A Little Extra Help

This is Gracie Gledhill. She is the 11 month old daughter of a friend. Before she was born, she was discovered to have HLHS, a defect in the left ventricle of her heart. She has gone through quite a journey with a lot of ups and downs.

She just had a heart transplant and the heart isn't functioning properly. They have to do another procedure so she can recover and be strong enough for another transplant. For more information, go to her blog here. It is also listed on my list of blogs on the sidebar.

Please say some prayers for her.

My Fair Maiden

Rachel just finished her performance of Pirates of Penzance. It was a really good production that the junior high put on. That is a difficult play to produce but the drama teacher there is really intense and she knows how to direct the kids. Rachel played one of the maidens. She got to sing and dance around a lot and look pretty. I guess it's what she basically does at home.

Because of my busy week, I was only able to attend the final showing on Saturday night. My parents, Brad's parents and Ed were able to come and watch it with us. Rachel has been working really hard since the beginning of November. She's been coming home every weeknight at 5:00 and on the final week, until 6:30. There were days last week when she was at the school for about 12 hours. When the last show was done and the cast parties were over, Rachel crashed. On Sunday she was exhausted and sick. I thought it was funny that during sacrament meeting, Rachel was hunched over with her head almost on her lap. I turned around to see the boy who played the Major General sitting directly behind Rachel sitting in exactly the same position. These kids worked really hard and they did a fantastic job, I'm really proud of them.

Everyone that saw the show made the comment to me that they had no idea Rachel was such a ham. Neither did we. She was emoting all over the place. I have no idea where this came from. I'm not like that and neither is Brad. As Brad's dad so accurately put it, "I think this is the first time I've seen a relative sing and dance at the same time." I think part of the reason I loved this play so much is because Rachel was so obviously having the time of her life. Here are some pictures of the play. I asked Rachel if she was interested in doing it again and she empathetically said yes.

You go girlfriend!

Rachel with Grammie and Grampa. Grammie is great! She gave her a rose.

Rachel with Poa Poa and Gung Gung.

Rachel with Ed.


Rachel with Caleb.

She Blinded Me With Science

Emma just completed her science project. It's probably not her most favorite thing to do in the world but with the help of her dad and grampa, she got the job done. ( I think that she might have enjoyed the time she spent with her dad.) Brad has been doing some pretty cool things with his kids lately.

Her topic is actually pretty cool. For the past 14 years, her grampa has been studying the water quality in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. We've helped him collect samples for all of those years. Emma's project was to see if a particular lake (Lost Lake) in Yellowstone has gotten dirtier or cleaner over the years. Brad and Emma collected the data from grampa and adjusted it to a grade school level. She did a great job. When I asked her how she felt about the project, she answered in her typical casual fashion, "I'm glad it's done."

I say to that, "Good job Emma!"

It's a Piece of Cake

We're going to go to our first Blue and Gold Banquet for Scouts tomorrow. It's going to be a crazy evening. Caleb finishes his karate at 5:00, the banquet is at 6:00 and he has a basketball game at 7:00. Rachel has her opening night for Pirates of Penzance at 7:00 as well. Can you say BUSY?!?

One of the traditions of the Blue and Gold Banquet is that the Cub Scout needs to decorate a cake with his dad that fits the theme of America the Beautiful or something along those lines. So, this is what inspired us.

And for a more familiar view:


Here is the result:

Brad and Caleb had a great time decorating the cake. I think it turned out really well. They're especially proud of the fact that it is fairly accurate. They even remembered to put The Visor on the top. When Brad and I climbed to the top of it 18 years ago, I was pretty freaked out climbing up the cables. I probably would have felt better about it if it was made of lemon cake and frosting.

Great job guys! You deserve a pat on the back!

Like a Fish

This is NOT me. I have never been a good swimmer. I learned how to swim (or should I say not to sink) in my friend's backyard pool when I was a kid. I love playing in the water but let's just say swimming is not one of my strong points. Last year when I did a triathlon, that point was forcefully driven home.

Now this is me. Yup, I swam on my back for 1/4 mile for the triathlon. Let's just say that out of the three events, swimming was the longest, most excruciating one I had to endure. When I was training, I discovered that I have a fear of putting my face in the water. Well, no, I take that back, I have a fear of putting my face in the water and being able to come up for air without getting a lungful full of liquid.

This past week, my friend Tresa and I decided to take swim lessons. I was joking before that I hoped they wouldn't make me sing the motorboat song or have us play shark. I was not saying that by the end of the week. Adult swim classes are much more intense and concentrated than the cute classes I took my kids to. The teach would spend a couple of minutes telling us what to do and then we would have to do it--several times. I've been keeping myself in pretty good shape since the triathlon but let me tell you, I was exhausted and sore at the end of each class. I do feel like I've improved quite a bit since last summer. I'm still working on the my mental issues (don't say it! I mean my mental issues pertaining to swimming) but my technique is definitely improving. I think I'm still the worst swimmer in the class but someday maybe I'll be able to swim like the girl in the picture above. Oh, Ariel, where are you?