Early Morning Seminary Is Over

Early Morning Seminary is over for the summer. I am sure Zachery is happy to get some extra sleep! He had a great year in seminary. He really enjoyed his teacher Brother Bassett. Zach said that Brother Bassett was very interesting. Knowing Brother Bassett, I can see Zach really enjoying his class and his style of teaching! Here is a picture of his class.

Cooking Club

This month the girls went over to Lori Ales to learn how to cook French Toast. They got to wear their pajamas and go make some breakfast. I didn't go this time (I will blog about that tomorrow.), but Aubrey spent the night at the Albright's, so they took her. (Thanks Elaine!) She had so much fun learning to cook this. I guess she told Elaine that she didn't know how to make French Toast because her mom always does it. Well now that she knows, I am putting her to work!

Early Birthday Celebration For Me

Elaine's birthday is during the first week in May and mine is during the first week in June. So every year we try to do something special together to celebrate our birthdays. We always try to get a pedicure in. So here we are getting our pedicure. Sure enough, every year we say to each other we have to do this more often. It is hard, we are so busy being mothers and running around. I am so grateful to have such a wonderful friend like Elaine. It was truly enjoyable sitting back and talking while getting some pampering in! It sure was fun. Elaine, thank you for being such a great friend. I truly treasure our friendship!

Track Is Over

Track is officially over. They had their banquet today. Most of the parents don't go because it is held right after school and the team is huge. Zach said he had so much fun, and ate a ton of pizza. He did get the scholar athlete award. We love those. He had a good season.

Ian's Self-Portrait

This is another one of Ian's self-portraits. I asked him why his eyes are red and he said it is because he just likes red. Now his big brothers have other reasons why his eyes are red. Too much partying for Ian! Hmmmmm. It always makes me laugh to see how Ian views himself. I love it.

M Stands For Memorial Day and Movies!

All we did this Memorial Day is relax! It was wonderful. I think the whole family needed some time to just power down! Things have been so crazy with the end of school coming. Aubrey has had some drama, Zachery is stressed with grades and such, Austin has had some missing assignments, Don is trying to end his school year while preparing for next year, and Ian, well he is just having a great time! So this weekend, we shopped, swam, played Rock Band, and went to movies, movies, and more movies! We also went out to Sammy's Woodfire Pizza to celebrate Zachery's Survivor win. I think we just enjoyed being together, and relaxing!

The boys figured out how to put Rock Band on "no fail" mode. This way Aubrey and Ian could play and never fail! This made Ian's day. "Now I am a member of the band!", Ian said. It totally made his day!

Don and Austin went and saw "Terminator". They loved it! Then later that night Austin went with is friend Dallin to see "Star Trek".

Don and I went to see "Angels and Demons". It was good, but not as good as the "Da Vinci Code".

Then we all went and saw "Night at the Museum". We went with a ton of friends. It was great. The kids loved it. I am sure Zach will be reviewing it soon on his blog. Now we didn't see all these movies in one day, but boy we did see a lot of them. It was fun!

Class Pictures

It is that time of year for yearbooks and class pictures. I have had the opportunity to sub in these two classes, and let me tell you, these kid are a ton of fun. I really enjoy these two classes.

This is Aubrey's class. Zach had the same teacher, and we just love her. She really gets these kids ready for Jr. High. Aubrey is in the second row on the left with the pink shirt on.

This is Ian's class. They are so cute! I love how Ian and his friend wore the same shirt. They didn't plan that. I love Ian's teacher. She has been great for Ian and has taught him so much. It has been a great year for him. He is in the second row, second one from the left.

Just excuse the white strips. I tried to crop the picture because I didn't want too much info about these kids on the web, but ......... so I just tried the best I could.

Austin's Last Band Concert

On May 21, we went to Austin's band concert at Leavitt. As Don and I sat there, we realized that this was the last time we were going to hear Austin play in public with a band. He will not be joining band in High School. It is a long story. Austin will still take guitar, but he won't be playing in a group like this. Who knows what the future holds. For Advance Band they played, Postwood March, Black Forest Overture, and The Incredibles. We sure could hear Austin playing percussion. He did great. He was so excited to have a bongo solo during The Incredibles.

I know this picture didn't come out good, but I love it!

This was Jazz Band. They played, James Bond Theme, Autumn Leaves, The Girl from Ipanema, and Wade in the Water. I love to listen to Jazz band. They are really good. I am always impressed with how these kids got up early in the morning every day and went to practice. They were awesome.

Here is video that Zach took. Austin and Tanner have a solo. Just press pause on the blog music to hear it.

Springs Preserve Field Trip

Don went to wake up Ian today and he jumped out of bed and yelled, "Today is my field trip!" He has been looking forward to this all year long. I was excited that I got to go with him. Yes, the Springs Preserve is where Austin did his Eagle Project. This time we got to go and see some of the exhibits. I was totally impressed with the Springs Preserve. I think it is one of the best museums in Las Vegas that is not connected to a casino. It really focuses on the landscape, animals, and history of the valley. It was really nice. The kids were great, and we had a ton of fun.

My group!

Learning about Native Americans that once lived in the Valley.

One of the animals we saw.

We went to the recycling center. This was on the side of the garbage truck that they had there.

The boys on the garbage truck.

This is the part that Ian was really looking forward too. It is the flash flood exhibit.

This is why. You were in the flash flood. Don't worry the water went right under our feet.

The boys getting ready to head home. Riding on a bus is so exciting. These kids don't get to ride a bus. We drive them. Our school boundaries are that small.

Family Survivor Winner

Are you kidding me??? Hey, we all wanted JT to win Survivor, but you are not going to believe who won the family contest! Yes, Zachery. Once again he won. This is the third time in a row. So it is up to him to chose the restaurant for us to go to! Unreal.

Student Council Is Over

Student Council is over. Austin had a great year being on Student Council. He really enjoyed hanging out with his friends and doing all that Student Council stuff. He worked really hard. The other night they had a banquet for the kids and their families. It was fun to go and see the slide show the advisor did for the kids. I think Austin would say that the best part of Student Council was when he got to go on the Disney trip!

Flag Football Update

Flag football is over. In the last game of the regular season the team lost! Then they went to the playoffs. Everyone goes to the playoffs. Well, they won their first game. Austin played awesome. He made some great plays. Then today, they lost. So football is over. I think Austin had fun playing.

Ian's Creations

This is Ian's picture that he made in school. This is the story he wrote to go with the picture.

The Gorilla That Couldn't Climb

By Ian Brasier

One dark night, Bob, the gorilla, wanted to climb. Papa said, "It will take some practice." They went to a big tree. Papa told Bob to take one branch and pull up. Bob did it but he fell down. He tried again. He fell down again. It was a long night. He tried one more time. He did it! He was so happy. Papa was very proud.

Movie Review

Don and I went to see Star Trek for our date night. Now I am not a Star Trek fan, but this movie was great. It was so much fun to go and see. You can read Zach's review at: http://zachreviews.blogspot.com/

St. George, Here I Come!

I opened up my e-mail one day and read this: "Congratulations! You have been selected to run the 2009 St. George Marathon. You are one of 7200 runners selected from 10,510 registrants." I am so excited. This will be my third time running the St. George Marathon. I said I would run a marathon for each of my children, and this one is for Aubrey! I always seem to get into the marathon when we are going to be in the Hill Cumorah Pageant. That does add an extra challenge to my training. I don't run when we are driving out there, and then I have to run while I am in the pageant. The pageant is exhausting, so it is hard to train. I know I can do it. It will be tough, but if I just stay focused out there in New York, I can fit it all in. I will try to post how my training is going. Sometimes some pretty funny stuff happens during those long runs.

New Car

Don and I have not had a car payment in years, but now we do. We noticed about a year ago that our van was starting to die. We prayed it would last longer and it did, but we knew the time was coming for a new vehicle. So, Don started researching cars. Did we want a van? Did we want a SUV? I just didn't want something too big! I have to drive it most of the time. After much research Don settled on a Nissan Armada. We needed something to get us up to the mountains to camp! We were patient, watching deals, gas prices, and interest rates. Then Don went to the father-and-son's camp out. (Yes, there are no pictures! Talk to Don about that!) Our poor van just couldn't take the drive. So Don came home and found this Armada. It was a sweet deal, one we couldn't pass up. It is black, not a good color for Vegas. What can you do? It has everything we need. The van still runs. Zachery will take it to high school and back. It can take that. No more driving to early morning seminary! So my soccer mom van is gone, what does that make Zach? We are just glad that we weren't in a situation where we had to buy a car immediately. We are grateful we were able to shop around.

Piano Recital

Aubrey had her piano recital yesterday. She played, "The Merry Old Land of Oz" and "The William Tell Overture." She did a great job and it was wonderful watching her. I tried to video tape her and it didn't come out! I was bummed. It was fun going and watching her play the piano. She is a very self motivated person. I never had to tell her to practise. That is one good thing about Aubrey, when she does anything, she gives it her all. We never have to get on her to do things she has to do. I know this quality will help her later in life! She will be able to accomplish many things.

This is her teacher. Sister Farrimond has said to us that Aubrey does very good playing the piano. She is very sad that Aubrey will not be taking piano next year. Aubrey wants to go on to violin in Jr. High.

This is what happens when you are good friends with someone and have the same taste in clothes! Yes, you end up having the same Easter dresses! I don't think Rachel or Aubrey mind at all!