Spring Break

lazy mornings

We have been having some spring break fun.  Ethan had drivers ed the first four days.  Now he's done with the classroom portion.  We have to wait for his DMV appointment to take the test and then he'll have his permit.  He said it was very boring.  In December I got him the online class, it's March now and he hadn't started so off to class he went.  I am hoping to work next year and need him to drive, as it is the earliest he can get his license is October. Ethan told me some day he's going to run for public office.  His platform will be three pronged: streamlining of the DMV, bringing back free grocery bags and doing away with daylight savings. LOL

lunch with friends

Tuesday was a little day of service.  Pam and I went visiting teaching  Our favorite way to do that is to meet at Cafe Rio.  When we got there Michelle and Diane and some sisters from their ward were there too so we all sat together.  Diane is the sister in law of Becky, from MD.  (small world). We run into each other from time to time.  I wish we were in the same ward, I think we'd be good friends. As I was driving in Rob and some of the guys he works with pulled in right behind me so he had lunch there too.  We didn't eat together but I thought it was really funny that we were both there.

After that I went to donate blood.  

Lastly Grace and I made dinner for the Sweeney's.  We made a pinterest dinner and made the same thing for ourselves. I didn't think it was awesome so then I was bummed.  The last two times I made dinner for someone else in the ward it didn't turn out perfectly :(

mall fun

Today Grace had an orthodontist appointment.  After we went to the mall.  I found a dress for the wedding!! Yay! I was so glad! We stopped by See's candy to talk to Ofelia's mom and found the Easter bunny shopping there! I knew it:)

Grace got some new shoes and we had a fun time shopping together.

Grace has been having friends over.  It is noisy and they are silly...I love that.

Dani challenged everyone to a 1000 page bookathon.  I read "Keeping Faith" by Jodi Picoult, "The Atomic Weight of Love" by Elizabeth Church and "from the Kitchen of Half Truth" by Maria Goodin. Liked them all and reached my 1000 page goal.  The rest of the break I will read "The Amazing Story of the Man Who Cycled from India to Europe for Love" and "The Persian Pickle Club".

new shoes

other updates: Rob is travelling to Germany again next month.  Last Sunday night was stake priesthood meeting, Ethan spoke, and he wrote his excellent talk all alone. Michael and JaNee are going to the temple in April!!! Sierra is a hanging out with a falconer! I hope they stay good friends so I can meet his birds next time we are in Utah!  Marshall is sick :(.  The twins are doing great, Jenna is wishing to be done with her pregnancy.  I watched Terminator Genesis and liked it. It's raining like crazy and Nana sent me two new colors of fiesta ware, which I love!!

and in not so happy news: yesterday there was another school shooting.  This time at Great Mills, the high school Ethan would be at if we still lived in MD.  Every week there is some new tragedy.  The conspiring hearts of evil men are a plague and it's so sad and heartbreaking.  

Bridal Shower

Hannah had her shower today and it was so very nice. So many people came and she got some lovely gifts. 
I was in charge of games and Tami everything else. She did such a lovely job. Everything looked pretty. And the games were fun:)

It was a really nice morning and now we are one step closer to the big day!

Ahhh!

Friday! Yay! And the first day of spring break. Well after 1pm anyway. It’s been a good week. It rained a lot, for the desert, which is good we always welcome the rain. 
Hannah and Sawyer flew in for the weekend. Hannah is having her bridal shower tomorrow. Rob and I went to the airport to pick them up. Even though we saw them a couple weeks ago it felt like a long time and I was excited to see them again!

Voodoo Donuts! Yumm!

We stopped at city walk on the way home for dinner and walking around. It was raining but there were still a lot of people there. 

I’m looking forward to a nice weekend together:)

One more month!

These two❤️❤️. We are counting down the days!!

Also the two baby girls coming! Jenna went to the doctor this week and learned the girls weigh over 4lbs each and have hair!! So fun!! Every night we pray that they, and their momma, will be safe and healthy and deliver full term. 

Tilly went to the vet to get neutered this morning. She hates her carry box and clawed her way out before Rob even got her to the appointment. The picture above is her head peeking out of the hole she made.

Last night we played a game of “Mormon Taboo” for mutual. Our new Bishop (Bishop Spud) came, the whole bishopric did. They played with the kids and the youth loved it. I am very excited about this change. I think he’s going to do an awesome job and that the youth will really enjoy working with him.

*we got a new bishopric last Sunday while we were out of town. Lloyd Dunn is the new bishop. Dan is still his counselor and Brad Jackson is the 2nd counselor. I am super excited about the change.

We sent out our eagle announcements today. I liked how they turned out. 

Been teaching 7th grade science all week. Which has been very fun. The kids are good and the subject interesting so the days go fast.

San Diego

We drove to Anna’s today. It rained the whole way. It’s raining now and we are laying in bed and listening  to it pitter patter away. 

Tonight was Norm and Peggy Beria’s 50th wedding anniversary. Wow that is quite an achievement! We went to their surprise party. There were tons of people at it and it was really nice. Mom and Dad also came down. We are all staying at Anna’s.

We did a dinosaur themed “mimi club”.

This cute picture is Ethan helping Deo read his verse of the scriptures tonight. He was also protecting Ziva from Pearl who is quite a bully.

Grace had her big Shakespeare project this week. Remember the set she made? She filmed her birds “acting” as Romeo and Juliet and played that for her class and made them all cookies. She’s getting to be a good baker. And she got an A, which is awesome and typical. Mostly we have no school issues with her. Sometimes she gets in trouble for correcting a teacher. Which they don’t like even if she’s right. And we always have PE issues. With her chronic pain it’s always a challenge. 

This week we had a nice YW night. The stake came to our house, because the building was getting the carpets cleaned so no one could go in and we didn’t want to cancel. They had a nice presentation for the girls. I think it really meant a lot to them to have the stake leaders come and bonus the stake gets to know the girls better.

I work. But this week didn’t on Thursday because I had a job interview to have my own classroom. It went well. The next step is to do a demonstration lesson that will be filmed and shown to the committee when they hire. I got assigned 6th grade math for my lesson...so I might be working at Barnes and Noble or still subbing next year. 

I subbed wood shop earlier on the week. We read about, extensively and with great detail, the 12 types for glue used in woodworking. I know lucky! Right? 

Today I’m in 7th grade science and we are learning about the periodic table of elements. 

Cat continues to entertain us.

I took Ethan’s eagle picture and sent off announcements to print. We are having his court of honor right before the wedding, since everyone will be in town.

Super excited: tonight “a wrinkle in time”, the movie, is hitting theaters. That was one of my favorite books when I was in 5th-6th grade.

Sunday is a sweet day of rest. We lite a fire, made a crock pot dinner, slept in late (which doesn’t mean that much when you normally get up so early). I had a presidency meeting. Grace has been working on personal progress and this year is planting a garden. She started her seedlings today. It was is Fast Sunday and the testimonies were sweet and powerful.

The cute little owls were a birthday present from Sierra. She got them in Korea and I love them!

Saturday we cleaned and did laundry. We went to Cafe Rio and Ethan got a haircut. Grace is my grocery shopping buddy and we went to the store.

Friday Rob and I had a date. It rained both Friday and Saturday. 

Thursday night we went to a Gentri concert. Rob and I did. Ethan had soccer practice. Grace had homework. 

My seminary subbing days are over. It was good but hard.

We talked a lot about having a heart that is soft and willing to harken to the Lord. It is always good to reflect on the state of our hearts. Are we being teachable and humble? Are we forgiving and charitble? Do we allow little offenses to scar our relationships? Being flawed and selfish and altogether mortal it is too easy to be hard hearted. I am reminded of that every day. Here’s a small example: Thursday Rob wanted to go to the concert. None of the rest of us wanted to go. Ethan had practice until 7 and that’s when the concert started. Rob went on his own and after I picked up the boy I planned to stay home with the kids. I knew R was bummed that he went alone so instead I decided to meet him there. Even after I sat down by him I was still annoyed not to be doing what I wanted. My heart was hard. I really had to take a good look at myself and knock it off. After that I enjoyed the music and testimonies. I also looked around and saw several single sisters there who I am sure would have loved to be sitting by a faithful loving husband holding his hand and listening to the beautiful music. It is good to count your blessings and to be grateful. If you can’t think of any it’s good to pray that they will be brought to your remembrance, the Lord will remind you. It is good to be soft hearted and full of love for God, and all His children.