6 April 2014

Gibson celebrated his 7th birthday with his friends at a birthday party this week.  Gibson watched the movie Turbo with his cousins over Christmas break and liked it very much.  None of the rest of us had seen the movie so when Gibson said he wanted a Turbo birthday party, we had to watch it for research purposes.  Turbo is a genetically modified snail who (spoiler alert!) wins the Indy 500.  Turbo's pit crew in the movie has homemade T-shirts, so we started the party painting T-shirts. 

Brandan put together an obstacle course in our backyard.  April's weather can be iffy, but we were blessed with a warm and sunny afternoon.

The hardest part of the obstacle course was using an air compressor to make a balloon go through the basketball hoop.  It was so hard that Brandan counted the balloon hitting the rim as a basket.

 The kids painted pieces of styrofoam.  Gib painted his carefully to look like Turbo.

When the styrofoam pieces were dry, we stuck wheels and eyeballs on them to make wiggly wobbly cars (vaguely snail-like) and the kids raced them.  In the photo are Abe, Ben, Gibson, Kohen, Tayvon and Solomon.

Dos Bros Tacos are Turbo's sponsors in the Indy 500, so we had tacos along with cupcakes and other snacks.

Happy Birthday, Gibson!  This has been a big year for Gibson-- he's taken on more responsibility with a pet turtle and cello lessons, he reads and writes like a pro and climbs trees, bikes and hikes with the rest of the kids.  Gibson lives with gusto!

 Abe celebrated his 11th birthday on Thursday!  He picked brownie sundaes for his birthday treat (yes, it's the same candle in both photos.)  His birthday was packed full with school, piano and violin lessons and soccer practice.  He barely had time for dinner and a treat before bedtime.  Abe can set high goals and then he regularly exceeds them.  His school and music teachers have learned they can push Abe harder than most kids and he thrives.  Abe has a quick mind and a kind heart.

 Helen and Abe both had their syllabus tests this weekend.  They each played 3 memorized piano pieces for a judge and were also judged on their musical theory knowledge.  Helen successfully passed level 1 and Abe successfully passed level 3. 

 Becky got Easter eggs ready for her Primary class this weekend while listening to General Conference.  There are 16 kids in her class so the eggs took up a lot of counter space.

 Each egg has a scripture inside and part of the story of Easter.  Beginning on April 9, the kids will open one egg a day until Easter.  Sofi drove Becky around to deliver all the eggs.

 We all enjoyed General Conference.  Helen took lots of notes as she listened to her favorite talks.  Gibson's favorite part of conference was playing BINGO and the kids' concession stand.  Helen also liked the concession stand and President Uchtdorf's talk on gratitude.  Abe liked President Uchtdorf's talk and also President Monson's talk.  Sofi liked Elder Ballard's talk on following up on invitations.  She plans on sharing Elder Corbridge's talk about the restoration with a friend who is looking for a church.  Becky has too many favorites to list-- one great quote from Sister Stevens, "The gospel is not weight, it's wings!"  Brandan really liked the priesthood session and President Packer's testimony which felt like it may be his last.