Smart Children

Our children are doing really well in school!  In our elementary there is a gifted and talented program called ALPS.  Our school is a magnet school for the program, so children are bussed from around the district to our school.  Our children aren't in this gifted program, but this year, both Logan and Landon were selected to join the ALPS kids for a program called Math Olympiad.  Each Friday, for most of the school year, they attended this class and practiced math.  It was pretty hard and some of their friends even dropped out.  In Logan's class, only he and Curen Cole stayed with the program all year.  In Landon's class, he was one of four that stayed with he program.  The math was really challenging, and our boys had to make up work that their own class was doing while they went away every week to Math Olympiad.  We are very proud of them for their hard work and their willingness to stick with something that was so challenging.  The program ended and, on March 6th, the school recognized all the students that participated.

Alyssa is also really smart in her 1st grade class.  Every child was assessed for their reading skills and Alyssa was in the top five in the whole 1st grade, and that includes the entire ALPS class.

In 6th grade, students take a math placement test to determine what math class they will take in Junior High.  Logan worried about this test and how he scored.  He really hoped that he had done well.  We just learned that he placed at the highest level and will be enrolled in 8th grade honors math (as a 7th grader).  He is really excited to be placed so high, even though he will have to take a week long summer school course to get up to speed on the 7th grade math he will be missing.

Our family had tickets to a Jazz game on March 6th.  Jill and the kids and I met up at the Vivint Smart Home Arena and our family watched the Jazz beat New Orleans.  The Jazz are playing some good basketball right now. They are headed to the playoffs for the first time since 2012.  It's been fun to watch them this year.

Friday March 10th, the children were out of school for a teacher work day so Jill took them to Delton Lanes for Laser Tag and Bowling.  They had a blast.  It was surprisingly empty considering school was out.  They had a lot of fun playing together.

Monday March 13th, I checked something off of my bucket list!  I saw the river in Chicago dyed green for Saint Patrick's Day!  When I was a boy a great movie came out called "The Fugitive."  Harrison Ford escapes from prison and tries to find the person who murdered his wife.  In one scene, as he is being chased through Chicago, he loses the police in the Saint Patrick's Day parade.  Since seeing that movie, I thought it would be cool to see the river green. This year I scheduled some client visits around Saint Patrick's Day hoping to see the green river.  Bucket list checked!

Logan attended a Merit Badge Powwow at Brigham Young University with his friend Harris Neilson.  They attended on two different Saturdays in March and were able to complete three different merit badges:  Emergency Preparedness, Game Design, and Photography.  Harris' dad took the boys the first Saturday and then Jill took them the last.  She enjoyed being on campus again and showing Logan where she attended classes.

One of his assignments was to tell a story using photography.  He used his camera to tell a story about his passion right now, finger skateboards.  He calls them Tech Decks, but they are really just finger skateboards.  

Sadly for Saint Patrick's Day, Jill opted to take a break from our annual tradition of making Reuben sandwiches for the neighbors.  We've hosted a party for quite a few years, but she was ready for a change.  We still had a fun Saint Patrick's Day holiday, though, and ate grilled ham and cheese on green bread.  She also made some green jello mousse.

That evening, we continued our celebration by attending the school play at Deerfield Elementary.  Our beautiful nieces were acting in "Peter Pan."  Brooklyn is in 6th grade and played Wendy, one of the leads.  Brinlyn, is 4th grade, was a mermaid.  She was the cutest and sassiest mermaid of the bunch.  Brooklyn did a fantastic job as Wendy, too.  The show was terrific and we had a great time.  Our boys always come away from the school play wanting to become actors.

Yes that mustache is legit.  Brandon loves to show off his facial hair during Mustache March.  The handlebars were looking good!

Biltmore Estate

For our year end basketball party we hosted the boys for food and a nice highlight video.  We bought a large sub sandwich and reminisced about the season and some of our best memories.  Jill also went to Costco and got a nice cake with a basketball on it.  

Then I showed the boys a really neat highlight video of some of their games.  This year, I posted it on youtube so the boys could share it with their parents.  After watching the video, the boys played football in the backyard.  It was a fun party for the boys to get together and play. 

Friday was "Minutes with Mom" at the school.  That's the new phrase that took over "Moms and Muffins."  Apparently, muffins were costing too much so the PTA switched to donuts.  This year, there was a miscommunication with the grocery store and the order of glazed donuts wasn't ready.  The store sent an assortment of donuts, instead, and sent as many as they had.  PTA members were even racing to other stores to buy any and all donuts they could.  It was a problem for the women in charge, but worked out pretty great for our family.  Alyssa scored a fritter!  The boys had great donuts, too.  

Jill and the kids ate breakfast together and the kids were able to pick out a new book.  Now that they are older, they aren't as interested in reading their books with their mom.  They'd rather go out to the playground to play with their friends!  It was still a nice morning at the school for all of them, though.

Landon completed his 4th grade wax museum project.  We tried and tried to get him to study a historically significant Utahn, but he was determined to do his project on Karl Malone.  He loved reading a book on Karl Malone and would share random Karl Malone quotes with us.  He learned about his early years playing with his mom, playing football and basketball in Louisiana, and career highlights in the NBA.  Landon finished a written report and then memorized important facts that he could share as people came to visit his display.  His display was nice, thanks to Jill, and it included a Nerf basketball hoop.  Landon was so proud.  

The first week in March I spent the week in North Carolina for work.  I worked for the week with my team, who all work in Mooresville.  I go there about once a year but this year was nice because Jill flew out on Thursday to meet me.  I've always thought it would be pretty great to move to North Carolina and have an adventure with our little family on the East coast.  Getting Jill to come check out the area was a fun weekend getaway for her, and I got to show her how nice North Carolina is.  

Jill left the children with Mom and Dad and flew into Charlotte on Thursday afternoon.  I was still at work in Mooresville (about 30 minutes away) so she rented a car at the airport and drove to meet me.  This was a big deal for Jill, because it was the first time she'd ever rented a car.  She was a bit nervous about figuring that out and then driving in an unfamiliar city.  She found out, though, that it's not that hard!  After picking up the car, she was able to figure out her navigation app and made it to Mooresville with no problems.  

We went to dinner on Thursday evening and walked around a shopping area.  Our hotel night was kind of crazy, because in the middle of the night a man was banging on a door down the hall and yelling to his wife or girlfriend to open the door.  Finally I called the lobby to report it and they told me that the police were on their way.  I opened our door and yelled down the hallway for the man to keep it down.  He didn't, but eventually the police came and took him away.  I stay in a lot of hotels, but had never experienced that before. 

Friday morning I took Jill into the office and introduced her to the people I work with.  She was impressed with the office and liked meeting my coworkers.  Then we drove over to my boss' new house that she just bought right on Lake Norman.  It's a beautiful home and we loved how it's right on the water.  Now I just need to convince Jill to move here!

Later Friday morning we drove out to Asheville, North Carolina to tour "America's Castle," the Biltmore Estate.  When Jill was young, she used to see commercials for the Biltmore and decided that someday, she wanted to visit.  We've toured quite a few castles in Europe now and it sounded fun to tour the Biltmore Estate.  

The original Cornelius Vanderbilt dropped out of school at 11 years old and turned a $100 loan into a $100 million enterprise in the early 1800's.  He made his fortune with steamboat transportation in New York (around Staten Island) and then grew his business to include railroads.  He died at an early age and turned his business over to his son, William Henry, who built the business up to $200 million.  They were the wealthiest family in America, by a lot.  His children were able to build huge mansions,  travel the world, and live an aristocratic lifestyle similar to that of Europe's royalty.  George Vanderbilt, one of the sons, built his legacy in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina with the Biltmore Estate.  

A three mile railroad track was built to deliver men and supplies to the house as it was being built (it was finished in 1895).  The home has four acres of rooftop and covers 178,000 square feet of house!  The entire property is almost 7,000 acres (10 square miles) of land. 

The grounds were beautiful, but weren't quite as full as they would have been if we had come later in the spring.    In my mind I hear Jenn Buxton saying "Look at that tiny fountain."  Living in Europe, she and her family get to see amazing fountains. 

We upgraded our tickets so we could have an audio tour of the home.  It was fascinating to hear about many of the rooms and the family that lived here.  When we walked into the house, there was a beautiful atrium called the Winter Garden.  In the center was a statue of a boy holding a goose.  There were many other pieces of art throughout the home.  Also, there were tons of plants that thrive on the sun that comes through the glass rooftop.  It was a regal way to enter the home. 

The library was Vanderbilt's prized room. He read thousands and thousands of books.  He even kept track of every book that he read in a journal.  While we were there, there was also an exhibit of costumes throughout the house.  Each costume came from a movie that was based on a book and each was a book that Vanderbilt had read.  Jill was excited to see these costumes from one of her favorite movies, "Pride and Prejudice."

The house was full of antiques and valuables that had been purchased by Vanderbilt.  In the library, the ceiling was covered by a mural that originally was in a palace in Venice.

The banquet hall has an enormous table that could seat 38 people.  Next to the table are these three fireplaces.  At the other end of the room was an organ loft.  The room was really grand (it had a seven-story high ceiling)!

This room is a smaller dining room.  When you have this much house you have multiple places to eat.

Here is Vanderbilt's bedroom.  It's down the hall from his wife's bedroom.  They needed separate places to dress.  The bed seems so small; we were assured it's a king-sized bed, but it looks small because the room is so big.

This living hall was on the second floor.  It was a gathering area for the many guests that visited the house.

Here is one of the stairwells, along with a chandelier. 

They even have a bowling alley in the basement of the home.  We were told that it was one of the first to be built in a residential home.  One of the servants would stand at the end of the lane to restock the pins and send the ball back along the track.

The indoor pool was epic.  It is no longer full of water, because it has developed a leak.

The basement was the domain of the servants.  The cooks had a huge area in which to prepare the meals.  They would then send the food up on a dumbwaiter to the dining room.

A billiard room to retire to after dinner.

They had guns, of course, in the gun room.

We didn't see all of the rooms, of course, but we really enjoyed our tour through the house.  It's hard to imagine living in such finery today, let alone over 100 years ago.  Next, we walked around the grounds.  The greenhouse was really cool.  Even though it was winter, the plants were thriving inside.

We had a wonderful time at the Biltmore House.  It's a beautiful place with a fascinating history.  Since our trip, we have watched a couple of shows that were filmed in the home.  One show detailed how the PBS series "Downton Abbey" was set in the same time period as the heyday of the Biltmore House.  It compared Biltmore to the home in Downton Abbey.  Then we watched an old film called "Being There."  It was a strange movie about a gardener who gained influence with a wealthy family.  It wasn't Jill's favorite movie, but it was really fun to see the Biltmore and all of the scenes that we had seen in person.

After our visit we drove into town to check into our hotel.  We drove around Asheville for a bit and then had dinner.  The next morning we tried to find breakfast.  The first three restaurants we drove to had lines out the door.  The people of Asheville must love their breakfasts!  Finally we found something to eat and although it was in greasy diner, it was good enough to get us on our way.

We took our time driving back to Charlotte and opted to take the Blue Ridge Parkway.  It's an amazing drive though the Blue Ridge Mountains.  We stopped at a visitor center to learn a bit more about the parkway and found some places to get out and hike.

We opted for two short hikes to waterfalls.  This is a neat looking bridge at the trailhead of one of the hikes we did.

Another waterfall was just off the side of the road.

We left the parkway and drove on an interstate back towards Charlotte.  We decided to take a route that dipped into South Carolina so Jill could cross off that state.  She also wanted to see King's Mountain National Park, a Revolutionary War battlefield.  We stopped at the visitor center and watched a video about this battle.  The Americans surprisingly beat the British forces and were able to help turn the tide of the war.

We finished our drive to Charlotte and checked into our hotel downtown.  It was really fun to be in the heart of the city.  Jill saw a store she went to with Jenn when she was in Europe, called Vapianos.  We saw the stadium where the Panthers play and also some of the bank buildings that Charlotte is famous for.  The downtown was nice and our Courtyard hotel was in a great location to walk to things.  We walked to a nice restaurant and had a good dinner.  We had wanted to find a play or a concert or a game to watch but we couldn't really find anything happening that particular night in Charlotte.  We still had a lot of fun exploring the city.  

Sunday morning we slept in a  bit and then walked to a nice breakfast restaurant downtown in an area that had a ton of restaurants and a movie theater.  I'm sure the nightlife is pretty exciting.  Here is Jill drinking her hot chocolate. 

We had a nice flight home and then were able to unpack before Mom and Dad brought the children home.  They had been to Kandis' place for family dinner.  We had a great reunion with our children when they arrived.  It was fun to catch up on all that had happened while we were gone.  Our trip wouldn't have been possible without Mom and Dad watching our children.  Thank you so much!  Jill and I had a wonderful trip and it was so great to get away together.

Valentines

For Christmas, my big gift was a Pit Barrel Cooker.  It's an awesome barrel that slow cooks meat (it kind of smokes it).  It's been so cold during the winter, that I've had to wait to use it.  My slow cooking friends tell me it's been too cold to smoke.  Finally, we had a nice weekend in February so I was finally able to get out my Pit Barrel Cooker to cook up some meats.  One of the awesome extras I bought is a blue tooth-enabled temperature probe.  After preparing the meat, I set the probe and put it in the barrel.  Then I walked away and only had to look at my phone to see what the temperature of the meat was doing.  It's a really incredible tool and I can't imagine cooking meat without it.  

For the inaugural meat fest, Jill bought some Tri Tip steaks and I grilled up some chicken breasts too.  The company literature recommends allowing the meat to get down to room temperature before actually cooking it.  Jill doesn't like letting meat sit out on the counter, though, for fear of it making our family sick.  Technically the meat never got all the way down to room temperature, but it wasn't frozen like the Costco hamburger patties that I'm used to cooking.  I coated the meat with some olive oil and then added some rub.  Once the meat was prepared I hung it in the barrel and I walked away.  It was really cool to check my phone to see how the meat was slowly getting up to temperature. 

After almost two hours, the meat had been cooked.  Then we had to "tent" it in foil and wait until it had rested 15-20 minutes.  Everyone loved the Tri Tip and the chicken.  It was a lot of fun to prepare and cook such delicious food.  Here is how it turned out. 

February was Missionary Month for our youth.  They get called to "serve a mission" in an area of the world where someone from our ward has served.  They are assigned a companion, asked to follow mission rules, and have some activities geared towards missionary work.  The first activity this year was a cultural night.  It's a chance for the youth to hear about specific missions around the world and learn about the culture of the area.  They even get to try some fun foods from that mission.

Logan was called to serve in the St. Louis Mission, where Brother Scott Wilson served.  Logan really enjoyed learning about St. Louis and enjoyed the mission experiences he had during missionary month.  At the cultural night, Logan learned about serving in St. Louis, and then was able to rotate through three other missions.  Nate Smith, my really good friend and running partner, served a mission in Japan so he served sushi to his district.  Logan didn't want to taste sushi but Nate told him he had to.  His leaders took this picture of Logan eating sushi.  He didn't really like it, but he was a good sport to try it out.

At each of the weekly activities, the youth dressed in their Sunday best.  Jill pointed out how cute it was to see Logan at opening exercises on the front row with his other 12 year old friends, Alexander and Hyrum.  They looked sharp in their ties and were really excited to be there.  It was a nice mom moment for her.  The last activity of the month was a chance to teach an actual lesson from Preach My Gospel.  Logan and his companions, Grant Sligting and David Medina, went and taught a lesson to the Goble family.  It was a great learning experience for Logan and he was a great sport about it.

Finally I ordered the blog book of 2016!  It was such an action packed year that it took two books to fit it all in.  One book would have exceeded the maximum number of pages that the company allows, so I had to order two books.  It was an amazing year and I highlighted our family's vacations on the front cover.

For Valentine's Day the children all got a card from Grandma Bryant in the mail with some money in it!  They love money and couldn't wait to get to the store to buy something with it.  Logan bought a tech deck bike, Landon bought a mini basketball hoop, and Alyssa bought a mermaid Barbie.

For Valentine's Day at school, Alyssa had a class party and she made a Valentine's bag to collect her valentines.  Jill was able to go to the school and spear head some games at her party.  One of the games was to stack conversation hearts into towers.

Landon made a football-themed valentines box.  He liked how it turned out and decided to save it so he can reuse it next year.  His class also had a party where they played some games.

Valentine's Day was the big day for Logan.  He had been both anticipating and dreading the big sixth grade dance.  All year his grade had been learning dances in their PE class in preparation for the dance.  As the dance got closer, Logan's teacher announced that each of the children had to fill their dance card and participate in the dance or they would have to do a 10 page paper.  The week before the dance, some of the boys began asking girls to "go with them to the dance."   This caused a great deal of stress in the class and in our family!  Logan wasn't sure who he wanted to dance with or if they would dance with him.  Jill didn't like that the student's conversations were sounding like they were asking each other on a date.  In the end, though, it worked out fine and the dance was actually really fun for Logan.  The day before the dance, the entire grade mingled in the hallway and Logan was able to fill his dance card.  He asked a lot of girls to dance and some girls asked him to dance.  The next afternoon, when the dance was held, Jill was able to poke her head into the gym and take a couple of shots.  She walked in just as they were starting the Chicken Dance.

There were some fun casual dances, like the Bunny Hop and the Limbo.  There were also couple dances, like the Cha Cha.  Each student also had built in snack breaks, too, which they loved!  It was the cutest dance Jill had ever seen.  All of the kids were dressed up and having a great time together.

After it was over, Logan said he did really have fun at the dance.  We can see the writing on the wall with how things are going to be in the coming years when Logan begins dating.  While it will be stressful, hopefully it will be fun too.

Jill and I will be celebrating Valentine's Day with a little trip at the end of the month.  So for Valentine's, I picked her up some flowers and we had a heart-shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's. That's a tradition that may never end!