MAYLIN2007

Austin had a choir concert tonight. His choir sang alone, then the UVU Choir (an in state college) sang alone, then they sang together! Austin and his choir had fancy robes and everything.....BUT THAT IS NOT WHERE I WENT! Can you believe it? I didn't go. Instead I went to another concert. See below: And it was amazing too!!!! Jay and I loved it. So you all don't think I am a completely terrible mother, we bought the tickets in December, LOOOOONNNNGGGG before Austin's choir concert was a blimp on a map. And to be fair, I went to the dress rehearsal today. Of course, the college choir wasn't there and Austin said what I saw didn't even scratch the surface and yes, I feel bad, but heck this was my 20th wedding anniversary present. The anniversary was clear back in January and we FINALLY got to celebrate! Man, it was a great celebration!

Austin went to prom this past weekend. He and his date looked so nice together. They are very good friends and they doubled with 7 other couples. Two of the boys and one of the girls are also really good friends. The dance was held at our state's capital building. Pretty cool.   Also, yesterday Jay slept at a sleep study center. He is always tired and his blood pressure is always high. They came in and put a mask on him 1/2 way through the night and told him he stopped breathing so many times that he needed the mask. We will hear from the doctors soon, but we know he will have a mask like that at home(officially called a c-pap). He is so excited about it! He is so tired of being tired all the time. Just sleeping with the mask for 1/2 a night, made him feel better. He sent me a picture with the wires all over his head and face, but he looked so terrible I am not posting it. I do share most things, but I do have a bit of a filter. That may surprise many of you I know.

Nini, Kens and Alex dressed up to play Ninja. I really don't know how that goes, but they all had a good time and looked pretty cute. Her is Nini's costume that she put together. She said she was the "binja" that caught butterflies! So cute.

Over the last few days, Aus has been competing in the state science fair at BYU. There were about 850 students competing at the fair. He really generated a lot of interest at the fair and many told him he needed to get a patent on his idea. Here he is, with his partner, setting up for the project. His science teacher is also pictured with them. They spent the day interviewing with the judges and showing how their project worked.   Tonight we went to the awards ceremony! Aus and his partner won 6 awards!!! They won a special award from the U.S. Army, the US Air Force, Yale University, an entrance to Westminster College's Environmental Science Fair, a $4,000 scholarship to a local college and 2nd place over all!!! We were so excited. His science teacher was in tears. She was more excited that we were! She is a cute lady. We are so proud of him.       Also, at the end of the judging they had a raffle for all the students. They drew the ticket and it was Aus's! He was s...

Yesterday (Yea, I am late) was our 3 year anniversary of our gotcha day. Time has flown by and I really can't think of a time that I haven't had her. She is such a part of us. The other day, I watched the big kids help Maylin ride a 2 wheeled bike. They were so cute and tender with her. Later I told them how glad I was that they had accepted her into the family so easily and so completely. They all looked at me and said, "She's our sister." She is. No ifs, ands or buts. She is ours 100%. I can't believe how well she fits in. She has so many characteristics like her siblings. I can't believe how much she loves me. We really have a bond that is priceless. I remember gotcha day so well and how she cried and was so afraid, but then by the next day she would not go back to the nanny. She would only stay with me. That is how it has been ever since. I am amazed how important family is to her. Everything needs to have a family. The other day she got all the shampo...

Kens had her science fair project last week. She decided she wanted to see if dogs had a paw preference. She went up and down our street and tested every dog. She put food in a little tube to see which paw it used to get the food out, she shook their hands, she watched them walk and climb up her leg, and she gave them a toy to see which paw they used first. She had so much fun doing it and the project turned out great.       By the way, out of the 10 dogs she tested 7 had a paw preference. Out of those 7, 5 were lefties and 2 went for the right paw.

The family is home! They are loving the HOT showers and the fact they can flush toilet paper! So I wanted to share my funny and frustrating Friday. I had to take Kens to the store to buy a swim suit for a b-day party she was going to. I packed the girls up and off we went. The car ride was absolutely hysterical! It went like this: Maylin: I am going to marry Aush or Olex. Kens: You can't marry them. They are your brothers. Maylin: Then who am I going to marry? Kens: One of your friends. Maylin: Can I marry Malaree's brother, Slade? Kens: Yes. Then you would be Malaree's siter. Maylin: Yes! I want to be Malaree's sister! Break...silence. Maylin: But then I would have to kiss Malaree's brother. That would be weird. I don't know if I can think about that. Kens: You don't have to get married yet. Wait until you are 21. Maylin: You don't get married when you are 5? Kens: No, 21. Maylin: Okay. I am not 5 yet, so I won't have to kiss him yet. So funny. Then...

Yesterday the group visited ruins and Cortez's home. They saw great plants, fields, an awesome suspension bridge, had a great lunch at the "Corona" restaurant that was located on the banks of a river, dinner at an awesome taco place and beautiful sites of the city. Everyone shopped and shopped! The group had an amazing day. They had to get up about 4:30 a.m. this morning so they could meet at the stake center to catch their bus back to Mexico City. Everyone is happy and excited to come home to see their families. There are so many stories to tell. I hope I was able to get at least one picture of your child(ren) in the photos. The would send me 100's at night and it was so hard to go through them all, but I hope I got at least one, so you could see how and what they were doing. Again, you can click on the photos to make them larger.        

Talked to my husband. The group had heard about BYU's win in double OT. They were happy. They had just spent 3 hours at the ruins and had done a bit of shopping. They had just pulled into a little restautant that was along the side of the road for lunch. When I asked the name of it he said, "I can't tell. All I can see is a big Corona sign." Hee he hee. After lunch they will shop more and see more sites. Everyone was having a blast!

I first posted this about 7:30, but with all the pictures and then I got a letter from Mr. Haymond, I didn't get it finished until 8:40. If you checked in before 8:40, you may want to browse through it again as there may be new things. You can click on the pictures to view them larger! Wednesday was the last day the kids would be working. Thursday, they will be seeing the sites and Friday they begin the journey home. They worked hard again, pouring cement floors. It is so much work. My husband said they are working so hard and get so tired and hungry. The first two days, they weren't being fed enough, and were hungry. But after that, the members realized how much more they needed and they have brought lots of food to the table. The members there have cooked and offered their best. He said some kids are still not eating enough as the food is different or too hot for their taste so they are choosing not to eat much. Watch out to those parents;have your fridges stocked!You are goi...

I received a partial email from Mr. Haymond about Monday's events. It wasn't complete as his internet apparently went down. He finally was able to resend it. Here it is! Dear Friends and Family, I apologize for the day-late message but here we are again. Monday was "another wonderful day in Vera Cruz". We awakened to picadas for breakfast, a traditional food here in Vera Cruz, like a small pizza. We left for the church in a taxi this morning because the hermano that usually takes us had no working car. We are now quite good and traveling independently throughout Vera Cruz. At the church we divided into our groups and headed out to our work projects. Two small groups went to finish the septic tank projects from Saturday and the two other large groups went to lay cement floors in some of the poorest areas in the area. The poverty is everywhere, the smell, the touch, the pain, the facial expressions, the clothing, the homes, the bathrooms, the water, the animals, everyth...

Day 5 in Vera Cruz Today is Tuesday and it started again with a generous breakfast and a taxi ride to the church. We divided into 3 groups, all laying cement floors. Everyone of us knows how to mix cement by hand. Our groups traveled to the home of returned missionary who lives alone but his mother lives with him on weekends and is away working during the week. The job was easy and were done about 3 hours earlier than expected. My daughter Layna and I had a wonderful visit with the wife of the Bishop of the ward (also a host family for 6 of our girls) and we talked about Zion, the differences in the US and Mexican cultures, the importance of service and much more. We arrived back at the church at noon and I walked my group to a little convenience store, purchased snacks and headed back to the church. We went to the back of the church to eat and lay on the grass. We soon played a game of soccer with some of the members while we waited for the other groups to finish their projects and re...