Eric got his mission call!

Eric's mission call came in a week and a half!  We were so excited.  It came on a Wednesday, and of course, Eric was still at school in Ephraim, so we had to wait 2 DAYS until we could open it!  I seriously considered steaming it open and then re-sealing it, but I didn't do it. 

 

We got the grandparents together and all our family on Friday night and waited in suspense.

 

Eric was so excited!

 



 

Eric was called to serve in the Roseville, California mission.  And his date of departure said June 12th (exactly 2 short months away from that day).  That freaked mom out a little, especially since Eric isn't going to be home from school until May 4th. 

 

But we are thrilled with the news.  Eric was like a little boy on Christmas, opening up that envelope.  It was all very exciting! 

 



 

And where's Roseville, California?  Well, it's near Sacramento.

 



We are so happy that Eric has made the decision to serve the Lord.  He's going to be an awesome missionary.  Way to go Eric!  We are so proud of you!  (Now, c'mon, we've got a lot to do)!  :)

 



The cone of shame for Ziggy...

Ziggy wasn't feeling well a few weeks ago.  We noticed he wasn't able to completely empty his bladder when he went outside.  So, Todd took him into the vet.  The news wasn't great.  Ziggy had developed bladder stones and some of them had settled in his Urethra, blocking his flow of urine.  So the vet flushed him out (ouch) and then we scheduled surgery for the following Monday. 

 

 

 This is going to sound terrible, but I wasn't sure if we should put the money into our dog...I mean, what if he keeps getting them?  So, Todd and I discussed it and decided we would do surgery this time, but if he kept having problems, we'd probably put him down. 

 

There were five stones removed and the surgery went well.  I don't know if you remember the first cone-wearing incident with Ziggy, but just incase you forgot, I'll remind you.  When he got fixed, he hated his cone so much that he kept getting them off in the night and then chewing them up.  I swear we went through 4 cones...so frustrating (and expensive). 

 



 

But I'm happy to report that Ziggy did very well this time.  Apparently puppies really are harder than adult dogs!  Ziggy was very calm the first night.  We had a family party that night, and he didn't even get up to try and bite someone's leg off when he heard the doorbell.  He did, however, growl in place!  Crazy dog!  I was hoping this surgery would somehow change his demeanor, but sadly, it didn't.  He returned to "Psycho-Ziggy" in only a couple of days. 

  

Ziggy is totally back to normal now ($600 later), and life is happy again for him.  I hope he doesn't get these again...they weren't so fun (and it wasn't cheap to have them removed!).  UGH!

Kyle's science fair project

Well, I made it through another science fair project!  This is my 4th one.  I think I'm finally getting the hang of it!

 

We had a cool idea to compare 5 different brands of vanilla ice cream and see which one melted the fasted.  It was a fun project.  We checked and compared at different intervals:  10 min, 20 min, 30 min, and 45 min.  And then we waited until the last brand melted, which was roughly 49 minutes.  We compared ingredients and fat content, to see if those were factors.  I think they were.

 

 

Anyway, it was a lot of fun and Kyle did a great job!  And just fyi, the Meadow Gold brand left behind a sticky residue once it had completely melted.  It was kind of gross.  I'm just saying....

 

Awesome job Kyle!

Eric's mission papers are in!!

 

 

 

Now we wait...(I'm not very good at this part)...

 

 

Easter 2013

 

Well, this is just going to be extremely lame, because I hardly took any pictures for Easter.  But here's all the baskets before the kids got a hold of them...

 

 

Eric got Risk.  He has wanted it for awhile.  See how happy he is?

 

 

 

And Jacob got a DS game...Kirby, I believe. 

 



 

Brandon got a new key chain, with a car key attached, since he's going to get his license in a couple of months...no, not his own car, but his own key!  Kyle got a lego set, which he loved, and Dallin got a camping lantern.  Each of the children got a new book and some Easter candy.  It was a wonderful Easter!  (And Eric got to be home for a whole week for Spring Break, which was awesome!)

 

On Monday (the day after Easter), we got together with Brad and Michelle and their family, and Grandma and Grandpa Johnson to celebrate "family birthdays."  It was really fun.  We made peep s'mores...and they were a big hit!  (and in case you didn't notice, I decided to take a picture of the treat instead of the people, because after all, that's what posterity wants to see, right?)  Duh!  Sorry about that!

 

Dallin was asked to give a talk on Easter Sunday.  He wanted to prepare it himself and because his dad is such a good speaker, and doesn't seem to need to write down any more than a few "bullets" on an index card, Dallin figured he could do the same thing.  This is Dallin's talk.  It is a 1 and 1/2 inch by a 1 and 1/2 inch post-it note, with a few little phrases on it to remind him what to say.  That's really all he needs, right? 

 



 

 

(Okay, I went through it with him and typed up real sentences on an actual 8 1/2 by 11 piece of paper, just incase he forgot what each of those "phrases" meant).  And he gave one heck-of-a talk!  He's a natural, and everyone said he's just like his dad.  And that's okay with me...

 

Happy Easter!