Life Lately

April 6th and 7th:  General Conference - one of the best weekends of the year!

Here is a link that I found while preparing for my Sunday School lesson.  It has some great quotes from conference that can be printed and framed.  Check it out HERE.

April 10th: Tucker turned 18 (also our 21st wedding anniversary).
We just had a little family dinner and celebration.  Seems like we should have done something big... but I don't know what that would have been.  So instead Mike made ribs per Tucker's request, and we ate outside enjoying some beautiful spring weather and topped it off with a banana cream pie.

Like the impromptu candle?

Looks pretty boring, doesn't it!?

Our anniversary gift to one another:

The Hoover Max Extract 77 to clean up after Molly who can't figure out that she shouldn't poop and pee in the house

The romance is still alive folks!

April 16th: Tucker went to the dentist as part of his mission preparation.  He was supposed to get an x-ray to find out if he needed to get his wisdom teeth pulled.  I guess he needed to because the dentist pulled two of them right then and there.  He told Tucker it would be cheaper to have it done that way. Those suckers are HUGE.

April 18th:  Tucker went to the doctor as part of his mission preparation.  Everything went smoothly.
He also went to the eye doctor around this time and ordered two pairs of glasses.  He wanted the typical missionary pair.  Lucky for him, he looks great in all styles!

The Thinker

Goofy

April 20th:  Ilah and Henry participated in the music festival with their school band.
Both bands did well and had fun at Incredible Pizza afterward.

April 25th and 26th: Ilah was Tweedle Dum in Alice in Wonderland.  
I know I am biased, but she was fabulous!  She and Grace (Tweedle Dee) were hilarious.  The first night Tucker, Henry and I went.  The cast had already performed twice that day for elementary schools and the energy was low... especially for Alice.  We all agreed that the Tweedles were the best.  I was really glad that Mike, Ilah's Beehive class, the Belnaps, and the Tuckers came on Friday.  It is so fun to watch Ilah shine on stage.

Jessica, Ilah and Alex

Grace and Ilah ~ "The Tweedles"

Ilah with her brothers after Thursday's performance

Olivia, Lydia, Ilah, Sydney, Megan (and Mike in the background)

Ilah with Sister Gilbert (her Beehive adviser)

April 28th: Tucker had his mission interview with Bishop Hoffman.

April 30th:  My dad retired!  I am so thankful for my father's example in so many things.  He knows the value of hard work and has tried to pass that on to his kids.  Because he finds such satisfaction in working, I can't wait to see what he does next now that he gets to choose how he spends his time. Sure wish we could have been in St. George to celebrate with everyone.

May 3rd: Ilah turned 14.  Can you believe it snowed????

quick picture before school

We celebrated at our house.  Ilah invited a few friends to come over for pizza, cake and a gift exchange.

Back row: Jessica, Megan, Olivia ~ Front row: Catie & Ilah ~ Missing: Lydia

Rainbow Fruit Kabobs

Yummy snacks to supplement the pizza

I love this girl!  She is goofy, kind, pretty, sporty, and doesn't take herself too seriously.  She is a hard worker and a planner.  She loves her family and loves her Savior.  She is pretty amazing.  I love that she is as beautiful inside as she is outside.

Family celebration

Molly is checking it out...

I remembered to buy birthday candles this time.

The craziest b-day song and dance ever!

May 4th: Tucker spent the entire day with the missionaries beginning with personal study. He didn't get home until after 9pm and loved every minute of it.

May 4th:  Mike and Henry saw Iron Man 3 since the father/sons camp out was cancelled due to cold weather and snow flurries.  Both seemed to enjoy it and thought the 3-D was a good addition.

May 9th: AP testing for Tucker

May10th: Tucker's last day of high school...He had a Calculus test.
Tucker has always been a good student, but I think he has put forth more effort this year.  He is ranked around 17th in his class and has still managed to participate in football and basketball AND attend seminary.  He even earned an A in Calculus.  He received the National Scholar/Athlete Award at the Senior Awards Assembly.   I am so proud of the person he has become.

May 11th: Henry and Mike went on their first off road bike ride of the year.
This is one of Henry's favorite things to do :)
He has grown about a foot recently.  I finally had to go and buy him some new jeans and shorts.  Even though his old ones still fit at the waist fine, they were WAY too short.  He is turning into quite the little stud muffin.


May 12th: Tucker gave a wonderful talk at church sharing how he gained his testimony of the Book of Mormon.  The entire program was three seniors (Tucker, Shaughnessy and Becky).  Tucker was the last speaker.  When Becky only took about 30 seconds, Mike and I started giggling as we watched Tucker check out the clock and smile a little uncomfortably.  After Shaughnessy, the primary children sang ONE song... "Mother, I Love You" - that left 25 minutes.  Mike whispered, "Welcome to my world."  Tucker took about 10 minutes which left some time for the Bishop and Stake President.

This was the first year that I didn't have a child in the primary.  I nudged Ilah and told her that she should go up there with some young women and sing with the kids.  She told me that she would next year... we'll see.  Even though I missed having my own kids up there, I still enjoyed watching the Brewer boys signing "I love you" to their mom while they smiled from ear to ear.

Mike made a delicious breakfast and taught my lesson for me.  He said it was gift #2 - a good night's sleep.  I enjoyed it as much as gift #1 - a clean car!  He also planted the beginning of a little garden and weeded our planters.  The front one looks absolutely gorgeous!

Here are some of my other special treats:

It's a pig made out of Cheerios!

"Mom" Lego creation that took 2 hours

Great Mother's Day!

May 12th:  Tucker had his interview with President Jones.  We should know in a couple of weeks where Tucker will be serving.

Mission pic

May 13th:  End of year band concerts for both Ilah & Henry.  I got to hear Henry's jazz band and then rushed over to catch Ilah's solos.

Ilah with Mr. Moore

Henry getting ready for Jazz Band performance

May 14th: Taysom left the MTC and entered the mission field.
The MTC time went so fast.  I can't believe she is already in California.  She sounds very happy! 
New address: 
Hermana Taysom Wallace (use both first and last name por favor)
7733 Camino Colegio
Rohnert Park, California 94928

This is the same city where our good friend Bill Tucker graduated.  He says that it is just south of Santa Rosa - the two cities actually blend together now.  Her p-day is Monday so I am looking forward to hearing all about it.  Here is a link about the city ~ Rohnert Park.
No pictures yet...


May 15th: Ilah is inducted into National Junior Honor Society.

May 15th: Seminary Graduation - Whew... this last year has been a little bit of a struggle for Tuckman.  So happy that he persevered and is a 4 year graduate.

Tucker and Thomas after graduation

May 18th:  Ilah's first church dance.  She was so excited to go - and I am so happy that she wasn't disappointed!  Isn't she lovely? (picture coming soon)

May 19th:  Happy Graduation, Tucker!  Although we won't be attending graduation today, I hope you know how proud we are of you.  Looking forward to the next chapter of your life: mission :)


Throw in several FHEs, some tennis, homework, MAP testing, grading, report cards, and church meetings/activities and you have life lately at our house.