Guess what?


Allynn is going to play the Tuba in the American Fork Marching Band (afbands.org).  Yes, the Tuba.

With that said, she needs to raise $1870 this Summer and SHE NEEDS YOUR HELP!!!


The first of many fundraisers will be a Solar Powered Hybrid Spotlight by HybridLight.

Here are some details about this great product.

Featuring an adjustable handle, the Hybrid Spotlight can be carried with the arm extended in any of three positions for maximum comfort, function and efficiency.

Weighs 1lb 9oz, is 9.5 inches tall and 5.75 inches wide at lens - runs 6 hours on a full charge; and can be charged over and over again. Our Spotlight is also waterproof, floats and is rubber protected. Here's a spotlight that will be welcomed at any boating activity, outdoor event or for use when emergency lighting is needed.

Can be stored for years, Always Ready. The backup batteries (3AAA) provides up to 10 hours of backup power. Also included are 120volt AC and 12volt adapters.

The cost of this light is only $40 - what a STEAL!!!  It Retails for $59.95 on the HybridLight Site. She would like to sell 22 of them.

Method of Purchase:
Please send Jason an email to:           jasonlwells@yahoo.com

He will then send you an email with a link to pay for it via eCheck or Credit Card.

As your orders come in, we will post a 'Thank You' note on the Blog here.

Allynn sincerely appreciates your Support in helping her raise the money needed to participate in this once in a lifetime experience that is American Fork High School Marching Band.

Our new house

I have finally figured out that blogger has an app. So... Maybe I will blog more?? A good place to start is our new house.

We have been here now for two months and are loving it. We began looking for houses last fall. We thought about what we needed and what our budget would be. We wanted to be able to still do fun things. We wanted enough bedrooms for everyone to have their own (Jason and I agreed to share) and have a room for an office. The other major thing we wanted was at least two bathrooms. I really wanted a rambler style home so we could be old and still live in our house. I would really like to not have to move again. We didn't want more that two or three steps up to the front door. And we wanted good gathering space in the family room and kitchen. The next goal was to stay in the same ward. Since we live in Utah, the ward boundaries do not cover more than a ten by two block area. There were actually 3 possibilities. Two houses had been sold to investors, so we wanted to know if they would fix up the houses and sell them again or make them rentals. The 3rd option would have been a perfectly beautiful house, but it was priced WAY out of our budget. That meant we needed to venture out of the ward boundary.

The next boundary was to stay in the same school boundaries. That gave us a few more options, but most did not fit into the basic house requirements. So then we stared looking within just the high school boundaries. We just did not find anything that felt right.

When we didn't find what we wanted, we started looking closer to Jason's work. We looked at building a house. I started to think it would just be easier to stay with my parents until the big kids were done with school, then find something.

Then we were talking to friends in the ward who mentioned their neighbors were looking to sell. They had listed their house on and off in the last few years. So, Jason called to see if they still wanted to sell. And yes they did. After looking at so many houses, this one seemed kind of small and it was one room short, but the layout was comfortable. It was also in the perfect location. After talking about it with our family, the older girls agreed to share a room and the process of paperwork to buy this house started.

Since the A&W family had not been actively looking or preparing to go to a new house, we all agreed to give the process three months. That was a very long three months. And buying a house is stressful anyway. But, on March 1st we signed all the paperwork and got our keys.

Now almost all the boxes have a place and there are even some pictures on the walls. We are very comfortable and are getting nicely settled.

New pictures

I was looking at the pictures along the side bar, thinking they needed to be updated, but I can't bring myself to change them. So I will just add updated pics here. These kids just keep growing.

Allynn 9th grade

Sydney 7th grade

Austin 5th grade

Kelsey 1st grade

Instead of blogging, I have been.....

Crocheting. And I find it hard to type and crochet at the same time.



Butterfly

Pumpkin Hat (on Ian)

Monster Hat


I am also trying to make a sweater vest, but I have done something wrong and will most likely have to pull it out and start over. Turns out I do that a WHOLE lot. But it is fun. I have also made several other sweaters that, turns out, I didn't take pictures of before I gave them away. Many baby hats. (Julie calls for all her baby showers.)  Lots and lots of flowers for hair clips. And a few pairs of booties. And Marley's Maryjane slippers.

I am always looking for new ideas and things to make. I have been compiling a list of why I "need" an iPad and crochet patterns all in one place is on that list. But for right now, I sit with a binder on my lap or printed patterns in sheet protectors. It's just fun.

A new school year

School has been in for almost a month now. This year has been the biggest adjustment for me because all of my kids are in school all day. 

Allynn is in 9th grade and started seminary. Yes we are in Utah and there is release time for seminary, but Allynn chose early morning. (not really that early - 7:15 to 8:00 am). She is also playing trombone in wind symphony and jazz band. She is going to be 15 at the end of October and is already making plans for driving. As social as she is, I am kind of looking forward to her driving also. 

Sydney is 12 and in 7th grade. The first few weeks of school were hard for her. Now she is a pro at getting through the halls to the correct class and with the right supplies for the class. She is. Evoking a pro at time management, too. Her favorite class is math. I don't get it, but she does. 

Austin is in the 5th grade this year. He is also playing tackle football this year and loves it. He is it the most aggressive guy out there, but for now his size makes up to it. He has been playi g center and likes to snap the ball. We have had fun watching his team win so far this season. I am not looking forward to the weather changing. We will take this nice mild weather as long as we can. 

Kelsey is in the first grade. She does not like homework and wants to go back to kindergarten, but only in the afternoon after she has been at school all day. She comes home very tired. She really lives it. I think she just wants her mommy. 

Jason is doing well. In July, he started a new job with Oracle. He misses the guys from Propay, but says he is learning new things and likes the new guys, too. His commute is a little longer with having to drive to Sandy, but now he gets to carpool with our brother-in-law Matt. 

I am not at home alone. I am watching my cousin's boys. They are 3 years and 4 months old. Cute boys. They are my extras. I also substitute teach. On those days my sister takes the boys. 

We are all doing well. Keeping busy. 

Spring Break - Day 5

Today we started our day by going to the Maritime Museum of San Diego. I had found this on a travel website in January and thought this looked fun. I really had no idea just how much fun it would be. I did learn that since we had a group of 8 or more (9 and an infant) that we could get a group discount and a free docent to give us a tour. Then for $5 more, we could get a 45 minute ride in a 1914 pilot boat. OH man, was it worth calling ahead!!!! Our docent was so great. He reminded us of another friend of ours that is very friendly, so that might have helped, but he also kept the kids' attention the whole time. Even Kelsey. He was really quick to learn their names and asked them questions to keep them involved. Sydney stayed up front with the guide. She has decided she wants to come back as a guide during her summer breaks in high school.

We started with the HMS Surprise which was used to film the movie Master and Commander. It was so fun walking around all the riggings.

The next ship we went on was the Steam Ferry Berkeley. This ferry sailed from Oakland to San Francisco 20 hours a day for the Southern Pacific Railroad in the early 1900s before the Bay Bridge existed.

 Then we went on a 45 minute ride on the SD Harbor Pilot Boat . That was so fun. We didn't leave the harbor, but they showed us the beautiful houses along Coronado Beach and the Hotel Del Coronado, where they filmed Somewhere in Time. (We only saw it from a distance, it would be fun to go walk around.)

After the pilot boat, we toured the Steam Yacht Medea. If I were a sailor, this would be a cozy boat to have. After the Medea, we toured the Star of Inda.

Then we toured two submarines, the USS Dolphin and the Russian B-39 Submarine. The submarines were really fun and not as small as I thought they would be. There were a few other boats we saw that were in dry dock on a barge that we could just look at.

and the Russian B-39 Submarine. The submarines were really fun and not as small as I thought they would be. There were a few other boats we saw that were in dry dock on a barge that we could just look at.

 

  

  

We started our tour at 10:30 am and finished at 2:30 pm. It was well worth our time and our money. So fun.

From there we went to another location where we could see the San Salvador being built. And there were some barrels with ropes where we could practice tying different knots. Sydney seemed to really like that. (She is ready for girls camp.)

We found natives while we were there and decided to join them.

 And do a couple of crazy tricks.

After that we drove up to Cabrillo National Park and saw the lighthouse. We didn't realized it closed at 5 pm and we got up there at 4. So we hurried around, took pictures, and got back into the car.

 

Tormorrow so far does not have any plans. I am looking forward to moving slower.