JoLyn's Spelling Bee

JoLyn participated in the Wilson Elementary 3rd and 4th grade spelling bee. There were about 25 kids that participated and it finally came down to JoLyn and one other girl. I think I have an ulcer now. It lasted about 30 minutes and the last few words my hands were shaking, but she handled it like a champ. Here are a few pictures. During the first couple of rounds of the spelling bee.

I took video of the last few words, it's not very loud.

The Big Winner!!!!!!

Again....Winter or Spring?

Another great example of spring, or is it still winter?

Then the next week...............

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Yep, those are tulips. I learned last year that onions take an entire year to grow, I never could figure out why my onions always were so small, so I left them in the ground and they are starting to grow again, who knew? The adventures of gardening.

The last week has been beautiful, kids riding bikes, going for walks, but still cool in the evenings.

Winter or Spring?

This last weekend remided me of why it is so wonderful to live in Utah. The weather was beautiful over the weekend. On Saturday we took down the rest of the outside Christmas lights because the snow finally melted off the roof, it was warm, sunny and an absolutely beautiful day. On Sunday we took the kids skiing at Sundance. They had a wonderful time. It amazes me how quickly kids grasp new concepts. They had been skiing once before, but Mitchell was sick that day and actually didn't ski at all, so he was a day behind JoLyn. I've confirmed the fact that I'm not a natural snow skiier. Mitchell went a little slower so he and I stayed together most of the day. JoLyn kept wanting to go faster, so Boyd stayed with her. At the end of the day we all got back together and I couldn't believe the difference in them. I tried to ski with JoLyn because I hadn't been with her most of the day and I physically couldn't keep up with her. She went flying down the mountain and dusted me. She seems to have enough control to stop and turn when she needs to, but otherwise she just flies straight down. Mitchell on the other hand was a little more awkward, almost doing the splits while snowplowing down the mountain. He started to get enought speed towards the end of the day, so I didn't feel like I was always waiting. I couldn't go much fast than him anyway, so we made good pair. Boyd is always waiting for me at the bottom of the hill and he said with JoLyn he could ski like he is used to. Anyway, I kept forgetting my camera in the truck and didn't take any pictures, but I hope to take them skiing one more time this year. They kept talking about how much fun they had, which is the important part anyway. This time of year is wonderful in Northern Utah, skiing in the mountains and warm in the valleys.

New Bathroon, Boyd's Korea Trip

We finished the new bathroom downstairs and it turned out really nice, the kids are loving it. The bad thing is it makes me want to remodel the whole house now. I bought enough tile to be able to re-do the upstairs bathrooms, so that will be on our agenda in the next couple of months I hope.

Boyd left for Korea on Saturday morning. He flew to San Francisco, then to Korea. The plane ride was 13 hours from San Francisco to Korea. Because of the time change, Korea is 15 hours ahead of us, he arrived Sunday evening. The hotel had arranged a car to pick him up at the airport and take him to the hotel, then the production plant he was working with sent a car to take him to and from the airport which was nice, he didn't have to worry about how to get around town. He was in Seoul, which he said is a huge city, 10 million people, high rise skyscrapers all over the place. He said even the residential areas he saw were all high rise apartment complexes.

There was a mall under the hotel he was staying at and he went out one night with one of the guys from the plant who took him to a flee market, out to dinner and for drinks which he said was kind of fun. He was surprised that most people knew a little English and usually one other language, which is different from the US where we expect everyone else to know English, but we won't learn any other language. He was also surprised at the condition of the hotel and airport, he said the hotel was nicer than most hotels he had been in the the states, and their airport was very clean, well maintained and the staff was very friendly, but in San Francisco things were run down, messy and the staff was rude. We think we are so great in the US, and it turns out, we're not as great as we think.

The kids and I went ice skating while Boyd was gone. We had a great time, the kids did pretty good once they got the hang of it. JoLyn has a bruise the size of a baseball on her butt, otherwise we came out injury free.

Hope everyone is happy and healthy, hopefully we'll see you soon.

Snow and Christmas

Merry Christmas!!!!

I'm finally getting into the Christmas spirit. With school and kids and work and everything else going on I haven't done much for Christmas this year. The kids are a little concerned that there is not one single present under the tree, but that just adds to the fun, hee hee. We put our tree in the middle of the living room again this year. The kids think that's a great place and who am I to say different? The weather has turned cold and snowy and I think that adds to the Christmas spirit. It feels like Christmas now.

The kids have really loved the snow. Mitch and Jo play outside more now than they did in the summer. They've started a snow boarding ramp down our big driveway and they board down the hill. The funny part is that they don't have snowboards, so they ride down the hill on planks of wood left over from the basement. I'm personally amazed they slide at all. I think we will have to take them snow boarding at Sundance this year.

New phones, aughhhhhhhh!

There's nothing in the world that makes me feel more stupid than a new cell phone. This has been my adventure over the last couple of weeks. It all started with my work started to send out mass text messages to the staff when there is an open shift, sick call that needs filled, ect. Easier in the sense that they can send out one text message to everyone and let the staff call in if they are interested in the extra shift instead of calling 50 staff members one by one and having the majority of them say no. Smart idea, I thought. My old phone was never set up to text so I gave them Boyd's cell phone number. After a couple of weeks Boyd finally said that he didn't think NuSkin would appreciate paying for all my text messages from work. So I went to change my service with Qwest to add text messaging and they are changing over their service to Verizon so all new changes are made through them, which also means that my old phone wouldn't work and I needed a new phone. Now the dilemma. Since I am not a good texter I decided I wanted a phone with a standard keyboard, but also wanted a phone that was small enough to fit in my pocket. After browsing and looking at all the cool new phones I got a Samsung Glyde. A cool looking phone with a touch pad screen for all number pad functions and a full keyboard that slides out for texting. The touch pad was heat sensitive, so if you have cold hands (which I do most of the time) it doesn't work so well. After a week of getting ready to throw the phone across the room I decided to call Verizon and tell the troubles I was having. They were really nice and said they have had multiple complaints about the same thing, and since it was within 30 days of purchase I could exchange the phone without any penalties, and recommending that I go into one of their stores and try out the different phones to see which one I liked the most. So, a shopping I go. I finally decided on a Samsung Alias. It's a flip phone that when opened normally, which push button keypad for numbers, then it opens the long way to reveal a full keyboard the other way. It's kind of cool. I played with 2 different phones I was deciding against for 45 minutes until I decided on the right one. It was also $40 cheaper!!!! They transferred over my contacts and everything!!! They were really nice and helped me fix this problem. Now if I can just keep Mitchell off it I'll be a happy woman.

We also had our first snow storm of the season. The kids were so excited and played in the snow all day. The snow has now melted and the weather is beautiful again. But on the way to school the other day, JoLyn exclaimed, "I tired of beautiful days!! We need some snow!!!!" I'm sure she'll get her wish soon enough. For now, we'll just go put up Christmas light on the roof and the trees while we have the chance.

Happy Halloween!!!!!

I love Halloween, in fact I love from October 1 through the New Year. We had a great time this Halloween. Boyd dressed up for work as a rock start. His coworkers said that didn't suprise them much, it fit him. I told him his alter ego wasn't as well hidden as he thought. The kids had a great time dressing up for school and in the parade. He came home and carved pumpkins, then went to dinner and trick or treat around the gym at the church. Then hit the streets for some good old fashioned trick or treating. Both Mitch and JoLyn had friends that came with us which I think made it more fun for both of them. We were tired when we got home, but had a great time. I hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween.