Thursday, December 22, 2011

2011 Christmas Letter


Merry Christmas!  It’s that time of year to gather together as friends, neighbors, and family and share in the spirit of giving, reflecting, and rejoicing!  Let’s begin with the spirit of giving. In 2011 we were fortunate enough to give gifts of time, talents, and blessings.  Kellis was able to give time to be the “big brother” example to all of his siblings.  Garrett was able to give his artistic talent to many people and it brought amazed smiles to all their faces!  Isaac was able to make his baby sister laugh.  Margaret shared her talent of drawing and designing in creating many dresses for her sisters.


 Virginia gave her time to mommy in helping her to chop, cut, and prepare meals.  Marianne gave her happy-go-lucky spirit to help us all laugh and remember that life is filled with joy, and Rhetten  gave his strength and “cooing” smiles to everyone.  Scott gave of his time, his energy, and his talents in providing for our large family of 9.  I was able to grow and give birth to our 7th edition to our family. In 2011 we were given the blessing of reflecting: In this reflection I saw Kellis make a very difficult but wise decision to exercise great faith and move to a different school, accomplish the challenges that faced him, do outstanding in his honors classes, and become Deacon Quorum President, go to the Temple quarterly to help his ancestors, and mature into a fine young man.

In 2011 we were given the blessing of reflecting: In this reflection I saw Kellis make a very difficult but wise decision to exercise great faith and move to a different school, accomplish the challenges that faced him, do outstanding in his honors classes, and become Deacon Quorum President, go to the Temple quarterly to help his ancestors, and mature into a fine young man.  Garrett was able to learn that 6th grade isn’t “that bad” and that his little sister loves to hug him, and that he and Grandma Sue have a very special relationship.  He lives in the present and helps us to remember that the now is what is important. 
    Isaac was able to make great gains with his reading and is now challenging many in his class by the example that he has set.  He was also blessed with energy to walk, bike, or roller-blade to school daily.  He is very knowledgeable when it comes to the Gospel and his teachers praise him for his answers.  I saw Margaret make huge strides in success in second grade.  She is able to complete the homework challenges and she is the best biggest sister to Marianne.  She helps her get out of bed in the morning, holds her, dresses her up, and teaches her how to dance.  She is becoming more and more sure of herself.


Virginia gained more confidence in her relationships and was able to share more of her talents—especially her humor—with her family.  She has the prettiest smile and captures the hearts of many of us with her helpful attitude.  Marianne made great gains in her sign language, her ability to wait patiently with a large family, and she was able to entertain, dazzle, and make us break out into full belly laughs with her clowning around.  Rhetten was able to remind us all how precious life is and to enjoy the present moment.   

Scott and April were able to grow closer as a couple and as a friend in sharing the ups and downs of raising a large family.  Scott played his guitar more and rekindled an electronic hobby that helps to relax and restore him.  April was able to write and publish three articles and found satisfaction in helping many how to better understand Autism and Deafness.


 And Finally in 2011 we all rejoiced in the many things we did together: camping in Yellowstone, lighting off fireworks, BBQ’s with families, hiking* Martin’s Cove, staying in the cabins, driving, talking, laughing, sharing stories, growing in the gospel, learning from our mistakes, and our challenges, and rejoicing in being a family.  When Rhetten joined our family, I rejoiced in knowing that he was brought safely into this world by a wonderful doctor.  We rejoice in the Gospel, in our friendships, and in helping others to feel good.
 

Finally, we—the Giauque’s—rejoice in the knowledge that Jesus Christ loves all of us.  We rejoice that His Birth, Life, Death, Atonement, and Resurrection are for all of us.  In and through him we find our true happiness.  Merry Christmas everyone!  We love you all and look forward to 2012!

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Sleepy Spaghetti

 Sometimes the day is too long, hard, fun, or a combo of it all and the result is....well the picture explains it all.
 She was signing Spaghetti and the just fell asleep...Kurplop!
 Nighty-Night!
 I think my favorite part is that you can see the word "Joy" and the hand still clutching the noodles.
One for the record books:  Sleepy Spaghetti....there's always a first to everything.

A Little of this, and that...

 Little man in his bear suit...
 Look at me!  I'm a bear cub!
Watch out!  My claws are swinging!

Christmas Adventures

Marianne at the deaf community center Christmas program.

 We went to the Sorenson Center for the Santa's workshop....Marianne loved the bounce-house the best.
 Look at me run!
 Grandma Ann holding Rhetten...time flies!
 The Size up....who is going to go first?  Garrett or Marianne?  What is she thinking?  I know what Garrett is thinking....
 A Little encouragement from Grandma...NOT going to happen!
 What do you think I'm going to do?  Smell it?
 Ward Christmas party!  Garrett: Hey Santa I want a-"  Santa: Now wait a minute, I want to know what you are going to give--"  Garrett: I don't have time for this!  I want a--.  Santa: You must share what you are going to give....  Garrett:  Fine fine!  I'll help Marianne...that better?  Now I want a..."


Marianne is copying mommy...
 Kellis is the Deacon's President and the middle wise man...Just love this kid!
Marianne as she watches the Nativity.
 Mom is signing the song, Joy to the World...and Marianne is ignoring me again.
Marianne getting into trouble...
 Mom just looked up and was caught signing...
Someone just came into the room!  Who can it be??
 Garrett and the baby girl...
Santa and some of the crew.
 Yummy candy!
Virginia:  she is so pretty, so happy, and my best helper!  Her nick-name is "Ginny chop-chop!"  She helps cut the Sunday potatoes.  I'm proud of her.
 Margaret Susanna...what a doll!  She is growing so tall and is our piano, singing, artist superstar!
Sooooooooo Pretty!

Marianne kept on helping hand Santa more and more candy.  She just loves to help!

Friday, December 2, 2011

Weird Science!

Here is the Science Project:
Will the increased amounts of vinegar and baking soda produce a louder sound then the decreased amount of vinegar and baking soda?
 
Hypothesis:  I predict that the “boom” sound that is produced by a Baking Soda Bomb Group A containing 2.5 dl Vinegar and 30ml of Baking Soda will be the loudest sound because it will create the most amount of carbon dioxide gas therefore building up enough pressure in the bottle.
 
Procedure:
  1.  Unscrew cap, and empty water bottle
  2. Place the funnel into the empty water bottle

  1. Measure the vinegar by using a glass measuring cup
  2. Pour measured vinegar into the empty bottle
 Pour measured vinegar into the empty bottle
 Use tablespoon to measure out baking soda

  1. Place measured baking soda on a napkin
  2. Wrap napkin into a tight wad
 Shove napkin wad into the bottle. Quickly screw on cap
 Shake bottle for 2 seconds. Throw bottle into the air by using an “under-dog” toss. Observe the crash/splitting/sliding bottle and measure the sound. Collect the data.

 The Launch..........
 The blur.........
 The flying bottle.................

 The impact zone.....SPLAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 It landed here.....and clear over here......

 
General Observations: I observed that when the bottle hit the ground at a vertical or at a 45 degree angle, the bottle had a more violent explosion.  The angle in which the bottle hit the ground was critical to creating the loudest sound.  I observed that when I threw the bottle straight up it would make a louder noise then when I threw it in an arch. I also observed that with the Control Group on the second trial the cap leaked causing a hissing sound, and no explosion.  I also noticed that two of the bottles within Group A leaked causing no explosion.  In Group B I observed that two extremes happened: the one of the bottles exploded, one slide and rocketed across the ground, while the third was silent.  And finally in Group C, one of the bottles completely shattered rocketing the cap 30 feet away, while another split and the cap was found 10 feet away from the explosion.

 
Calculations: I based my sound scale from 1-5 with 1 being no sound to 5 being the loudest sound.  I then took three trials for each group and added it then divided it by 3 and came up with the average.  I used the chart to gather the information.  I used the bar graph to show the results of each group. I saw that in the nearly every second trial of each group the sound increased.  I also observed that the average was typically lower then one of the trials.  Based on the graph you can observe that Group C had the loudest sound result. 
 Conclusion:  Based on the evidence collected the hypothesis was proven incorrect.  Group C produced the loudest sounds and force to split the bottles open. The bottles in Group C hit at a vertical or a 45 degree angle.   According to the hypothesis, predicting that the “boom” sound that was produced by a Baking Soda Bomb Group A containing 4.0 dl Vinegar and 30 ml Baking Soda would be the loudest sound because it would create the most amount of carbon dioxide gas therefore building up enough pressure in the bottle to explode, it should have been the loudest. Through more observation of Group A the space available in the bottle after filling it with the vinegar did not have sufficient space to allow the pressure to build up.

What I learned was that when you have 2.5 dl of vinegar and 12.5 ml of baking soda it tended to make the loudest explosion, again based on the angle of the bottle as it hit the ground.  The angle really affects the intensity of the explosion.  This was the surprising element of this experiment.  I did not expect this to be the case. I would like to research why the angle of the bottle has such a huge affect on the outcome of the experiment.


What mom learned?  read the homework packet 2 weeks in advance so that we don't have a 24 hour marathon to complete the work.  Noted, and checked!