We're all a little Nutty

This post should probably be titled, "What the Sunbeams Learned Today," because once again I wonder what they'll share with their parents as the small snippet they chose to retain from our 2 hours together at church. The lesson was on how Heavenly Father made Adam and Eve after He had finished making all the other wonderful creations He has blessed us with.  Lee explained briefly what their life was like in the garden and what their responsibilities were.  Then he told them about the rule that they weren't supposed to eat the fruit from the Tree of Life because it would make it so they would have to die.  These small kids, of course, cannot understand that ALL of us have to die eventually, nor did they understand that death wasn't going to happen instantaneously.  But, they seemed to follow the story okay. (Here is a picture to help you remember all the wonderful creations Heavenly Father had Jesus make for us.  You can also print it out and color it to rew...

My charismatic daughter has wanted to win at several of the competitions they have for her grade level the last few years.  These things sounded like stressful endeavors to me and I confess that I didn't push her very hard.  Yet, she worked hard on her own and sometimes even surprised me when she had a competition that she hadn't told me about.  And she accomplished all of them! As long as you consider 2nd place winning. We decided that 2nd place is actually better than first because it means you were ALMOST the best.  But it also means that you don't have to study or compete any more!  And you still get a trophy. Here are her achievements from this year: Honorable mention at district level for her artwork in the Reflections Contest  2nd place in the school spelling bee Winner of the school geography bee 2nd place in her category at the regional science fair Not the lead role in the school play, but she stole the show

We escaped to the Grand Canyon for a Spring Break vacation. At Navajo Bridge on the way home On our way we stopped so the big boys could hike Buckskin Gulch.  It is a beautiful 20 mile long slot canyon on the Utah-Arizona border. The little folks hiked in a few miles and then came back out so we could drive the car to the end of the hike and set up camp.  It was a sandy location and the wind pelted us the entire time.  By the time we left the next morning, we had sand in our eyes, ears, teeth...everywhere.  But, it was an adventure. Even though it was sunny and beautiful, it was cold and windy the entire time.  It didn't quite drop to freezing the first night, but the 2nd night was 19 degrees!  Thank heavens we had packed every blanket and sleeping bag we had so we were prepared to stay warm!  But, we did grow weary of having to hold everything down when we ate.  And we often retreated to the sun-warmed car for a refuge from ...