The Best Christmas Present EVER!!!!

Okay, so I know I am way behind with the whole blogging thing, but tonight MUST be noted.  My darling husband Byron has just given me the most amazing gift!  Against all his personal inclination, he auditioned for Savior of the World, a musical production that a few of our local stakes are preparing to put on for Easter weekend.

This wonderful man stood up before a panel and sang "I Am a Child of God."  He sounded amazing!!!! And, lest you think I am just biased, all four of the panel just gasped in amazement.  Untrained voice?  Certainly?  Beautifully clear tones - absolutely!!!  No nerves (Byron says that is because he didn't really care what anyone thought - and yes I am totally jealous since I care too much).  When he was done singing, they asked him to sing another song!  He told them he didn't know anything else, so they gave him a book!  He offered to just do manual labor backstage and they said - no way, not with that voice. Byron told them he had been told on his mission that he was tone deaf - they told him he had been lied to.  Byron bowed to the inevitable and is getting ready to learn how to sing!!!! I am over the moon. 

Now there was a small moment after he sang when the stake choir director pointed out that when he was done Byron and I would be duet partners.  Byron shot me a look that said "That was NOT part of the deal" - I just sat back on my heel grinning like an idiot thinking "I told you so, I told you so, I told you so!"

So I get an amazing gift (which will keep giving through Easter and possibly eternity) and Byron didn't have to spend a penny - everyone's a winner!

June Fun

The apartment complex we live in has two pools and our family spent most of June swimming in the one closest to our unit.  To date, there has only been one time when there was anyone else at the pool, so it has been like having our own pool.  Byron even took to taking the kids swimming after work - which they have loved.  We haven't done it in a while since it has gotten too hot in the evenings (which is so weird).  However, it is starting to cool off a bit and I think we will need to get in some more pool time.  This particular pool party was in June and Byron took the kids swimming by himself while I had a singing lesson and Robert went to a teen party.  When I got home, the kids were having a blast.

We decided to go and get a good hamburger for dinner and headed off to the Red Robin at the mall (which is about a mile away ... I love that).  The kids did so well and the service was so good, we had a great time (which is unusual when we take the kids out to eat).

Even Dad had fun coloring ... which has set a bad precedent because now Ginny and Ben have decided that Dad is here solely for coloring their pictures.  Josh, on the other hand, has discovered that he really likes to color and is doing a really good job!

So after the yummy strawberry lemonade and hamburgers, we decided to stroll the mall and just see what was there.  We found a Gymboree that definitely has the right idea about kids and shopping.  We walked into the store and kids made a bee line for the back of the store where there was a huge telelvision playing cartoons ... they didn't even move, just stared blankly at the screen. 

The bench also made for a nice photo - fun night!

New Home and New Hobby

The end of April saw our family moved to an apartment in Visalia.  We miss having a huge yard to run around in (especially Boggart), but we gain a really neat perk .... sidewalks!

A couple of weeks after we moved in, we went to the store and found some bikes for Joshua and Ginny.  Ben got Josh's bike - with a promise that he would get his own new bike when he could ride without training wheels.  We also got helmets for all three:

Byron put the bikes together with minimal help ... ;-)

I previously blogged about the bikes, but I didn't have the cable to get the pictures from the camera.  Now I have the cable, so I thought I would add the pics.  The kids love riding their bikes as often as they can.  Ben has tried riding without the training wheels, but has decided that he is just not ready for that and Ginny's helmet still doesn't fit too well.

Robert had been riding Byron's older mountain bike, but when a friend came to visit in July he borrowed the road bike (and Byron's riding shoes with the clips).  Now Robert prefers the road bike and loves to ride "clipped in" because he can go so much faster.  He has only managed to fall over while clipped in a couple of times so far!