Sunday

We got a new Stake Presidency on Sunday at Stake Conference.

President and Sister Warnick are going to Tokyo Japan

on a mission this summer and will be missed.

Jonah, Maxwell, and Ruby sang with our ward choir

in the Sunday meeting of Conference. They were really

reverent, and the choir sounded great.

For the second Sunday in a row, we woke up to lots of snow.

And once again, choir spared Maxwell and Jonah the bulk of

the shoveling. The helped out after conference,

but John and Bentley did most of the work while the other

boys were at the church rehearsing for their performance.

We had chicken pillows, mashed potatoes, and gravy

for lunch on Sunday. But that's not gravy on Milo's potatoes.

He snuck the honey and covered his potatoes with it!

Sounds gross to me, but he managed to eat all his food.

Jonah painted his plane and his pinewood derby car

on Sunday afternoon while his siblings played video games.

They both look great! Way to go, Jonah!

Can you spot Alton?

He loves to play with his toys (sometimes).

Silence often worries me, but this time

he was just happily playing by himself.

Saturday

Ruby went out to warm-up before her game on Saturday.

After I moved the car so she could practice,

we shot around a little and talked.

It was my favorite conversation all day.

Ruby said something like this:

I'm really glad I'm on a basketball team, because now

I can play horse with Dad and the brothers.

I don't really know what that is. 

But I'm really excited to play it.

Maxwell has been emailing his Cherry Hill friends

and they don't believe that he's five feet tall.

He measured at Orem Jr. High and I took a photo to prove it.

(He's wearing shoes, so he's not quite this tall, but still . . .)

Ruby, Aurelia, and Gina entertained themselves

while they sat out for a bit.

Max had two points, and Bentley had two assists,

but their team still didn't win.

They improved on last week - 15-35 loss.

One more point and closing the gap . . .

Jonah finally got to use the woodworking kit he received

for Christmas. He built a plane all by himself. 

John and I had a hot date Saturday night - Stake Conference.

That makes two weekends in a row with dates.

I think we should definitely keep this streak going.

Friday

Mrs. Smiley has been home since Thanksgiving

(except for a day or two) with some severe morning sickness,

and she came back on Friday!!!

We welcomed her with a card and lots of smiles.

She was missed by students and parents alike!

(Mrs. Belliston was here for the first part of the week,

and if was fun to have her teach Milo for a few days.)

I wish they'd had this order online grocery service

when the older kids were small.

It would have been so nice to simple take them

to go pick up our order! Alton and I took advantage of

it, and I had time to go to Costco that afternoon!

I tried to capture the moon rising over the mountain.

I love this valley and the beautiful mountains around us.

Between shopping trips Alton played outside a bit.

He had me draw a track and then brought a bunch of 

cars out to fill the parking spaces. He didn't like me

taking pictures of him, but he loved playing with his cars.

Tuesday

Last Tuesday, Alton and I went to Smith's and

he got to drive this awesome cart. 

It was so great, that he kept yelling

"This is so awesome!" as he kicked his feet and 

turned the steering wheel. He loved it!

Later that afternoon, I spotted him sitting on the stairs

with his backpack and Bentley's iPod. He loves the "monkey game."

After dinner, I got to go to the Temple!

It was raining/snowing, but the Temple was still packed.

I parked halfway to the MTC and hiked up in the rain/snow.

I was doubly glad to get inside - out of the storm

and into the Temple. I'm grateful that we are surrounded

by Temples here in our valley and that I got to attend one tonight.

Do You Want to Build a Snowman?

We loved having a day off for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Ruby and Milo went to tumbling in the morning,

and later that day Ruby and Alton went outside

to play in the rain. The rain turned to snow,

and they built a snowman.

I love these cute kids. And days off so we can do things together.

Bentley and Maxwell - Together Again

Every other year, Bentley and Maxwell 

get to play on the same basketball team.

It's convenient to have them play together, 

and hopefully kind of fun for them

(or hopefully it will be fun for them to remember

playing on the same team - they don't actually 

seem to like it while they're doing it).

Their team lost 14-40, so they have lots of room

to get better. That's exciting, right?

Here's to a season of improvement. :)

Ruby's First Basketball Game

Ruby, Maxwell, and Bentley are all playing rec basketball

this winter. They missed their first games last week

because we were at the wedding, and were excited to play

this past Saturday. Ruby's game was at 9 am.

John, Maxwell, Jonah, and I went to watch her play.

Their team did really well and Ruby played great.

It will be fun to see the progress that they make this year.