Ellie Soccer

Ellie #10

Utah Storm

Arizona Trip

We had such a great trip to Arizona. We went on a hike up Pinnacle Peak with Grandma and Papa and played a lot with cousins. The kids went on walks with Grandma and Cooper and went swimming a lot as well. We ended our week with a fire and s'mores. So many fun memories!

Today Mason participated in the State Geography bee. What another fun experience! This was organized in a different way than the spelling bee. There were 100 kids from grades 4th-8th. They were divided into groups of 20 where they went through 8 rounds and earned points for correct answers. The top 10 kids from all 100 went on to the final. Mason got 4 answers correct in the 8 rounds. Not too bad. That score was right in the middle of the group. The questions were incredibly hard. I don't even know how these kids study for it. A lot of it is through experience at school and remembering what your teachers tell you and also paying attention to current events. The questions cover so much information! Mason did a great job and should be very proud of this accomplishment. Plus, he got a free tshirt! 

Cassidy got to be in the first grade play. They did Snow White and Cassidy was a narrator.  She loved rehearsing and was so excited to be a part of this. These pictures aren't the best, but she's part of the group of narrators. 

State Spelling Bee

Mason participated in the state spelling bee today. There were 160 students from grades 4th-8th that participated. Because of the large number of students, they had everyone participate in Round 1 spelling a word on stage. Rounds 2-6 were written down by each student. After the written test was scored, they read off the numbers for who made it to which round. I kept listening for Mason's number to be read, #49. I didn't hear it until the coordinator announced that the next names he read were going on to compete in the finals. Sure enough, Mason's number was called! So awesome! There were 35 students left for the final rounds. Mason went on to compete in the finals, but ended up getting out in round 2. There were 10 other kids who got out before him, so I guess you could say Mason came in 25th place. I couldn't believe how far he went. The winner of this competition gets to go on to the National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C. and Mason was right there with them. My mind hurts from spelling all these words mentally as the kids on stage spelled them out loud. We have spent the last 2 months looking over and spelling 1200 words from all different language origins. Mason put a lot of effort into this. Neither of us are going to look at spelling words for awhile. And if you are interested, the words Mason spelled correctly were: dogma, daffodil, ostentatious, prerogative (which I just had to use spellcheck to get the correct spelling), piccolo, filibuster (spellcheck as well), and springbok. He was mad at himself because he went out on a word he knew how to spell, but misheard the guy say it. It was tahini and he spelled tahiti. Amazing effort by this kid!

Cassidy had her "Invention Trade Show" this morning at school. She designed and created an invention and was able to show it off to all the parents. Her invention is called "Water Fun" and it helps people have fun! She invented it because she thought people might like to play with it. She was super excited about showing it off this morning. Cute girl! 

Ellie's Swimming

In January, Ellie tried out for the Utah Valley Rays, a USS year round swim team and made it! She has really been enjoying it and has already improved so much. She had her first meet after only practicing for 3 weeks. Then this weekend, she had her second meet. She swam so well! Her stroke technique has improved so much and she swam a lot faster! She dropped 4 seconds in her 50 yard Fly and 4 seconds in her 50 yard Free. She also dropped 3 seconds in her 50 yard Breaststroke. She has a wonderful coach and I have been really happy with how the UV Rays run their team. We're very excited for lots more swimming!

Soccer Tournament

We headed down to St. George last weekend for a soccer tournament for Ellie's team. What a fun time! Ellie's team played so hard and they are getting better. They lost 2 games and won 1. But the two losses could've easily been wins. Their team dominated both of those games, but just didn't score for the win. We had fun swimming in the hotel pool, watching movies and hanging out with our soccer friends. The kids loved staying in a hotel for 3 nights in a row, and eating out every night for dinner. Can't wait to do it again.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Science fair

Cassidy 1st grade

What liquid will stop an apple from turning brown?

Mason 5th grade

Do boys or girls have a better sense of smell?

Ellie 3rd grade

What will happen to gummy bears when put in different liquids? 

School Spelling Bee

For the second year in a row, Mason got to participate in the school spelling bee. Last year he came in first, but this year he was disappointed because he only got 2nd place. However, it was a pretty intense match between him and the other guy. Usually the school spelling bee lasts about 45 minutes. This one went for an hour and a half because the last 3 students were spelling all the words correctly. Mason had to spell probably 40 words compared to last year when he won it only spelling 15. It was much more of a challenge this year. But he spelled some amazing words. Words I have no idea their meaning or correct pronunciation. He misspelled the word "recherche." I do not know what that word means, nor do I care to ever look up the definition. I did have to look up the pronunciation when we were studying it, though. These boys were spelling words on the 12th grade list. Even though he came in second place this year, Mason put in some amazing effort to make it this far. I am impressed with the words he was able to spell. Mason should be proud of his efforts and spelling ability.