Gavin is Kid of the Month!

Gavin was chosen to lead the entire elementary school in the Pledge of Allegiance on the intercom. He got a card from his teacher and the Principle thanking him for such a wonderful job! Gavin has really been awesome these past few weeks. His teacher has been singing his praises everyday! Today he was awarded a "Triple Bonus" day for his perfect behavior. WAY TO GO GAVIN!!

Waiting Game... Again.

Ok, so George Mason has updated Rich's status saying that he should receive a decision letter in the next 2 to 4 weeks. The University of Utah is saying "Your application is complete. You will be notified by mail when a decision has been rendered." How much longer do we have to wait???????

On a better note, Rich only has 2 more small things to finish up with his experiments (1 week) and then he can wrap up his final publication and start working on his thesis!! I just have to keep pinching myself to make sure it's really happening~

What to do for a living?

To pass time while we were driving in the car last night, I decided to ask the kids' opinion on what they thought their Dad should do for a living. I called out, "Hey kids, do you think Dad should be a Scientist or a Lawyer?" I guess Gavin misunderstood but it seemed an appropriate enough response... "He should be a Liar."

Our new pet...

We have a new pet "Triops" creature... thingy. He looks so completely prehistoric that we just sit and watch him all the time. He started as a tiny egg just over Thanksgiving and has continually molted and grown to over 3 inches. We love to watch him eat because once he finds food he immediatly stops swimming and just falls on his back, hungrily munching. We named him "Charlie" but apparently he has a nickname, "Buster". Charlie was a present from Aunt Erin Kulesus. Charlie fits right in with his neighbors: "Sea Monkeys" (brine shrimp).

Temple Square Lights

Mary, Sarah and Elisabeth at Temple Square.
(over processed - I know)

Despite the hazy sky, the lights were beautiful!

This was the first time I was able to actually listen to the nativity on Temple Square. Usually the kids had no patience to stay long in past visits.

Elisabeth really liked seeing the "luminaras" or so she called them. I tried over and over to tell her that it rhymes with "fairies." There were lots of luminaries but the lighting was poor for a picture without a tripod. There were several nativity scenes set up around the area representing different countries. Overall it was a cold but very fun quick trip to downtown with the girls!

It's Christmas Time!

After about 10 shots, I finally got a good one of all three kids but unfortunately, this picture didn't make it on our Christmas Cards. Bummer! Oh well, at least I can share it "virtually." Merry Christmas Everyone!

Thanksgiving

Wow - we had the most family come this year for a Thanksgiving feast since we moved here! I'm grateful that we can live so close at this time, even if it is just for a while. Ben came by with his companion earlier in the day but we didn't get a picture. In the evening, we all played Curses. It was so funny when Erin had the curse to do everything Rich did. It didn't dawn on us until later when Mary gave Rich a new curse, that it actually was a "double" curse! Haha! Oh, wait... (with a straight face) ...."That's not funny."