Ali -Born to Be a Star

Ali has had a great week and a half. It actually started just last Tuesday. I got a phone call from Mrs. Keith at Bartlett Elementary -Ali's school. She told me that Ali had won a drawing contest, Doodle 4 Google, as the 4th grade winner from Bartlett. She drew the google logo and then added an artistic rendition of what she wanted for the world which was world peace. It was very cute, and I'm hoping that I'll have a picture to post of it tomorrow. She'll compete with other winners from around the state, then the region, then nationally. Go Ali Go!

On Saturday, March 28, we got to watch Ali perform in "Hansel and Gretel, the True Story". (She's been going to this class, Readers Theater at the library, every Saturday in March for 2 hours.) She went at 10:00 am and they practiced, took some breaks, ate some lunch, figured out what props would be used and got ready for the 2:30 show. Ali got a fabulous chopstick hairdo and wore a funky dress as the game show host Tina. She was the moderator between the Witch and Hansel, Gretel and their parents. She really did a super job. Also, since she is such a great reader, her and another boy got to read us a poem, "I Met a Dragon Face to Face" by Jack Prelutsky. It was fun too that Grandma and Grandpa Salter were able to be there. I think they really enjoyed seeing our Ali star.

Then Tuesday evening it was the 4th grade musical, "Posibilities". Ali got to dress up as an author -glasses (my old pair which gave her a headache) and all.

She sang wonderfully and it was a cute presentation.

We've really enjoyed seeing our very creative Ali shine. She's quite the talented artist, writer, reader and actor, and we look forward to more of it.

The Duck Park

One of Sammy's favorite places is the duck park.

He loves to feed them.

They dance for him.

He makes sure that all the ducks are in the water and get the love and attention that they need.

All this work makes him thirsty, thirsty enough for a V-8!

Words We Live By

Last Saturday Ali was at her Hollywood 101 class at the library,
-it's like a readers theatre and Ali loves it, anyway, they all got to perform their parts in front of the rest of the group for the first time. I asked Ali if it was scary. Her response, "I was born to act!!" Not scary at all.



On St. Patty's Day, Spencer reminded us that he's part Irish. He asked me if he looked Irish because a lot of people have been asking him if he's Irish. He also showed me that he sometimes has a little hoppity hop in his step -isn't that Irish too?



We found Sammy squatting in the corner. I asked him if he'd like to go get on the potty to poop. No thanks he said. But you're such a big boy I reminded him. "Not big enough!"

Happy Birthday Dave!

Happy Birthday Daddy Dave! These are some of the things that we love about him: He's a super hard worker whether at work, at home, or at church; he's really fun to play and wrestle with; he's great at seeing someones need and helping where he can; he's genuine; he's fun to play sports with; he's fun to camp and hike with; when he sets his mind to something he does it; he's a good example to us -he goes to the temple every tuesday morning at 5:30;

he's a great organizer; he's a super dad; He's a wonderful husband. We love you Daddy Dave and are so grateful for you!

I Belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!

I was getting ready for Primary last week, looking for pictures and I ran across this. Ali wrote it just after she got baptized:

"I turned 8 on January 3rd, and three days later I got baptized by my Dad. My grandparents were there and some of my uncles, aunts, and cousins and my good friend Ellie Putnam. I was nervous before my baptism, wondering if I was going to get dunked 1,000 times -I didn't though. Afterwards, I was so happy! My smile felt like it was more than a mile. I'm so glad I am baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!"

Spencer has a goal that he's going to baptize Sam. Spencer will be 17 -almost 18!

Wood Badge for Dave

Dave has now officially earned his Wood Badge. Way to go! The Court of Honor was held last Wednesday, March 11. He had to go to training over 2 long weekends -Thurs-Sat. and hang, hoot and holler with a bunch of Owls -that's what his group was.

Then Dave had to put his training to the test. He came up with 5 tickets or goals that he needed to complete by the end of 2008. He worked hard and I'm so proud of him. Dave's been the Scout Master in our ward for the past 3 years. I wasn't very happy about that in the beginning, but I'm so grateful that he's there. Spencer's been able to go with Dave to most of the camp outs and other fun stuff so he knew most of the young men before he turned 12.
Certainly a benefit has been that Dave has been able to help Spencer get merit badges -by the way he also, last week, earned his 1st class and Star. He says he wants his Eagle by the time he's 14. Go Spencer! They've really had a great time in Scouts. Ali, Sam and I -we have our fun too!

Super Sam

Sam is growing up so fast! We love to hear him talk. He has a hard time with S's and F's, instead he substitutes them with a D or if the next letter is a consanant, he just says that. For instance, "Sammy" is "Dammy", "asleep" is "a-leep", "so funny" is "doe dunny". It's pretty cute too when he really doesn't want to do something and instead of "I won't" he says "I willn't". He loves to pillow talk at night too -he's quite the conversationalist. He's our Super Sam.