Dear Family and Friends,

No big events this week just lots of little things that keep our lives full. I got a call at the end of last week saying the needed the school video we were supposed to be making for Allison's school by the end of this week! Moments of panic and Jeremy trying to suppress his I told you so's for my procrastination. So I spent a lot of time finishing up filming at Allison's school, Jeremy even popped over to take some pictures one morning. Jeremy showed me how to edit out clips which was a bit time consuming but interesting to learn. And now quite unfairly a large burden rests on Jeremy's shoulders to turn it into something kids and teachers will want to watch. I have complete faith in his abilities but I know its a big time and effort involvement on his part to get it done at the last moment.

Our mudders showed up twice this week for the basement and I think are pretty much done. As far as I can tell the biggest thing they have left to do is all the clean-up. We've been talking to other subs this week to get bids etc on the rest of the work. The nice part of the slower housing economy in Utah is prices are way down which is working out great for us.

All the boys got their hair cut this week. Spencer was a surprise as he has been trying to grow it long for a while now. We had told him that he had to get a trim so it would look like he was doing it on purpose. As Jeremy trimmed Spencer just decided to get it all off. I think having to comb and style his hair plus the sweatiness of wearing his helmet all the time was getting to him. I even got my hair cut which I always enjoy. While I was there I had my eyebrows waxed for the first time - I have never waxed anything before. I am sure it is a less sensitive area but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! I tried plucking my eyebrows once and decided after a few minutes of pain that it was so not worth it but waxing twice a year is doable.

Friday night Jeremy and I went out to dinner with some friends. We went up to the new Cheescake Factory in SLC. The hoopla has died down a bit so it was only a 2!! hour wait to get seated (they don't take reservations). But we were then able to sit and just talk for 2 hours and eat lots of cheesecake. We don't usually have that long to just sit and talk with friends - usually we are doing kid interference. It was really nice.

Had to have a little talk yesterday on why our kids had to stay inside and watch conference and other friends didn't. Growing up when we did things differently it was because we were Mormon. But here that isn't the answer. So we have been trying to explain to our kids that our family chooses to do things a certain way because we feel its right and that although other families do things differently it doesn't mean that they are wrong. Its a tough concept to grasp for them.

I repainted the bead board in our downstairs bathroom this week. I kept wondering why it looked so streaky and bumpy till I realized it just needed a thicker top coat of paint. Spencer afterwards said it looks the same, just whiter now so why did I bother? Told him that was the point!

Kids are all doing good. Robyn learned how to open doors and yes the hamsters are still alive (don't ask me how). We find the hamsters all over the bathroom now with Robyn gleefully playing with them. I learned that she could open the door when she showed up in the kitchen with a hamster running up and down her arm while Robyn proudly beamed and tried to be careful about her accomplishment.

I go to tour the junior high tomorrow for Taylor to make sure it will be a good fit. I am hoping to make it work as I really don't like the atmosphere of the disabled school.

Besides that life is full with errands, going to the library, Spencer starting the bear den and learning a bunch of magic tricks, Robyn discovering how fun it is to ride a trike, Spencer reading through the Narnia chronicles, Allison singing non-stop all the time in this high pitched voice, taking Lauri shopping, and all the other stuff that goes on in our family.

Love to you all, Heather