Momymotherings

Guess Who's Here?

2008-05-27T21:36:00.000-07:00

That's right - little Nolan decided that he'd had it with his cramped living conditions and that it was time to see the sights. He arrived at 12:42 pm and weighed in a whopping 5 lbs 8 oz. He is 18 1/4 inches long and as cute as can be!

Family Pictures

2008-04-27T21:37:00.000-07:00

Meet Lauren.

She is the family photographer.

While the professional photographer was snapping away, she also took some amazing pictures. So, here are some highlights from the morning...minus the picture of everyone together.

For Time and All Eternity

2008-04-26T21:40:00.001-07:00

On Saturday morning we were able to attend the sealing ceremony at the Jordan River Temple of Grant and Jackie and their baby Luke as they were sealed together for time and all eternity.

A Graduation to Remember

2008-04-25T10:31:00.000-07:00

I wanted to do a blog on my graduation. I've thought about it for so long, and haven't done a thing. Then I got to thinking...why mess with the best...so here is the post my daughter-in-law, Melanie, did on my graduation from April 25, 2008! ...thanks Mel!

My mother-in-law, Sharlene, was accepted to BYU 29 years ago.

But, she barely got started when these kids came along.

So, she has been raising children and she has instilled in every one of them a love of learning and the importance of an education. Two of her children have already graduated from BYU and two more are working on it, and today, she graduated. I love this picture. If you look at the faces of each child, I don't think they could be any happier for their mother. She is an amazing example.

So, imagine if you will, the whole Marriott Center.Okay, this is only about a quarter, but I thought I would give a frame of reference.

We have spotted our graduate.

It is almost time for her name to be called.

My father-in-law (BYU's CFO and Administrative Vice President) moves into position.

They are calling her name.
My father-in-law presents his wife with her diploma.
After strict instructions for all cheering and applause to be held until all the graduates have received their diploma, my father -in-law kisses his wife.

Throughout the Marriott Center you hear "Awwwwwwwwwww."

As she then presents to him a stole of gratitude, the Marriott Center cannot help but give an applause for such a special moment.

And it's official!! Congratulations!

General Conference

2008-04-06T15:04:00.013-07:00

We thoroughly enjoyed watching General Conference this weekend as a family. It was wonderful to sustain our new prophet, Thomas S. Monson, in the solemn assembly. I think it's interesting to note that the five of us each stood at a different time, Melchezidek Priesthood, Aaronic Priesthood, Relief Society, Young Women, and Primary for the sustaining vote. We all cleaned the house between sessions on Saturday. Brian made his traditional "Special Pancakes" on Sunday. Emma and Betty share their creativity in capturing the moment.

By Emma Evans
By Betty Evans

Little Paps Goes to the Prom!

2008-04-03T17:33:00.006-07:00

Ethan (a.k.a. Mr. Smooth) enjoyed his first Prom with Xandra Peterson which was held March 22, 2008 at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi. They went to PF Changs for dinner first. Their group had 8 couples all together.

April Fool's Fun

2008-04-01T16:21:00.003-07:00

1. Your rock star name (first pet, current car): Hamlet Montero

2. Your gangsta name (fave ice cream flavour, favourite type of shoe): Chocolate Chip Mint Flip Flop

3. Your Native American name (favourite colour, favourite animal): Green Puppy

4. Your soap opera name (middle name, city where you were born): Anita Walnut Creek

5. Your Star Wars name (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 of your first name): Evash

6. Superhero name (2nd favourite colour, favourite drink): Blue Lemonade

7. NASCAR name (the first names of your grandfathers): Edward Paul

8. Stripper name (the name of your favourite perfume/cologne/scent, favourite candy): White Linen Junior Mint

10. TV weather anchor name (your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter): Cantrell Cleavland

11. Spy name (your favourite season/holiday, flower): Autumn Rose

12. Cartoon name: (favourite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now): Peach Jeans

13. Hippie name (What you ate for breakfast, your favourite tree): Cheerios Maple

Thanks Tricia, this was fun!

Alamo Boys Reunion

2008-03-02T19:22:00.003-07:00

Today we had the privilege of having two wonderful young men come to dinner at our house. Bret Candland and Phil Greenan were two of Keith's best buddies when we lived in Alamo. We haven't seen them in about 5 years. They had a great time reminiscing about Primary, Scout Camp, Jr. High, etc. Bret is an International Studies major at BYU and Phil is coming to BYU in the Spring to finish up his degree in Broadcast Journalism. We LOVE our Alamo friends!!!!

I've Been Tagged!

2008-02-24T18:07:00.011-07:00

Thanks Cari! Here goes...

10 YEARS AGO:
We were living in California and I was preparing my first missionary son, Spencer, to enter the MTC (Going to Venezuela). Unbeknownst to me (and everyone else for that matter) Emma was a little bun in the oven.

5 THINGS ON MY TO DO LIST:
1. Graduate from BYU, truly a lifelong dream!!!
2. Clean my house
3. Take piano lesson (again!)
4. Organize 30 years of family photos
5. Read, Read, Read! (Harry Potter I-VII, Twilight series, Kite Runner, to name but a few)

THINGS I WOULD DO IF I WERE A MILLIONAIRE:
Buy a house with a basement apartment so we could help out Grant/Jackie, Taylor/Lauren, etc.

Go on a shopping spree with Betty!

Spend the entire summer in Europe

Build a shop for Brian and all his tools

Hire a personal trainer

3 BAD HABITS I HAVE:
1. Playing Solitaire at 2 AM when I can't sleep

2. Eating when I'm frustrated or tired

3. Falling asleep watching movies (just ask my kids)

SOMETHING PEOPLE DON'T KNOW ABOUT ME:
I'm a court qualified divorce mediator for the state of Utah. The very first divorce I mediated I got stiffed my write-up fee. Following the actual mediation I spent a couple of hours preparing the memorandum of understanding and mailed it off to the divorcing couple, however, in the mean time they decided to reconcile. I felt kind of guilty trying to go after the fee...It's all good.

I tag Melanie, Lauren and Jackie.

The Weather Outside is Frightful...

2008-02-04T16:43:00.000-07:00

This has been by far the snowiest winter we've had in our 8 years of living in Utah. It has truly been reminiscent of our time spent living in Alaska back in the 80's. The boys love telling the story of the hill they used to slide down behind our apartment, and the discovery we made once everything melted when Spring came. The hill was actually an abandoned car. Today, Betty, Emma and I were out running errands and we came upon this:

THAT IS A CAN OF MOUNTAIN DEW IN HIS HAND, CHEERS!

Update: The 7 foot tall "Mountain Dew Man" made front-page news today!

Ethan: A Man of Many Talents

2008-02-02T15:05:00.001-07:00

One of the many talents Ethan possess, and if you know him, you know he is a man of many talents, is a sense of humor. He's had some wonderful comedic parts... Of late, he plays the King of Hearts in a very humorous Junior version of Alice in Wonderland. He gets everyone laughing, even when he's in the background. His troupe has performed at both the Provo and Orem Libraries (over 250 turned out for the Family Night performance), and the Christmas Box House for abused children in SLC so far. We love to see what he does with the roles he's given. Break a leg, Little Bob!

Ah,...Reading for Pleasure!

2008-01-21T17:31:00.000-07:00

I must admit I've been a real slacker when it comes to reading for pleasure since I've been busy trying to graduate in April. I have lists of books that I plan on reading "for fun" once I have that tassel. It just seems that any spare minutes I have I should be reading my scriptures and then above and beyond that I should keep up/ or more likely catch up on my textbook reading because I have tests almost each week. I'm already overwhelmed this semester with my classes in Cognition (LOTS of physiology!) and Sensation and Perception (even more physiology!) However, I just finished a great book Brian got me for Christmas. We talked about it quite a bit in my History of Psych class last semester (massive reading in that class..."Moral Darwinism" was my favorite text). Anyway,the book I just throughly enjoyed was "Man Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl. Very thought provoking, very inspiring, I recommend it!

P.S....My girls have got the "reading for pleasure" thing down!

Sister Webster Pays a Visit

2008-01-03T20:56:00.000-07:00

It was a pleasant surprise to get a phone call and subsequent visit from Sister Melanie Webster today. She is the wife of Spencer and Melanie's former Bishop, who passed away last year from cancer. Sister Webster (also a Melanie) was here in Provo dropping her daughter, Marlene, off to begin her first semester at BYU. It was really nice of her to take the time to stop in and see us. She had wonderful things to say about the CT Evans clan and the impact they've had on the Waterbury Ward. Here's a shout-out to Spencer and Melanie and all the good they do!!! We love you!!!

Luke is Here!

2007-12-28T20:19:00.001-07:00

Luke Bryant Evans was born this afternoon (Ethan's 16th Birthday) at 3:53 PM. He weighed in at 7 lbs 14 oz and is 21 inches long. Mommy and Baby are doing great...and Daddy looks pretty happy too!

Family Flag

2007-10-31T13:41:00.001-07:00

Keith's Homecoming

2007-08-27T11:59:00.000-07:00

For anyone interested,
Keith's homecoming talk from yesterday can be accessed online at:

http://www.stonewood2.org/talks/

The Boy is coming Home!!!!!!

2007-08-14T14:00:00.000-07:00

To-morrow, To-morrow, He'll be home to-morrow! It's only a Day Away.
Yeah, were getting soooo excited for our missionary to arrive tomorrow at 1:09 at the SLC airport. Elder Keith-o has had "the best two years!" The good news is I recently purchased a new digital camera. The bad news is, I haven't figured out how to use the software so I can download the pictures onto my computer. We will be taking pictures...we'll see if we can share them.

Thank Heaven for LIttle Girls!

2007-06-07T20:52:00.000-07:00

Two girls - looking all grown up in their Sunday best.
Betty is busy preparing for Girl's Camp next week,
Emma began gymnastics today and will be in a theater camp next week
Sewing lessons will begin when Betty returns.
I am still amazed that after all those WONDERFUL BOYS, I ended up with
2 BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTERS.
Who'd a thunk...

Eight out of Nine

2007-05-14T03:00:00.000-07:00

It's been a great run. For sure, others have gone longer.
Some might say that Eight out of Nine is pretty amazing.
I have to admit I was excited at first,
but then when I realized that the chain was coming to an end,
I got a little nostalgic, a little sad.
But, mostly I'm Thankful
that for the last eight out of nine years
I've received a Mother's Day phone call
from one of my missionary sons.
There were my calls from Spencer
in 1999 and 2000 from Venezuela,
2001 and 2002 from Taylor in Chile,
2003 and 2004 from Grant in Argentina,
and last of all in 2006 and 2007 (Today!) from Keith
in Seattle, Washington.

Such great Mother's Days... such great sons!

Locks of Love

2007-04-19T15:19:00.001-07:00

It's been eighteen long months...

Not just for Brandy's mission, but for the hair growing challenge.
Neither Brandy or Betty have cut their hair since November 2005!
They both measured in at twenty-two inches
Bethany sheared off ten inches for Betty to donate to

Locks of Love
Betty, Brandy, McKenzie (Brandy's sister)

Brandy's Homecoming

2007-04-19T15:04:00.000-07:00

Brandy returned from her mission in Indonesia Monday. Here we are with her on Tuesday night. She's back safe and sound, doing great...plus we all got some neat souviners!

It's so GREAT to be EIGHT!

2007-01-30T09:21:00.000-07:00

Emma started out the day with
Breakfast in Bed

And the party with friends!

Then there were the presents to open!

"The Boy" is quite The Missionary!

2007-01-14T20:46:00.000-07:00

Last Friday we received a wonderful letter from the Tuttle family from Enumclaw, Washington with this picture enclosed. They wrote to thank us for sending Elder Evans on a mission and praising him for his enthusiasm, dedication and beautiful voice. It is the second letter we've received about Keith from people in his mission in a month. The other letter, sent in a Christmas card from the Sorensen family said "Elder Evans teaches with total conviction, maturity and gentleness, with a very 'no nonesense' approach. He is completely devoted to the cause. We've also received two phone calls (from a Bishop in the ward he served in and Bro. Jeppson a ward mission leader). We are so very grateful that these people took the time to write and call. They each assured us Keith is being well fed, watched over and appreciated. Keith was recently transfered and is serving as the mission office secretary in charge of referrals, mail, baptism data, supplies and is also responsible for manning the reception desk and answering the phone when people call the mission office.

Emma's Baptism

2006-12-30T12:25:00.000-07:00

December 30, 2006
Emma was baptized by her Dad in Orem Utah.
Her brother Taylor confirmed her a member of the Church.

Elder Keith-o

2006-11-26T13:25:00.000-07:00

"My Seattle"

Happy Halloween

2006-10-31T13:41:00.000-07:00

Betty shows off her fifties "poodle skirt" and cat eye glasses for this years Halloween look.

Emma wanted desperately to be a colonial girl so we made her a real live American Girl doll.

Family Reunion-True Story

2006-08-25T13:13:00.000-07:00

Part 1: So about 2 weeks ago as I was driving home from the Provo Temple and I see that I've had a message left on my voice mail. I call up my voice mail and I hear "Hello, Sharlene, this is Neil Schmitt. You sent me a letter back in 1994 and I'm embarassed to say that I just found it while clearing up some files. You were asking about information on your Grandfather Schmitt's genealogy. Well, I've been feeling a little guilty lately and have decided to get going on my family history. That's how I found your letter. Maybe we could get together now that you're living in Utah."

Part 2: Neil's father is Karl Schmitt, my grandpa Schmitt's (Pops) older brother. The Schmitt's were a big (at least 8 children that we know of) German Lutheran family. The children were Fredrick, Oskar, Karl, Edward (Pops), Henrietta, Ida, Emma, and at least one Marie who we think died as an infant. All of the family lived in SLC and Karl ended up marrying a Mormon girl. Uncle Karl refused to let his kids get baptised for years but finally relented when Neil was 10 years old. Neil ultimately served a mission in the Great Lakes mission which included the Schmitt children's birthplace (Indiana). He even met some distant relatives while serving there. When Neil returned home from his mission he ended up baptizing his father Karl. (And to think that my brother and I thought we were the only Mormons in the family!)

Part 3: Neil, Connie (his wife) and I got together today for lunch and had a great time talking about what we knew, what we didn't know, and what we needed to find out about the Schmitt family. He even made a phone call to my Mom while they were here at the house. They hadn't been in contact with each other in 50 years.

Part 4: We are both going to go through our pictures, files, etc. and share information on the Schmitt line. What a great blessing family is!

1st day of school - 2006

2006-08-25T04:20:00.000-07:00

Today I sent "The Littles" off to their 1st day of school. It was a pretty big deal as Betty and Emma each ventured off to new schools. Having attended just one elementary, one Jr. High, and one High school myself, I never knew the feeling of being the "new kid" like Emma has, twice in two years. She has been so flexible and hopefully will benefit from the grade school shuffle. Westmore to Challenger to Freedom Academy all by 2nd grade and never having made a move to a different home.

Betty on the other hand started 7th grade at Lakeridge Jr. High. She's having a new experience having 8 diferent teachers, each in different rooms and on different floors, keeping track of A days and B days, learning French, singing in Girl's Choir and being in a somewhat new mix of friends in her GT History/English class (Gifted and Talented).

Ethan began 9th grade at Lakeridge. When we first moved here to Utah and Keith started in 9th grade at the same school, I remember feeling (and Keith even more so) that he'd been gyped not getting to be a Freshman at a High School like in California where Jr. High or Middle school started at 6th grade and ended at 8th and like his 3 older brothers had. Being in 9th grade and still at Jr. High seemed like a "demotion" of sorts. I have to say that having "Little Bob", my youngest of 5 boys stay at the Jr. High one more year is OK with this mom. I've gained a different perspective over the years and know that he will be out of the nest all too soon as it is, and even though he's still actually a Freshman, it's Ok by me to put off HIGH SCHOOL for one more year.

Emma's new do

2006-08-17T18:13:00.000-07:00

BEFORE

AFTER

A Fine Time with the Seguines

2006-08-17T13:20:00.000-07:00

Betty had the opportunity to babysit Courtney and Carter Seguine today while their dad, Dan attended his brother's marriage in the Mt. Timpanogos temple.

Neither of the kids were excited to get into the pool with "Diving Dolly" so they opted for some other activities until we could take Dolly to her friend's (Snoop) to play.

They both seemed to enjoy the doll house, dress-ups, trampoline, and eventually the pool. We had a great time together and when they were all through playing Courtney and Carter got into their sunday best and met their dad at the temple. Last time Courtney was at our house Dan and Tricia had dressed her in a little onsie that said "I'm the big sister," announcing their pregnancy with Carter. Courtney really is a BIG sister now with 3 younger siblings. Thanks for sharing them with us!

Betty turns 12!!!

2006-07-31T13:50:00.000-07:00

Betty enjoys eating her Birthday Breakfast in Bed.

That's a lot of candles to blow out!

Ethan helps Betty out showing everyone that she's 12 years old.

Happy Birthday Betty!

2006-07-30T21:55:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrated Betty's 12th birthday. She's a "Young Woman" now, but you know, between me and you, she has been for a while now.
We love you Betty Boop!

Betty Goes Hawaiian

2006-07-20T14:11:00.000-07:00

Our very own Lost Boy

2006-07-05T11:09:00.000-07:00

The set was beautiful!

Ethan was his charming self in the role of "Curly," the leader of the Lost Boys.

This summer Ethan performed in the two week run of "Peter Pan" at our local community theatre. It was a big hit and a great experience for "Little Bob".

Cul de Sac of FIRE!

2006-07-05T11:07:00.000-07:00

For the Fourth of July our neighborhood gets together to celebrate with fireworks and socializing. Our event, "Cul de sac of Fire," isn't quite the extravaganza that "Stadium of Fire"is but we wouldn't miss it. Each year it's gotten bigger and better. This year the festivities included a wonderful BBQ dinner with hamburgers, hot dogs, watermelon, dozens of salads, soda and desserts. With over 150 people in attendance the neighbors were begging for some big entertainment this year. We were not to be disappointed. Following 45 minutes of spectacular pyromania and to the surprise of the crowd a giant spotlight appeared on the Wright's rooftop. The blare of music began and lo and behold Neil Diamond made his appearance (in the form of neighbor Steve Powell) singing "We're comin to America"as he ever so cautiously walked along the pitch of the roof and down a ladder to the waiting throng. It was a night to remember. Rumor has it that Napoleon Dynamite or Donny and Marie may make an appearance next year. We can't wait!

Dress-Up

2006-07-04T20:26:00.000-07:00

Emma and Betty play dress-up in Grandma's prom and wedding dresses.
Ever since Grandma brought the girl's her beautiful dresses they've enjoyed playing in them so we figured we'd have a little photo shoot before they outgrow them - we still can't believe how little Grandma's waist was!

Connecticut

2006-06-25T13:10:00.000-07:00

We girls had a wonderful trip to Connecticut to see Spencer, Melanie and the boys. We had a great time playing together, riding the train, shopping, having meals together and more. We loved every minute!

One of our days there we broke away from Connecticut and traveled by train and subway to New York and saw "Beauty and the Beast". It was fabulous! We enjoyed all the sights of Times Square and took the Staton Island ferry out in the harbor and saw the Statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island.

Music and the Spoken Word

2006-06-11T13:06:00.000-07:00

This morning we took the Young Women from our church to Temple Square and were in the audience for the weekly Tabernacle Choir TV/Radio broadcast, "Music and the Spoken Word" Afterwards we got a quick snack at the car and went to sacrament meeting in downtown Salt Lake. We happened to be in the ward where Elder Faust attends and he was there in the meeting. It was wonderful to spend a special time with the Young Women.

Spring Recital

2006-06-10T12:48:00.000-07:00

This morning we both Betty and Emma gave their Spring piano recitals. They got to play on a full-size grand piano in a wonderful concert hall filled with people. They were both nervous, but you'd never know it. We got front row seats/pictures.

If you were a dessert you'd be...

2006-06-01T19:42:00.000-07:00

Betty had an assignment the end of the semester to choose a theme and describe each person in her immediate family using the theme. Betty chose desserts as her theme and illustrated each member and gave a description of why they were like the dessert.

A brief summary:
Dad- flan: very simple and plain. Doesn't like to overdo or be fancy.
Mom: Strawberry shortcake - lots of layers. Mom can be lots of things.
Spencer: Apple pie - all American boy. Watches out for everyone and is sweet too.
Taylor: Rice Krispie treat - crackling sound- loudest in our family. Sticky - sometimes he won't leave you alone, but I love them/him.
Grant: Cheesecake - delightful to be around. One of my favorite desserts (Grant always reminds me that he's my favorite brother)
Keith: Parfait - Lots of layers because he has so many talents!
Ethan: Souffle - Witty and dramatic and always trying to impress the ladies.
Betty : Vanilla ice cream - simple, sweet, and everyone likes vanilla ice cream (and Betty).
Emma: Banana Split - fun, very messy, exciting and crazy just like a banana split.

Betty says goodbye to elementary school

2006-06-01T19:25:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night (May 31) Mrs. Billings' class graduation party was held in our backyard. We enjoyed a program given by the students as they shared their favorite memorizations, stories, experiences and memories. There were two chocolate fountains (one milk chocolate, the other white) to dip fruit, pretzels, cinnamon bears, cookies, etc. in and a yummy cake too. The evening was a beautiful 80 degrees with blue skies and lots of fun! Betty has spent the last 2 years with the students in the A.L.L. program and has made many friends as they mummified chickens (Egypt unit), performing in "Annie", learning Italian, the Medieval faire, readers theatre, Roman unit (Betty got to be a gladiator), the worlds faire, Images of Greatness, Science fair, etc... It's on to Jr. High!

I have a garden, a lovely garden...

2006-05-26T19:36:00.000-07:00

With Betty's graduation/party being held in our yard May 31st we set a goal to have ALL our yard projects for the season done by then. So far, we're right on schedule. Only the creek/waterfall is left to work on. The herb garden is going strong and our roses are in bloom. We put in new stepping stones and a planting area to break up an area of lawn by the west gate. We've planted 13 trees including 9 evergreens at the back and west side fence and a pretty Japanese maple at the east side of our back porch. The tomato, pepper, pea, squash, watermelon, and pumpkins in the vegetable garden are growing more everyday.
The wonderful "Creeping Jenny" ground cover I put in last year has filled in a whole corner by our porch as have the dianthas near the walk. We're really impressed with the showgirl of all flowers, our Clematis, that are growing in the gazebo and on a trellis we added to the porch this spring.
All this makes our yucky winters
almost seem worth it.
We love Spring!

Science fair, History fair, and plays, oh, MY!

2006-05-25T20:03:00.000-07:00

This school year has been especially filled with extra-curricular activities for Betty and Ethan.

Betty enjoyed portraying Corrie ten Boom for the Images of Greatness program and won a place at the district Science fair with her project "Math Ability - Nature or Nurture?"

In March Ethan played "Drake" the father duck in a musical version of the story of the Ugly Duckling and Betty played "Duffy", the oldest orphan in "Annie". Both enjoyed the experience and made new friends along the way.

Later that month Ethan won first place for his documentary on "Upton Sinclair" at the district history fair

We've attended Ethan's final Band and Choir concerts and June 10th will be Betty's and Emma's piano recital. It's been a fun year!

Emma's Spring Program

2006-05-24T19:02:00.000-07:00

Tonight we attended Emma's Spring Program at Challenger school. They sang "You're a Grand Ole Flag", "Take me out to the Ballpark" (where Emma got to dress up as a baseball player and be the catcher),
They sang a song about the 7 continents, then a song about each one of them
They sang "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"
"Old MacDonald" in Korean, one about marsupials and lastly "It's a Small World"
It was a fun evening to see Emma and her class perform, meet her teachers and friends and visit her classroom.

Taylor and Lauren - BYU graduates!

2006-05-23T17:18:00.000-07:00

It was a great day when Taylor and Lauren graduated from BYU this Spring. Taylor in Economics and Lauren in History. They are headed for Washington DC where Lauren will be coaching the women's VB team for American University and Taylor will work and continue his studies. We're happy to share the summer with them before they head out on their new adventure. Go Cougars!

Spring has sprung!

2006-05-23T07:41:00.000-07:00

We've all enjoyed being outside in our beautiful yard, soaking up the sunshine, planting our vegetable garden and tons of flowers and playing. We love our fruit trees. Here Betty and Emma hang from our cherry tree (Which by the way is loaded with fruit). Brian topped it in the fall so all the branches for picking are low enough that we'll just need a normal sized ladder. Our plum tree is going to be very "fruitful" as well. Our apple, apricot and peach trees that were planted last fall aren't quite big enough this year, but we look forward to a great harvest in the years to come.

Baby birds!

2006-05-23T07:30:00.000-07:00

We've had so much fun the past month watching a family of baby birds that hatched in a nest built in our wisteria arbor in the backyard. They grew bigger and bigger and finally left the nest last week. When they first hatched and you made "kissy" nosies near them they'd stand up and open their mouths wide. We started out with four little baby robins, one must have gotten bumped out as they got bigger, and now the three that made it are hopping around all over the backyard.

Emma gets "Challenged"

2006-05-22T21:48:00.000-07:00

Emma began attending a new elementary school the end of March and is absolutely loving it, not to mention she's progressing by leaps and bounds. We are in total agreement that the name of the school "Challenger" is very fitting. She loves her two teachers, Miss Marino and Miss Hurst and her 17 classmates. To our surprise, she's also enjoying wearing her uniform each day. Mom notes a bonus feature is that there are fewer clothes to wash during the week. Yea!!! We headed straight from school one day over to BYU to meet Dad for an outing and Emma was a bit concerned that she didn't have time to change out of her uniform before going up to campus. She paused for a minute and then said, "Well, at least I'll look educated." That's our EM.

Italian Fashion Show

2006-05-22T21:00:00.000-07:00

Italian Fashion Show

Today Betty's class did an Italian fashion show. They each created an outfit and wrote a description of it in Italian that could be read as they walked the red carpet. Betty's outfit was made of saran wrap and paper flowers and she had a special hairdo for the occasion. She's really enjoyed her last year in A.L.L. (the accelerated learning lab) and the Italian lessons they had each week. But mostly she's enjoyed being a student of Mrs. Billings - whom we all agree is the greatest teacher a girl could ever have.