Cherene's Blog: February 2012

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Pinewood Derby 2012

Pinewood Derby time rolled around again! With Charlie's basketball season and Carson's NAL season in full swing, we were running several different directions every weeknight for several weeks there. Chuck set aside time here and there to work with Cade on his Pinewood Derby car, but it got down to the wire, and it still wasn't done. So the morning of weigh in, Chuck and Cade stayed home from school and work and put some hours in on the car. Whatever they did seemed to have worked pretty well because Cade took 3rd place overall! I helped Cade a little with the painting decorating, but I mostly supervised while he did all the artwork himself. He made his car a shark, with gills and teeth, and he wrote "Fear the Shark!" on the top of the car. Even though it wasn't the most professional looking car, it was fun because it was his own design, and his own artwork. Chuck and Cade had a good time working together on the car. Carson was on a campout and missed the race, but Charlie and Cheyanna came along to cheer Cade on. I was so happy for Cade that he did so well. (Now if next year's car bombs, at least he had one good derby!) Chuck's tally: 8 cars down, 1 to go!

Lani's Birthday

We got some girls together for Lani's birthday, and went to Applebee's for dinner. Turns out that they had Karaoke that night, so we got to sing a little after enjoying the food and friendship. I sang "Mean" by Taylor Swift, which is one of my favorite songs. I am NOT a good singer, but you don't need to be to sing karaoke, right? After the song, the DJ lady asked me if I was dedicating that song to anyone (because it's all about someone who is very mean), and I was all flustered and embarrassed at my sorry performance, so I wasn't thinking, and I dedicated the song to my Birthday girl, Lani. Whoops! Lani didn't mind, and she even joined in "Bust a Move" with Tera and Trisni a little later. I didn't get Allison, Crissie, Trisni, or Sharla in the pictures, but they were there having fun with us too! I love hanging out with my gal pals!

Grandma Taylor's Funeral

Chuck's Grandmother passed away on Christmas Day, 2011. Chuck's mom, Jennie, was up there in Idaho with her sister, Dawna, at their mother's bedside when she passed away. Grandma Marie Taylor was 90 years old. Her husband had passed away more than 25 years ago, and she had been on her own for a long time. She had cancer, and she did not want to do anything to fight it. She lived a good, long life and she was ready to go. Grandma was a good example to us of hard work and service to others. She was a loving lady with a big heart, but she would tell it to you the way it was. She wasn't one to sugar coat things or mince words. :) Grandma lived in Rigby, ID. It was such a blessing that the funeral was during Christmas break, when I had a break from school and my internship, and the kids were out of school. Plus Charlie didn't have any basketball games over the break, so we were all able to drive up to Idaho to pay our respects and show our love and support for Chuck's mom. We drove the 14 hours straight up on Thursday, Dec 29 (our 17th wedding anniversary). We were there for the funeral on Friday, Dec 30, then that night we got a head start on the trip home and drove down to Provo for the night. Saturday we drove home from Provo in time to unpack, run to the grocery store, and then celebrate New Year's Eve together, watching the ball drop.