Forgotten Carols - Michael McLean

A couple of years ago Bruce and I went to the valley to see Michael McLean's Forgotten Carols at Gammage.  We loved it!  I was online back in September and saw he was gong to be at the Showlow High School.  So I quickly bought tickets!  It was great to take our family too.  I know the 2 boys and Kaylee didn't love every minute of it but they enjoyed it. Our very favorite part is when we sing "We Will Be Together Someday" and then sing Silent Night and it's over.  The spirit was so strong and there was for sure love in the air.  I sure do love my family!

Christmas Orchestra Concert

The 2 little girls had their Christmas Orchestra Concert.  They both did great playing their little hearts out.

 Bridget with Ruby.  Bridget has a fan club of little girls that love to see her around town.

 Isabella, Tylinn, Megan, Kaylee - beautiful girls!

Tender Mercy

There are many tender mercies in our lives.  Some stand out and we notice and I am sure there are lots that we don't even realize.  Well I want to write this one down.  Bridget has worked her tail off for this College Calculus class.  Hours and hours on test.  Six hours on the final.  Well her grade came and it was a B.  In college they don't do pluses or minus or anything so she didn't really know how high of a B but she knew what she got on the final and her other grades and knew it had to be a high B.  She was pretty bummed because it was the first B of her life.  She knew she worked hard and could deal with it BUT she has this scholarship at NAU that if she gets a B in a class it drops the scholarship down by $1,500 a year.  It doesn't matter if it is a weighted class or not - they go by the letter grade.  We decided it would probably be a good thing to just email her teacher and ask him if there is anything she could do and what the percent was.  She told him if not she completely understood - it is college and she would just take her B.  He emailed her back and said it was an 88% and no there was nothing she could do about it.  But she was a great student and he would be happy to write a letter of recommendation anytime for her.  Well that was that.

A couple of days later Bridget calls me during the day and said that all their test and everything were taken on the computer and so basically the computer calculates their grade.  He said he had a feeling he needed to check just their classes grades to make sure the program put everything in right.  Well he did and it changed a few kids percentages but she was the only one and it pulled her up to an A!!!!!  We are very thankful for a great teacher that listened to that little voice (Mr. Strong - LDS from Joe City) to tell him to recheck his grades.  He said she got the A she had been praying for deserved!  So Bridget held her straight A's again for another Semester.  She has another College Calculus class next semester so we are hoping she can pull an A again.  Getting an A in a College Calculus class is amazing.  The 2 A's in the class are these two in this picture.  Noah's was quite a bit higher then Bridget's but she still did it.

A little side note.  I got the kids report cards yesterday and Straight A's again for everybody!!!  Dustin is taking AP English from Mrs. Curry and it's super hard and he also has a college math 152 class that he has had to work hard at.  Bridget took English 101 too through Dual Enrollment and got 992 points out of 1000.  So thankful for kids that get good grades and care about their future.  We don't reward our kids for A's but figure their reward is later in life with scholarships for college.  Great job kids!

Winter Formal 2016

Bridget and Dustin had fun at Winter Formal.  Dustin went with Olivia and Bridget with Barr.  

 I had hoped to get some pictures of Bridget and Dustin together but Bridget wasn't ready when Dustin left and Dustin got home quite a bit earlier then Bridget so he was ready for bed when she got home.

 Dillon, Emily, Barr, Bridget, Bryce, Taylor

I went to take group pictures with Bridget's group but not Dustin's group - should have found them and took some.  I will see if I can find some online somewhere.  It was a fun night for them.

Zippy and Young Women

Zippy has had fun hiding in our house.  This particular morning he was on a sled at the kids gingerbread house.

 For Young Women last Wednesday we had a fun white elephant sock exchange, had chips and salsa and played bunco.  It was a ton of fun.  Sure love these Young Women and the fun times we get to have.

Tucson Marathon 2016

My Bruce ran the Tucson Marathon December 10, 2016.  Roy called him wanting him to do it with him a few months back.  They trained and finally the day came.  Talbot ended up coming with them to do it too. This picture was taken at 4:00 am as Bruce was ready to walk out the door to go to the place to meet the shuttle.

 Roy booking it along the path.  Grandma and Grandpa McLaws picked Roy and Talbot up from the Tucson airport and were there to help cheer them on.  Bruce and Roy were doing really good. The first check point was 5.9 miles into the race.  Bruce and Roy were running side by side   - their pace was 7.14.  The next check point was half marathon - 13.2 with a 7.27. About this time Bruce's calves started cramping (but we didn't know this)  super bad and Roy went ahead of him.  We got the next text about Roy crossing the next check point at 18.9 miles and I waited and waited to hear about Bruce.  Next thing we know Roy comes running past us then a while later Talbot passes us.  Finally Bruce's 18.9 check point registered.  He was cramped so bad he had to walk and run so that slowed him down quite a bit. He still had his pace at a 8.04 which is pretty darn good with walking and running.

 After waiting what seemed forever we finally saw Bruce walking and I knew for sure something was wrong. The pictures are a little out of order - the one just below this is when I saw him walking.  I ran over to him and said that was down hill didn't he want to run but he said from his waist down he was numb.  He pushed forward and finished the race with a 8.53 average mile which is still really good. As soon as Bruce was slower Mark told Twila that this was his first marathon and was sure he was cramped and that is exactly what had happened.  He made it and did great but on the other hand is kind of bummed because he could have got quite a bit faster time.  Roy and Talbot did great!

 Bruce with his medal!

 Super proud of him!

 Bruce getting some much needed food after the race.

 This bottom picture is of Joe, Lori, Bruce, Talbot and Roy.

Way to go Bruce!

High School Christmas Choir Concert

The kids had their amazing Choir Concert the other night.  It was fun to have Rhett Man in it this year so there were 3 kids in it.

 Some primary kids sang at the Night of Sacred Music and at the Grand Ball and had their last debut with the high school kids.

 Bridget, Olivia and Mikayla sang "All I want for Christmas is you".  It was super cute.  Bridget sang the lower harmony and made that song.

 Santa came this year after for a visit.  The little girls got to sit on his lap.

 Noah, Rhett, Bridget

 Jillie, Rhett, Makenzie, Lauren

 Both sets of Grandma and Grandpas came to watch.  Grandma and Grandpa Flake left before we got this picture taken.

 After the concert Noah came over so these 2 could study for the college calculus final.  Two big nerds that I love!