have high hopes for him!
Bob has acquired metal on his teeth. He is sitting right here and would not let me write that he is cute so... Isn't he weird looking?

This year Garth got sick of the snow and decided to take action! He took the snow blower across the whole front yard. It was great fun to watch. It was even funner to watch him mow the road in front of our house with the lawn mower. On one of our good days this spring he was trying to clean up seed pods from our tree out front and the wind kept blowing them away. So he took the lawn mower after them. He went back and forth, back and forth all along the road.

Spike earned 100 AR (accelerated reading) points and got an award and ran through the halls with his principal to celebrate. Reading is not Spike's favorite thing to do so for him that is a great accomplishment.

Life is still good at our house!

Sobi

We have a new addition to the pet population in our family. Our neighbors didn't want their lizard anymore so we took it off their hands and he is now in our care. His name is Sobi. He is a Molly Uromastyx lizard. He is vegetarian and mostly likes lettuce so we don't have to mess with any crickets (mom says YAY!). He is full of personality so he is really fun to have around. He mostly hides under a rock but his head is usually sticking out looking around. If his head isn't sticking out, then his tail is. He is very active and moves around quite a bit. (Some pictures are red because only the red heat lamp was on when the kids were taking the pictures.)

Here we are setting up the cage. He came with almost everything he needs. We made a quick trip to Petsmart to buy a lamp and more sand.

Meet Sobi.

Here Sobi is getting ready to climb.

Then he scratches on the glass.

Then he climbs up.

Then he falls. This is him after he fell.

Then he hides under his favorite rock.

Here is a video of Sobi in action.

Talk

We had a momentous occasion at our house yesterday. Bob gave his first talk in Sacrament meeting. As many of you know, Calvin is petrified of getting up in front of people. His first assignment to talk in Primary caused him to throw up the morning of the talk. Every talk after that in Primary was not much better. So since he turned 12, we have tried to prepare him for this day but he was still really nervous. He avoided any throwing up, though. Mom gave a talk, too. So I was up on the stand to help give him support. (For the record, mom was just as nervous as Bob). He stumbled a little at the start, and avoided looking up at all but he did great! He mumbled a bit, but considering how hard it was for him, he did wonderful!

After church he did a ceremonial burning of the talk. Here are pictures of that.

R2's birthday

R2's birthday fell on a Wednesday this year so he had to go to school on his birthday. He told me the night before that he was going to be sick the next day and wouldn't be able to go to school. I explained that it would be much better if he went to school. So R2 went to school and waited until he got home to celebrate his birthday. Dad got home from work in time for R2 to get home from school and he just wouldn't wait any longer to open his presents. Lego's were a big part of his presents and he is learning to put them together by himself. His brother's were right there helping him, though.



It is fun to see them with their heads together working on something.
This was the thing that was most wanted. It is a lego bionicle and he was really excited to get it.

R2 wanted a snake cake and we had snakes (ramen noodles) for supper.

All in all it was a really fun day.

Gingerbread Houses

We had loads of fun doing gingerbread houses this year. Thanks Grandma for starting the tradition.

Bob's house was hit by archers.

Spike (our minimalist) took great care in everything that was put on.

R2 did a great job with designs this year. He stuffed his mouth with candy right before the picture. Notice his squirrel cheeks!

Our cousin and his mom had lots of fun with this house.

The youngest got to do a gingerbread boy.

Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving was shared with my brother's family at our house. We had lots of food and games and more food and more visiting and games then more food. My brother's family has a new boxer puppy that the kids had a lot of fun with. She was a very patient puppy. We ended the evening with a game of Apples to Apples and Whoonu. It was tons of fun. Here are pictures.