Gladly We Learn and Teach

Congratulations Uncle Ben!  The North Dakota Duncans are now going to be known at the Illinois Duncans!  Uncle Ben has been offered and accepted a position in the math department at Illinois State University,  They plan to head down over the Easter weekend (weather permitting!) to start looking for a house to buy.  I loved the motto of their school (in the title!)  Illinois State University was the first university in Illinois and is in the township of Normal, Illinois.  It is 2 hours south of Chicago.  And, an important side note--it will be 2 hours north of St. Louis.  I am sure they will be missed in Fargo but Normal is going to love having their new neighbors!

The Secret Garden

This weekend Eden's book club gathered for the second time.  The book for the month was The Secret Garden.  Eden and her mom put together a wonderful program for this book.  They had boxed lunches in their back yard secret garden.  Thanks Aunt Angela for the flowers!  Instead of having the girls sit on various blankets they borrowed a canopy from a friend and then put two tables together and then the decorating began.  It was magical when everything was done.  One of the girls walked into the back yard and said, "this is amazing!"  I agreed.  Attached to each box lunch was a key (you have to read the book to know why😊 there was a key).  After discussing the book with Aunt Amy the girls then ate their lunches and enjoyed a tray full of fruits and dessert.  Eden had painted pots and then they planted marigolds in each pot for the girls to take home with them.  The craft was decorating bird houses.  I got to help by painting each bird house white.  It honestly was a magical activity!  Next month--The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe!

Spring Break Continues in AZ

This year the Gilbert School District changed their calendar to include two weeks of Spring break.  Duncan only has one week so he headed back to school on Monday.  The activity for this week was to do some cake decorating.  Aunt Amy told me that she never saw her kitchen so messy when they finished.  Fortunately each of the cakes weren't messy at all!'

Perry's Porcupine

Look closely for the porcupine Perry found while skiing.

Spring Break in Florida!

When you live in North Dakota, or go to school in New York, and have family in Florida--you head south!  It sounds like everyone had a great time together.  Thanks to Evangeline and Owen they got to get up close and personal with an alligator, visit a nature preserve, enjoy some buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright at a nearby campus.  They enjoyed a science museum and also had some great food while there.  Aunt Becky told me her person favorite was when they hung out at Evangeline and Owens apartment and played board games.  

Can you find the Armadillo?

Of course all good things must come to an end!  So now Miriam is back in New York and the North Dakota Duncan's have put their winter coats back on and headed back to work and school.  And Evangeline and Owen continue to wear flip flops!

Grandma's Spring Break

I headed to California on Wednesday for a few days.  While there I was able to go to two volleyball games that Caleb played in.  Ellis is going to have some competition!  Heard some beautiful piano music.  Helped Aunt Angela make flowers for her Relief Society Spring Fling and then attended the incredibly impressive program that evening.  Each ward was asked to share their talents with skits and dancing and to bring items to display of special talents they have.  I laughed so much at the skits and cried as I saw the love the sisters had for each other as they cheered and clapped. 200 sisters throughout the stake came!  I learned a few steps of the Salsa that they taught us as well.  On Friday night I got to see Ava perform in her Color Guard competition.  How grateful I was to be able to see Ava doing a great job for her team as they competed against four other high schools.  BEST PERFORMANCE EVER!  I know I'm prejudice but I'm not the only one who was impressed.  Their team was given a First Place Trophy from the judges.  On Saturday morning Caleb and Ava and I went to breakfast at IHOP and in the afternoon took a ride to see the wonderful architecture of downtown Fresno.  And to finish off a great day we enjoyed an Irish feast with corned beef and cabbage.  

These are the tissue flowers we made to decorate
for the Spring Fling that Aunt Angela put together

Spring Break in AZ

The Whitney's had their first Spring Break activity today.  Along with some of their friends they all painted rocks and had a picnic at the Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch.  They then took the rocks they had painted and placed them around the preserve for other children to find when they visit the park.  I thought that was such a great idea!

Assembly With a Twist

 On Tuesday morning I was able to go to the Golden Scholar awards assembly at Highland High.  Jane was one of the recipients to be recognized.  Fortunately for us, she was about the sixth person called up to shake hands with the various administrators.  Everything stopped pretty quickly after about 30 students had been called up.  At that point the fire alarm went off and we all had to exit the auditorium.  I did get a picture of the decorated stage and Jane coming off of the stage.  Good job Janie!  I wonder if they found the student that pulled the alarm.  

Would ya Rather...

Freeze in North Dakota...

March 2023--Jeremy

                                    or lay in the sun in Florida?

March 2023--Miriam

Surgery

Graham went into his medical procedure with a smile on his face but didn't come out quite as happy.  His big complaint was that he left behind his stuffed toy they gave him at the surgery center.  The doctor said everything went well and Aunt Amy said he was feeling much better this evening.  After a day of liquids only, he was pretty happy when he got to go get some Panda Express afterwards.  

Caleb

Caleb had a great week.  At school he was honored at the awards assembly for making the Principal's Honor Roll.  And on Saturday he had his first Deacon's Quorum hike to Pincushion Peak.

The Gilbert Temple

Amy took these pictures of the Gilbert Temple for me.  I asked her to get in different areas than just the front and here is what she did.  I love them!