Family Update

1. Kaylyn finished up her Bachelors Degree in Business Management at Whitworth University in December. We are looking forward to attending her graduation in May and celebrating this great accomplishment with her. She is now enjoying working two jobs: one, she is working as a personal assistant to the owner of a company in downtown Spokane. She helps plan special events, does research for future investments and puts together budget plans, and two, she works in the catering department at Whitworth. Her knee is healing up well and she is looking forward to being able to play soccer again in the fall, as well as beginning her Masters program in Business. It's hard being so far away from her but we are very proud of her and her desire to be independant and work hard!


2. Lexi is in her second semester at BYU in Provo and is enjoying her classes. She's getting the hang of things a little bit better now and has discovered that it's quite a bit easier to do well in the classes when you actually listen to the lectures and not try to just figure it out on your own! Go figure. It's also been the "Suite Life of Lexi" the last month. Unfortunately, a few of the condos in her complex had frozen pipes burst during a few days of freezing cold weather and her and her roommates had to move into a hotel for a month. But how bad could it have been?...having a maid to make your bed every day for you, simply walking downstairs for a gourmet breakfast every morning, getting money from the landlord for lunch and dinner every day, not having to do any cooking or cleaning or washing dishes. Rough, huh? But she is ready to give that all up and move back into her condo this week.


3. Aleah is very excited about the upcoming Pioneer Trek our Stake is doing in June. She has heard in the past about the treks her sisters and parents have been on and is thrilled to finally be able to go herself. Mom is jealous and would love to go too! They will be trekking in the Kiabab National Forest and ending up at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Cool! This month in YW they are going to be sewing their clothes that they will be wearing and she is looking forward to this a lot. She's also nearing the end of her orthodontia treatment and is looking forward to getting her braces off soon. She gets to wear the wonderful rubber bands that snap your mouth shut every time you open it. Hey, I'm not sure that's a bad thing!


4. McKenna is thrilled to be playing soccer again. She tried out for and made it on a competitive team here and she will be playing in her first tournament with them this weekend. They are the THUNDER and she is really enjoying getting to know her new teammates. She still can't believe that they can play year round outside here in Southern Utah but is loving it! Other than soccer, she is keeping busy with school, Activity Days at church, taking Cooper on hikes and playing with her neighborhood friends. At school, they had a field trip to the intermediate school she will be attending next year and BOY! is it big! She came home and said she didn't know how she was ever going to be able to find her classes at Fossil Ridge. And she doesn't think that it's very neat that she will have to start her school day earlier than Aleah next year!

5. Rob is off and running with real estate and is really enjoying it. Houses move pretty quickly here it seems, so it keeps him on his toes. He also was recently called to be Scoutmaster again, which I said was great because then I wouldn't have to update his profile. Ha! His first campout with the boys was last weekend. It was the Klondike Derby, held up Cedar Canyon where there was about five feet of snow. So much for getting away from the snow! But they all had a great time: they made a huge snow cave to sleep in, dug a fire pit all the way through the snow to the ground and carved benches out of snow around it to sit on, and of course, had great Dutch oven food! They learned quickly that Brother Plumb's cooking is the BEST! The other leader that went with them said he didn't really like chocolate, but after tasting the Chocolate Cherry Cobbler, he had TWO big servings!

6. As for me, I am still trying to unload the last of the moving boxes. I think I'm just about there but now I have to find a place to put everything and put everything in it's place! Also, I have not one, but two callings in the ward. I am the sports specialist for YW and Relief Society (a calling you would only hear about in Utah!) and also a Primary teacher. I'm thrilled to be back in Primary! We are really enjoying our new ward, which is huge and grows more and more each week. I'm also excited that I found some ladies that like to play volleyball as much as I do. We get together every Monday morning and play for about three hours. And, I'm definitely enjoying all this sunshine!!! I've found a new love: running. And I never thought I would say that but running in the beautiful red rock country on trails of soft sand has been good to me. My knees don't hurt and the drier, higher altitude agrees with me!

7. Cooper is definitely loving life in the desert! He cannot wait to go on his walk/hike every day. In fact, he will follow me around the house and just stare at me until I take him. Funny thing is, I'm not sure who enjoys it MORE; him or me! He thinks he's died and gone to heaven - the very idea of being able to pee on whatever bush or rock he sees, chase after bunny rabbits and be off the leash and go at whatever pace he wants is just too good to be true!