Crafting

My sister and I spent the whole day working on a craft for neighbor gifts. I'm not really a crafty person but this was a fun little easy project that turned out so cute. It was fun to work together and it was so great that our kids got along and played together nicely for most of the day. I will try to take a picture and share soon.

Traffic School

Okay, I admit it, I have a tendency to speed. And of course, my luck is that I get caught.
I went to traffic school for the 2nd time this year. Technically, that is not allowed, but what one city doesn't report is not up to another city to check on.
So, of course, I dreaded going to traffic school yet another time tonight.
When you dread something, it usually turns out better than expected. And tonight was no exception. The officer doing the class was funny but informative. He had a great powerpoint presentation with interesting and sometimes funny videos mixed in. He shared some very interesting statistics and I learned a lot tonight.
Here's a few of the things I learned:
**Roughly 4% of the drivers out there are male, between 15-20 and they cause 47% of all fatal crashes. My son is in that age category and I am doing everything to make sure that he is a good driver.
**Children 5 and under have to be in child restraint at all times. This is state law. (I was glad to find out for sure what the law is here because I didn't know for sure).
**Drivers under the age of 19 have to have a seatbelt on and can be pulled over for not having a seatbelt on - as a 1st offense. Anyone over 19 can only be given a ticket for not wearing a seatbelt if they are pulled over for something else first.
**You cannot give the officer pulling you over for speeding the excuse "But I was going with the flow of traffic."
**In West Jordan, they have very specific areas they target for speeding and he listed all of them. I plan to avoid all of those streets if at all possible.

I'm Thankful

I know it's a few days late but wanted to post what I'm thankful for -
1. Paul - He's a great husband, father and provider.
2. My kids - I should list each one separately and say why but I'll save that for me written journal. Let me just say that I am really enjoying being a mother that day and that is because I have great kids.
3. Extended family - It's great that my kids live near their grandparents and cousins and we see them frequently.
4. My friends - Friends have always been an important part of life to me and they continue to be.
5. Books
6. Movies
7. Food - although it sure would be easier if we could just take a pill for the nourishment we need and then eat for enjoyment occasionally
8. Our family cabin
9. My home
10. Our ward
11. My van
12. The nice long fall weather we've had
13. Young women in our ward
14. Sports - the ones my kids play and the ones we watch
15. Clothes
16. Music
17. The internet
18. Christmas lights
19. Exercise buddy
20. And last but most important (and the list is much longer just keeping it short here)
--THE GOSPEL.

Tattle-tale

With 2 year old twins, we have just moved into the phase of tattle-telling.
Jared came to me the other night and said,
"Kamryn's in trouble. She has daddy's phone." Just like that. Very clear.
So I went in our bedroom and sure enough, there she was with his cell phone and iPod.
So far, Jared is doing all the telling and Kamryn is the one always getting into trouble. I'm sure one day she may get her turn to tell on him.

Region Volleyball

So last year the new thing with volleyball was having Brooke play "club."
The new thing this year is having our YW team go to region! It's exciting and oh so stressful at the same time.
Our team did pretty well in stake play but didn't win every game so we were a little surprised when they told us we'd be going to region as the 1st place team from our stake. We were told it wasn't just determined by wins - they factored in that our team never forfeited, never had leaders play (as some wards did) and we were on time & ready to play.
This last Saturday was the first day of region play. It was a "pool play" tournament where there were 4 teams in our pool and we played each team. We were at our own building for the tournament which was nice. We played from 9 am to about noon - 3 matches and our girls won all 6 games that they played. It was so exciting for them and us (parents & leaders).
Last night was the start of the double elimination tournament. We lost our first game and then came from behind and won the 2nd and 3rd games in our first match. 1 1/2 hrs later we played our second match of the night and lost in 2 games. The girls played great and had a great attitude. We are still playing because the tournament is double elimination. So we play again tonight.
And while all of this is going on it's time for Club Team tryouts!

Fun Night Out

For his birthday, Justin wanted to go see The Bee Movie. So all of us except Paul (who had a big deadline at work and couldn't get away in time) went to the last matinee showing yesterday. It was Jared and Kamryn's first real time to go to the theater for a movie. (They've been before but not that they remember). They were very good and really got into the show. We all enjoyed it. Very clever movie. After dinner we went to Bajio's for dinner. Yum Yum!!

He Passed!

I took Justin down to get his learner's permit yesterday - along with the rest of the 15 year olds in Jordan District. When we walked in at 11:00 am the place was packed!! I almost turned around and left but knew that it would probably never get any better unless I had him miss school.
After waiting for an hour they announced that they would start a second testing room for all the "children" that were there. It struck me to think of "children" taking a written test for driving a car.
Justin was the first one done with the test in about 15 minutes - it is a 50 question test and he passed with 90%!
We then waited another 45 minutes for our number to be called to finish the paperwork and waited some more for his name to be called to get his picture taken. We finally walked out of there 2 hours later with his learners permit.
Now he has 1 year to get in his 40 hours of driving. We figured out if he drives 10 minutes every day over the next year he'll get it in. The nice thing we learned is that he can drive with family members in the car as long as Paul or I am in the front seat with Justin. So I guess I will have a chauffeur for the next year.

Happy Birthday Justin

Justin turned 15 today!!
Isn't he handsome!!
He is a great son and I love him very much. I am very proud of him for the great choices he has made in life so far. He is an excellent student, a great athlete, a good friend, and a wonderful older brother. I am grateful for all the he does to help out in our family. He is funny and can be quite a tease.
Hope he has a great birthday weekend (mostly tomorrow when there's no school and we can really celebrate).