We have all returned safely from some fun weekend trips. Gail was up in Idaho to see a play at Boise State University on Saturday. She had the opportunity to do some shopping, visit family and have lunch with some friends. She left Friday morning and returned Sunday. The boys were off to Las Vegas. Andy had a meeting to attend Saturday morning, so he and the boys left on Friday. He met up in Las Vegas with his uncle who lives in California and had a great visit. The boys spent a good amount of time in the pool, but they also went to see a movie, had dinner at Five Guys Burger and Fries and introduced Matthew to sushi. It was great to spend time with Uncle Charlie. They returned on Sunday evening. We hope all is well with you.

This week was pretty typical for the Mierins family. The boys went to school and Gail and Andy went to work. Gail continues to add voice students and she is getting better known in the community for her artistic skill, meaning she has found a way to get away from her cleaning business and make some extra cash. She is very happy to be teaching voice.

Andy settled back in after his trial and is gearing up for the next one in 4 weeks. The next one should not be as stressful. He is enjoying teaching and was approached about applying for the director of the criminal justice program at the local college. He is not sure this is the direction career wise he wants to go, but is glad to know he is appreciated for the work he is doing at the school.

Nikolas had try-outs for little league Saturday. He was selected to be a member of a team coached by one of Andy's friends and heard it is the Yankees. If true, Nikolas is not happy, but we are not sure that is the team's name. Practices start on March 28. Matthew decided he is not going to play an organized sport until Elko has a dodge ball league. He continues to be about the same.

We have began the clean-up of our yard and are getting ready to plant some flowers and a garden. We spent time Saturday picking up the sticks and twigs in the yard. The weather has been in the 50's and in a few weeks it will be time to start mowing the grass. Several of the perennial flowers around the house are coming up and starting to bloom.

We hope all is well.

Another quick week has come and gone. The boys are gearing up for little league which starts next week. Matthew and Nikolas are both going to play and are excited. The boys continue to move along at school and are looking forward to their break coming up the beginning of April. Nikolas sang in a talent show this week at his school and was awarded a certificate for a free hamburger at Burger King. He was proud of his accomplishment.

We have Andy back after a very tiring week of trial. He was glad his client was not convicted of attempted murder, but was convicted of a lesser crime. The jury finally came back with a verdict Friday afternoon. Monday he gets back to the grind.

Gail added a new voice student this week and is gaining quite a reputation as a teacher in the community. One of her students was featured in the local paper for a performance she gave as part of a invitation only choir at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Gail was beaming.

We hope all is well wherever you may be.

Matthew survived his first Klondike Derby this week. Gail and Andy were quite nervous about how he would do with camping in the snow. All reports were good and other than the tent collapsing there were no negative reports. Thankfully, it was also quite warm Friday evening. He and Nikolas continue to persevere at school. The school year has gone quickly. We are still amazed at the fact Nikolas is barely passing PE, until we discovered the reason is his inability to follow instructions and wait for instructions before beginning. Crystal clear now.

Gail has taken some time to recover from her sickness. This cold really has taken a toll out of her but she is almost back to full health. Andy also picked up the cold, but not as bad. He has been incredibly busy and starts a major jury trial on Tuesday. We have not seen much of him this last week. He did travel to Wendover on Wednesday to teach a class for the West Wendover Police on juvenile law that he says went well.

We all enjoyed a wonderful Stake Conference last Sunday. It was broadcast from Salt Lake City and heard from President Uchtdorf, Elder Andersen of the Quorum of the 12, Elder Duncan of the Seventy and Sister Stevens of the Primary Presidency. How blessed we are as a people for the advances in technology.

We were excited to have the boy's mid semester progress reports come home this last week. Matthew has shown great improvement over the past nine weeks and we are so very proud of him. He approached Andy one morning and asked what he can do about his difficulty staying focused. They had a great conversation and Matthew is trying some of the ideas. Nikolas continues to do well in school with A's and B's except for PE. When asked why he is barely passing PE he said "I talk to much." Amazing.

This week the boys both signed up to play little league in the spring. This will be Nikolas' third year playing, while it will be Matthew's first. We hope for great success for both.

Andy had a new experience this last week. He was a judge for the Miss Elko County Pageant, which was held Monday. He said it was a great experience and he came away with a different view of the pageant. He found it to be a great organization and something which is positive in a young woman's life. He continues to be busy as always and is a week away from starting one of his biggest trials. He has spent a good amount of time preparing. In addition he continues to teach his class on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.

Gail also had a busy week. The group she is performing with was asked to sing at Great Basin College this last week for one of the theater classes. All reports are that she did fantastic. She also began auditions for the "Miracle Worker." Needless to say her musical and theater talents continue to keep her quite busy. She still finds time to teach her voice students.

Well that about sums up our week.

We are so very proud of both of our boys. The Blue and Gold Dinner was last week and Nikolas received his Bear award, as well as several belt loops. He now has them prominently displayed at home. He worked hard to earn the award. Matthew also had an exciting week. The Middle School Science Fair occurred and Matthew did a project on crystals. Gail and Andy were very proud of him for doing the whole thing on his own. He definitely had some encouragement, but when it came time to create the display, he completed it on his own.

Our unusually warm weather also continues, Tuesday it made it into the 60's which we all enjoyed. The boys especially enjoyed being able to get outside and run around. It wasn't to last, as Saturday we had some snow squalls, but they were not as bad as predicted.

Gail continues to be quite busy with her theater and voice students. She missed having Andy around as he was off to Reno for a training and to attend some meetings Tuesday to Thursday. He also had a chance to attend a concert and reported it was a great time. You will have to ask him of the details, but he said it took him back to his college days.

We hope all is well.

Another week come and gone and most things stayed the same. The boys continue to be busy in various activities. Matthew completed day 2 of the merit badge powwow Saturday getting him closer to earning 3 merit badges for Boy Scouts. We are proud of him for his accomplishments. Nikolas took advantage of the warmer weather to get out on his rip stick. He has been riding and mastering the tricks one can do on the rip stick. He is excited for baseball season to begin so he can play. Andy is just excited for baseball season to begin so he can watch Nikolas play.

Gail continues to stay busy teaching voice lessons and working on her theater activities. The company is going to be doing a fund raiser of singing valentines and Gail is primed and ready to go. She has found great joy in being able to use the beautiful skill she is blessed with. She is also quite glad to be able to pare back he housecleaning accounts to devote more time to the music.

Andy continues his busy schedule. He was in Carson City Tuesday for some parole violation hearings at the state prison. Otherwise, it was in the office most of the week. He is getting ready for a jury trial in a few weeks and that takes up quite a bit of time. He is enjoying teaching his class, especially this semester. He has a smaller class and most of the students are engaged in the material. He will be off to Reno this week for some meetings and a training.

That about sums up the Mierins family's week. We hope all is well with you.