Thomas's Birthday, Pinewood Derby, House Projects, etc.

As is our custom, we had dinner at Grandma's house this month. While there we had an extended family celebration of Thomas's 11th birthday. If you recall, we celebrated Emmy's 2nd birthday a couple weeks before Thomas's 11th. When she saw the candles it all came rushing back and before Thomas had a chance to blow them out... well, you know.

11 year old

Emmy about leaped out of my arms to get a chance to blow

Our family was in charge of activity at the extended family FHE. We decided to play some active/outdoor games so the younger crowd could get involved. The first was "dragon tail." The "head" of the dragon has to try and catch the "tail" while the "body" goes along for the ride.

The dragon in repose

The dragon in action

Later we played another game called human battleship or something like that. You need a volleyball net (which Grandma has conveniently set up), rope, or the like. The volleyball is a bomb that you throw to try and hit human battleships on the other side of the net. It was a good game to play after the much more active dragon tail game.


Now that Thomas is eleven he gets to join the boy scouts. The very day he turned 11 he was invited to go on an overnight campout with the scouts. He was super excited to go. He came home late the next day and looked pretty tired, but very happy. Apparently, he didn't sleep much. He also learned a "hints from heloise" type trick from one of the other boys--in a pinch you can use the bristles of a velcro strap as a toothbrush.

I wish I could have more time with our girls before they grow up. I don't get to see them much on the weekdays due to work so I have to drink it all in on the weekend. By Sunday night I'm usually quite tired, but it's a good tired. Emmy has recently discovered how fun it is to brush her hands over my whiskers when I pick her up. She gives really cuddly little hugs. Cora is still learning about hugs, but she is generous with her smiles (and spit up).

If Cordelia needs a pacifier, we all need a pacifier

In addition to the celebration at Grandma's house, we had a celebration of Thomas's birthday with his friends at Incredible Pizza. Incredible Pizza is kind of like Chucky-Cheese's but for a slightly higher age demographic. Our boys were easy to spot in their clean white shirts (part of the school uniform).



Thomas's favorite attraction at Incredible Pizza is the go-karts. After a while, Thomas's friends went home and Erika took the girls home so Thomas, Matthew, and I were the only ones on the go-kart track. We just kept going round and round; they couldn't get enough.


As mentioned above, Thomas has moved on to Boy Scouts, but Matthew is still a cub. At this year's pinewood derby his car won the Big Cheese award. It looks good enough to eat, except for that mouse sticking out on the right, dontcha think?

Matthew's Big Cheese pinewood derby car

We had a little scare a couple weeks ago when an out of control fire began burning some homes down not too far from our neighborhood (in Herriman). Some national guardsmen accidentally started a brush fire at the machine gun range. I first noticed it while walking home after church. At that point all I could see was a plume of smoke. Later that night I went out on the deck and saw flames and smelled the thick smoke. Luckily they got the fire under control during the course of the night and the next day. Only 3 homes were burned.

We have been itching to move our piano for a long time. Since we moved here the best spot we could find for it was against a wall with a window. The piano tuner told us we should move it because extreme temperature changes could damage it. So we finally converted a storage closet into a piano niche. The piano wouldn't fit though unless I took out the closet door framing. So that meant I had to do some finish work where the frame used to be. That was a bit of a challenge. I also moved an electric outlet up so it would be accessible for a piano light.

Thomas enjoyed helping with demolition

Emmy saw us pulling out nails with pliers and wanted to give it a go

The finished product

Not to be outdone, Erika also tackled a big home improvement project last month. We decided it was time to reupholster the kitchen chairs with a more mess-friendly material. I also installed some brackets to keep the leg supports from wobbling.

Before

After

In the spirit of conference weekend, you all might enjoy this "Why I Believe" video that my mission president, John Bailey, was featured in.

Love,
Ron and Erika