Spring Break, Andrew's game Somerset, + miscellaneous items

The events of Spring Break itself are not spectacular or photo worthy, but we thoroughly enjoyed our week. Each day I worked on cleaning and decluttering a different room. It was great to sleep in a little and just be together. Gave us a taste for summer and we are excited for it. Only 5 weeks left!

Friday night, Glen and I went to the induction ceremony for Phi Theta Kappa's chapter at TMCC. Phi Theta Kappa is the honor society. Hannah is the Vice-President of the chapter and was the one who gave the opening and closing remarks.  We met some very nice people and had a great time.

Andrew met with a professional game designer about a game he's developed, Somerset. The man was very interested in it. Andrew posted about the meeting on his blog. Click to read all about it. https://agamedesignersblog.blogspot.com/2017/04/my-meeting-with-alan-bahr-professional.html

And speaking of Andrew: Happy 4th Anniversary Heather and Andrew!

Hannah, Alex, Heather, Andrew, Beth, Glen, and Ryan Salt Lake City 25 April 2013

KI7MGI...that's my call sign for the Ham radio (for now, anyway, as I'm thinking of seeing if I can get a vanity call sign ending in PRZ). I now have a radio, too, thanks to the generosity of a donor. Apparently the man who donated the books we used for the class and then bought radios for those who passed the test received an inheritance from his brother, and one of the things he is using the money for is to promote Ham radios. I am one of the lucky recipients. Now I just have to learn how to use my new radio. The class was about the rules and laws, not about how to use one.

my new radio is a hand-held type

"Remember the Titans" is a movie I've heard about for years, but I finally just saw it during my most recent sub job (and in case you might think the teacher was being lax in letting me show a movie, it went with an in-depth worksheet dealing with all different kinds of communication shown in the movie--I'm glad I didn't have to turn in a worksheet). Anyway, I LOVED this movie. If I find it in the bargain bin at Walmart, I just might buy it.

But, as always, when I watch a movie based on true events, I want to know what was true and what was fiction used to move the story along. Turns out there's a website called chasingthefrog.com that you can look such things up on. So, some of the fun and interesting parts of the movie were fiction, but it was still a great movie.

Easter Break is starting

Today is Easter and our Easter Break is just starting. Our church has great Easter campaigns every year. This year it's #PRINCEofPEACE. It's short, but it's a wonderful tribute to the Savior. How grateful I am for my knowledge of my Savior and His great Atoning Sacrifice.

Being Easter, we had a family dinner today. I was in charge of dessert.  I wound up doing a carrot cake cheesecake from Mel's Kitchen Café (https://www.melskitchencafe.com/carrot-cake-cheesecake/).  I even bought a springform pan so I could make it properly (I've been watching the Great British Baking Show on netflix and felt inspired). I love Pinterest. I found 2 great Easter desserts there. I made a bunny garden and then Glen helped me with the lamb cupcakes.

I made very small Easter baskets this year...2"x2"

Remember how Alex was going to take a math test for the state competition? Well, he didn't place in the state, but he came in first for Churchill County High School, which means he gets $25 as his prize. Congrats Alex! They even talked about it as part of the Greenwave News broadcast (go to 1:20 where they mention him).

Henry's 2nd birthday was on Wednesday, but that's when Heather left on a field trip to the Lytle Ranch in Arizona for one of her classes, so they celebrated Henry's birthday today. Maybe we'll have pictures to share next week. After Heather left on her trip, Ryan arrived to spend the rest of his spring break with Andrew.

a recent photo of Andrew, Henry, and Heather

picture from Heather's biology trip

More Andrew news from his blog (https://agamedesignersblog.blogspot.com/):

"This upcoming Wednesday the 19th I am meeting with Alan Bahr, a professional game designer, and pitching him the game Somerset to hopefully become published. Pray for me! It's super exciting. I think I've worked all the bugs out. I got some good feedback from Eric, Ryan, and Emilyn. And Becky too, she played twice and won both times. So I think it's about ready to be shown off."

Good luck Andrew!!!

And a shout out to my sister, Denise, who spent her spring break last week with bronchitis. I'm so sorry that you are so sick! I hope you feel better soon!

kid update

Monday night, Glen and I went and watched the NCAA Championship on the big screen at the old movie theater. It was a blast. Everyone in the beginning was rooting for Gonzaga except for one guy. It turns out his brother was #25 on UNC's team. He had the last laugh as UNC pulled ahead and beat Gonzaga. It really was a fun night.

Alex spent 3 nights in Reno this past week with the Skills USA group. He participated in the digital movie category. One night he and his partner got about 1 1/2 hours of sleep because they were editing their film. They did not place in the competition, but had a wonderful time. At some point, I should be able to post his video to my blog.

There wasn't a track meet for CCHS on Saturday as the track meet was in California and there was a big snow storm going on, so we stayed home.

We got the car to the body shop. The man is pretty sure the insurance company is going to considered it totaled since it's a 2000 Camry with 270,000 miles on it. The most it is worth is maybe $1000. He said it would cost over $2,000 to fix it. Meanwhile, Hannah is driving a very nice electric blue Hyundai Elantra rental car, courtesy of Geico.

Speaking of Hannah, she is one week into her 10 week sub job. She's teaching math at Swope Middle School in Reno for the rest of the school year. Good luck, Hannah, with the rest of the semester. They go 2 weeks past Churchill county.

Eric and Ryan just finished up winter semester. Eric is in Rexburg with plans to practice with his new silk screen press. Ryan is currently in Colorado where he will attend a friend's wedding on Tuesday. Then he will pass through Provo and Andrew and Henry will take him back to Rexburg (Heather has a field trip to southern Utah this week and so Andrew and Henry are able to travel). I'm guessing a giant game marathon is planned once the boys are all together.

We still have another week of school before we have our Spring Break. We are counting the days.

It's April...

...so that means track is still going on, today is Andrew's birthday, March Madness is almost over, and this was General Conference weekend (it was amazing, of course). Plus, Eric has a new enterprise (just call me Charity).

Eric is the farthest face on the left. He and some friends watched Conference together.

 Having nothing to do with the month of April...actually this happened in March...poor Hannah and her friend Becky were rear-ended on Thursday. A trip to the ER tells us that they are OK (and we are praying the whiplash doesn't rear it's ugly head).

Our car is needing repairs. We think it's not totaled, but then again, it's 17 years old, so the repairs might cost more than the car is worth. We'll see what the insurance company says. The guy who caused the accident has Geico insurance. We'll see if saving 15% on car insurance is worth it or not.

the muffler is hanging down, the trunk is taped shut. :(

Alex's track meet this week was a 2-day event at Reed High School in Reno. Instead of coming home on the bus and going back the next morning, Hannah picked Alex up and he spent the night in Reno. She was able to cheer him on. The local newspaper posted a bunch of photos of the meet online, 3 of which had Alex in them.

I love that you can tell they are really giving it their all

4 x 100 relay with Alex getting ready to pass the baton to William

the hand off!

Hannah sent me some photos, too.

Alex and Rusty

Speaking of the local paper, in Wednesday's paper they printed some photos from the previous week's track meet. One picture was of Alex, but they mislabeled it and his caption reads, "Jacob Perazzo banks around a curve in Churchill County High School's track during the Elks Invitational."

Well, my dreams of winning the family's March Madness contest ended yesterday when South Carolina lost. We are down to 2  possible winners. If UNC beats Gonzaga, then Tyler wins. If it goes the other way around, Mom Perazzo wins. Good luck!

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDREW!!! He's 27 today. How blessed we are to have him as part of our family. He is a great example to his siblings and just a joy to us.

Eric's new enterprise is explained in this video: