The Family

This is my handsome boy ready for church. I realized that I dress him up for church, but haven't really got a picture of him all dressed up. This one isn't the best, but he sure gets compliments from all on his grown up boy look. He even took the sacrament for the first time last Sunday. He got his own piece of bread, but needed a lot of help with the water. It was so cute. His latest developement in communication is his ability to shake his head no. He loves to do it. He thinks it is a little game. He also loves to walk while holding your hands. He would gets mad/scared if you let go of one hand or if you quit doing it.

Me and my little buddy. This week on Monday was my first day of work. I have had to do some orientation which has made me go everyday from 8am-5pm. It has been hard, but good since Donna, Terry's mom has been more than willing to tend Porter. I am so appreciative because she not only doesn't mind, but I get the impression that she loves to do it. She loves to teach him new things and play with him all day. On the other side work has been pretty good. I have to sit through classes all day, but they have let us go home early many of those days. Some information is new, but most of it I have heard a thousand times before and think it is a waste of time. I am anxious to start doing the real work that I am going to do.

I got a picture of Terry and his buzzed head. The whole swimming team did and also the other coach. They say that shaving all the hair of you at the end of the season right before the big competition will make you swim faster and hopefully win. I don't think it really helps and even Terry said that it really didn't. It's all a mental thing and hopefully gets you the boost of spirit to do better. State is this weekend and hopefully they do good. I'll keep you posted.

Stars dethrone Jasper to win first sectional crown since 1985!!!

I think the late night arrivals from our dear husband and father for the past 4 months have paid off as we saw him read the front page of the sports section of the newspaper this Sunday morning. He read in a loud voice and tears in his eyes the wonderful news that was given to the world this morning that BNL won the sectional title.

The paper reads: Bus ride to Jasper secional: $75. 14 nylon spedos:$150. Two water-logged sets of coching attire (shirt, tie, slacks, and dress shoes): $250.
First Bedford North Lawrence High School boys IHSAA sectional title in 24 years: Priceless.
In other words, the BNL boys swimming and diving trip to the 2008 IHSAA Jasper sectional finals Saturday was well worth the cost. After an intense-and at times breathtaking -battle, the Stars detrhoned perennial powerhouse Jasper. 312-306, for their first xectional title since theeir 1984-1985 campaign.
After four lead changes and trailing by several points, Taylor Sanders boosted BNL with a sectional and school record time of 59.92 in the 100 yard breast stroke...gave the Stars a slim advantage with only the 400 yard freestyle realy remaining in the competition.
Silence fell, however, when Jaspertorpedoed its way to decisive win in the realy that left everyone unsure as to which school had captured the sectional crwon. After several dynamic minutes of tabulation. BNL was announced champion and the entire team (including shirt and tie donning BNL coach Marc McCay and assistant coach Terry Tlustek) plunged into the pool and celebrated the victory!!

It was good to hear how excited both coaches were for their boys that they had worked so hard with all season. Mark McCay also won coach of the year. It was a good accomplishment and I am happy for Terry and the swimming team.

Ice Storm

Its crazy to think that I grew up in Ashton Idaho where it is notorious for freezing wheather, but have never experienced what I did this week. I lived through an ice storm. It was my first one. I had heard about them, but never really knew what they were about. We looked outside on Tuesday morning and the world was covered in a sheet of ice!! It was amazing. It almost looked like snow on the deck, but when you stepped on it it was as hard as a rock. You could literally ice skate in our driveway or anywhere for that matter. School was closed for two days straight. I loved it. It was almost like having a normal family again. Terry was home and so we had breakfast, lunch and dinner together as a family for both days. We played monopoly and Lord of the Rings RISK. I am sad to report that I lost every game. AGGHHH!! I couldn't believe my horrible rolling of the dice luck. Anyway despite the poor losing streak we had a fun filled two days.

Porter is growing still (I think)!!? We went to the doctor's office today and he had lost weight, about a half a pound. He got taller though. I've got to feed that little busy body more!! Anyway, he weighs 16 lbs. 4 oz. He only has one bottom tooth on the left side and one on the top coming in. He loves to crawl everywhere and pull up on everything. He has figured out how to climb up the stairs so our latest investment was a gate. He loves to click his tongue and he does it all the time. He loves grown up food. It doesn't matter if he just ate a ton of food of his own. If he sees someone with food he'll crawl over to you, climb up you and grunt until you give him some. It is crazy. He just learned how to play patty-cake and I can't believe how fast he learned. Kids are amazing.

I got offered a job and I accepted. I am going to start working next Monday. I am really nervous and stressed out just because of all the details of getting Porter taken care of and the routine taken care of and also because I am going to be working in an area that I haven't really worked in before. I am going to be working in Mother Baby, dealing with the mother's who have just given birth and the newborns. I am excited for that!

Highlights from our Idaho trip

Our trip to Idaho was a wonderful break that we enjoyed with everyone. Our original intention to go to the Rexburg temple dedication was postponed due to President Hinckley's funeral. We will just have to go to the Rexburg temple on our next visit. We had fun everyday spending time with family and friends.Of course many of our days were filled with playing games. There was no school for a full week, so we had lots of time to fill.

One of the major highlights was to be able to see Marianna play in her basketball district tournament. She played so good and we all cheered really loud. She had quite the fan club as you can see. It was Mary's idea to get the cousins to wear Marianna's nickname Merna across their shirts as they cheared at the game. It was a rare occasion to see it spelled correctly though. Most of the time it was ANREM, NAMER or RENAM. Anyway it was the thought that counted and Marianna loved it!!

The cousins had fun playing together. Even though Porter is the smallest he did pretty good holding his own. He got his pacifier stolen countless times. It didn't bother him though he would just crawl around on Grandma's floor and find something to put in his mouth instead.

We even got a wrestling match in. It was fun to watch Sam be the coach. I mainly went to see a few other people from Ashton that I wanted to say Hello to.

Marianna was fun to talk to and tease. She is so wonderful. We talked about college and boys, the play and upcoming Junior Miss. She is doing great and she loves being a senior. I told her that I was jealous of her high school fun. It just reminds me of that fun time in life of high school and college. I also told her that I was amazed at what a good babysitter she is. She just takes care of all the neices and nephews with ease. I think that is so neat.

We had a girls night out and went to a movie. We had so much fun together. My mom and Marianna came too. We took and afternoon and made a little cousin craft where we decorated a clothespin and made a scrapbook page and clipped it in it. It makes for a cute little photo stand.

One of the big highlights was to have Monica come. We can't believe she made it and she almost didn't. She drove from Salt Lake to Ashton in the storm of the century. She had practically made it there, but 100 yards from our house she ran off the road. Luckily she was close enough she could walk to our house and then Sam came and got her out. She is so fun to talk with. Especially when we get to listen to her boy drama.

We were sad to come home, but know that we will be back soon for Marianna's graduation!!