Easter Hunting

A local car dealership holds an annual Easter hunt and so we took the kids over to it. You have to call it a hunt because there were no eggs involved and the candy was strewn pretty liberally along the sidewalks and landscaping of the dealership. We walked to burn off some of their energy. The kids were quite eager and all trooped along with their Easter baskets. Emily wasn't sure what to do with her basket and had her baby riding along in it but once the hunt started she figured things out pretty quickly. Becca was in the older group with a friend and the three younger ones were together. Peter Gordon and Hannah took off pretty quickly and began stuffing their baskets with candy. Emily had to be coaxed out the door but once she realized all she had to do was put candy in her basket she was off to the races. When we got home we went through our sorting ritual--everyone helps me divide the candy into like piles (all the Laffy Taffy together, all the chocolate, etc.) and then we divided it up. The kids had an impressive haul. I know that the kids enjoy their goodies but Chantel and I are trying really hard to help them understand the real meaning of Easter. They will be surprised by what they find in their Easter baskets tomorrow and it won't be candy.

Number 5

By now everyone has heard that we are having our fifth child. Peter Gordon is going to be surrounded by 4 girls. As Becca and Hannah say he will be "girl trapped." Poor little Emily is completely clueless and has no idea how her charmed life is going to change. Here are a couple of pictures of the kids and Chantel (who doesn't look like she is five months pregnant).

The painting began today and it sure stinks downstairs. Drywall primer has to be the most foul smelling concoction I've ever run across. We have been airing out the house and letting the primer dry. I suppose I will paint the ceiling beige and the walls apricot sometime this week.

Construction and new computer

We've gone and done it again. We are adding another room downstairs. We have had a couple of guys here doing the work. Peter Gordon and Emily have enjoyed watching them put up the drywall and slather the mud on it. They also hung some doors in front of the water heater and furnace. Now I have another project waiting for me--priming the drywall and then painting it. I'm going to try and get it done in the next month or so. The room has some shelving built into the wall and is going to be Chantel's workspace. She'll be able to store her photo and sewing supplies and will have a big desk to work on. I know she's pretty excited about it.

The other fun thing we've been doing is learning how to use our new computer. Becca has had fun typing some of her homework on it and Hannah is eagerly trying to figure out what she can do on it. I've been learning about parental controls and web filters. Chantel likes being able to check her email whenever she wants. It will be a useful tool to have around the house.

I am giving a lecture at the end of the month on the role of higher education in the Church and spent all of today working on my talk. I am focusing on the Church College of Hawaii and Brigham Young University. I have really enjoyed doing the research but am a little nervous about the talk. I hope it goes well.

A full and fun week

This has been a fun week for us. Becca had her final basketball game on Thursday. Her teammates made a concerted effort to get her the ball and kept telling her to shoot it. Apparently she was the only one on the team who had not made a basket and they wanted her to make one. After multiple attempts Becca grabbed her own rebound and made her one and only basket of the season. Once she made her basket, her teammates stopped passing her the ball. Becca enjoyed playing and has become quite a good defender (she is number 1) in the picture. Hannah was nearly perfect on her spelling test this week (24/25). She has enjoyed playing with her friends and is developing excellent jump roping skills. On Wednesday Peter Gordon was running to get in the door at school and slipped on some mud. He told me that it was a “huge crash.” He banged his head, got mud all over his clothes, and decided he didn’t want to go to preschool that day. He loves to be outside and is so happy that the snow is finally melting so that he can play outside more. Emily is really funny. She is saying “Rah! Rah! Cou-gars” in her little voice and is quite proud of herself. She also continues to cart dolls and stuffed animals around and loves to have stories read to her.

Last night I took Chantel up to BYU to participate in a Country Dance class. We learned line dancing and the two-step. Chantel spent most of her time laughing at me. I probably would have been laughing too if I could have seen myself. Dancing is definitely not my thing. We did enjoy our night out. It was fun to try something new and to visit. This morning my Elders Quorum had a ping-pong tournament and it was really fun. I won three games and lost two.

We have had a busy week. Yesterday Hannah had her first piano recital and she did really well. She was a little nervous beforehand but when she got up on stage she zipped right through her piano pieces without any mistakes. She really likes playing the piano. Becca started basketball last week and it is really entertaining to watch 3^rd and 4^th grade girls playing basketball. Becca is trying really hard and is already beginning to improve—especially on defense. Peter Gordon and Emily came up to campus to visit me on Wednesday and we headed down to the Botany Pond to see the ducks. They had brought some waffles and so we shared them with the ducks. This, of course, caused the ducks to swarm and Emily was not to keen on that. She got up on the park bench and stood there staring at the ducks. She was fine until the ducks started circling around behind her and then she shoved her way onto my lap. Peter Gordon thought it was great fun to feed the ducks and even took a piece of waffle over to a duck that had a hurt leg because “he can’t move fast enough and wasn’t getting any food.” I have been busy at work with meetings and various projects. I am taking a faculty seminar on the secularization of the American university and the reading has been really interesting. We had our first class on Tuesday and it was quite fun. There is nothing like a stimulating intellectual conversation. Chantel is busy running our ship and trying to keep everyone happy. Her sister, Holly, was in town briefly on Friday and she enjoyed visiting with her. We have enjoyed nice weather lately but that is supposed to come to an end tonight as another snow storm rolls through. They are predicting between 4 and 8 inches of new snow—more shoveling for me.

Here comes 2008

It is hard to believe that we have entered yet another year. We had a great New Years Day. We went out to Grandma Galloway's and helped her put away her Christmas tree and other stuff. Then we went to Aunt Sylvia's and the kids loved the giant tree and train. We also went to Uncle Steve's and enjoyed visiting with them. Becca, Hannah, Peter Gordon and Emily had a blast playing with all of Steve and Marla's toys. Chantel and I had a lot of fun playing a board game with the adults. You were a zoo owner and were trying to attract the most customers. Today we woke up to a huge snow storm. I just finished shoveling about 3 inches of heavy, wet snow. The kids made a snowman and are very proud of him.

Christmas has come and gone. We took all of our Christmas decorations down yesterday and packed them away until next year. It always makes me a bit sad to have Christmas over and done with. I know Chantel always feels a bit of relief at getting the house back to normal. We had a good Christmas. Christmas Eve we feasted on Swedish meatballs by candlelight. We also acted out the Nativity and had a lot of fun. At first Chantel was Mary and rode the donkey (Peter Gordon) but Emily thought it looked like great fun to ride the donkey and so she became Mary. I was Joseph, Becca was the angel and Hannah played the Shepherd. We also talked about what the different emblems of Christmas represent and how they all help us remember the Savior's birth.

Christmas morning the kids slept in until 7:30 a.m. and then we opened presents. Every one was happy with what they got. I got a gargoyle to go in my garden--once I figure out where I'm going to put him, I'll post a picture. Chantel got a pearl necklace that she really likes--it is made from the two purple pearls we got in Hawaii and a white pearl from a ring her Dad gave her years ago. They are all mounted on a gold chain. Becca can't decide if she likes her MP3 player or her basketball better. Hannah is all dolled up in a hot pink bathrobe with butterflies and got clothes for her American Girl doll. Peter Gordon got two front loaders and they have seen extensive use. He also got some Lincoln Logs and both he and I have had fun building things. Emily got her own baby doll and a mini Sleepytime Carebear. She also got some peg puzzles and is quite good at them already.

We have had snowstorms off and on for over a week and I have spent a lot of time shoveling it. The kids have had fun playing in the snow. Brad was down for a quick visit on Wednesday and we all got a treat--we went out to dinner at Cafe Rio. Brad even treated the kids to a pizza lunch on Thursday afternoon. We wish he was closer. The kids love Uncle Brad. We wish you were all closer so that we could have big holiday parties--oh well. We are looking forward to the New Year and hope it is as good as this one has been.

I finally figured out how to set the automatic timer on my camera and so we hope you enjoy our family picture.