Elise at Dance Class

This week was parent watch day at dance class. Elise loved having an audience!

Blue and Gold

Wednesday night was the Cub Scout Pack's Blue & Gold Banquet. Each father and son were to make a cake together for the event. Cameron and Mike decided to make a "Costco building" cake.








The banquet began with the giving out of awards (for scouting), then we had a blessing on the food and ate. Dutch Oven fried chicken, Dutch Oven cheesy potatoes, salads (green, pasta, Jello, potato) and rolls.



Previously, the cub scouts had worked on making the decorations. Everything looked great!



This is one of the placemats that Cameron had painted:



After dinner, the scoutmaster gathered the children together and told them a story about "Warm Fuzzies and Cold Pricklies" and encouraged them to live so that they have and give "warm fuzzies" to others by their words and actions. The cakes were "judged" and each boy given an award for his cake. Cameron won the "most creative" cake.



Then, they had a dinosaur pinata (as the banquet celebrates the birthday of scouting) that each child was able to swing at. Corban did not want anything to do with it......except for collecting the candy.





Finally, the boys and their dads got to serve their cakes to everyone for dessert.




They all looked very yummy!






Most of the cakes were chocolate cakes. We made Grandma Beutler's Potato Cake for the Costco building cake....if you were wondering!

Lincoln Day Breakfast

An acquaintance of mine (Janine Wuerz) asked me if I would help her play some prelude music for a political fund raiser. She wanted me to play the flute as she played piano. I then recruited Sadie to play the violin with us. We played ten different classical pieces; some pieces all together; some with just the flute and piano and some just violin and piano. I enjoyed the three or four practices we had a couple of weeks before hand. I love playing the flute! It just makes me feel good and happy inside to make music!



The fundraiser was called the Lincoln Day Breakfast. Basically, those all over Washington County are invited to purchase a table or seat for this breakfast. I heard that seats were $250 each, then another source said something about $1,000. Those contributing and participating were trying to raise monies to support the candidates of the Republican party; Monies that are used for fliers, reminders to vote, anything really that helps promote a candidate (in our area)for office.



I liked the red white and blue decore of the tables. Right outside of the room, there was a wonderful buffet set up, where guests could get their food before the program.




Sadie, Janine and I played while everyone gathered and ate. We ended up playing twice as long as we had planned, just over an hour. It was hard for the flute to be heard, and partway through our playing, someone put a microphone to us. That happened while I was playing the number that was most challenging for me!



At 8:30am the program began with a thank you to us and then a flag ceremony. Present were Governor Gary Herbert, numerous Senators, and Mayors (mine included), Commissioners and such. It was good to see many from my own neighborhood who were there to show their concern and support for our governing officials.

Valentine's Day + Some

The Friday before Valentine's Day, Mike and I decided to celebrate the "day of love." We went to dinner at a Mexican food restaurant, La Frontera, that I REALLY enjoyed. It reminded me of a restuarant we often ate at in Mesa, AZ. I think as I ate I even made some "MMMMMMmmmm" noises, it was so good! Mike was getting over a cold and couldn't taste very well, so lucky for me, we'll have to go back again sometime soon! We drove to a couple of movie theatres to possibly see a movie, but the only things we were interested in seeing were showing at times that were just later than I cared to be out. Instead, we browsed at the Deseret Book store. I bought a couple of things I needed, but mostly we just looked and enjoyed our time together. When we decided to head home, we stopped at Dairy Queen for a sweet treat. It was a great evening together.
On Valentine's Day morning (Monday), Mike had to catch a plane (actually 3 planes) heading for Steamboat, Colorado. I put a love note in his car for him to find. He had notes all over the house for me (in my dresser drawers, on my deodorant, my journal, etc.). It was nice finding them. We spoke a number of times throughout the day as he traveled from place to place. I was as happy as could be!
Then, in the middle of the afternoon, I was surprised to receive (FedEx) an arrangement of three dozen long stemmed red roses directly from Bogota, Colombia.
Mike told me later that he had ordered them for me about a month earlier, knowing he would be gone and wanting me to have a special day. WOW! It was great!



Cari bought me a stuffed animal and balloon, and Trevon gave me a candy bar...each wanting to make my day special too. Each one of my family makes every day special and as Mike likes to say, "Every day can be Valentine's Day..."

Mike made it safely to Colorado. He was attending a Bridgestone Tire training course, learning how to drive on ice and snow - with BLIZZAK snow tires. He stayed at a ski lodge and had fun watching people ski down to the lodge.





Tuesday morning began the "training." From the video Mike showed me, it looked like a bunch of guys four wheeling in the snow - having FUN!!! There was a track made in the deep snow that was marked with different colored cones. An instructor guided each participant as they drove, teaching them to come out of a skid (how to steer; when to accelerate; etc.).







This photo shows the amount of snow that was on the lodge.



A map of the slopes:




Mike enjoyed watching people practice ski jumps, hooked up to a bungee contraption. Wow - with all that gear, I might even be daring enough to take a stab at a jump or two!



He headed home on Wednesday morning.


He was in Salt Lake when the weather turned bad and his flight was cancelled. He had to wait for a later one. To pass the time he walked the entire airport (I think almost twice), checking out every terminal; people watching; and waiting. His later flight ended up being delayed and when he finally got on the plane, he watched as workers de-iced it before take-off. He found that fun to see.

When he finally made it home, it was 1:30am. I was so thankful he was safe and sound and home again!

Community Service

This past week I received a phone call from the city, seeking volunteers to help clean up and define a trail at one of its parks. Our family has helped with other city "projects" and are called on every so often when there is needed work to do. We enjoy pitching in and Saturday was no exception.




I enjoyed taking Cari, Trevon and Sadie with me to trail-blaze. It was great exercise; I discovered a great new place to hike or take my family; I made new friends; and spent some quality time with my kids.



One of the people I met was a woman by the name of Lucy. She retired a few months ago and wanted something to do. She decided to volunteer her time to a committee that makes and maintains trails in the area. She shared with me the time she and a friend rode their bikes across the United States in 90 days. Wow! Ordinary people do such extrordinary things! ((I love saying that, (1)because it's true, and (2)because it is empowering to me!))



It was a great way to spend a Saturday morning.