Science Demo Team

This year Thomas was part of the Science Demo Team. Every Thursday they would teach the 1st grade classes new and fun experiments.

They put on a little assembly to show some of the "magic" of science...

Last but not least, the coke and mentos experiment...

Mrs. Ahlstrom has been so wonderful to share her passion and excitement for science. What is so impressive is that the kids had to TEACH what they learned! They learned so much more then just reading about it in textbooks... Thanks Mrs. Ahlstrom :)

I am sure the 1st graders LOVE having them come!

Speech Fair

Each year Emily performs in a speech fair for the Deaf and Hearing impaired kids ages 3-18

Emily LOVES going because she gets to see old friends and teachers from her preschool days.

This year Emily told the story 

"The little mouse, the red ripe strawberry and the BIG HUNGRY BEAR"

She did an amazing job! It's so fun to see how far she has come and how well she speaks even with her hearing impairment! She has so much confidence!

Colby was one of her best buddies...

Becky and Lori were her preschool teachers
Great job Emily! We are so proud of you!!!

Put on the ARMOR!

Thomas made his very own armor for his 6th grade medieval day. They got to fight with "swords" and everything!

Thomas had the most points in the class for all the things he did so he was appointed the KING! Channel 13 news came to film the kids. Big Buddah had fun fighting with Thomas. Thomas was a great sport!

Regions

It's Region time!

The kids were so PUMPED and READY!!

1st event: 1 mile

The group got off to a slow start making it hard for Jac to get a qualifying time. After the first lap when she heard the time, she got discouraged and let herself stop trying. She told us her mental preparation went out the door... (and you could tell!) It was painful to watch the 2nd and 3rd lap as she let girls pass. FINALLY on the 4th and final lap she "woke up" and kicked it in passing 3 girls. Even though it was a tough race, she came in 7th place overall! 
How can you be upset about that?  
DAY 2
Kenzie and Jac slept in, skipped 1st period to eat a hearty breakfast of baked oatmeal (yes, it's good!) and eggs.  It's much more fun to eat with friends :)

Getting mentally FOCUSED for the 2 mile...

One of the biggest lessons Jac has learned this year is that she needs to run her OWN race! She can't depend on any other runner to take the lead because they might be having an off day or another event they are saving for. Some girls can sprint at the end, Jac doesn't have a kick; her strength is consistency. Knowing this, she planned HER strategy and stopped worrying about what any of the other girls were doing.

Jac and Kenz got off to a GREAT start... no getting boxed in today :)

It was a tough race but Jac was DETERMINED. She stayed mentally IN the race and it payed off!

Jac finished in 3rd place with 11:53.

STATE here she comes!

Some of the awesome track buddies
Abby, Min, Kenz, Emily, Jac, Coach Hays, Beans
Congrats Jac... We are so 
PROUD OF YOU!

Mothers day...

Some women don't like Mother's day because they feel so inadequate. I had a friend give the BEST advice... EMBRACE it! Why not let yourself ENJOY 1 day of pampering and LOVE from your family who KNOW all of your weaknesses yet, LOVE YOU ANYWAY!

So, I DID! As you can see, my family spoiled me with an amazing breakfast, fun, thoughtful and  sweet gifts; and the best part was being able to spend the WHOLE day TOGETHER!

Thomas made a book of poems. Here is one of them... he know just the right things to say :) 

WHAT IS A MOTHER?

A mother is a tender touch

A person who loves you very much

The very person you can count on

Even when you've left your light on

The person who willingly cleans the house

But will never, ever pick up a dead mouse

The person who loves the healthy foods 

Although you can never predict her moods

My love for you I can't express

You, my mother, the very best!

Matt and I celebrated our 17th anniversary on Friday. Jac asked us if we had imagined our lives to be any different when we got married. It was so cool to be able to look at her and honestly say,
"This is EXACTLY how we imagined our life!"
Obviously, we had no idea what challenges we would be facing but they have taken us on the road we have always desired... Luckily it's where the Lord wants us too!
We have each other, we have 3 of the best kids in the whole world, we have a great house with amazing neighbors, friends and family surrounding us, Matt has a great job and we have have the gospel... it doesn't get much better than this!
I am so grateful Matt agreed to take me out 17 years ago, even though it took some convincing, it proved to be one of the best decisions of our lives :) 

Get up and finish the race...

BYU Invitational... a privilege to be there since you have to qualify... 

beautiful day... feeling STRONG and READY!

After getting boxed in at the start and having to go into lane 6 to get out of the crowd, she  push her way to the front. She stayed in front for the first 2 laps making it her fastest 800 yet!
As I was watching her turn the corner, my heart SANK as I watched her GO DOWN!!  A girl tried to pass but cut in too soon; Jac caught her heal, lost her balance and went down bringing another girl down with her.

I was heart broken, this was her race! This was her day! How was she going to handle this? 

As quickly as she fell, she was back on her feet giving it her all to fight her way back. She did good but by the 4th lap her energy was zapped. She came in at a 5:37 which is still VERY IMPRESSIVE!

You can see the pain in her face and her knee has the road rash to prove it.
The amazing part of this story is
#1 she KEPT RUNNING
#2 she didn't let it get her down!
As we were gearing up for the tears and meltdown we 'knew would be coming' she walked up and said, "That was my best 800 time in the mile yet! I was right on track and I KNOW I can do it next time!"
No tears, no anger, just pure determination to prove it at Regions this Wednesday.
Jac may not have won this race but she is well on her way to winning the race of life with an attitude like that!
I am so proud of this girl and the woman she is becoming. 
THANK YOU JAC for being such a great EXAMPLE to us all! 

Rad Kids...

For the past few months Emily's class has been doing a program called RAD KIDS. The purpose of the program is to make them more aware of the dangers around them and give them ways to protect themselves.
With a personality like Emily's you get conversations like this...

(Emily calls me the minute she gets home) "Mom, there is a car out front with two people in it and they aren't leaving!"
Me- "Have they come up to the door?"
Emily- "No, but they aren't leaving AND its a LEHI truck!!"
me- "They are probably workers waiting for another truck to fix the drain in the road in front of our house."
Emily - "But mom!"
I kept her on the phone till I drove up. Sure enough another Lehi truck pulled up to fix the drain.

Emily- "Oh, I am so glad Mom! I just didn't know what to do... I couldn't decide if I should call 911 or you first!"
me - "ALWAYS call me first honey!"
Emily- "OK, unless they are coming after me then I have to call 911 right?!"

Emily got to show us her skills at the graduation...

Emily tells a stranger she won't go with them and runs!

She uses the "pepper move" on this poor guy!

Finally, she showed her bravery by fighting the BAD GUY, getting away and calling home! Dont mess with our Emily! :)

Very proud RAD KID graduates!
Cambry, Em, Lily, Maddie and Faith

CONGRATS!

Look at those moves...

Spring soccer has proved to be quite intense! The boys have really stepped up their aggressive play and their hard work is paying off. So far, they are 5 wins to 1 loss!

Yep, he's learned his cool moves from his mother!

HAPPY EASTER!

We always have to keep our traditions... Egg dying, and an egg hunt! 

Even if it means dying eggs at 10:30 at night!

This year the Easter Bunny got smart and skipped the candy and put all coins in the eggs... 

Money is always a favorite with these 3 :)

The Heaps family got together for FHE and had a great Easter hunt (thanks Joe and Shirl for the fun prizes!) and lot's of FUN!

Deb reminded us that we have added 6 new family members this past year... Luckily we haven't scared them away with our craziness :)

Plasma Center

Did you know that April is Immune Deficiency month in Utah??
I actually got the Governor to sign a proclamation saying so. The goal was to have all states declare this. Last I heard there were about 25!  Why? To raise awareness...

During Spring Break the kids and I had the opportunity to visit a plasma center in Orem Utah. They treated us like royalty with a table FILLED with food! I knew they had Emily hooked when she saw the chocolate milk waiting for her.

Our main purpose in visiting the center was to THANK them for what they are doing. We were able to tell Emily's story and explain to them that through one of the medications that is made from plasma, Emily was kept alive for the first 7 years of her life. 

I seriously wanted to hug every single donor in the building! Sadly, privacy laws prohibited this (I am sure that's probably a good thing since I would have scared them a bit!) BUT, we did get the chance to thank a few of them.

It was amazing to see that the people really didn't realize what a GIFT they were giving by donating their plasma. It was so fun to see their faces when we told them our story.

We got to take a tour of the center and wear these cool lab coats. We even got to go into the freezer where they keep the plasma...it was just a little chilly at -40 degrees!!!
I was so impressed with all the steps of precaution that go into making sure the plasma is SAFE for donation. They are extremely thorough, checking, rechecking, rechecking, rechecking and then RECHECKING EVERY. SINGLE. THING!

It was such a wonderful experience for all of us. If any of you are donors or thinking of becoming one, I want to THANK YOU. You will never know how many lives you are saving!!

Utah County Invitational 2011

After a rocky 1 mile race on Friday; Jac was ready to FIGHT for the 2 mile...SHE WAS READY!

I love the look of DETERMINATION on her face as she comes in for a P.R. (personal record)

 Life is sweet with great friends like these!

6th place!!! WAHOO!!

Images of Greatness...

The students in Thomas' 6th grade class each chose a famous person in history to present. Can you guess who Thomas chose?

I was born in June 1910

I wanted to be a pilot way back then

I got into a car crash, I was injured so bad

I didn't turn bitter, I wasn't even mad

My flying days were over but I didn't just give up

I choose to go down to the sea and never look back up

The first time that I went deep sea diving

I was amazed that the ocean was alive and thriving

I wanted to stay under water even longer

Because I knew the ocean was something to ponder

So I asked Emile Gagnan a good engineer

To help me, although it took a whole long year

In 1943 we made the Breathing Apparatus

We were in all the papers, the people loved us

I have made many inventions, that is true

With them we could explore the ocean blue

My best ship I ever used was called the Calypso

Throughout my whole life I loved her dear, so

With my crew we did a thing or two

We made over 100 movies, that is true

I died on my bed in June, 1997

A lot of people said that I went to heaven

I got a lot of awards during my career

My legend lives on even to this year

WHO AM I?

Jacques Cousteau

As I am sure you can imagine, Thomas did a FABULOUS job reciting his poem. He was the STAR of the show :) OK, I guess I am partial but who wouldn't be???