On My Honor

Whew!! In a mad rush before he turns 18 on Easter Sunday, Moroni finished his last five merit badges (all required) and was awarded them at the court of honor tonight. (Isn't the scout motto "Be Prepared"?...maybe it should be "Don't Proscrastinate!") McKay, was also awarded three required merit badges and earned the rank of Life scout. Now he can start turning his attention toward Eagle. Of course, I had to get a picture of buddies Zach and Hyrum...future scouts. Yes, we'll just get McKay to the Eagle rank and the whole cub scout, day camps, pinewood derbies, pack meetings, den meetings, webelos, etc, etc, starts all over again!

Four Wheelin'

Just a couple of pictures riding quads out on the property. Dad added a nice grab bar for Hyrum so he has a place to hold onto when they go four wheelin'. The first time he went riding he kept shouting, "I'm having the best time! This is the best time of my whole life!" He loved it.

Creative Lawn Mowing!

McKay was asked to mow the lawn the other day. Being the creative person that he is, he mowed his name in the tall grass and then climbed out our bedroom window onto the roof to take a picture. I wasn't home at the time and didn't even know he did it until I imported the camera pictures onto the computer! The picture kind of cuts part of the "M" off, but you get the idea.

Let your fingers do the walking?

I know the phrase is "let your fingers do the walking," but today we let our feet do the running! The scouts participated in a fundraiser today. And, when I say "scouts" I use the term loosely. It was scout McKay and scout Moroni, Monty, Bro. Shaw, myself, and scout-to-be Hyrum. Who ever said you can make about $12 an hour delivering phone books needs to take that back! Let's do the math:

$160 divided by 32 man (and woman and child) hours = $5 per hour

And, it's not finished! Since it was Saturday, most of the businesses were closed and you need to get a name or signature to leave the book with them. Another round of deliveries will have to be made on another day. But, at least it was a beautiful day and I'm sure the money will come in handy for future scouting fun!

I love, love, love this juice!

This is a random post, but I have to say I love this juice! It reminds me of fall before last when we had so many fuji apples on our tree. We bought a juicer and made fresh apple juice. It was so good! This tastes just like it. It is so good! It's a little on the pricey side and the kids could scarf it down in a matter of minutes if I don't guard it. I have been buying it and hiding it in the back of the fridge so they don't spot it right away...you know, behind all the old stuff that really should be thrown away...one of the reasons why I don't clean the fridge as often as I should! Okay, who am I kidding, I don't clean it because it's not fun! Anyway, the juice is great...try it sometime!

Disneyland...here we come!

We were lucky enough to get in on the Disney Give a Day, Get a Day program. Our volunteer project was to make play dough for the Relief Nursery. I just printed the vouchers out this morning. We plan on going to see Kim, Danny and the kids in the summertime and spending a day at Disneyland. We can't wait!

The Property

Well, we just bought 100 acres of land up by Fall Creek. We plan on dividing it and selling off 10 acre parcels with the hope of building a house up there some day on one of the parcels. It's going to be a lot of work! The property has many beautiful areas, but also a lot of "stuff" that will need to be hauled away. We have brush to clear and roads to put in. We are seriously thinking of getting a tractor to help with the work. We bought some quads to get around the property and they have been a lifesaver! Kara went up with us yesterday and helped clear a road so that we could explore more of the property. We are tired, sore, and scratched from the blackberry bushes, but excited to get out and work the land!

One of the first spots we discovered when exploring the property. It's this cool fallen tree and large, moss covered rock...perfect for a picnic. There is a small stream nearby.

This stream runs through the field.

As I said previously, there is some "stuff" to remove. I call this Noah's Ark. It seems that the floods abated and it came to rest here in the middle of the field!

One of our favorite areas...the mossy rocks. It covers a large area and there are several moss covered rocks that just crop up out the landscape. I plan on spreading wildflower seeds all around this area, along with planting several bulbs that will pop up randomly in the spring. We've already seen deer and elk grazing in this area.

Another small creek that runs on the property. This one has several small waterfalls along the way.

The view from the top!

Ammon at the Temple

When Ammon went to the temple for the first time in December, it was an eventful day. It just so happened to snow on the way up to Portland unexpectedly. We made it just fine since we had to get up there early. But, unfortunately, everyone else got caught in the snow (and horrible traffic.) Grandma and Grandpa Thompson decided early on not to even attempt the drive. Kim, Danny, Kara, and (nursing) baby Olivia had to turn around and head home. Bishop and Sister Ennis persevered and finally made it safely to the temple. What was supposed to be a 4:00 session turned into an 8:00 session. It was a long day, but well worth it. You would think that with waiting four hours, we would have taken some pictures, but sadly, no. So the following picture is of Ammon and us on our last time with Ammon at the temple before his mission.

Eagle Scout Project

Well the time is fast approaching and Moroni is finishing up the last few merit badges so that he can be awarded the Eagle. He just finished dry walling, taping, texturing, priming, and painting the new nurse's station at Camp Alpine for his project.

The "before" picture

Hanging the dry wall

Taping the seams

Texturing the ceiling...I'm sure no one goofed off during this process :-)

Q. How many scouts does it take to spray the texture?

A. One to spray...

...and eight to watch!

Painting...thank goodness for an airless sprayer!

The finishing touches

Quality control

The finished project!

He's at the MTC!

Ammon arrived at the Brazil MTC this past Wednesday. We are so excited to have a missionary in the field again! We know it will be a great blessing to him, our family, and to those that will receive the gospel through him. It was so hard to say goodbye at the airport, knowing that it would be two years before we would see him again. He flew straight to Brazil. It was comforting to receive the following letter:

Dear Parents,

We are happy to send the good news that your missionary has arrived safely at the Brazil MTC. What a great joy and privilege it is to greet each missionary as they come through the front door of the MTC for the first time. We promise to take good care of your missionary.

They now have companions and are settled into their rooms. They are assigned to a district with capable and caring instructors for language and lesson study. The branch presidents and their wives, will soon give them a second greeting. These couples are rewarded in their callings through the love they always develop as they embrace and watch over the missionaries.

The MTC has a full time live-in physician to care for their health needs. He is assisted by his able wife. We are also happy to report that the Cafeteria food is abundant and very good.

Your missionary will be able to e-mail home on Preparation Day after a morning at the Temple. This will be either Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on individual assignments.

Your very important young person is about to make an eternal difference in the lives of others. We hope you will be encouraged and comforted by this quote by President Lorenzo Snow: “There is no mortal man that is so much interested in the success of an elder [sister] when he is preaching the gospel as the Lord that sent him to preach to the people who are the Lord’s children.”

Please accept our love,

President Donald L Clark and Sister Zaza Clark

SHS Talent Show

McKay performed at the school talent show tonight and did an awesome job. This is a song he wrote called "Dark Blue Blanket." It's about stargazing. Check it out!