Mikayla and Ugly Sweater Contest

Tonight we went to our ward Christmas dinner. There was an ugly sweater contest. So, about an hour before we left, Mikayla decided she wanted to go for it. She grabbed an old shirt out of my closet, and then started hot gluing a bunch of random stuff all over it. Well, she won 1st place! Although I'm not sure if it's really because her sweater was the ugliest...probably because she was the cutest! :-)

Here is a really cool video of Bryce playing drum set in the song "Frankenstein."



Mikayla singing with her school choir at the Capitol



Mikayla inside the Capitol building

Mikayla in the Judge's seat! We were excited they let us in the courtroom to see, then they offered for her to go up there and sit!

Mikayla with her school choir at the Capitol building in Boise

Erica at a concert

Buddy liked the snow, obviously!

Erica playing flute and piccolo at the Christmas concert

Erica playing flute and piccolo at the Christmas concert

Angelina, Erica and Kate

Dog chasing laser

Bryce loves to tease the dog with the laser light!

Veterans Day Solo by Mikayla

SO proud of my baby today! The 5th graders presented a Veterans Day program today, and Mikayla was chosen to be one of the soloists. She did such a great job!




Here are a few more band pictures...

Pinecones

Rick and Bryce went to Oregon over the weekend...and brought back these gigantic pinecones!
Me and the girls had fun decorating them today.

The pictures don't really do them justice. They have glitter, sparkles, and cute beads all over them.
Erica's is the first one, then my 2, then Mikayla's 2.

Bryce's Eagle Ceremony



Bryce as a new Cub Scout - 8 years old



Bryce as an Eagle Scout - 15 1/2 years old



Bryce's Eagle Medal



Mark Virak (former Scout leader) putting on Bryce's new Eagle neckerchief



Me putting on Bryce's Eagle medal



Bryce pinning on the Eagle Dad pin





Bryce pinning on the Eagle Mom pin

 



Bryce chose his Dad as his Mentor. He's pinning on the Mentor Pin.



  


Bryce's Eagle Scout certificate





Bryce's Eagle Trophy that I made for him





Bryce is an Eagle Scout now! Lots of hard work over the years I tell ya! His Eagle Court of Honor ceremony will be this Sunday.





Erica playing her piccolo at band camp in August.





Bryce at marching band camp in August.



  

Erica playing her piccolo in a marching band performance at a football game.



 

Erica marching on the field!





Bryce all decked out in a "Transylvania" costume for a marching band performance.



1st Day of School 2013

Erica is a freshman and Bryce is a sophomore! Am I really old enough to have TWO high schoolers? Don't answer that!

Mikayla is in 5th grade now!

Rick's Alaska Trip

Rick got to go to fishing in Alaska with some friends in August for 9 days. He had the time of his life! He didn't finish doing all the captions on these, but I thought I'd post them anyway!

Neal, Mark and I on a little pull out spot on the Cook Inlet about 20-ish miles outside of Anchorage.  This inlet has like the second highest tide swing in the world.  I think it is around 15 - 20 feet tide swings. 

Cook Inlet - The water was super muddy with all the sand in it as the tide would do its thing.

Canyon County Fair 2013

1st Day of Fair: Competition on Quality of Sheep

Mikayla started out nevous for this one. It was her first fair, her first show, and she was first in line! She was nervous because Shawn the Sheep gets stubborn sometimes and doesn't lead very well. She was in there with girls of all ages and all levels of experience...this class was all the same sized-sheep.  She got out there and did her best, but the judge was looking for quality, which pretty much means the meatiest sheep with the most muscle. So even though we worked really hard, fed him a lot and walked him every day, sometimes even twice a day, he wasn't the best quality, and the judge ranked them in order, sending her almost to the end. She was heartbroken, in tears and very discouraged. Notice in the pictures you can almost see her nervousness!

She still did very well walking him, etc.

It was right about here she realized she wasn't winning.



She still got a ribbon, and I still got a smile out of her! She's standing in front of the pen where we keep the sheep at the Fair. Isn't that a cute sign with her name on it? People in our 4-H group made it. We had an awesome 4-H group...it's called BAAAD Company. They were all so supportive, helpful and taught us a lot!



Also in the pen at the Fair, this is Pam the Lamb with a sheep blanket on to keep her clean before her competition. We took her along to show for breeding, but unfortunately as we went to get Mikayla and Pam the Lamb to get them back to where they needed to be, 3 classes in front of her the people didn't show, and so by the time we got back there they had already called her name twice and moved on. Not fair I know! We were all disappointed. Pam the Lamb could have gone far!

DAY 2 at the Fair: Competition on Showmanship

In this competition, the kids are separated by level. So Mikayla was in the novice group, with other novice kiddos. This one was about how the kids handle their lambs, how quickly and efficiently they "set up" their lambs, and well, showmanship! You always look at the judge, smile, and never stand with your back towards him. All stuff she learned in her 4-H group. I guess all the encouraging and pep talks worked, because she went out there today and owned it! She was more comfortable, more confident, and as you can see by the pictures, much happier! She ended up placing in the TOP FIVE in this one! We were so happy, and of course she was too!


Mikayla "setting up" her lamb. You must get their legs and back straight, and then push on their chest to get their muscles to "pop" out! Mikayla is the one right in the middle.



Sorry you have to look at his rear end in this picture, but Mikayla is so cute and doing such a good job holding him!



Mikayla getting him to walk. Yes, you have to push on his tail area to get him to go sometimes!




They look great!



Of course my favorite picture. She had just gotten in the top five for showmanship in her class and she couldn't stop grinning. Now she's waiting to move on the the run-offs. It would be the top 5 from each of the 3 novice classes.

Mikayla at the run-off competition. The winners from all 3 novice classes. She was set up, smiling and ready very quickly every time she stopped. I was so proud of her!

Getting Shawn set up again.

Getting Shawn set up again, and she was still all smiles! It was SO hot in there...about 101 outside...you can see how red her face is!

Poor thing...I just wanna give her some water!



So all in all, we all learned a ton from all of this. One day was hard, the next day was better. Even though she didn't place in the run-offs, she did SO well for her first year, and will rock even more next year! Thank you to all who taught us, helped us, and to those of you who supported her financially through the add-ons. The auction is Saturday morning, and in October she will receive a check for the sale price of the lamb plus all the add-on money. We will let her spend a little, but most will go in her savings!