Loren is having a great experience in the MTC. He likes his companions (he is in a threesome) and has had the opportunity to be a District Leader. He seems to be learning Spanish easily and overall seems happy. Every week he gets to attend the Provo Temple with his district, which he really enjoys. He sent home a poem he wrote this past week, so we will include it with a few of the photos he taken. He is grateful for all the letters and packages everyone has sent -- so a big thank you to you all.
Spring Break
The kids all had a 2 week break from school and since we already have a couple of big trips planned for later this spring and summer, we decided to stay home and play . . . oh and do a few projects . . . oh and take in a couple of dental appointments -- you know, fun stuff like that! The highlight for Tess was actually getting her wisdom teeth out. She said that if she had known how she would feel afterwards, that she never would have gotten in the car with me! Oh well, she is all better now. I just can't believe I didn't get around to taking a picture of her swollen cheeks with bags of frozen peas on each side -- darn. . . .
Elliot's 12th Birthday and Ordination
Elliot had his 12th Birthday on Sunday March 12th -- cool, huh? Of course we went to church that morning, and then Alan's parents and Aunt Shirley came over to be a part of Elliot being ordained a Deacon in the Aaronic Priesthood in our church. Bishop Perry came over and Phillip was here from BYU and was able to help ordain him. It was a real special time for our family. Afterwards we had a nice birthday dinner and then he opened some gifts. Elliot is excited to be able to pass the sacrament now -- not quite so excited about the extra 2 hours of General Conference, though!
The girls and I decided that it would be fun during spring break to have all the older girl cousins over for a "late night." So my sisters Megan and Melanie each brought their girls one Friday night and dropped them off. We started by making pizzas for dinner and then each of the girls got to paint and decorate a frame. They each put a lot of energy into their artwork and seemed to have fun. It was great to see how different they all turned out. I had them all sit on the couch and took a picture of "the cousins" that I could print off and put in each of the frames for them to take home. After the big art project, we all watched an old Doris Day movie with treats. Then their Moms came and got them. We will have to do it again -- at least that's what they all said as they were leaving!
Phillip
Phillip is finishing up a semester at BYU and getting his portfolio ready. He will submit it April 15th as part of his application to the BFA program. Apparently about 50 apply and 8 get in. Needless to say, he is a little bit stressed. He would appreciate any prayers in his direction.
On a miscellaneous note, Clark got to dress up for Greek Day -- he decided to be Apollo. I don't mind telling you that I won't miss figuring out school costumes once Clark is out of lower school -- I'm just not a dress-up kind of gal! I am sad that he is growing up, however.
I also took some fun pictures of Tess and Madeleine playing with their childhood dolls. Tess had gotten them out for a school play and one afternoon while the girls were in a silly mood, they started playing "Mommy" and throwing their babies around. I swear we were all going to wet our pants we were laughing so hard. I just hope they don't treat their real babies like that!