Moms and Muffins/Dads and Cakes

Just wanted to post a video of Jackson's performance at Moms and Muffins at school on Friday. It was a piano/flute duet that he played with his 5th grade teacher, Miss Witt. Jackson has had a wonderful 5th grade year and keeps telling me that he doesn't want it to end (he only has 7 days left). We are grateful for his amazing teachers that made his year great!



Justin had a Father/Son Cake Bake Contest at Cub Scouts last Wednesday. Jason helped him make this sand castle cake (mom didn't help at all!). The sand was actually crushed vanilla wafers. I was very impressed. The only award Justin was trying to win was "The Tallest Cake." He was very exctied when he came home with the award for "Tallest Cake!"

Missoula Children's Theatre

Last week was our school's Missoula Children's Theatre musical production of The Amazing Adventure of Robinson Crusoe. The PTA sponsors this week long event and I am the committee chair, so it is a busy week. We were able to cast 64 kids in the play. My mom and dad and Riley came down from Utah to help. Jackson had one of the main roles as "Thursday" and Justin was a member of the "Very Hairy, Frownie-Face Tribe". Mom and I made flower cookies on a stick to help raise funds. We had a fun time and Jared still walks around the house singing the "Boom Bada Boom" song from the play (it's driving us crazy!).

Other musical happenings... Jackson and Justin had a piano recital and festival at UNLV. They both received superior ratings and Justin also got a special honors medal. Jackson is playing the piano and accompanying his 5th grade teacher, Miss Witt, (who plays the flute) at our Moms and Muffins program this Friday. Anyone reading the church news might have seen this picture (it took me several glances to realize that was my husband in the background!) It was an article about the Faith in God program and Jason and Jackson attended a special fire side President Thomas S. Monson gave for the boyscouts in 2006. You can barely see Jackson's hair in the picture.

Father and Son Camp Out

On the weekend of April 25th-26th, Jason took the boys to the annual Father and Son Camp Out (actually, he just took Jackson, Justin, and Jared; Josh did not want to miss his soccer game; he was emphatic that his team needed him!) Our ward decided to give the kids a real "cowboy" experience, so they camped the night in a cow pasture in Ashsprings, NV. The next morning, fathers and sons helped brand and castrate the poor, unsuspecting little calves.

Here are the older boys watching from the gate...

And here is Jared watching from below...

And here is Jason and Justin holding down a calf while he gets worked on...

Recent Travels

Our minivan reached 100,000 miles today! We love our minivan and it has taken us on many fun and memorable trips. We traveled to Utah on the weekend of April 5th-6th for General Conference and Jason's mission reunion. Jason, Jackson, and Justin rode the train to temple square and got to attend the Sunday afternoon session of General Conference. Jason sat with his mission companion, Guido Uchtdorf, whose father was sustained to the first presidency.

I also got to visit my Grandpa Wallace Prestwich for the last time. He passed away the day after our visit, so I was grateful for the opportunity to say goodbye to him. Grandpa Prestwich was the best Grandpa in the world and I will miss him.

On the weekend of April 19th-20th, we traveled to San Diego to drop Jackson off at Sea Camp. We arrived a day early so the whole family could go to Sea World. One of the highlights of the trip was dining with Shamu:





Josh was tall enough to go on the roller coaster! He was so excited (and terrified):



After the ride, he told me, "that was painful." I'm not sure what he meant because he was begging to go on it again as soon as we got off.

Savannah and Jared patiently waiting while the big kids went on the ride:



We also enjoyed the opportunity to see our cousins Trenton and Cole be baptized and spend time with family.

Iron Girl Triathlon

We did it! Last Saturday was the Iron Girl Triathlon at Lake Las Vegas that I have been training for. It was so much fun! Although the open water swim was hard for me, I had a lot of fun biking and running. The whole atmosphere was fun and if I can do it, anyone can! Here are some pictures.

SWIM (600M)


BIKE (20K)

RUN (5K)

FINISHED!
I have always been scared of the water and never swam more than the doggie paddle until January. I need to thank Jason for teaching me to swim and being patient when I didn't even want to put my face in the water. I have the best husband in the world! We are grateful for the support of our husbands as we achieved this goal.

Easter Egg Hunt

We had a really fun Easter Egg Hunt out at Darlene and Chyler's neighborhood. There were lots of family in town for Lissa's wedding and baby Carson's blessing. Savannah is sitting up on her own and she is very proud of herself!


Here is a picture of some of the girls I am doing the sprint triathlon with. Most of us have had a baby in the past year. This is the first time I have ever "clipped in" to ride a bike. We rode the triathlon course at Lake Las Vegas and the next week we rode the Red Rock Loop. Go Momma Go!

Pancake Prince, Rolling Over, and More...

Josh had a pancake eating contest at preschool and he ate more pancakes than anyone, so he was crowned the Pancake Prince. He was so excited! He wears his crown all the time and tells people he won 1st Place.


Josh also had to perform a talent at preschool and decided he would balance a quarter on each finger. He came up with this talent all by himself!



Savannah's new talent is to roll over. She is growing up way too fast!




Talking about talents, Jared (our 3 year old) is amazing at Donkey Kong on the Wii. He plays on the expert level and can beat all of us!


Jackson is playing a piano solo at the Relief Society birthday dinner on Tuesday. Jackson and Justin were in a children's choir that sang at Stake Conference last month. Justin got to sing a solo (the first verse of I am a Child of God) in front of all those people and did a great job! Jackson and Justin are taking Musicianship tests at UNLV on Saturday. Wish them luck!

I had to post a picture of my birthday cake (I keep getting older each year!). No... it's not from Jason, it's from my wonderful visiting teachers. But Jason got me a pair of cycling shoes to help me with the Irongirl sprint Triathlon I am doing at Lake Las Vegas next month. He has been very supportive these past couple of months while I have been training.