November 2011

Felicity - For Young Women in Excellence our theme was Women of Virtue. Felicity dressed as Emma Smith and shared how she exemplified the value Divine Nature. Then I gave a short thought on what women who exemplify that value look like today. Each of the Young Women presented a different value/woman from scriptures or history and their mother talked about the modern application of that value. Felicity participated in the stake youth choir for our Stake Conference this month.

Lauri - I had to get a couple small cavities filled after my regular dentist appointment :( We hosted dinner group at our house and served the Heavenly Chili. Two other couples plus and extra guest were able to come - the Welkers, the Griggs and their friend. The Welkers stayed to play some Wii RockBand with Shawn and I.

The girls - All the girls went in to the dentist on the same day for their regular cleaning and check up and they were all cavity free! Yay!

Family - We all got to go to Boise for Thanksgiving this year. After a year in Iraq, Brent wanted to have everyone together for Thanksgiving, so we were all at Mom and Dad's house. It was fun to have everyone together! We ate good food, raked Grandpa's leaves, played some games, went bowling, watched football, sang songs, and the "kids" all went for a late night Shari's run. The kids table was set up out in Grandpa's shop for Thanksgiving dinner and it was sweet to hear the kids talking about all the things they are thankful for. We also went out to Caldwell to spend some time with Shawn's family and have pie and Shawn went shooting with his family on Saturday morning before we left.

October 2011

Family - October is always such a fun, happy month. We enjoy starting out the month by watching General Conference togehter as a family. This time, Felicity and Mom were both working on a Personal Progress goal together too, which made it even more special. We also had our first snow the first week of October.We went to our ward Harvest Carnival and Chili cook off. The Beehives were in charge of a cupcake walk so we brought cupcakes instead of our Heavenly Chili this year. Lydia did not get to go since she was working on lots of missing school assignments. They did all get to go to trick-or-treating with Shawn though. Felicity was a "gothic" girl, Evelyn was a "spider geisha" and Lydia was a Hawaiian girl.
Shawn - The Elders Quorum in our ward planned and enjoyed an activity where they went target/skeet shooting with a bunch of different guns. It's the first activity they've had in awhile and I think all the guys enjoyed it!

Lauri - I had been having numbness and tingling in my left hand since June, and since I had a couple days off work, I had carpal tunnel surgery to correct it. Shawn took the afternoon off so he could take me in and bring me home. It was amazing that the numbness and tingling were gone immediately! It will take a couple of months to regain full strength back in that hand, but I was able to go back to work the next Monday. Instead of a Super Saturday Relief Society crafts activity our ward had a Thrilling Thursday. I provided supplies for recipe binders with "scrappy" covers and was able to make some earrings and zip-close baggie pouches. Well, technically I only made one of each, but brought home the supplies for others. Bryan and Gina came that night with their kids and I took the next day off work to watch their kids while they went to the Rexburg Temple for Gina's little brother's wedding. I took the kids to them after the ceremony and ran a quick errand in Rexburg and a few more back in town. It was nice to have the day off and fun to spend some time with David and Alyson. The next night the girls watched David and Aly while the grown-ups went out to a yummy dinner :)

Felicity - Felicity is playing cello in the middle school orchestra again this year and played in their Fall Concert. Shawn and I thought the 7th graders (Felicity's age) sounded way better than the 8th graders! Felicity also went to a couple of stake YW volleyball activities. Not enough girls are interested to play with organized teams, so they just invite everyone to come and then teach and play with whoever is there. Felicity also went to her first school dance which was held right after school. She just went with her friends and she said no one was really dancing, but she was excited to go and I think she had fun.

September 2011

Family - On Labor Day we enjoyed a little hike on the Cress Creek Nature trail followed by a picnic and afternoon at Heise Hot Springs and Pool with the Bone family. We left a little later than them and managed to squeeze in Pizza at Heise for dinner also - yum! On Saturday the 10th (the day before the 10 year anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York) we also went to a Symphony concert in the park. Our favorite number was problem the Pipe and Drum corps playing in memory of all the responders who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks.
Evelyn - I can't believe my "baby" is now old enough to be baptized! Evelyn looked forward to being baptized for a long time and it was a wonderful day with family and friends! She now gets to go to Activity Days with Lydia and her friend Rachel (who we watch after school) will be going also.

Lydia - The girls made these cute Liahona balls at Activity Days this month. Lydia was also sick one day this month and I got to learn how to handle that as a "working mother."
Lauri - As PTO President this year, I conducted my very first schoolwide PTO meeting. We had a good turn out and had several more parents volunteer as committee chairs. We also had our first fundraiser this month - the Walk-a-Thon at our neighborhood park. It was very well planned by the committee, but unfortunately the turn out was not great due to weather and other conflicting events. For dinner group this month we combined with another group and had a great big barbecue/picnic with families hosted by the Blakeslees and Herricks. It was great weather and nice to just eat good food and visit with good neighbors.

Shawn - Shawn's grandfather (Ross Thurber) passed away this month and he was able to drive to Spokane for the funeral. We were all planning on going, but since we had the flu (Lydia first, then Evie and Mommy on the same day and Felicity on the day of the funeral), we just let Shawn go. Shawn enjoyed visiting with family and was able to bring home some of his grandpa's tools and a wooden box he had made as heirlooms.

August 2011

Wow, what a busy month!

Girls - The girls finished up their session of swim lessons and each advanced to the next class. They all did a great job, but Lydia is really our water-baby. After going to Boise with me for a few days, they left with Grandma and Grandpa to go to the Wendell Sorenson Family Reunion in Cedar City Utah. They had a great time at the water park and playing with cousins and second-cousins there. Thanks for taking them Mom and Dad! The girls all got back-to-school haircuts (complete with feather extensions), went to back-to-school nights and started school. Felicity is in 7th grade, Lydia is in 5th and Evelyn is in 3rd.
Lauri - I took the week long MTI math class that is now required for educators in Idaho and actually enjoyed it. I was always pretty good at following the rules for math, but now I understand it all better - especially algebra! Our 2011-2012 PTO board had a barbecue so our families could get acquainted and the next day we helped at registration. Right after registration I went for a job interview and was offered the job as a part-time librarian at Hillview Elementary.

Shawn - Since the girls were still with Grandma and Grandpa, Shawn and I escaped to Park City for an overnight getaway. We enjoyed the outlet mall (well, I did), watching the ski jumpers practice and the Olympic Park museum, Shawn met Bill Engvall (There's your sign!), lots of art galleries and a Ghost Tour of Park City.
The same day I interviewed and was offered the library job, Shawn had an interview with the Stake Presidency and was called to be the Elder's Quorum President in our ward.

Felicity - Felicity did a great job on her first sacrament meeting talk which she wrote all on her own. Her topic was Dress and Appearance (from the For the Strength of Youth pamphlet.) She was also "kidnapped" (along with all the YW) for a Back-to-School pancake breakfast and special speaker on the Saturday morning before school started. And Felicity got to start the new school year with contacts - no more glasses!
Lydia - Lydia had one final surgery to get the last plate and screws out of her arm.

Evelyn - Evelyn turned 8 years old and got to have a birthday party with her friends this year. She wanted to have a pajama/spa/dance party. So, for three hours we had a few friends over for pizza, a pajama fashion show, Just Dance 2 on the Wii, cake and ice cream, and opening presents. We also treated them all to some spa treatments - foot soak/massage, manicure, and a homemade chocolate face mask (which was edible!).

July 2011

Family - Spent 4 wonderful days in McCall Idaho with Lauri's family for the Sorenson Family Reunion. We walked to a fish hatchery, went to a park for a virtual geo-cache and a picnic, played Minute-to-win-it games, Bingo and the Lizzie McGuire game we found in a closet. We made S'mores over a camp fire and relaxed in the hot tub. We even had a bear visit our rental house!

On our way home on July 4th we stopped to see Shoshone Falls in Twin Falls.

We also enjoyed good food a friends this month at several bbq's/picnics - our neighborhood barbecue, Shawn's work picnic and the annual Ward Chicken Dinner (byo-chicken and a potluck side dish with root beer and scones provided by the ward.)

Went to the Zoo with the Bone boys.

Lauri - Gave a talk in sacrament meeting, which terrifies me, but it went okay. The basis for my talk was Russell M. Nelson's talk Face the Future with Faith from the April 2011 General Conference.

All the girls - Started a round of swimming lessons. We went to a couple of Shakespeare "reader's theater" performances at the library for the summer reading program. One day the girls and I decided to take a walk down by the river and find as many "art benches" as we could. We had fun taking pictures at each one - except the one occupied by a couple of "love birds" we didn't want to disturb.

Felicity - Enjoyed her first experience at Girls Camp, even with her mom being one of the leaders! The theme was "Round Up Your Beliefs" and we stayed in an old ranch house in Island Park. We had firesides, a sunrise testimony meeting, good food, a hike through Lewis and Clark caverns (in Montana), sang camp songs and worked on certification.
Lydia - Went to Day Camp at Krupp Hollow with the Activity Day girls where she got to shoot a BB gun.

Evelyn - Funny story: I had noticed that Lydia's hair had some short hairs on top, but since she denied cutting it, I thought maybe they were just new hairs growing out. A few days later, Felicity found a lock of hair on the top shelf of the computer desk while she was dusting, so I knew the hair had been cut. Felicity bagged the lock of hair as evidence and labelled it this way: Evidence suspect: Lydia, 7/22/11, Case: Cut Short, Found: Top Computer Desk Shelf (with scratch paper). Lydia still denied being the one who cut it or knowing anything about it, so the girls were all put on "probation" until someone confessed. Evelyn finally fessed up and said she did it. When asked why and how, she said she was just really mad at Lydia, so went in when Lydia was taking a nap and cut her hair. Really??!!

Merry Christmas!!

Yup, this is our Christmas card this year. Merry Christmas to all our beloved family and friends! We are so blessed to know so many wonderful people from our very own neck of the woods to the other side of the globe! May our Heavenly Father bless you, each and every one!