It's Almost Spring!

We've had a few warm days in the upper 50's. It has felt so good! I brought Sophie with us so she could play at the park too.  (I was hoping to wear her out).  Bridger had finished up with his piano lesson and we were hanging around in town until Chase finished up at weight lifting.  So we decided to take advantage of the warm weather and go play at a park.  Bridger asked if we could go to the library park.  We were the only ones there.  Tanner and Bridger loved playing on the playground and swings.  Sophie was happy too playing ball.  

Tanner Star Student

Tanner and I had a fun time picking out pictures for his VIP poster.  He told me that he loves to play with his "Cars" cars so we went into his room to take a picture of them.  He chose which cars he wanted in the picture.  I took one picture and then he said "wait, I want my blanket too."  He said he has "his two favorite things."  Tanner has been looking forward to being the VIP all month long.  He got to wear this special crown, tell all about his VIP poster, and then pick a prize out of the treasure box.  He picked out an army kit with a whistle, grenade, walkie talkie, knife and binoculars.  He was the most excited about the binoculars.  He also brought a treat to share with the class.  He loved being the VIP.

We wanted to continue the celebration so after school, I took Tanner to McD's.  He actually ate a chicken nugget and then all of his fries.  He played on the playground for 30 minutes and then we had to go visiting teaching.  Tanner found a couple of friends on the playground to play with.  He was so happy!

Chase and Bridger's Piano Recital

Bridger and Chase had a piano recital. Luckily JoLynn kept it shorter by having every student only play one song.  But Bridger and Chase were the exception because they played a duet together for a second song.  They played "Love at Home" for the last song and it was beautiful.  A week before the recital, Chase realized that there was a second page.  At first he said there was no way that he could learn it.  But we had faith in him.  He practiced like a madman and pulled it off.  The song was beautiful and brought the spirit into the room.  With their last recital, we didn't invite any grandparents.  That was a big mistake.  So this time we invited Grandma and Grandpa R, Marilyn, and Grandpa and Grandma A and Mikayla.  They came up for a quick dinner before the recital.  Charlene was so sweet and fixed her chicken and rice for everyone.  That's one of my favorite recipes that she makes.  I love the way she does the rice.

Tanner was pretty good during the recital.  Thank goodness for electronics.
Bridger played "The King's Review."  It was a marching style song.  He's really worked on the dynamics and it sounded awesome!

I love how Sister S hugs her students after they play their song.  She's so loving with the boys.  We're so lucky to have her as our teacher!

Chase played "The Storm."  He's had this song memorized for the last six months.  But he was worried that he didn't have enough time to perfect his other songs so he chose this song.  It's one of my favorites.  I played it many moons ago and loved it.  He plays it really fast.  He's really worked on his dynamics.  After he played his song, JoLynn said to the audience after she hugged him "this is what practice sounds like."  The boys are so good to practice their piano.  They know that they can't do anything unless their piano is done.  

Even though JoLynn had already hugged them after their individual songs, she told the boys that she needed to give them another hug.  I love to listen to them practice.  They've improved so much!

I love this picture of our boys.  I hope Tanner follows in his brother's footsteps and plays the piano.

JoLynn is the best!  The boys know that she really cares about them.  She loves how dedicated they are.  She said the boys are her most polite students (they better be).  She's been wonderful to work with Chase's schedule.  I'm hoping we can keep her another year with Chase.

Our families were so sweet to support the boys.  JoLynn had ginormous donuts as a treat after the recital.  We were in a sugar comma but with big smiles on our faces.  Tanner was in heaven!

Bridger's Science Fair Project

The fifth graders were given the option to participate in the science fair.  They could do the project with one other person.  Bridger really wanted to do a project with Jagger.  They talked about different ideas and came up with this project.  They cooked six different types of microwave popcorn and then counted how many kernels were leftover.  While they were counting/eating the popcorn, they watched the movie "Sandlot."  After the movie, they typed up their results on the computer and designed their poster.  

It was a tough job but somebody had to eat the popcorn.  The boys were very methodical with their project and kept accurate records.  The best popcorn to buy with the least amount of kernels was Pop Secret.  The most amount of kernels leftover was Western Family.  The boys presented their poster at the science fair.  They were so cute how they would trade off telling the results.  I love how Bridger and Jagger are becoming better friends.

Bridger's Winter Art

When I went to parent teacher conferences with Bridger, he showed me his latest art project.  He colored and painted his version of Van Gough's Stary Night."  I think he did such a great job on this art project.  When I went to take of picture of Bridger showing me his picture, Tanner jumped in and wanted to be in the picture too.  Bridger's parent teacher conference with Mrs. H was wonderful.  He's doing so well academically.  He's above average in everything.  Mrs. H praised him for doing so well academically but then she said that more importantly, Bridger is kind to everyone.  Even though he's very smart, he is very humble about it and is always willing to help others.  She's very impressed with how kind Bridger is.  I was so proud of Bridger because that's what is important in life!

Counting Cow Money

Charlene and Ardell put all their change into a cow piggy bank.  Once a year, they let the boys count the change and then divide up the money.  The boys then figure out how much tithing they need to pay.  It's so generous of Grandpa and Grandma to give the boys their change.

Happy Valentine's Day

The night before Valentine's Day right before scouts at 7:00, Bridger said "oh yeah, I need to make a Valentine's box."  I was a little frustrated.  I quickly ran to the store and bought some black spray paint.  We pulled out a shoe box and Bridger sprayed the box.  During the night, the box dried and I found the Utah Jazz print off.  Luckily Bridger wanted to do the same basketball box as last year but just with the updated Jazz colors.  The Jazz got a new floor because of their new colors.  I was able to find a picture of their new floor.  The next morning before school, Bridger taped it all together.  He was happy with how it turned out.  I had asked Bridger a couple of weeks ago what kind of Valentines he wanted to do.  He said he wanted to do the straw valentines.  So I ordered the silly straws and cut out the valentines.  They're really easy to do.

Tanner's class had a Valentine's party too.  They made their bags in class.  Tanner filled out this paper "What do I love..."  I didn't think it was very funny when it said "I love it when my mom watches tv" and "I really love to watch tv."  I felt like a loser mom!  Matt thought it was really funny!

We had a super busy day so we weren't able to open up presents until late that night when Chase came home from the basketball game.  Mom would always do a little something for us so I like to have a little something for the boys.  Tanner got a "Stars Wars View Finder."  Chase and Bridger got "Stanz" socks. Matt bought the movie "Guardian of the Galaxy" for the boys.  

Matt bought me "Wonder" but the funny thing was that I bought "Wonder" for Matt too.

Chase's Patriarchal Blessing

Driving down to the A's, all the boys fell asleep.  They looked so sweet asleep.  Chase has been thinking about getting his patriarchal blessing for awhile.  But we didn't want to pressure him so we left it up to him.  He's been praying about it and talking to the bishop about it.  He decided that he really wanted his patriarchal blessing so it could help his testimony.  He invited me and Matt, Bridger and Grandma A to be in the room.  Angie and the girls kept Tanner downstairs with them which was so nice to not have the distraction.  We fasted and said lots of prayers to help prepare us and Chase.  It was really special having his Grandpa A give him his blessing.  The spirit was really strong.  I'm proud of Chase for taking this next step.  I hope that he reassures this blessing and refers to it often.  After the blessing, everyone came over for family dinner.  It was a great way to celebrate.

I love this picture of Chase and Bridger.  I love how they have their arms around each other.  They have a really special bond.  I hope they always stay close.

Matt was Ardell's first patriarchal blessing and since then, he's given over 1,000 blessings.  (We hope that this isn't Ardell's last blessing)