A Little Bit of Magic

Trevor's Cub Scout pack has been doing magic this month, including painting their own magic wands. Trev has really enjoyed this, especially since he just finished reading all 7 Harry Potter books last month!



Jake enjoyed some of his own magic last week at preschool, as he and his friends would "disappear" as they played with the parachute. What fun!

Michael and the Sacrament

Michael passed the Sacrament for the first time last Sunday. He was ordained a deacon on his 12th birthday and due to General Conference the first week-end in April, this was the first opportunity he had to pass the sacrament. Because of Trevor's baptism the previous evening, we still had several members of our family in town to share in this sweet experience as well. It was a special meeting for our family as we watch both Don and Michael pass the Sacrament together. We love you Michael!

Don, Michael and his Grandfathers on this special day.

Michael and his Grandmothers

Aunt Rachel and Michael

Trevor's Baptism

TREVOR'S BIG DAY!

Last Saturday Trevor was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Don. It was a very special day as Trevor made this important decision in his life, surrounded by so many people who love him. We are so proud of Trevor and the wonderful person he is. He is so great to be around, always smiling and being funny. Trevor, we love you and are so proud of you!!

TREVOR AND HIS DAD

MOM AND TREVOR

HAYLEY, MICHAEL, JAKE AND TREVOR...STILL CAN'T GET A GOOD SHOT - JAKE!!!

Trevor planned the entire program, from music, to prayers and talks, to the scruptious refreshments. Once we got a slight clothing issue resolved, the service began. Trevor had picked some of his favorite Primary songs for the music, and had asked his grandmothers to give the opening and closing prayers. The opening song was I am a Child of God and the closing song was We'll Bring The World His Truth. He had a special musical number by all the Primary aged kids of Scripture Power. It was so great to hear their sweet voices singing that song. Trevor had asked his cousin Ashlynn to speak on baptism and his Uncle Ben to speak on the Holy Ghost. His grandfathers were the witnesses to the baptism. It was a great service and we are so grateful to all of you who helped make it so wonderful. We had many family members come in for the service, as well as so many members of our ward family, past and present who came to support Trevor. Thanks to all of you who were there & those who wanted to, but couldn't make it. We appreciate all your love and kind cards and calls! Trevor is one special kid!


GRANDMOMMIE AND GRANDPA B. WITH TREVOR

GRANDADDY AND GRAMMY M. WITH TREVOR

GREAT UNCLE GILBERT WITH TREVOR

After the service, Trevor had decided he wanted a desert table filled with his favorite cookies and brownies. It was quite the spread, complete with CTR sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies, rice krispie treats, brownies & special raspberry cookies (thanks Grammy & Rachel!), and m&m cookies and snickerdoodles (thanks Lyn!). Aunt Cynthia kept things running smoothly as the kids and adults enjoyed their treats. Thanks again to everyone who helped out and came and supported Trevor. It was a great evening.



MORE PICTURES FROM THE BAPTISM....

COUSINS ANNA, JAKE, ASHLYNN, ALEX, HAYLEY, TREVOR AND ABBY

CLOSE 8 YEAR OLD COUSINS - ALEX AND TREVOR

HAYLEY AND TREVOR

TREVOR, DAD AND MOM

TREVOR AND SISTER SIMMONS

AUNT RACHEL,MICHAEL AND AUNT CYNTHIA

UNCLES BOB AND BEN ENJOYING THE COOKIES!

TREVOR AND HIS PRIMARY TEACHER, SISTER GRAY AND CUTE PRESTON

EATING THE TREATS...AND APPARENTLY A LEMON FROM THE WATER TOO - YUM!

IT'S GREAT TO BE EIGHT! WE LOVE YOU TREVOR!

Family Fun

Last week-end we had a lot of family come into town to participate in Trevor's baptism. It was so fun to have cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents around all week-end to play. We kicked off the festivities with a major water balloon fight between the 8 cousins Friday afternoon...just what everyone needed after a day of school and a loooong car ride!
ABBY, NOT AS INNOCENT AS SHE LOOKS!
TREV TAKING CAREFUL AIM!

That night we had fun talking, playing video games, eating great Mexican food, and of course, the girls had a blast fixing Uncle Ben's hair so pretty! My youngest brother is such an awesome uncle, and a VERY good sport!!

ABBY, HAYLEY AND ASHLYNN GIVING BEN A MAKEOVER, COMPLETE WITH SPARKLY HEADBAND!





Later that night my parents arrived and we ended the evening by laying out lots of sleeping bags and putting in the movie "Alvin & the Chipmunks". Grandpa and Uncle Ben held down the fort while my mom, SIL Cynthia & myself went to the airport to pick up my big bro Bob late that night. When we got home, just about everyone was asleep - hurray!
JAKE AND ANNA SNUGGLING WITH GRANDPA DURING THE MOVIE


The next day started early with basketball for Michael. Grandpa & Grandmommie helped jump-start the morning by bringing a couple dozen donuts to the house. We went to Michael's basketball game where Don's dad meet us with a surprise visitor - Aunt Rachel for Arizona! It was so fun to see the look on Trevor's face when he saw her. What a great surprise - we loved it!

RACHEL AND MICHAEL AT THE GAME

Michael had a great game, complete with 5 steals and 7 points, and too many assists to keep track of...he must have been inspired by his own cheering section! I think the 15 of us stood out just a little bit!

PART OF THE CHEERING SECTION

After we came back to the house for lunch, my parents and brothers took the kids swimming while Cynthia and I took care of some last minute preparations for the baptism....so much faster without the little hand helpers! By 2:30, everyone had gathered back at the house and we got the phone call that Don had cleared customs and was on his way from the airport - Hurray! Don had been in Panama for the last couple of days for work, and I think I finally breathed a little easier once he actually walked in the door at 3, just 3 hours until the baptism was supposed to start. Whew!

We ordered Trevor's favorite pizza, Extra Large Pepperoni from Dominos and had everyone eat an early dinner before heading over to the church to set up for the baptism. More on that special event to be posted next!

That evening, after the baptism festivities, Bob,Cynthia & kids, accompanied by Uncle Ben had to leave to drive back to Dallas. We were all sad to see them go, but were so happy they were able to be with us for all the fun.

MORE FUN COUSIN PICTURES...
ABBY AND HAYLEY
THE GIRLS IN THE TREE
JAKE'S ANNA BANANA!

Hurray for Hayley!

Today we got a letter from the school saying Hayley has qualified for the Gifted and Talented program. She loves school and learning new things, so it doesn't come as a surprise to us that she is "smart". Great job Hayley!

Let's Cruise and other fun things

Last week the elementary school was prepping for their big spring fundraiser, a "Carnival Cruise" which was hosted on Sunday. We didn't attend the carnival but Trevor and Hayley had fun dressing up on the other spirit days. Wednesday was Beach/Hawaiian Wear day.



Other fun happenings in the week included Trevor's first day of Cub Scouts, Don's trip to Panama for work, swimming at the Y during Michael's basketball practice, tons of family coming into town for the week-end (including a surprise visitor!), Michael's great basketball game with his own cheering section - 15 people!, and of course, Trevor's baptism...more on that to follow soon!

MICHAEL SINKING A FREE THROW

School...and more school!

On Tuesday Hayley had a playdate with 2 of her friends from school. They are a cute set of twins that are in her class. So they came home with us afterschool to play for a few hours. And what do they want to play? School of course!!

Any Questions?

Monday night we were having Family Home Evening with the kids and the lesson Don gave was on baptism, in preparation of Trev's big day this Saturday. So at the end of the lesson, Don asked, "Does anybody have any questions?" Jake raises his hand and says, "I do." So Don says, "Okay Jake, what's your question?" And Jake replies, very seriously, "When does Santa Claus come?"

Valid question, just totally off subject. So amid the laughter erupting from the rest of the family, we explained that it is still a long time until Santa will be making a visit. So in case you were ever wondering what important question a 3 year old may be thinking in April...Merry Christmas to all, and to all a GOOD NIGHT!!

Exciting Times

Last week was one of those weeks filled with exciting times. Besides celebrating big birthdays for Michael (now 12!) and Trevor (now 8!)and having fun with tricks on April Fool's Day, we did a few other new things as well.

Tuesday we had preschool at our house and even though we talked about the letter R and made red robots and rain shakers with rice, the kids had a great time being Superheroes (just warming up for today's lesson about the letter S I guess!). They were so cute, I had to snap a picture of them.



Tuesday night was Michael's first youth activity. After a lesson by one of the young women, they played Ultimate Frisbee. Michael seemed to really enjoy it. Tuesday evening Trevor also had his interview with the Bishop to be baptized. The baptism will be this week-end and Trevor is pretty excited about it.

Thursday I chaperoned Hayley's 2nd field trip of the year, a play based on the book, Goodnight Moon. It was cute, but I was ready for a nap afterwards! But it was on to the second part of the field trip, lunch at the park. Definitely no napping there! Since that play, I keep hearing "old lady whispering hush" in my head...only it's me telling my kids to stay in bed, and not so much with the nice whisper either. Maybe I should skip the next field trip, who knows what I might learn - ha!



Saturday Michael went early in the morning to the State Competition of Odyssy of the Mind tournament with his team, and then was able to sprint across town in time with Don to make it for his first basketball game of the new season. He played really well, offense and defense. The best play of the game that had the crowd rockin' and ref's laughing was when he cleanly stuffed a players shot. It was loud and was totally awesome! The grin on his face afterwards was priceless.

We had recorded the earlier General Conference session and watch the Solemn Assembly together. It was a wonderful experience to sustain our new prophet, and especially sweet to watch Michael rise as they called for the Aaronic Priesthood to stand. Don's parents came down for the evening so the 3 "young" men could go to the Priesthood session together. It was a great experience,and so neat to see Michael come home excited, retelling the stories he had heard that night from the Prophet.



Sunday was a low key day, watching Conference at home with the kids. We had a fun brunch before the first session, and a big "lupper" (or "linner", depending what you want to call it!) after the second session. It was nice to spend time together, learning from our church leaders, building memories and recharging as a family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TREVOR!

IT'S GREAT TO BE EIGHT!


Trevor turned 8 today and partied in style. The school loves him so much, they gave the entire student body a free dress day today...no uniforms! (ok, really it was spring pictures, but still, how often do you ever get free dress day on your birthday..it was "AWESOME!!")

Trevor had a special lunch at school and then for his class treat, I made chocolate chip cookies that Trev requested. I don't know which the class loved more, the cookies, or getting out of 20 minutes of work because of when I showed up. They were very grateful Trevor had a birthday today! After school some friendS came over and played Wii with Trev & Hayley. Then we went to dinner and came home and had presents and cake. Trevor is our soccer nut and wanted a soccer cake tonight. Note to self, m&m's do melt in frosting...but it still was fun.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TREVOR!!

April Fools Day!

This was the year to move past the "you're shoes are untied...April Fools!". On to bigger and better pranks.

DINNERTIME!!


BOY AM I THIRSTY - YUMMY, LEMONADE!! WAIT A MINUTE, THE LEMONADE ISN'T COMING OUT OF MY STRAW...APRIL FOOL'S! IT'S LEMON JELLO!!







SOMETHING LOOKS CRAZY WITH THIS SPAGETTI & MEATBALLS...YUM, IT'S FROSTING WITH STRAWBERRY SAUCE & MALTBALLS!




WELL, HAVE A CUPCAKE IF YOU DON'T WANT THE SPAGETTI..."WAIT A MINUTE, THIS SMELLS LIKE MASHED POTATOES!" (IT WAS MEATLOAF COVERED WITH COLORED MASHED POTATOES).



THE FOOD DIDN'T TASTE GREAT BUT NO ONE COMPLAINED ABOUT EATING THE LEFTOVER CHICKEN FROM THE NIGHT BEFORE AFTER THEY GOT A WHIFF OF FUNNY CUPCAKES! HOPE YOUR APRIL FOOLS DAY WAS FUN TOO!