Just Dance Rachel!

Just before her school year got out, Rachel had her dance recital at the Butterfield Park in Herriman.  It was the first time Rachel had taken dance since she was 4 years old.  They had 8-10 costume changes.  She did a great job.

Ethan Jr. Jazz

We just got a picture of Ethan's Fall 2012 Jr Jazz Team.  They had one of the mom's take the picture because most of the boys couldn't make the picture day game.  This was Ethan's first time on a basketball game and he had a great time.  It was especially fun for him to be on a team with Grant Alston and Paul Edwards.  (It helped with carpooling as well).

Blackbelts!

 On Saturday, April 13, Todd, Rachel, Ethan, and Jacob tested and received their blackbelts.  Masters Kim (AJ) and Son were so proud.  Our family members are the 1st blackbelts for the KS Tigers Tae Kwon Do organization.

Jacob is 8, Ethan is 12, Rachel is 14 and Todd is 46.  They had to show their proficiency in three different belt forms, self defense, and one-step sparring.  They also did two different breaking kicks.  Master Kim expressed his gratitude to our family for our support and help in getting KS Tigers opened.


They have been doing Tae Kwon Do for over three years.  Previous to this test the kids had all been lukewarm in their attitudes about TKD but afterwards they all decided they wanted to continue.  Now, it is a matter of fitting it in with all of the basketball and soccer practices and games - at least until June.  It has been amazing to see their progress.  This was the culmination of a goal that Todd has had for over 20 years!

Tons of our family were there to support Todd and the kids including Grandpa Tom, Meagan and her family, Robbie and his girlfriend, Nicholas, Grandma Charlene, and my parents.

After the testing we all went to the Village Inn Restaurant at the District for lunch.  

Go Steelers!

 At the end of March we went on our family vacation.  The original reason was for Kenji's baptism but we figured we couldn't go all the way to Michigan and not see whatever else we could.

We flew into Pittsburgh, stayed in Homestead a suburb of the city which is famous in steel mill history.  The area is now a retail area called the Waterfront.  The next morning we went over to Heinz Field, home of the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Of course it isn't football season but the gates allow you to see into the field.  We walked around the Three Rivers area a bit.  The only area in Pittsburgh we had been told to visit was the Strip District.  After some small detours we found it but decided it wasn't really the type of activity that would be too easy for us to manage - it was a couple blocks of trendy shops and markets.  Perhaps for a date night or something.

Then we traveled northeast up to Cleveland, Ohio and spent the night at another Hampton Inn with dinner at the nearby Bob Evans Restaurant (kind of like Village Inn).  The kids were able to swim again which they liked.  Then Friday morning we drove about 20 minutes to Kirtland to see the historic church sites.  We took an abbreviated tour with two sister missionaries and saw where Joseph Smith and Emma lived; where the school of Prophets was.  We also drove a little ways farther and saw the Kirtland Temple.  It is owned by the Community of Christ so we didn't go through it.

I think seeing the sites and the tour as well as the video in the visitors' center gave us a pretty good idea of why Kirtland was/is important in church history.  Then it was on to Ann Arbor.

We met the family at the Olive Garden for dinner.  It was Danessa and her family, Darby and her kids, Chris and Steve, Devin and his family, and Laura's parents.

The rest of the trip will be in the next post!

Chili Cookoff - Blue and Gold Banquet

This past Tuesday was our Blue and Gold banquet.  The leaders changed it up this year and instead of everyone bringing a decorated cake, everyone brought chili.  My family doesn't really like to eat chili so I don't ever make it.  I did change it up and got a different brand than I've ever purchased before.  they even had a "Best Canned Chili" award but no dice.  Presentation might have had something to do with it.  Most people brought their chili in crock pots and I just put mine in a bowl and heated it up in the microwave.  Just another example of my not liking to cook.

Jacob got a Silver Arrow and he was the star of the wolf pack skit which was really cute but the baby distracted me so I wasn't able to get it on video.  (Todd had to take Noah home because he kept running around - after we got home Noah came and apologized to me for "messing around" and promised not to do it again.)

Dinner with the Bjarnasons

Playing Apples to Apples after dinner! 

Ronny is in baby daddy heaven holding Z.

Two weeks ago we invited the Bjarnason family to enjoy spaghetti and meatballs at our house.  Todd was out of town on business and we missed him but we had a great time anyway.

Is it still fall? Or is it winter?

The kids keep asking me this question.  A few days ago we got our 1st real snowstorm of the year.  It snowed for at least 24 hours.  The boys had a blast making snow forts and we enjoyed seeing snow men all around our neighborhood.