Of Good Report

Renee and her girls got to spend a month in Utah. We saw them for roughly two of those weeks. Adam came for the first week, but he had to return to Alaska for work. We had all kinds of fun, zoo, aquarium, water days, sleepovers, hikes, treats, movies... Our final activities last Thursday included a hike to the "Y", lunch at LaCasita and fun at the Springville splash pad. I was very impressed with all of the kids on the hike. There was minimal whining and pretty much they were mountain goats. Abby struggled a little bit, but she is not really a whiner, she just needed a hand to hold. During the last quarter of the way up or so, Taylor had low blood sugars. We pumped him up with four capri sun drinks and took a ten minute break. The break allowed Erika to catch up with us. He slogged along for a couple of steep switchbacks, but by the time Taylor got to the top of the "Y" his BG was a robust 127. He was able to climb around and explore to his heart's content. Al

We love IKEA. We have been visiting the gigantic store since it opened in 2007. I haven't spent a lot of money there, but we love to eat lunch on Tuesdays when kids get to eat for free. We also love to try out the furniture and beds in the showroom area, but our favorite part is to play "house" in the little house displays they have. I think our trip yesterday was our best time yet. The boys enjoyed going in the past, but they have decided that that is not for them any more. Spencer and Destry are at scout camp and Taylor stayed home to do school work and hang out with his friends, but the three girls and I spend three and a half hours there yesterday. We got there for a late lunch, which was actually to our benefit because there was not a line. Then we began our exploring adventures. We spent close to an hour in the first house set up they have. Sarah was the mom and Emma and Estelle were the sisters. I observed and thumbed through an old Oprah magazine and a Swedish b

My children have been fighting amongst themselves quite a bit lately. I thought it would end once school got out, but alas, it has continued. They do just fine when we are out and about, but at home they are at each other's throats. We have not been doing very well at family scripture study or family prayer for that matter. So I decided to stop what we were doing and gather them together to read and pray. As they all came together all three older kids thought we were having a "pow wow." That is what I usually call a family meeting. Sometimes we get together to discuss business or resolve a conflict. I was not thinking "pow wow" at this time, but I must have been using my "pow wow voice," an attribute I did not know I possessed until just moments ago.

Yesterday I drove the minions to the Lego Store at Fashion Place Mall in Murray. I was hoping some of them would want to stay home, but alas the only ones who did were the ones who could not stay home alone. As we were turning onto the freeway onramp from Bangerter Highway there are a couple of condominium buildings next to the it. One of the kids noted that they were really big houses. I set them straight as to their actually being condos, but one of the kids deemed them awesome if they had been houses. I of course mentioned the amount of cleaning they would require. Someone else said that anyone with enough money for a house that size would be able to afford maids and butlers. Estelle proceeded to grace us with her spelling skills, stating that butler was spelled B-U-T-T... Then she asked if anyone knew how butlers got their name. Sarah quickly quipped that it was because their job was to help the princesses to wipe their bottoms. This was followed by laughter from all three girls

We just experienced a wonderful family-filled weekend! Renee and her gaggle of girls have been in town from Alaska for a couple of weeks and Kent with his boisterous bunch of boys joined in the fun and festivities. On Friday night we celebrated Zach's 7th birthday. We partied outside and it was great watching the kids run and play with each other. On Saturday morning at noon we picked Spencer up from his Mosida trek experience. I worried about his emotional status. He had been very anxious about going for the previous week, but Destry gave him a Priesthood blessing and he seemed happy to go on Thursday morning when I dropped him off at the church. I prayed and kept my fingers crossed and was excited to see his return. He had a great experience and was in good spirits--hooray! The ward was invited to greet the returning trekkers and enjoy a picnic lunch together at Mosida. We left Taylor home who hasn't been feeling well, but the rest of us went and had a good time. After S