Birthday Boy Garrett!!!

February 24th was Garrett's 6th birthday. He started off his day with crepes in bed.

He was out cold when we walked in--usually the birthday person is anxiously awaiting our arrival. Look at that tired face :)

Presents!

After presents we celebrated by playing basketball at the church. Parents vs. kids. Miya just chased us back and forth on the court kicking her volleyball and laughing. It was awesome! Until she got tired of that and wanted me to carry her. Then I wasn't much help to my team. I thought the parents won, but the kids thought they won...hmmm...

Nilla wafer banana pudding cake.

Friday night Garrett had a friend party-10 wrestling boys running around the house. Two hours seemed more like four but Garrett had a great time :)

Garrett is really into Legos

My basketball pinata was too wimpy or the boys were too strong. They didn't want to be blindfolded, so they were really wailing on it. The second boy broke it, so the rest of them just got to hit the remains of the pinata hanging there. Luckily they seemed just as happy to hit the broken pinata as the full one.

The whole crew--HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GARRETT!!

On a side note we just had parent teacher conferences and G's teacher said what a great kid he is. He is a friend to all, great listener and participator and always does his best. We feel the same way about our Garrett and are so glad to have him!

soapbox

Thursday night we got a phone call at 10:03, just as we were drifting off to sleep. It was an automated call from the school district telling us that school would be canceled due to a lack of teachers and not enough substitutes to cover for them. Are you kidding me?!

The teachers were striking (or calling in sick) because of a bill the Wisconsin state government is trying to pass which will require teachers to actually contribute to their pension plans, and that they pay 12.6% of their health care benefits. Currently they pay nothing into their pension plans and receive their health care for free--no monthly contribution. Even after this bill passes, they will still pay only about half what the average american pays for their monthly health benefits. This bill will save the state approximately 300 million over the next 2 years and will help as our new governor and legislators try to balance the budget which is 3.6 billion in debt. Pres. Obama has criticized the Wisconsin State government, even shipping in protestors to Madison to show his disdain. Obama said, "And I think it's very important for us to understand that public employees, they're our neighbors, they're our friends. I think everybody's got to make some adjustments, but I think it's also important to recognize that public employees make enormous contributions to our states and our citizens." Governor Scott Walker has responded to the criticism, "I think we're focused on balancing our budget. It would be wise for the president and others in Washington to focus on balancing their budget, which they're a long ways from doing." I wanted to stand up and cheer when I read that. Hooray for Gov. Walker!!! Way to stand up to the President.

So, what have the Democratic legislators done to show their disapproval of the bill? They ran away. They crossed the border into Illinois and are hiding in Chicago so that a vote can't take place. Does this sound a bit cowardly to you? Governor Walker isn't a coward. He has sent the State Troopers after these representatives to bring them back. That is why they crossed the state line. So comforting to know the kind of people who are making decisions for us.

Now, don't get me wrong. My degree is in teaching, and I have much respect for teachers and the teaching profession. It is one of the hardest jobs out there, with countless hours spent preparing lessons, grading and going the extra mile. It is a job that could never be 8-5, as a teacher is always working on his/her curriculum and thinking about how to best teach it to his/her students and get them excited about it. Teachers should be appreciated and respected and paid to reflect their performance. But since they are government employees and the government budget is over-stretched, they have to make sacrifices just like the rest of us. I don't know anyone who works for a private company who gets free healthcare and a free pension/401K. They are required to contribute their portion to both and that seems logical. Shouldn't the government employees be required to do the same?

So far we haven't heard anything about if school is cancelled tomorrow or not. It is President's Day and Tyler has the day off, but for some reason the school kids don't. As we are in the middle of a winter storm (supposed to get 12 inches or so) maybe we'll have a snow day tomorrow and make everyone happy.

So I'll get down off of my soapbox now. I just had to vent, and I hope I haven't offended anyone. It has been exciting seeing teachers out picketing and hearing how passionate people are about this issue, one way or the other. Tyler and I went out to eat last night and halfway through our meal some people came in with signs supporting Gov. Walker. I think one of the signs read, "Your pension=my money" It sure adds some excitement to our quiet town, and I'm excited to see what tomorrow will bring.

I'm a mormon!!!

I finally made my profile on mormon.org



Check it out here! http://www.mormon.org/me/2P5Y/#



They are doing all kinds of radio and TV commercials here in the Twin Cities. i think we are one of the test areas. It is wonderful to hear "I'm A Mormon" commercials on the radio as I'm driving around during the day. Now I've got my own mini-commercial.

Shayla's baptism day

Shayla was baptized on Sat., February 12th by her dad.

It was a special occasion and we were so glad my mom could be here to share it with us, and felt all of our family here in spirit.

I made Shayla's dress for her. She loved it and looked so cute in it. I was fully prepared to go out and buy her a dress if it didn't turn out (most of my sewing projects never see the light of day) so I was happy with the results!

Shayla celebrating with a few of her friends after the baptism. She was just beaming and so happy. She said she was so nervous before the baptism she thought she would throw up, but after she came out of the water she felt so happy. I am proud of the decision she made to be baptized and feel that she is truly taking it to heart.

Catching up

Before Christmas we traveled to Cleveland to be with my side of the family. We had so much fun being together. Everyone was there except Jacob who is serving a mission in Manchester England, but we were able to call him for Christmas and talk with him and hear his Brittish accent and vocabulary. It was smashing and jolly good fun!

Garrett building his own wooden toy at Santa's workshop (which happens to be in Kirtland, OH--who would have thought!)

Hyrum working with his elf on his wooden toy

Tyler made this rocking horse for Miya


Hadley and Shayla painting their identical twin horses


Grandma and Felicity working with their own personal elf

The Magleby's all getting in on the fun

Grant milking a cow--we each got a turn. I felt bad for the poor cow as we all lined up to take a turn milking it.

Meeting Santa right in the train station. Shayla was worried about his authenticity--no worries, Shayla, Santa has lots of helpers.
Traveling on the train--kids were exhausted


Grant and Hyrum both caught a nap, too


Garrett and Hyrum wearing matching outfits given them by Grandma

Waiting for the train in the snow. It was so beautiful! We even took advantage of the snow and went cross country skiing one day. It was so fun I want to buy skis for the family--I'm hooked!

Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters.
Sarah, Kris and Ang

Heber Tate's blessing day

Garrett and Uncle Curt at the Bishop's Store House, filling Christmas food orders.

Definitely a highlight of the trip. The kids loved it and so did I.

Shayla loved the clipboard and bossing Uncle Ricky around :)

Hadley and Ty filling the frozen foods orders--we were supposed to be meeting everyone at the nursing home but we couldn't tear them away!

Christmas caroling at the nursing home--highlight was when one of the staff requested the Grinch song, and Kris performed a great impromtu performance "You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch..." It was awesome!

This is what the kids thought of caroling

It was such a great trip, and even though I'm 2 months late, I wanted to post a few photos. Merry Christmas in February!

Another Birthday Girl!

Miya celebrated her 1st birthday on November 30th, 2010!!! So, I'm really late, but had to put up a few b-day pics anyway.
Birthday girl, Miya!!! She loved opening presents.

Her birthday cake was a different story...

She didn't want to touch it and get her hands dirty, so she decided to use her face to eat it :)

Licking her cake-yum!

She liked it, so she dug her face in deeper...

She ended up with frosting all over her face and up her nose, crying and trying to climb out of her high chair.
We washed her off and gave her a bowl of strawberry ice cream, and then she was happy again. She's like her mom, much more of an ice cream than cake girl :)

Cheesing it for the camera

Miya's first doll--she picked this out at the store and I wasn't sure if she really liked the doll or just the plastic box it came in. After she opened the box, I was relieved to see that it really was the doll she liked. She is so sweet and gives her baby hugs. We love you Miya!