Angela – Page 206 – Letters from Home

This one’s for the boys

We decided that Grandpa needed to see the Air and Space Museum where he could see hundreds of planes and drink up some history.

The boys spent most of their time with this big guy (Blackbird). Its allure was power, speed, spy capabilities, and history.

Richard asked for a picture alone with the plane to remember the special moment in his life. (Richard, are you reading this?)

I enjoyed the museum, not for the planes but for the walking history inside its hangers. There were veterans and historians everywhere just ready to tell you their stories. I loved the displays about individual pilots with their uniforms, photos, and mementos. As much as I enjoyed the day, I did not experience the museum on the same level as the boys. Oh, boys in paradise…

Here are a bunch of shots of kids. This picture above shows a real plane.

This was very educational… for me. I saw my boys like I have never seen them before.

When Mark gets angry he threatens that he will not come and visit me someday in his airplane.

Daniel helped with transportation.

And since most readers of this blog are girls, here’s one for you:

Tomorrow I’ll share our gingerbread house masterpieces.

Nutcracker 2010

This weekend we spent with the Sanchez grandparents. We had many adventures, but the main event was Paige’s Nutcracker performance on Saturday night. She danced as the Dewdrop Fairy in Waltz of the Flowers (above).

She danced in the Snowflake number.

She was also a Chinese dancer.

She was lovely and she was strong. I can’t believe the stamina she showed in the Waltz of the Flowers. I’m so glad she had this opportunity.

Happy to report

I found a pumpkin seed as I swept the floor today. That little feller has been sitting in my pantry since October. I decided that it was a tribute to the kind of house this is.

I’m happy to report that this house shows all the signs of use and/or neglect that a busy family house should. As for the school stuff, the bookshelves are brimming, the papers are bulging from the corners of their folders, and school projects line flat surfaces everywhere.

It’s a good life…minus the dog who ruined my new rug this week.

Shocking

This photo has absolutely nothing to do with this post.

I took Timothy and Mark grocery shopping yesterday and every time we touched a shelf or one another we got a big electric shock. At first it was fun and Mark tried to shock Timothy when I wasn’t looking. Then he realized it kind of hurt.

The shocks continued throughout the store and we felt helpless. Poor Timothy still hasn’t learned to walk outside of my blind spot. Over and over I thought I had lost him and turned around ready to shout his name when *pzzzzt!* my arm would hit and shock him in the face.

As I reached for cereal I accidentally brushed against Mark’s forehead and I’m sure the resulting shock short-circuited his memory. He looked at me in disbelief and burst into tears. That was one swell shopping trip.

Timothy has a fever now.

Our ballerina is sick and she is supposed to dance in the Nutcracker this weekend. This worries me a great deal.

It’s rough being a mom sometimes.

The Bayeux Tapestry Project

My friend brought this back to me from France. It’s a complete reproduction (scale 1:7) of the Bayeux Tapestry. She brought it just in time because the boys began studying this part of history last week.

The book is made of one long paper, folded into 11-inch sections.

I don’t know why it’s called a tapestry. It’s an enormous embroidery project that tells the story Harold, William, and the Battle of Hastings where the Normans conquered the Saxons.

The book reaches across the length of our back patio, which is as wide as our house.

I decided that the boys needed to gain an appreciation for the magnitude of this tapestry, so they are doing an art history project this week. We traced the portion of the tapestry where Harold is killed. (If you’re going to ask boys to work with thread and fabric, it had better be something violent.)

They work a little bit each day.

Real men must learn appreciation for beauty and history and gain practical skills.

Protected: November Sahuarita Saga

Challenges + Friends = Joy

Five and a half years ago we left central Texas. If I were to list the challenges we faced in Texas during our eight years living there, you would wonder why we loved it so much. If I were to list the people who touched our lives during this time you would see that challenges+ friends really did equal joy in our lives.

As we drove into Austin a week ago, Mark asked, “Dad, why did you ever have to get a new job and leave this place?” It took me years to get over leaving. I think that I have finally settled in my heart the decision to leave our friends and family there. We knew it was time to go but we didn’t want to leave Rob’s family and our friends and we’ll always think about them.

Here are a few of the reasons we loved our time in Austin.

Melinda and Rob threw a very nice open house for us. The Mitchells were friends who taught our children in nursery, parked outside our house each morning for years at 6:00 a.m. during seminary, and served with me in the Relief Society. I was so glad to see Annie and Cody! They looked so good. Cody’s wife is expecting a baby in April.

My first Relief Society president in Austin was Mary. She became a good friend and sent Jed and Laura to seminary at our house. She carries several pictures of Jed’s baby Jillian in her wallet to show to everyone.

Dave and Susan took good care of us during the big moments and small, offering gifts to the kids along the way. We served in Primary for a while with Susan.

Pat and Carol were mentors and friends and the hub of the social circle we enjoyed so much. Melinda is doing her best to smile despite a BYU football loss just moments before this picture was taken.

We didn’t get pictures of everyone. It was a blessing to see my grown up seminary students again and hear about all the good things they are doing. Stephanie’s hug meant a lot to me, as did Aileen’s. And we’re always glad that Ricardo can be of computer service to Paul Parks 😉 I’m leaving a lot unsaid because Austin is a piece of my heart. I am just very grateful.