Truax Christmas 2011

Dear Family & Friends:

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! This is Micah writing this Christmas Card (with a few clarifications by mom in parenthesis). We’ve had a great year this year. Here is an update on everyone.

Family:

This year our family moved to South Jordan (in Salt Lake City, UT area) from St George. We love it here even though we’ve had to make new friends. But we’ve still had a great time. We are thankful that we have enough money to pay rent and keep living. We are glad that we can afford the food that we need. For Thanksgiving some of our family visited from Texas. We liked having them here. Some of the fun things we’ve done this year are: going to Texas (just the kids) to visit family, eating pie for Thanksgiving, going to the museum, going to the library, playing in the snow, making new friends, surviving the cold air and roasting marshmallows and making s’mores in our backyard.

Micah:

I had a great time this year while having Thanksgiving, Halloween, and so soon Christmas. I have been homeschooled this year and have learned my times tables, division, astronomy, ancient and medieval history and have read tons of books. I have also gotten lots and lots of sleepy time. In August I went on a cruise with my grandparents. I got to swim, dress up like a pirate, got a Pluto dog, saw stingrays, and ate a ton of ice cream. Almost 8 bowls! In October I turned 8 years old. I got baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on November 5^th. I got a new suit and looked just like my daddy. I also got new scriptures, a Perry the Platypus stuffed animal, and some new clothes. After I turned 8, I got to start participating in Boy Scouts. I’ve already passed off a bunch of things and am about to get 2 belt loops. I love that my mom and dad get to be my scout leaders and that we have lots of cool activities. I am really excited for Christmas!

Isabel:

Isabel graduated from 8^th Grade at George Washington Academy in St George this past year. As Student Body President, she had to give a speech at graduation. She did a great job on her talk and I loved it even though I think she might have been a little bit nervous because she talked really fast. Isabel was really sad and mad about moving from St George because of all her friends that she loved. But now that she has new friends, she loves it here in Salt Lake. She is going to a performing arts school (Salt Lake School of the Performing Arts or SPA) and is taking dance, acting and voice. She was recently in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at the school. She danced and sang a solo. She dyed her hair bright red this year, and I think it looks awesome. Now she is having a great time getting presents ready for family and friends. Isabel is so awesome that I never want to live without her.

Emma:

Emma finished up 10^th grade at Dixie High School. She was also sad about moving, but made new friends just like Isabel did. Emma turned 16 years old this October. She hasn’t gotten her driver’s license yet, but she has her permit. She’s still waiting to go on her first date, but she’s had 2 kisses (she has NOT had 2 “real” kisses… this is just a game she plays while in the car and she collected 2 kisses last night while driving around). She annoyed me a lot this year. She was able to participate in the Shakespeare Competition this year and had a great time realizing she loves Shakespeare! She was also in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels with her sisters. She danced and had some lines. She loved the play. Emma is taking dance and acting at the performing arts school. She is also taking a Child Development class. She gets to teach preschoolers and bring them cookies. She has a heart that loves everyone even though she’s also crazy!

Tori:

Tori finished up 11^th grade at Dixie High School. This summer she spent a month in Texas nannying her cousin Cade. She loved spending time with him! However, she hated moving so much before her Senior year. She cried and cried and screamed. But now Tori loves it at SPA. She has made a lot of friends including a guy named Traven. I think Traven is awesome!. She has been able to participate in the Shakespeare Competition, Musical Theater and Acting Conservatory (all required auditioning). She also serves as Activities Chairman for the Conservatory. She enjoyed dancing, singing and acting in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Now she is rehearsing for The Mill on the Floss where she will be playing the part of Mrs. Tulliver. Tori is trying to get into a good college for next year so she can get a good education. She wants to study theater and graphic arts. I think Tori is the smartest sister ever.

Mommy:

Mommy was the one that got the crazy idea to move. Mommy didn’t like moving either, but she felt like it was the right thing to do so that we would be able to see our daddy more often. She was released as Young Women President and cried so much that she flooded the house. Once we moved to South Jordan, mommy got us all unpacked and settled into our new home. Mom thinks this area is a great area for our family to live because we have a lot of friends. She was called to serve as the Wolf Den Leader, which is why she is my scout leader. She likes it because she gets to spend more time with me. She hasn’t done anything else that I know of.

Daddy:

Daddy likes watching football. His work is downstairs in our basement. Dad sells leads on the internet and is trying to get his internet business successful enough that he can do more traveling with our family and work less. He works lots and lots for right now. Dad was called to serve as Cub Master. He gives out awards, plays games with the scouts and decides what cheers we get to do at Pack Meeting. Dad is always busy. He never has time to do anything with us anymore. I think he should spend more time with me, because the only time he spends time with me is on Saturday and Sunday. (in spite of the fact that he is busy, he always finds time to spend with the family when necessary!)

Mom & Dad:

Mom and dad had a great time going on a cruise to Roatan, Belize, & Mexico. They liked getting some alone time together without us kids.

I hope you’ve had a great year too. I’m glad I know that the true meaning of Christmas is Jesus’ birth. We hope you have a Merry, Merry Christmas!

Love,

Micah James Truax (MicJay)

Let The Adventure Continue

I admit it. I’m not exceptional at math. However, I am good at counting. And I’ve been especially proficient at counting how many times I’ve moved our family in the last “just under 20” years. I can’t recall meeting anyone that I didn’t beat at the “I’ve moved more than you” game. I count the big moves. I count the small moves. Any time I have to pack and move boxes, it counts.

Well. Here we go… again.

James may be happy to know that I will not be counting living with my parents for a few weeks while the kids finish up school in St. George as a “move”. Instead, I’ll call it a “passage of transition”. There is a reason for this. A very good reason.

You see, this next move is a BIG move! It’s what I’m going to call our “Silver Move”. Yes – this will be our 25^th move! I want to make this a very special move. I want this move to be the best move yet. I want James and I to really enjoy the opportunity we have to move yet again (And by “James and I”, I mean that I will inevitably get to do most of the packing and moving and James will do everything he can to help me enjoy the move).

So, in preparation for this move, I’ve done a little research.

The silver 25th anniversary is a milestone wedding anniversary. And rightly so! Spending a quarter of a century in love with one person is to be celebrated. So why shouldn’t the 25^th move be a milestone in a marriage as well? (I mean, it has been awfully nice of me to follow James around so much…) In anticipation of James helping me enjoy this move a little more, I’ve come across the following ideas (some better than others):

25^th Anniversary Traditional Gift Ideas: Silver (Silver is the metal most noted for the twenty-fifth anniversary due to its radiance and brilliance.) Some Alternatives: Tsavorite, Green Garnet. (Set in silver perhaps?)

25^th Anniversary Flower: Iris (I actually love flowers, but don’t like them as gifts because they are expensive and then DIE and therefore are, in my opinion, a waste of money… I know, so abnormal for a woman.)

Additional Gift Ideas:

• Purchase theatre tickets and wrap with a silver ribbon or place in a silver box.

• Plan a trip to Silver Springs in Florida or Silverstrand Beach in Ireland. (If traveling somewhere with the word “Silver” in it is difficult, I’d settle for Antigua.)

• Silver Jewelry

• Make a Silver Wish Tree. Paint a big branch silver and decorate with silver ribbons, ornaments etc. Fill the branches with pictures, tickets for a trip, travelers checks, gift certificates for different events and restaurants you could use on a trip, etc. (James can keep it simple and leave out the tree if necessary.)

Although I'm really going to hate saying good-bye to everyone in St George, I’m really looking forward to this move. Of course, the first step is getting James to see this post… because he would never realize on his own what a big event this move actually is. But, as soon as he realizes, I’m sure he’ll be completely on board with my celebration ideas!

*Disclaimer: Although moving has certainly had its challenges and is most definitely not my favorite activity, I must make it clear that I would follow James to the moon and back millions and billions of times. So although I may complain about the task of “moving”, there are absolutely no complaints about doing whatever it takes to be with James!

The Talent Show

Isabel performed at her school talent show yesterday. Sadly, we had an unfortunate series of events prior to the talent show and our video camera ended up locked in our car across town from the school. As a result, my only recording option was my cell phone. It's not great quality and has no zoom, but it's better than nothing.

This is Isabel singing "Here I Am" from "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels". Enjoy!

Toothless

As of May 9th Micah has lost 6 teeth. He hates having his teeth pulled out. It seems like he is constantly getting pestered by someone when he has a loose tooth. "Let me just see how loose it is", "Can I just try to pull it out?", "Wiggle it for me". The poor kid starts crying any time anyone comes near. Last Sunday morning he woke up and had his 6th tooth just dangling from his gums. When he got to church people noticed his tooth and asked him if they could try to pull it out before we even went into Sacrament meeting (that's how loose it was!). Of course, he declined.

However, halfway through Sacrament meeting Micah held up his tooth to show James and I that it had finally fallen out. We found a safe place to store it during church until we could get it home and ready for the tooth fairy. Then (without me noticing somehow) he got a hold of my phone, took a picture of himself and posted it on facebook. Here is our little toothless boy:

Great Kids!

Sometimes I am overwhelmed with the gratitude I feel for my family.

For example, in April the girls and I attended the General Young Women Broadcast. It was a typical Saturday, except for the fact that we had to get into our Sunday clothes that evening and head to the church for a 1 1/2 hour meeting. I always enjoy the talks, but know that it's a sacrifice to ask anyone to give up a Saturday night to hang out with their mom at the church. My girls attended the meeting without one complaint and sat reverently listening. I found myself getting emotional as I reflected on how blessed I am to have such amazing daughters. Daughters that want to do what's right and don't give me too much trouble (unless you count kitchen jobs a huge issue).

A few days ago I was talking to a friend that has been dealing with some struggles in her life. Her comment to me was, "I'm so grateful for your girls! They have loved me when I didn't feel that I was loved. They always seek me out and give me a hug. They have been such a blessing in my life!" Again, how did I become so blessed?

Then there was the Sunday that we had our Stake leaders visit us in Young Women. They played a "Unity Game" with us. The first Stake leader stood up in front with a ball of yarn and talked about someone that she admired, then threw the ball of yarn to her. That person would throw the ball of yarn to the next person, and so forth, until we could all literally see that we were tied together in unity. The first person chosen by the Stake leader was Tori. She talked about how they had gone on a camp out and Tori had been so helpful and friendly. It was another moment when I realized how blessed I am to be her mother.


Just this morning I received an email from one of Emma's teachers: "Hi - This is Terri Lusk. I teach Emma science here at Dixie Middle. She has been such a pleasure to have in class that I wanted to take a minute and tell you what a wonderful daughter you have. Respectful and a friend to everyone. Emma is just a happy girl. Thanks for sharing her with me this year. Ms. Lusk" Emma IS an amazing friend to so many. She IS always happy. She IS a blessing in my life.


I have been watching Isabel lately. She ran for Student Body President, was in "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" and auditioned for the talent show all within the last 2 weeks. She always exhibits such class. Not only is she extremely talented, but more importantly she treats everyone with respect and love and genuinely lights up the room when she walks in. People can feel that she loves them. It has been a joy to watch her grow up.


And I suppose we shouldn't forget Micah. This morning on the way home from taking the kids to school he said, "Mom, can we please stop by grandma's house on the way home? I need to thank her for the graduation gift and give her a hug." A thoughtful act that was not prompted by anyone. What a great kid.


The examples could go on and on... but today I just wanted to reflect (and record) the gratitude I have for my incredible children! I am so blessed to have these amazing people in my life!

Tori's Gift

A few days before Mother's Day, Tori mentioned that she had thought of the perfect gift to give me. She stated that I would especially love it because "it came from the heart". She was right. This is the picture she gave me on the evening of Mother's Day with a sweet note. I think it's beautiful.

Micah's Gift

I loved my Mother's Day gift from Micah. I found it in his backpack after all the celebrations were over and the kids were in bed. He must have forgotten that he made it for me at school.

His gift actually had two parts. The first was a "fill-in-the-blank" poem he had written for me. It said:

I Love You Poem

My mom likes to watch Biggest Loser.
My mom likes to play.
She also likes to snuggle with me.
She is great in every way.

I like the way Mom bakes pizza.
I like the way she shares.
She always tries to not be mean.
And I know she really cares.

My mom is really nice.
She's loveing, yes, it's true.
That's why I want to tell you, Mom,
Just how much I love you.

Love,
Micah Truax

The second part of his gift was a "Kindergarten Recipe Book". Each of the kindergarten students were asked "What is your favorite recipe your mom makes? How does she make it?" The students answers were written down word for word and printed up for all the moms. This was Micah's entry:

Micah - Homemade Pizza

She makes the dough well she gets the ingredients out and some of the ingredients I remember is salt, cheese, sauce and flour and I think - I think vanilla - yeah, vanilla. Then she puts actually some flour on the table then she puts the dough on the table and puts it in a round, flat surface. Then she puts it in a pan in the oven for a little bit. Then she puts some sauce and cheese on it and puts it back in the oven and we wait for it. Then we take it out and put it on the counter then on the plates then we eat it!

Micah loves to help me make homemade pizza. It's one of my kids favorite meals. We usually make 2 pizzas (one cheese, and one pineapple). They actually prefer homemade pizza to frozen pizza or restaurant pizza. Since it's a lot cheaper than a pizza parlor I don't argue with them, especially since it doesn't take too long to make. I'm posting the recipe below, just in case you want to try it for yourself. (Thanks to Tryn Paxton for the recipe!)


Homemade Pizza

1 T active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 T olive oil
2 cups flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in sugar, salt, oil, and flour. Knead dough for 5 minutes by hand or in a bread machine. You do not need to let this dough rise. Roll dough out on a baking stone or a greased pizza pan sprinkled lightly with cornmeal to prevent sticking.* Use the back of a spoon to spread pizza sauce of choice. Add desired pizza toppings and grated cheese. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.

* To prevent a doughy pizza crust, I put the pizza crust into the oven for about 5 minutes prior to putting the pizza sauce, toppings & cheese on the crust.

Mother's Day

I hate Mother's Day. I think it's because I'm such a selfish person. Every year I get upset because my kids and husband aren't sensitive enough to MY needs, they don't pamper ME enough, they fail to get ME the gift I asked for. In addition, I allow it to be a reminder of all the things I fall short of as a mother. I don't know why I fall into the "guilt" trap, but I do.

This year was going to be different. James was going to be out of town on Mother's Day. I was going to pretend that it didn't exist for me. Instead, I was going to focus on celebrating the fact that I have an AMAZING mother. I made plans with my dad to bring my mom to my home for a special Mother's Day dinner, and arranged for my siblings that live nearby to come for dessert.

However, Saturday came and I found myself getting increasingly more irritated with my family. Regardless of my plans to pretend that Mother's Day didn't exist for me, I just couldn't seem to help feeling that no one cared as much as I wanted them to. I fell into my selfish trap and told myself all day long that Mother's Day was the WORST day of the year.

I stopped by my mom's house and vented a bit. She told me that she had always worn black on Mother's Day because she was in mourning. I have a funny mom.

I vented to a friend and we made plans to take a vacation next year over Mother's Day weekend. We decided that for Mother's Day the best gift would be to get away from our families.

I watched the Mother's Day episode of "The Middle" and thought, "SEE!!! Mother's Day IS a horrible, horrible holiday. No one appreciates us for everything we really do."

I went to bed on Saturday night frustrated and angry. Tired because I had done the cleaning and shopping and cooking in preparation for "my" Mother's Day.

Sunday morning came, and I felt better. I had gotten all my frustration and anger out in the open the day before, and I was ready to deal with whatever Mother's Day turned out to be (or not be). I went to church and started listening to the lists of "what every good mother should do..." Surprisingly as the list went on and on, I found myself thinking, "Hey! I'm doing a lot of these things. I'm certainly not doing them all, nor am I doing them perfectly. But I'm doing my best and I'm not going to feel guilty about it." (Now that's a much different reaction than I felt a few years ago!) After church I went home and took a short nap before getting dinner ready. We enjoyed a nice meal with my parents. It was also fun to have the additional family members come over for dessert.

While my sister was visiting, she mentioned that someone at church had told her that mother's day was her favorite holiday. My sister said, "Are you serious? Why?" This mother answered, "Because I LOVE being a mom and I love that I can reflect on how blessed I am to have kids." That was my first wake-up call. I need to make my mother's day more about how much I love being a mom and less about how I want a break from being a mom.

Later in the evening I received a text from a friend that said, "I hope you enjoyed your mother's day. Hopefully you had a nice dinner with your mom. I've been missing my mom today." Her mom passed away a few years ago. That was my second wake-up call. As I mentioned, I have an AMAZING mom. She is someone I truly look up to. She is an example of someone that really tries to live a good life. She is selfless, spiritual, hard working, Christ-like and really cares about her family. I can't imagine not having her in my life. However, in spite of my decision to make mother's day about my mom, I had failed to give up my selfish expectations. I needed to make mother's day more about rejoicing in the fact that I have a wonderful mother in my life that I honor and respect.

And in actuality, it WAS a nice mother's day. I can't wait until next year.

Election Results

Every spring, George Washington Academy has elections for Student Body President, Vice President & Secretary. The 8th graders fill the position for the president, 7th graders vice president and 6th graders secretary. Since Isabel will be in 8th grade next year, she decided to run for Student Body President.

As part of her campaign, Isabel skipped lunch and went around to each of the classrooms to meet the student body. She introduced herself, told everyone she was running for president, and asked all the kids what they felt the issues at GWA were. After she gathered all the information, she created (all on her own) a skit to perform at the election assembly. She got a friend to participate in the skit and even asked one of her teachers and me to join in the fun. The skit was all about the school issues and after each issue was addressed, Isabel would turn to the student body and state: "If I were president I would..." The students cheered for her and her solutions to all the problems they had shared with her.

Although I realized that most of her statements were most likely "empty promises", I was proud of her for making such an effort to familiarize herself with the desires of the student body. I was also proud of her for running the entire campaign on her own. She truly showed that she has the ability to work hard, love and care for students of all ages and listen to their concerns. She also showed that she would be a great representative for the student body.

After the election assembly, Isabel had mixed feelings. She was running against two of her dear friends and she realized that regardless of the results, the outcome would be bitter-sweet. She wanted to win, but she didn't want her friends to lose. She was afraid that if she won they would be upset with her. Anticipating the results became quite emotional for this sensitive girl.

James and I escorted her to school the following morning so we could hear the results and be there to support her.

So... any guesses as to the results of this election? Let's just say that next year will be a busy year for Isabel, and James and I are very proud of our little politician.

CONGRATULATIONS ISABEL!

Valentine's Day is almost here. That means that parents get a note home from school saying "Please send 26 Valentine's to school with your child for our Valentine's Day party." I try to be creative and help my kids (this year I only have 1 child required to take Valentine's to school) get something ready to take.

Tonight Micah and I sat down to make Valentine's for his classmates. He was specifically told that it would take too long to distribute Valentine's if they were each labeled for individual children. However, when it was time to make Valentine's he just couldn't resist making a special Valentine for his "girlfriend" (the cute girl in the class that he really likes, but she doesn't necessarily like him back).


He also wrote Valentine Letters to his 2 teachers. He wrote them all by himself (only asked me how to spell a couple of the words) and this is what he came up with.

Dear Miss Catlett, Will you be my Valentine? I like the way you do math with us. Say Hi to Mr Wilson for me OK? Love, Micah Truax

Dear Mr Wilson, Can you do math with us because I like your wig hat. Can you bring it tomorrow? Love Micah Truax

Blood, Blood Everywhere...

Last weekend I sat down to organize my grocery list. Micah was bored and needing something to do. I got one of my brilliant ideas and had him come and sit beside me. I had a number of recipes that needed to be cut out, so I let him take care of them for me. After he was finished I told him he could continue cutting paper into shapes.

Everything was going well. He was having a great time, and I was able to focus on getting my task accomplished. Suddenly Micah started screaming. I looked, realized he'd cut himself, grabbed him and ran to the sink. Fortunately James was home and able to take charge. It took a LOT of pressure and a LOT of time to get the bleeding to stop. Micah was not happy at all that we were making his finger hurt even worse. Even after we got the bleeding to slow down, it still took a lot of time to get it to stop. We sat down and read "Harry Potter" to get his mind off his new injury. That seemed to do the trick, and we were carried away into the land of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Finally, once the bleeding stopped we were able to "glue" the cut together with "New Skin" and put a band-aid over his finger. It was a pretty deep cut and we're glad everything worked out all right. I think Micah will be a little more careful with scissors in the future. And I may re-think my brilliant ideas...

School Begins

Although I know this is a bit overdue, I decided to post the pictures we took on the first day of school. We have no pictures of Tori and Emma, just Micah and Isabel (Tori and Emma started school 3 days later, so by then we weren't thinking "1st day of school" thoughts anymore). But regardless, I thought it was worth posting since they both look so cute in their uniforms.

Isabel and Micah prepare to head to school.

Micah's 1st day of Kindergarten.

Isabel's 1st day of 7th Grade.

Future Lyricist?

Many of you know that the Truax Trio has composed and recorded a few amazing songs. Micah has decided that he doesn't like being left out of the song writing arena, so he has composed a song of his own. You can check out the lyrics yourself (no recording as of yet) and let him know what you think about his future career. (In order to see the picture more clearly, you may need to click on it. However, I've typed the lyrics below... and without spelling errors... so you can easily check it out.)

On a high hill

Little men sat and sat
And waited calmly.
But one day a lion came
And ate them.
But Jesus came
And saved them.
And then wonderful
Things happened.

-Micah James Truax
August 29, 2009

Sacrament Meeting Scare

Yesterday Tori was the youth speaker in our ward. She had worked on her talk all by herself and James and I were looking forward to hearing her speak. For those of you that have never heard Tori speak, she is a great speaker. She is engaging and dynamic.

After the sacrament, the bishopric member announced that Tori would be speaking next. She stood up to speak and began sharing her thoughts on "Integrity". After about the first paragraph I started thinking, "What is going on? She is stumbling over her words. That's not like Tori." Then I realized that it was probably something with her vision. Perhaps her contacts were bugging her, the font was too small, the lighting was bad...

She continued on and I watched her and wished that I could help her not stumble so much. It was so unlike her. Then she started saying the same 2-3 words over and over again. She just couldn't seem to get the words out. I wondered if she was feeling emotional. When suddenly she fainted and fell to the floor.

Instantly James and I jumped up and ran to the stand to check on her. By the time we got to the stand she was just starting to come to. A Doctor from the ward came up and checked her pulse and made sure she was all right. He asked me if she had been fasting. I said, "No". After she rested a bit on the floor, we were able to help her back to her seat where James sat next to her for the rest of the meeting. I went and sat back down with the our other kids and found out that I had been mistaken (off course this should be no surprise since I had been busy with my own Sunday meetings and responsibilities). Tori hadn't eaten that morning. It suddenly started making sense. The day before she had been sick and had stayed in bed all day, hardly eating anything. Sunday she hadn't been feeling 100% yet, but felt that she was okay to go to church. However, again, she hadn't eaten much if any food that morning (our church is at 1 o'clock). No wonder she had such a reaction.

We decided that this would be the most memorable talk Tori ever gives.

(I wish I had a picture or video of her fainting, but no such luck. You'll just have to imagine it.)

Our Kindergartner

School started on August 10 this year for Isabel and Micah. After a lot of deliberation, we finally consented to allow Micah to attend kindergarten (the first of our children able to experience this). Not knowing how our youngest and only boy would respond to being thrown into a classroom where he wasn't the center of attention anymore, I held my breath waiting for his return home. The first few days were great. He loved his teacher, he loved learning (although he is constantly saying, "Mom, you don't learn things in kindergarten, you just have fun!"), and he seemed to be making friends.

However, by the end of the first week, we got a note home from the school. "Micah is calling people names." Apparently he had called someone a "stupid-head". We sat down and discussed the importance of treating people with respect, signed the note, and sent it back to the school.

The second week of school I sat down with Micah to do homework and opened his folder to find another note from the school. I said, "Micah, what is this." He said, "I don't know. Let me see it." He grabbed the note (see picture below), read it and fell to the floor sobbing. He cried out "I HATE kindergarten! It's the worst place in the whole world. You can't even hug and kiss there!" After calming him down, we were able to talk about when it's appropriate and who it's appropriate to hug and kiss. Then I asked him to sign the note. He said, "FINE!", grabbed the note from me and signed it adding his own little note (see picture below... it says "Micah will never kiss and hug").



It's going to be a fun year.

Bye Bye Birdie: May 2009

The Truax kids have always been overly dramatic, but now they are starting to put this gift to some good use. Recently Tori was cast as Rose Alvarez in the Dixie Middle School production of "Bye Bye Birdie". She looked beautiful, sang like a bird and definitely captured the essence of "Rosie" with her acting. We can't wait to see what the future holds for this talented girl!

Tori singing "One Boy Reprise"


Tori waits patiently backstage for her entrance.


Rose & Albert proclaim their love for one another.


Tori celebrates a job well done!

Beach Vacation: May 2009

Every year Granddaddy Stewart and Grandma Nuki take advantage of their time-share and rent a condo for a family reunion/vacation. This year we were able to go to San Diego. Our family wasn't able to go for the entire week, but we were able to enjoy a few days in Southern California. We spent time at the beach (in spite of the chilly weather), swam in the pool, went to the 3-D movie "UP", went shopping at the Orange County Swap Meet, enjoyed good food & company and watched "The Mummy" and "The Mummy Returns" until the wee hours of the morning (the kids favorite activity). All in all it was a nice change of pace for our family and wonderful to spend some time together.

Isabel building a fortress on the San Diego beach


Shelly & Micah getting ready to head back to the warmth of the condo.

Tori & Emma winning the "Teen Dance Contest" at the Orange County Swap Meet (they were the only teenage participants, but still deserving of the prize).

James enjoying a dipped ice cream bar with almonds. A favorite treat at the Orange County Swap Meet. Thanks Grandma!!!

Micah is excited about the toy car he was able to purchase at the Orange County Swap Meet.

Emma, tired after a late night of watching "The Mummy" enjoys cold cereal for breakfast.