Blue and Gold Banquet

I don't know but I've been told,

It is time for Blue and Gold!

Sound off...

What can I say? We rocked the house. The BSA's theme was "Light a Candle." Huh?! So we changed their lame theme to something more macho: The Military. The CSU ROTC came to do our flag ceremony. Some people got teary eyes. All of our in-active boys in primary were in attendance --with the exception of two. We presented dog tags to all the boys (while playing the Top Gun theme) and served MRE desserts.

Sitting on camo blankets.

Tribute to soldiers in the background.

The kids pose in front of a WWII tent.

An awesome group of leaders.

St. Major Olsen gives us the game plan.

The ROTC guys prepare to present the colors (while the Young Women swoon).

A talk about why we do a flag ceremony.




Tug of war. When it was the adults' turn, the rope broke.

Camo face paint.

Camo cookies.

Pizza pot-luck.

Part of our obstacle course.

Hello, Sailor!

Crawling under barbed wire.

Experiences from a veteran.

The presentation of the dog tags.

Some happy Cub Scouts.

What We've Been Up To

We've spent the last two weeks very sick with pink eye and the flu. Spending so much time at home, however, has afforded some of us a little extra time for creativity. Pictured below:

Marie-"The Blue Girl Musketeer"
Ben-A picture says a thousand words
Grace-Found herself an adhesive alternative to band aides.

Christmas

Admittedly, the frequency with which I post pictures is entirely inadequate. I like to tell myself it is because I'd rather spend time doing more important things, such as reading to my kids. Shamefully, here are the two pictures we took at Christmas.

The first is a chair that James and I re-upholstered. It was my mom's when she was little. The second is a picture of Marie and Tessa in their indian wigs. Marie is Pocahontus, Tess is Princess Tiger Lily. Grace's bare chest is part of her costume.

Why Allie Hasn't Posted in a While

Reason #1

Grand Valley Marathon, May 8th. Anyone who wants to do the 5K, 10K, full or half marathon can let me know and I'll e-mail you the training schedule.

Reason #2

Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet, February 3. Military theme. It's going to be intense. Anyone know where I can get a tank for the church parking lot? (You only think I'm kidding.)

Believe

Never exactly sure how we do it, we pulled it off again this year. Please enjoy our Christmas video. I recommend hitting the full screen button (between the progress bar and the volume control).

Previous episodes can be found here:

2005 Nativity

2006 Grinch

2007 Sunshine

2008 Christmas Carol

Tessa's Holiday Concert

The music teacher at Pioneer Ridge Elementary plans a different Christmas program for each grade level. This year, the first graders performed "Forty Winks 'Til Christmas." Tessa volunteered for a speaking part, and when she was done, the entire audience said, "Ah" because she was so cute. Who can blame them? Just look at those curls. I will post the video as soon as James can tell me why Windows isn't recognizing the file.

Halloween

James manned the Elder's Quorum donut-eating contest.
The girls each brought a friend from school. Pictured below is Tessa's friend, Jacob.

Grace ate a chocolate cupcake while waiting in line during the trunk-or-treat.

James and I were very busy at the ward party, so our pictures are sparse. Marie was a snow queen, Tessa was a witch princess, Ben was a monkey, and Grace was Charlotte.

Snow Days!

What do you do when you are stuck inside for two days?

Read a book...

Finish some home work...

Sip a hot, pumpkin smoothie...

Turn yourself into a knight...

Create a puppet show...

And paint some rocks (keep in mind they were hard to find burried under the snow).

This one is a fossil.

Winter Trivia

Q: How many times can a mom put on and take off snow gear for four children--all prior to 9:00 a.m.--before she cracks?

A: About six. Grace alone, took 20 minutes to gear-up. She took one step onto the porch and decided she was done. That is why you don't see any pictures of her. And that is why parents of young children look 10 years older than their child-less counterparts.

Fall: Only One Week

One day the leaves are golden, the air is crisp, and baking begins...

The next thing you know, there's two feet of snow on the ground. We're in for a doozy...

Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Jelly-bean.

Anyone who has read Harry Potter will enjoy a tidbit posted on my brother's blog. Please see the video posted October 9th titled, "Bertie Botts."

It's amazing what adults--myself included--can be pressured into doing late at night.


http://www.jaromandmelissaguthrie.blogspot.com

Heaven

Today Ben said, "Heaven looks blue with a little bit of green."

Amen.

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