Campboree

Last weekend, Jeff and Gabe went to Campboree.  It is a huge event for the scouts in our area.  They all camp on a Friday night, then there are activities all through the day on Saturday.  Jeff was astounded at the magnitude of this event.  He said that there were probably over 1,000 scouts there.  Gabe had a good time doing the scheduled events, but his favorite part was the free time after the schedule had been completed.  With his best friend, Nathan, he headed straight to the mountain bike course where they rode bikes around for a long time.  It was a great campout, and some good bonding time for Jeff and Gabe.

Allie

Since Allie doesn't generally participate in many organized activities, it seems like she is overshadowed by her brother's active lives.  So I thought I would just take a moment to talk about my sweet Allie.  She brings so much life and joy into this family.  She is always working on a project.  Sometimes they are very secretive, she wants to unveil the finished product.  So we just shake our head and try not to ask why so many supplies are shifting around the house.  She is a very lighthearted and happy girl.  She giggles so easily.  It is hard not to enjoy being with her because she laughs so much.  She often can lighten the mood and disperse an air of grumpiness that seems to often surround her younger brother.  I am grateful that Allie is a part of our family. 

Easter Egg Hunt with a Twist

Over the years, the Easter Bunny has had a few helpers around our house.  As the older two became more familiar with the Easter Bunny, they were sometimes recruited to be helpers for the younger two.  Now, the younger two are old enough to be helpers, but there aren't any younger children to delight with the treats left by the elusive bunny.  Allie and Gabe felt cheated out of their opportunity to be a helper, so they decided to complete the circle of life.  They hid the eggs for Jeff and I.  They felt that after years and years of not hunting eggs and taking pictures instead, it was finally our turn to scurry around the yard in search of delicious treats while Allie followed us with the camera.  It was a fun twist on Easter.  Of course, at the end of the hunt, everything needed to be divided evenly!

Breaking into Spring

This year we have started Spring Break the right way.  We headed to the beach, which was a great start, but it became even better when our friends came with us.  Since their plans were cancelled, the Buscos joined us at the beach.  It was a gorgeous day, the weather was sunny, and calm.  We spent the day playing volleyball, and riding the waves.  The waves were huge and powerful.  We didn't dare go out to where they were breaking, but they were coming in with enough force to catch them on a boogie board and go hurtling toward the shore long after they had crashed.  After playing and swimming all day, it was nice to just sit on the shore, watch the waves crash, listen to the rythmic sound of the ocean and just relax.  It was a fun day.

Engaged

This week, Maddie and Patrick Hodge became officially engaged.  We knew there were some discussions about this subject between them, but weren't sure of the timing of things.  Now it is official!  They are talking about having the wedding in early 2016 in Los Angeles.  The reaction here at home has been wide.  We are excited to be gaining a son/brother-in-law, but sad to be losing a daughter/sister (in a sense).  Allie is especially sad that her sister is not going to return home to live again.  Her only comfort is that after August, she will only have one brother to contend with instead of two!  I would post a picture, but I really don't have anything to post yet, as they are in Utah!

Pi Day

As some of you may know, our family has been celebrating Pi Day (3-14), the day of the first 3 digits of Pi,  for many years now.  A few years ago, we looked up "Super" Pi Day where the next two digits of Pi would be included in the date.  We were delighted to discover that it would be soon, in just a couple of years.  So the plans began many years ago, and finally came to a culmination yesterday.  To celebrate Super Pi Day, we made nine dessert pies, and two meal pies.  We had egg and sausage breakfast pies for breakfast.  We even pulled off the road to celebrate "Super-de-Dooper Pi Second", 9:26:53, which added the next 5 digits of pi.   We ate some apple pie and took a picture to celebrate the moment.  We had apple and blueberry pie for lunch (along with a subway sandwich).  We were supposed to have deep dish pizza pie for dinner, but due to an excessively long volleyball tournament day, we postponed the pizza pie until Sunday and just ate dessert pie for dinner.  We had sour cream apple, strawberry, cheesecake and raspberry cheesecake, mint oreo ice cream, and banana cream pie for dinner.  We finally rolled into bed around 11:00 with full and happy tummies.  We determined that the mint oreo ice cream was easily a favorite, and the raspberry cheesecake a surprise favorite.  Really, they were all excellent pies and we felt that "Super" Pi Day had been celebrated properly.

Whose at BYU?

Back in November, Jayd applied to BYU in Idaho and Provo.  We heard back from the Idaho campus a few weeks later, but Provo takes a little longer.  After an agonizing 4 months of waiting, we have finally heard back from BYU Provo Campus.  Jayd was accepted!!!  We are so excited that he will be attending school in Provo where he will be close to his sister, Maddie, who is currently a student there, and his grandparents.  He is excited because there is volleyball there.  He is already looking forward to attending the games in the Smith Fieldhouse.  He watches so many of the games on TV, he feels like he has already been there!