All grown up

Noah recently got a retainer that will hopefully widen his top and bottom pallets so that his adult teeth will have plenty of room to grow in. If successful, it will prevent his teeth from being crooked and keep him from needing braces later on.

I feel like this is such a big milestone and now he seems so grown up to me. He's no longer a little kid, he's old enough to take care of and wear a retainer. I'm not sure why I think this is so monumental. It's so fun to listen to him learn to talk again, although he doesn't think it's so great. He's especially mad that he can not whistle anymore - one of his greatest talents. However, he's determined to re-teach himself.

Now, if he can keep it from accidentally being thrown in the garbage he will truly make retainer history!

the Professional Circuit

Grammy and Pop have just gotten a new ping pong table added to the game room at their retirement home. Noah has already loved to go there where he can swim year round and play pool. Now, we all love the ping pong. As you can see, we will not be playing professionally anytime soon, but we are liking the practice!

Nothing on American West Heritage Festival

Noah's school field trips have really made me work on my very Type A personality. So far I have been on 2 out of 3 and neither one was organized to my liking. The first was to get a behind the scenes tour of the grocery store. It's shortcomings were mostly the tour leader's fault.

This last field trip was to an American History Festival in Queen Creek (near Phoenix). It was disappointing for many reasons. First, the teachers did not find out how long it would really take us to get there on a school bus and what they thought would take one hour ended up taking 2+ hours! So, by the time we got there, we had 1 1/2 hour to spend before having to get back on the bus and return home. Here are a few quick pictures I was able to get before having to leave. Second, it was not nearly as neat as the Heritage Festival held in Logan every fall. Noone else would have been disappointed by that except me, however. By the time we got back to the school, we all felt like we had been beat to death after riding on a school bus for four hours!

I guess if I am going to moan and groan, and if I plan on volunteering to go on the next trip, I better offer to help plan it. It's a learning opportunity for all of us. The teachers will know better for next time and I am learning that even when things are not planned to the very last detail, the kids generally still have a good time.

Beagle, Beagle, Beagle

My mother had knee surgery and the week she came home, my brother and his family went to a wedding in Utah, so they had to leave their dog. Since my mom was not able to care for her, Dave, Noah and I kept her for the week. It was the least we could do for all the times my mom and my brother have watched our dogs for us. She is a beagle named Beagle.

This dog evokes a love/hate relationship. She is the sweetest, most loving dog that I have ever met. And she loves to play. But she has the most painfully ear piercing bark/howl that I have ever heard. And she uses it whenever she is excited. She greets you with it when you come home, she uses it when she is playing and having fun and she uses it to warn of noises or anything outside. I wish I had it on video so everyone could hear how amazingly awful this sound is. I am always in awe of how such a horrible sound can come out of such a small creature.

Diamond also has a love/hate relationship with her Beagle cousin. She loves to run around and chase her, but she does not love to share any of her toys or food or humans or bed with her. Here is a rare moment when the two of them are actually being peaceful together.

Stodgy old Ginger acts as the fun monitor and is constantly barking at the two little ones when they are playing. So, as you can imagine, it is fairly chaotic when Beagle visits us.

I think by the end of the week, Beagle was glad to get back home and we were glad to get her back home.

We love you Beagle and will endure anytime you need to come visit us again.

Here is Dave giving them all their daily dose of medicine wrapped in cheese. They are intently watching as it is prepared.

A new Birthday Idea

I read in a magazine somewhere that instead of purchasing toys, books, etc. as presents for friends' birthdays, one family had started getting "time together" as a gift. So, I decided that I really liked that idea and the next birthday we went to was for Noah's friend Tyler. We wrote him a card telling him that we were going to take him to Kitt Peak Observatory to see their nighttime star gazing program and then he could spend the night afterward. The night was incredible - we saw som many amazing things, including a dying star, a whole other galaxy, the striations on Jupiter, Venus and it's moons!

I am so glad we have decided to start this new way of giving presents. It gave us the opportunity to spend time with Tyler and for Noah and Tyler to spend good time together. It also forced us to finally do something that we have been talking about doing since we moved to Tucson. I can't wait to get invited to the next birthday party!

Halloween at home

This was a big Halloween for Noah.

After our trip to Disney, we had more trick-or-treating at home.

First he helped carve pumpkins at his friend Tyler's house. They had a great time and did a great job.

Then he had a big party at school. His teacher had parents come and decorate the night before , so the room was all decked out to surprise the kids when they got there the next morning. They had a big feast and danced and went on a scavenger hunt and saw a magic show. I am amazed at all she does for her class.

Here he is on the actual night in the costume he really wanted. I don't know what he called himself - it was his own special design. He's the one with the skeleton hands and cobwebs hanging off him.

Excellent Student

I am so greatful to have such a good student for a son. I never have to fight with him about doing his homework and he takes it very seriously and works very hard at it, even though he really does not like it most of the time. He has had quite a rude awakening since starting at his new school this year. It has been a big challenge, which is the opposite of what he had at his previous school. He went from having a very easy 15 minutes of homework a night to having at least an hour of thought provoking work to do each night. He also went from having everything spelled out for him to now having many different subjects to keep up with and keeping a planner. It used to be easy for him to come home and do his homework on the kitchen table and then put it away in his backpack for the next day. Now, he has several books and workbooks to spread out and things that are ongoing for a week at a time - not just daily. So, to get him more organized, we bought him this desk and chair, which he picked out and bought accessories for and organized all by himself. He is very proud of his space and keeps it tidy and clean. With all the turmoil we had in the beginning and the hard changes he has made, he has managed to get straight A's thus far in school.

Noah, we are so very proud of you and all the work you have done and continue to do. You are such a responsible young man and Daddy and I really appreciate it.