1st grade concert

You can see Goofy right in the middle of this picture. He was really excited about his music concert at school, but during the performance, he didn't really show it. He was so calm and didn't get into it like some of the other kids. The first grade had been getting over a bad stomach bug, so there were a lot of kids out or not feeling well. They did a great job, though.

Minnie's Birthday

 Tink decided to throw a surprise birthday party for Minnie. She planned and worked hard to get everything ready. (She did this as her project for Good Works in her Personal Progress.) We invited all the family over the day before her birthday. Luckily, Minnie's friend down the street came over at the perfect time to see if she could play. I told her she could as long as she kept her until the time we needed her back. I let her in on the secret and everything went well. We were able to decorate and good the food ready. Tink made and decorated the cake. It tasted really good. She did triple chocolate cake with buttercream icing shaped into roses. We had homemade pizzas for dinner.

 Minnie was so surprised. She had no idea we were having a party. Tink even bought her a couple of birthday presents. She loves her new teddy bear, which she named "Buttercream" after the icing!

 I went to a baptism of a friend right after the party. When I came home, I found out one of PC's nightmares had come true. Tink had a pinata for the party and we used paper bags for the kids to put their candy in. She had a Sharpie out for them to write their names on. Well, they left the Sharpie in the living room. When Shortcake came down, she decided to decorate with it.  This is what part of the white couch looked like. She wrote on the dining room chairs, the wall, the door to the basement, and the stair railing too. Magic Eraser was able to get everything off except a little bit off of the couch. Luckily, we have a warranty that says if we can't get it out and they can't get it out, then we get a new couch. I still need to call about that. It's kind of funny that it happened though.

 The next day, we had to put candles on the remainder of the cake because it was Minnie's actual birthday. Shortcake wanted to help blow out the candles. This is one of her favorite things and she talks about when she turned 2 and blew out her candles all the time. Minnie was very sweet and didn't mind sharing at all. (Sorry Shortcake has her finger up her nose, but this was the best picture I got. Typical for her.)

Temple Trip

 On March 6, I was able to go with Tink to the temple for a youth baptism trip. This was my first time going with this ward's youth. I was really excited to go because I had prepared several family names on PC's side. Tink was able to baptize several of her ancestors. It was a neat experience and we felt so good doing it. That was the final part of my Individual Worth project for Personal Progress.
The bishop likes to take the kids out to CiCi's Pizza afterward, but when we got there, it has been closed down. So, we went to Castle Rock and got Little Caesar's.  It was really good but so cold outside! There weren't any tables inside the store, so we all ate outside.

Boy Scout

What is this? He can't be old enough to be out of Cub Scouts can he? Why, yes, he is! Bucko started Boy Scouts in March. Here he is ready for his first night. He has great leaders and has had lots of fun so far. He and PC were able to go on a camp-out already with the 11-year-old Scouts, too. It was pretty cold and they both learned some things, so it was good.

Other February happenings

 Shortcake is just so cute and loves to get into things. Here she is hiding in our closet. She keeps us hopping and is a true "two-year-old."

 For February, the Come, Follow Me curriculum theme was the Plan of Salvation. We couldn't be in the church building due to carpet cleaning one evening, and we had this great progressive dinner idea, so we went ahead and implemented it. I asked two of my neighbors in our ward to help out. We started at one house, which represented the Telestial Kingdom. They ate cheese and crackers at that house and had to sit on the floor in the dark. Then we moved to the next house, which was the Terrestrial Kingdom, and had salad. Then, everyone came to my house, the celestial kingdom, for the main dish and dessert.We had a member of the stake presidency and his wife speak to us while we ate dessert. It was a really good activity and turned out well, even though it was cold with snow on the ground.

We had a few snow days in February. More than we've ever had while living in Colorado. We had more snow that we've had while living here as well. Minnie and Goofy enjoyed snow painting one day.

Date Night with our Dinner Group

We have dinner groups at our church, where we rotate families and houses for a few months. In February, the one hosting wanted to go out to eat with just the couples. We went to the Airplane Restaurant in town. It is made out of an older military plane and was pretty cool.

Another Year Older

 February is definitely our big birthday month. Mine kicks off the celebrations. I had a yummy trifle for my cake and enjoyed being with my family.

Shortcake's birthday fell on a Saturday, so we invited all the family nearby to come over for a big birthday celebration. We celebrated the boys birthdays that day too, but we just made a cake for Shortcake.  She loves Dora the Explorer and I found the template of how to make one, so I did that. I think it turned out well. She was really excited about it and keeps talking about how she blew out the candles and ate her Dora cake.

One of the funniest things that happened that day was when Shortcake opened her card from Nana and Papa. She saw Abe Lincoln on the $5 bill inside and said, "Daddy!" And then just set it aside. It was so funny!  I guess PC looks a bit like Abraham Lincoln with his beard!  

For Bucko's birthday, we made the yummy triple chocolate brownie cake that we love. He got a bo staff for his present, along with a book and game.

 For Goofy's birthday, we had pistachio nut cake. He got some Lego figures and a book.  We were lucky to have my parents here for both Bucko's and Goofy's birthday. They were on their way home from their mission in Oregon. It was so nice to have them here!