Easter Weekend

I am so grateful to my Mom and Dad for sharing their experiences of Easter week in the Philippines. The depictions of depravity has compelled me to ponder deeply the significance of this week like I never have before and make it a week of spirituality for my family as I have contemplated the blessings of the knowledge of the gospel and the true meaning and expectations of the atonement in my own life. It has been a beautiful week and an uplifting day.

Each night this week we tried to study the correlating day of Christs last week. It was a good way to imprint the true symbolism of this season into our hearts. After church today, we laid blankets out on the lawn and had a "New Testament" lunch with fish, bread, grapes, olives, figs and grape juice that we ate mostly out of baskets with our hands. We watched an edited version of "The Lamb of God", which doesn't carry the same spiritual impact but is still necessary for the four youngest of my children, and a short video called "Only a Stonecutter" about the story of John Rowe Moyle, a man who walked 22 miles to work on the Salt Lake Temple every week for 20 years, even after his leg had to be amputated (a very powerful and motivating lesson on consecration), and a short video the church put out on their website with a piece of Elder Holland's conference message. The weather was perfect and so symbolic of Springs Easter message. It has been a beautiful day!

Jordan went to Prom last night. (He said it was the best night of his life;-) Mikayla and Eden and I met one group of his friends over at another home and took pictures for an hour. It is so much fun to watch the exuberance and love for life these youth have. They are such good kids and I will miss them all profoundly when they head off to college and work and missions. Life and our house will be much too quiet.

Cousin's Egg Hunt at My Sisters:

Dillon (one of Jordan's best friends) arriving in his "sweet" (Corvette) car for Prom:

Jordan going to pick up his Prom date in his "sweet" (Geo) car:


Picture Time at Dillon's Home:

"Brothers" and Sisters:

Jordan and Zoey Being Silly:

Easter Morning:

All Dressed Up:

My Handsome Men:

Our "New Testament" Lunch:

Peace

I LOVE CONFERENCE!!! I'm always so sad when it is over., I do have to say that though it is such a blessing to be able to have the technology to experience conference in our home, it is a challenge every session to focus with all of the different distractions that seem to be inevitable in that setting--at least in our home. We have accessible seating for four in our playroom, which is where we watch conference, and since we have eight people that always causes some interference with people trying to hear and see and take notes, and not step on someone elses head (a problem that was causing Eden to rapidly lose the Spirit of the meeting on Saturday). There always seems to be some needed reminders to be reverent and listen, because such close proximity seems to encourage socializing and a bit of obnoxious behavior, which I'm sure more disciplined families don't deal with (I don't know where they inherited that from). It is also a challenge to help everyone stay alert and not revert to nap time, which is difficult when you have to lay on the floor to listen. However, even amidst the seeming turmoil, the Spirit always seems to permeate our home during the conference sessions, this time especially bringing peace at the end of an emotionally harried week, and make me want to try harder to consecrate my actions into discipleship and focus more fully on finding and creating joy.

Jordan asked a girl to Prom last weekend that he hasn't had the nerve to ever ask out during his whole high school years, and then this week got the opportunity to earn a free full tuxedo rental for that night by "modeling" a tux during a day at school and handing out advertisements. He wore black tails and a baby silver/blue vest and bow tie to school on Friday, with two of his friends. These boys seem to always know somebody who knows somebody where they can be creative and get a deal (this one being worth $75!).

Mikayla's gardening bug is starting to produce results. We have egg cartons all over the kitchen sprouting all sorts of different plants. It seems that no one wants to be left behind in this Spring thing. I have primroses blooming in my kitchen window, Jordan has snapdragons sprouting in a Dixie cup and Abe has a very large cabbage plant that is starting to take over my working space. It's a perfect reminder of this Easter week. I am excited to celebrate each day. I was reading yesterday a suggestion to celebrate coloring eggs and hunts and baskets and dresses each year the week previous to the Easter week as a celebration of Spring and then focusing solely on the spiritual messages during the Easter week. I wasn't prepared to do that this year, so we'll probably still do the "fluffy" stuff on Saturday, but I thought it was such a great idea. I'm going to talk about it in family council tonight and see what my family thinks. Lily and Sophie have such a hard time distinguishing the true meaning of Easter because of their anticipation of the "fun" that I thought getting that "Spring Fling" celebrated so much before would help them anticipate two separate celebrations.

I don't want to be prideful, but Olive has not escaped from our yard for 5 days now! It's quite a success for us. Fred built a new fence section last Saturday. She got out Monday because a wind storm had blown open the back gate and she got out on Tuesday (I have no idea how, sometimes I think she has her own guardian angels), but we have contained her since then. She stalks the back fence and barks and barks and I have guilt like crazy until I can take her out, but at least I know she's safe. We'll see how long it lasts.

"Tuxedo Modeling" day


Sophie's Electric Personality


Signs of Spring


A Spring Windowsill, A New Fence Piece, and A Captive Dog

Out of The Mouths of Babes

I was just looking at my sister in law's photography blog, with Lily and Sophie on my lap, and as I was scanning down the page we passed an lds.org link with a picture of the First Presidency, and Lily said, "Oh look, its Pres. Monson and Elder "Oofdork", and Sophie chimed in "And Elder "Ring" looks funny in those big glasses!". I guess we need to work a little harder on pronunciation and respectful comments, but it was fun to hear their excited recognition in anticipation of conference.

Breath In... Breath Out

Jordan received his school track in the mail yesterday (Fall/ Winter--the one we wanted!) and passed his local Board of Review last night with a few suggested revisions and additions, but because he had it before his birthday, he can still make the alterations before he sends in his papers for his "National Board of Review". We're still not out of the woods, but I told him he got one day off for his birthday and then there would be "no rest for the wicked!". Our stress levels were pretty high last night, but I am so proud of how hard he has worked these last three months and all that he has learned. This process has been invaluable for prepping him for the reality of adult life. He is 18 today and has chosen to spend the first 8 hours of his birthday building fence with a friend to earn money for all of the "realities" that are coming up quickly in his life. Not the choice I would have made on my birthday, but responsible and appropriate for the first day of "adulthood". We'll make sure we party BIG this evening. We're fudging on "unplugged" during Spring Break and are going to watch a few movies together. We've missed that.

Olive Update ("Because this drama is an impactful part of life in the Bloomquist Family)--
The more permanent fence piece that Fred built a few weeks ago, has not stopped Olive; she learned to climb the chain link, so during my morning scripture reading of the "war chapters" I got the brilliant idea to raise "works of timber" against the trouble spot of fence. After I went on my morning ritual of looking for my escaped dog and bringing her back to the yard, I leaned every post and 2x4 that Fred had left over from projects against the low fence wall. It looked pretty deterring to me, though I'm sure the neighbors were just shaking their heads at the "mess". The next morning, Olive got behind them and knocked them forward, which is impressive since some of them were 12 ' long and leaning on the fence at quite an angle, and escaped before I could get out to walk her in the morning (I have to get kids ready for school until 8:00). A couple weeks ago, Fred picked up some garden trellis netting to string between posts at the top of the 42" gap, in hopes that Olive would be deterred for a week before he could get to building an actual fence. The following Sunday, we came home and Olive was still in the yard, but there was a large hole in one spot of the rope trellis. She must have either jumped and got caught in it and struggled free, making a huge hole, and didn't try again because she got hurt. Fred went out and fixed the hole, by tying together string pieces, but the next day she tried again and was successful. Every day I fix the new hole, and every day she makes a new one. My mom said, "always look for solutions", so even though I feel foolish and incompetent, every day I try something new, and every day it fails. Since the beginning of spring break, Mikayla and Eden and I get up at 8:00 and do our 15 minute workout and then run the 2-1/2 mile neighborhood "scouting route" looking for our dog. Yesterday morning, before we even started our workout, I got a phone call from the little barbershop downtown, telling me that they were holding Olive inside, if I wanted to come get her. Luckily it was early enough that they didn't have customers yet, but as usual they were just concerned about her welfare and pleased to be the protectors of "this sweet dog".

Fred has taken the day off for Jordan's birthday, but now Jordan is gone all morning, so maybe he will be building fence today. I still love my dog; she is very sweet, she just has this minor little thing that continually forces me out of my comfort zone and forces me to interact with "strangers".....Maybe it's all a blessing in disguise. Olive certainly seems to have guardian angels watching over her.

This Week With The Bloomers

I left the house at 7:10 this morning and have been in 3 different buildings, for 5 different meetings, visiting 3 different wards and I don't have anything left to say, but the heat from the laptop is soothing and the foot massager is relaxing, so I will sit here until something comes or I'm forced to get back up. I'm not whining--this isn't a typical Sunday and I'm sure that there are many people with busier callings than mine who aren't even home yet, but it feels good to put on slippers.

The twins birthday lived up to their expectations which made it fun for me. Lily and Sophie each ordered the color of cake and frosting they wanted and we made them together and then I cut primroses in 3 different colors and let them each decorate their own cakes however they wanted. I thought they turned out lovely and reminded me of the cakes my mom used to decorate when we werer all still living on the farm, though at a 5 year old stage.

I can't wait for Spring Break coming up. We have a lot of fun, simple things planned around town with friends and family, (we're also in major crunch mode for Jordan to finish up his Eagle scout requirements and I had nightmares about it all night, so I hope he gets that squared away ASAP so I can stop worrying.)

Lily and Sophie's birthday party:




Sophie's cake:


Lily's Cake:


Planet Kid for their birthday date:

Treats at my sisters store-- "Cookie's and Cream"

Double Pleasure/ Double Trouble:

Jordan's finished sign:

Where, Oh Where, Has My LIttle Dog Gone?

Some of you know the story by heart. The naive young couple move, first from a farm, then from a ranch with their 6 farm kids to a small plot subdivision. The children, including the known wanderer, miraculously seem to be contained even without a fence, but just to be on the safe side the farm dog stays at the ranch while the intelligent couple surround the yard with a four foot fence, then reclaim the dog. It is only a matter of weeks before the farm dog learns to jump the four foot fence and regain her farm freedom. We chase her down almost every day and meet many neighbors, police officers, animal control officers, school principles, and even country landowners miles away, all who love the dog and are very protective, helpful and friendly, but we are constantly worried and annoyed by the "Olive antics", so we finally resort to putting her on tie out cables that allow her access to the entire yard, but she is depressed and frequently winds herself around trees and trampoline legs to the point that she is completely restricted. We finally give in and pull down the entire 4 foot fence that we originally put up and replace it and the back chain link with a 6 foot wooden fence; It takes the entire summer and by Fall it is finished except for a small 42" gap. Fred has run out of materials and steam and good weather, so we block the opening with the leftover chain link roll. We keep Olive contained for a happy two weeks and then she figures how to shimmy under the chain link. We block the bottom with stacks of cinder block, but she moves the cinder block. We barricade it with garbage cans and long cedar planks and a wheelbarrow, but she maneuvers through, knocks over the chain link roll and continues to escape like Houdini. She has now learned that their is wisdom in escaping while we are not watching. She always checks the house windows carefully before heading out, so we sometimes catch her going back toward the "junk pile", but never actually see the flight. It gets to a ridiculous level, where it becomes almost routine for the Elementary school office to call and tell me that Olive is locked in the Kindergarten playground AGAIN, so we revert back to the tie out cables, only this time it has been shortened to 30" so that she can't wind herself around objects. We try to take her out on walks twice a day to get "it" out of her system, but "it" is inborn and so we continue to have guilt and prisoner continues to "sulk". Finally, though Jordan's Eagle project is needing every spare minute of Fred's time, I finally beg and plead for him to spend a half hour and secure the opening. Fred builds a more permanent fence piece all the while muttering about us being smarter than a dog and something about him having a degree. I watch Olive stalk the opening all day and give up 3 different times while I am secretly watching her behind the curtain, making sure that she can't see me (she keeps checking). She is contained all day and I am so happy with my brilliant husband. When Fred and the kids get home from church on Sunday there is a note in our door saying that a lady has picked our dog up at the Ridley's grocery store parking lot and is kindly holding her at her house until we get back home(our address is on her tags). Luckily she doesn't want a ransom, but like every other person in our 4 years of Olive experiences, she loves this dog and is so kind to us! When I get home from meetings today, my darling dog is back on her 30 foot ball and chain. Fred scouts out the fence and surmises that our dog has actually climbed the chain link fence. She's smart and highly motivated; we have to admire her persistence.

As soon as Jordan has finished his Middleton sign, Fred will devote his Saturdays to building a 6 foot high fence to replace the chain link and then we will wait to see how many minutes it takes this big, hairy chunk of our heart, to devise a plan to outsmart us once again. I am pondering writing a column in the Middleton Gazette to thank our community for looking out for our dog. If our town ever needs a mascot, I know a black lab that would love the job.

Middleton March Unplugged is going fabulously! I thought we were already pretty "unplugged" as a family, but with all personal radios off, and entertainment computer time gone and weekends void of movies, we have put together a 500 piece puzzle, played Stratego, Bingo, Ruckus, and Storytime. Jordan has taken Abe, Lily and Sophie to the city library and instead of me chasing fussy 4 year old's out of the kitchen during dinner prep, Jordan and Mikayla are wearing them out on the trampoline. Eden has turned into a bit of a book fanatic and since that is not electronic, we have had to spend a bit more time convincing her to "plug in" to us, but "we have ways of making [her] talk", so the first week has been fun, enlightening and so positive. I'm hoping that with three more weeks to go that some of these family times will become habitual and when we plug back in, some things will just fall by the wayside naturally.

Tonight while we were reading scriptures, Jordan was helping Lily with her turn and he said a sentence for her to mimic with the word "heard" in it. Often the little girls don't actually understand what they are repeating but just try to imitate the phonetics of what they hear. Lily replaced the word heard with nerd, and Sophie, under her breath and to herself said, "Nerd? That's weird!" Lily hadn't been phased but Sophie knew that wasn't a common term used in the scriptures and she was a little perplexed.

The twins birthday is tomorrow. They have the whole day planned out. They will have breakfast served in their bedroom on their little table. They each have different menu orders. Then we are off to pick up Fred on his lunch hour for their birthday date at Planet Kid, where Fred and I will remember how old we are getting as we crawl through small plastic tubes and play in the balls. Then they want to do some window shopping in Target, where the shoe aisle holds more appeal than the idea of going to Disneyland. After that, we are home bound to make cakes together which we will decorate with real primroses (we hope they are not poisonous, but we couldn't find any pansies that matched their colors--and we won't eat them). Then family party and F.H.E. Sounds like a lovely, hectic day. They are having trouble sleeping because of the anticipation and Lily is sure that in the middle of the night her five year old body is going to burst out of her four year old pajamas.

Payoffs

Jordan received his admissions letter to BYU-I on Thursday and was accepted! We've all been so anxious for this news. Eighteen years ago, this was the farthest thing from my mind, but it has flown and now the parent payoffs are flowing! Jordan still hasn't received his track assignment, which is a little nerve wracking, because it determines the entirety of your school schedule and can not be decided or changed by you for the duration. They do take into consideration, the dates in which boys will be entering the MTC, but we still aren't sure where that puts Jordan. I guess we'll find out soon.

"March Unplugged" started yesterday. Everyone in the community was encouraged to hold a family planning meeting and commit to the challenge of unplugging all entertainment electronics (t.v.'s, cell phones, computers, radio's etc.) and determine how to apply it to our individual families. I am REALLY looking forward to this month. Our family doesn't watch t.v., but we have decided not to watch any movies, or listen to the radio, or use the computer for any entertainment purposes. We have a selection of music CD's that we can play on the family stereo, but it is limited. The city has put together a calendar of events for every day, some that are family suggestions and some that are community events. Our stake has been heavily encouraged to participate.

On Monday, March 23rd (which is during Spring Break) we are encouraged to hold a family talent show. We thought it would be fun to have an extended family talent show. I think it would be so much fun, especially for the children to perform.

Extracurricular sports are gearing up for the kids. Eden is going out for track this year, which will be her first experience with organized sports, and Jordan is trying to decide whether he wants to fit it in his schedule this season. Mikayla is opting out of the "school organized" route but she and her best friend are organizing their own schedules and will start running together after school the same time as track starts. Neither of them like the pressure to perform and Mikayla doesn't care for some of the athletic ego's at school, but I think they will enjoy what they have decided to do and gain a lot of benefit as well.

Abe has decided to give soccer one more chance. He has played for two previous seasons and didn't have very motivating coaches, and wanted to try baseball this season, but since we had already paid dues for Fall/Spring, I asked if he'd be willing to give it one more go if I got him a great coach. He agreed, and I was able to request he be moved onto a team where I have been impressed with the coach's "team spirit" and positive enthusiasm, so we'll see how that all plays out. I've never pushed my children toward sports, but when Abe was interested last year, we thought it might help him get out of his isolative view of the world and help him see the group picture, but we'll see. Lily and Sophie are just excited that they will be able to play on the school playground during the games.

Fred and I have been successful at almost a month of free (except gas) dates and it has been so much fun. Now that we have decided to achieve this goal together with a reason and goal in mind, my attitude has changed and not using money has become a positive challenge instead of a forced drudgery. With spring weather just around the corner, our options are opening wider and wider; we've even been invited on a group "double" date by Jordan. They want the parents to dress up out of character and browse in Karcher mall while the teenagers have a race to find us. It's a popular youth activity called "Where's Waldo". It's in planning stage and the guys haven't asked dates yet, so we have a little bit of time to come up with believable costumes. We have to "blend" in, but be as unrecognizable as possible.

Jordan opening his admissions letter from BYU-I

Reading it out loud.

Accepted!

Jordan setting the capstones on his Middleton sign.

Getting close to finished on the backside.

Celebrations

By far, the most important event being anticipated at the Bloomquist household is the upcoming 5th birthday of Lily and Sophie. They have been anxious for months and now that it is close enough to be visual, they are counting down days on the calendar. I get frequent drawings and explanations of what their cakes are to look like and be made of (not my idea of gourmet or even appealing) and they have daily conversations and compromises with each other about where they will go on there birthday date and what sacrifices they will make for each other on that day (trading beds for example) and verbally worry about what they will wear because all they have is "four year old clothes." I love celebrations; I go out of my way to create traditions that require partying, but this is the second year that I have been intimidated by expectations that aren't really voiced but are ethereally wished and I find it hard to fulfill phantom desires. I have tried to get them to be descriptive with their visions, but I'm not sure it's solidified enough in their minds, they just know it is supposed to be magic. Fairy Godmother I am not, but wish me luck.

Jordan also has a birthday coming soon. How is it possible that he is turning 18!? Fred and I went on a date Friday and ended by purchasing some birthday pants for the twins. The checker, who was probably in her late 50's commented on our buying two pair of the same pants, so I explained that we had twins and every time I tried to get them different things they always ended up wanting what the other one had. She mentioned how it must be nice to get a sitter and have a night out together. I explained that we had older children so the sitter part was easy. She seemed surprised that we had older children, but when I told her we had 6 and the oldest was almost 18, she was speechless. She finished up our purchase and finally said, "Well.....congratulations, you two look great!" I'm not sure what she expected a couple with 6 children to look like, (she mentioned that she only had one grown daughter) but it made me feel young and happy. I turn 40 this year, and unlike 30(which is the only birthday that made me want to cry), I feel empowered! I have some life experience under my belt, and no longer mourn the passing of youth or feel the need to prove anything to anybody but myself, and the next half of life appears brimming with unexplored opportunity and endless learning and .....to be honest, lots of mother tears. But, even that feels heart-wrenchingly fulfilling.

Fred and I are planning a trek family reunion sometime around Spring Break and I am excited to have our "family" back together for a fun evening. I'm trying to write up a small memoir from our experience to give as a gift to my trek children, and will post it here when I finish so that I can have a written history of that life changing week. I wish that I had recorded my feelings at the time, when they were so powerfully tangible, but I have enough pictures and journaling that it comes back vividly when I start pondering those days.

JORDAN'S EAGLE PROJECT IN PROGRESS

Whistle while you work

Building the structure

Almost finished covering the backside.

Gazelle Intense

It's tangible; I can almost breath it in. Spring! It's only mid-February, but I find myself watching for faint signs of emerging crocus under the Aspen trees, and I have that pent up feeling that anytime soon something inside is going to burst wide open. I've been drinking down books all winter; my eyes glued to the pages, and now my eyes are wandering over the paper to windows everywhere. Yesterday teased us with barefoot temptations that my children succumbed to immediately.

Change feels right and natural with the seasons and for the first time in 19 years, Fred and I are on exactly the same financial page. When we married, I would have been "happy" to save every penny (spare or not) and never do anything "fun"--I guess to me, "security and sacrifice at all costs" was my motto. Fred wanted to enjoy life, with money as the gateway. His young mantra was, "It'll be gone soon anyway, and in a year we won't know where it went so we might as well enjoy it while we have it." We have both moved a little closer to the middle, though, as seems constant in our relationship, he seems to do more growing and moving than do I, and just as we were poised to make some dramatic (for us) changes to feel prepared and in control, in these unstable times, Liz loaned me a book called, "The Total Money Makeover" and I have not stopped salivating since (I know... it's disgusting). It has given a detailed face to what the prophets have been telling us our whole lives about getting out of debt and being prepared and in control and you know how I love detailed checklists. And finally, Fred and I have the same vision (though I have always been more prone to fanaticism) because there is a face for security instead of an endless black hole and there is a goal for fun. I just keep pulling hook line and sinker and Fred keeps reeling me in and it is creating it's own momentum, with both of us very much connected. It is invigorating! We are cutting every single expense, which means no more date money, so date planning is unraveling back to "single" mindedness and we find ourselves back in Jordan's shoes, with no money and the pressure to be creative staring us in the face. I watch Fred researching the Internet at night for ideas and see how much it matters to him and I feel courted again; sometimes sacrifice brings its own reward! Most years we would have gone out to dinner on Valentines, but this year we did sealings in the temple, which was much more memorable, and last week we got together with a big group of friends and just talked and laughed. I remember how much fun it was to do dry pack canning with my sister and brother-in-law last year, so that might go on the date calendar. The momentum and blessings, direct and indirect, have started pouring in, just like the author (who is not LDS) said they would, and the future is starting to look very disciplined and rigorous, but oh so bright. We are determined to leap out from under these car payments and student loans which have been monkeys on our back way too long, but our vision seems clear and the efforts seem worth it now. I have never understood the marathon trainer mentality, I have different friends every year who try to convince me to train with them for a 5K or a half marathon, but I can't ever validate the pain. One friend told me this year, that it's not so much about the race as that there has to be a motivator to force the daily workouts, and when the daily workouts prove that you are fit enough to run the race, it just feels so good. I still don't want to run a marathon, maybe I haven't felt the need to be that fit yet, but financially I'm ready to hit that brick wall, "gazelle intense", and push on through. I am convinced that if I want to be completely fulfilled in life, that I have to learn to master every aspect of ME, physically, spiritually, and mentally, but I can handle only one INTENSE focus at a time. C'mon, I am still struggling with 30 sit-ups!

Speaking of physical motivators, Olive has found an escape route, AGAIN! Only, this time she has been smart enough not to ever escape while we are watching and we are completely stumped. We have built barricades where we feel like there is any possibility that she might be getting out, but she continues to bolt, sometimes 3 times a day, and we are meeting new neighbors all over again. This morning, my neighbor across the street called and said Olive had just walked past the front of my house. I grabbed my shoes, which I had just taken off and bolted out the door, but by the time I found her she was clear down at the school yard. I love that dog and I can't help but admire her ingenuity, and I can't blame her for wanting her freedom, but in this one instance, she gives me a pain!

Middleton is sponsoring a community initiative called "March Unplugged". A calendar came out in the city newspaper with encouragement to unplug all electronic media at home for the entire month and "plug" back into our families. Many different organizations and churches have taken a different evening to plan community events on the weekends and suggested ideas are given for individual families all through the week. Our stake is really pushing us to be involved and I'm excited. We will all use the things we need at school and work, but when we come together at home, the movies, computer, cell phones, and personal music devices go off. It will be interesting to see how much of the community becomes involved. Only good can come of it. I'll let you know how it turns out. Life is great!

SUNDAY PICTURES:

JORDAN STARTING HIS EAGLE PROJECT;

A Fun Weekend

What a fun weekend! On Friday we had neices come to stay with us while their parents were in Salt Lake for a relatives funeral. We all went to a Middleton community Special Olympics Welcome Gala that was put together for an Eagle project by a young man in our stake that is deaf and mildly autistic. The first 30 minutes a mother/daughter/ daughter in-law group sang, fiddled and played the guitar, while the athletes and any children who wanted roped hay bale steers and played sponge toss. It was fun to people watch and be entertained. An hour long program followed with various talents performed by groups in Middleton. Jordan sang the national anthem with an a capella quintet that he is in and danced and sang two numbers with his FX show choir. It's so much fun to watch him be involved. He is making the most of this year. The mayor recognized the athletes and then awarded them flags that had been designed in a grade school contest by a 4th grader who was honored. The evening ended with the choreographer of the show choir inviting the athletes and coaches to learn some line dances and then invited the community to participate. Most of the kids were brave enough to go and dance. I have humiliated myself plenty of times at the Saturday night dances when the youth pull me into those line dances and try to teach me the complicated steps, so the rest of us just enjoyed watching the participants have fun. The athletes LOVED it! They were pretty fired up and one of them gave an extended, highly animated tribute and thank-you to the audience in Italian afterwards. Avery was hot and hungry when it finally got over, but the rest of us enjoyed it. Our community was feeling the Olympic spirit last week.

Saturday Fred, Jordan and a few friends spent some good hours attaching rock to the outside of the Middleton sign. It is actually starting to feel hopeful that he will finish this project before his birthday. This has been such an incredibly fantastic thing for him to be involved in. It has certainly made him stretch and it will be something to be proud of.

Mikayla is starting to work on her value experiences in Personal Progress. I have been impressed at how she chooses things that are demanding and which recquire real personal investment. Currently she is taking a Book of Mormon Independent Study course from B.Y.U. and spends hours after school and on Sundays with her nose in the Book of Mormon and a computer on her lap. Today she approved another project for a different value and will start working on her personal history, which will be insightful because she is wired "deep"................ and loud...and quirky....and fairly violent;-)

Saturday evening Fred and I went to a stake adult Sadie Hawkins dance. Because Pres. Walkers (the 2nd couselor in our stake presidency) wife set a precedent of asking her husband out in a creative way and because he gloated about it in our ward's priesthood opening exercises, I had to give into peer pressure and I made an artificial GPS, and put it in Fred's car. The girls helped me with ideas and when I got home that night my bed was covered with heart candies and chocolates and standing atop the pile was Buz Lightyear with an acceptance card in his hands. In your "old age" you get kind of lazy about dating, but it was fun to put forth that extra effort. Some of our friends taught us how to swing dance and we exhausted ourselves twirling around the room and occasionally crashing into things. The music was poorly chosen and much too loud, which was disappointing, but the food and friends and dancing was so much fun. Fred and I are going to get a group of fun couples together and have a date night at the church and re-learn how to dance. It really was a blast!

My concerns at the middle school are being addressed in small, but positive steps and I am encouraged by the cooperation of the principle. There is still more that needs to be done, but at least things are heading in the right direction. Parents will now have to be contacted before two of the 6th grade documentaries are shown. At registration parents will now have all documentaries or unrated films on the parent permission slips that already contains choices for rated films, and all students who are uncomfortable with the curriculum now must be provided with an alternate activity, but each family will have to initiate that at a parental level. It is not the huge change I had hoped for but we are still in a very embryonic stage of diplomacy and things take time. I do feel that I have regained control of at least my own children's education and have been pleased with the responses as I try to get other parents in the community involved. Be aware that this broad curriculum is state driven, so make sure if you have 6th graders that you know what is being taught in your schools. I would specifically ask about the documentaries that they are showing. I think Charter schools will be less likely to have problems of this magnitude, because parents are generally more involved and proactive but better safe than sorry.

I AM READY FOR SPRING! I was ready a month ago. I'm feel like a prisoner to this inversion and cold. Mikayla wants to plant something so bad that she is itchy. Maybe we'll have to grow alfalfa sprouts in the windowsill.

Fred, Mikayla and I are now exercising on weekday mornings at 6:00AM. We are using Fred's old missionary routine, which is just a short 20 minutes, and isn't too much of a strain on my heart, but my muscles are OUT OF SHAPE and the sit-ups are just plain embarrassing. I am not too proud to tell you that I can not do even one traditional sit-up. I can drag myself across the 30 count finish line by using my arms as hoists, but with them clasped under my head--zippo. Since we literally roll out of bed and put on our sweats and start exercising within 5 minutes, Fred does half of the routine with his eyes shut, and without proper equilibrium. For the first week, I whined the entire 20 minutes and was no kind of farm girl. For three days my calves were so sore that just walking up and down the stairs was a calculated effort. Sad, but true, and last year I was running two miles every day without batting an eye. Those who currently workout regularly will not be able to commiserate, but can share an incredulous laugh at my pitiful condition. The rest of you can probably put your hands behind your head in the morning and sit up out of bed and feel very good about yourselves and maybe in 3 months, when I say, in the middle of leg lifts, "I love this!", I won't be lying anymore.

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