We're done!!!

I'm officially done with 6th grade science fairs.  Every spring the teacher seem to want to torture parents by holding a 6th grade science fair, LOL.  I think it is just the timing - springtime, warmer weather, kids are tired of school.  I feel for the teachers this time of year.  Anyway - Shelby did a great job on her project this year.  She decided (with a little help from mom) to do her experiment about grain storage.  I encouraged it because I knew I had easy access to the materials.  The science fair was supposed to be today, but with the crazy weather and downed power lines by the school, it is tomorrow night.  The best part is that  I don't have to help any more kids with science projects - I didn't like it when I was in school!  Good Luck Shelby :)!!

The Big News

There is big news at our house!


This could be challenging,


 a time scheduling nightmare,


drama-filled,


stressful,


adventurous,


and could be lots of fun


at least I hope


If I survive!


Are you ready?

Megan is a high school cheerleader!

Yup - she made the team last night - tryouts have been going on all week and we got home at 11:00 last night.  It will be fun, just a bit challenging with all the added practices and games.  I'm excited for her - she has been dancing and performing since before she could walk.  She will be a busy girl - and will have to work hard to keep up with her schoolwork, but she is determined.  Congrats Megan!!!

Cell Phone email

I have to admit that I laughed when I read this e-mail.  I usually don't forward or even read the emails that are forwarded, but this one is cute.  I think I have told most of these to my kids and they just can't imagine what life was like "way back then".  My poor kids still don't have cell phones - (Mara got one when she went to college).  I imagine that might change, but I don't feel very sorry for them.  It's a cute email, but I won't forward, so you can read it here if you are so inclined. When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were. When they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning.... Uphill ... Barefoot... BOTH ways, yadda, yadda, yadda. And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in heck I was going to laya bunch of stuff like that on my kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!But now that I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today.  You've got it so easy!  I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a darn Utopia! And I hate to say it, but you kids today, you don't know how good you've got it!  I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have the Internet.  If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the darn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!!   There was no email!!  We had to actually write somebody a letter - with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox, and it would take like a week to get there!  Stamps were 10 cents! Child Protective Services didn't care if our parents beat us.  As a matter of fact, the parents of all my friends also had permission to kick our butt! Nowhere was safe! There were no MP3's or Napsters or iTunes!  If you wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the record store and shoplift it yourself!  Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio, and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up!  There were no CD players! We had tape decks in our car..  We'd play our favorite tape and "eject" it when finished, and then the tape would come undone rendering it useless. Cause, hey, that's how we rolled, Baby!  Dig?  We didn't have fancy stuff like Call Waiting!  If you were on the phone and somebody else called, they got a busy signal, that's it! There weren't any crazy' cell phones either. If you left the house, you just didn't make a darn call or receive one. You actually had to be out of touch with your "friends". OH MY GOSH !!!  Think of the horror... not being in touch with someone 24/7!!!  And then there's TEXTING.  Yeah, right.  Please!  You kids have no idea how annoying you are. And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was!  It could be your school, your parents, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, the collection agent... you just didn't know!!!  You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister! We didn't have any fancy PlayStation or Xbox video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics!  We had the Atari 2600!  With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'Asteroids'.  Your screen guy was a little square!  You actually had to use your imagination!!!  And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen... Forever!  And you could never win.  The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died!  Just like LIFE! You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were outta luck when it came to channel surfing!  You had to get off your butt and walk over to the TV to change the channel!!!  NO REMOTES!!!  Oh, no, what's the world coming to?!?! There was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning.  Do you hear what I'm saying? We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-finks! And we didn't have microwaves.  If we wanted to heat something up, we had to use the stove!  Imagine that!    And our parents told us to stay outside and play... all day long.  Oh, no, no electronics to soothe and comfort.  And if you came back inside... you were doing chores!  And car seats - oh, please!   Mom threw you in the back seat and you hung on.  If you were luckily, you got the "safety arm" across the chest at the last moment if she had to stop suddenly, and if your head hit the dashboard, well that was your fault for calling "shot gun" in the first place!    See!  That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled rotten!  You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980 or any time before! Regards, The Over 30 Crowd

Prom 2010

Prom was Saturday, April 17 @ SSHS. Seth wasn't convinced he needed to go at first, but I think he was happy after all that he did. As you saw in my previous post, Seth asked his friend Cathryn Smith to the prom. They went with a big group of friends to Idaho Falls to spend the day. Go-carting, ice-blocking, Texas Roadhouse & I heard something about a peanut fight all over Idaho Falls. He said it was a pretty fun time. Cathryn's dad had to give him a bad time - it's a requirement right?. When Seth got there to pick her up - his guns were all laid out on the table to be cleaned. Her little brothers were involved - even the nerf guns were on the table. Somehow I don't think it scared him too bad - He ended up playing with her brother while they waited for another couple. When he picked her up for the formal dance, he had a snickers bar for each of her brothers in his pocket. The next day Cathryn's dad spoke as a high counsel member at our ward - He said the boys are Seth's friends for life. They looked sharp headed off to the big dance - her dress was just beautiful!

Seth in front of Grandma's "Prom Door"

I knew I was in trouble when the first picture of the night had them both with the cheesy grin pose.

Seth came to Spring Creek Manor so that Grandma Lucas & Aunt Pete could see them all dressed up  & so I could get a picture. She was a good sport - who goes to the assisted living center on their prom date?

Posing for a pix before the floorshow.

what a gentleman

and again

Here are the videos Mara - just for you.  Who knew your brother could dance?

Uncle Wayne's funeral

Uncle Wayne passed away last Tuesday.  He has been suffering for so long now that I think there was a sense of relief that came for all.  It was a wonderful service to honor his life - lots of tears and laughter.  Those are the best kind of funerals - a celebration of his 88 years of life!  His family provided the whole program and I thought it was a great tribute to their dad.  My dad was asked to dedicate the grave - and the American Legion did a graveside service.  When taps was played, it was a bit emotional.  Uncle Wayne has performed that service for his fellow veterans for years.  The 8th ward provided a dinner back at the church & my brother Blake made sure we got some photos:  Thanks Blake!

Matt, Ed, Andy, Jill, Craig, Todd

Phil, Dad, Mom, Blake

all of us kids, except Heather

Aunt Pete (Iva Lou), Uncle Verl, Dad

I love this family picture!

Doyle, Scott, Ron

Diane, & Aunt Elda with Uncle Wayne's picture

It was a great day to be with family and catch up - I thought it was great of my brothers to make the effort to be there to support Dad.  I wish we were able to spend more time, but we take what we get.  Uncle Wayne loved the song that was sung at his funeral - so here's to you Uncle Wayne - Go rest high on that mountain!

Easter 2010

Easter Sunday was nice and low-key this year.  The kids had to get the traditional easter baskets - even if they are too big.  They didn't mind getting a new Wii game at all.  Seth headed off to help feed cows, and the girls found the eggs hidden around the house.  We spent the rest of the day watching conference and the kids played the with their new stuff.  Shelby's zhu zhu was a hit - she is always wanting to take home a hamster, or gerbil, or hedgehog & I refuse.  I had Mara shopping all over Logan to try and get one for Christmas and had no luck.  Now they are everywhere.  She played with the silly little thing all day - and had fun tormenting Rowdy with it.  We attempted to have a nice dinner ready for Jim when he got ready for work.  I love Sundays at home, especially Easter and general conference on the same Sunday.

Seth's #1

Look at my boy:

http://nac.collegebasketball.upickem.net/collegebasketball/registration/login.asp?random=32807





Seth joined his seminary teachers group - picking the NCAA brackets. Look who ended up at #1 on the leader boards for the Salt Lake Tribune/Deseret News group! He also ended up #66 out of 104 thousand in the nation. Maybe we should take him to Vegas next year???

Extravadance 2010

EXTRAVADANCE 2010

Every year the drill teams & cheerleaders do a closing program to show off what they have accomplished for the year.  This years "Extravadance" was last Monday night.  I keep taking video of Megan's cheer squad and google says it is too big to upload.  This time I told myself to make them short - so take a look, finally, of the TMS cheerleaders:

They are pretty good for a little middle school!
Megan's cousin Sierra is on the TMS drill team - you can see pictures of her in the collage.  It was a fun night and the girls got in one last performance.  Here is one more shot of Megan with good friends on the cheer squad:

Yes, we are done! - not.  Cheer tryouts for high school start in 2 weeks.  Here we go again!

Uncle Wayne

It is Easter morning, and I'm listening to my prophet speak of death and the resurrection as I wait for the call about my Uncle Wayne. I was able to go and visit with him last night & let him know I cared. This morning we wait for him to pass through the veil. Two weeks ago on Saturday, we celebrated his 88th birthday at the living center and had a great time celebrating his life:

I know Heavenly Fathers plan is true and I will be associated with him again someday, but it is still hard to experience the separation we feel as mortals. President Monson's talk is perfect for Easter Morning, especially this one:

"If a man die, he shall live again.

In our hour of deepest sorrow - we can receive profound peace.

Death is conquered,

Man is free,

Christ has won the victory!

Girls best friend?

Megan & Rowdy were having a good time during conference yesterday - he is still a puppy at heart. It is too fun!

Shelby is 12!!!

My baby is 12 - that makes me old! Shelby turned 12 on April 1st - yes she is an April Fools baby! She had the day out of school for spring break, but mom had to work. We had the traditional dinner of her choice - lemon pepper chicken - and cake & ice cream with Grandma & Grandpa Stoor, & Hunter. It was a fun night:

Happy 12th Birthday Shelby Morgan!!

The Book of Seth

I finally talked Seth into going to the prom - or so he says.  Anyway - long story, but he asked a good friend with a corny little poem:

"Now that I have showered you with "flowers"

and "kissed" the ground you walk on,

I would feel like "100 grand" if you would go to Prom with me?

We put flowers in her car along with candy kisses and 100 grand bars - they threw the candy everywhere in the car.  Four of them had the letters of his name stuck to them.  I know it is cheesy - even Seth admits it.  Her response was great - I think she had a little help from Bro. Hegemann(seminary teacher).  Seth got to class and Bro. Hegemann gave him 2 glue ins(little cards he gives them that they glue into their scriptures to aid study).  This is what they read:

Seth 1:5 "Cheesy Pickup Lines"
Do you believe in love at first sight or do you need me to walk by again?
Do you have a band aid?  Cause I scraped my knee falling for you!
I lost my phone number, Can I have yours?
Is there an airport nearby or is that just my heart taking off?


Seth 1:5 "More Cheesy Pickup Lines"
Are you lost? Because heaven is a long way from here.
Do you have a map?  I keep getting lost in your eyes.
Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?
Excuse me, but I think I dropped something ... My jaw!
If I could rearrange the alphabet I'd put U and I together.
Are you a parking ticket? Because you have fine written all over you.

Too cute, huh - someone else thought his poem was "cheesy".  Then I didn't get the whole story, but I think this next section was in his scriptures - The Book of Seth!

The Book of Seth

Chapter 1

In this chapter you will find the answer to a

question you have asked - Pray with

sincerity!

1. And now my brethern, ye have searched the scriptures.
2. And behold, ye have been spiritually edified.
3. To find the answer to the question thou has asked to a certain senior girl.
4. Year ye must pray, with full intent, expressing the desires of thy heart.
5. Or you can just ask Brother Hegemann!
6. And it came to pass that the answer was... 

Bro. Hegemann then brought Seth a box of donuts - they spelled out YES.  Very creative I thought.  Seth was not sold at the idea of going to prom a week ago, but I think it will be lots of fun, and you just can't skip your JR. Prom right?

State Capital

While we were in Boise for the state tournament, Jim insisted that we take the kids to the state capital.  It was a pretty interesting morning.  I have never been to Idaho's capital and it was a beautiful building - they just finished up a major remodeling job.  We had fun taking pictures and then went to watch a few meetings, nothing too exciting, but worth it to see how the process works.  We went to a committee meeting that Senator Geddes was involved in, and then he took us up to preferred seating to watch the senate session.  It was cool - we were in the VIP balcony and had a great view of everything.  While we were watching a big group of kids started making their way into the public seating section.  Sure enough it was the Madison pep band and the kids spotted Colton (my nephew) right away.  We watched him looking around for a while and the look on his face when he saw us was comical.  He gave us a little wave and then we found him later in the rotunda.  He's not a big picture kind of guy, but was a good sport to have a pix with the girls.  Senator Geddes took over the meeting (see the middle picture) - he introduced us as friends from Wayan and told the other senators to look it up on a map.  He is the Senate president - weird, right, that we know powerful people?

We went and watched the house proceedings for a little while - they didn't joke around as much as the senate!  We took more pictures and just looked around the building.  Then it was time to hurry and head to another game.  It was a neat morning and I'm not sure about the kids, but government made a little more sense after watching for a bit.  Overall we had a great time - except I think Megan is still upset that we spent 3 days in Boise and didn't make it to the mall!