Engineer

Nate is taking a class he really enjoys. They do computerized design of engineering projects on a CAD program called Rhino. They also just finished destroying one of their projects. They built mini bridges out of balsa wood. They used various reinforcement techniques and designs. Then, to see how strong they were, they applied weight to the breaking point. Nate's did pretty well, holding more than 500 times its own weight. You can watch the test on this video.

Easter, He Lives.

As we enjoy the sporadic spring days, one day brings more joy than others as we celebrate the fact that our Savior, Jesus Christ is risen! He lives and is our advocate with Our Father In Heaven. We had an enjoyable Easter Sabbath and this short video is an example of the reason we have such great love for our Savior.

We did end up participating in some of the traditional Easter traditions. We colored eggs together on Sunday afternoon, then hid them and searched for them on Monday (good day to get a deal on Easter candy too!) Here's a little video from our Easter Egg hunt:

Nate Runs!

Nate likes to run and he's been having fun with spring sports, specifically track. He runs the mile and occasionally gets into a relay but here's a video of a couple of his races. Enjoy!!

Spring Yard Work

Well, with good weather comes a family tradition; Mom gets to work for 12 hours a day doing her favorite thing: beautifying the yard. Denise went to a presentation Thursday night on "Square-Foot Gardening". It was put on by an expert from Utah and she loved it so much that the next morning, when I got home from graveyard clinicals in the Emergency Department, she was trying to cut a 2X8 with a pruning saw! I told her to wait while I got the circular saw out and she was off an running! The boys pitched in to get the pond cleaned out, we reorganized some 4X4's we scavenged a couple of years ago into a "patio" behind the garage and with some other various yard cleanup, we had our own "Spring Makeover!" Throw in our annual family picture in front of the flowering magnolia and I thought it would make a good blog posting!

Spring Break 2009

Yeah, I know, its been awhile since you've seen a new posting on this blog. My apologies but here are some new words and even a video! We spent a couple of spring break days as a family enjoying the Northwest. We started by staying at Silver Mountain (well known ski resort). We didn't ski but had a great time at the indoor water park. We then went and poked around Spokane for several hours, rode the gondola over Spokane Falls and saw where Denise and Paul used to live. We also got to see Denise's brother at his new job. It was a good family outing (Paul & Denise are even thinking of a 25th anniversary getaway to Silver Mountain this summer!)

The Boys Go Golfing

It was a blustery day but we braved the weather and chased some little white balls around the Buckskin Golf Course on Saturday. Justin, Nate, Spencer and Paul played nine holes. Its been years since we've golfed and the interest has arisen lately so we went to the driving range a few days ago then decided to try our skills on a real course. Paul's claim to fame was he used the same ball the whole time. There were plenty of good shots and plenty of so-so shots. We all need some pointers but we had a great time and plan to go again soon. Here you'll see our score card and a short video of some of the boys tee shots.

Family gathering

We had an enjoyable weekend in the Tri-Cities with much of our extended family visiting for a couple of days over the president's day holiday. Sisters visited from the Seattle area. We had a nice dinner out together Saturday evening with leftovers. Sunday, we enjoyed church then just hung out together, then we launched a hot-air balloon despite the high wind warnings (see video). We had a great french dip dinner Sunday afternoon. We didn't do a whole lot but mainly had some relaxing time together, playing some games, visiting and catching up a little. Mindy and Amy couldn't make it over for Christmas so this was a little make-up visit. Monday, we went out for a little shooting and motorcycle riding before everyone headed for home (see video). Thanks to all for a wonderful visit!