Bradyn Take 2nd Place in the Pinewood Derby

Last night was Bradyn's first pinewood derby. Bradyn and I had a good time making the car. I can see why everyone laughs about the boys actually making the car. They give you a block of wood and then expect a car that will go down the track. I don't know of to many eight year olds that are able to use power equipment to shape their car. The instructions say to sand it down but that would honestly take weeks if not months. So we had Bradyn draw different car designs and then he picked his favorite. I (Todd) then tried to cut out the car like his drawing. When I finished cutting the car out it was obvious by the look on Bradyns face that it wasn't close to his original drawing. But true to Bradyn's nature he told me he loved it. Bradyn had two different jobs with the car. First it was his job to sand it down, smooth as glass. He spent a lot of time with that. We made him go outside to sand it and about every 30 seconds he would come in the house and have me check it. His other job after it was painted and wheels were on was to put the decals on. We originally wanted to go with University of Utah car but had a hard time finding small enough stickers. We finally used pinewood derby decals bought at Allens. Bradyn ended up taking 2nd place. Each car raced 5 times. Bradyn took 3 first place finishes and 2 second place finishes.

Bradyn and Todd Spend Weekend Hunting?

Before anything the guns in the pictures with all the boys and Bradyn are unloaded and the safety's are on. The boys wanted to hold the guns and so we took every safety precaution before they did.

This last weekend was the opening of the deer hunt. Bradyn and I went up to the cabin with Jeff and Jake, Scott and Peyton, Riley and Clayton, and Nels and Dallin. We had decided around January that we all wanted to go up and spend the weekend with just the cousins. While we were there no one shot or even saw a deer. I really don't think we were out long enough to see one. It was just fine that we didn't get one because we had a good time just being with each other. We had to laugh because we were only going up for two days but when we unpacked all our clothing and food we would have made it for two weeks. That's one of the fun things about the cabin is that there's always plenty of food.

On Saturday Jeff, Scott, and I; along with our boys traveled down to Salt Lake to the football game. We had a fun time and again had plenty to eat. It wasn't really a game because Utah had things under control from the opening kick. Bradyn and I had a wonderful time together. Nickolas had a hard time understanding why he couldn't go. We continued to tell him that he needed to be at least 8 years old before he could go. I think he understood this but asked why he couldn't go with the boys. Nick called my cell phone a couple of times asking if we had shot a deer. Each time I would tell him no and he would ask "Why?" I never had a good answer. Bradyn and I look forward to the time when Nick is old enough so that ALL the boys can go out.

Family is Doing Well

Not a lot has been going on in the past couple of weeks. Not that were not keeping busy, that we definatly are, it just the same old thing. Elle finished up her soccer last week. She did an amazing job this fall. It was her first opportunity to play in an excellerated league and she excelled. Elle switched off playing different positions. She played goaliem defender, and forward. It was always exciting to watch her play the forward position. she would get a hold of the ball and send it flying. Many times the girls on the opposing team would do all they could to get out of the way. We are very proud of Elle and looking forward to watching her play over the next years. Elle's team is thinking about participating in an indoor winter soccer league so we'll leep everyone up on that.

The other kids are doing well. Bradyn , Katie, and Nick bring a lot of energy and happiness to our family. Bradyn and Katie are busy with their piano practice everyday after school. The two of them are also involved in a 4H after school program which they love. They stay after school once a week to participate. A few weeks ago in Cub Scouts Bradyn earned his wolf award. Bradyn is having a good time with Cub Scouts, enjoying working on belt loops, arrows, and different awards. In a couple of weeks Bradyn will have his Pine Wood Derby. We are gearing up for that. Bradyn asks everyday when the two of us are going to work on his car. They don't make it easy for an 8 year old to make the car. I can see now why parents or should I say dad's are so involved. We'll post pictures of the adventure.

Nick is doing well. He keeps busy with his preschools and enjoys going each day.

A couple of notes about Spanish Fork Football. We one our second region game against Timpanogos last Friday. The team was prepared and ready to play. We won 34-7. We are now 2-0 in region and play Pleasant Grove Friday. They are ranked 3rd or 4th in the state (depending on which paper you read) and 6-1 overall. They were picked to win region so this is going to be a huge test for us. I really feel if we can limit mistakes and run the ball effectively we'll win. It should be a lot of fun.