Thankful ABC's

I love this time of year! It makes me think about those things in my life that I'm particularly thankful for. Here are a few of them...

• Autumn
• Bed to sleep in
• Children
• Dogs and other animals
• Emily
• Family and Friends
• Gospel truths
• Holidays
• Increase of knowledge
• Jonathan
• Kindness
• Laughter
• Moms, particulary mine
• Naps
• Our Savior
• Primary Music
• Quilts to snuggle under
• Reading
• Sisters
• Temples
• United States of America and the freedoms we enjoy here
• Vehicles
• Wade
• X-rays and other medical wonders
• You!
• Zions Bank where Wade works hard to support our family

And here's some fun ones I couldn't live without either....

• Air conditioning
• Blogging
• Chocolate chip cookie dough at midnight
• Digital camera
• Exercise...it just makes me happy
• Free stuff
• Girls Night Out
• Holy cow! Gas prices have gone down!
• Ice-cream
• Jon's silly facial expressions
• Knock-knock jokes Emily tells
• Lasagna
• Mini snickers
• Nintendo to play when I was a kid
• Ownership of a cell phone
• Pork Salad at Cafe Rio
• Quiet time at our house
• Running with a friend
• Skinny jeans I can finally fit into
• TV shows and movies that make me laugh
• Underwear
• Vacations
• When Em pees in the toilet and not on the carpet
• X-tra hugs and kisses when I need it
• You giving me a present on Dec. 18th ;)
• Zipper on my winter coat because it gets cold here!

Intense Game

Wade really wanted to attend the BYU vs Utah game because this is his last semester at the U, therefore it's the last time he can get a free student ticket to the game. :) So he got us tickets, and we were excited to go!

Here's our family dressed in red to support the Utes. Thanks again Traci for watching the kids while we were at the game!Introducing the University of Utah football team

Here we are enjoying the actual game, but frustrated by the surroundings. We knew the Utah fans hate BYU, but it really was awful coming from both sides...just an ugly hatred from the fans that is sad and immature. We both have family and friends who have attended BYU, and I was going to attend school there. It's an amazing university, and we cheer for them when they're playing other teams, but of course we cheered for Utah at this game because Wade goes to school there. We tried to ignore the swearing and the fights and just focus on the game, which was intense and definitely entertaining.

At half time, I LOVED how they had the pep bands from both schools perform a patriotic song together, while this huge American Flag was waving. Despite the dumb feud between the schools, we both celebrate our country's freedom, and I think that's just a little more important than a football game.

Adults Only!

Last night, Wade and I had a blast hanging out with his family! His Aunt Sherilyn planned a party for all the cousins, where only adults were invited. I love my kids, but it's really nice to just relax and talk and laugh the night away with other adults. Do you know what I mean? I have really bonded with some of Wade's cousins, especially Britni, who couldn't be there (we missed you, Brit!) They have all been so sweet to me.

Back in February of this year, Wade and I spent a weekend in Paul, Idaho, with some of his cousins. Tyrell and Dallas have created this ramp coming out of a tall tree, and the boys all went snowboarding down that ramp again and again, while the girls hung out together in the house, with the kids asleep. I even tried sledding down the ramp once, but since it's so steep, it was freaking scary! We had so much fun though that I think we'll make it a tradition! What do you think, Rose and Cecilia? :)

I feel so lucky to have family! I'm especially grateful when they bring treats to a party like this one. Thanks Gwen and Cory. I think I had at least 4 of these babies. Mmmm good!

While we were at the party last night, Sherilyn's 13-year-old daughter, Danielle, watched Emily and Jon for 5 hours at Wade's mom's house. When we returned back to the house with Mom and Keith, the kids were sleeping so soundly, that we didn't want to wake them, so we just slept over. Then Mom made us an amazing breakfast the next morning. We don't ever get to do that with them, so it was a lot of fun. What a good time...I'm still smiling!

Teaching Preschool

I just wanted to journal a little bit about my teaching experience when it was my turn to teach preschool on October 20, and then this last Monday, as well. I absolutely love teaching and the way I can connect with children, so of course I have been looking forward to this. Last month, when I taught, our lesson was, "The World Around Us: Sun, The Night Sky, and Nature."
After reading books about the world around us, I put on a nature sounds CD, and we all used our bodies to practice being tall mountains and trees, a flower swaying in the wind, a boat floating down a wild river, the sun, moon, and stars. Then we went on a nature walk in the backyard and picked up all kinds of leaves, flowers, sticks, wood chips, and rocks. Then we created tree rubbings using the items we had collected. After that, we sang some cute little songs together.

At snack time, I gave the kids orange circle slices (sun), jello circles (moon), cauliflower (snowy trees), triangular bread slices (mountains), and water with drops of blue food coloring (river). Their favorite thing to eat was the sun and the moon. For some reason, the snowy trees weren't a big hit, even with a little bit of snow (ranch dressing) on the side to dip it in. ;)

Play time in the backyard after class!

On Monday when I taught preschool again, our lesson was, "Food and Harvest: Grains, Dairy, and Meat." Elaine, who I team-teach with, taught the first part of the lesson the week before, about fruits and veggies. After I read them books, including The Little Red Hen and Green Eggs and Ham (two of my favorites), they helped me grind wheat into flour using my wheat grinder, and then I showed them the homemade bread I had made using the wheat. Then we made homemade butter, by whipping heavy cream with a electric mixer. They kids were so excited about these experiments! Even I was amazed by the home-made butter when Wade did a test run for me earlier. It was pretty cool. :)

Afterwards, we created a grain collage, using wheat, rice, and popcorn. And then I had everyone line up, and showed them a food item, and they had to race to it's matching group. When I pulled out the ice-cream, rather than running to the dairy group picture, they ran to me, and said, "I want some...please, please, please!" kind of like the birds on Finding Nemo (mine, mine, mine, mine) It made me laugh!

Finally, we had snack time, which was a slice of my home-made bread with the home-made butter on top, cheese, ham, apples, and a glass of milk. Next time I teach this lesson, I'll make home-made ice-cream rather than home-made butter, and the kids will really love me! I did send a mini loaf of bread home with each child, so maybe they'll come back anyway. ;)

Rebel Pride

Saturday night, Wade and I attended the Dixie State College Alumni Fall Event for the alumni that live in Northern Utah. It was held at the Little America Hotel here in Salt Lake. It was a lot of fun to dress up and have a nice dinner in this classy hotel and get to know other people who have the same rebel pride as we do.

When I was in high school, I was sure I wasn't going to attend Dixie because I was such an independent child (just ask my mom!) and wanted to leave St. George for a few years. After placing in the Region Sterling Scholar Competition, I was blessed to be offered scholarships from around the state, including BYU, which was my top choice. But after praying about it for a long time, I felt strongly that I was supposed to stay at home and attend Dixie. And I have never regretted that decision for a second! I grew really close to my parents and my little sister in that time (what better roommate could I ask for?), I saved thousands on room and board, I had incredible professors and institute teachers that knew me by name, made some wonderful friends (including many of you), developed my singing with the Institute Show Choir, Inspiration, discovered a love for children with special needs, and just grew as a person in so many ways.

After a year and a half, I met Wade, and I was especially happy that I was at Dixie. I was also really fortunate that the college had just developed some four year programs, including one in Elementary Education. I knew I wanted to be a teacher, almost as much as I knew I wanted to marry Wade ;) so it worked out perfectly. I was able to receive my Bachelor's Degree and had some amazing experiences being a part of the El. Ed. program. Anyway, I just wanted to give a shout out to this great school. I'm proud to be an alumni of Dixie State College, and I'm grateful for the education I received there.

Emily's 3-year pictures

I can't believe my little girl is already 3 years old! I couldn't be happier about how her 3-year pictures turned out. I think she looks beautiful in them, but I'm not thrilled with our family picture. When I scheduled our appointment at the JC Penney studio, I had requested Jenny, who can always get my kids to smile, and is just super patient with children. They told me she no longer works there, so I requested another photographer who's been there a long time. On Saturday, when we showed up for our appointment, I was informed that my requested photographer had gone home for the day. I was really bugged! That was totally unprofessional!

The girl who ended up taking our pictures was nice, but because she was behind schedule, she only took like 6 family shots, rather than the usual 20 or so. I hate feeling rushed! Oh, and I forgot to mention that we were there for over 2 hours waiting. This was the best picture she took, and since it was better than the ones at Sugarhouse Park, we just bought a few for our parents and siblings, since we needed to keep it within budget anyway. Of course after our struggle trying to get Jon to sit still and either of them to smile, Emily was absolutely darling on her individual shots. What can you do?

I know many of you thought we needed to try again at Sugarhouse Park. It really was a perfect setting. But the day we went, it was incredibly frustrating with Jon screaming at me because I wouldn't let him swim in the pond while we were trying to take pictures. And Emily was just being plain grumpy. And then she had to go potty, but because it was Sunday, the restrooms were closed, so Wade pulled out a blanket and covered her up while I tried to convince her she could just pee behind the bush. I know, awful right? Well, then her pee trickles down her leg and onto the grass where I'm kneeling. So we're both covered in pee, and she starts crying, and I sure felt like doing the same. We even tried taking the pictures at 9:30 in the morning, a time when both Emily and Jon are usually so happy. We tried bribing them with all sorts of treats and surprises, but to no avail. It was such a pain at the park that we were glad that at least ONE at JC Penney turned out okay. Anyway, sorry about my negative attitude with all the drama! Sometimes a girl's just gotta vent!

haircuts, breakfast, and ice-cream

This is just a cute shot of Emily, last Thurday, right before our cousin, Britni, gave us each a haircut. Britni is a perfectionist like me, so she gives the best haircuts! I usually pay her, but this time we traded haircuts for babysitting, so we both saved money. I watched her sweet little guy, Kyle, while she and Aaron attended the U of U football game. The Utes beat TCU in the last two minutes. Yea! Thanks again, Brit!

Sunday morning, Wade put on my Strawberry Shortcake apron and Emily put on hers, and they made scrambled eggs and toast together for the family. I think the apron is a nice look for Wade, don't you think?

The next morning for breakfast, Emily ran to the silverware drawer and grabbed 6 spoons to eat her cereal with. What a funny girl!

To prepare for the primary program, I made a poster with a big bowl and places for 9 scoops of ice-cream to fit on top of that bowl. If the kids passed of a song, they received an ice-cream scoop to put on the poster. Once they passed off all their songs, they earned an ice-cream party! So here's a picture of Emily enjoying her ice-cream and one of Wade helping Jon eat his, on Tuesday.

While everyone was eating their ice-cream, I read them the comments from the congregation about how well they did and what their favorite part of the program was. Then the kids lined up and cashed in their tickets for prizes. They received tickets for being reverent and well-behaved during the practices and the actual program. Good incentive, by the way! You don't even need to shush the kids, just give one kid a ticket, and the others follow his example, because they want a ticket, too! We had rice-krispy treats, cookies, donuts, pencils, stickers, word puzzle books, and all sorts of little toys that they could buy with their tickets. It was a fun night, and with all the sugar I ate, I knew I would feel guilty watching "The Biggest Loser" after we got home. Too bad I recorded channel 7, rather than channel 5, so I still haven't seen it this week!

Primary Program

Today was our primary program, and the children were phenominal! I feel so blessed to be able to teach them these amazing songs all year long and then watch and listen as they sing so beautifully for the program, bringing the spirit in by the cupfull. It's the best feeling. Wade and I even invited our neighbor, who's not a member of the church, to the program. She's 86 years old and doesn't have family living close by, but she loves children, so we knew she would enjoy it. And she did! :)

We started out with the youngest class each saying their name, how old they were, and what they like to do. The first boy said, "My name is Andy. I am 4 years old. I am an artist of painting, and I want to be a beekeeper when I grow up." It was so cute! Then the last child ended with "...but most importantly, we are all children of God." Then we sang, "I Am a Child of God." It was perfect.

I also really liked the part the 5-6 year-old class did. One boy said, "If the Savior stood beside me, I would want him to see me lego-ing." (Spencer would appreciate that, right Kathy?) Then one girl said, "If the Savior stood beside me, I would want him to see me being nice to my sister...AND my brother." The way she said it, you could tell she wasn't too convinced about being nice to her brother. ;)

I felt so good about the whole program. I had some of the children playing a piano piece for prelude music and a violin duet for "We Thank Thee, O God, For a Prophet." And I included a lot of vocal duets and trios for parts of some of the other songs. The Bishopric even joined us in singing "Called to Serve," with all the children waving mini flags from countries all around the world. It was classic.

On the last song, "A Child's Prayer," I was going to have the children sing the first verse and the teachers and leaders sing the second verse. But last Sunday, I was on my knees in prayer, and the spirit penetrated my heart, and I felt impressed that the congregation needed to join us in singing that song. Today, as we sang it, there were few dry eyes in the chapel. It was a special moment. I am so grateful I listened to the promptings of the spirit. I just wanted to write down the words of that song because it's one of my favorites. And I want you to know, as my friends and family, that I know we have loving Heavenly Father who does hear and answer our prayers.


Heavenly Father, are you really there?
And do you hear and answer every child's prayer?
Some say that heaven is far away,
but I feel it close around me as I pray.
Heavenly Father, I remember now
something that Jesus told disciples long ago:
"Suffer the children to come to me."
Father, in prayer I'm coming now to thee.

Pray, he is there; Speak, he is listening.
You are his child; His love now surrounds you.
He hears your prayer; He loves the children.
Of such is the kingdom, the kingdom of heaven.

Such happy kids!

haha What a joke! They were absolutely onery the entire time we tried to get family pictures taken. Wade and I thought we could save money and just have my friend Jenica take a few shots of us at Sugarhouse park. Yeah right! So needless to say, I've already made an appointment with JC Penney and we're going to try again. Grrr!

What the heck?

My good friend that lives in Memphis, Tennessee regularly enlightens us all about the strange things she sees or hears happening there. Well, I have one for you, Katie! Wade and I were driving behind this car on the way home from our anniversary trip. According to this lady's bumper stickers, her "family" includes herself, 4 dogs, 1 cat, 3 cows, 3 goats, 2 roosters, 7 chickens, and another animal that kind of resembles a raccoon(?) I was like, "What the heck?" We couldn't stop laughing!

Click to enlarge

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