10 years

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A beloved friend in Arkansas – Meghan --  sent these photos to me three days ago.

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I was glad to see that it still has the little bunny and candle lantern and bird that we had placed there on our brief visits in the past couple of years. Also some of the shiny rocks. :)

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I am so grateful that 10 years have passed. Ten years have changed the pain I felt at first – like I could cry for years and years and still have tears that needed to fall – to a deep but softened longing for the time when we’re together again. I know that in this life I always have something of greatest joy to look forward to. Someday I will hold this sweet baby boy again and get to enjoy the time of watching him grow and then a forever with our family all together.

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It’s interesting but since Exacto has been on his mission, it has felt less painful to me to not have the family together. It’s like I have two sons on missions and although I miss them both I am grateful they are where they are and doing what they’re doing, and I know the separation is temporary. For the last 10 years there has always been a gap in our family pictures and a gap in the phrase, “our whole family.” Now that gap is just a little bigger and easier to explain.

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That tree is so gorgeous right now! How grateful I am that Meghan could go take these pictures when she did. How grateful I am for a friend like her to remember me at this time! I haven’t seen her for 4 years. I know there are several dear friends back in Arkansas and also in other places who always remember. True friendship like this is precious indeed.

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So grateful for loving friends.

Grateful for a beautiful addition to our family 10 years ago.

Grateful for the Plan of Happiness that promises eternal families.

Grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ who makes it possible.

building a house is fun to do, fun to do, fun to do

Adapted from a letter to Elder Baker dated 6/12/17. His birthday is 6/15 so this was his birthday letter.

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The Week in a Nutshell

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We went to Tucson! We hiked partway up the trail to Wasson Peak, but Rosebud petered out after about 5 minutes and after dragging her along for a while we decided maybe it was a great time to go visit my old house. It was interesting to see the purple garage again, which was further enhanced by the teal trim. We visited Uncle Charles and Aunt Alba in their home for the last time. So many memories there. It felt like going back in time 30 years to sit and have lunch with them at that table where we had so many birthday celebrations and holidays. They accompanied us to the Tucson Temple Open House.

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The tour began at the Tucson North Stake Center, which is where I was baptized! Also my 1st grade year was there and we peeked briefly into my classroom. :) They showed a video there then had us board charter buses to be taken about 5 minutes away to the temple. I loved seeing the Tucson Temple, especially the baptistry and all the unique and Christ-centered art. It is amazing to think that if I were still there growing up, I would be able to go do baptisms every week. What a blessing to the Saints there!

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We visited my cousins W and R before leaving for Mesa. They attend a day program for disabled adults. R was having a hard day, but W smiled and I was able to hug him. I hope their transition to living in Houston goes well.

The house. Oh, the house. It was one of the more frustrating and stressful weeks. Communication problems with the framer, who rarely answers my calls or texts and who sent only 2 people to work for a few hours each day. Finding out from one of those two that there was a drop in the floor of two of the attic bedrooms. Following up with the truss company, it was revealed that it was a 12-inch drop! And in Fluffy's and Ham's room it went right across the middle! I still can hardly believe that the truss company thought this was a great idea. After many conversations with various people, including one over email with an architect, it is looking like we will need to use rafters and joists on those two bedrooms instead of trusses. This is fine but I have lost my confidence in the remaining truss design and want to have a structural engineer review it and make sure all is well.

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There was some small progress otherwise. I decided on and hired our electrician. Vent blocks were installed and the walls poured for the areas with crawlspace. Also I was able to build a tentative schedule for all the remaining work. I project that the house will be finished in mid-October. Building a house is not for the faint-hearted!

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In happier news: Fluffy got his driver's license! The next day Fluffy went on his 2nd date! And then the day after that Fluffy took the ACT! I imagine he will tell you about all those things in his letter. It was a big week for him, and I had some growing pains as his mother. Especially about the date. But I think that it is very good for him to develop friendships like this and feel that it's part of the plan Heavenly Father has for his life.

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Daddy and I had a fun date while Fluffy was on his fun date (Sweet Honey Ham babysat Rosebud and they had fun, too :). We used a gift card to eat at Burger King, then walked on the golf course trails around the temple. There is so much grass out there! And a lovely pond. Then we used a gift card to get pie at Trapper's and sat on one of those Taylor benches that they have all along main street. We were sitting on one at Main Street and Center Street. Cars were zooming by us as we ate our pie and in between the zooming we could hear a livestock auction going on at the rodeo grounds. It was cool. Then we crossed the street to the museum and found a gazebo with a picnic table and trees all around! (Guess where we'll eat next time? :).

Yesterday was a beautiful day. I was blessed to feel more peace about the situation with the house and just felt a lot of joy in being able to go to church and be with the family. Bishop B had asked Grandpa and Daddy to bless with sacrament with Russell*, so I played the organ for the sacrament hymn. As I heard Russell and then Grandpa bless the sacrament, and saw the three of them reverently administering the bread and water, with Hyrum passing it to me near the organ, I felt so much gratitude. For each one of those worthy men / young men, for the restored gospel and how it has blessed my life since birth, for the ordinance of the sacrament itself, and for the Atonement of our Savior!

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"And now, my son, I trust that I shall have great joy in you, because of your steadiness and your faithfulness unto God. . .I say unto you, my son, that I have had great joy in thee already, because of thy faithfulness and thy diligence. . . ."

Alma 38:2-3

I love you, Clyn. How grateful I am that you came into our family 19 years ago! You are so bright and good and fun to be with, and you have brought me and Daddy so much joy. I hope your birthday is happy and memorable, with lots of service and also treats. :)

Love,

Mommy

Quotables

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The T’s were visiting us, and after breakfast Ena (age 3) had sticky hands.

Nana: "Ena, do you need some wipes?"

Ena, at the top of her lungs: "EAT some WIPES?!" and then she laughed very hard.

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After Becky sat on the floor so as to be near Baby S while folding a blanket, he crawled away and I came in, surprised to see her sitting on the floor with a blanket on her while everyone was doing their chores. I looked at her quizzically and she explained the situation and said: "Fickle, thy name is baby!"

Flat Stanley in Portland, Part Two

(Exacto is telling this from Flat Stanley's point of view)

 

Here, Aunt Annie and I are outside Voodoo Doughnuts.  I really wish that I could have some, but I'm so flat that no matter how much I chew my food, I can't swallow it.

Here I'm camping in the Columbia River Gorge with Aunt Annie, Uncle Dallin, Annie's mom Sandi, her dad Allen, and her younger sisters Katie and Ellie. When we first arrived at the campsite, I was scared that I was going to get lost in all the leaves, trees, bushes, and everything else.  But Aunt Annie and her family took good care of me and made sure I didn't get lost.  For example, they wouldn't let me go anywhere by myself; whenever I wanted to go anywhere, I had to take someone with me.

Here, I am with Aunt Annie and Emma the black lab (Aunt Annie's family's dog).  Emma smelled me and then said that I was her friend.  I asked, "Does that mean that you're not going to eat me?"  Emma assured me that she only eats dogfood (usually).

Me with Aunt Annie and Zoe the yellow lab (Aunt Annie's other dog).  I told Zoe that if she ate me, then Hummer might be sad.  Zoe said that she wouldn't eat me, but she might lick me.  I said that licking me would be okay, as long as she didn't get me soaked.

Here, Uncle Dallin and I meet a dinosaur at the Oregon Zoo.  I didn't know that they had dinosaurs at the zoo!  For some reason, it didn't move at all the whole time I was there.  Maybe it was hibernating.  (With its eyes open?)

I met some penguins!  They were very nice to me.  They said that I could relax on their backs for a while.  I asked Aunt Annie if I could, but she said no.  I guess she didn't want me to fall in the water.

Here I visited the ocelot.  I asked why people didn't just call it a leopard, but it ignored me.  I'll ask the next ocelot I see.  Maybe there will be ocelots at the next place I go to!

Flat Stanley in Portland, Part One

Next Flat Stanley travels via USPS to Portland, Oregon, meets famous author, hobnobs with cute furry animals, and hits the stacks at Portland State!

(Hummer and Exacto are telling this from Flat Stanley's point of view)

 

 

Here, Aunt Annie and I are outside Powell's Books, one of the biggest independent book stores in the world.  I liked seeing all of the books there and remembering when I was still inside a book!

 

Here, Aunt Annie and I are visiting New York Times best-selling author Steve Berry at a book signing at Powell's books.  He was very tall.

 

Here I am with my Cousin Alice.  When Aunt Annie first put me by Alice, I was scared.  But we became friends before long.  Eventually I fell asleep against her because she's so warm and soft.  Her purring lulled me to sleep, too.

 

Here's me with my Cousin Paploo.  Paploo is smaller than Alice, so I wasn't as scared at first.

 

 

In this picture, I am watching the acrobats at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI).  They were amazing!  The walls are made of glass, and I was worried that one of the acrobats might mess up and accidentally go through the wall.

 

Here Aunt Annie and I are at the Narnia Exhibit at OMSI.  At first I thought that the lion was real, so I was really scared!  Later I asked Aunt Annie if I could slide down the arm rail on the stairs, but she said that if I did, I might fall off.

 

Here, I'm outside Cramer Hall, Portland State University.  I wish that in "Cramer" they would put an "e" before the "a" and a "y" at the end.  Then they could put the word "ice" at the beginning and it would be "ice creamery hall."

 

Here I'm outside Millar Library, Portland State University.  It's five stories tall!  Since I'm so short, it seemed extra huge to me!

Thilent Thurthday: rosebud attack

 

 

 

 

all S.O.O.C. ~ taken 9/6/10 by exacto :)

Caught being awesome: Exacto

Today the boys were anxious to ride their bikes--it's such nice weather. The only problem is that Exacto and Fluffy ride regular bikes and like to go off on long bike rides, and Hummer still has training wheels and has to stay behind. Earlier today the older two were being so sweet to him, and even let him come along, making sure he was safe as they slowly rode all together.

Between Conference sessions we decided that maybe Hummer was ready to start learning to ride without training wheels, and DC took them off and started coaching him on the grassy slope in our front yard.

After the afternoon session was over, the older boys asked if they could go again, and I was torn between wanting to let them go off and have a long ride, but feeling bad for Hummer left behind. Before I could decide, I realized they were all out there. I looked out and saw Exacto running along with Hummer on his bike, helping him learn how to balance!

It was the sweetest sight ever! I was just so impressed that Exacto would do that without being asked! Meanwhile I needed to make dinner, and figured he would give up after a few tries.

Twenty minutes later I looked out again, and Hummer was riding like a pro!! Isn't it amazing what the love of a big brother can do?

 

P.S. I feel like I'm coming out of a cocoon. I know I've neglected this blog terribly. I have been rediscovering who I am--such big changes recently. Rosebud has outgrown her reflux (YAY!!!!) and hopefully I'll start to write more regularly soon. . . 

My beamish boys, and other courses on my mental buffet

My talented friend Snarky Belle does a post sometimes containing her thoughts on various topics, buffet-style.  I'm going to copy you, today, Natalie. :) My rambling mind is all over the place lately, and here are some of the places it lingers. . . .

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"Come to my arms, my beamish boy[s]!"  (they love it when I say that - I ALWAYS get a hug :)

Fluffy was alarming me lately with his habit of playing with his very nice CTR ring from Nana and Grandpa. I suggested that he substitute it for a new habit of pushing on his upper toothless gap as per instructions from the dentist. So now if you hear him gasp, and then look over to see him with his finger in his mouth, you know why! :)

Exacto suggested we start doing what Pres. Monson talked about - "And what have YOU done for someone today?" He has remembered to prompt us almost every night at the dinner table since! Amazing how much this has inspired me to do nice things I might not have otherwise done.

The other boys have been inspired, too! I went to pick the younger two as they started to walk home from school, and Fluffy was carrying Hummer's backpack. Later that night, he reported it as something he had done for someone today. :)

Yesterday Hummer said he was a "kissing machine" - "Whenever you make your skin touch me I will kiss it!" Let's just hope he keeps this game at home. . . .

*REAL TIME ACTION -- He just came downstairs (he's supposed to be in bed) and said sweetly, "I have a surprise for you, Mommy." He was wearing my fluffy purple slippers. He walked over and one by one, slipped them off and put them by my feet. He had warmed them up for me! :) *

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Inspiration from Nie

I know this is all over blogland, but can I just say that Stephanie Nielson continues to inspire me greatly! I missed her recent appearance on Oprah (having no digital tv - I totally live in a bubble), but I read the article about it here.

This excerpt from it blew me away. . . .

Stephanie says she had a vision while she was unconscious, and she was given a choice. "[I was] with somebody who told me that I could choose to live and have a hard life, you know, embarrassing at times and painful. Or, I could just stay there, and there's lots of work I could do there too," she says. "But I thought of my children and my husband, and it was easy. An easy choice."

Wow. I have to admit, if I had the choice of whether to move on, or stay here, I would be sorely tempted to leave this fallen world. But I have the opportunity to be here with my beloved husband and children and WITHOUT the constant pain the she now faces!

Of course, she was like that before the accident, anyway. Her posts in the pre-burned days are filled with celebration of the simple moments with her children, of a beautifully deep love for her Mr. Nielson. Awesome.

NieNie, you have helped me to see what a gift each hour with my family is. Saturday night when I washed Hummer's hair in the tub, I thought of your gloved, pain-filled hands washing your babies' hair, and was filled with gratitude again for what you are teaching me.

 

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How the scrapbook is going. . . .

Last week I did only 3 pages. It is really hard work for me! I am not a natural scrapbooker, and delving deeply back into these memories is not easy. A couple of days I simply was not up to it.

Today I dove back in, though. I knew I had all day with no interruptions, so if I had to cry for a while, it would be okay. The scrapbook will be to share with anyone who would like to see it. (I hope people will ask to see it! :) But as I'm working, if I have a more personal, difficult memory resurface, I am taking the opportunity to write it all out in a different place, and let the grief overtake me again for a while.

I really think that this type of work is going to help me go into these last few weeks with more serenity and at the same time, remembrance.

<Here's the place where I scrapbook.

We bought this changing table a couple of months before Benjamin was born. I had never had one with any of my other babies, and I just thought I had to have it this time. :) I wish so much I had taken a picture of it with all his clothes on it! Janice and I had created a lovely, little organized spot where I anticipated spending many hours tickling and talking to him as I dressed him and cleaned him. After he died, and I put away the clothes, I realized that would be the perfect spot to put all the scrapbooking supplies for his special book.

I never cared for him physically there, but I have spent hours thinking about him and remembering him, even talking to him. It is a sacred spot to me.

(The 'C' and glow-in-the-dark stars on the wall came later on, when one of his big brothers moved into the room. . . .:)

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Halloween and its ramifications

October 31, 2007 was the last day I felt Benjamin move. I believe I even know the exact moment he died. At the time, though, I was completely unaware. Janice and I spent the day decorating the house for a family Halloween party. I helped with two class parties at school. The boys dressed up and we did trick-or-treating from door-to-door in our house. Then we stayed up late watching Ichabod Crane with candles going.

The next day when I came home from the doctor's office, knowing that my baby was dead inside me, most of the Halloween decorations were still up. There were candy apples in the fridge and silly little Halloween snacks everywhere. It is probably not surprising to you that from that time on, I have hated Halloween. A lot.

I have thought that this is not really a big loss--what is the big deal about a holiday that celebrates the macabre and gruesome? But I have started to feel bad lately that the boys sometimes feel a little left out at school. Well, Exacto doesn't seem to care too much. He feels a lot how I do.

But Fluffy and now Hummer seem to wish that I were a little more happy about Halloween. I don't think I ever can be. BUT I did get a good idea today! We can celebrate Autumn. I got the idea from an activity in this month's Friend magazine where it shows a family carving a pumpkin with a CTR shield instead of the traditional face.

I can see that it would be much better to make new family traditions to fill this space, rather than just resentfully waiting for it to go away! We do plan to start a yearly pilgrimage to see fall colors on 10/31 or thereabouts. We did that last year on 11/1, and it was so fun.

Will you share with me any ideas you have? Does your family have any traditions specific to the fall season that you love?

Exacto. . . .in middle school

I have about a billion things to say, and I don't know where to start. I'm a little bit frozen blog-wise because I don't know what to do with "Mama's Boys" now that I'm going to have a daughter! (I'm open to suggestions. . . .!)

I'm sure I'll get into my groove again soon. Now that school has been in for over a week, the blues are lightening up (it was TOUGH sending Hummer to kindergarten--ouch) and I'm feeling really pretty good most of the time! In fact, I would say that I feel better now than I have for the past two years! More about why later. . . .

For now, I just had to share this telling moment. Exacto came home from school (where he has a LOCKER and SEVEN CLASSES and the girls are all a FOOT taller than he is) bearing a bright purple flyer advertising the "Back to School" Dance. !!

After being reassured by me that not only did he NOT HAVE to go, but I didn't want him going to dances at all until he's 14 and then it would be much better if they are the church dances, he promptly went and put it cheerfully through the shredder.

Sweet.

Home again, home again, jiggety-jig

I'm back! Didja miss me? :)

Our month out west was quite refreshing, and it feels surprisingly good to be back! I thought I would dread it, but our return coincided with my morning sickness ending and I am feeling spunkier than I have in months. Yippee!

It was kind of a bummer to feel so puny most of the time with our families, but on the other hand, it was nice to have help and sympathy. I think it helped the rough weeks go by a lot faster. It never hurts to be spoiled, eh?

Now that we're back home, it really feels like summer vacation. The first few days I caught the boys starting to say they needed something to do. That is a HUGE NO-NO around here, because I can think of PLENTY for them to do (aka weeds out in the 98-degree-plus-humidity heat).

It's nice to see them work those things out for themselves. (evil chuckle)

Today they got ahold of the camera and had some fun. . . .

Gotta love that flattering angle. :)

 

And some nice stop-motion here. . . .

 

 

Now, now. Don't be scared!

 

Hummer as seen through the plastic green translucent racket (previously visible in 2nd picture)

 

So what do you think? Budding photography genius? Or menace to the blogging world?

 

 

P.S. I MISSED YOU! Isn't that weird? I mean, not weird that you're missable, but that I actually feel such a connection to people I never actually see. You know what I mean, don't you?

I think I'd best go to bed now.

Hope I don't regret this tomorrow.

Hummer's Kindergarten Assessment

I almost forgot to take him--we were ten minutes late. He went in by himself with one of the Kindergarten teachers while I shot the breeze with a couple of other waiting people.

She came back out with him, and congratulated me: "He knows his ABC's!"

{ me thinking - yes, well, I would hope he does since he is currently reading the Magic Tree House books and doing his own scripture study. . . . :) }

but then she pointed to a highlighted part on the paper

"But he had trouble counting to 20. He kept skipping numbers. After three tries, I had to mark that one. But he should be just fine."

She sent us on our way with a nifty school-mascot tote bag.

I asked Hummer, "Don't you know how to count to 20? How did you do it for her?"

Hummer: "1, 5, 10, 15, 20"

Me: "But you were supposed to do all of the numbers up to 20."

Hummer: "That is all of them."

SIGH.

Reminds me of when Exacto came home from taking the test to be in the Gifted / Talented program for 3rd grade. When I asked him about what the test was like, he said for part of it they were supposed to draw the most creative picture they could think of.

I asked him what he drew, knowing of his startlingly innovative ideas.

He said, "The sun."

Me: "With a face or anything?"

Him: "No, just the sun."

{ me thinking GT is overrated anyway. . . .}

I think they've got talent!

Afore-mentioned generous neighbors lent us their video camera so that you can actually HEAR these performances. Always a plus with musical numbers. :)

Each video clip is around a minute in length. Hope you enjoy!

The lighting is a little funky, but that's probably typical of cultural hall performances, eh?

 

 

help! - silly putty removal?

*2nd Update: He emerged from the bathroom with a red scalp (from forcibly removing the silly putty), and only slightly pink hair. I had received a couple of your comments (THANK YOU!) and told him the ideas. He tried the hairspray, and then took a shower with shampoo, and it worked! Phew! I think I'm going to follow Tricia's good example and ban the stuff from our house. . . .

*Update: He has gotten the main mass out, but now the whole top of his head is tinged bright pink and is very sticky. Worst of all, he won't let me take a picture!! He locked the door when I went to get the camera.

Exacto's been in the bathroom for a long time with the door shut. I kept calling him, and finally I went up and asked him if he was okay. He said, "Yeah."

I said, "Well, what are you doing?"

He said, "Trying to get silly putty out of my hair."

Apparently he had put a ball of bright pink silly putty on his head because he thought it would be neat to see it turn into a "puddle" on his head, then take it right off. It didn't come off.

He said he's tried ice and that didn't really work, and then he tried hot water, and that didn't really work.

Any ideas?!!!

Day 20 - { life with exacto, fluffy, and hummer }

note: this post has a soundtrack! Click play to hear it -- and don't turn up your speakers too loud. Unless you really like Mozart.

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

There are three wonderful young men in my life, who bring sunshine to me every day. Here's a post about some of those warm rays. :)

 

 

These guys are pretty unique. Have you ever met a household of boys that breaks out in song, singing MOZART? There's a CD we have that's just one of those cheesy Mozart collections, like "Mozart classics", or something like that. The first track is the overture to Le Nozze di Figaro and they LOVE it, especially Hummer. I'll be downstairs and suddenly hear it booming out from upstairs. Hummer says that the louder it is the more beautiful it is. He'll put the track on repeat and just sit there listening, saying reverently, "Beautiful. Beautiful."

(The only track they don't like is a soprano solo from one of the Masses. They always say, "Fast forward!" as soon as that operatic voice comes on. Rats. I was hoping they would be REALLY unusual and love opera. . . .of course, then they'd probably get beat up at school. :)

 

Last week was such a blast because Exacto and Fluffy were on Spring Break, and they had a whole week to be with Hummer and play as much as they wanted.

One of their favorite games lately is Train the Puppy. Not our resident puppy, though. Hummer is the trainer, and Exacto and Fluffy get on all fours, and the house reverberates with human barking and "NO! BAD DOG!" and "GOOD PUPPY! You did SUCH a good JOB!"

 

Mr. Hummer has recently signed his own personal declaration of independence. Complete independence at the age of 5 is a bit premature, of course, but he won't listen when I tell him that it's just not a good idea for him to drive the car. Or jump OUT of the car and run towards Target as soon as I turn off the engine. (Yikes!)

This little Don Juan, who still kisses the hands of people who are "sweet", now refuses to accept kisses! He wipes them off, screaming, "EW!" It has turned into a game. Instead of tickling him to tease him, I kiss him. He shrieks and runs away. I do it again. He shrieks and runs away. (Just doing my part to get him ready for kindergarten. Hey, it's important! :)

One thing that amazes me though, is that Hummer is reading the Book of Mormon independently! Isn't that incredible? Often, he'll choose that for his bedtime story. He's actually working his way through 2nd Nephi right now. Awesome.

 

Then there's my sweet Flufferoo.

He's is so tender-hearted, it just melts me. HE still loves kisses, thank goodness.

One of our special traditions when we visit Benjamin's grave is that no matter what, Fluffy runs to hold my hand as we walk. He is the one who usually stays with me while we visit (DC is usually still at church, Exacto waits in the car, and Hummer is half a mile away seeing how close he can get to the lake without falling in).

Fluffy is quite the musician already! He can play the note flashcards in less than a minute now. He's working toward his first piano recital, and has 6 songs memorized for it already.

I love going through his school papers every day, and counting up the 100%'s. (He gets a bean for each 100% paper :). He likes to draw cute little men with the 00's as eyes.

At PT conferences yesterday, his teacher praised him to the skies and made me blush by saying he was likely a genius. But then she said it's because she knows he's smart, but he's off in lala land half the time. She said--and I quote--, "Then I have to say, [Fluufffy]! Helloooo!"

Nice.

 

 

Exacto is . . . .

. . . .anti-photo-taking

Nana worked her magic and got some great pictures while they were visiting. Her secret? To give a special gift to all three boys, ON CONDITION that they promise to co-operate for pictures. Fluffy and Hummer don't mind pictures. But it took Exacto a while to decide to agree to this. And yes, he kept his promise. He's pretty awesome that way.

. . . .iPod-sharing

Remember that iPod nano he got for Christmas? I was a bit concerned at first that he would soon have those earbuds permanently in his ears, and we'd have to wrangle out some rules to keep things peaceful. I shouldn't have worried. This almost-11-year-old big brother lets BOTH his little brothers use his iPod almost every time they ask! He knows how much I would love to have one, and so he's suggested several times that I use it while he's at school.

He bought the sweetest little speakers for it, and at night when they were all in bed (and before the batteries on the speakers died), they would listen to stories he downloaded. He'd put it in the middle of H's and F's bedroom floor and turn it way up so they all can hear. He is so the big brother I wished for when I was growing up. :)

. . . .district-chess-tournament-going

Today was the day. My Exacto went to the district level in 3rd grade, too, but not 4th grade, and now, this was his last chance to do the tournament. Hummer and I went to watch. He took one out of the three games. Of course, he was a bit disappointed, but I was amazed at what a good sport he was.

And then there was an impromptu fourth game, which only lasted a few minutes. Look at Hummer's face, and you'll see why I say Exacto wins, hands down! :)

 

 

"Verily I say unto you my friends, fear not,

let your hearts be comforted;

yea, rejoice evermore,

and in everything give thanks."

Doctrine & Covenants 98:1