Fabulous!

Most ten-year-old girls got excited about the new High School Musical 3 movie coming out in theaters, but Madison had the good fortune to win free tickets through her orthodontist and attend opening night! The girls' got dressed up in their best High School Musical outfits as "Gabriella" and "Sharpay," and we were off. It was such a fun girl's night out. The good fortune continued when, at the theater, Mackenzie won the HSM 3 soundtrack. The movie was great (I heard many a sigh over Troy!) with all the music, dance, and glam (do people really dress like that in high schools outside Utah?) that two young girls could want. We listened to the new CD on the way to Subway for a late dinner and ended the evening excitedly explaining the movie and playing "The Boys are Back" for Clayton and Morgan.

I've enjoyed this new "tween" stage with Mackenzie and Madison so much. It is fun to see their interests blossoming to include clothes, hair, music, and occasionally the cuteness, rather than grossness, of boys. They are becoming such beautiful and nice young women and I love having them in our home. It's a joy hearing them sing along to their MP3s or asking each other fashion advice. We're really glad SOMETHING good came from Madison's stubborn front tooth; thanks Dr. Swenson for a FABULOUS night out!

We Builded a Fort!

"Dad, Mom! Come see what brudder and I did."
"What did you do, Morgan?"
"We builded a fort!"

It is such a wonderful thing when the kids decide to play together contructively and get along instead of battling over who gets to sit where, play with that, or watch what.

They're All Winners

Clayton's flag football team--the Cougars--really played well this year; they actually won almost all of their games. Most importantly, though, they all had fun, especially Clayton. Next up is basketball.

Besaw Cousin Halloween Party

We kicked off Halloween early this year with a cousins party at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We wanted to have it before UEA weekend and before Grandma and Grandpa flew to Florida for a family reunion. We changed last year from having the big family bash at our house on the 31st to doing a pre-Halloween party because the kids are getting old enough that they want to spend more time trick-or-treating in their own neighborhoods.

For Halloween this year I was out-voted (which I'm still sad about), so for the first time in six years we do not have a family costume theme. Instead, Mackenzie is going as Sharpay Evans from High School Musical, Madison as Hannah Montana, Clayton as Sir Clayton the Brave (a medieval knight), and Morgan as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. I think they look cute although they don't match!


This year we had a yummy soup bar with ice cream sundaes for dessert. The kids looked great in their costumes and we had some fun Halloween games. It still amazes me how thrilled kids get over prizes and treat bags! Of course, the highlight of the party is watching all the kids (Kent included) dance to theme music like "Thriller" with Grandma's strobe light going! Do they even make those anymore? It really adds life to the party!

Skylight Went the Way of All the Earth

Skylight, passed on to a better life a few weeks ago. Craig and I are not pet people. I figure I can barely keep up with my children's messes, much less animals', and I'm allergic to just about everything with fur. So when our kids exhibited signs of pet deprivation we caved and bought two Beta fish.

Clayton named the iridescent one Skylight, and Mackenzie named the red one Rose. We actually came to really love and enjoy our pets and were sad to see Skylight go. It was a great two and a half years!

I Didn't Settle for the Evil of Two Lessers

Just another Craig's Corner post.This one is about my voting experience yesterday. As you can tell from the post title, I did not vote for McCain or Obama. I guess I should apologize now for the offensive nature of the title: two is really much too small a number!

Our UEA Weekend at Zermatt

Thanks to Wendy (Thanks, Wendy!), we had a fabulous stay at Zermatt in Midway over UEA weekend. We didn't really do much besides relax, which was what made the vacation truly fabulous. The first day the kids went swimming twice and wanted to go a third time! Unfortunately Craig had to grade papers all day, but sitting by the pool made it amazingly bearable. If the kids weren't swimming, they were either watching the Disney channel or playing games. We played quite a few games such as Zobmondo, Apples to Apples, GameCube games, and the Star Wars game on the back of the kids' Lunchables boxes. Anytime we went anywhere, the kids raced each other down the long corridors at the resort; occasionally they decided to create human obstacles by laying on the floor and jumping over each other. Whatever it took for fun was what mattered most!


Our second day there, we went swimming two more times. Kevin and Patrice showed up part-way through the second day, and the kids paired up to really get the party going. Thanks to Maren and Kirsten, we got to go to dinner at a nice restaurant with Kevin and Patrice.

On our final day we stopped at the Provo River Falls and explored before continuing on to Mirror Lake for a picnic. After our picnic, we walked around the lake; the kids were all real troopers.

Back at Zermatt, we went swimming one final time. If we'd only figured out years ago that our kids were totally content doing nothing but swimming, watching the Disney channel, and playing games, we'd have saved a lot of money on vacations! It was a nice getaway.

Bribery Works . . . for Now!

A friend once told us that they made a deal with their kids that every time they had to throw up and managed to do it in the toilet instead of on the floor, they'd get a dollar. What a brilliant idea! So, when our kids are sick, we remind them that they get a dollar for every time they make it in the toilet. This method of bribery has had serious benefits over the years.


It was actually snowing (lightly) at Clayton's last flag football game, which made it all the more impressive that his cousin, Tyler, and uncle, Kent, showed up to cheer him on. To help Clayton keep his head in the game (instead of on how cold it was . . . and other things), at the beginning of the season, we decided to "pay" him a milkshake for every time he scores and/or gets five tackles (flags) in a game. It seems to really help, but it is starting to get expensive!

Our Rights are Being Taken

I've resisted making Laurence Living a political forum, which is why I started Craig's Corner (at the bottom right corner of this blog). With all of the ridiculous things Congress and our president are doing, I feel compelled to make a statement. If you are interested in seeing what I have to say, click here.

Soccer Rainout . . . but not Football!

Clayton's last soccer game of the season was rained out. Or at least the other team didn't show up, so it seems it was rained out. Those sissies were too chicken to show up! But not the Red Dragons!


Football didn't get rained out (though it was pouring), and thank goodness because Clayton had a great game. On his first run he went the length of the field before an opponent got his flag just before he could score. His second run was just a blur as he crossed the goal line. Why is it that the picture you always really want to turn out never does? Grrr. On defense Clayton did well, too, getting four "tackles."

20-Year Germany Frankfurt Mission Reunion

On May 4, 1988 I entered the MTC. Amazing to think that it's been 20 years! More than any other job or calling, I loved learning and teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm anxious for the day when I can have that full-time job again. (Sorry future grandkids: So long as I'm healthy, you may not get to see much of me!)

I served under the presidency of David and Anne Wirthlin and was thrilled to see them at the reunion last Thursday. The first half of my mission I served under Christian and Karma Vikari; they were unable to attend the reunion. During my mission, I served in 11 cities with 20 different companions. The cities included Darmstadt, Friedberg, Koeln, Pirmasens, Frankfurt, Idar-Oberstein, Karlsruhe, Krefeld, Sohren, Kaiserslautern, and Dortmund. My companions were Smith (Mark), Reynolds, Gansauge, Tatton, Wimmer, Mostert, Colton, Ford, Wares, Schmidt (Dean), Doud, Cooper, Furlong, Gibson, Cook, Seamons, Sparkawk, Sanft, Johns, and Knight. I couldn't believe that out of 20 companions, only one showed up at the reunion! It was sure good to see Brian Seamons, though.

The pictures I took on my mission are slides. The reunion may have been nostalgic enough to inspire me to dig out those slides and scan them so that I can make an electronic slideshow. I'd like my children to be able to readily identify with my mission experience, so I think I'll do that this weekend.