APRL 5, 2013: CAKE DECORATING CLASS #1

CAKE DECORATING CLASS #1

APRL 5, 201I3

Rebecca, Benjamin, Rachel, Bethany and I decided to take a cake decorating class!!

It is great!  Here we are at our first lesson!  We basically watched most of this lesson but

we were anxious to try out our new tricks!!! So ........

We are taking the class with a couple of friends from church!!

Practicing the drop stars with the star tip!

Well, we had to try out our new tricks, so we invited our friends over and the girls made decorated

cakes all afternoon on that next Friday!!!

It was tons of fun!!!

Mason had to have a cake, too!  Rachel helped him out!

Bethany made "Cookie Monster"

A. and her beautiful flowers

M. and her "One Direction" cake

April 13, 2013 -- HYRUM'S FOLK DANCE PERFORMANCE

Hyrum's Folk Dance Performance

April 13, 2013

Thanks to Alison, we were able to see pictures of Hyrum 
at his folk dance performance.
He has had fun and he has sent videos along the way of their dances!!
Go Hyrum!!!  I knew I was doing the right thing when I made him take dance with his sisters when he was just 5 years old!!!

Isn't Alison beautiful!!! She is less than a month away 

from having her sweet baby!!

April 10, 2013 Garden Boxes

Garden Boxes!

April 10, 2013

It is time to start thinking about the garden!!!

We worked to build 4 more garden beds!  

The kids were amazing workers and are learning to work

well as a team!!!

I am so impressed with how they did!

The last 2 boxes were built without me even watching!

They are amazing!!!  Joseph is a great leader!

He is starting to like power tools!

Watch out for Rachel -- she is pretty amazing with a power tool!

Off to the garden they go!!!

APRIL 3, 2013: YOUNG WOMEN CAMP KICK-OFF

YOUNG WOMEN CAMP KICK-OFF

APRIL 3, 2013

"HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION"  is our stake camp theme for this year.

To support that, our ward has adopted a camp name of "Under Construction!"

We are Young Women "at work!"  

Building our testimonies, our faith and our lives!

To introduce this theme, we decorated for our YW camp activity.

I made a fun cake that the girls loved eating!

Rachel did a great job with her "Construction Zone" banner!

The Cheetos dumping out were great!

MARCH 9, 2013 -- PINEWOOD DERBY TRIALS

PINEWOOD DERBY TRIAL

MARCH 9, 2013

Well, the past couple of years, we have become a "non-derby" family.

We have such competitive blood and it is just too competitive of an event.

So -- the past couple of year, Vernon has bribed the boys that if they will skip the pinewood derby then he will take them to ride go carts, 

to drive a real car, for free.

It has helped that the stake took over the derby competition, 

so our ward level even is just a trial run.

This year, David took the bribe and so I cut his car, 

he painted and he did his own wheels, etc.

Vernon didn't really get involved except to help him put 

on a little graphite.

Vernon was running young men activities and I was helping with the young women so David was sort of on his own.  His scout leader helped him hot glue on some coins to get it up to regulation weight and I helped find the coins.

So with a roof loaded with quarters and hot glue, David entered the evening with no expectations.

Things started to change as we watched the new wolf leader pull out tropies and prizes!!!  This was no longer a trial run but a real competition!  David's eyes got really big when he saw the trophy and I felt bad !!!  His expectations for his little derby car just went up!!

I was worried.

Would you believe that David's little blue car kept getting faster and faster.

He won most every race.

He was first place in the 1st set of races and got 2nd place overall in the second set of races.  He had a fast car and he did it all by himself!!!

He was so elated and so proud!!

Vernon and I just rolled our eyes -- all the years of stress and worry.

We learned -- just let David make the cars!!!!

 David is such a GREAT young man!!!

By the way -- we did skip the stake pinewood derby and 
David still gets to go to "Locomotion" and ride the go carts!

MARCH 8, 2013 -- FORT SMITH ROAD TRIP

FORT SMITH FIELD TRIP

MARCH 8, 2013

We decided it was time for a field trip for  home school!  We had just studied the Trail of Tears and I found out that the museum in Fort Smith had an exhibit on that so off we went!

We took along a couple of friends and had a great time!

The first thing we saw was the "gallows" that was used by the 

"Hanging Judge" that was quite well known across the country in his day.

It was a bit creepy to see those trap doors below and to know how they worked.  The movie "True Grit" tells about this story.

Off we go, on our adventure!!!

Mason always loves the attention!

We were at the Old  Fort Smith Jail where they kept prisoners

at the time of the "Hanging Judge", Judge Parker.

Rachel and David love the checkers game made from corn cobs

Bethany and Lizzie stradle what used to be the line of Arkansas and 

the wild west of Indian Territory.

Another cannon, thus we had to do another picture.

This time, David is stuffing the cannon with his "ram rod" to get

ready to fire!!

We were right down on the river and watched a barge take its load up river.

David loves to climb a tree!

The old remains of stone walls and foundations from the earliest fort that 

was the beginnings of "Fort Smith" were great fun for playing!

We had army soldiers defending the walls with great zeal!!

Then some soldiers took a nap.

 This soldier is sleeping with his gun to be safe!

We have some soldiers on their horses and have successfully caughts

the bank robber!!  Good job men!

Now these are serious soldiers.

It wouldn't be the west without a cowgirl.

This is Rachel's deep and sincere dream -- to be a real cowgirl!! 

This was an old switch board and I told the kids that their Grandma Clea Beach worked a telephone switch board when she was a young married girl like Alison.

An old car sort of like what Grandpa Beach would 

have had when he was young.

I had to explain what LP's were -- those really "big and black DVD's"

I explained the needle in record player's arm, and how the line was a spiral

on the record, etc.

Lizzie and Bethany put on a radio show for us!