St. Louis

Hannah's choir group went to St. Louis last week, and thanks to the Pratts who watched our kids (Bill is STILL in China), I could go as chaperone. It was so fun! They sang right under the Arch.
We went on a riverboat cruise for lunch. The river was flooding, so our boat was the last to go out.
We rode up in the little pods that take you to the top of the Arch where you can look out these little windows.
The next day we went to Six Flags. Hannah and her friends went on every big ride. This is the one that drops you into a free-fall. Blagh.

April Came and Went...

Happy Easter! The eggs were found, the candy was traded, and the peeps were delicious.
We took a trip to the Memphis Zoo, and that was fun.
We looked for Bill in the China exhibit.
Soccer is over. Henry and Charlotte both had unremarkable seasons. Their favorite part is the snack after the game.
Henry was always hovering around the ball, but rarely making contact. He looked busy. We had a great spring thunderstorm that dumped buckets, and then the kids swam in the runoff.
We are already swimming. Every morning we find frogs in the pool. For a while, there would be huge gelatinous masses of frog eggs, too. I gave them all to the Pratts.
The Double Decker Festival was really fun. We spent the day with the rest of the town.
Henry (and his giant teeth) have started Cub Scouts. He is so enthusiastic! We love you, Henry!

April Fools

We needed some fresh ideas for April Fools Day this year. Bill is in China, and he suggested I prepare an exotic dinner of southern delicacies: chickens' feet and pigs' ears. I went to the store, but I couldn't bring myself to touch the packages.

Plan B was gathering all the clothes that were on the kids' bedroom floors, and "displaying" them in the front yard.

For dinner we had our $5 feast--always delicious and nutritious.

The menu consisted of:
Hannah > Superman cupcakes
Max > fried chicken
Charlotte > Gushers
Henry > Ice Cream Drumsticks and JuicyFruit Gum
Alisa > Potato wedges and chocolate milk
We definitely missed Bill's contribution this year!

HENRY TURNS 8!!!

Our little Henry turned 8 on Saturday! He is our baby, and it has been bitter-sweet seeing him reach this milestone. I can't believe how the years have flown by! Henry is hilarious and sweet, and we love him. Congratulations, Henry!

Our church building is under construction, but the room with the font in it was finished, so we could use our font. Many of our good friends came. Max gave the opening prayer, I gave a talk on baptism, Charlotte gave a talk on the Holy Ghost, Bill baptized and confirmed Henry, and Hannah gave the closing prayer. It was very sweet. Yesterday at church, Henry was called up on the stand, and Bishop Tait welcomed him as the newest member of the Oxford ward. It is very moving to see your own child make the covenants that you know are the key to happiness.
We love you, Henry!

Henry wanted to do a cannon-ball into the font, but he lost his nerve.

Henry loves his scripture set and the carrying case. Finally, he has his own real scriptures like everybody else!

After the baptism, we went out to dinner with some good friends: the Nicholas Family, the Pratts, the Telfords and the Ordynas. We went to a new Hibachi place, and the funnest part was watching the kids' faces. They loved it!

Max looks like he could be having a business lunch. He is so cosmopolitan.





Henry had his party at The Skate Place. I must have had my camera set on blurry.

The kids had fun skating, running around in their socks, playing the arcade games, and having cupcakes.


Henry especially likes the way his name is written on his scriptures--it's "fancy."

That Darn Cat

First of all, let's just be clear: I am not an amimal person. I don't hate them, I just want nothing to do with them. I feel nothing for them. They are animals. However, Bill and the kids LOVE animals. Therefore, we have a dog and a cat. I am not involved with the pets. They leave me alone, and I leave them alone.

The other day, our cat was wailing and rolling around and acting very strangely. The kids were worried, and were in tears thinking she was sick and was going to die. Because Bill was still in China, I had to pretend like I cared. So to avoid the whole ordeal of having the cat die on my watch, I took the cat to the Vet. As soon as I opened the car door, the cat somehow got out of the carrier and bolted.

I called to the stupid cat, but of course it made me chase it for 20 minutes. Then I gave up and went into the Vet's office, and told them our cat ran into their woods. They called out a big search party, and were trying to comfort me and give me hope that we would find it. I had intended to just cancel my appointment, and tell them I lost our cat, so never mind. But then I was surrounded by animal-lovers, so I had to pretend that I cared. Totally awkward!

As I described the cat's symptoms to the animal-lovers, they all said it sounded like she was in heat. The aminal people looked at me like I was a terrible person. Why hadn't we had her spayed? What, she is not current on her vaccinations? I was surrounded by looks of disapproval, like I was a crack-head mom who didn't change her baby's diapers.

The vet's staff volunteered to keep search parties going throughout the day, and they wanted to make fliers to put up everywhere. On the inside, I was so irritated--this had already taken up my whole morning! But on the outside, I was so grateful to the animal people!

The kids were so relieved that she wasn't sick and going to die. Then I told them I had lost her. They, too, wanted to make fliers. Charlotte made this flier.


Conclusion of the story: The Vet's search party found the cat that night. hooray. I was guilted into spending $300 on the stupid cat by the pressure of the animal-loving Vet staff. That's $300 on a cat. #$%^&*!+#$%

Bills' New Office Burned Up

Bill's company had been remodeling (for almost a year) a beautiful building on The Square. They were scheduled to move in this week.
In the middle of the night, some rags in the building caught on fire, and the whole inside burned. It just made me sick to see it.
Looks like it will be another year...

Hannah's a Superstar!

Hannah was in the Oxford Middle School production of "Annie." She was Duffy, one of the orphans. They have been practicing for three months, and the big show was last week. It was so fun to watch! Hannah did a great job and had so much fun.

This is the cast party after the show.
Hannah and her friend who played Lilly.
It's a hard knock life, for us.
This is the last scene where they all sing "Tomorrow." The kid who plays President Roosevelt's name is Chester Shivers.
Miss Hannigan was hilarious.
The orphans plot against Miss Hannigan.

Orphans' curtain-call.
The entire cast. The boy who plays Rooster asked Hannah to a movie and gave her a gold diamond-encrusted heart necklace for Christmas. Awkward!