Frogs in the bed

Last Sunday was Aelfric's baptism. Aunt Laurie gave the talk, and Gideon like it so much that he told me, "I want her to speak at MY baptism!" (He really wanted the Kit-Kats she gave out.) The baptism went very smoothly and it was really nice to be there. Especially for Gideon, since he'll be baptized this year (in November).

On Wednesday, the Activity Days kids and their families had a meeting about goals and the Children and Youth program. We used to be really good about goals right up until the new Children and Youth program, with its emphasis on goal setting, came out, and then we stopped being good about it. (Actually, the real change was Covid lockdowns, but it makes a funnier story that way.) Anyway, we're trying to start back up, so Mike is paying a nickel to each kid who talks about their goals at dinner. It seems to be working OK. Maybe we'll achieve great things this year!

We are getting really close to the opening night of Utahoma! The girls had practices all the time this week, it felt like, and there'll be even more this coming week. Friday Feb 2nd is opening night, and we're going to attend with Grandma Sheila and Papa Mike. Then the kids will be performing every Monday, Friday, and Saturday night, plus 3 Saturday matinees. It's going to be a lot of driving; Alison is considering sending them on the train and picking them up at the end. We'll see. We are going to attend the matinee on February 10th with Grandma Julie, Grandpa Craig, and the Rogers, and we'll go to closing night as well. It's very exciting! And Sara has been asked to be in their next play, which will be in April! It's called Lore of the Rings and should be really funny. If she has rehearsals three times a week this month while the play is running, we might as well just get her an apartment next door to the theater because she will never leave the place. I'm really not sure how we're going to handle it, but we'll manage. Somehow.

On Friday, Mike and Alison went on a date to see a local theater group production of 39 Steps. It's a humorous spoof on an Alfred Hitchcock thriller with only a few actors playing all the parts: 2 "actors," 2 "clowns" (who play all the bit parts like policemen and mob mooks), and 2 "facilitators" (who mostly play the part of doors). It was really funny and we had a great time. It was nice to have a real date, because we probably won't have any next month, what with all the play driving.

Gideon has been asking for a bed instead of a hammock again. The last time he did this, we got him one and then he slept on the floor and Rocket slept on the bed. So we weren't very excited to do it again, but he's kept asking, so we found him a camping cot at Saver's and if he sleeps on it every night we'll get an actual bed in a few months. He has slept on it one night so far, so we'll see how that goes.

Saturday was Rea's Science Fair! She's been working really hard on it; Science Fair and play rehearsals have been a lot, but she did a great job getting everything done! Her presentation was excellent and her board looked really good; we put little bugs on it and Mike 3D printed some big pill bugs with articulating sections that can roll up that everyone loved. Both sets of grandparents came to support her at the science fair, and we were all very impressed with all her hard work and how well she spoke in her presentation. Yay, Rea!