Alice in May

Alice has been working on learning her animal sounds. Her favorite animal sounds to make are “woof woof” for dogs and a sort of trumpet sound with some arm action for elephants. She has a few animal sound books that she loves but she also picks out a random assortment of books that eventually have an elephant or a dog on a page so she can stop the story and make that sound. One example of this Dr. Seuss’s Oh the Thinks You Can Think which has the line “How much water do 55 elephants drink.” I had no idea how many of our books had cameo appearances by elephants till Alice pointed them all out to me. She also likes to find the mouse in Goodnight Moon which brings back sweet memories of Norah.

Another skill Alice worked on and mastered in May was jumping.

Alice had her 18 month visit with her pediatrician and she is meeting all her milestones. She is 31 3/4 inches tall and weighs 26.3 pounds.

Norah in May

Norah finished off her first year of preschool at Dallas Spanish House with a class performance at the school’s spring carnival. Norah gave her full 100% to the performance and we were so proud of her.

She had a 4 year appointment with her pediatrician and she is perfectly healthy although a little small. She is 381/2 inches tall and weighs 33.4 pounds.

Norah’s Pixies and Pirates Birthday Party

Norah has waited impatiently for her 4th birthday ever since she finished her 3rd. Our little Norah is such a party animal. We were so excited to celebrate her 4th and really wanted her to feel special but poor Norah had her birthday fall on a weekend when we were moving, again, so it was tough to pull off. My parents bought tickets to come out for her birthday months ago and we decided it would be best to move while they were here to help so we planned her party in the morning and the move in the afternoon. It actually worked out really well because we were able to have our new house empty for the party – if we’d had the party the week before or the week after there would have been boxes everywhere. Even so, I hope we never have to move and throw a party on the same day ever again. We were so exhausted. Norah invited her friends from preschool, Harper and Willa, and her cousin Evelyn to her party. I think between the guests and their siblings we had about 15 kids in the house!We played lots of games including help Tinkerbell find her wand, Crocodile creek, duck duck goose, and a simple version of charades. When they played duck duck goose the girls were only calling other girls goose so Grandma Lorraine whispered in Norah’s ear to pick a boy and she did. I was so proud of Norah for being such a good host.We had pirate hats, swords and eye patches as well as fairy wands and wings for both the girls and the boys because sometimes Norah feels like being a pirate and sometimes she feels like being a pixie.We ordered Norah’s cake from a girl I met through the BYU Women in Business. the cake was so pretty and sparkling with “real pixie dust.” She made the 4 out of chocolate and I think Norah felt really special that she got to have that chocolate 4 all to herself. I’m so glad Grandpa Dean and Grandma Lorraine were here for the party. They were indispensible! My mom helped plan and run the games and my dad took care of the food.I told my dad I wanted a watermelon pirate ship and he said “ok” and got to it. We were all incredibly impressed with the result. I said “dad, you didn’t have to make it this elaborate” and he said “well, the thing about a watermelon is that it doesn’t look like a pirate ship. So you have to put some effort into it to make it convincing'” ha! I was convinced. The sail in the front even had a skull and cross bones etched in to it. Norah was actually a little critical of the ship – she said “Grandpa Dean, it needs a plank” so he added one.And after we cut up the cake he had Tinkerbell walk the plankThe last activity of the party was a treasure hunt – you can see our moving truck in this picture – we used it to take over the kitchen table before the party started.Bryan’s mom made these cute goody bags for the kids – they had Hersey's nuggets, a ring pop and bubbles in themAlice was falling apart by the end of the party. Between the move and all the excitement of the party she was just wasted.We are just in love with this little imp. Happy Birthday Norah!!

BYU Management Society Golf Tournament

May 8th was the DFW BYU Management Society Charity Golf Tournament and marked the end of our scholarship fundraising campaign.When we moved to Dallas I made several long term professional development goals and one was to volunteer as a fundraiser. I got involved with the BYU Alumni Association and the Management Society and in October I joined the Dallas executive committee as the development officer. It has been a wonderful challenge and extremely rewarding. I’ve enjoyed working with and learning from the committee members, meeting donors and corresponding with past Management Society scholars. I’m very grateful to Stephanie Probst, the chair of the Women in Business group who recommended me to committee. Stephanie is a mother of 5 who has just recently gone back to work part time. She has been a great mentor to me this year and a source of wisdom in all things business and family. Stephanie also went the extra mile in supporting the fundraiser. She recruited 8 women to play in the golf tournament – a record for the Women in Business. Here we are with our teammate Shannon.This was my first time golfing ever and I was surprised how much I enjoyed myself. I don’t plan to take up golfing but I can definitely see the appeal. I couldn’t believe how relaxed I felt on the course and 5 hours on the course with no distractions is a great way to get to know amazing women like Mindi and Shannon.Enjoying golfing was one of several surprising self discoveries I’ve had this year. I also had no idea how much I would learn about excel. I’ve been intimidated by excel for years but fundraising absolutely necessitated facing that fear. I owe a special thank you to Bryan who has patiently tutored me and helped me only just enough. Bryan took a half day off work to support me and play in the tournament. What a champ. I also owe a thank you to my mom and dad who came out to Dallas just to baby sit for the golf tournament. I could not have enjoyed myself if I had been worried about little Alice who won’t even go to nursery. She had a great time and didn’t cry at all for my parents and Bryan and I were gone for 7 hours!