Erika Violin Festival

Erika had to perform two memorized numbers for the Utah Valley Violin Teachers Festival in American Fork. She played Concerto #2 & Concerto #5. She has been working really hard to get these pieces memorized. As always, she did a great job, even though she didn't think so. We videotaped her playing, but she forbid us to show anyone. If you would like a private showing, you will have to ask her. Great Job Erika!!

Riley's Merit Badges

Riley went to the Stake Merit Badge Pow-Wow on Feb 26th and again on March 5th. He signed up for 3 merit badge classes; Art, Landscape Architecture and Citizenship in the Nation. His homework was to visit an Art Museum and an Historical Landmark. Riley and Brian went to the BYU Art Museum on Tuesday night. Here are some of the framed art.

Then Riley and Sharri went to the Provo City Library Academy Square (formerly known as BYU Academy) on Thursday right after school and did a self guided tour of the Academy. The building has been there since 1892 and was re-modeled for the Library in 1997 after it had been vacant for 20 years. It was re-opened in September of 2001 and has 4 floors with a grand ballroom for Weddings and Prom Dances.

Faith in God Celebration

Riley and his parents were invited to the ward's Faith in God Celebration. Riley is so close to getting his Faith in God. He only has 5 Articles of Faith left to memorize. He was asked to bring his book that his mom made for him to help him memorize the A of F. He had to talk about it and show how it works. So, each A of F has a picture and key word in a sheet protector. On the back of the sheet, is an envelope with each word cut out separate. During down times at church or other places, he gets the envelope out and puts the words in the correct order with silly putty on the back of them and then removes words to help him memorize it. It seems to be working really well. The Primary President came over one night, while he was working on it, and she asked him to bring to to share with the other children.

The latest doll cake creation!!!

So, you have seen some of Sharri's past doll cake pictures, but we think this one has to top it thus far. Sharri made this cake for a co-worker that is from Hawaii for her birthday on March 1st. The skirt wasn't so hard, but the bikini top was a little bit tricky. And the flowers are not out of frosting either, they are silk flowers with frosting in the middle. All the staff at Sharri's work were impressed. This has become quite a tradition to make a doll cake for some one at work. Who knows what kind of doll cake is next. This is not an original creation, but a copy of someone else from the Wilton cake decorating website. If you have any ideas for the next doll cake, please leave us a comment.

Celine Dion Concert - FINALLY

Sharri and Erika are finally going to the Celine Dion concert tonight. We purchased the tickets in November 2008, and the concert was Nov 21, but Celine had to cancel 5 concerts, because she was really sick. They re-scheduled the concert for tonight, Sunday. We are close to the front in section 7, row 13, seats 17 & 18. The picture to the left is how close we were. Erika was really excited when she saw how close we were. We could actually see her face up close. The concert was a couple of hours, ending on "The Titanic" song. Celine changed outfits at least 5 times during the concert. It was an amazing concert and well worth the money to have great seats.

Riley & Brian - Utah Flash Game

Riley won 2 tickets at school to the Utah Flash game tonight. It was at the UVU McKay Events Center at 7 pm. He invited his dad to come with him and they sat by his friend, Deagan and his family. Apparently, most of the school students were given tickets for the Jazz Reading Contest. Riley also caught one of the prizes from the remote control blimp that flys around the court. It was $5 off Bajio meal. We like going to events were it is free. If Riley's school reads one of the highest for the past month, then one of the Jazz Players comes to their school and reads to them and talks to them in an assembly. Riley hopes that they get Derin Williams.

Funny Story

Erika and Sharri were doing some crafts today. We heard this story from a BYU Devotional and thought it was funny. Hence the picture.

"I was told of a zoology professor who is so tough a grader that nobody has ever received an A in his course. Last semester, history was being made because an especially bright student had A’s on the two midterms. If he could get an A on the final he would have the first A in this professor’s class—ever. The final test was on birds, and so the student practically memorized the three chapters on birds. He went to the library, checked out extra readings, and felt ready for anything that might appear on the final.
The day of the final the professor said, “Good morning, students. This is your final exam.” From underneath the table he pulled out three stuffed birds. Each of them was covered with a little hood, and all you could see were the legs and feet poking out from underneath the hoods. He said, “Now, students, looking at the legs and feet of these three specimens, I’d like you to tell me their common names and their scientific names. That’s all you have to do. You have an hour and a half to complete the exam. Begin.”
The class sat absolutely stunned. There are thousands of bird species. How do you identify a bird by looking at the legs and feet? This test was given so nobody would get an A. The student who previously thought he had a shot at getting an A wrote down some names he knew were probably incorrect. He went up, slammed his paper on the professor’s desk, and said, “Sir, that’s the dumbest test I’ve ever taken in my life. I want to tell you something else. You are the most boring lecturer on this campus.”
The professor fumbled for a pen and said, “Just one minute, student. What was your name?”
The student thought for a second, pulled up his pant leg, showed his hairy leg, and said, “Why don’t you tell me?”

“And Always Remember Him” by GORDON B. LINDSAY

Cam's best friend, Nate

Cameron's best friend, Nathan went into the MTC today. Both families went to dinner at Brick Oven on Monday night. Both Cam & Nate love Pizza. Cameron & Nathan have the exact same birthday, just 1 year apart. (Nathan being older) Nathan will be in the MTC for 11 weeks. Nate came over this morning to tell Cam goodbye and see you in two and a half years. Cameron probably won't be leaving on his mission for 6 months or so from now. He turns 19 on April 4.

3:00 am - Erika returns from Tour

Erika has been in San Francisco for the past 4 days. She went with her Orchestra Philharmonic group. She left on Thursday morning at 5 am and returned last night (or this morning) at 3 am. The bus ride home was long because of the weather that they went through in the mountains of California. They had to stop for 3 hours, while the two buses put chains on to go through the snow storm. Then they had to stop for 1 hour to take the chains off the bus. She sent us a text at 8:00 am and said they were leaving early to get ahead of the storm. Then she sent us a text at 5:00 pm telling us she was in Neveda. She basically drove across Neveda from Reno to Wendover, so we weren't sure where in Neveda she was when she sent a message. Then another message at 11:00 pm telling us that they were just leaving Elko, Neveda. We went online to see how long a drive it was from Elko, yep 4 hours, which meant she would be home at 3 am. In total she spent 17 hours on the bus all day yesterday. She said they watched 6 moives going down and back. She said it was a great experience and she had alot of fun with friends and teachers. We asked her if she would do it again, and she said not this year.

Riley Valentine's Day at school

Riley had to make his Valentine box this year for school. As usual, he made a Robot box out of DUCT TAPE. It took him a couple of days to finish it. His is so creative and his mind his constantly thinking. He made a opening on the top for the valentines. He was hoping to win a prize for the best box, but not this year. We hope someday that he will use this to good use, instead of using duct tape.

Erika - Orchestra Tour to San Francisco

Erika left this morning at 5 am to go on Tour with PHS Orchestra. She will be there for 4 days. She had to get up at 3:30 am to be at the school by 4:30 am. At 9 am she texted her mom and dad and said that she was bored. She only had 10 more hours to go. They finally arrived in San Francisco at 7 pm. They will be visiting Fisherman's Wharf, Golden Gate Bridge, Hard Rock Cafe, San Francisco Symphony, San Jose State University, Monterey Bay Aquarium & Beaches & Steinbeck's Cannery Row. She will return on Sunday around midnight. She is having alot of fun with the Orchestra and many friends from school.

21st Wedding Anniversary

Today is our 21st Wedding Anniversary. We enjoy celebrating it right before Valentine's day. It was a usual day and then we went to Outback Steakhouse for dinner and then came home. It has been a great 21 years and hope to have more to come. We have 3 great and beautiful kids and wouldn't trade them for anything. It is hard to believe that we have been married that long. It just seems like yesterday.

Riley - 2nd Class

Riley received his 2nd class Boy Scout Advanement tonight at our ward's annual Scout Banquet. He also received a patch for going to the Yukon Outdoor overnight campout. He is well on his way to getting his 1st class before he turns 12 in March. We are so proud of him. Good job Riley!!

Bowling at Fat Cats for FHE

The family went to Fat Cats for Family Home Evening. We bought dinner at Costa Vida inside of Fat Cats and then bowled two games. Erika won the first round and Sharri won the second. While we were bowling, Riley lost a tooth. He seems to lose teeth in crazy places. The last time was on our cruise.

Sledding at Rock Canyon

Erika, Riley, Rachel, Sarah and Sara all went sledding today from 4:30 till the sun went down at 6 pm. It was great, because there was nobody at Rock Canyon Bowl on Friday during that time. It was fresh snow from Monday and a little bit of ice undernear. Great for sledding. It was so fast that when Riley hit one of the bumps at the bottom, his sled broke. (see picture above) They have been begging and begging to go sledding at Rock Canyon, and we finally took them. Enjoy the videos of Riley going down and crashing, and Erika going down half way without her sled. Good Times with friends!!!

Erika's Solo & Ensemble at PHS

This is Erika & her friend, Caitie, playing a duet for the PHS Solo & Ensemble. They played a piece called "Caprice" by Mozart. As always they played great. They were judged and given points in different areas to improve on and what they played great. If they win, they will go to Regionals in the next month or so. Great job girls. You were awesome!!!

Riley - Ear Infections again

Riley has been complaining about his ear hurting after he started coming down with a cold on Thursday. We were a little bit concerned, because he was going skiing at Sundance for his lessons on Friday for 5 hours, and then we was going camping with the Scouts on Friday evening and Saturday morning. If you read the last post about him camping, he slept in a ice cold puddle of water in the tent. Sunday evening, he was complaining that both of his ears were hurting really bad. Riley has had many Ear Infections before he was 3 years old and we finally had tubes put in his ears when he was 3 years old. Later, he had then take out after a great couple of years with no ear infections, and that he was getting older. He takes after his mother, who still has ear infections when she gets a cold, so she decided that it wasn't going to get better. We called the after hours doctor at 6 pm and they told us to come at 9 pm and have his ears checked. So, Riley and his mom went to the doctor and sure enough, he had double ear infections and possibly strep. Riley told the doctor that he wanted the white liquid stuff and tasted good. They faxed a prescription of Penicillan to Rite Aid Pharmacy, who is open 24 hours. We left the doctors office at 9:25 and left the Pharmacy at 10:30. Yes, that's right 1 whole hour at the Pharmacy. They are so slow and really don't care about it. Riley and his mom were getting so tired of waiting they almost feel asleep. Riley has to take the medicine for 10 days twice a day. We hope that we will remember to do it all 10 days.

Erika's Patriarchal Blessing

Erika received her Patriarchal Blessing this evening. Patriarch Dennis is the Patriarch in our stake. He was a very kind and spiritual man. Erika and her parents went to his home at 5 pm. Patriarch Dennis asked her some questions about herself, and then invited her parents in. Patriarch Dennis asked her parents about her and some great things about her as a daughter. Then he preceeded to give her a Patriarchal Blessing. What a great blessing he gave her. He told her that his wife would type it up and then deliver it to her in a couple of weeks. She has had a great desire to get this blessing and we are so proud of her. She is becoming such a spiritual giant in our family.

Cameron's Interesting Day

Cameron told his parents that he had an interesting day today. As parents, we asked him, what made it interesting? He said, "Well, first I had to get up and do my chores. Then I remembered that Sister Dupaix (Primary President) asked me to do a PAF presentation on the computer for the primary activity. I had forgotten, so I had to hurry and put it together, get in the shower, get dressed and get to the church by 11 am. Before I left for the church, the full time missionaries called on the phone and asked me to do exchanges with them at 5:50 pm. Then, after I came home I had to finish my chores. Later I had to go and get Dinner for me, Erika and Riley at Wendy's. Then I had to get dressed in my suit, go pick up the missionaries from their dinner appointment and go with them for 3 hours to 3 different homes. I came home at 9 pm and the day was over." And again, we asked him, Why was this a interesting day? And he replied, "BECAUSE I DIDN'T HAVE TIME FOR ANYTHING ELSE!" Guess what Cam, that is what being Adult is all about. Just wait until he goes on his mission, then he will think he has had some INTERESTING DAYS.....

Riley Yukon Scout Overnight

Riley and Brian went to Camp Jeremiah Johnson for the Yukon Scout Winter Overnight Campout. Riley went to his Ski lessons at Sundance and then Brian picked him up right after and they headed out. It was a rainy day already, but it had cleared up. We had everything that we could think of for them to be warm and dry to sleep overnight. Apparently, we were not all prepared. The tent leaked water during the night and Riley slept in a puddle of ice cold water. His sleeping bag, snow pants, coat, gloves and backpack were all soaking wet. Good thing we packed extra clothes and gloves for him. To say the least, Riley was not all excited to stay and do the activites with the new scouts, but Brian was able to get his snow pants and coat dry by the campfire so he could stay. There were 3 new scouts and 2 scouts. The 5 of them raced a Klondike sled and also shot sling shots with paint balls. Riley seemed to have a good time after he was dry and warm. Next time we will buy and new tent to make sure they are kept dry and warm.

Fun with Cousins

Lindsee, Anna and Kimber came and slept over at our house last night. We decided to give Grandma Bette a break and since it was a holiday today, it worked out for them to come. They all slept downstairs in the theater room with Riley and then woke up to French Toast for Breakfast. At 11:30 am we decided to take them to a movie of their choice. They wanted to see HOTEL FOR DOGS. After the movie we took them to get some lunch at the Provo Towne Mall food court. Anna and Riley had Little Toyko & Lindsee and Kimber had McDonalds. (are we surprised!!!) We hope that they enjoyed their visit & hope to be able to have them come again. We love you Lindsee, Anna & Kimber!!

Draper Temple Open House

We went to the Draper Temple Open House tonight. Our schedule time was 7:20 pm. Grandma Holly & Grandpa Gary got tickets for the whole family. (Uncle Doug & Aunt Jenn's family too.)
We started the evening with Dinner at the Traning Table at 10600 South in Sandy. Then we headed towards the chapel at 6:45 to park our cars. We watched a 12 mintue movie presentation about the temple and why the LDS Church has temples. Then we waited in the cultural hall for our bus shuttle ride up to the temple.
There was 16 of us, so we had to wait to make sure we all could get on the same bus. Once at the temple, we walked in some long covered heated walkways into the temple. We started with the Baptismal Font, then to the Ordinances rooms, into the Celestial Room and last to one of the Sealing Rooms. It was really hot in the temple, probably from all the people that were in it at one time.
Then we walked again in a covered heated walkway to the LDS Church close by, where they served us Water and Cookies. We were all very thirsty too.

Then it was back to the line to catch the shuttle bus back to our cars at the church. We were told at the beginning that we were on the GREEN bus, so when we were done, we needed to get back on the GREEN bus. We really didn't know how long this would be. It was 3 hours from the time we got to the church where we parked our cars, to back to the church, so around 9:30 pm. What a great experience for our family.

Riley ski lessons at Sundance

Riley is taking Ski lessons at Sundance Ski Resort for 5 weeks. He is doing it with our neighbor, Sara, who attends Wasatch Elementary. Wasatch offers ski lessons every other friday for 5 times. They ride the school bus up to the resort @12:30 pm and get to Sundance at 1 pm. They have lessons by levels for a couple of hours and then they get free time for 1 hour. They ride the school bus home at 5 pm and get back to Wasatch to be picked up at 5:30 pm. We had to rent some skis and boots for Riley from BYU Outdoors Unlimited. They have a good deal setup with the school to rent them for $45 for 5 times. Riley has to get checked out of school early around 11:30 am and then change into his snow ski gear and eat his lunch on the way to Wasatch Elementary. (about 20 minutes) He was placed in the Level 1 class, because he has not done the ski lift before. He was a little bit bummed about that, but we wouldn't want him to get hurt either. He had a great time, but his feet were a little bit tight in his ski boots, so they got cold. He gets to go again, on January 23rd and two times in February and once in March.

Cameron wisdom teeth

Cameron had his Wisdom teeth pulled out today. Yep, all 4 of them. His appointment was at 9:45 am, but when Cam and his dad arrived, the oral surgeon's office said that the doctor had an emergency jaw operation and to come back in an hour. So, Cam and his dad went home and sat around for an hour and then went back to the oral surgeon's office. Again, they were sent home because the doctor was not back yet. They were told to come back around 1 pm. At this point, Cam was getting pretty hungry, since he couldn't eat anything since midnight and he was getting more and more nervous about the surgery. Finally, the doctor's office called and said to come at 2 pm. The surgery only took about an hour and then they rush Cameron and his dad out of the office to go home. Cam was pretty out of it that night, but was back to his normal self the next day. He took the whole week off work to recover. Cameron wouldn't let his mom take a picture of him the day of surgery, so the picture on the right is the best we get. (I don't think it was that bad)