Lake Powell

Mike and Trevon went to Lake Powell on Friday and Saturday with the 14 & 15 year old scouts. Kristi was invited to go with a friend on another boat. They found a beach and set up camp at 9PM. They ate chili dogs for dinner at 10PM!!! Any hot dog tastes good when you're hungry! They made a fire and fished for catfish until midnight. Kristi caught the first fish. They woke up early, fished from shore, and ate breakfast cereal. Mike caught two fish: a crappie and a large-mouth bass. Trevon caught a large-mouth bass. They tried fishing on the lake from the boat, but it was too windy. They found shore, ate lunch and headed home. Mike enjoyed the beautiful scenery. Trevon liked being with friends and fishing. Kristi collected shells. Cameron and Elise watched Mike fillet the crappie with fascination. They discovered it was female, as it had eggs inside. Today they fried her up!

Scientific Pair

The Three Falls Elementary school Science Fair was Thursday, April 23, 2009. Kristi and Cameron both worked on a project using the scientific method. Kristi wanted to find out if microwaved water was bad for plants. She watered six different plants: two with water that had been microwaved and then cooled; two with water boiled on the stove and then cooled; two with regular tap water. She thought the microwaved water would be bad on her plants, but her experiment proved her hypothesis incorrect! After three weeks of daily watering her plants, the microwaved ones looked the best.

Cameron buried different kinds of garbage after guessing which ones would be good (decay) and which ones would be bad for the earth. After ten days, he uncovered the garbage and discovered that most of his predictions were correct!

Kristi and Cameron both received a ribbon and a certificate for their participation in the Science Fair. They had to talk to three judges and explain their project and conclusion. It was a GREAT experience for both of them!

The Family Is of God

It seems like this week has flown by. One single event doesn't stand out in my mind. Cari played {flute}in a Region Band Festival on Wednesday night; Trevon spent one afternoon working on his tennis with Mike; Sadie had a boy inquire of her whether or not she would be attending a dance at the end of the school year; Kristi and Cameron have both been working on science fair projects. Kristi attended a stake Achievement Day Camp; Cameron had his first T-ball practice and went to a fun birthday party; Elise went to the Kindergarten Round-Up (mainly for mom & dad) in preparation for the upcoming school year; Corban put two words together, "water hot." Cari and Sadie helped with a yard/bake sale for their young women organization. I could start over and add carpooling, piano lessons, and helping with homework (Trevon's Geometry). For the most part, every week is filled with these little things. Thank goodness they usually don't take place at the same time! Mike & I still made time for our Friday night out together (dinner and a movie). The best part being, the time we had to just talk with each other without interruptions (I think the cell phone rang . . . twice)!



I was the substitute chorister in Primary today at church. The children are learning a song that brought tears to my eyes.











It is called "The Family Is of God," by Mattthew Neeley. The words to this song express what a family is to me (beginning with our Heavenly home)-
Our Father has a family. It's me! It's you, all others too: we are His children. He sent each one of us to earth, through birth, To live and learn here in families.
God gave us families to help us become what He wants us to be - This is how He shares His love, for the family is of God.
A father's place is to preside, provide, To love and teach the gospel to his children. A father leads in family prayer to share Their love for Father in Heaven. God gave us families to help us become what He wants us to be - This is how He shares His love, for the family is of God.
A mother's purpose is to care, prepare, To nurture and to strengthen all her children. She teaches children to obey, to pray, To love and serve in the family. God gave us families to help us become what He wants us to be - This is how He shares His love, for the family is of God.
I'll love and serve my family and be A good example to each family member. And when I am a mom or dad, so glad, I'll help my family remember:
God gave us families to help us become what He wants us to be - This is how He shares His love, for the family is of God.

"Egg"cellent Easter

We are so thankful for this special time of the year, as we reflect on the life of Jesus Christ. We are grateful for the love He has for each of us. He gave His life for us and was resurrected. We know that He made it possible for all of us to be resurrected and keep our bodies forever. As part of our Easter celebration, we colored Easter eggs, Saturday night. The kids love to create by mixing and dipping into a variety of colors. This year, we had almost every one of our mugs filled with a color of dye. Mike supervised most of the time, helping the kids as needed. We ended up with about 14 colored eggs (That's two for each child)!




























The Easter Bunny visited, leaving baskets of candy scattered about the house: up, down and all around. The kids love playing this kind of hide-and-seek game! Corban said, "candy" when he saw what was inside the baskets. I had no idea he could say that word! Everyday he seems to say something new.













































Easter stands for new life and so we like to get new dresses for our daughters! The girls each enjoyed their new dresses. Feeling like a princess, Elise said, "Just call me Genivene!" That is a princess from Barbie's Twelve Dancing Princesses movie.







We had a wonderful church meeting and I led the church choir in singing four different songs. During the last song, Elise made her way to the podium area and danced her way over to Mike, who was singing in the back row of the choir! I guess she just couldn't resist dancing to "I Stand All Amazed" in her beautiful new dress! Mike, Cari, Trevon and Sadie all sing in the church choir, so it was easy for Elise to slip out of her pew and join everyone up front!
After church, we had eight people join us for an Easter dinner at our home. Our guests work with Mike in the Costco Tire Center. It was nice meeting Mike's co-workers and celebrating this special day with them!

Cool Caracal

This past week, Cameron gave his first school report. He chose the Caracal as his subject. The Caracal is a BIG cat with long black tufts of hair on its ears. It has round pupils in its eyes, instead of the slits found in the eyes of other cats. It eats birds and other small mammals to survive. It can jump 8 feet and has fur that is about the same color as Cameron's hair. He had fun learning about this animal and reporting it to his class. Mom helped him with his poster and stayed close by while he gave his report, for moral support! For fun, Cameron gave everyone in his class a "KIT KAT" candy bar for a sweet ending to his report!

Kindergarten Fieldtrip

Cameron is currently learning all about animals in kindergarten. In fact, next week he will be giving a report on Caracals (BIG Cats). Hopefully we'll be able to find some information on this wild animal that he chose! As part of the "animal" unit, the kindergartners walked to the Stout's "farm," near to where we live. There they got to see and handle different kinds of animals. Lucky for us, Elise and Corban were also invited!





There were piglets, chickens, cows, horses and lambs. Everyone had a GREAT time there. The kids also enjoyed swinging on a tire swing, and on a nifty swing made from a mattress and an old box spring. Cameron had a GREAT time and said that he would love to go and visit there again!

What's for Dinner?

At one time, I dreaded those words, "What's for dinner?" Sometimes I would just answer, "FOOD!" I don't really mind the MAKING of dinner, but deciding WHAT to have for dinner was my biggest dilemma. One night as I was preparing a meal, I decided that I also needed more help (from my very able bodied children), in the kitchen. Besides, one of my responsibilities is to teach them to be self-sufficient! I assigned each of them a day of the week in which they are responsible for choosing WHAT we have for dinner, AND FIXING that dinner (with my help). It has proved to be a wonderful idea!
Sunday . . . Elise
Monday . . . Trevon
Tuesday . . . Cameron
Wednesday . . . Cari
Thursday . . . Sadie
Friday . . . Corban
Saturday . . . Kristi
On Sunday, we have a family council together in which they each let me know what they want to make for dinner during the week. Then, I make sure we have the needed ingredients on hand to do so. Last night, Cameron made pizza for us. I have really enjoyed working with each one of my children on their assigned dinner night. On Corban's night I usually have left-overs or something easy. That's the night Mike & I usually go out for a date night.