Tender Mercy of the Day
-Thank you Sis. Tatum for giving us the write on questions for the test! It will make this week so much more manageable!!!

Update

We've had some fun times the past few weeks. Since I last wrote, Dave turned 45. Hard to believe that he and I have reached the mid forties. His birthday was celebrated late into the evening because so many activities happen on a Tuesday night. One of those birthday events was a region basketball game where Madison qualified for state. This accomplishment led the team to the state tournament which happened in Boise last weekend. Because the sport teams always have a huge following when they play in state tournaments, we decided to make the trek to Boise. It is Kirsten's senior year and she really wanted to enjoy the games and we took the opportunity to visit Matthew, JoBecka, Harper and Hank.

Last Friday, along with 2000 other faithful Rexburg fans we drove over to the games. Because of school, we missed the first game but were able to participate in the last two. Unfortunately those were the two that we lost. Madison was actually predicted to win state but it was not to be. It was fun watching them though. One Madison player has signed with the "U" to play college ball. Madison's fan support is amazing. When we attended the last state game, we played against Borah High School, a Boise high school. When surveying the crowd it was very apparent that Madison brought the biggest cheering section. Madison red sat in 10 of the 12 bleacher sections. Rexburg had great fan support!

Boise was warm and springlike. It was great to spend time with family. We enjoyed a trip to the greenbelt. I didn't realize how lengthy the paths along the river extend. JoBecka says that they are about 27 miles in length. She took us to one her favorite spots along the river. A spot on a foot bridge that looks up and down the river. It was beautiful. Dave and I experienced Thai food for the first time when they shared a favorite restaurant destination. It was delicious.

One humorous experience happened at church. As we waited in the lobby to go home, a younger man approached me and asked me if I was Matthew's mother. Assuming he meant my brother Matthew, I quickly corrected him and answered that I was his sister. As I thought to myself, I was quite dismayed that someone had mistaken me for his mom. The man was also caught off guard but continued to compliment Matthew about his help in giving a talk in Primary. I was still trying to figure out when my brother Matthew had slipped away to help with a talk in Primary, when it finally occurred to me that this man was really talking about my Matthew. So I hurriedly set the record straight that "yes I am younger Matthew's mom." This man must have been quite amazed that younger Matthew had such an older looking sister. Quite funny. Anyway, we found out that the talk for Primary didn't show up, so Matthew volunteered his services to help deliver the talk in the Boise Primary. It was a very enjoyable weekend.

This week I spent time preparing gift bags for the Jr. Miss program which was held Saturday night. Mindy Davis and I have been assembling the bags for the past few Jr. Miss programs. I enjoy helping Mindy. She is very creative and interesting. She is a women with many experiences to share. Kirsten participated in the program last night. She had the opportunity to be escorted onto the stage with her Dad and each of the other runner-ups from last year.

Also this week was Camille's dance program, Extravadance. She is dancing with the traveling group from BYU-I again this year. They take two semesters to put together a show and then take it on the road. This is the same group that traveled to Russia last year. This year they are staying stateside and taking their performance to Washington and Oregon. They are dancing to Broadway show tunes. Camille danced to "Wicked," "Big River," "Mama Mia", and "The Wiz". Next semester she will learn more dances and then their show will be complete.

That is it for the update.

Postscript....

David continues to enjoy learning about photography. On Monday he arranged to use the school's equipment to take photos of the children. He had never used studio lighting before so this was a new adventure for him.

Sarah

Kirsten

Camille

Spencer

Catherine

Matthew

Girls

Boys

All the kids...