Busy Bodies

Our two littlest, Samantha and Laurel, are so very sweet, and also so very busy. They keep us smiling, as well as cleaning up plenty of messes. Laurel loves to contribute to our annual flood by holding down the lever on our water cooler and watching the flow of water on the kitchen floor. She also loves to play in the toilets. It's fun to see what you can put in there and it's especially fun to splash! Samantha on the other hand, is beyond those things, but she loves to draw and color. As we've mentioned before, her body is her favorite place to color. She's almost offended when we clean off her decorations. But her current love is cutting paper. Her goal is to see how many little pieces she can make out of one piece of 8 x 10 paper. None of us really have time to spend counting how many little pieces she actually makes. We just give her the opportunity to pick up all her many little pieces! Another day, as we were bringing in bags from a shopping trip, Samantha gladly helped us take the items out of the bags. Once that was done (and mom was busy), she continued to help by unwrapping some of the items. It turns out that some of those items were bars of soap that had been purchased to give as donations to a humanitarian project. OOPS! Little helpers aren't always helpers, but we love them anyway!

Pinewood Derby

This was Adam's second year to participate in the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby. After a much discouraging first attempt last year, Derek and Adam worked with Grandpa Taylor to make the car this year. Having access to better tools made a huge difference. Adam didn't win any races, but his card did so much better than last year, and he had a blast! There were two tracks set up--one for the official races, and one for fun races with who ever you wanted to race with. Adam spent a lot of time at that track, and was glad to see his car beat some of the other scout's cars, even though he hadn't beaten the scouts that he officially raced against. One thing that was consistent each year however, was Adam's good sportmanship. We were happy to see he didn't care so much about who "won", but that he enjoyed the process. Grandpa, how about next year too? :)

Spring is in the Air

We know many places right now are experiencing Winter. Where we live, we are experiencing "Winter" too, but not in the same way most people think of. We have some cold days, but nothing that includes snow and ice. We had two very unseasonably warm weeks in January that seemed to bring on an early Spring. From early blooming plants to birds laying eggs to wrestless kids in school, it was very odd for January. Don't get us wrong, we quite enjoyed the warmer temperatures. It's just a bit unusual is all. On our back patio, we've got a bird with two eggs in a nest in a hanging planter. We're keeping a close watch so we can be aware when the little birds hatch. This early spring makes us want to hang up the hummingbird feeder and get to our spring cleaning too(well, maybe not that).

To Mount Everest and Beyond

Laurel should be a world famous climber. After all, she beats climbing records every day around our home, and she's bold, brave and determined. Being so close to the ground, for her, is just not cool. She wants to be up and exploring new heights. Having a climber in the home makes one rethink the furniture arrangements. Chairs can no longer reside next to their accompanying desk or table. Chairs almost need to be hidden in locked rooms, they are just too mobile. Laurel is so proud of herself when she reaches the top! It delights her to squeal and explore her new found territory, and it's quite a disappointment when a family member closes in and brings her back down. Even her many tumbles have not deterred her from future adventures. Just the other night we had decided her nick name should be "energizer bunny". She just keeps going and going and going......

Brrrrrr!!!

Derek is a scout leader for the 14 and 15 year old young men in our Stake. One Wednesday night for their activity they had a Polar Bear swim. It was held at a Golfland in San Jose that has water slides. The slides were turned on and the boys had at it. It was a windy, cool evening, and though he had no desire to participate, Derek had come prepared. It wasn't long before one young man came up to him and admitted he was afraid to join in the "fun". Then he challenged Derek by saying, "I'll go in if you do." How could Derek say no? He had just read Do Hard Things, and he wanted to be a good example of courage for the young man. He got his swim wear and then off he went to get a real shock! It was cold before he even got in the water. Derek said the slide just seemed to go on forever. And then the final plunge. Oh boy! What a wake up call. He managed to go down 2 or 3 times, but was glad when he was done! Brrrrrrr!

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