Thanksgiving Break

This Thanksgiving break, I've been doing a lot of reading, played some tennis, wally-ball, and racquetball, and just spent some time with family and friends. Thanksgiving day was fabulous as always. It was just our family and my Grandpa Cluff, and his wife Annabell. Annabell and my mom made some really yummy food. I know that the Thanksgiving dinner was a success, because we all felt slightly sick afterwords.  Oh, by the way, did I mention the homework. I don't know what it is about teachers, but they all seem to think, "Oh, Thanksgiving break, that means that they have a lot of extra time to get work done, maybe we should give them a lot of homework." I don't know what part of "break" they don't understand, but all of my teachers gave me hours worth of homework. Oh well, I still had a fabulous thanksgiving break, and I hope you did too.

Tennis Tournament!

Yesterday I had a tennis tournament. I was in the 8th grade B girls singles division (which started at 8:00 am.) My family had a LOT going on that day! My first two matches, only my dad saw because my mom had to run the harvest festival parade and watch Tyson and Justin in the fun run (they were both in the top ten.) I won both of those matches 8-1. Then my dad had to go coach Ryan's soccer game, while my mom was at Justin's game, and then Tyson's. So I played my next two matches on my own. I won one of them 8-4 and the other 8-2. That put me in the semi-finals. My mom was able to come for half of that match. I won that one 8-6, but it was a LONG and exhausting match! Then it was the finals. The rest of my family got there in time for the second half of that. I won that match 8-2. In case you have lost count, that is six matches that kept me at the tournament for seven and a half hours, and yes, I do have a massive sunburn. Anyways, I won my first tournament! 

 

In case you are questioning my stylish chose of socks, when the tournament started at eight in the morning, it was freezing and I had left my sweats at school, so my mom gave me some spirit socks to wear (they are my school's colors.) Although it soon grew unbearably hot, the socks weren't bothering me and I wasn't motivated enough to take them off. Since I won the tournament, they are apparently my new "lucky socks" (according to my family.) Whether it was the lucky socks doing or my own, I am very excited to have won a tournament!

First Day of School

My first day of school

Monday was my first day of eighth grade. I had a good time and am very excited about all of my teachers. After school we had our 2nd annual "No Manners Dinner." This is a dinner that is eaten outside and in our swim suits. We have to eat with our hands and can act as rude or wild as we want to. We had rice and chicken, red jello, squash, and root beer. Our dad came out dressed like this.

  He informed us that it was wrong to desecrate the American flag, and that it just wasn't right to hit nerds. He obviously remembers last years messy food fight and didn't want to be a part of this years. Unfortunately for him, his lovely attire made us go after him with even more vigor. We had a pie eating contest after all of the food was thrown. My dad won, but I wasn't all to far behind him (they were those miniature pies just a little bigger than a fist.) The pies were delicious and I thought the contest was a lot of fun. I am really grateful to my mom and dad for being so willing to help us have fun! I am sad that summer is over, but it looks like a promising school year!

Surprise! Happy Birthday!

Friday, I had a surprise birthday party. I had been at the store with my dad getting charcoal for smores that I thought we were supposed to roast with the Hardy's. When I got home I was met with a loud chorus of "Happy Birthday to You!" Almost all of the Mormons in my middle school were there (including boys.) There was Mikaela Sircable, Nicole King, Destiny Seraudi, Landon Hardy, Preston Shumway, Joseph Whiting, and Tyson and his friend Miller Hardy. The party went from 8-10 pm. We played water balloon volleyball (nobody was sure who won, but since it was my birthday party, I'm going with the girls.) We then did cake and smores. My mom made a really yummy two-layer yellow cake with chocolate frosting, and we roasted marshmallows over our fire pit.  Next we played Capture the Flag two times (sadly, the boys won both.) And finally we played Kick the Can a few times. I had a lot of fun and am very grateful to my mom for being thoughtful and willing enough to do the party. 

Girl's Camp, San Antonio, Utah, and Birthday's

It has been a long time since I've posted because I have been gone a lot. June 7, we went to San Antonio. We went to Sea World, first, and that was a lot of fun. There were some really neat animal shows, and a cool water park, but the best part was that it was rainy in the morning, so it wasn't crowded at all, but it cleared up in really quick, so it turned out to be a nice, crowd free day. The next day we went to Schlitterbahn, (the world's biggest water park.) It had rained 11 in the previous day, so only one small part was open, but the tickets were under half price, so we went and ended up having a lot of fun! We also went to Six Flags Fiesta Texas, and did a few rides, but mainly spent time at the water park. We all really enjoyed the water park, and I had a blast on the rides (I was the only one tall enough to do the fun rides, disadvantage #1of a short family-amusement park height limits.) We got home that Friday, and I left for Girl's Camp at the New Mexico Mountain Retreat Monday June 15( My mom's birthday was the 17th so I missed it.) I LOVED girl's camp. I had a lot of fun, met new people and felt the Spirit more strongly than I had anywhere else. I had the opportunity to bear my testimony at our campfire testimony meeting the last night. It wasn't until I got up, that I realized just how wonderful the gospel was and how strongly I had felt the Spirit that week. We arrived home Friday afternoon. I then got one week of rest before we headed off to Utah. We got there Friday the 25. We went to Beaver, Utah first (a tiny town in southern Utah where my mom grew up,) where we stayed at my grandparents house on my mom's side for about a week. We had a fun time with cousins and grandparents. That Friday, we went to Centerville where we visited my great-aunt Marie and my cousins the Keddingtons. We celebrated the 4th that Saturday (the 3rd) because the 4th was on a Sunday. We went to the parade, went swimming, and had a picnic (no fireworks ahh.) That Saturday night we drove up Syracuse where we visited my mom's sister (my aunt) Andrea and my cousins. Me and Lindsey had a great time even though it was just for a day. The next day we went to Provo where we were attending camps at BYU. I went to tennis camp (5 days, 7 hrs a day.) Tyson and Justin went to soccer camp (4 days, 4 hrs a day.) We stayed at a hotel. I had a lot of fun at tennis camp, and really feel like I improved. I was one of the youngest there, one of the only was not staying overnight at the dorms (I'm way too chicken to do that) and one of the least experienced. I did pretty well though. I was ranked 15 on my team out of 18, but I won all of my singles matches but one (I tied that one) and won about 2/3 of my doubles matches. In my tournament I finished third. I also won most improved out of my team (I'm still debating whether I should be proud or embarrassed about that.) I had fun, but I do wish I could have gone with a friend though. I didn't know anyone there, most of the socializing was in the dorms, and I'm very shy to begin with. I didn't make a single friend. I really don't care too much, I'm perfectly happy to sit by myself and think or read, but when the coaches come to sit by you, you don't feel to hot. It really was fun though, and my family and I did stuff in the afternoons. We went to Seven Peaks (a water park,) went to visit Greg, Leanne, and their kids (my uncle, aunt, and cousins,) went hiking with the Anderson's (our other cousins,) and went swimming. We left Friday afternoon, stopped for the night in Grants, New Mexico, and got home Saturday afternoon. Today was my 13th birthday. I got a lot of books, some clothes, and a huge make-up kit. My mom had to show me how to put on the make-up, but hopefully I'll get the hang of it. We had dinner at my Grandpa Cluff and Annabelle's house (Annabelle's 87th birthday was yesterday). We also had cake there. I think it's safe to say that so far, it has been a GREAT summer!

5K!

    Okay, it has been quite a while since I've posted, and I have had quite a few things happen, but the one that I'm really excited about is the fact that I ran a 5K (3.1 miles!) It was a Memorial Day activity for the whole stake, and admittedly, I really, really, really didn't want to run it, but thankfully, it wasn't my choice. My parents made me run it, and now I'm really glad that they did. I am not even going to pretend that I ran the whole way, in fact, I ran a little more than half. Obviously, there is plenty of room for improvement. I started out running with my mom, but she wasn't doing so great. She has been doing P90X (an INCREDIBLY hard work out program,) and while that does an amazing job of improving your muscles, it doesn't make up for good, old fashioned running. She has decided that she still wants to continue P90X, because she can see improvement, but she is going to start running as well. Anyways, to make a long story short, I ended up pushing Ryan and Abigail in the jogging stroller. I'm positive that I looked ridiculous, and I'm pretty sure that Ryan and Abigail were gaining weight by the minute, but I still finished before my mom (victory!) That does not in any way though, mean that I beat my dad or Tyson, because I didn't. I don't know my time, but whether I took 10 minutes (I didn't) or 50 (I know I didn't take that long,) I still am proud that I finished, (that's more than some people can say!) I am grateful I had that fun opportunity!

Memories of School Turn to Ashes

This Saturday, Landon Hardy and I decided to burn all memories of school. We took all of our notes, graded papers, and anything else we could find, threw it in our fire pit( a raised one in out sand area), and lit it on fire. This was about 11:00 am. We got about half way through when we decided to save the rest for that night. We thought it would be more fun in the dark; we were right. Later that night, we got everyone out there (all the Hardy's and Cluff's.) This time Landon brought his house (an art project: a miniature house on a 12" by 12" board made of Popsicle sticks) and we started with that. He had filled all of the rooms with 4th of July sparklers, and I added crumpled worksheets. This time we had a large, steady fire, constantly fed by more and more crumpled school work. Justin and Reagan were "firefighters." Every time the wind blew out a hot ember or a small flame, they smothered it with sand. All of the older kids and adults talked. We told about our school year, and talked about next year. The younger kids jumped on the trampoline. We all had a great time burning away all memories of school. I must say, we were tempted to sing Kum-Ba-Ya, but we decided against it. We have decided to make this a tradition, and I must say, I am really looking forward to doing it again next year.

           Here are some pictures of the day fire. The fire at night was 1000 times better, but I couldn't find my camera, so here are some of the wimpy day fire. 

Before we started burning and adding more papers.

Landon's science composition book burning. Our science teachers sent ours straight to the 8th grade teachers so we wouldn't be tempted to accidentally "lose" it during the summer. I'm pretty sure Landon was supposed to keep his to, but he says that if it turns out he was supposed to, he would blame his teacher.

Have a great summer!

Ryan's Preschool Program

Ryan finished his first year of preschool this year. He goes to an incredibly small preschool, which means a short end-of-the-year program (yeah!) The whole program was under 40 minutes (a possible record.) He really got into the singing and dancing. I really enjoyed watching him. The videos are below this. Ryan is the short blond boy between the two tall girls on the right.

Wide Mouth Bullfrog

Tootie-Ta

Buddy Field Day

 Buddy Field Day is basically a bunch of different games and races that students get to participate in. Every student has a buddy and they go to the different stations with their buddy. As a middle school student, I no longer get to do Buddy Field Day. This year however, I got to help run Buddy Field Day at Bennett Elementary (my old school, and the one Tyson and Justin now attend.) I am a member of NJHS (National Junior Honor Society.) NJHS members got to go help out at Buddy Field Day for summer credit hours. Each NJHS member has to do fifteen hours of service every semester, but you can earn ten of those hours (five for each semester) during the summer. This was an opportunity to get those summer credit hours. In the morning, I worked the bubble station for the Kinder-Second graders. As you can imagine, this was not the most popular station, so there was plenty of free time. A girl from school named Annie Kane was working it with me, and I had Ryan and Abigail while my mom was helping out in Justin's class, so we had fun blowing bubbles and playing with Ryan and Abigail. We then had and okay lunch of pizza. After lunch, I went to Justin's class room and hung out there until the afternoon shift began. In the afternoon, I worked the Carpet Pull station. I worked it alone, but Annie was working a station right next to me, and I had Ryan with me. The carpet pull is where both buddies have a small rug that they sit on. They each hold on to a rope (attached to tether ball poles) and they then use the rope to pull themselves to the pole. The first one to touch their pole wins. This station was a lot more popular than the bubbles, so there wasn't as much free time, but while the classes were switching zones, Annie and I had time for a few races. I won every carpet pull race, but their was another race where you had to sit on towels with your feet and your hands flat on the towel and inch yourself toward the finish line that she beat me at. I had a fun time at Buddy Field Day, and I tackled six of my summer credit hours!

Busy Last Weeks of School

There are only two more weeks of school left! I am super excited. I can't wait for summer, not because I don't like school, but I am definitely ready for a break. Normally, the last two weeks of school are all fun and games, you don't really do anything that really makes you think. I get the joy and privilege of spending my last weeks of school taking end-of-year exams and doing a presentation in GT, fun huh? I have to take a math exam that helps determine what math class you get into next year (normal, pre-AP, or Algebra 1.) I get to turn in a report, cause and effect statement, interview,visual, and give an oral report on Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech and the general end of Segregation for GT. There are a few more exams I have to take, but I can't think of what classes they are in. I also need to finish a mosaic project in art that I have only done two rows of so far. My teachers are determined to keep me busy right up until May 27th. Well, I guess it will make summer vacation all the more welcome.

Ward Split!

Recently, we got a new stake president, President Shumway. He has this great vision for our ward (I won't bother going into details) but in order for it to happen, some major changes have to occur. The first step in that happening was for the wards to be split. We used to have four wards, we now have six! Today, for the first time, we went to our new wards. There were a lot of people that I knew, but quite a few that I didn't. I met a few new people, and got a new Young Women president whom I have never met before. I can't wait to see how this turns out!

Catching Up!

It's been a long time since I've posted because our computer got a virus and and was then gone for three weeks while someone tried to recover all of our pictures and such (we're still not quite sure if he was able to, because we haven't been able to find them yet.) Anyways, a lot has happened since then, so here are the highlights. I played in my first ever B division tournament (I'm normally in C) and wound up getting second place! I was really surprised and excited, but I got sunburned like nothing on Earth. I was a giant, stiff, sore lobster. It took weeks for it to go away completely. I also found out that I am going to be recognized nationally for my ACT scores because I was in the top 5%. That's pretty exciting too. My FPS (future problem solving) team got first in our group and are going to Austin on April 16-18 for the FPS State Bowl. I am not going to even attempt to explain FPS, so just know that it is a competition testing your creativity, knowledge, and flexibility of thought. Going to Austin will be really fun, and I am super excited!  Our choir competed in UIL on Thursday (a competition that consists of two parts: a performance, and sight reading.) We took sweepstakes (the best you can get!) I am really glad. We also went to Oklahoma over spring break to watch BYU play in March Madness. They won their first game against Florida, but lost their second one against Kansas state. We had a really good time. Justin and Tyson got on the news when they were showing interviews with fans. That was neat. Well, that's all for now!

ACT Scores

A few weeks ago, I got to take the ACT as a seventh grader. I was able to do this because of Duke University. Every year, Duke allows seventh graders who have made certain grades, to take the ACT. They then look at all of the scores, and depending on what score you make, you can be recognized at different levels. I'm not quite sure how it all works exactly, but it is a neat opportunity. We take the same test as the high schoolers, we take it at the same place (but in a different room than them,) and it gets scored the same way. I got my score on Friday, and I had a lot of fun comparing it to my parent's scores. I scored a 25. I am proud to say that I outscored my mom, and am only two points below my dad. The results also show the percent of kids who scored either the same score as you or below you (including high school kids.) 82% of Texas was the same as or below me, and 80% of the U.S. was the same as or below me. I did the worse in math, but my mom says that's because I haven't learned most of the stuff (which is true, I guessed some on that section.) I scored a 31 on reading though! I was pretty proud of my scores, but I do hope that I do better in high school!

Snowball Fight!

Yesterday, Tyson, Justin, Miller, Landon, and I had a giant snowball fight. The fight itself was pretty fun, but personally, I liked building the fort more than anything else. In our front yard, the snow was perfect for packing! Justin discovered that if you make a lot of snow balls, roll each of them around on the ground (like making balls for a snowman,) connect them, and then pack a lot of snow into the gaps, you can make a pretty amazing snow fort! The teams were Justin, Miller, and Tyson against Landon and I. Each team used the same method of building the snow forts, but they actually turned out pretty different. After the forts were made, we had a lot of fun pelting each other with snow balls. I'm not really sure how most people do snow ball fights, but here is how we did ours. Each team had a territory, and then some parts of the yard were free-for-all. If you got hit on the other teams territory, then you had to drop any snow balls that you were carrying, and go and touch your snow fort. None of us really knew what to do once we were on the other teams territory, so we settled for trying to steal snow balls and knock down the other teams fort (we weren't successful in doing either of these things.) We had fun while it lasted, but after a while, Miller got hurt and went inside, and then Tyson went inside because his feet were cold. 

 

 Mine and Landon's snow fort. We found out that ours was the strongest when Landon ran full force into it, tried to body slam it, and fell to the ground moaning. After the fight, Ryan and Abigail also enjoyed playing in it .

  

 Justin, Tyson, and Miller's snow fort (Tyson and Miller had both gone inside by the time we took the picture.) Part of it is missing in this picture. Tyson had been leaning on a fairly tall part, and it fell over taking Tyson with it.