MaeLyn's Musings

A couple weeks ago, (June 9-11) Peter had cub scout day camp. It was put on by our stake, and most of it was held at out stake center. The theme was "Journey to the Promised Land" and each of the groups had a name that was associated with one of the pioneer companies that came west. Peter was in the Willie company. (As in the Willie and Martin Handcart companies) Activities they did included making American Indian style headbands and decorating tepees. Some of the groups made dream catchers and tom toms and learned Indian dances. It sounded like they had a lot of fun! Here, Peter and his group are decorating their tepee. Each boy took a wedge shaped section to work on. They drew their images in pencil, and then painted them. The finished tepee, with Peter's section facing. He decided to draw one of the stories he was told during the camp. In his own words: "It's Ephraim Hanks walking. It is snowing. He prays for a buffalo. He kills the buffalo. ...

Yesterday, Steven's work had a party at the zoo. Our whole family went and we were able to meet a few of Steven's coworkers over lunch, and then we toured the zoo. I haven't been to the zoo since I accompanied Peter's kindergarten class, and I don't think we've ever gone as a family, so it was a bit of an adventure. It was an overcast day, with rain threatening... and it did sprinkle on us some while we there, but the good news was that it wasn't crowded and it wasn't super hot, either. Our favorite animals were the monkeys, I think, especially the gibbon that had a blast tightrope walking on the robes in his enclosure, and then swung around the fence and came to say "Hi" to the family! A goose stood and gave us a long lecture... too bad we couldn't understand a word of it! We got tickets to ride the carousel.  The gibbon who came to say, "Hi!"  Some of the kids enjoyed the interactive activities availabl...

Day 1 Steven's coworker has a cabin just outside Grand Lake, Colorado, and he allowed us to rent it for a few days. We arrived on Thursday around noon. The log cabin is perched on a hillside, has two bedrooms plus a loft, three bathrooms,and is absolutely beautiful.  Much of the rustic decor includes tons of moose... (Josh counted over 80 moose images inside the cabin!) ... and the occasional bear. After unloading the car, eating lunch and changing into swimsuits, we headed back out to go kayaking.    We returned to the cabin for dinner... (tin foil dinners cooked on the grill and eaten on the back patio.)  and s'mores. Day 2 The next day dawned cool and rainy. Hoping that it would clear up, we set off to hike around Monarch Lake. Hannah opted to stay in the car. I started out with Steven and the boys, but after a half mile or so, I, too, decided to return to the car.  By the time the ...

A couple weeks ago, I received a phone call that John was going to receive a reward at the 8th grade awards ceremony. I attended the ceremony, and watched as teachers passed out certificates to students who had shown outstanding work in each area, math, science, leadership, creativity, etc. The ceremonies were nearing the end, and John had yet to receive anything. I started to wonder if they had changed their minds or if there had been a mistake. And then John's name was called. He received an award they called, "The Sir Isaac Newton Award for Scholarship". He had earned the highest over all GPA over the three years of middle school of all the 200 or so students in the 8th grade at his school. Wow! I am very proud of him and all his hard work.

Forty years have passed Since I came into this world? No, I'm not that old! Seriously, I'm too young to be forty. My stomach still does flip flops when I have to pick up the phone to make a call. I still haven't figured out what I want to be when I grow up. I'd rather play a game or read a book or watch a movie or do just about anything, than go to work. I still like to color, for heaven's sake!  There is no possible way that I could be forty. Forty-year-olds are supposed to be mature and responsible. They should know what they are doing and where they're going and have confidence in themselves. I sure don't. But my birthday cake this year had four candles on it, one for each decade I've been alive. (Can you imagine the huge fire there would have been if they'd tried to cram forty candles on one small ice cream cake?) According to my birth certificate and my driver's license, it is true. (2015-1975=40)  What have I done in th...