Tobogganing Fun

This is my friend Haley and I when we went sledding up at The Bachelor Heights Hill in January. My Dad had the day off from work and thought it would be fun to go sledding as a family. Mitchell wanted to know if he could invite his best friend Brayden Flodstrom. My dad said yes so he said I could

invite my friend Haley.Haley had just moved from Summerland and didn't know too many people yet so my Dad said that it was alright for her to come with us.

When we were on our way up Haley brought snacks for everyone to share(her mom made this really good popcorn we asked her for the recipe). She brought popcorn and a water bottle and a juice box for me and her.

When we got up there, there was this one really big hill we were both scared to go on, but after a few runs we did. It ended up being a blast, after we went on it we wouldn't go on any other hill. I hope we can go up there again some time soon.

Vanessa's Busy Week

As you can see Vanessa has had a busy week, for Science she was asked to build en edible cell! So she spent all night making a pizza (and she made a double batch so we could have some for supper, yeah!) that incorporated all the things you can find in a cell.
Crazy kid..... apparently it was eaten in class the next day!! (except for the onion and hot dog!)


Here she is posing for her basketball picture..... she is on the Brocklehurst Junior Team this year and plays hard, the coach told her she has great heart! They played in Penticton for the Okanagans on Saturday (they came second in the city) and so ended up playing 3 games, where they lost 2 but won their last one!! It was a long but fun weekend!



Vanessa went down Friday with the team and we joined her on Saturday with the two little ones. Penticton is about 3 hours away so it was lots of driving..... thank goodness for our portable DVD player and for MacDonalds! We went there for lunch and the little robot man that Mitchell got in the happy meal kept him happy for the rest of the afternoon! Rebecca apparently is too old for happy meals (so sad), but her and Mitchell were so good about watching Vanessa's games..... we cheered lots and were so proud of her..........

Here we are, the Brocklehurst fans.......thank goodness it was her last tournament, but I didn't say that!!

Tubing and Talents

This last weekend we spent Saturday in Vernon at the Silver Star Skiiing resort where we had a Stake youth tubing activity! Here's Vanessa with a group of friends, they had a blast tubing all afternoon, then we went back to the church where we had a big chili dinner and a talent show. Our youth are such a wonderful audience!....and there were so many fun talents to watch from tap dancing, singing, monologues and bands......Vanessa played the piano while her friend Theresa sang the song "Hurt" by Christina Aguilera. They did a wonderful job! Don and I love to go even with all the driving...... the youth are so enthusiastic and fun. We also enjoy visiting with other Stake leaders, we have some wonderful, dedicated leaders in our Stake.

Jury Duty

Well here I am saying goodbye to Rebecca as I'm off for Jury Duty! I received a letter before Christmas saying to report for jury selection. When I went in the beginning of January there were about 300 people there for 2 juries.......needless to say I figured I was heading home. Well I was called up in the first 20 people and was then selected to be Juror #4. It took them at least 80 people to come up with 12 jurors. So many couldn't do it financially and then quite a few others were challenged by the lawyers. It was a first degree murder trial that was supposed to last 5 weeks but was only 4. It was amazing, interesting, grueling and so hard. It was like being in another world for that month. It was also like taking crash courses in drugs, guns, ammunition, blood splattering and in police work. I learned a lot about our legal system and how amazingly thorough the police try to be when building a case! We started on January 10 and then after listening to 20 witnesses, the Crown finished its case on February 7. We were then sequestered for 2 days before we finally came in with a verdict. The accused was convicted of 2nd degree murder........and you would not believe how hard it was to come to that conclusion! With 12 people, with all different backgrounds it was just talking and talking and talking. We had to keep taking little breaks because we would get so physically, mentally and emotionally tired. We started at around 4 on Wednesday, went to the hotel that night, then we were back at it again on Thursday at 9 in the morning until 10 that night, to the hotel again.....then back to the jury room Friday the 9th and finally, made a decision at about 1:30 that afternoon. They had to reconvene the whole courtroom where our foreman declared the verdict and we all had to stand to indicate it was unanimous.

It was so much harder than I thought it was going to be, we were all so tired and knowing you were putting a man in jail for years was tough emotionally. Have to admit, I came home and crashed the day we were finished! I was also pretty impressed with my fellow jurors, they really took the whole trial seriously and were fun to work with. You really get to know each other as you spend so much time together and I miss them now. The hardest part for me also is that they are really strict about jury confidentiality. Anything we talk about during our deliberations can't be repeated and its actually against the law to do so. Although my family was curious, I couldn't say much. At first they were pretty excited that I was picked to be a juror, but I think it took its toll! I was so rushed all the time, gone all day, rush home for supper and then most nights was gone again with all the kids activities. So as you can imagine I am sure glad to be home! Apparently I can't be called again for 2 years, thank goodness, but I wouldn't have missed this experience even though it was really hard. Learned so much............