Happy Birthday Jack!

We recently got together to celebrate my brother-in-law's birthday. All evening and I only took one picture of him (but I think he's okay with that!)
He was teaching his niece how to play nicely with their cat Toby. "Janet" LOVES animals (it would probably make us all feel a bit better if she had more fear of them!), but is still learning how to be gentle with them. Toby is normally a fighter, but he was very calm with Janet.

Some more fun pictures:
-My adorable husband!
-Toby ready to pounce
-Janet investigating Cheetos with help from her mom
-Jack's birthday cake (made by his super-talented wife)

Irony

We've had a bit of irony in our life right now. As jobs are being cut and salaries slashed, you definitely don't want to complain about your job, but... Chris recently got a promotion without a promotion: he was reassigned to a higher group with more responsibilities, but his pay is the same as it was. We are choosing to look at this as an opportunity to learn more, but the irony hasn't escaped us!

Yesterday we were running around all day and planned to go out to eat using a gift card I had recently earned at work for getting a reward for doing well. The restaurant isn't near where we live, but I only got this a month ago, so this was our first opportunity to use it. As we drove up, I noticed that it looked rather dark, but we wondered if that was just part of their atmosphere. Then I noticed the closed sign with a note on the door. I jumped out of the car and it read something like, "We would like to thank the community for great years of being able to serve you." In other words, Out of Business! So much for a great reward! That's why it's important to keep a sense of humor in life - at least I didn't pay for the gift certificate!!

Go BYU!

I recently downloaded pictures from our camera and found a funny one I'd forgotten about. LaVell Edwards (the former BYU football coach) came to speak at a local event (a stake youth fireside). We live in University of Utah country (BYU's rival), so it was a bit crazy that they invited LaVell. Chris was excited and prepared for the event! (By the way, he has always been a BYU fan, but living "amongst the enemy" has really brought it out in him!)

He came in and asked, "How do I look?" I couldn't help but laught - he wore his blue and white striped shirt, blue BYU tie, and a blue suit coat. Can you tell that BYU's colors are blue and white?

Spring Break!

I've been enjoying a week off of school for Spring Break! Unfortunately, Chris has had to work so I just stayed at home, but I've enjoyed getting things done. I battled dandelions again. :) I think I'm going to lose. Oh well. Then it got cold and rainy and we woke up to snow yesterday! (But I heard that in the cities south of us they woke up to 10 inches of snow, so I guess I shouldn't complain.) After it melted I mowed the lawn - wearing a jacket and I could even see my breath! I don't know how much more of this Utah "spring" I can handle! But summer is coming - I can feel it!

In my "Spring Cleaning" process I found a few of my 401k statements. Chris commented, "That's all you have in retirement?" I didn't feel too bad until I found a statement from two years ago - with the SAME amount in it! I feel like I've been throwing money away for the past two years (or more, but I'm afraid to look). I guess it's good that we don't plan to retire any time soon!

Happy Easter!

We hope you enjoyed your Easter. Poor Chris was up all night with the flu, but I got to go to church. We had a wonderful Young Women's lesson about our Savior and I got to share one of my favorite scriptures Alma 7:11-12:
11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.
12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

I love this scripture because it helps me understand that Christ suffered not just for our sins, but so that he can succor us - the he understands how we feel when we are sick, or in pain, or suffering. He knows how to help when we are struggling.

This is a video of part of a talk from the most recent General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Elder Holland (an apostle) directed his remarks to anyone who has ever felt alone. Go here for the entire text of his talk.

Temples

I found this video on temples built by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) and wanted to share it.


We recently were able to go to the Draper Temple Open House (where the public is invited to come walk through the temple and see what it looks like and learn more about the temple.) I got to go twice, once with Chris and once with the youth in our ward - it's so amazing to see not just the beauty, but also the care that is taken to create such a wonderful atmosphere. It really is a House of the Lord. The most significant part for me was to go to the sealing room and remember when my niece was sealed to her parents after her adoption was finalized. I love that families are forever.

Adventures in Teaching

I played the best April Fool's Day joke on my students. Whenever we have a test we rearrange the desks (to make it harder to cheat). The next class coming in takes this as their reminder that there is a test. The catch is when my Geometry students come in after a Pre-Algebra test: they take a look at the desks, look at me, and ask, "Is there a test today?" So I decided April 1st was a good day to use this as a joke (I usually don't play tricks on my students). I had my Pre-Algebra students rearrange the desks to look like there was a test. My Geometry students came in the next period, looked around, and asked, "Pre-Algebra had a test, right?" I did my best to convince them their test was that day (feeling horrible about lying, but trying hard to keep a straight face), until I would finally start laughing and they knew I was teasing them. I told them they now had to help me convince the next kids who came in that the test was that day. They really had fun with it. (However, if they had really been paying attention, they would have noticed that the day's lesson was on the board, so there obviously wasn't a test!) Finally, when the bell rang and class really started I announced it was an April Fool's Day joke. I heard a huge sigh of relief and watched a few kids put their notes away (they had been studying!). They didn't even really hold it against me!

While I'm telling teaching stories, here are a few hilarious conversations I've had recently:
Student to me: Do I need to keep these papers, or are they critical to my salvation?
Me: Ummm... I don't think anything in this class is critical to your salvation. Except being responsible, that's definitely important! Why don't you put them in your folder?

Here's another one:
Student: I'm really tired!
Me: I'm sorry. Why didn't you get enough sleep last night?
Student: Well, I slept on the floor.
Me: Why did you sleep on the floor?
Student: I fell out of bed and it was too hard to get back in bed.

Yeah, this was a ninth grader. That's one thing I love about teaching - the kids keep me on my toes and we definitely keep one another entertained!