Great morning at Columbus Temple

Had a great time in Columbus Saturday morning. We did an 8am baptism session, and did quite a few family names. Great to be there with Courtney, and it was fun to have Dad there.

Steppin' out at the Daddy Daughter Dance

I went to a Daddy-Daughter dance with Allie on Saturday night at the rec center. Highlights included the chicken dance, the hokey-pokey, and lots of pepperoni pizza. Allie's signature dance move is the spinning dress.

I went with Courtney and Teresa Friday night to go see Wicked in downtown Cleveland. I really like the music for that one, and it was fun to get to experience it with Courtney.

Planning to go to the Columbus temple with Courtney this Saturday to do some baptisms. Hopefully I won't forget the family file disk this time. This will be the first time I've gone with her since she turned 12.

Lots of snow and freezing rain here. Yuk. Got some quality time with Teresa this morning shoveling the driveway.

Inventors' Museum and Hall of Fame

We went to the National Inventors' Museum and Hall of Fame last Saturday in Akron. The top three floors were exhibits and models from the U.S. patent office, along with pictures and biographies of well-known U.S. inventors. The bottom floor was all hands-on experiments stations where you could build things out of available materials. The kids here are making and cars to race on a racetrack.















There was also an activity where you stacked plastic cups in a pyramid to see how tall you could make them. Dan made sure that the activity had a swift and abrupt finish!

In taste testing news-- our initial trial of G2 Gatorade was less than successful. We stored it in a location where it became partially frozen, and learned the hard way that it does not form into ice crystals when freezing. It actually turned into a gel, which was quite disgusting. We did a test later in the week with non-frozen G2 (orange and grape), which we actually liked quite a lot better.

Heading to church to see Pres. Hinckley's funeral today. None of our kids were alive when he became prophet, so this will be the first transition of a leader of the church in their lifetimes.

Local Cub races Yoda car, earns Bear

Tyler had a pinewood derby race and court of honor at pack meeting this week. His sporty green car featured a plastic Yoda action figure on top, and bolts for headlights for extra weight. He did pretty well, taking 4th place honors out of a field of seven. He also has now achieved his Bear badge. Way to go, Ty!

Getting to know James A. Garfield

We went to the home of President James A. Garfield this afternoon, in Mentor, just north of Kirtland. Our understanding of President Garfield was limited, and despite the driving snow, we were committed to achieving greater insights into the life of our 20th president. Especially since the Entertainment book Mom got us for Christmas had a ticket for a free adult admission.

We learned that President Garfield was assassinated after 200 days in office, and that his oldest son, Harry, went by the nickname "Hal." We also learned that he did not seek his party's nomination for president, but attended the Republican convention as a delegate. When there was a deadlock many times in voting for the proposed candidates, the members out of frustration chose Garfield as the Republican candidate for president.

Garfield was the first to have a presidential library, and his personal library was one of the neatest rooms to see. His house is pretty neat-- about 20 rooms, restored nicely by the national parks service. Worth a trip, if you're in the neighborhood.

In other news, Courtney's Young Women basketball team achieved a convincing victory 28-6 versus the Elyria ward Young Women this morning. The Elyria team came back from a 28-0 deficit to make it a bit more respectable.

Teresa and I went to the Columbus temple last night. It was a great time, but we didn't get home until around 2am. I kicked myself again because for a second time I missed the opportunity to print off some new blue and pink cards from the genealogy disk I put together. I didn't remember until we were about halfway there. Oh well. Next time.

We saw Gatorade G2 fruit punch at Walgreen's today, and decided to try it, based on Pat's recommendation. It is currently in the fridge cooling before consumption.

Dan is potty training. It is a mess and a struggle, but we are convinced that in the long run it will benefit him and make him better able to contribute to society. He's made it this week with only a few major messes.

Birthday girl

We had Teresa's birthday party last night, and we had a great time with the birthday girl! We had her friends, the Hayes, Shira, and Ellsworth families here to celebrate with us. The flowers are Teresa's favorite kind-- daisies. I collected a bunch of Teresa photos from her childhood and early years and put them in an album for everybody. She started out cute, and just gets better every year!

And a bit of family trivia-- Teresa shares a birthday with Grandma Hazel. Happy birthday, Grandma!

Sledding Season

We had enough snow for sledding last week. Here are some shots of the kids sledding at one of the hills in the MetroParks. It's starting to get warm enough that the snow is melting now, and will probably be gone within the next couple of days.