Progress on the Remodel

Werty has framed the laundry room and finished most of the plumbing. Yesterday, we (I helped this time) installed the hose for the ice maker. Yay, ice whenever we want...which is something we just aren't used to having, so we will have to remember to use it. Next is the electrical and the dryer vent installation.

As for me, I am still trying to get my license renewed. I already had to be fingerprinted twice because of technological errors. I was planning on working on organizing my classrooms and files over the summer, but they are using my room for summer school, and the assistant principal cleared all my piles of files I had pulled out along with the leftover junk from the school year that needed to be sorted all together in to a big mess. So, I haven't been working at school after all. We did however, find someone to hire for the part time Aide position for next year who I think will be great. Not Gloria, but nobody is Gloria except for Gloria. Closest we could find.

Sunbeam Humor

Werty and I teach the Sunbeams class in Primary, that is, the Sunday School class for 3 and 4 year olds. Today during sharing time, the Primary President held something cupped in her hands and asked the children to guess what it was. After several guesses, she gave them the clues that it was something that starts out small and grows really big and really likes water. "A water balloon," "a hot air balloon," followed by "a camel" (someone must have recently learned that camels carry water in their humps...but I'm not sure how a camel was supposed to fit inside her hands). It was a seed in her hand, of course, because she was giving a lesson on how faith is like a seed. The teacher used Joseph Smith and the First Vision as an example of exercising faith, because they have been studying it all year. "Do you know what happened when Joseph Smith went in to the woods?" "He died" said one kid. "Yeah, he died," piped up another (not exactly the answer the teacher was looking for).

How do I say Goodbye?

There was a song we used to sing in high school at the final choir concert of the year. The words have been in my head since I said goodbye to my dear friend Gloria last Friday.

How do I say goodbye
to what we had?
The good times that made us laugh,
outweighed the bad.
And if it gets me to tomorrow,
I hope it's worth all the pain.
Because it's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.

Here's the whole gang: me, my former boss SS, Gloria, MG, and Mr. B. We went out for one last ESL get together, a tradition we started when school reshuffling separated some of us a couple of years ago. Gloria and I have been teaching together for 7 years. I can't imagine the school without her. The worst part is the possibility that I will never see Gloria face to face again. She is a true friend. I love her, and I will miss her. I wish her happiness in this new phase of her life, as she goes back to her Chilean homeland.

My IB seniors: the few, the tired, the proud. They brought me p@nd@ again for lunch on their last day. This pic is missing one student because we actually had two girls in the class. I think she didn't mind missing the photo op, however. Behind them is the bulletin board I reserve for IB, and each year they add something to it. Someday I hope it will become like Mr. Martin's wall, a collection of student contributions and memories.

Two of my TAs and former students that have been hanging around since they were 10th graders. (On the right is "THE TA" - having earned his title through being my TA the longest and doing the most work of any of my TAs this year.) They have graduated and I will miss them. I wish them the best.

My beginning ESL class was full of personality this year, as you can tell from these two pics.


My co-advisor for NHS is being transferred. Thankfully, our new house is in her neighborhood. We aren't in this same ward, but we'll be seeing each other.

Yesterday, after seeing Valinda and ElCid and company off (our first house guests), we headed up to SLC for a family get together with my grandparents, my mom and her siblings. The park was huge, we walked around for half an hour trying to find them. Here is BooBear with his second cousin. She is the daughter of one of my favorite cousins and is one month older than BooBear. They are moving to Texas next month.

A Month of Photos

What's that he's holding? My old pound puppy! He loves it!

This is the view of the front of our house before yesterday's storm destroyed the tulips. BooBear liked to touch each tulip as he walked by them.

The ornamental pear in our front yard is in full blossom.


Our view of Mt Timp from our back yard.


BooBear spending some quality time with his cousin ET - here he is tickling ET's toes, of course! ET and Zinx's son were both blessed last weekend, so we saw a lot of family. I intended to cut BooBear's hair before then, but had no time. After everyone commenting on how long his hair was, I cut it Monday night - notice the shorter hair. ET and his parents will soon be leaving us to spend the summer in NM. ET will be SOO big by the time they get back!

Helping Daddy make no-bake cookies while I was at work. He has started pretending a lot.


The best part of helping out in the kitchen is licking the spoon!

Happy Easter Pics

Wait, that's my newest nephew, not Easter! Cherry graduated on Friday, she went across the stage carrying her little guy - three days old. So tiny at 6 lbs 15 oz.



Notice the yellow and blue fingers - evidence of a good time dying eggs. At one point he said, "I dye them" and "I touch them." He hardly talks, and then he will say something like that. This week he finally learned to wave - and grandma and grandpa were the first people he waved to.

Something was wrong with the pink color, making it all speckled, so I turned this egg purple, and the speckles look really cool.

Hope you all had a great Easter!

Congrats to Cherry and Zinx! (and some others)

All these babies! Cherry and Zinx had their baby on Tuesday morning. Werty called me at work to tell me the good news. Once she got to the hospital, her labor went really fast. Mommy and baby are doing well.

My other little nephews - 6 months old and one month old are darling and growing well. We got to see them last week when we hosted FHE at our house. I was trying to get living room furniture before FHE, but in the end it was good that we didn't have any. With additional cousins from NE, we FILLED the whole room. Adults sat on chairs along the perimeter while all the kids sat on the floor in the middle. Next time, we will probably have FHE outside in the backyard.

Congrats to my nephew G who was baptized last weekend. He is a sensitive kid - it was touching to see how happy he was to get baptized and how choked up he got during the concluding song, "Families can be together forever," as he was surrounded by a room packed with people who love him.

Congrats also to my friends in Hawaii who just had baby #3. It's a little sobering for me, since their baby#2 is the same age as BooBear.

Also, congrats to my college roomie Ali - she is working on her PhD at Johns Hopkins. Yeah. Wow. Once upon a time she was the 17 year old freshman who had never been outside Utah before. Now she travels the world studying and solving health problems.

Conference Snow!

After a few days of nice, sunny weather, we woke up to 2 inches of snow. Between conference sessions, Werty and BooBear went outside to enjoy it.

Notice the snow ball in his hand - he made it himself!

Our first snowman at our new house!



Just for comparison, this was taken just a few days ago when the weather was warm. BooBear helping Werty rake up leaves.