Erin and Mikki at the Piano

Erin decided to let Mikki sit on her shoulder while she practiced the piano yesterday. I thought for sure he would jump down since Erin was moving so much, but he just stayed there and chirped along happily to the music. Mikki loves his cage so if you take him out and stay near his cage, he will jump down from you, climb up the couch and hop back into his cage. His wings are clipped so he can't fly well. We are enjoying having a bird but I am not sure Buzz likes all the attention Mikki is getting.

Wind Tunnel

While deployed to Afghanistan, Mario made a list of things he wanted to do with the kids when he got home. Going to a wind tunnel was on the list. Fortunately we have one half-way between Tucson and Phoenix. They let you go one at a time for a minute each. They get to do it twice. The first time they are just teaching you how to position your body, the second time, they let you try to fly alone and then the last few seconds, the instructor hangs on to you and takes you high up in the air. Nathan opted out of going up high which was understandable. He did a flip (accidentally) and then looked like a rag doll being thrown against the wall during his first minute. Fortunately the instructor caught him. Going up high did look a bit scary. But the other kids said that was the best part. Now Zachary and Erin are asking to take one friend each and go for their birthdays. We'll see, it wasn't cheap.

The pictures I took were through a window so they are blurry. Fortunately we were given a good quality dvd of them flying. So that will be fun to watch over and over again, especially the part with poor Nathan being thrown up against the wall.

End of School Year

On Monday, Eric and Erin were honored along with about 80 other students at their middle school that earned straight A's for the entire school year. Mario kept tally of how many boys vs girls. Surprisingly, eleven were boys and the rest girls. We were shocked by the huge difference.

Erin in her braces that she got on May 12.

Today, my little baby graduated middle school. I cried when he walked into the ceremony. I realized that it won't be too long before I will be watching his high school graduation and then he will be leaving me. Depressing!

Unfortunately, I didn't get a good picture of him at graduation.

Mikki

Mario made a deal with Erin. If she did all her chores perfectly for a month, we would allow her to buy a bird and all the accessories. Yesterday was the end of the month so with all her money saved up (about $100) she and I went to Petco and she picked out Mikki. She is hoping a sibling will buy one too and name it Mouse. We don't know yet if Mikki is a boy or girl but the store employee told us that it is about 6 months old. She also told Erin how to train it so Erin would be able to hold it. She said it would take about a week. Apparently Mikki bonded quickly with Erin because she was holding him within a few hours. I am even becoming attached to Mikki. Maybe I will have to be the one to buy "Mouse."

"I Eat Stuff"

This is an assignment that Nathan completed in class. I love how when you are in first grade you don't have to really answer the essay question and they still give you a star. I try to put some of the boys' work on my blog because I feel bad that I throw all these cute little stories away. I was dusting the coffee table several months ago and found a drawer full of Nathan's schoolwork. He said he was tired of me throwing all his work in the recycle bin....oops.

NJHS

Erin was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society last Monday. We are so proud of her academic accomplishments.

Busted

Golf Lessons and Law School

Eric and I were recently eating lunch at Subway during his lunch hour when the high school golf team walked in. What appealed to me about this team was they all had clean cut haircuts and they were all well dressed. I didn't see a single one wearing low rider jeans with boxers hanging out. What Eric saw was a bunch of kids getting out of school to play golf. I asked if he would be interested in playing golf in high school and the thought of playing golf during the school day appealed to him. I don't want to give the impression that Eric is a slacker in school though, because he continues to get straight A's and is very motivated to keep that up in high school.

Since he has never swung a golf club in his life, I decided I better look at getting him some lessons to see if he even likes it. Fortunately the base was offering one hour of lessons for kids for $5. Only 3 boys showed up so they got a lot of individualized attention. Eric needs a lot of practice but he liked it. So now I think I will get him some one-on-one lessons. I figured golf was a good sport because hopefully it will be easier on his knees. His knees took a beating in baseball and wrestling. Plus his goal in life (at least right now) is to go to law school. We figured golf and law would be a good combination.

Speaking of law school, my sweet, innocent little girl announced this weekend that she wants to attend law school also. Her reasonings are way different than Eric's though. She wants to go because in her own words, "All the lawyers in the movies are good looking." She plans to meet her future husband there. Mario's comment was that she has been watching way too may movies.

Nathan's "Sick" Day

Nathan got ready for school and ate a big breakfast. Then he told me his tummy hurt. He seemed fine, but I had a Physical Therapy appointment in town, so I didn't want to take him to school and then risk getting called by the school to come pick him up. I decided that even if he weren't really sick, he could use a day off with me. His teacher had given the class some extra credit work to do anyway if they wanted an E on their report cards for Social Studies and Science. So he worked on that during my appointment. Then we went to the mall and he finally got his Lego shoes that he's been eyeing for months. They were on clearance for $16. Then we topped off our day with lunch with Mario.

I think Nathan may decide to have sick days more often. Nathan just told me it was fun to stay home, the only bad thing was his tummy hurt. It sure didn't seem to hurt while he was shopping for shoes or eating lunch at McDonalds. :)

Here's a copy of his extra credit report on Mount Rushmore. He probably did more work at home today than he would have in school anyway and he and I learned a lot about Mount Rushmore. Next report is on bin Laden. The teacher said to choose a current event. The only thing I could think of was bin Laden. Now I am having some regrets since Nathan knew nothing about him and now I am wishing I hadn't told him. But it may be better coming from me instead of other kids or teachers.

Grandma's Visit

My mom flew back with me from Utah on Sunday night. She had 3 days to spend with the family. Unfortunately the kids had school so they didn't get to spend as much time with her as they wanted. I did take Eric out of school on Wednesday and we went to the Gila Valley Temple. In hindsight, I should have taken each of the kids out for at least a half day so they could have spent more time with her.

She watched Erin at track practice. Erin was learning the hurdles. The last meet, they threw her in to do hurdles without her ever trying one. Fortunately she didn't fall, but I am glad they took some time at practice to teach her. Grandma also spent time with kids at the pool, park, and bike riding. She always takes lots of pictures which I appreciate especially since I don't take many. As you can see, Erin is going to pass Grandma in height soon. Eric measured 5'8" in the ER a couple weeks ago. We are hoping he will pass up Uncle Billy by time we see him in September.

Nate and Mom

I came across this picture today. It was taken last month during his lunch at school. Nathan is so sweet. Unfortunately he flies under the radar a bit at our house so he doesn't get as much attention as the "squeaky" kids. I love you Nathan. You are such a sweet child and I love when I get my one-on-one time with you like last night. Eric and Erin were both at piano and Zach was getting a haircut with Mario. So Nathan helped me cut out journal questions for Activity Day girls. He was going through each question and answering them. I enjoyed my few quiet minutes with him. He's a neat kid.

Women's Conference

This year for my birthday, I got to fly to Utah and attend Women's Conference for the first time. I invited my mom and friend, Lisa Trawick (and her mom) to go with me. We flew into Salt Lake on Wednesday and then rented a car and drove down to BYU in Provo for the conference. We stayed in the Wyview Park Apartments. Who knows, maybe Erin will one day stay in one of those apartments, especially since it has a kitchen and she loves to cook. It was fun to act like I was in college with 3 roommates. I never had that experience because I lived at home until Mario and I married.

The weather was a bit chilly and we did get some snow. But that added to the fun since my mom got to make a snowman.

The classes were excellent and I took lots of notes. I didn't expect to fight so many large crowds to get into certain popular classes. But I got into all but one that I wanted to attend. The only one I missed out on was Learning Patience. I wasn't patient enough to even wait in the forever line. I figured I'd never get in. So I took Ann Dibbs class which was wonderful too. Elder and Sister Bednar both spoke at the closing session. Of course, they were both great speakers.

Thursday night we got to attend the evening concert. My kids were jealous when I told them that Kirby Heyborne would be there. We also saw performances from Hilary Weeks, Jenny Oaks Baker, Josh Wright, Vocal Point, and David Osmond. So that was a lot of fun.

Friday morning, before classes, we took a tour of the Hinckley Alumni and Visitors Center on the BYU campus. Bishop Hussein from my Monterey ward built this for President Hinckley. Another member of my ward who taught the Temple Prep class, that Mario and I were asked to attend, funded much of the building. It is a beautiful.

Saturday morning we checked out of our apartment and drove to see the tulips at the Tulip Festival. Then we walked around Gardeners' Village and then drove up to Salt Lake to Temple Square. My mom and I did a live session and then spent some time at the mall before heading back to our hotel. Sunday we were able to attend The Spoken Word and hear the Tabernacle Choir record live. That was amazing. Afterwards we took a tour of the Conference Center, the Beehive House, and both visitor's centers. We also watched the new Joseph Smith movie before we flew home that evening.

It was a great weekend and I am so glad my mom was able to fly out. She loved it so much that she and my dad are going back for Education Week in August. I haven't talked Mario into letting me go to that one yet. He wouldn't mind, but his work is giving him a hard time with all his leave he has scheduled especially since he is up for promotion this next year.