Have I Mentioned This Before?

I know I've mentioned this many times, but Nicole sure has a good heart!  I love watching her work her magic in the neighborhood.  The other day, she had a whole crew of kids - different  ages and genders, different personalities, some notoriously hard to get along with - playing a HUGE game of "pirates."  They had backpacks filled with maps and supplies and other gear.  They played for HOURS without any sign of getting tired of it.  She's amazing.

Another story about Nicole that happened a couple of months ago:  We have some good friends and neighbors who had twin baby girls a few months ago.  It was an INCREDIBLY high-risk pregnancy and after weeks of trying to hold off, the babies were born at 25 weeks - both under 2 pounds.  Because we love them so much, and because of my calling, they have been a major focus of our lives.  We thought about them, talked about them, prayed for them for months and months.  (On a side note, they are miraculous little babies who are both home and doing impressively well against ALL odds!  Watching their little lives unfold and the miracles surrounding them has been one of the greatest blessings of my life.) One afternoon, Nicole and her friends were playing outside when they came up with a GREAT idea!  They decided to have a fundraiser for our neighbors. For the next hour or so, Nicki and her friends stood at the corner of our neighborhood doing gymnastic tricks for cars passing by.  They placed a hat on the ground nearby to collect donations.  I love it!  I think they also sold lemonade for a while.  Somehow, they managed to collect around $17.00.  They went over to our neighbors house and knocked on the door.  When the wife answered, Nicole said, "Here.  We want to give you this.  We know those babies cost a lot of money so this is for them."  SO sweet!

The wife texted me and said that she was embarrassed to take the money, but it touched her heart that they would do that for her and she didn't want to hurt their feelings.   Later, she wrote a darling thank you note and enclosed a picture of the twin girls for Nicki to see.   Nicole was grateful for the card.  I am grateful for a daughter who thinks about other people.

In the interest of full disclosure, Nicki is sometimes the most dramatic, angry, mean person on the planet. Tell her its her turn to do the dishes or that you need her to put her laundry away and you risk a full scale meltdown.  It's really something.  Dave says she reminds him the the poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:

There was a little girl,

            Who had a little curl,

Right in the middle of her forehead.

            When she was good,

            She was very good indeed,

But when she was bad she was horrid.

Science At It Finest

Our first family had its first experience ever with a science fair this year.  I've never been a fan.  In fact, when I was a kid, I was the only person in my class who opted to write a 10 page research paper instead of doing a science project.  But Alison is more brave then I was (or else her teachers didn't give the research paper option) because she did it!

Her project was a taste test to see if there was a difference between different root beer brands.  She tested about 50 people - her classmates, some family members, even our neighbors.  We set up a taste test table in our front yard and nearly the whole neighborhood turned out in the name of science.  That was a fun night.  She worked hard to keep it scientific and statistically sound.

Interestingly, MOST people thought they would love A&W the best.  Kudos to A&W for their marketing strategy because everyone thinks they love them.  In reality though, it was a virtual three way tie between A&W, Barqs, and Mug.  It really comes down to preference - one is more sweet, one's more spicy, etc.

Alison's project was one of the top ten in her class.  She didn't win the fair, but she wasn't heart broken by that.  It was just fun to be a part of it.

Zoo Lights

For our Family Home Evening activity on December 8th, we decided to try something new.  We took our kids to Zoo Lights at the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City.  We heard really great things about it, so we wanted to check it out.  Here's what we discovered:

PRO:  It was KSL customer appreciation day.  Tickets were discounted.  We were able to get the whole family in for less than $20.

CON:  Everyone else in the world wanted the discount.  It was crowded!

PRO:  The weather was unseasonably warm, so we were pretty comfortable.  Usually, looking at light displays is a freezing, wet, sickness-inducing event.  Not this time.

CON:  Animals sleep at night.  Our kids kept running up to the animal displays hoping to find something, but all was dark and quiet.  If you're going to Zoo Lights to see animals (which our kids were) you're going to be disappointed.

PRO:  We've never seen the bats more active!  EVER!!!

Quinton was so good!  He never made a peep - just stared at all the lights.  Of course, he was so bundles up he couldn't move...

CON:  All the kids were a little wound up while we were there.  Dave and I got pretty cranky trying to keep them all together and safe.  By then end of the evening, we ALL needed a time out!

PRO: By the time we got home and crawled into bed, we all liked each other again and agreed that we had a fun time.  We also agreed that we'll probably not go there again.   The local Christmas Village at the park is just as good and, with the possible exception of the bats, has just as many animals...

D.A.R.E.

Did you have the D.A.R.E. program when you were growing up?  I did, but I think it was just getting started back then.  I don't really remember anything specific about it, other than that it was a drug resistance program.  That's why I was surprised to learn what a big deal it is in our kids' school.

In the sixth grade, an officer from the local police department comes once per week and gives lessons about resisting drugs, violence, bullying, etc.  The kids have required homework and tests.  After completing the program, they have a graduation ceremony.  Not everyone graduates.  At least, some cut it pretty close.  Alison was pulled out of class on the day of the ceremony to help one of her classmates finish the required assignments.

So last week, the boys and I went to Alison's D.A.R.E. graduation.  The mayor, a representative from the Sherriff's office, and Miss Kaysville all spoke.  So did Ali.  We didn't know until the day before the event that Alison was going to speak (more about that in a second) or David would have taken some time off to be there.  He needs a little advance notice to rearrange his schedule.  Bummer.  But luckily, Grandpa Smith was able to make it!

As part of the D.A.R.E. program, each student is required to write an essay about what they learned.  The essays are judged by some members of the police department and one winner is chosen from each class.  Those four winners all read their essays at the graduation.  Due to a mix-up with the police officers not knowing about our Thanksgiving break schedule, they didn't announce who the winners were until the day before graduation.  Alison was her class's winner.

She was, in her words, "nervous-cited" (half nervous, half excited).  She was glad to be chosen, but nervous about giving her speech in public.  She practiced many times at home.  It was fun for me to watch her on stage.  She looked very calm and cool - only her mother could tell how nervous she was.

Each of the four class winners was awarded a medal for their essays.  Out of those four, a grand prize winner was chosen.  Can you guess who it was?  Yep.  Our cute little Ali-gator.  She got a stuffed lion (the D.A.R.E. mascot) for her prize.  More importantly, she is so happy to be an award winning writer.  She says it's especially cool because she wants to be an author when she grows up.  I believe she will be!  Her essay was so good, I was afraid some people might have thought I wrote it for her.  Seriously though, I didn't even see it until she was typing up her final draft.  She's just a good writer. She's been writing her own primary talks since she was about four.

Congratulations, Alison!

Thanksgiving 2014

Oh how I LOVE Thanksgiving!!!  I love autumn, I love spending time with family, I love delicious food, I just LOVE it!

This year, we drove up to Idaho to spend the holiday with David's family.  Dave's parents finished their mission just the week before, so they hadn't even had any time to enjoy their new found freedom yet.  But they sure are amazing and proficient at hosting a huge crowd and making it look easy!

Let em start by saying that I took some terrible pictures this year - I think I was too focused on eating!!!

Can you blame me?  The food was delicious!

Ali was at the big kid table with Maddie, Gracie, Kami and Caden

Here's the medium kid table in the garage (with the ping ping table all set up) The only kids looking at the camera are Nicki and Josh.  The others are:(clockwise from Josh): Nolan, Sander, Isabelle, Hannah, and Addie.

Just restin' and digestin'.

In attendance this year were Grandma and Grandpa Gee (obviously - it was at their house), Aunt Linda, David's cousin Kevin Shirley, who is attending BYU, our family, Suzette and Kory (his kids were with their mom this year), Shawn's family, and Jodi's family.  Kristi was hosting Terry's side of the family this year, and Nathan and Dawn were at Dawn's sister's house in Indiana.

David was not able to take any time off on either side of the holiday, and I wasn't willing to pack all the CRAP it takes to go anywhere just for an overnight-er, so we did an up-and-back-in-one-day trip.  It really wasn't bad at all.  We left at 7:00 a.m, stopping for breakfast in Pocatello. We were at the Gee's by 11:00 a.m.  We had plenty of time to visit, eat, play ping pong, visit some more, ride the 4-wheeler, eat some more, listen to some kids play the piano, eat pie, and visit some more before heading home around 5:30 p.m.  We stopped in McCammon so I could feed the baby, but we were still home at a very decent hour.  All the excitement of seeing their cousins and the anticipation of decorating the tree the next day kept the kids happy and joyful in spite of 7 hours of driving.