My baby is 5

Life will soon be very different as I send my baby boy out the door for school next year. It's hard to believe that he's already 5. He is such a tiny little bean that I still carry him around like I did when he was two. I will truly, madly, deeply miss these days of my life. He has been a joy -- and well worth any effort it took to get him here.

\

State Champ!

Todd returned from a very successful State TSA (Technology Student Association) Competition last Saturday afternoon. It was a long 3 days for us while he was gone -- hard to believe our boy is old enough to be away from home overnight without Mom and Dad. We were worried, but thankful for the comfort provided by Heavenly Father through a priesthood blessing. Todd is such a good boy, and we're thankful that he has the desire to be faithful and stand for truth and righteousness. It's not easy in this day and age -- but he's trying hard.

Thanks to a great Tech advisor, and many long hours after school, Todd came away with the Gold Medal and 1st place in the State of Idaho in the CO2 car competition. Each entrant (ages 12-18) designed and constructed their own CO2 car to exacting specifications (think Pinewood Derby, but really, really fast and a little out of control!). They raced their cars in heats and at the end of the day Todd emerged as champion. He is invited to attend the national competition in Texas -- we'll have to see about that! At any rate, he was pretty excited to have beat high schoolers! His team was the youngest one there -- the rest of the kids were from jr. highs or high schools. Many of his teammates did great as well. They swept the medals in the CO2 races and the flight challenge. Todd won a bronze in that. The flight challenge requires the student to design, cut out, and construct a balsa wood glider and then fly it, in the hopes it outperforms everyone else's. He was very surprised to have placed. We're SO proud of him and his hard work. He has learned a lot this year about the importance of precision and taking your time. Both lessons he needed to learn! It's so much better when it comes from someone besides Mom and Dad! Thanks Mr. Buck!

Don't Tell Brad

Don't tell Brad I told you this because he is SUPER embarrassed ... Last Saturday he was trying to fix a problem we're having with our phone lines on the main level of our house. He was checking relays, etc. and needed to get up on the roof. He crawled up on his ladder and was about to step on to the roof, when the ladder completely slipped out from under him. His first thought was, "Oh no, I didn't make it on to the roof!" Followed quickly by his second thought, "OH NO, THIS IS GOING TO HURT!!!" He fell nearly 10 feet on to the concrete and the ladder on his right side. Kate was in the kitchen mopping the floor and I was upstairs working on my YW lesson. I just heard her howl "DADDY!" in that awful, 'something is really wrong' tone of voice you hate to hear. I flew down the stairs yelling "what happened? what happened?" All I could hear was a wild wail of fear and "Daddy, daddy, daddy!" I got outside to find him doubled over and hardly able to breathe (the fall completely knocked the wind out of him) and white as a ghost. After an eternity he started to breathe again and we started to take stock of his injuries. His right leg felt weird and disconnected, and he couldn't put much weight on it. I talked him in to going to the emergency room, just to be sure no permanent damage or hidden injuries were lurking. He was SO embarrassed, because, in a small town you know everyone and everyone knows you! We literally knew all but one person on staff at the emergency room that afternoon. Not his proudest moment having to recount the afternoon's events to them! I was relieved to learn that his leg was not cracked, just deeply bruised. We did figure out, though, as time passed, that he had definitely broken some ribs. The pain was a little late in registering, but progressively got worse as the hours passed. He has been one sore guy! Breathing is not fun, and laughing, coughing, and sneezing about bring to his knees. I feel so sorry for him! But in true Brad form, he hasn't slowed down one bit -- he even got up Sunday morning for his early meetings (even though the Bishopric gave him a pass the night before). He is Frederic, a slave of duty, if there ever was one (hats off to Gilbert and Sullivan!). I've begged him to come home from work a little early every day this week, and tonight when he walked in the door at 5:57 he said, "Hey, I got home a little early today!" WHATEVER!

Oh. My. Gosh.

The craziest thing happened to me tonight while I was driving to Burley for Jr. Miss practice. My friend Amber was in the passenger seat and Kate and Amber's daughter, Sadie were in the back seat. The weather turned nasty all of a sudden and a microburst blew through. We just happened to be on the highway between Rupert and Heyburn as it passed over us. The wind was blowing SO hard and giants sheets of rain completely obscured the road. We were kind of floating back and forth on these massive waves of water. It felt so strange. Then the lightening started -- GIANT, bright, and CLOSE. About 50 feet to the side of the highway we saw a huge flash of light, then the power pole to the side of us fell down over the train tracks! That started a little domino effect as 3 or 4 more power poles came down one after the other. Each topple was followed by a big splash of sparks and fire. It was so surreal that I couldn't do anything except say "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh" every time another pole came down. I didn't even think about slowing down in case the poles kept falling and eventually crashed down on the road! I am ridiculous in an emergency. It honestly took me over a half an hour to process how weird and dangerous the whole situation was. Thankfully we're all safe and sound -- and one exciting story richer!

Last Year in Single Digits!

My little girl is growing up! How the years have flown with this angelic, spunky, creative, beautiful little whirlwind we call Kate. She has been such a joy to raise. She is a tender-hearted, snuggly little redbird, but she manages to hold her own with her two brothers in a most impressive fashion. I love that she ADORES animals of any and all kinds (be they stuffed or otherwise). I love that she loves to dance and sing and play dress up. I especially love that she and her best friend, Sadie, dream up crazy make believe games like "Scientist Princess"! I love? that she is so naive and tender that she gets absolutely scared to death during Scooby-Doo! She makes me laugh so hard when she gets up in the night to go to the bathroom -- she never remembers a thing -- but she is highly entertaining!! What a blessing to have been entrusted with one of the most angelic little spirits to have ever graced heaven's planes. We are truly blessed. We love you, Katie-bug! Happy Birthday ... and many more.

Todd's Memory Book

Todd also had a HUGE writing assignment this year. It was extremely painful at times (for both him and his mother), but we persevered and the result is a beautiful 13 chapter memory book all about Todd. I learned a lot of new and interesting things about him and truly treasure this keepsake/history of the first 12 years of his life. He is a multi-faceted guy!

If you'd like to browse through it, you're welcome to. If not, we're not offended! It's 13 chapters, after all! And admittedly, it will be most interesting to Mom, Dad, Grandma, and Grandpa!

For the abbreviated version, you might just want to look through the title pages for each of his chapters. You get a pretty good idea of the content just from the picture choices. As a side note, may I just mention that kids today are exceptionally adept at using the computer! Wow -- go Todd!

** Editor's note: I think I've got these files embedded correctly now, so that you don't even have to log in to Google Docs to view them. They should (cross fingers) just pop up when you click on the hyper text. Let me know if you're having troubles. I'm at the extreme novice level still! **

Todd's First Talk

In January, Todd was asked to give his first talk in Sacrament Meeting since receiving the priesthood in November. We brainstormed together to come up with some key points and create a kind of "web" from which to work. We also helped him mine some relevant scriptures, and then turned him loose to write it on his own. With just a few minor edits and a bit of clarification by mom, he finished it and he did a fantastic job! He was pretty nervous about the actual delivery of the material, but he came through with flying colors and received many kind and supportive compliments. I am so thankful for such a sweet, righteous, and obedient son. Could not ask for better. Period.


**If you'd like to read Todd's talk on Agency and Accountability, here's a link. :)