100th Day

The 100th Day of School Celebration is anticipated and counted down from the first day of Kindergarten. Isaac just couldn't wait for it to get here and finally it did! All the kids brought 100 items; Isaac collected soda pop tabs for months with help from Granny Paula and our neighbor Carol. He is excited to donate all of them to the Ronald McDonald House. Each student also filled in the blank: I would really like to have 100_______. Isaac said "footballs." Is he Jacob's brother or what?

Derby Time

Jacob is always so excited for the Pinewood Derby. Every year, he knows exactly what he wants his car to look like and Jeremy helps bring his imagination to life.

Jacob knew the exact shape of his car, the shade of electric blue paint he wanted, and which stickers would look best.

He worked so hard to make it look just right.

Finally, the day of the race arrived. There were 17 other boys participating and it was a tough competition.

Jacob wasn't one of the top finishers but he had a blast racing his car anyway. I'm so proud of him. Good job, Jacob!

Another Hike!

It was a gorgeous Saturday morning in the Superstition Mountains.

In preparation for our Stake Pioneer Trek, our ward organized a hike for the YM and YW and I decided to tag along!

Before the sun came up it was a little chilly. Spencer wore two coats and brought a blanket. Not just any blanket, mind you, but our little Kung Fu panda blanket. Skadoosh.

It was a four mile hike and the kids just took off! We didn't see most of them the entire length of the hike.

Except from a distance.

We had a ton of fun with these tremendous youth.

Until we took a wrong turn and kind of got lost. When we made our way back to the main trail, we noticed that the only one still missing was Kaleb ("Big Red"), our nearly 7-foot-tall, red-haired young man. We couldn't believe he was the one we misplaced. But pretty soon we watched him slowly make his way up out of the river bottom.

Hooray! We're almost done! This is Sister Moore, our fearless YW leader who was the mastermind of the hike.

Of course there was food. Bagels, muffins, orange juice. A great reward for a great group of kids.

Just look at them!

Awesome.

Science

On the last day of Christmas break, I took the boys to the Science Museum. It is getting harder to take my kids anywhere together because the older two are just "in" to different things than the younger two. But we have found that the Science Museum consistently offers fun for both age groups. On this trip, the microscopes were new and Jacob enjoyed trying them out.

Isaac put on oven gloves and tried to assemble a lego house to learn about fine-motor skills.

Spencer and I found this great art exhibit. "Photomicrography" is photography through a microscope. We were amazed at how beautiful our microscopic world can be!

We always love this centrifugal force experience:

First, Spencer.

Isaac (he's having a great time!).

And Noah.

The bed of nails is a great attraction, too. Jacob thinks he could sleep like this.

Although this exhibit was not meant to be used in this way, Isaac enjoyed the climb.

All of my smart boys. I'm glad they love science.

Wind Cave

On the day after New Year's day we decided to hike to Wind Cave in Usery Park as a family.

It was a beautiful day. Perfect weather!

Spencer, Noah, and Jacob took off fast and got way ahead of the rest of us slowpokes. We found them resting and waiting for us in this heart-shaped alcove.

It was a tough climb at the end, but we all made it to the top!

Isaac was so proud of himself for walking the whole way up. It was really hard in some places as he was climbing over boulders and going up steep inclines, but he did it!

A tribute to Uncle Jon.

Spencer took some really cool panoramic shots from the top of the cave.

Noah wanted a picture of himself hugging a cactus. Ouch!

It took us about 2 hours for the 3.2 mile round trip and we were starving by the end. Jeremy treated us to all-you-can-eat at the Oriental Buffet for FHE. Thanks, honey!