Happy Birthday to David!

 David had a birthday recently! Here are some highlights from his elementary school years. He attended three elementary schools because his parents were moving a lot. He attended our local elementary school in Madison for about one month before Scott finished up his doctorate at the end of September and we then moved to Maryland. He attended the local elementary in Gaithersburg for three years:  kindergarten, first and second. Then we moved to Utah and he attended our nearby elementary school for third-sixth grades. I would name them but David wants to keep his future security question answers private.😏

David's first day of kindergarten in Wisconsin. He walked to school with two girls his age in our neighborhood and ward, Racheal Roselle and Nanika Debaene:

Then we moved to Maryland:

David took the bus to school and loved it:

David, age 5:

His first Halloween parade in Maryland with his kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Coakley, who was a big fan of David, a very cooperative child:

First snowfall in Maryland, 1995. My three cute little boys:

Visiting Dad at his work in his NIST lab:

Visiting the panda at the National Zoo. David's winking at me:

At the end of his kindergarten year, David's little brother Lincoln was born. David and Jan were excited for another brother:

Bringing home the class teddy bear for an overnight:

Turning 6:

6th Birthday party:

Our first January in Maryland, there was a huge snowstorm:

Kindergarten program:

First day of first grade:

Halloween, 1996. David and Jan wanted to be raccoons:

With my first cousin, Scot Wilcox, who lived by us:

David with Mrs. Lewerenz, his first grade teacher.

In front of the Washington, DC temple. I need to rotate this:

In the summer of 1997, we took a couple of big trips. The first trip was to the Northeast to visit some friends in Boston and then up to New Hampshire so Scott could attend a conference. We stopped in Philadelphia to see the Liberty Bell on the way and then visited Sharon, Vermont as well as Lake Winnipesaukee:

Oh yeah, and we saw the Statue of Liberty when we took the Staten Island ferry:

Then later in the summer, we flew to Utah and visited California for a family reunion, Washington to see Scott's family and Mt. St. Helen's, and then Yellowstone. Here is Mt. St. Helen's with cousins, Daniel, Aaron, and Brian Fordham:

With Aunt Liesl and Uncle Tyler:

With Aunt Heidi, Uncles Kent and Kurt and Grandpa:

Climbing Purple Mountain at Yellowstone:

David loved imagination games. Here he is being an ostrich when we played one of our favorite games for Family Home Evening, Animal Charades:

David lost his teeth fairly early. After losing a molar too early, a dentist advised us to visit the orthodontist. The orthodontist said David's new teeth were very big and his mouth was too small. And he had a cross-bite. So we started with an expander and ended up with braces eventually.

Visiting the National Zoo. Scott's father came to visit us in Maryland:

First day of second grade:

Visiting Mt. Vernon:

David's baptism day:

David's 2nd grade teacher was Mrs. Gitchell and she picked him to play the leading role in the 2nd grade play:  The Prince and the Penguin. It was fun to watch.

It was at the end of David's 2nd grade year that we finally took him to the eye doctor and he got glasses. This picture shows how David was always trying to see better but it took us a long time to figure it out.

The summer after 2nd grade, baby Everett was born and we prepared to move to Utah. We tried to do some sightseeing before we left:

Visiting new baby brother Everett in the hospital:

We also camped at Assateague Island that summer:

We moved to Utah and David started third grade at Cascade wearing a t-shirt from a different elementary school:

David turned 9--his birthday was on Easter and General Conference.

Visiting California:

Dinosaur Land in Ogden:

Visiting Zion:

For Halloween, we created Pokemon costumes. David and Jan wanted to be "Machoke". Scott did the foam spines and I did the rest.

David, age 9

David, age 10

I can't remember what structure the boys created but they wanted a picture!

The beginning of the Bionicle craze:

David was an enthusiastic Cub Scout and earned his Bear and Faith in God:

The summer of 2000, we went back to Maryland for a long visit and visited the Delaware beach where the boys found this horseshoe crab.

On the way home, we stopped by Mt. Rushmore, visiting my aunt Sally in Rapid City:

We visited David's old friends in Maryland, Joe Nagle and Max Vogel:

We also stopped at the infamous Wall Drug:

David's first day of 5th grade:

For Halloween, David was a spy:

In March, 2001, David graduated from Cub Scouts, earning his Webelos and Arrow of Light. He also broke his arm while jumping on the trampoline.

We didn't get many pictures of David playing soccer but he played every season for many years as a fierce competitor. He also spent lots of time with his brothers. It's really fun to see all these pictures of them having a good time together.

David turned 11

Scott took David and Jan up to Emerald Lake one Saturday:

I did Greek masks with the kids and they performed a play in their togas and shields and Tinkertoy swords:

Carving Halloween jack-o-lanterns is always a fun evening:

In 2002, the Olympics came to Salt Lake. We visited the Olympic Plaza during the school day so we could avoid the crowds.

Cascade Elementary offered free tickets to Olympic events to students who wrote essays. So David wrote one and got to go to a hockey game!

Getting his 1st Class Scout

The traditional Memorial Day gathering

The ill-fated hike to Stewart Falls (Jan fell shortly after this picture)

Fo

A foreshadowing of David's worm hobby

Holding baby brother Talmage

David, age 12:

These pictures remind me of all the good qualities David brought to our family. David has been a great son! Happy birthday, David!