Is It Summer Yet?

The sun is out and the temperatures aren't bad and there is no wind today.... so Rebecca and our next door neighbor, Nick, spent the morning riding their motor bikes around the yards. Yes, Rebecca inherited Joshua's for Christmas so she has her own. They were having a great time.

While they were out doing that, Joshua and Tanner were on their Wave Boards being pulled by the neighbor in his golf cart. Oh, and Adam is riding in the golf cart too, and loving every minute of it.

Just a note: while the kids were all playing, I was busy digging up the back corner of the yard getting ready to put in a drip system for the garden we will be planting. I am so ready to be out in the garden again.

David spent the day skiing with the Priests and having a great time as well. I am so jealous. Hopefully next week I will get to go skiing.

Rebecca Bought A Pet (or 2)

Rebecca saved and saved and saved. She was hoping to buy a Bearded Dragon Lizard. If any of you have ever priced those, the lizard plus all the supplies ends up being about $300.00. After about 6 months of hoping for a lizard, she decided that mice are cute too and they are much, much cheaper. So, Rebecca picked out 2 little mice (happy to be saved from becoming snake food at the pet store). Meet "Rice" and "Crispy". They are really quite adorable and I must admit that it is fun to watch them and hold them.

Pizza Night for FHE

For FHE this week we went down to Provo to take Jared a few things and so we went to Brick Oven for some pizza.  I haven't been there in at least 20 years and I think we called it "Heaps Pizza".  Anyway, it was delicious and we had a good time as a family.  Before we went I told Adam we were going to see Jared and have some dinner.  He said, "Is Jared eating dinner with us?"  I said, "Yes".  He said, "Oh good, I like Jared."  Then he paused and said, "I like everyone and I love you, Mom."  Moments like that make it all worth it!!
The Balloon Man was a hit.  He was amazing and could make anything!  He made Tinkerbell, Cinderella, Superman, etc. and they looked sooooo good.  Adam requested a light saber, Rebecca wanted a monkey, and Rachel wanted a hat so he made an alien sitting on her shoulders holding a laser gun in front.  Very, very clever.  I would go back just for that not to mention the delicious pizza.  Oh, and on Monday night if you buy a large pizza, you get all the root beer you want for free.  The kids were so happy since they were only going to get to drink water.

Watercolors

Rachel and Rebecca are out of school for the next 2 weeks since they have year-round school. So, we headed down to the craft room to do some painting. Rachel loves to paint and used watercolors to paint a few seascape pictures. Adam liked helping. Rebecca was outside playing with the neighbors in her pajamas.  It is actually kind of warm so they were in bare feet as well.

Rachel's finished products!

What Will They Think of Next?

It's been snowing off and on for the last week but not much has stayed on the ground.  The Powell kids are feeling a bit gypped.  They play outside all the time no matter how cold and if there isn't much snow, they just gather it from around so there is enough to play in.  So this past week I went outside to find all 5 kids playing in the backyard in the tiny bit of snow.  They built a whole bunch of tiny snowmen and then they went to the other side of the yard and threw snowballs at them.  It was kind of like snowball bowling only they threw them instead of rolled them.  They were having a great time and it was pretty funny to watch.  

While they were outside playing, 2 little kids from the neighborhood (different families) were in my family room playing Game Cube.  I said, "Don't you want to go out and play with all the kids?"  They both said, "No, it's too cold out there."  So they just played inside while my kids played outside.  The whole neighborhood has told me they can't believe how much our kids play outside.  I guess we ARE just crazy Californians.

Reverent Jumping

We have church at 1:00 so the morning is long and the kids get a little restless.  Adam and Rebecca asked me yesterday if they could jump on the trampoline for a while.  I said, "I don't think that's a good Sunday thing to do, especially before church since we need to get ready to go."  Then Adam looks at me pleadingly and says, "We will be very reverent."  What could I say but, "You mean you are going to jump on the trampoline reverently?"  Both of them say, "Yes, yes."  So out they went.

A little while later, David and I went out to see where everybody was.  All five kids were sitting in a little circle in the middle of the trampoline.  David says, "Oh look, they're praying."  Turns out that Adam was crying and they were all trying to help him feel better.  

Boys Will Be Boys

Jared designed and built a potato launcher for one of his physics classes at BYU.  He built it, got an A on it and then gave it to Tanner for his birthday.  Little did Mom and Dad know that big brother was giving little brother a bazooka for a gift.  That's what it looks like.

 

Needless to say, Tanner was thrilled and they went right to work launching potatoes into the neighborhood.  Scary for Mom but the boys loved it.  Luckily Mom didn't have too many potatoes that actually fit and so the launcher got tucked away in a closet and Mom and Dad were relieved that that was the end of it.

But...... a few weeks after Christmas Joshua and Tanner got an idea.  Uh Oh!  They could launch snowballs with it.  That was awesome and they went pretty far.  Then they discovered that they could make custom-made "bullets" for the launcher and put them in the freezer to make them nice and hard.  Now they can launch them all the way down the street.  Luckily no broken windows or dented cars.... Yet!

What do the other parents say?  "As long as they aren't using anything flammable".  Thank goodness it is all powered by a bicycle tire pump (or if they're lucky, the neighbor's air compressor which is much faster and sends them farther).  Mom has to admit that it is fun to watch and see how high and far they can send the snow but kind of wishes she could use that shelf in the freezer.

Volunteer at the Draper Temple

So last night I was an usher near the baptismal font in the Draper Temple for the open house.  I was there from about 5 pm to 10 pm.  I stood in the same spot and smiled a lot, answered a couple of questions, and directed people where to go.  It sounds simple enough (which it was) but I was so, so tired by the time I got home.  WOW!

It was wonderful though.  They estimated about 1000 people came through per hour and it did seem like thousands.  I started trying to see how many people I could get to smile.  The kids were easy.  They smile readily.  Adults were a different story.  There are 3 categories I decided... those that smile readily, those that shyly smile as if they might be embarrassed (the majority), and those who look at you like you are wierd.  Luckily not too many in that last category.  

The little kids were all so cute.  So reverent and in awe of this beautiful place that is the Lord's House.  So many people... all different sizes, shapes, and colors and all God's children coming to see His House.  I love the temple!