Eagle Court of Honor

This was taken at Zach's friend, Scott A.'s Eagle Court of Honor. He is the kid in the middle with his merit badges on. Zach and his friend Matt (left of Scott) spoke at his Court of Honor. It was so good. Both boys did a great job. As I look at this picture, I can't believe how much these boys have grown. Some of these boys have known each other since they were just little boys. Some of these boys have only known each other since elementary school, some since high school. When you are a parent, you just hope you kids have good friends. Don and I feel so blessed that our children have such great friends. We love these kids, they are awesome! We can't say enough nice things about these boys! Scott is an incredible kid! We have known him for years. He definitely represents what it is to be an Eagle Scout! Congratulations Scott!













This is the boys being goofy! They are trying to act all tough and disrespectful! I hate to tell you guys, you're still just plain old funny and cute!

End of Early Morning Seminary

So today was the last day of seminary. Kind of a bitter sweet day. On a good note, I can sleep in more now and it means the school year is almost over. But on the not so good note it means that the great seminary year that I had will be over. I was really blessed to have a great seminary teacher. Sister Weiss was a great teacher and made seminary fun. She also brought Einstein bagels (delicious). I'm really grateful for all that she did. All the people in my class were really fun too. I was lucky to have it with some of my friends like Matt Doxey, Cameron Olson and Taylor Jensen. It was a great year and I hope next year will be just as good.
Zach

Class Pictures

This is Ian's class picture. He is in the second row, third from the left. I spent every Wednesday morning helping out in his class. I loved it. These kids are great. I love his teacher too. Mrs. O is a great lady. She taught Aubrey kindergarten. Then she went taught 1st grade for a while and then took a leave of absence. We were so glad when she came back this year to teach kindergarten. Ian has learned so much this year and he just loves her. Her class is like honors kindergarten. They learn a ton, and she never raises her voice. She is so calm! I am so grateful for her!

This is Aubrey's class. She is in the top row, 2nd from the right. Some of these kids have been together since kindergarten. They are a fun group. It is hard to believe she will be in fifth grade next year. She had a great year and she loved doing all of the extra projects. This school is a community inside a community. They earn school money, and all of the classrooms have classroom businesses. The kids learn about business and earning money. It is really neat. Aubrey's class was the Photography Studio. She loved that! Then they have going to Town where they can spend their school money and buy from the student and classroom businesses. We loved her teacher. Mrs. S did her student teaching in Aubrey's classroom when she was in 2nd grade. We loved her so much, we wanted her to stay. She did and she has been so great for Aubrey! You can tell that she loves the kids, and she teaches them so much! This is why we stay at this school. The kids are on zone variances because this school is out of their zone. It is worth it! The teachers are wonderful. They become your friends and a part of your life. We are so blessed to be at such a wonderful school.

New Toy!

Look what I got!!!!! I am so excited. I have been wanting a digital camera forever. I am a little overwhelmed by it. It has so many features, I want to make sure I am using them right. I have been reading about it, watching the video tutorials, and on Thursday I am going to Enrichment Night to learn more about my camera and how to take good pictures. (I know, I actually am going to go to Enrichment Night.) Don gets excited when he gets a new video game or some type of tool, I am excited over a camera. I guess we did our part and stimulated the economy! I will be posting new pictures soon!!!!

Shout Out To Kaeley!

Our niece is graduating from High School on May 28! We are so excited for her! She goes to school in Rexburg, Idaho. After high school she will be attending Idaho State University on a music scholarship. She is a great girl, and we are so proud of her!

Austin's Band Concert

Austin had his band concert on May 20. This was his first time playing a concert with the advance band. He is playing the drums in the first picture and he is behind those pipes in the second picture. He loves playing in band. One of the big highlights of this year was going to San Diego and playing with the advance band in Sea World. He had a blast doing that. We are really proud of him. He has worked so hard this year with his grades and band.

That Time of Year

This is the time of year where all we seem to do is go to concerts, award ceremonies, appreciation breakfasts, banquets, shows and anything else that has to do with the end of the school year. If it is not something at the kid's school, it is Don's school. It is a busy time, but it is so much fun. It is so neat to see what the kids have been working on and see their hard work pay off. These are pictures of Aubrey's piano recital. (May 19) She takes piano from a friend of ours, who is in our ward. We just love her. She is so talented. Aubrey loves piano. I never have to make her practise. She practises every morning. At her recital she played, Jack and the Beanstalk, The Juggler, and The Clock Shop which was a duet with her piano teacher. After the recital we all ate snacks and visited. It was a great night for Aubrey.

Zach's Amazing Movie Review

So, Ive just saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I've been waiting for this sequel for awhile and was excited to see it. It was actually pretty good. It had classic Indiana Jones lines and action accompanied by the unforgettable theme music. Harrison Ford is as good as ever and the other actors make a great cast. With the edition of CGI even more epic fight sequences are made. The only thing that was kind of disappointing was that it wasn't as good as the original three. Similar to the Star Wars movies, the originals are better then the new versions. However, I'm not dissing the movie. It had a lot of action and adventure and managed to capture some of the charm of the originals. The one thing I did not like at all was the sci-fi undertones. While the original movies where based off of 1930 adventure stories (which is the same time the movies took place) the new one is based off of 1950 science fiction movies because the new movie is set in the 1950's. So be ready, there will be aliens. This all adds up to a slightly lame and disappointing ending. In other words, go for the action and adventure leading up to the end, not the end itself. Oh and don't be worried, beating up on Soviets is just as fun as beating up on the Nazi's :]
Final Verdict: 9/10 stars: Go see it to see this newest installment of the classic series, but don't expect anything particularly ground breaking.
As always,
Zach

Austin's Movie Review

Hi this is Austin. Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian is obviously a sequel to the Lion the Witch an the Wardrobe. but this movie totally outshines the first. It has plenty of more action and is longer so it lets the characters in the story develop more than the first. This movie is a little bit more darker. There is in this movie a very spiritual message that C.S. Lewis was trying to get across in his books. In this movie you will find that when the main characters were just thinking about themselves things quickly went down hill, but when they sought to help one another things worked out. Another message is to seek out God. In the movie they all have different plans of war but Lucy suggest to seek out Aslan. If you want to which plan they choose you'll just have to see movie.

Good News and Bad News

Austin ran for student body treasurer this year. He was real excited to run. We were in shock, because this isn't like him. Well, he lost the election by two votes. O.k., we want a recount!!!! Anyway, we are very proud of him. He did a great job. The whole family helped him with his campaign. It was neat to see everyone work together to help Austin out. He says that now he knows a ton of people at school and he has gotten over stage fright. The good news for Austin is that he made jazz band. He band teacher wanted him to play percussion, but he told the band teacher he is really a guitar player who only plays percussion at school. So they let him tryout early and he made it in. We are so excited for him.

Dance Team Picture From Wizard of Oz.

This is a group shot of the girls who danced for the Wizard of Oz. Aubrey is in the back, in the middle.

Survivor Winner!

Zachery is the winner!!!! He had Parvati. We knew he had won when it went down to the final two. He had both Amanda and Parvati. So after it went down to the final two, he went to bed. Before Zach went to bed, he announced that we would be going to some pizza place for dinner. I have never heard of this place, so I will let you know how it goes. Now we have to wait until the fall to play again!

St. George Marathon

Well, I just checked my name and I did not get in the Marathon. I even had some friends sign up with me to increase my chances. I am bummed. It puts my goal back a bit, but I am still determined to run a marathon for each of the kids. I only have two more to go. I am looking at some other marathons. I haven't raced a lot this year. I have been busy or injured. Maybe it is good I haven't raced. I have had a few injuries, so at least this will give me time to heal. I still hope to one day run the Boston Marathon. Hey, next year I will be 40! I will only need 3 hours and 50 minutes to qualify for the Boston Marathon! That is only 5 minutes off of my fastest marathon time! Maybe this is a good thing! I can always find the bright side of things.

Survivor Week 13

This week Austin lost Erik. As a family we agree that the men on this season were the stupidest men we have ever seen. How can you hold immunity idols and not play them? How can you win the immunity necklace and then give it away when you are the only man left in the game? These guys were nuts! So, Sunday is the final show. Austin, Zachery, and Don are the only ones left in the game.

Race for the Cure!

While we were gone, Aubrey did Race for the Cure. Last year I ran this race. My friend Heather was battling breast cancer, and we put together at team. We raced in her name! She even did the 1 mile walk. Well, she won her battle. (She is the one in pink.) It was a hard battle, but she won it. Heather taught me a lot during that year. I am so impressed with her and her family. They handled everything so well, they are so strong. The most important thing Heather taught all of us about breast cancer is "early detection." I was looking at last year's picture of all of us at the race, what a difference a year makes! Aubrey stayed with Heather and took her to the race, along with the other girls! It was a great learning experience for her. She had a great time! Thanks Heather for everything! Also, thanks to Kim. Let me know when a walk or race comes up. I'll be there! (Pictures by Heather.)

My "Wicked" Weekend

This weekend, Don and I went to see the musical, "Wicked" with our good friends Chris and Elaine. We went to celebrate Elaine and my birthday! (Elaine is one month older than me!!!! Her birthday is today!) I have to say that this was one of the best gifts I have received! I loved it! "Wicked" is the story of how two friends in the land of Oz end up as the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch. The story takes place before Dorothy comes along. It was great. The music was great and the story was great. We really enjoyed it. We all enjoyed it so much that we had to stop and get the CD to listen to the music again on the way home. It was a great weekend. We loved running around Hollywood and seeing all the sights! It was a fun trip. Thanks to everyone who watched our kids and thanks to Elaine and Chris for the fun weekend!

Zach's Movie Review

Alright! I haven't seen a lot of movies in a while so I am glad that I could get back to reviewing! This weekend I saw the movie Iron Man and if you want to see it, go ahead, its great. I give the movie 9/10 stars. This movie is one of my favorite super-hero movies ever and the best movie I've seen this year. It maintains a good cross between the darkness and evil of Batman Begins and the good-natured fun of the Spider Man movies. Iron Man is just pure fun. Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark/Iron Man) perfectly delivers in his role of a billionaire playboy turned superhero. His acting is perfect in his change of motives in life. The story is good, and the dialogue is witty and funny without making you gag. Also, Iron Man's conflicts are perfectly placed and executed. Honestly, who doesn't like watching a bunch of terrorists get what's coming to them. Iron Man's CGI is wonderful and the flying scenes are amazing. I'm saying: Go see this movie, you won't be disappointed, especially if you have enjoyed the superhero movies up to this point.
- As a side note, this looks like a good summer for movies. Coming up we have Pixar's new animated film Wall-E, the long awaited Indiana Jones sequel Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Steve Carrell's spy comedy Get Smart, Jack Blacks animated kung-fu film Kung Fu Panda, and the new Batman film The Dark Night. Its gonna get good.
As Always,
Zach

Survivor Week12

Zachery lost James! What is up with everyone getting infections on this show? Man, what kind of island are they staying on?

Wizard of Oz

Aubrey's school decided to put on the Wizard of Oz. She tried out for a speaking part and didn't get a part. Then she tried out for the dance team that would dance in the play, and she got in. Boy she was so excited. That is all she could talk about for weeks. They rehearsed all the time, and it seemed like it went on for months. Aubrey never complains about dancing! She loves it! I think she loved this even more because all of her friends were dancing with her. Well, last night was the show for the parents. She did so good. They all did. I couldn't believe how talented the kids are. Her friend Pilar was Dorthy, and her friend Rachel was the Wicked Witch's sidekick. Rachel even sang a solo. We were so proud of all of them. What a talented bunch. Dad even tried to get in the act!

CHS Academic Letter

In April Zachery also received his academic letter. You have to have a 3.5 or better for 3 semesters to receive your academic letter. Zachery works really hard in school. We are so proud of him. He wasn't too happy about me taking a picture of him at school, but I did get one picture with some of his friends. Notice how interested Zach and his best friend are. They wouldn't even stop eating their cookies!

Zach's Gifts

He got a lot of great gifts for his birthday. This is what he asked for and this is what he got. He looks pretty good with his new suit on and his cell phone.

We Got Him!

On April 19th we had Zachery's surprise party. Boy, was he surprised. His friends kidnapped him and took him out to do some pretty silly games. While they were gone, kids started to arrive. When Zach came in he was surprised!!! He couldn't believe all the kids that came. It was really fun. They played games and visited, they had a great time. I think Zach had a great 16th birthday. Thanks to his friends Scott and Lindsey, who helped pull this off! They are great friends! The quote of the night was, "Sister Brasier, I have a gift for Zach but I have to use a blow torch. Is it o.k. to use it in your house?" Look at the picture above, it explains it.