Guess what happens when you put Kaeru Hime's art supplies in a room with the boys...

BRRRRRRR

Snow in Arizona

There's still some snow left on the mountains in Northern Arizona. We took the ward YW north for a retreat and we found a fun hill to slide down on innnertubes. Kaeru Hime would rather create than slide so she went to work off to the side. After about 45 min, she had built up and formed an ice dragon.

Another Magazine Search Challenge!

Be on the lookout for frogs on page 38 of the October New Era. There's a teeny tiny one in green (or course) and one in light blue.

A Bird Worth Blogging About

Big B, his friends, fellow scouts and family painted a fence at the local baseball park for his Eagle Project.








Aunt Cindy, Uncle Bob and cousin Marcus, along with furry little Zoe showed up to help. So did Aunt Kathy and Uncle Cliff. We painted 500 ft of wrought iron fence with green latex paint in about 3 hours. We kept the crew of 26 workers happy with 4 dozen donuts, 2 dozen mini-muffins, 3 dozen liters of bottled water, and a dozen snack bags of chips (for the hardy painters who stayed until the project was done.)










Most of the fence had minimal rusting. This section was the worst BEFORE it was painted.





This is the same section of fence AFTER we were done.

The weather was great, bored painters could watch a couple ballgames as they worked, and Big B did a great job of organizing the volunteers as well as working beside them.


Now for the paperwork!

Good Books

Have any of you ever read the Kingdom and the Crown series (Fishers of Men, Come Unto Me, Behold the Man) by Gerald Lund?

Our Enrichment book club read the first two volumes for January and February so I had to finish out the series on my own (instead of reading the next book club book.)
The series follows the ministry of Christ through the eyes of two fictional families. If you have read other Lund books, you will recognize his style of characterization (There always seems to be a happy, teenage girl, who has the gift of faith and never doubts in each novel. They have different names in each series they all seem to be the same little sister.) Because one of the main characters is a renegade, the plot lines are more violent and peppered with battles and skirmishes than you might expect in a series about Christ.

The best aspect of this series is the insight it adds to the settings and situations of the four Gospels. The characters spend time thoughout the series on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and you get a good feeling for how things were situated as Christ cleanses the Temple, is challenged by Jewish leaders with the woman taken in adultery, or proclaims at the Feast of Tabernacles that he is the Living Water and Light of the World.

Most of the characters live in Galilee, where Christ spent most of his early ministry, so you are shown what it might have been like for Jesus to teach and bless among the people. What would it be like to see miracles in the lives of people that you know?

Studying the New Testamant in Sunday School has never been so enjoyable for me. I look forward to my time each night in the Gospels. I love what these books have added to my experience of the scriptures.

Happy Birthday Wood!

Froga-lee has come out of hibernation to send happy warm wishes to the Woods. I just got home from a celebratory 10k jog (got to get up and moving after sleeping for so long) that gave my mind plenty of time to wander down memory lane, back to the days when you were just a little sprout.

I remember that you were born on a Saturday when we were out of school, so when Mommy and Daddy left for the hospital, I was in charge. It was not a good day to be in charge at home because the septic tank was overflowing into the downstairs bathtub when Daddy had to rush Mommy to the hospital. We kept the batthroom door closed and went down to the corner or over the Curfey's if we had to go. It was cold and icey and I probably did my best to babysit while watching Dr. Who.

We went to the Oesterlings the next day after Church and I remember having some kind of phone conversation about your name. I was very excited because I loved your first name and Mommy said it was name that would one day give you a challenge to pronounce.

It was hard to feed you when you came home from the hospital and Mommy was very sad that she couldn't breastfeed you. There was some stress because you had to gain weight before you could have your first surgery. I also remember being worried on the first Sunday we took you to church. I was 13 and I worried about how my peers might treat you and me. They were good to us and that meant a lot to me.

When you had your first surgery you were still a baby. I was so happy that there was corrective treatment available to you that I was amazed when Mommy said that she cried when they wheeled you out of surgery. It was hard for her to see tiny you in that raw condition.

The surgeons did such a good job when you were a baby. You were sooooo cute as a baby and toddler. Man and I would get you to to say these monkey ooo's and your eyes would get so big and round and we would just giggle. He gave you the knick name of Arwood about that time I think because you would tense up your whole body and become as stiff as a log. When your hair came in, it was blonde like mine. Your hazel eyes were so charming.

You weren't very old yet when I left home for college. I missed out on a lot when you were growing up but you really made an impression on me one Sunday when you soundly beat me at Othello. You could not have been more than 6 or 7 and you had out stratigized me.

I got married and I don't remember much of your next few years because we only visited once in a while. When the family moved to Utah, I loved talking to you about your high school classes and what you were learning. I loved hearing about your challenging track experiences. You recommended Robert Jordan books to me and I remember spending most of my last pregnancy with one after another Wheel of Time novels. They are compelling and frustrating and it says a lot that that baby I was expecting is now ten years old and Robert Jordan still has not finished that series!

I means so much to me to have seen you grow up to be so accomplished and to have met the difficult challenges of your life with courage and determination and faith. You are one of my heroes and I love you. Happy Birthday!

The Froggie News

This Month's Highlights
by Poison Dot

School Break!!!!!!

For two and a half weeks our school will have a break!! WOO HOO! From Sept. 30th to Oct. 17th! But Dad isn't on break.....

Haloween Costumes at Ready!

Get ready for Halloween! Yep, in a few weeks! Buy candy! Get costumes ready! BOO! Who will YOU be? Scream? A medieval warrior? Who knows.....

Countdown till CHRISTMAS!!!

Every body! IT'S ALMOST CHRISTMAS!!!! ONLY 85 DAYS!!! WOO HOO!!!

Countdown till Big B's BIRTHDAY!

Hey, Big B should be excited! It's almost his B-day! Yay! get him a present!

Another New Calling in the Family

Today I got called to be ward chorister. I start leading the hymns next Sunday.

Also today my gerbil, Silver, died. She had heart problems. Sand seems fine, which is good. Sometimes when one gerbil dies the other becomes depressed. Out of all the gerbils I've had, only one acted diferently after her friend (and sister) died. She would jump up to the roof of the cage, hang on with her fore paws, and try to chew her way out of the cage. She was so determined to get out that her one of her claws was torn from her finger, and that didn't stop her. It grew back, but it was a little deformed. Luckily she got past this phase in a day. I have heard that some gerbils can become so depressed, that they'll starve themself to death.

I've updated my website a lot since I last posted, so come and visit if you haven't checked it recently.

Posted by Kaeru Hime