We are MARSHALL: October 2011

The Dolphin-Laser Autum Invitational

Kam participated in her 2nd (year round) swim meet in Cabot, AR on October 22nd.

After warm-ups...

Instead of just bringing the i-pad this week, I brought the camera that could zoom in and get better shots from far away.

Waiting to start...

On the blocks...

Dive in on relay (she was 3rd)...

Dive in on IM...

Breaststroke under the water...

Dive in on Freestyle...

Backstroke start...

Video of Kam's butterfly...

The results:
200 Freestyle Relay Team B 2:36.50 - 5th of 15 teams
100 IM 1:36.81 (better by 3 seconds) - 10th of 20
50 Free 37.64 - 11th of 32
50 Back 44.69 (better by less than 1) - 12th of 32
50 Breast 54.94 (better by 3) - 18th of 29
50 Fly 47.10 - 12th of 25

Johnson's Pumpkin Farm fieldtrip

On Friday I went with my son and his Kindergarten class on a field trip to a pumpkin farm. It was a beautiful day with the sun shining bright. It started out chilly, but we quickly were able to shed our jackets. We started with an early picnic lunch and then had time to play on a boat, a truck, hay bales, a huge sand pile and so on. We enjoyed learning about how pumpkins grow and picking a pumpkin to take home. We learned how cotton grows and how homes used to not have running water and how those innovations have changed our lives. We learned about farm animals and were able to pet a few. We went on a hay ride and then were able to go through a spider-web maze.

Getting off the bus...

S and S with a scarecrow...

Spence and his friend Jonathan on the hay bales...

Awesome mid-air shot of his jump...

Take two for S...

Sid...

Hanging from the doorway of a play "school house"...

In the sand...

Their very own pirate ship...

Move over Johnny Depp...

On deck...

One of my Heros makes my best day so far!

My favorite professor/teacher/speaker at BYU had his wife pass away the week before last. My heart hurt for him. I have thought many times over the last few years that I would like to write to him and thank him for the wonderful example he is/was and for the great influence he's had on my life, but never did, because I didn't have his address. (I didn't make much effort to find it either.) So, when I learned that his dear wife had died, I got an e-mail address for him and finally sat down on Thursday morning and wrote a heart felt expression of my condolences and thanked him for being one of my heroes. I threw in my best memories of him and it was great to just remember and reflect on times in his classes or when he was the sealer at my sister's wedding in the temple, or even the things I learned as I read his books. He's incredible! I was satisfied with my efforts and sent the e-mail.

Less than 15 minutes later he responded. How amazing is that! That made that day one of my best ones for sure. Thanks George!

Pink hair?

On Friday at the elementary school the kids could where pink to support the fight against breast cancer. Kam and Zack sported their sister's "My Other Ride is a Firebolt" shirts, but Spence didn't want to wear pink. Zack got the idea to buy pink hair spray when we were buying the white for Kammie's Alpha night. So all three went to school with Pink hair. All the people on the bus were excited to see them as they boarded that morning and their classmates at school were impressed.

Night of the Notables

In Alpha (the gifted and talented program at the elementary school) they do a Night of the Notables. This is where the students each choose famous or well known person from history. They do research on this person and write a report. Then they have a night where they all come dressed up as their person and have other props if they want. Then parents and students go around and try to figure out who everyone is. The Alpha student can answer questions, but can't ever tell you who they are. The person who gets the most right wins a prize. This was Kam's best year yet. She got the person she had wanted to do since last year and she really knew her stuff.

Hear are some Hints:
He was the minister to France and introduced French Fries (and ice cream) to the United States.
He was an inventor--making the first copier to help him reproduce all the letters he would write.
Now for some obvious ones:
He was the author of the Declaration of Independence.
Her person was the third President of the United States.
He founded the University of Virginia.
His home is Virginia is called Monticello.

We served French Fries. Displayed part of a rubbing of his Tombstone and showed samples from using a copier like the one he invented. Kam's costume was good as well. We sprayed her hair white. She dressed in a tri-cornered hat and made knickers with knit pants and her dad's tube socks.

It was a great evening! Could you figure out who she was?

Silly cat!

On Monday for F.H.E. we went out to our garden and cleared out one of the boxes. We picked lots of Basil and all the mint we had left and cleared out the dead cucumber vines. That night James made 6 batches of Pesto and 4 more a couple of days later after we bought more Pine Nuts, Parmesan and fresh Garlic. Our freezer is loaded up with Pesto for a while. We also made more fresh mint ice cream with the mint from our garden. (Jordan was happy about that.) And we still have another garden box to go. We left the plants in the second box, because it was dark and because there are lots of green tomatoes, bell peppers and Basil still growing in that one. It's gotten colder this week though, so I don't know how long that will last.

Anyway, Peppy decided he would explore the ice cream maker box while it was out on the table. What a silly cat!