Band Concert

Temple trip and Cardston fun run

Michelle and her kids came to Cardston this weekend. Sherylee is also here for a month or so. On Friday, we took the kids to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. It was Chad's first time. It was a nice experience to be together as family in the temple. We had 4 Melchezidek priesthood holders in the family to help perform the ordinances.

 On Saturday morning, quite a few of us participated in the Cardston 5K/5M family fun run. I love this event. It is great for kids and non-runners as all kids and most adults get a prize and the top three in each age group in both the 5K race and the 5M race get a medal. The after race food is also good. It is cheap to enter and everyone gets a shirt--for the adults, they are nice running shirts. This race is also excellent in the sense that the distances are accurate and the race is chip timed.
Preston and I as well as Granny and Grandpa Paul entered the 5K race. I normally run the 5M, but I have only just started training again and I didn't want to injure myself. I ran in 28:40 which is better than I thought I'd do, but about 3 minutes slower than I was running 5K at the end of triathlons last summer. So I guess I have some training to do if I am going to do triathlons again this year. Preston finished just barely ahead of Granny (thanks Granny!) at just under 40:00 and Grandpa came in 5 minutes later.
Keston, Chad, Nathan and Sherylee ran the 5 miles. Keston has been running cross country and finished strong in just over 43 minutes. Chad was right there with him, just a couple of steps behind--which is quite amazing since he is younger and hasn't been training. Sherylee came in next and then Nathan.
Several of us got medals and prizes and Grandpa Paul won the grand prize gift basket which had goodies he shared with the kids. Overall it was a great day!

Granny and Preston at the finish

Keston finishing with Chad coming in behind.

Grandpa  Paul at the finish--ran the whole race in his hat!

The runners

Spring Sports

Like many families, we have been hopping this spring juggling spring sports that all try to squeeze into that narrow window after the snow melts and before school is out. Preston played soccer and baseball (coach pitch). He started out with basically no skills, and though he is not the superstar yet, he has improved a lot. Alyssa played spring league basketball and has started Volleyball in preparation for next fall's team. She is also just starting swim club. Alyssa and Austin also participated in track and field. Alyssa made it to the divisional meet in discus and shot put, and placed 5th in shot put at the divisional meet. 

This is Preston on Kite Day. Austin lent him his Spiderman kite. I wish I had taken Austin out of school to give us help. Preston and I were not very good at flying it.

The above video is of Alyssa throwing the discus as the school track meet. She came 2nd and was able to go to divisionals in both discus and shot put. At divisionals she was one of the last to throw in discus. By then a couple of girls had thrown about 2 feet farther than she had at the school meet. Since the school meet, she had practiced throwing with a spin, and had thrown a few times even farther than the girls at divisionals. So she took a chance and threw with a spin at divisionals. Unfortunately all her throws ended up out of bounds. Maybe by next year, she will master the spinning technique and become a contender.

Preston at soccer

Preston hits the ball in baseball.

Preston running the bases

Austin in the 100 m race at the school track meet. Sorry it is so blurry. 

Bucking Brad

Monte, Sherylee and Brad came up to Canada for Kayden's graduation from High School. After a family dinner on Saturday, Brad played bucking bronco with the boys. What a great sport. The kids loved it.

Our Most Successful Festival Yet!

On Tuesday, Alyssa and Austin performed at the Lethbridge Piano Teachers' Festival. Video of their performances is below. Amazingly enough, every performance won first place! Austin competed in a class of 7 kids. In Alyssa's solo class there were only two people and in the duet class there were 6 duets and trios. We just got a call tonight inviting them to play all their pieces as the final concert tomorrow night. That is an honor we have never before received. Unfortunately, we just booked a hotel for tomorrow night to be in Medicine Hat for Alyssa's basketball tournament. Alyssa is also supposed to be in Red Deer with her school band for the provincial music festival. Why does everything have to happen all at once?

Sock folding in the new laundry room

Preston is trying to earn money to buy a video game and so he has been asking for extra jobs. His favorite is folding socks. I had folded all the other laundry and left the socks special for him. He folded 30 pair for $3.00. I love that he climbs up on the counter in the laundry room to do his work. I love how functional the room is and I love that Preston likes jobs that put things in order!

Little People Conference

This past weekend we went to the Little People of Alberta conference. This was the first event of its kind. There were over 200 registrants and little people came from all over Alberta as well as Saskatchewan and British Columbia. There were even a few people there from Ontario. The conference was held at the Calgary Sheraton Cavalier hotel. The hotel has a pool with waterslides as well as conference rooms and banquet services. The conference went Friday night and Saturday. On Friday there was a family pool party. On Saturday three doctors who are on the LPA medical advisory board were there and gave presentations. They were also available for individual appointments. Saturday afternoon there were sessions for parents, and for teens. There was also a session on adaptive equipment and a session where they organized the Dwarf Athletic Association of Canada. Later they took a group photo of all the little people. On Saturday evening there was a banquet and a dance. In addition to all that, there was a clothing exchange and a raffle.  

Our family went down Friday afternoon and stayed two nights at the hotel. We went to the pool party and visited there with a few people we knew and met some new people. There Austin made friends with two boys, Max and Ethan who both have achondroplasia like Austin. They are both from the lower mainland in BC. Max is 14 and Ethan is 11. The three were pretty much inseparable at the pool on Friday night. On Saturday when Rob and I were at sessions, we gave Austin a room key and he was free to roam around with his new friends. They went swimming some more on Saturday, too. Alyssa and Preston had a half-way good time too. Alyssa was Preston's babysitter on Saturday. They watched tv in the hotel room most of the morning and then went to the pool in the afternoon.

I went to one session (not quite necessary yet) on family planning and pregnancies for little people. It was really interesting. I also went to a session on skeletal dysplasias in life's phases. I enjoyed the session for parents and the session on adaptive equipment was taught by the tiniest little lady, about 2 1/2 ' tall. She has her house all adapted to her size. She loves it when her 6'2" brother comes to her house and has to use her bathroom or kitchen. She thinks it is poetic justice! 

The banquet and the dance were pretty fun. The little kids were so cute dancing!

Max, Austin and Ethan. Notice who's tallest!

With Alyssa. Alyssa thinks Ethan is a super good-looking little person!

Some kids dancing.

These two kids were soooooo cute! They are seriously about 15" tall. I'd guess about 3 or 4 years old. The girl and the boy have the same type of dwarfism, I think. They were dancing together quite a bit.  I watched this little boy's parents. They are young, good-looking, fit, and presumably well-educated. I imagined that they never thought they would have a child like this. It seemed he was their only child. But, they were so loving and mindful of him. It was the sweetest thing I have ever seen.

This is Austin, partying down!