Pinewood Derby

Conner got to enter another pinewood derby with the scouts. I was a bit nervous about his car, since Eric is in California most of the time and we only got about 3 weeks notice. Luckily, they did the cutting out at his weekly den meeting. I drew a couple of designs and Conner picked the one he liked best. We borrowed a chisel from Grandpa Neil and did our best.

The Sunday before the race, I got a message from the neighboring ward's Bishop. He asked if I might return his call. I'll admit, I was a little nervous. I left a message for him the next day, but he wasn't able to call me until 10:35 Monday night. He had seen the poster up in the foyer about the derby and wondered if he could help Conner with his car since Eric was out of town. Our sons are friends, which is how he knew that. I told him I'd be grateful for any help! He said he could help him the next day after school. Oh wait, for about 15 minutes before a few interviews, maybe another 15-30 minutes after, and dinner and a little more help before having to be to the church for the evening! And he was headed out of town on Wednesday. They got some done, but there was just a bit more work to be done, so he'd bring the car by in the morning before he headed out. What an amazing man! Not only to offer the help, but use up the little time he has for himself to do it.

He showed me how to get the wheels on and what I could do if it needed more or less weight after painting it. He wasn't messing around!

We did our best, got it painted, the wheels on just right, and it weighed just exactly at 5.0 oz. He raced the car 8 times--on a pretty amazing track, and won! By at least .6 of a second everytime. It was very fun! Bishop M. is pretty proud of his track record (he and Mason have won both of their races too). I was grateful for the help!

The boys and I were talking after the race. Next years race will be hard with them "competing" against each other. We decided that Tyler could win the next one. Like we could make that happen!! :)