A Surprise in the Mailbox

This afternoon when I went to get the mail I opened the box to find just some grocery ad's and our monthly Ensign & Friend subscriptions. When I opened the plastic, my surprise was nestled between the two afore mentioned magazines. There was 'A supplement to the Ensign', In Memoriam: President Gordon B. Hinckley. I feel so blessed to have this pkg. of love! It includes a time line with highlights from his life, milestones from his service as our Prophet, tributes to him from leaders throughout the world, and my favorite part; the entire funeral in written form. I read the talk given by his daughter, Virgina Pearce, while laying by Madisen for nap time. This is my favorite quote from her talk.

"Following the death of Mother, his grief was almost overwhelming. Characteristically, he acknowledged it- felt it, wept, and mourned deeply. He went to the Lord with his tears, thus allowing the loss to carve out an even deeper place in his heart for compassion and dig an even deeper well of faith and trust in God. Then, with that increase in compassion and faith, he put on his shoes and went back to work- in every sense of the word." (bold words added by me)

To me this is such a clear example of what a tender and stalwart man he was. He was an example of someone who tried each day to be a little better than he was the day before. What an incredible example he was!!!

My First Tag

I've been tagged a few times, but this is the first time I've actually 'acted' on it. (Yours is next, Ang.)
1.Jobs I have had:
○ Newspaper Carrier – This was my first job, I shared a route with my sisters. It was the perfect way to learn responsibility & money management!
○ Orchard Drug - I started working as a pharmacy technician when I was 15- for my grandpa who STILL owns a small drug store in North Salt Lake (I also worked for my uncle at Dick's Market, and for ShopKo in Provo). This is how I put myself through college.
○ First Grade Teacher- This was my first salary job! After 4 years of hard work in college, and then this... more hard work!
○ Kindergarten Teacher – I enjoyed first grade, but when asked to switch to kindergarten I didn't hesitate- this is my favorite age of children to teach, hands down!
○ Piano Teacher – I currently do this 3 days a week from my home and have 8 students. I LOVE it! It's rewarding to watch my students progress each week. It's the perfect way to combine my love of teaching with my love of the piano.
○ Mother -And last, but not least is my current job as wife & mother! I LOVE every minute of the challenge and joy that this eternal job brings!!

2. ALL the places I have lived.
○ Murray, UT
○ Provo, UT
○ Jerusalem (for 2 months)
○ Palos Verdes, CA
○ Henderson, NV
○ Las Vegas, NV

3. Four movies that I love. (Love is a strong word for movies for me. I really prefer not to re-watch movies.)
○ The Pursuit of Happiness
○ Ella Enchanted
○ Sister Act- an oldie but goodie
○ We Are Marshall

4. Four favorite foods.
○ Fruit: grapes, kiwi, strawberries, watermelon, etc.
○ Anything Mexican
○ Anything caramel: popcorn, caramelitas, and ESPECIALLY the caramel sauce at Leatherby's
○ Salmon

5. Four weird things about me. (these aren’t really WEIRD, but maybe something you don’t know..)
○ I cut Bill's hair- it's progressively gotten better since we've been married.
○ I have a TOUGH time waking up to alarm clocks (OK, so that's not news to any of you who were my roommates)!
○ I've had my ingrown toenails removed twice (that was for you, Julie).
○ I celebrate holidays to the full extent- all green food on St. Patrick's day, a heart belt worn all through the month of February, not to mention my 'seasonal' earrings.

6. Four favorite TV shows.
○ The news; The Today show
○ The Office- when I remember to watch it
○ American Idol
○ Dancing with the Stars

7. Four places I would love to go.
○ Hawaii
○ An Alaskan cruise- or one to the Caribbean
○ To take Bill back to Nauvoo
○ To Jerusalem with Bill

8. People I tag...
○ My BYU friends: Laura, Cindy, Erica, Julie, Angie C. & Tristen

Growing Up

This picture of Caitlyn was taken yesterday morning. She brought me both the dress & shirt separately and 'asked' me to put them on her. I think it makes her look older than 15 months to be wearing dress up clothes already! Her new obsession is SHOES, she's definitely her mama's girl! She tries to put on aNy shoes that she finds & is getting really good with the dress up shoes. Anything to be like her big sister!!

Speaking of big sister, she thinks she's growing up, too. The other morning we were leaving the church after a fitness group & she followed some of the other moms outside. I was helping Caitlyn get her shoes & jacket on when I looked up to discover that Madisen had left the building. When I got outside this is where I found her, c-l-e-a-r across the parking lot. It was the funniest sight. Thankfully she was SAFE & thankfully Janet had her camera!

Tuesday, continued

Thanks for all of your interest in my cooking 'incident'! Thankfully my house no longer smells! I left the windows & doors open for most of the day & when we went to the Blue & Gold Banquet I left a Scentsy Candle burning the entire time. I think we're mostly in the clear, although I catch occasional whiffs when I walk past my oven...

After the Banquet, I went to our ward's monthly game night. It was BY FAR the most fun night I've had out in a LONG time! Rachel was smart enough to have her camera handy & document the evening.

Check out Kate's victory moves here.

Here are a few of the pictures from the evening- what great group of gals! We started out playing Mafia, next it was Bunko, and then we sat around eating some tasty treats while we shared some crazy & embarrassing moments. We laughed until our cheeks hurt, I still laugh thinking about it!! I seriously don't know the last time I laughed that hard!

Here are all of the ladies! I can seriously call them all FRIENDS after Tuesday night, not just 'girls in my ward'. We sure missed any of you that couldn't make it, thank goodness there's always next month!

Today's Mis-hap

What is that you may be asking yourself?
It's 'toasted' Top Ramen, of course.

Here's what happened: This morning while I was watching Kate's kids so she could decorate for the Cub Scout Blue & Gold Banquet, Denett and I were making the Chinese Chicken salad for the same event. We were busy cooking chicken, watching 5 kids, chopping cabbage, and toasting some Ramen. I ran upstairs to bring the girls back down, when I started to smell something burning. My thought was, "I should check on the chicken when I get back downstairs." As I started down the stairs, Denett started yelling for me. I ran in the kitchen to see 3 foot flames coming from my broiler (located below the oven). We frantically turned off the stove & oven, took the cookie sheet outside, & opened all of the doors & windows. Of course my smoke filled house set off the fire alarm, which made McKinley cry... but Caitlyn slept through the whole thing. Madisen, Reagan, & Max just watched Denett & I like we'd gone crazy. Once we FINALLY got the smoke alarm turned off, we couldn't stop laughing. I only hope that my oven will recover- there is definitely some smoke damage from the fire.

W is for windy weather

For those of you who don't know, Las Vegas is a very windy city! I'm not sure how Chicago got that name, b/c I think Vegas deserves it! I heard my bishop's wife say that the weather here is like living in a blow dryer & she's right!

This week I helped Madisen & Makayla make some wind socks (thanks for the fun idea, Laura). They thought it was great to color with markers & then help me glue on the crepe paper streamers. Obviously we picked a great day to 'fly' them outside. They loved watching them whip in the wind, the noise was especially exciting to them!

President's Day Weekend

We were so lucky to have Grandma & Grandpa Dodds come for a visit this weekend! They were making a stop in Southern Utah, so they decided to keep driving and spend a few days with us. We talked them out of doing a project- they usually come to help us with some MAJOR home improvement project- and just relaxing while they were on vacation!

On Saturday the girls got to go to the park with grandpa for a little while before we all (minus Bill who was running for 4 hours!) went to the Springs Preserve. We walked around the gardens, enjoyed the mirrors, Caitlyn LOVED the windmills, explored the shiny rocks, and played at the playground. It wasn't hard to spend 2 hours here, especially because the weather was PERFECT. While the girls were napping my mom & I ventured to Target- without kids- it was so fun to shop with her! That evening we had a BBQ and relaxed.


After church, where my mom was a fill-in primary worker for part of the time, we took a Sunday drive out to Red Rock. We've never taken my parents out there and we were all curious to see where Bill will be running his first marathon in 2 weeks!

This morning my parents & I took the girls to the Lied Discovery Museum. The girls had a great time! Some of the experiments were too advanced for them, but we found a plethora of things that were exciting for them. For example: the race cars, the grocery store, Madisen got to make 3 crafts (a patriotic necklace, a log cabin with popsicle sticks, & spin art), the swirling pennies, the ball machine, and a virtual soccer game. Our timing was perfect b/c we got to meet Bill for lunch before my parents headed north.

It was a perfect weekend! Thanks for coming for a visit!! We sure love & miss you!!