Good News!

Well the little people are ecstatic...and I must admit that I am quite happy as well. On Sunday, Allen found out that the student ward that he is in gets the spring/summer off. They will not be one of the "open" wards. So Allen gets to come to church with us for the next 5 months!! This coming Sunday the 29th will be his last one in his student ward. Who wouldn't be excited to come to church with these little ones??

Ty's School

For the last month Tyler has been learning how to write reports at school. All of the kids in the class were instructed to pick an animal, research it, write about it and gather pictures for the poster. Friday we were all invited to go to the school and look at everyone's reports and ask them questions.

Tyler chose to write his report on wolves and he did an excellent job! His poster was great and his two page report turned out nice. He used his absolute best handwriting and he got the highest score possible - a 6. We were very proud of him.

Below are some pictures and also some random pictures of his school. I was blessed growing up to attend a brand new school, and I can't get over this little elementary school. The good news is they are building a new one - almost done - which Tyler and the girls will be attending in the fall.

Sorry I didn't get any pictures of the Kind Cobra report. The kid who did his report on it was super funny. He showed me a picture and asked if I knew what it was - which I didn't. He told me it was a picture of a King Cobra biting off the head of a rat. YIKES! He also told Allen about how when they choose to eat people, they don't "chew" - they can swallow you whole! Just in case any of you wanted to know that!

Tyler sitting at his desk with his report! The first pic shows how big Ty's classroom is. It isn't very big at all.

Tyler with his teacher Mrs. Hale

This is Tyler's lunch room. It looks big in this picture, but really, this is just the hallway. There isn't an official lunch room.

The school library. Not quite as big as the one I remember having growing up.

The playground. YIKES! In the back it is a huge field - not with real grass or anything. The kids often find snakes and mice during recess.

Braden Walker Jones

Braden Walker Jones was born on Monday, March 2, at 2:32 p.m. He was 7 lbs and 9 ounces and 19 inches long. Everything went well and honestly it happened so quickly that I was happy Allen was there (he went to grab a quick bite to eat) and came back just in time. The nurses were struggling to find the Dr. They couldn't find him and there was a lot of panic - but he eventually showed up. :)

Braden is a great little kid so far and we are having fun with him. He sleeps about 20 hours a day and is really loud, in fact louder than our other 3 children. He likes to be heard! He's generally easy going, but it is funny because he can be incredibly dramatic when he wants to be. This last picture of him was after his first full bath at home. It was really funny. As soon as he got in the water, he had a sigh of contentment and promptly fell asleep. He enjoyed it!

Rodeo

So about a month ago, McKenna and Kylie decided they wanted to be a part of the Spirit Week Rodeo at BYU-Idaho. I was very surprised because they aren't huge animal lovers. McKenna especially screams hysterically if she sees a dog loose outside. So I kept asking if they were sure, but then I let them do it. Kylie was chosen to ride first. She did get on the sheep, but didn't really hold on. Some really nice rodeo guy actually ran with her and the sheep - he was really fast too. McKenna's turn came next. There was only one sheep out of the entire group that she didn't want to ride - because it was the biggest - and of course, that is the sheep they had waiting for her. Long story short, at the last second, she decided not to ride it. I felt very bad for her because she really wanted to and the disappointment in herself was very evident. She keeps telling me however that she is gearing up for the next one. I guess we'll see what happens. The best part of the night for them, was these t-shirts that they were given to wear and to keep. They absolutely love them! Totally worth it!