Cross Country Update

Zachery got back yesterday from the Nike Pre-Nationals in Portland, OR. He had so much fun. The coach took the top 7 runners to this meet. They had a lot of fun. They did so good too. Each one of them did their personal best! Zachery's time was 18:49 for a 5K. The team also placed 7th out of 22 teams. Not bad for their first time running this meet! I think Zachery running his fasted time for a 5K really did wonders for his confidence and he is ready to keep doing better! We are proud of him and his team mates!

Primary Programs

This Sunday was the Primary Programs for church. For those of you that don't know, this is when the children (ages 3-11) take part in a sacrament meeting where they sing songs, and say parts that reflect this year's primary theme, "I Am a Child of God." As the Church puts it, "The objective of the 2008 Outline for Sharing Time and the Children's Sacrament Meeting Presentation is to help children understand that as children of God they are part of an eternal plan and rich blessings are in store for them as they follow Jesus Christ." I love the Primary Programs. They are so wonderful. Aubrey and Ian did a great job. Ian had his part all memorized. Don, Austin, and I had to laugh because Ian sang so loud, we could hear him out in the congregation. He looked like he was focusing so hard! Aubrey did great too. She had to talk about how the scriptures help her in her daily life. She wrote her own talk and did a great job. The best part of this Sunday is because I am in the Stake Primary Presidency, I was able to attend three Primary Programs. It is so great to see how each Ward interprets the theme. It amazes me how talented the children are. Every one of the presentations runs overtime and every one of the children has a funny moment. One thing is for sure, you could feel the Spirit at each one of the presentations I attended. I love serving in the Primary.

The Force

Does this picture say it all? Yah, The Force lost. It was a sad day. They lost 5-1. They played another club team. It was a strange game for sure. Basically the club team didn't play any positions. They just ran to the other end of the field and just over powered our team. They also had some other moves that are totally illegal. Lucky for us, no one got hurt on our team. What can do you? Our team didn't play well, and they lost.

Austin's Movie Review

When Jerry Shaw's brother dies his life is soon turned upside down. When he steps into his apartment and finds passports, guns, and enough sodium nitrate to make an atomic bomb, his life has now changed. When an unknown caller calls he has to run for his life. Then meets Rachel who is also being stalked by an invisible enemy. Together they must obey the women on the phone or die. This Saturday Dallin and I went to go see Eagle Eye. This movie was awesome. It had tons of action. Plus I like that there was a plot to it. This mystery movie keeps you guessing until the end of the movie. This movie has a lot of swearing and is pretty suspenseful. So this may not be good for young children, but otherwise go see it.

Survivor Gabon Week 1

You guys know the game we play. We all draw the Survivor's names randomly and who ever has the winning survivor at the end of the show gets to choose where the family goes out to dinner. After all these years, the kids still love doing it. You guys are probably sick of hearing about it. Well, last night was the first night and poor Ian took a hit. Not only did he lose one Survivor, he lost two. Yes, he lost Gillian and Michelle. Now he is down to one. The kids still love Survivor, but their favorite reality show is Amazing Race. That starts on Sunday!

Cross Country Pictures

Here is Zachery's Cross Country photos. Don't they look tough? Zach is off to Portland, Oregon tomorrow to run in the Nike Pre-Nationals. He is so excited to go. Here is the web site about the race. http://www.nikeprenationals.com/

Austin's Good News

Austin made jazz band. He tried out last Thursday and found out on Monday that he made it. He is so excited. It is an early morning class, so he has to be there at 6:45 am. He doesn't mind at all, he is always up before all of us. His friend Tanner also made it. They both take guitar from the same person (Dave). Congratulations Austin, we are proud of you.

The Force

Today was The Force's second soccer game against a team named the Tuzos. I was a little worried when I noticed that the Tuzos were a club team with expensive uniforms, sponsor patches all over the place, and nobody speaking English (I am sure you can figure out what language they were speaking). Most of the first half was played on our side of the field with the Tuzos making multiple shots; however, our goalie, Ian, did an awesome job stopping shot after shot. At halftime, the score was 0 -0 and our team was "spent". During the second half, our team must have summoned "The Force". Our team played outstanding. The Tuzos could not even come close to scoring and we scored 2 goals. Ian was one of our superstars for this game. Great job Ian !!!!

Cross Country Update

Today was an invitational in Laughlin, NV. Zach's high school took 1st place. Only the boys ran today. His time was 20:06.

Homecoming

Last Sunday Zachery asked a girl in our ward to Homecoming. Zach is a creative guy, so he typed a message to this girl asking her to homecoming, wrapped it in tin foil, and then baked a cake for her with the message in it. It was so cute. Then Zachery (Always goofing around and loving a goofy costume!) dropped the cake off at her house. He was sneaky, like a ninja! (Now you get the costume!) You can tell we were bored and being real creative this Sunday! We knew Taylor would appreciate this!

Then Taylor made Zach some cupcakes to give him her answer. This is what we found on our door. I don't know why it is so fuzzy, but it says, "I think we'd make the perfect mix." It was great. We love Taylor, she is a great girl. The two of them will have fun! I will be posting homecoming pictures next month.

Cross Country Update

Yesterday Zach's school ran against Foothill and Gorman. It was a pretty easy race, and the team took it easy. They have an invitational this weekend they are saving up for. CHS boys and girls won. Zach came in 10th wtih a time of 17:16. Not bad.

Cross Country Update

Today was the Las Vegas Invitational. It is a huge meet with schools from all over the valley and from California attending. Twenty four schools in all. Zach has been having a bad couple of days (I will let him tell about that.) and I think at this meet it showed. Also, the course has been changed and it is really hard. So Zach's time was 20:58. He is not pleased at all. Oh well, sometimes we all have bad races. His school came in 5th. Not bad.

Soccer Season Starts

Soccer season began this weekend. Actually it started last week, but we didn't have a game. "The Force" is back and going strong. We had a few bumps in the road, but now we are going strong. Today the team did great! It is amazing, all of the boys are great at every position. Don can really substitute anyone in any position. It is so great. They won their first game. The score was 2-0. Ian played goalie. I was so worried about that, but Don kept telling me that he is awesome at it. Ian shocked all of us, he is a great goalie. He did a great job. He stopped at least 6 shots. Now I understand the stress that all parents of goalies go through. Ian seemed so calm, he loved it. The good news is that Don has about 2 other boys on the team who can play goalie too. This way Ian only does the first half and then he can play other positions for the second half. I like that, I don't want him to burn out. I will take some better pictures later.

Look at that concentration.
Stopping the ball.

Election Results

The election happened on Friday. Aubrey went to school a little nervous that day. She started the day giving her campaign speech. Then each great room voted. Well, she didn't get voted mayor, she is the City Council Clerk! She was so excited. The top four kids get cabinet spots, and she was one of them. She came in third. Not bad. She is a little overwhelmed, especially after they told her her responsibilities. Even though she is overwhelmed, she is very excited.

These are the kids running for mayor. The girl on the far right is the one that won
Here is Aubrey giving her speech.

9/11 Remembered

Funny how events can shape your life.

*I remember where I was when it happened.

*I remember what I said to the kids. (I assured them the towers wouldn't fall. How wrong I was!)

*I remember I was pregnant with Ian.

*I remember my friend dropping off her daughter at my house and coming in to see what was going on.

*I remember picking up her daughter at kindergarten and it was so quiet. So, quiet in Vegas. It was strange.

*I remember that I couldn't get through to my family back east. Their phones were down.

*I remember everyone that called me, worried that my family had been hurt in the attack. Everyone knew I was from Connecticut.

*I remember all the crazy stories I heard that were not true.

*I remember the Christmas card picture that we took on the Staten Island Ferry with the towers in the back ground. We took it a month before 9/11. We never used that card.

*I remember hearing the whistle sounds after the towers fell. Firemen lost in the rubble.

*I remember a prayer President Faust offered at a prayer meeting that was on satellite at the stake center. I remember being so grateful to be a member of this church and having such inspired leaders!

*Basically I remember everything I did or thought that day. I wrote it in my personal journal.

I knew this would change everything. I had a brother getting ready to go into the army, and I knew he would go to war. I remember hugging my family a little tighter and crying for those who lost their love ones that day. I don't even know why I am typing this. I just think we should never forget.

More Cow Bell!!!!

During Cross Country meets, some people bring cow bells and ring them while the runners are running. Well, Zach's best friend Scott asked his Dad to bring a cow bell to the meet. See, Scott's Dad served his mission for our church in Switzerland. In Switzerland the cows wear these big huge cow bells. (Now, I asked Chris if the cows really carried these huge bells around their necks, and he assured me they do. He even has pictures to prove it!) Anyway, he brought one of the bells that he got from his mission to the meet. It was funny to watch the kids put this bell around their necks and ring it. They had to rock their whole body to get it to ring. It was pretty loud. Now the boys love the cow bell and if you want to see why just click on this you tube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhSkRHXTKlw

Cross Country Update

Yesterday Zach had a home meet. They ran against Moapa, Shadow Ridge, and Trinity. It was a great evening to run. The weather is finally cooling down in the evenings! Zach's school won. He came in 19th but his time was better. He got a 15:32. Only two more weeks until he goes to Portland, OR!

Politics Hit Home

Aubrey came home the other day and announced that she is running for mayor of her school. This is like running for Student Body President. She is excited to run. This picture is the one we used on her one campaign poster. They can only have one and no fliers.

While we were making her poster, the boys wanted to get in the action. They love to get in on the action. I think Aubrey really likes it. She loves to feel the support from her brothers. So, on the bottom of her posters it says, "We are Aubrey supporters and we approve of this message." Then this picture is there. They are so funny

Cross Country Update

Zachery had another cross country meet. This one was the Spring Valley Invitational. It is a real fun meet. They run in pairs, like a relay. Each person runs a mile and a half twice. It looks like a lot of fun. Zachery and his partner Conner just wanted to medal. The top 20 medal. Zach looked real good during this race. No pain and really relaxed. Sure enough Zach and his partner came in 17th and got a medal. They were so excited about that. Zach's school also won the invitational, boys and girls! It was a great race. Unfortunately, the results were not published on the web site, so I don't have the exact times.

Zachery coming around the track, getting ready to tag his partner.

Zachery and his partner Connor. They are very proud of themselves!

The whole team!

Cross Country Begins

Zachery had his first Cross Country meet yesterday. He ran at Cimarron Memorial High School. The teams at the meet were Cimarron, Centennial, and Spring Valley. It was a hot day and the kids ran at 5:30 pm, so it was a tough run. It was hot! Zach did good at first and then the cramps came on. I am sure a lot of that has to do with the heat. I could see it on his face! Zachery still did good. Centennial won both the girl's and the boy's meet. Zach's time was 16:47 and he got 11th place. Not bad at all for the first meet. I didn't take any pictures. Even though Don taught at that school for years, I never did go to a cross country meet, so I had no idea where the course went. In fact, when Don taught there they went to a park to run. Next week is a home meet. I am sure I can get some good pictures then. I know that course!

Labor Day

For Labor Day we went over to our friend's house (Kevin and Debbie) for dinner. We had a blast. Kevin is the best cook!!!! While we were there the kids enjoyed swimming in the pool. I am still experimenting with the camera, so here are some shots of the kids swimming.

One day at our pool Ian's friend Ike told Ian to do a front flip into the pool. I didn't think he would do it, but he did. Ian can do it perfectly. Here is Ian mid-flip! It looks like he is going to hit his head, but he is fine.
Ian's splash.

Austin's cannon-ball!

Check out Austin's splash!