Shelby Graduates from D.A.R.E.

On Thursday, April 22nd Shelby had her D.A.R.E. graduation. This is the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program that teaches them about how to say no to drugs and gangs. The D.A.R.E. officer for Clinton City is Officer Jepson. She's really nice, according to Shelby, and gave Shelby the nickname "Mustang" which Shelby loved since there's the Shelby Mustang. The mayor, the chief of police and the principal all spoke which I thought was nice. It was good to see that they all took time out to show that they cared about the kids. Two kids from each class got to read their essays of what they learned from D.A.R.E. and it was fun to see everybody's different points of view on drugs, alcohol and peer pressure. They each got a diploma, a shirt and a D.A.R.E button along with some other fun stuff. Then, of course, it ended with refreshments. You can't go wrong with refreshments!

A Lesson Learned...Maybe!

So over spring break we decided to go 4-wheeling with Grandpa Nye and our neighbors to 5-Mile which is just west of Lehi. It was a cloudy and windy day so I didn't even think to put sunscreen on the kids. The other three did just fine but as we were leaving we looked at our fair-skinned little Austin and he was getting pinker and pinker as the time went by. We knew he was going to be pretty burned but I had no idea it was going to be like this. He woke up the next morning and he was swollen under his eyes so much that he didn't look like our baby. When he's smile his eyes would disappear! I started to cry when I saw him but everybody else thought it was funny. He even got blisters on his nose that he would pop by kind of pinching his nose and then they scabbed over. I felt like the worst mother ever and even told Curt when he took these pictures, "Why are you going to document how bad of a mother I am?" He still just laughed and said it was funny. Now that it's over I can laugh at it, too but it still tugs at my heart to think we forgot the sunscreen.

I thought that after going through this we would have learned our lesson but last Saturday Curt took him outside while he mowed that lawn and when I got him up from his nap he was red again on his face and his arms. He was only out from like 10:00 to 11:30. Who would have thought that he would have gotten burned at that time. It wasn't as bad as last time, thank goodness. So apparently we didn't learn our lesson but I'm hoping we have now. I guess we will see.

Easter 2010

Easter was on April 4th this year. On Saturday the 3rd we went to the park in West Point for their Easter Egg hunt with our cousins. It was at 9:00 am and the day before was rainy and that morning it was cold and windy. In the picture with Austin you can see little balls of snow on the grass. So we didn't stay for very long. They had a great time!

Saturday night while Curt was at the Priesthood session for General Conference the kids and I decorated Easter eggs. It was so much fun!

Here are the kids with their Easter baskets.

After the Sunday afternoon session of General Conference we went to Grandma Nye's for the traditional cousin egg hunt. It was so much fun and Austin had a blast picking up eggs and sticking them in his basket and also just running around with the big kids.

All the cousins together...with baby Porter and his bunny ears! He's so cute!!!

Curt's Mission Reunion

On Friday, April 2nd, we went to Curt's mission reunion which was the Dresden/Liepzig Germany Mission. We always have a great time there, especially Curt. We eat traditional German food like Rye bread, potato salad (which was REALLY good...mine had dill in it and I love dill) and then of course you have to have bratwurst and sauerkraut or Rotkraut (the red cabbage type of sauerkraut). Then they also had homemade root beer...so yummy! We had a great time reminiscing with old friends...well Curt did. I just enjoyed the stories and the laughter that usually followed.

Here is Curt's Mission President, President and Sister Johnson

This is Elder Bowden, the one who was with Curt when that infamous Nazi incident occurred. Curt was pinned down by a Rottweiler on one side and a Pit Bull on the other while a huge Nazi guy was going to beat him up. Then he decided to let him go and while he was walking past him to leave the guy punched him in the back of the head. They had to call the cops and Elder Bowden had to testify at the guy's trial because Curt only had two weeks left of his mission when this happened. Great story!!!

This is Elder Bowden with Elder Baetan. We just took this because of the obvious size difference. They were laughing so hard!

This is Elder Higby. He and Curt had the same companion and they reminisced about him. Elder Higby had a story about getting in a fight with some Nazis, too. That must have happened a lot there!


This is Elder Gerhetsen (I know I didn't spell that right). We've known them for the longest at these reunions. He worked with my mom and that's how I got to know him and then it all came out that he went to the same mission that Curt did. They were never companions but it's always good to see a familiar face. They will be moving to Ohio next month so this might be their last one for awhile.

This is Elder Riggs. Curt said that he hasn't really changed all that much. He was always the laid back, California, surfer-type guy who always had a great time. He was so funny and really easy to get along with. This was the first time I've seen him and Curt was excited to see him again.

This is Elder Weidaur. He was fun to talk with, too. I don't think they were ever companions but they knew a lot of the same people and told stories of a certain sister that was famous for completely STUFFING the missionaries when they came to eat so that they either had to go lay down and sleep it off or throw up. They all knew her and had that experience. They talked fondly of her.

These are guys are Elder Keele (the taller one) and Elder Allen (the shorter one). They were fun to get to know as well.

Austin...the Great Destructor!

So from the looks of this cute, adorable, sweet, mild-mannered (well that might be pushing it) child you'd never think that he could find or create as much trouble as he actually does.

This is what my kitchen looked like a couple of days ago. He gets into the drawers all the time. The Tupperware drawer we've always let him get into since there really isn't much he can destroy except the cleanliness (ha-ha) of my kitchen but now he gets into the top drawer that has baggies, aluminum foil and yes, that's my plastic wrap and wax paper strewn all over the floor. The other day he got into my cookbooks and completely ripped one out of the cover. I think we've managed to get it back in but I don't know if it will last long the way he destroys things.

Then later on during nap time you could just see how pleased he was with himself. Sweet dreams, baby! You've earned it!!!

April Fool's Day

So today is April 1st which everyone knows is April Fool's Day. In the past we really haven't taken the opportunity to really "get" our kids but if you know Curt at all you know it was only a matter of time. So last night he comes home with this idea to make his own "special" Oreo cookies for the kids. He bought the mint Oreos and scraped out the yummy insides and put toothpaste in the middle. He did a couple of green "mint" ones but he could only find gel toothpaste so they didn't look exactly like it. Then we had some white toothpaste and he tried a couple of those and they looked like the real things. So he set them out on a plate and the kids were so anxious to eat a cookie this morning it was almost funny. So he told them that we were all going to have a cookie eating race because these were the last of his cookies. They were ready to go. We counted to three and all of them stuffed the whole cookie inside their mouths.

It took awhile for it to hit them that these didn't taste like real Oreos. But as you can see from the picture I think Kaylee was getting it by this time. Look at her face!

Then Shelby goes, "It tastes like toothpaste!" We busted up laughing and the kids were spitting chewed up Oreos into the garbage and gagging at the same time. It was hilarious!!!!

You couldn't ask for a better picture than this of Carson!


Austin was just taking it all in thankful that he got to eat his waffle and Fruit Loops and enjoy the show. He's waving to the camera!