What has been happening:

Eli lost his first tooth on February 8th.

Eli is now playing futsal (indoor soccer). He looks forward to each game. With the smaller field he plays defender and scores goals.

This is flour all over Joshua and Eli and the kitchen. I was on the phone with Anslin, my sister. I was also attempting to make something (that I have now forgotten). I ran out of flour and had to pull out the five gallon bucket of flour. After adding the flour to my recipe I turned around to see that Joshua had made a small pile of flour on the floor. I decided not to get upset and told him that he could play with the flour that was out. I would have to throw it away anyway. Eli and Joshua had a great time burying toys and measuring devices. The next time I really looked around me (Remember I was talking on the phone and cooking.) they had pulled out more flour. I cautioned them to stay in the kitchen and I put away the extra flour. After awhile they began to slide in the flour. When they started to throw the flour that was the end of my conversation and their time in the kitchen. They did have a great time and I thought it was worthy of a picture.

(It reminds me of the picture of Cherilyn and Allison covered in Desitin when they were little.)

Ethan had his first pinewood derby. Charles helped him make it into a truck which Ethan painted black.

We were all pleasantly surprised that Ethan came in first every time he raced. As you can see he was very happy. Eli and Joshua ran up to him after he got this trophy and gave him a hug. What cute brothers! (Too bad we didn't get that picture.)

Ethan now wears glasses (as seen in the picture above). He got them at the end of February. He didn't want to wear glasses, but when he put them on he realized how much better he could see. Ethan also got an expander (to widen his mouth) in January. This is the first step in Phase 1. He will also be getting braces on his top teeth when the expander is done. I guess he takes after Mom, with bad eyesight and a small mouth.

Cherilyn and Allison have been busy with school. They have both had concerts recently. (Allison plays flute in the band. Cherilyn plays violin in orchestra and sings in the choir.) Allison has also been attending basketball practices.

Cherilyn, Allison, Erica and I went to the conference center for the Young Women General Broadcast. It was neat to be there though the drive was long.

Erica Turns Twelve

Erica had her twelfth birthday on January 15th.

Erica wanted an Oreo Cheesecake. It turned out good, especially frozen.

She got a necklace with the Young Women Value colors.

She liked it. She also liked the new journal she received.

More dot-to-dot books -- a favorite of Erica's. There are some dot-to-dots in these books that have over one hundred dots! They are in various shapes with few lines, if any, to begin with.

Erica wanted her own whiteboard. She has enjoyed writing where we are reading in the scriptures and fun notes on it. One thing Erica likes is teasing people about boyfriends or girlfriends and writing about boys she likes (much to her mother's chagrin).

Erica is a delight and has been for these twelve years. She often makes people smile and her laugh is very contagious. She has become a wonderful young woman.

Turning twelve means that Erica has become a part of Young Women. She is enjoying the fun activities and time with the other young women. She went to the temple for the first time on Tuesday. The young women weren't able to do baptisms (We didn't know that it was an Aaronic Priesthood night.) so she only did confirmations. Afterwards she said "The temple is so pretty."

Newsletter for 2011

We decided to not send a newsletter this (last) year. It was nice not to have to put it together. After receiving many newsletters from friends and family we think we will do it next year. These are some of the pictures that my dad took after Ethan's baptism. Not being savvy enough on the computer I could not find the final picture for this blog, which would have been in the newsletter. We did print and deliver it to the three grandmas though.

The beginnings of our newsletter were the new things for 2011:

Cherilyn: Attends high school. ASL. Miamaid class president. Went to Bear Lake for ward youth conference.

Allison: Playing the contra bass clarinet for band. Playing volleyball.

Erica: New downstairs bedroom with built-in sound system (formerly known as the movie room or chocolate room (due to the wall color)). Her own keyboard with screen for typing at home and school.

Ethan: Cub scouts with his first activity a visit to the police station and first pack meeting a flag retiring ceremony. Baptized. Out of a car seat. Played coach pitch baseball.

Eli: Played T-ball and soccer. Started kindergarten.

Joshua: "My little school," a joy school one day a week. An aversion to pants even in the winter. The first few days we made him wear pants he whimpered and pulled at them until he took them off. His favorite outfit is shorts, T-shirt, superman cape and rain boots. (Now he will wear pants, but changes to shorts at home. Today he rode in the car in shorts, short sleeves and gloves (no pants, no socks, no shoes). He usually doesn't go in public like that. Usually.

Charles: Treasurer at work. Primary pianist (The best calling ever.) "Yo, what is up?"

Monica (and Charles): Breaks to Zion, Maui and Arches.

Christmas

We had a nice Christmas day. We opened stockings and were able to take time to get ready for church. The boys opened a few presents before church -- new white shirts, ties and church shoes. Grandpa and Grandma Elder came with us to church and stayed to open presents with us. We took plenty of time to open our presents, an hour and a half. This year the kids gave gifts to each of their siblings. It was fun to watch them eager to see their siblings open the gift they bought. Erica gave a hug to everyone who gave her a gift and whom she gave a gift to.

Thanksgiving

We went to Mesquite for Thanksgiving this year. Two of Monica's siblings and their families were at her parents also. We watched movies, played kickball and played at the park. The weather was great. Grandpa and Grandma Hunt came for Thanksgiving dinner. It was good to see them. We had a great dinner and plenty of pie later, after a trip to the park for kickball.

On Saturday we went to Roos and More. It is a small zoo in Moapa, NV. We had a time reserved for our family. We were able to see many cool animals up close.

Here is Allison being climbed on by the otters. They also climbed on Charles. With the other group the otters got wet and then climbed on people.
Here is a capuchin monkey. He climbed on all of us. Capuchin monkeys like hair so he often climbed on our heads. Here he is on Cherilyn's head. Here is Eli holding a lemur.

The capuchin monkey and Joshua.

He climbed on my head first then onto Erica's head.

We also saw a screaming armadillo, an amaradillo that could roll completely into a ball, a bear cat, parrots, camels, a zedonk, rabbits, guinea pigs, wallaroos, wallabees and kangaroos. Some of us held a python and we looked into a kangaroo's pouch. We had a great time. The kids who can write came home and wrote about it in their journals.

Ethan's Baptism

Ethan was baptized on November 6th. It was a great day. We were glad to have family there and be able to witness his special day. What a great thing to be baptized!

Pumpkin carving We carved pumpkins on Ethan's birthday this year. Joshua didn't want to be in the picture. His pumpkin is the small one in the front.

Here is a close-up of Ethan, Eli and Erica and their pumpkins. They designed them on their own and had help carving from Dad and Mom.