I'm dreaming of a manageable Christmas

Last year, the George family tried drawing names for Christmas gifts in an effort to keep the holidays happy. Each family has been randomly assigned another family to get Christmas gifts for. Sharon prefers to handle her gifts differently, so she will not be part of the drawing. There are no real limits on gifts, just do what you can for the family or for the individuals in the family. I'm going to list the assignments here. Let me know if there are any problems/concerns. I liked how it worked out last year.

Bill's family will be sending gifts to Karen's family
Rick's family will be sending gifts to Bill's family

Karen's family will be sending gifts to Kathy's family
Kathy's family will be sending gifts to Rick's family

I'm ILLEGAL!

My employer requires annual background checks where we have to fill out a form and provide a copy of our driver's licences. In making a copy of my driver's license, I realized mine expired on my birthday in 2006. Thinking I had just forgotten to put the renewal sticker on my license, I checked with the DMV and found out I truly had expired. Scary! I even had a fender bender a month ago and the officer didn't notice. I could have been in HUGE trouble! Not satisfied with my illegal/expired status, I took the rest of the day off and camped out at the DMV. Since it had been more than six months, I had to take the stupid test. Luckily, it was an open book test and I passed it. I'm sure everyone is relieved that I'm now a legal driver. I'm just happy to have my driver's license before I turn 40 (in 2 days).

School Project

I'm taking an Advertising and Promotion class this semester. We have to do a group project where we act as Advertising/Marketing Consultants for a real business. I'm in a group of 6 people (I'm the only female) and we're developing a promotional plan for a business called Tomasso's Italian Ice.
It's located in the Shops at Riverwoods and offers Italian ice and two other desserts that are a combination of Italian ice and soft serve ice cream. They're delicious, but the limited offerings don't generate much business. We hope to refine his store's image and come up with some ideas for an integrated marketing campaign. It's kind of fun, but it's a huge endeavor. I also have two other classes with big group projects, plus a class without group stuff, and my internship.
For those of you who don't hear from me much, it's because of the senior year class load and my ever-growing full time work schedule. Have patience...

Dwayne's New Adventure

Dwayne has moved into his new home at Weber Basin Job Corps in Ogden. We dropped him off on Tuesday after taking a tour of the place. It's pretty nice and fairly small. He will be able to not only finish his high school diploma, but also get trained in culinary arts. He's pretty excited about donning his culinary uniform and becoming a great chef. You can take a look at the place here: http://www.weberbasinjobcorps.org/centerlife.html . His mailing address is:
Weber Basin Job Corps
Dwayne Tapahe
Bridger Dorm
7400 S. Cornia Dr.
Ogden, UT 84405

I also have a phone number and visiting information. Call me if you need those. We're still trying to figure out what his schedule is going to be. He's busy during the day but has free time at night. It's kind of hard to let your kids move away, but this is going to be a really great opportunity for Dwayne.

Beagle Mania

Our puppy, Scout, was very sad when our neighbors moved and she didn't have their dog to play with anymore. Emerson was still longing for a boy dog. We have now solved both problems by getting another beagle, Slash. He's two months younger than Scout and is much more outgoing than she is. Scout is scared of most people and we hope Slash will bring her out of her shell. They're adorable dogs with great personalities. I'm just happy that someone is glad to see me when I come home from work now!

Dexter's Summer Job

Dexter is working at Scofield Boy Scout Camp this summer. Since he's only 15 years old, finding a great job can be difficult and he really needed to earn the money for his choir expenses for the upcoming school year (around $1,000). The ultimate performer, Dex absolutely loves this job. He takes care of the 11-13 year old boys who come to camp, entertains them, and trains them on a few different merit badges. On Wednesday nights, they put on a special campfire program where the camp staff teach about patriotism. Part of that program includes having some the boys recreate the flag raising at Iwo Jima during WWII (pictured). Dexter is in the position of the Native American who was originally involved in that historic event. I'm sure you'll all recognize the famous pose, but you may not realize that this was actually the second flag raising. They decided to put up a bigger flag and remembered to take pictures (different sets of soldiers in the two events, the last died a few weeks ago). For all of Dexter's hard work, he gets paid $90 a week and his paychecks show that he works over 80 hours for $1.03 per hour. Despite the substandard wages, he loves his work and everyone there loves him. Feel free to send him mail at:

Dexter Tapahe, staff

Scofield Scout Camp

HC 35 Box 212

Helper, UT 84526

Who's Charlotte?

Dexter turned 15 on April 26. Because of all the graduation hoopla, his grandma and auntie were here from Arizona to help celebrate. Dexter was hoping his grandma got him a CD by the band Good Charlotte. Instead, he opened his present to find a DVD of Charlotte's Web. We all thought it was hilarious...but Dexter gave us that teenager look....

He did it!!!

Emerson is now has his bachelor's degree from Utah Valley State College. He should receive his teaching license some time this summer. The ceremony was wonderful and it was exciting to see Emerson and three of his friends as the first P.E. Teacher Education majors to graduate from UVSC. His mom and sister joined us in proudly watching our favorite graduate walk up to the stand.

In addition to the usual cap and gown, Emerson wore his medallion for graduating cum laude (with honors) and a beaded wolverine (UVSC's mascot). He also wore an eagle feather on his cap. We're all very proud and threw him a backyard barbecue party to celebrate. Our sister-in-law, Sharon Tapahe, received her master's degree from BYU on the same day, so we had a cake made in voth schools' colors that said "Congratulations graduates BYUVSC"

Meet our new baby

We have a new addition to our family. Her name is Scout and she's my gift to Emerson for his upcoming graduation. Scout is a beagle and she's now 12 weeks old. Like any puppy, she's chewing on anything in sight and is very playful.

Emerson and the boys spent this weekend building a dog house for Scout. The house part is done. Now they're building a deck/porch for it. Men!

Pour, oh pour the Pirate sherry...

Dexter did a great job in Pirates of Penzance. They decided to add some obvious physical humor to the show to help get laughs out of an audience too uneducated to get old British humor. Another twist was that they opened with someone impersonating Captain Jack Sparrow and then the Pirate King telling them that it was a different pirate show. Captain Jack was a running gag throughout the show. With the help of the high school's orchestra, the music sounded great. Several of the stars in the cast were impressive singers. Dexter has now retired his pirate duds. I think if we let him, he would wear them all the time. He's focusing on his grades now, so no new plays for awhile.