Taylor has been accepted to BYU!!! She is so excited to go to school close to her brother! The accounting program seems like a perfect fit and we know she will have a fantastic experience. Way to go Taylor - so much hard work has gone into this accomplishment. We are so happy for you!
Ed brought home flowers for me. He put them in the vase and then said, "These looked a lot better in the store." I laughed and told him to give me 5 minutes to arrange them and they would look great. Voila! He couldn't believe that you had to actually arrange the flowers once you brought them home :)
Cami and I are taking a photography class once a week with a professional photographer here in our town. We are having a great time learning how to use our camera. I'm sure I'll be posting our homework soon :)
Happy Birthday to my wonderful son. I miss him so much, but am so proud of what he is doing. This makes TWO birthdays away from home... so he'll be home for the next one! Well, actually he'll be at school, but at least I'll be able to talk to him and send him a box! Love you Dallin! Happy 20th!
Taylor was accepted to BYU-Idaho for fall semester. It looks like she will be attending in Provo, but we are so proud of her for every acceptance!
Ed loves to play basketball. I mean he LOVES it. He decided to get a group of friends from church together to play in a league at the YMCA. It has been one of the most fun things he has done in years! It's an over 35 league, so the pace is a little slower, but these guys still take it very seriously. Team Gray actually won the championship! A lot of the games are on Monday night, so we are quite a site with all the families and kids in tow to watch for Family Night! All the wives were so proud of their champions and taking pictures after the game. Too funny! Way to go team gray!
We had a great Valentines day this year. I got the girls some canvas wall prints for their rooms as well as some other odds and ends to complete the projects. I also painted their ceilings and helped them hang some long overdue pictures.
Ed is very difficult to buy for. He is a bit impulsive and when he thinks of something he needs, he just orders it or goes out and buys it. This year I thought of the perfect gift. He absolutely loves cathedrals and I found an amazing book all about the world's great cathedrals. He actually teared up when he saw it. It was perfect. He had ordered me a bracelet a few weeks earlier, so I was happy as well.
We spent the bulk of the day in New Jersey at a Corvette dealership. We traded in my little red Equinox towards a Stingray. I will drive the Jeep and Ed will, of course, drive the Corvette. Taylor is still driving the Honda and we hope it will hold up until it hits 200,000 miles.
The only down side to the day was that it began to snow really hard while we were at the dealership, so we couldn't drive the car home. It's not exactly a bad weather car. We had to drive back down the following week and pick it up. It's amazing the feelings that a Corvette evokes in people. It's crazy how many people just want to stop and talk to you. It's like a piece of American culture. Corvette lovers are very dedicated fans!
Dallin's bathroom also needed a re-do. I painted the ceiling and walls, found a classic print for the wall, and got a new shower curtain and liner. It looks fresh and clean and I love it.
Every winter I have this need to freshen things up. I can't work outside and crave projects. We've been in our house for 10 years now and most of the ceilings need to have nail pops fixed and a fresh coat of paint. I hate painting ceilings, but decided to embark on some of these unpleasant projects. Bathrooms are small and manageable, so I began. Unfortunately the yellow the girls chose required FOUR coats to cover the existing green, but it looks great now that its done. And I have to admit that the clean ceiling makes a big difference.
Taylor received an award for being Invested in her school. She and Brendon are co-presidents of student council and have worked hard all year to make sure all the activities went smoothly. The school notified us about the award ceremony only a few days ahead of time, so Ed wasn't able to make it back in town, but Cami and I were there to support her. Taylor, we are so proud of all you have invested in your school and fellow students!
Cami's band concert was wonderful as usual. The highlight was a song called Around the World in 80 Measures. The director used a different flag to lead the band with each change of country in the music. It was really funny to watch him try to keep the proper flag at the proper time while keeping all the kids on beat. It was extremely entertaining.
