Arrow of Light

 On Tuesday night Spencer received his Arrow of Light award. We're very proud of him for all of his hard work. Here he is showing the cool arrow that Brother Larsen made for him. It's now hanging on his bedroom wall.

In the Kitchen

Spencer and his good pal Killian made a delicious apple caramel cake yesterday. Here's what I heard coming from the kitchen. "If you keep having tastes, we'll have to keep getting new spoons." "Yeah, but have you smelled this stuff? Smell it. It smells good." "I know, but you you can't keep tasting it." "Why not?" "Germs." "Oh, yeah." "Have you smelled this stuff?"

Ice Cream Boogie

Happy Birthday, Ben!

 We tried a new restaurant I'd heard good things about. It's called La Casita de Durango. They brought us a dish of melted cheese. You can see it dripping from Ben's chip. There's nothing like a big platter of melted cheese. Spencer adored his grilled cheese sandwich. It's all about cheese. And ice cream, which leads us to the rest of the pictures.

 Spencer did two math assignments yesterday. He got 95% on one, and 96% on the other. He looks happy, doesn't he?

 Ben got a new ice cream maker for his birthday and a Ben & Jerry's cookbook. Last night Ben and Eva made maple walnut ice cream from the Ben & Jerry's cookbook. I didn't realize when I buying all that heavy whipping cream that I was sabotaging the birthday cake I made him (traditional mint ice cream pie). I hate to say it, but it was hard to eat that mint ice cream pie after just a spoonful of homemade maple walnut ice cream. How are we going to get rid of all that mint ice cream pie? I never thought I would say such a thing.

 This is what happens when I try to take a picture without using the flash. It's called photo airbrushing. Now you can't see if he even has eyeballs, but the candles look totally awesome.

Should have just stuck a candle in a bowl of maple walnut.

More Show Pictures

 I just discovered a bunch of pictures from Rebecca's show on Facebook. If you Facebookers are interested, look up Danse Etoile Ballet.

The Big Thaw

 It was soooo so so cold here last week. There were several days when the high temperature was around 10 degrees. So when the sun came out and melted the snow on Thursday, we just couldn't stay inside. Spencer and Eva both had soaking wet shoes after assisting the gutter in breaking up ice chunks. They weren't the only ones either. I saw several old ladies breaking up ice chunks in the gutter that afternoon. It's actually quite fun. I highly recommend it.

 The warmer weather also got us back to walking to church. We love walking to church. There are many benefits and only one drawback to walking to church. First, the benefits: everyone sits very still during Sacrament Meeting because their legs are tired. Sunday afternoons are less rambunctious because everyone has exercised. We get lots of chances to talk because it takes about 30 minutes each way. So what is the drawback? Everyone in our ward stops and asks us if we need a ride. Sometimes we walk in to church and people say things like, "Do you guys even have a car?" Today, someone just slowed down, rolled down the window, and cheered for us. It's a little bit embarrassing. And yet, it's good to be loved.

Nightmare Before Christmas Eve

Bec's dance teacher emailed this pic today. The girl with the Santa hat is playing Jack the Pumpkin King.

Chinese Jackets

Yumeng's parents sent these gorgeous silk jackets to the kids for Christmas, so we just had to get a portrait done. Linda, do you remember when Bec bought those red shoes at the Muslim Market? Good thing she chose red.

Flowers Inside, Snowflakes Outside

 Nothing gets by Spencer. Nothing.

 Our walks through the park have become a bit more entertaining since the creek froze over.

 My friend Janice gave me an amaryllis for Christmas, and it's been fun to watch it. Here's what it looked like Saturday morning.

 And here's Sunday morning. And although it looks like springtime inside the house, Ben can tell you that outside does not look like springtime.