Come Let Us Anew....

Ok...I've been inspired to start blogging again by a fellow blogger. I really need to get back to journalling my thoughts and feelings. I will try to blog at least once per month this year. Fortunately, it's still January!

So, here we go. When I last wrote, it was after school let out. Lots of catching up between then and now!

July/August: My mom had back surgery and I took 3 classes toward earning my Environmental Science endorsement. Those classes were awesome! The one, I blogged about in June and the other two were an ecology class in Moab, UT and a geology class at the University of Utah. Those were so much fun and even though I was learning and going on lots of field experiences, it was a great break and a chance for some much-deserved "me time". School started in August and I had a great time getting started on my 3rd year of teaching. It has been lots better than even the previous year. I really, really love what I do. I was also given an additional responsibility which was tutoring science to the homestudy students. I quite enjoy that. I don't know what it is, but seeing these students try to succeed given this second chance and helping them do it by answering the questions they have about science is really rewarding. I think when they walk across the floor to get their diplomas, I'll be just as teary as when my niece graduated last year. Maybe even more so. These students have the deck stacked against them in some cases and in spite of that, they are succeeding.

September: The kids turned 11 and I was able to pull together a family birthday party for them. I was really worried about it because it was one of the "firsts" without my dad being there. And, because of my mom's back problems, he was the one that was always there at their parties because she couldn't travel. But, we ended up having it my mom's house and the change of venue really helped. (It was usually at a park of some sort). It turned out really well and everyone had fun.

School continued to go well. Instead of teaching 4 Biology classes and 2 Earth Systems classes, I taught 5 Biology and 1 Zoology class (a semester long class). Zoology was going to be fun because that was my major in college. I had a great group of students, many of them I had had in previous years as biology students.

The kids started 5th grade band and that was really exciting for me because I was in band. I hope they stick with it and like it as much as I did. I marched all through high school and 2 years at BYU playing the clarinet. Of course, no one wanted to play the clarinet, lol. Chloe plays the trumpet and Jared does percussion. They really like it!

October: Listening to/watching General Conference was great, as always. Conference weekend was also spent harvesting potatoes on Bill's brother's/dad's farm in Erda. Usually, a harvester picks them up after the digger digs them up (ok...forgive this non-farm girl for not knowing the proper terms for the machinery!). But this year, they decided to have the digger dig them and us pick them up and bag them. UGH! Not fun, but we actually ended getting a bigger yield than usual. And, fortunately the weather was good and not to hot. I survived, lol!

For Halloween, the Chloe was a midnight fairy with a black and orange costume (cute orange wings and striped black/orange nylons) and Jared was a deranged scientist. Our ward party was fun as usual and I had lots of fun handing out candy to the kiddoes in the room I picked out in our ward building. After that, we went to Erda to crash my in-laws trunk-or-treat in between the rain storms. And, after that one of Chloe's friend's moms picked up Chloe and Jared to go trick-or-treating in her neighborhood. They had a super fun Halloween!

November: Again, one of the "firsts" that I was dreading. Thanksgiving is huge on my side of the family. We actually celebrate it on Saturday so that the spouses can spend Thanksgiving with their families on Thanksgiving Day. Friday is spent at my mom's house with the grandkids making their own special Thanksgiving mini pies. They get to choose whatever filling they want and my mom pre-makes the dough. The kids roll out the dough, fill them and bake them. Then they get pizza and videos and have a cousin sleepover. My dad has always been a big part of this of course. He used to put plastic sheeting all over the dining room floor and have the kids sit on his lap while they turned the crank to the apple-peeler-corer. Saturday morning, he'd supervise the kids as they made waffles from scratch while he fried the bacon. I was dreading his absence. But, new memories were made and we really did feel his presence with us. My mom impressed me by making the bacon ahead of time so we just had to warm it up in the oven. And, even with her back still sore from her surgery, she was able to do a lot and the kids had a blast making their pies.

Our Thanksgiving Dinner on Saturday was wonderful. My mom's neighbor came over on the spur of the moment to take a family picture. It was so great that she did that. Another thing, if you believe that whole thing about the orbs in the pictures? Yep. There was an orb there. :)

December: This was another month that was hard because of the "firsts". My dad's birthday is in December, and we have another cool family tradition that my dad played a big part in, so yes, I was dreading the Christmas holiday too.

The beginning of the month was filled with school Christmas concerts. The first was the high school's dance/sign language concert. Very well done and so enjoyable! I love to see those concerts and the looks on the students' faces when they see their teacher there is just priceless. The next concert was the best ever!! It was my kids' first concert. I love hearing those new band members play! Of course it's not perfect (far from it) but, there's something about the sound of the new students playing that just makes me smile--especially when it's my own kids playing. The final concert we attended was the high school's band/orchestra/choir concert. Excellent quality musicians there! I love our high school's fine arts program. Such quality musicians and artists they are churning out.

For Christmas, our tradition is, when Bill's brother doesn't go to Idaho to be with his wife's family for Christmas, we go over there Christmas day. But, Christmas eve is always reserved for my family. We have a yummy dinner and open presents. Each year we've been voting on whether to eat dinner first or let the kids open presents first. Somehow, the kids always win. ;) So, presents, dinner and then Santa comes bearing new jammies wrapped in a fleece blanket edged by "Mrs. Claus". Here's where the bittersweet thing comes in. My dad has always been Santa. When I was in high school (I think) my mom made my dad a Santa suit. I can't remember when he first started using it, but one particular memory stands out. My family still lived in Michigan when I went to Utah to go to BYU. So, my first Christmas, I was able to fly home. I was so excited to see my family! So, I get off the plane and there's all kinds of people waiting for their family members to deplane as well. There's also this guy in a Santa suit. He's saying "Ho, Ho, Ho!" and I'm thinking , "Yeah, Merry Christmas, Santa! I need to find my family." He sort of starts following me as I'm searching the crowd, ho-ho-ho-ing as he goes. I'm just about ready to get weirded out when I hear, "And have you been a good little girl at BYU?" I whipped around and you guess it---I was my dad that was in the Santa suit! How cool was that?? My mom said that they got stopped several times to pose for pictures before they got to the terminal to meet me.

After my parents moved to Utah, I had my dad make an appearance at my singles ward's Christmas party. I even have a picture of him dancing with me. So, my dad in a Santa suit is a huge part of what Christmas is to me. But, my brother donned the suit this time and he did a great job. His daughter is the only one who believes that it's Santa (my kids and her big brother found out a few years ago) and I think he was able to pull it off.

After the holidays were over, it was like a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. I think there are only a couple more "firsts"--my parents anniversary in February and the anniversary of his passing in March. But, for some reason, right now I'm not dreading them nearly as much as I did the others.

January: New semester, new class! My biology classes stayed the same, but Zoology ended and I picked up Environmental Science this term. That is going to be a surprisingly fun class. The textbook is really good and has lots of suggestions for fun activities. It looks like I have a great bunch of students, so that will make it even better.

Jared did his Priesthood preview in November of last year and a few days ago, Chloe and Bill and I attended "New Beginnings" for the Young Womens program that Chloe will be starting when she turns 12. Oh, where, oh where did the time go?? I cannot believe that my little babies will be 12.

Jared is in the Jr. Jazz basketball program and is really starting to do well. The coach is helping him a lot. They have a great team and so far, they are undefeated (after the first 3 games).

Well, that wraps up my catching up! Hopefully, I'll be able to keep my commitment and blog more often.