Ryan and Angeles are engaged! Meeting Joy! Alex's math competition and Smash Brothers win

Ryan and Angeles are now engaged :) and we are looking at probably a wedding in May and in San Diego. No photos to share. :(  But congratulations to them both! We had a wonderful visit with her here at Thanksgiving. We are very excited to have Angeles join our family!

Last week I was able to travel to Provo and finally meet Joy. She is 3 months old now and it's the perfect age for a visit. Henry will be 3 in less than 2 months. I spent the time coloring with and reading (the same books over and over, of course) to Henry, snuggling with Joy, and watching the Olympics and playing games with Andrew, Heather, and Becky. Wish they lived closer. Glad they don't live farther.

l

a

I think I love playing with this pillow more than Henry does

One fun thing that happened at BYU while I was there. Andrew took me up on campus to the bookstore on Friday...after it had been snowing all morning...and it just so happened that we had missed a lecture by Brandon Sanderson, who is one of the boys' favorite authors. The lecture was over, but he was still signing books, so Andrew called Alex to see which one he wanted me to get signed for him (sorry Eric, I didn't get one for you).

Alex chose Mistborn (which he already owns but it's his favorite). From Andrew's blog:

This is the first time in my life I've ever spoken with him. I've emailed and he emailed back, and I've sat in the back of one of his writing classes and, obviously, LTUE panels, but this was the first time I've ever spoken to him. Anyway, I asked him about the fact that traveling faster than light is equivalent to going backwards in time, and he acknowledged that (which is good, I was hoping he knew that) and said this was something he thought about a lot, and basically in the Cosmere he kind of (he used the word "fudges") the laws a bit using magic to prevent causality from being effected. So now we know: there is faster than light travel in the Cosmere, but some sort of magic prevents causality from becoming effected by it. Somebody should put that on the forums.

At the beginning of February, Alex participated in the Northern Nevada Math Council's Secondary Math Contest (the same math competition he did this time last year). His team (cousin Thomas, John Solomon, and Alex) took second place in the Comprehensive category (Calculus/Pre Calc) earning him a $15 gift certificate. Ben's Algebra I/Geometry team took 1st place. The third CCHS team placed second in the Algebra II category.

While I was in Utah, Alex, Thomas, and Ben participated in a Smash Brothers tournament. Alex came in 1st, Thomas was 3rd, and Ben was 4th out of 12 participants. They are looking forward to the next competition with practices starting today. Congratulations boys, and good luck in the next tourney.

Also while I was in Utah, Danny, one of our foreign exchange students celebrated his 16th birthday. I know there is a picture of him with his cake somewhere...I just can't find it. I will post it when someone shows me where it is hiding. Happy Birthday Danny!

Joy +, Alex spoke at Stake Conference, and it's our 29th anniversary

A few pictures from Andrew from Christmas break when they were in Mesa:

at the zoo

So Ryan and Eric made it back safely to BYU-Idaho after Christmas break and have started school again.  School here is now in full swing, too.

Alex and Glen just got back from the annual Utah Theatre Conference trip last night. This was the first time I haven't gone with Glen since 2001 (when Alex was 3 months old).

This was Alex's first time going. Glen had 18 other students there. Besides going to workshops, they saw 2 musicals: Tarzan and Curtains. They really loved Curtains. They say I do a better Tarzan yell than the actor who played Tarzan. Well, I've had more years of practice, so I'm not surprised they think that. Ask me to yell for you sometime, and if I'm not laughing too hard, I'll give it a try.

We had Stake Conference today at church. That happens 2 times a year where the wards of our stake (I believe we have 7-8) gather for one big meeting. So I don't know...maybe 1,000 people were there. It was a fabulous meeting today. Alex had been asked to give a 5 minute talk. He nailed it. I told him that if he weren't my son, I would want him to date my daughter.

Notes I took from his talk (which don't really do his talk justice, but you'll get the gist):

He was asked to speak on putting Christ first in our lives (which was the theme for this weekend's conference). He said his first thought was scripture study. Sometimes at night he feels exhausted but when he chooses to read the scriptures anyway, he feels the spirit and his sense of gratitude is increased. He said if we choose to read and reach toward God, we will be blessed.

His second thought on the topic was Sabbath day observance. He said there is a greater sense of peace and love when we observe the Sabbath. As we attempt to draw near to Him, He will draw near to us (Doctrine and Covenants 88:63 and James 4:8). The Lord's arm is always stretched forth and when we stretch to Him, He will stretch more to us. (he remembers his brother teaching that after recently returning from his mission).

Great job Alex!

And yesterday marked 30 years since Glen and I met. He got me a lovely bouquet of flowers for that. And today we are celebrating our 29th wedding anniversary. Happy Anniversary Sweetheart!