Runnin’ Utes

Sorina: She finally had her Super Duper Dora Party with plates, napkins, cups and a few friends. She had a lot of fun. She did get the cupcakes that she kept telling everyone she wanted also. Her Daddy was gone for her birthday, so she has played up the birthday angel pretty good this month. We now call her “The Girl of the Three Week Birthday.” She thinks it’s normal to open presents every week. It’s hard to believe that she is 3 and growing up so fast. She’s her own person with her own ideas, and she definitely has her own path to follow. She is no longer afraid of Ella, she still calls her “Pals” and carries her around a lot of the day, setting her on high surfaces that she can’t get off (however, she is learning to jump—Ella). She also still has her Dad wrapped around her finger. We just hope that the other kids don’t figure out how easy Dad is if you just yell “Hi Daddy” and run to him with open arms for a hug when he gets home.

Toren: Just when we thought the snow was gone, we got more! He was so excited. He was also exited for soccer season to begin—which it did this week. Next week is his and Dane’s last week in school. They’re off from April 10th to May 3rd. That’s a wee bit too much time according to their Mom. We recently bought him a t-shirt that says: It seemed like a good idea at the time. We were watching The Thief Lord (based on the book of the same name by Cornelia Funke, who also wrote Inkheart and Inskpell—which we really enjoyed) on DVD and one of the characters, an investigator, uses a set of lock picks to pick a lock and Toren pipes up and tells us that he wants to be a lock picker when he grows up. Is it a wonder we bought him that t-shirt?

Dane: Dane has an excellent scoutmaster. His scoutmaster is a former Bishop and Ward Mission Leader. Dane attended his first Court of Honor and got his first merit badge. He’d earned another, but his counselor did not sign in all the right places. For some inexplicable reason, Dane really loves going to scouts—you would think he had scouting running in his veins or something. He is excited to be able to go to camp this summer, but his Dad has to go in order for Dane to go, and Shawn’s vacation is currently up in the air because of a possible job change. Dane was also excited for snow, more snowboard ramps and snowmen in the yard. And lots of snow flying here and there, and sometimes even where it did not belong. Dane is also fortunate to have a schoolteacher that really likes having Dane in class. She said he had so many good traits and was so good to work with, which he truly is (unless he is
fighting with a sibling). Fortunately, he does not have a twin to go to school with.

Brigitta: Brigitta and Mom had a good time attending Sunday afternoon General Conference at the Conference Center and walking around the outside of the Conference Center in the wonderfully warm Spring weather. Brigitta enjoys Young Women’s. She also had a great term in school. She’s started the last term and I think she already has Spring Fever. She didn’t tell us about her after school dance, again, so her Dad couldn’t go and show off his “moves.” Brigitta’s biggest fear is that her Dad will dance in front of her friends. He already sings in front of them, changing the words, of course. She liked a song that went: “There’s a boy who works at Starbucks, and he is such an inspiration”, which her dad ruined by changing it to “There’s a boy who works on cars-and-trucks, and he smells like perspiration”.

Ella: Cute, but a little short-tempered with the boys. They are a bit rough. And still potty training. Just when I thought I’d won my last battle with Sorina……

Kimberly: I got my braces off on the 16th, just in time for my birthday. However, no one noticed immediately, other than Sorina and my friend Julie. In fact no one noticed when we got together for Men’s Broadcast in Provo. Everyone just thinks the change they noticed was my hair. My hair has been noticed a lot lately.? I haven’t bowled in a long time and that was a lot of fun. I think Sorina and Toren are going to want to go again really soon. I am also very active in cub scouting now. In November I will have Toren in cub scouts for a couple of years—not that he doesn’t already do some of the activities with us, and already has a Cub Scout shirt. [Shawn’s Note: Kimberly did also get her haircut, so don’t think you totally missed everything. If you noticed her hair was different you were 100% right.]

Shawn: We had a great time in Provo getting to visit with everyone. We enjoyed visiting with Melanie and Siovhan (we see her about as often as we see Melanie). AnnMarie’s and Brandon’s house is beautiful. Brick Oven with everyone was great. Shawn was gone for a week to a national user group conference in Nashville, where he also presented. He got to go to the Country Music Hall of Fame one evening of the conference, and has been listening to country music more since he got home. He remembered Dad used to like it, in fact he remembers that he, Melanie, and Todd got records for Christmas one year – Petulia Clark, Charlie Pride, and someone else he cannot remember. In the museum at the first exhibit he saw it said Jimmy Rogers, and replied, “Oh, he’s the yodeling cowboy." to which one lady in country/western clothes looked astonished. She went and read more and listened to a sample song and came back and said, “I had never heard of him, but you were right." I guess Dad rubbed off on him more than he realized.