Clubs and Corned Beef

Autumn came out in the living room the other day and posted this sign:

If you want to be in her club, you had better be nice!  I thought it was too cute!

For Saint Patrick's Day this year, we celebrated on two days.  Since the actual day was on a Sunday, we had our traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner on Saturday (because with Dave's Sunday responsibilities, he is never home to eat with us on Sundays).  We got a slow cooker recipe and it turned out really good... the girls all even ate it (especially the corned beef)!

On Sunday, we had Irish Cheese ravioli (in the shape of Shamrocks).  They were yummy... and cute!

 Everyone wore green to church, and we had painted fingernails green on Saturday evening so even if the green clothes were off, nobody could pinch!  Ciera looked up Saint Patrick's Day on the internet and told us a little about why that day is celebrated.  It was a fun two days!

Spring Break 2013

This week has been spring break.  It has been such a nice week... the weather has been wonderful, and we have had a lot of time to spend as a family.  Dave and I have both worked some of the time, but we have done a lot of fun things too!  (I didn't take pictures of most of it... sorry!)
Monday evening, we went and let the girls spend their "spring break money" from Grandpa Tanner, and then got some frozen yogurt and rented a movie to watch at home.  We ate treats and stayed up late together.
Tuesday, the girls played at the park with friends for a long time, and then after Dave came home from work in the afternoon, we loaded up our bikes and went for a family bike ride at Breckenridge Park.  We stopped at the stream and let the girls skip rocks and explore a little bit before heading back.
Wednesday morning I had jury duty, so Dave stayed home.  I was let go after a half hour of sitting there, so I went to work for a few hours while Dave went to do a service for someone in our ward (helping move dirt into a raised garden box).  After I got home, we went on a walk together, relaxed at home, and went to the gym as a family before Dave and Ciera had to go the church for mutual, and I had to go for choir practice.

Thursday, after Dave and I got home from work, we went to the Heard Wildlife Museum for some hiking.  We spent a few hours there and walked along some trails that we had not been on in a while and one we had never been on.  We saw some fun wildlife!  It was really great!

Today, Friday, Dave went up with the young men and women for our Stake Youth Conference and I stayed home with the girls.  We slept in, had a lazy morning, then after lunch we weeded the front flower bed and planted flowers, then planted peas and tomatoes in buckets in the back.  We washed the van (Chloe's friend came over to play and she helped us too), and then the girls played all afternoon.  We had pizza for dinner and have been just enjoying each other this evening.  I look forward to a few more days together before the girls head back to school next week!  It has been such a great week, I don't want it to end!

Ciera, the horn player

Ciera had her band pictures taken a few weeks ago, and we got the proofs back last week.  I think school pictures are such a rip-off, so I am not going to buy them, but I wanted to have something to show Ciera with her french horn... so here's the "proof" that she plays in the McMillan band.

I asked her why she looks grumpy in the photo, and she said that the guy taking the picture was making her mad.  Even with her grumpy smile, she looks like a cute little band geek, right?!?!  (Just kidding, Cici.  You are not a geek.)

Random March Happenings

During mutual two weeks ago, the beehive class (12 & 13 year old young women) made Book of Mormon cakes.  Each girl got a cake and a card with a scripture story on it.  They were given frosting and toppings to create the story on the cake.  Ciera got the story of Lehi's Vision of the Tree of Life from the beginning of the Book of Mormon.  She did such a great job creating that on her cake!

Dave had a meeting at work last week that was apparently very boring.  He came home with this drawing for the girls.  Yes, it is a fancy snail riding on a sea of vomit.  Isn't it wonderful!?!??

Sweet Brookie's Baptism

On March 9, 2013, Brooke Anne Tanner was baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  It was a great day, and a great weekend altogether.  Our weekend began on Friday when Grandma and Grandpa Tanner arrived.  We ladies spent the afternoon shopping, while the men-folk "worked" with their eyes shut.  We then met for dinner at Rosa's Cafe.  We spent the rest of the evening hanging out at home visiting.
Saturday morning, we got up and got ready for the baptism.  I sewed Brooke's dress, and made her a scripture tote (since Grandma and Grandpa brought her her own set of scriptures).  It was a wonderful service.  Grandma and Grandpa were asked by Brooke to speak, and Ciera played "When I am Baptized" from the Children's Songbook on her french horn.  Brooke wanted me to provide refreshments afterwards, so I made breads.  We had Amish Friendship Bread, Banana Bread, and Pumpkin Bread.
There was a baptism of a 15 year old young woman right after Brooke's, so we stayed for that, then went home and changed and took a trip to Costco.  After coming home and unloading, we took naps (the grown-ups anyway), and then went out to Cici's Pizza for dinner.
Sunday, we hung out at home in the morning and relaxed while we waited for our church meetings.  (We have a 2:30 pm time slot!!  It is late!)  After Sacrament Meeting, we came home, ate some dinner, and then Dave took his parents to the airport.  It was a fast, crazy, awesome, wonderful weekend.

We are so proud of our Brooke for getting baptized and making the commitment to live her life as the Savior would want her to.  I know she will do great things in her life!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

At school on Friday, March 1st, the Kindergartners celebrated Dr. Seuss's birthday (which is March 2nd) by having a dress-up day.  Each child got to wear a costume of a character from one of Dr. Seuss's books, and bring their favorite book to school to share with their class.  Autumn dressed up like Thing 2, and brought Yertle the Turtle.  It was really fun.  We colored her hair in the front blue with a marker and put a sticky label on her red sweat suit... it was perfect!

(I forgot to take a picture of her in the morning... so these pictures are when the school day is over.)  They did several activities in class... one of which was making hats like the cat-in-the-hat with rhyming words.  Such a fun idea!

Destination: America

On February 28 & 29, the second grade at Dodd Elementary did their musical.  It was called "Destination: America" and it took us through a musical tour of our country.  It went through the music of Motown, Nashville country, Seattle guitar, and good ol' American Rock 'n' Roll.  Brooke had a speaking part in the Rock 'n' Roll section before their song "It's American as Rock 'n' Roll".  It was a really cute musical and they did a wonderful job.  All of the kids made a picture in art that they used in the decorations.  I think Brooke's was the cutest of all!