The Lawrences: January 2009

Home Made Yogurt!

Just thought I would share a little video of how my yogurt came out. As you'll hear from my voice I am pretty excited about it!

I got to attend the Snow School Field Trip to Bogus Basin Ski Resort last Friday. It was so fun seeing Thad interact with his class mates and how he responds in a group. Our guide Cassi, led us on a really fun snow shoeing adventure. We did many experiments with the snow. We even got to sing a snow song! Here are the highlights...

Here is Thad's teacher, Ms. Julie. She did such a wonderful job organizing all the kids and parents. She really made the entire field trip a fun and easy experience.

In the Nortic Lodge there are some great exhibits about wildlife and weather. Not to mention the price is so reasonable to rent the snow shoes.

Thad and his good friend Gunnar.

Thad getting all strapped in. The hardest part is just getting the snow shoes on.

This is Cassi our guide and instructor. She did a great job, and really kept it fun!

Look at Thad climb. He did a great job of keeping up!

Here are the tracks we found.

Testing the temperature of the snow from the surface down. A very clever way to show kids that snow has an insulative value and retains warmth!

Our group: From left to Right.

Ann, Ms. Julie, Nick, Hans, Thad, Tiffany, Cassi and Michaela.

Thad in the Igloo!

Water cycle activity.

Neat tree on the trail.

So tired after a steep climb!

Dash for the finish.

They made it!

News Years Day Japathon!

January 1, 2009 marked the annual Boise Temple Japathon. As in the past, on this day we collectively try to chant one name of Krsna for each resident in the state of Idaho. With the Idaho population at about 1.5 million we exceeded this goal by chanting 1.6 million names of the Lord!

The day started very early at 4:00 AM when we went to the temple to join the other devotees in starting the new year by remembering God. We sang, dance, and chanted until 7:30 AM and then went home for some rest. We returned at about 12:30 PM to join the Japathon all ready in full swing. We were so excited to participate as a family. We all really enjoyed the simple pleasure of chanting most of the day. The boys really got into it and there was friendly competition toward the end to see who could chant the most. Steven chanted the most out of the four of us coming in at 48 rounds (that is 108 beads x 48 rounds = 5,184 names of the Lord). I came in at 42 rounds, Thaddaeus came in at 16 rounds and Ashton chanted 8 rounds! Chanting is the back bone of our meditative spiritual practice. This event allows families and our community to come together and praise God as a collective whole. It has quickly become my favorite event of the entire year!

Here are some shots from the event. Ashton concentraiting!