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Another full, busy week. We enjoyed having the holiday off on Monday. We were able to complete several mini projects we've been trying to get done for literally months. Darren was able to get the wireless connected and Netflix installed (oh joyous day). We were able to get some editing software reinstalled on my new computer. I figured out how to print directly on the Project Life cards from my kit. Darren and I got the Christmas lights down. We worked hard all day.

I really did not enjoy the task of taking down the lights. I usually don't mind it but I sure did this time. It was so cold outside and I felt like I was made of lead. The chore seemed to go on forever and I had no energy. Now I realize I was coming down with the flu. It hit me full force Monday night and I ended up missing work both Tuesday and Wednesday as I was in bed with all over aches and pains and zero energy.  I felt like a slug.

But life goes on. I drug myself to take the kids to the orthodontist ( the receptionist told me she has been so worried about our family as it has been her experience that when a family misses six months of appointments in a row then something drastic is usually wrong....  I told her we just wanted the kids to have braces until they were 43), drug myself to the school to watch E2 present the flag at the wrestling match, and drug myself home again.

Thursday was better. N had pack meeting. It was a lot of fun. He was awarded another arrow point from his days as a Wolf and also received three belt loops and three pins in the areas of Soccer, Geology, and Kickball. He is quite the little scouter.

Friday I had already arranged to take the day off to work on Emily's Sterling Scholar portfolio. I felt bad working so little this week, but I knew if I didn't work on it now, it would not get done. We have everything scanned and have decided on a layout.

Friday night E1 had her pre-Region dinner. The assistant coach, Angie Taylor, made an amazing cake that looked like an Olympic size swimming pool. It was pretty awesome. Grandpa T paid for our dinner as I had planned to only attend the parent meeting as I refused to pay $8 per plate for spaghetti.  As usual Grandpa was right on and knew we needed to be there.  It ended up being a nice time and I was very glad we got to share that time together with E1 as a family.
My cousin Deb brought her traveling volleyball team to stay the night Friday on their way to a competition today in Fillmore. They got here late and left early, but left a beautiful quilt in RHS colors behind as a gift to us for letting them stay over the years. I thought that was very nice.

Saturday was the Region swim meet. We swam against Carbon, Emery, Spanish Fork, and Delta. Coach Crimin called me in a panic about an hour before the meet started as the computer would not interface with the timing console. Finally 90 minutes later we tried a different laptop and got it to work. It was stressful as everyone was waiting for the meet to start and several events had to be updated and hand entered and I run the computer for the meets. We got it all done, but as usual it was a team effort with Grandma fanning the printer so it doesn't overheat (a lesson learned the hard way in previous meets), Darren running the meet sheets around, me printing and stapling, and Grandpa T providing the Diet Coke with lime.

Once we got started, things went fine. It was a long, noisy, exciting meet. Emily swam so well, winning both of her individual events and both of her team relays. Every race she swam broke a school record. Is that not crazy? I was so proud. I was even more proud that she was one of only three girls in the entire region to earn Academic All-Region status. My favorite part of the meet was when Principal Brown had Grandpa T award E1 her final medal. It was a sweet moment for all of us. The girls team won the Region title.

For one of N's scout electives, he needed to plan a party. For another elective he needed to host a family video game tournament. For another he needed to create an invitation. So we killed three birds with one stone and tonight we had a "Wii Battle of the Sheffer's " party. He made invitations earlier in the week and passed them out. We purchased a new game and an extra controller plus Darren borrowed two more from Crowthers. We had pizza and snacks. We played Mario. We played tennis. We played Michael Jackson The Experience. We played Mario Kart. I have NEVER played a Wii at any time. So I was so clueless. But it was really fun. And I have to say that even though I had never played Wii AND had never played the Michael Jackson game, I still destroyed everyone else on the first two games. Oh ya... the old lady still has some moves :)