Spring Break

So we pack up the car and drove to Delta, Utah.  Why?  Any reasonable person would ask...Well, because Ethan had just finished reading a book in class about the Topaz Internment camp, so I thought I would take him to see where it was.  On the way down we stopped at an old abandoned mine and looked around.  While we were down there we went on many rock-hounding trips too.  We went to Topaz Mountain and found Topaz and Apache Tears.  The kids had a great time scaling the mountain.  Rock collecting was fun, but I think they just had fun bashing rocks and running around the mountainside.  We went out to the Dugway geode beds and came home with a bucket or two full.  We went and found Sun-stones and Trilobites too.  Since it has done nothing but snow since we have been home, I actually haven't been able to go through the six five gallon buckets we brought home filled with rocks to see what we actually have.  Of, course, we drove out to Topaz.  It was exactly what I expected to see -- mostly nothing.  Mostly, it was a moment to stop and reflect about what a horrible thing our country did -- and wonder of the possibility of it ever happening again.   Our last night we stayed at a dive ON the border.  The boys thought it was hilarious to be in two states at once.  They kept going back and forth for a long time.  Our last day we went to Lehman Caves.  It was amazing how big and beautiful they were.  None of my pictures truly do it justice.  We were so tired from being cooped up in the truck together, that on the way home we decided to buy a new car.  Yeah, right!  Actually, the Lotus was parked next to us in the IKEA parking lot.  Anyway, except for when Brady got food poisoning, I think a good time was had by all...  Surprisingly, I can't wait for another trip to collect more rocks!

Easter Festivities

This year we helped play Easter Bunny.  We stuffed over a thousand eggs for South Ogden City and we didn't even go to the hunt. We did go to the school to do some fun Easter crafts like painting a pot and planting a flower.  We went on a trip for spring break and had to hurry home to make sure we were back in time for Easter.  We did the usual routine at home and then got to go to Grandma Cheryl's for another hunt.  Later that night we had Grandma Carol over to dinner at our house.  Overall, the kids had a very busy and spoiled day.  In fact, Andrew didn't wake up until noon the next day! 

Blue and Gold Banquet

Gee, I love scouting in January and February -- too much to do!  For our cake auction banquet, I made these two cakes.  One is supposed to be the moon and the other is a Foosball table.  Ethan's cake sold for $70 and Hayden's for $50.  Not too bad for a few hours of work. 

Pinewood Derby

Well, I think our track record proves that Dad can make a pretty mean derby car.  This year Ethan won Second overall in the whole pack.  Hayden won second place in his den.  Hayden knew he was sacrificing speed for the look of the car and he still placed in his den (we have 12 in his den).  Two winning years in a row.  Congrats boys!

Award Winners

Hailey made the top picture and Ethan made the bottom picture.  Both of them were made last year in school, but I entered them in an art contest and both of them won first place in their age categories.  Way to go!  Last year Hailey was quite successful in a few contests, but we just didn't have the same energy or time to enter them all this year.

Happy Holidays from the Liddell's

Our nice family picture was taken at the school after the kids finished their Christmas program.  They all did a really great job!  The other picture is from Christmas morning (if that wasn't obvious).  As usual we said we were going to do less, but you can't tell by looking at the mess!

We had a very nice holiday break.  We were so lucky because dad was able to have two weeks off to be home with us over break.  Our highlight was going to visit my cousin in Eagle Mountain and ride her horse.  Hailey will be very sad I didn't post a picture of her.  I got a new camera for Christmas and it it so sensitive that many of my pictures turn out blurry.

Brady and I also went to an 80's prom that our friends put together.  It was fun hanging out with friends and looking at all the old pictures.  The best part though, was when we were the only two dancing together on the floor and Brady was singing to me.  I am such a sucker for a guy who sings. 

December

Even though we are only a few days into December we have already done a lot. Last weekend we went to see the decorated trees at the Eccles center and then went for ice cream. I was given 12 free tickets to the Nutcracker by Ballet West, so after ice cream we took the whole family to their first live performance. Since I had so many tickets, I even gave some to our favorite neighbors, the Minucci's. Hayden was pretty squiggly and Andrew fell asleep sometime before intermission, but all things considered I think we all had a good time.
I am usually done with my holiday shopping by now, but this year has been a tough time all around, so I am not even close to done this year. I was having a really hard time deciding what to get the kids this year, since they have almost everything, but my parents helped out with this problem. They are getting us a Wii for Christmas. (Shh! Nobody say anything until Christmas!) But, now I can go get all sorts of new games and accessories!
It is also tradition in our house to make some sort of homemade gifts for the holidays and this year is no different. One of the things I did this year was make holiday cards that I passed out at Thanksgiving so people could send them during December. We also have been working on a cool little wood project, but I am not going to give too much more of those details away.
The kids are working hard for all of their holiday programs. They will perform a small operetta with the school and their holiday music recitals. We are also really looking forward to all the church dinners and programs going this month. There are three dinners just in the next week. We are also really looking forward to going to the live Nativity procession that a local church performs next weekend.
We are all counting down the days. We have a little thing that hangs with little pieces of the Nativity to hang up each day to count down to Christmas Day and the kids have been fighting over the order they put them up in, because they all want to do baby Jesus. What do you do when you have four kids and only 1 baby Jesus?
It has been a good year and I am thankful for my beautiful family and all of our many blessings!