My LOVES on Valentine's Day

I had a wonderful Valentine's Day!!  It started off with this handsome young man showing up at my door with bouquets of flowers and chocolate covered strawberries - WOW - and OOHHLALA!!

The shock of the day...it was raining (said with full Bobism sarcasm) Rain is definitely NOT one of my loves.  But, I do love getting out and walking with a friend.  And, because I knew I was going to be gorging myself with sweets all day, my friend and I braved the rain and did our exercise/walk.  The only problem with this commitment is when you take off your hood...it is quite the matted, frizzy, out of control mess!! When I got home, I truly looked like a psychotic Bozo the Clown.  And then, to my surprise, our electrician knocked on my door saying that he could come over today to start putting in the wires for our under cabinet lighting. Happy Valentines Day!! (even though he was probably wondering why I was dressed up for Halloween - oh my - soooo embarrassing!!) I did my best to pretend that I didn't look ridiculous...yup...I think I pulled it off - teehee!!  Then, Bob showed up in the middle of the electrical work to take me out to lunch!!  I totally forgot that we were going to have a romantic lunch instead of fighting the restaurant crowds at night....So. with a lame attempt at fixing myself...off I went to have a wonderful lunch with the love of my life at Claim Jumpers.....uhhh.....that place is GOOD!!! (Sorry, no pictures were taken for these events.....very clear as to why!!!)

As a grand finale to the day, I treated my boys to a deliciousiosos gourmet dinner!  (A mystery dinner)

 They didn't know what went with what...nothing but a crap-shoot.  It was fun (well, at least I thought it was fun)

This is what Nathan ended up with for one of his courses....nothing but jam, an orange crush and spagetti sauce....nummy!!

 And on this course he got a knife, napkin and toothpick. =D

Blog Motivation Discovery

Hooray!!  I just re-found my blogging motivation!!

 Yep, those are my two wonderful and amazing parents (and handsome Nathan in the corner)!!  They have become technology friendly and OF COURSE they miss me =D Teehee.  Blogging truly is a blessing!!

 I also LOVE Skype!!  Talk about FUN!!  Just look at these two cuties laughing and having a great time.  Is there anything more precious?  I smile every time I see this snapshot.  And still...the family together fun continues......

There just isn't anything better than family.  I am so grateful for my family!!

Rise and Shout the Cougars are out!!

It's official...Amanda has been accepted to BYU!!  Her dream has come true.  Bob and I were just settling down for our long winters nap when she came screaming into our room, "I got accepted to BYU Provo, I got accepted to BYU Provo!!!!!!"  Then the screaming continued as she ran through the house.  I glanced at my alarm clock and saw that it was 12:30 AM.  We are sure going to miss this little chick-a-roo and her excitement level...hmm....maybe just at random times :)  Soooo proud of our Panda Bear!!

Holy Zucchini Batman!!

Apparently it’s not only my blog that has been suffering from my lack of attention. I guess this is what happens to a garden that you forget about.

Bob weighed it and it was 10 pounds….looked like an alligator in our garden!! I don’t know why I do a garden each year. Maybe it’s so I won’t feel too guilty during Relief Society self reliance lessons? Well, to be quite honest…..we would probably starve and die from my “self reliant” gardening!! Although, with this size of zucchini…we’re set for a year!!! :) baaahaaaahaa.

Amanda’s 1st day = the LAST first day

That’s right…my Panda Bear won’t ever have a first day of high school again…tear,tear. This is her BIG senior year. She’s really accomplished a lot and is going to have a GREAT year for sure!! Here are some pictures of her big day…and some things she’s going to be doing this year.

Awww…seriously, she is still the sweetest thing! Being Student Body President has been super fun for her. Talk about a perfect fit!!

I’ve gotten a picture of the backpack every year since elementary school. And you know…those bags always seem HUGE to me. Another thing Amanda is really having fun with…being captain of her soccer team. The coach told her he’s really expecting a lot from her leadership this year. (Although…shhhh….I think their team is really going to stink (and not from sweat)…just saying! :D We went from 5A to 6A this year. So, I’m figuring that we are going to get blown out of the water….maybe the galaxy. Oh my!! I’m just praying that we’ll make at least one goal each game…HATE getting skunked!

Okay…I seriously LOVE this. She has her own reserved parking spot. We had to pay for it, but hey…she’s a big wig :)

Here’s my two babies. They have grown so much…especially Nathan!! I am so glad they get a long so well. Amanda really likes having her little brother around and Nathan really respects his sister. It’s true!!! I know that is so weird…but…I’m going to take credit for this one…just saying – ha! When they get bad grades, then they’ll be Bob’s!! :D

Did this picture surprise you? What happened to Amanda…boy, the senior year really added some weight!! Nah…Bob came over and surprised me at seminary. I was teaching my first class and he popped in with flowers and doughnuts!!! WOW!! Can you get anything better? I think I’ll take credit for having such a great husband too…why not?!? Although…he did cleverly sneak in a couple of pictures…hmmm….okay, he’s still pretty awesome!

Oh hey....can you see Amanda...let's see....I SPY with my little eye....Piano!! Ha-ha...Look at her little head sticking up. Such a cute class!! This is seriously going to be an amazing year!!!

My 2nd home...the seminary building

Hooray.....FINALLY....The classroom is ready!!

Bring on the students...I'll have 24 in my class this year!!

Amanda is in my class but Nathan isn't (tear, tear). I wish I could have taught Nathan.

See if you can tell what we're studying. I think the test will be that if you correctly guess....success!! But, if you have no clue....ugh...failure!

Yep, it's me with my thumbs up sign...I'm pretty proud!! Even if it's bad...so what...stinking took me a long time to do!!! I also have to thank Bob and the kids for spending hours and hours measuring wall space, cutting out little velcro strips, putting the little velcro strips on the back of letters, putting the letter on the wall, hanging pictures, re-hanging pictures and re-hanging pictures AGAIN!! We had moments of laughing until our stomachs hurt and I almost peed my pants to being ticked and on the EDGE. I will treasure the experience!

Okay......here we go.....touring!

This is the wall you see when you first come in.

If you enter and then turn around...this is the wall that's opposite.

Here's looking at the front of the classroom from the back of the room

Close up of the front.

Another close up of the front...other side.

I am super excited to teach this year. This will be my 4th year....so....I'll have done all 4 standard works. I have grown so much in this calling. The youth are AMAZING and the spirit is soooo strong each and every time (even when I'm a slacker...those youth bring in the spirit so strong!!). I will miss it tremendously when I am released!! But, until then....

Hurrah, Hurrah for Israel :)

1st Day of school (part 1)

It's Official:

1. Derrick's a 5th Grader

2. Nathan's a High School Freshman (ugh!)

3. Amanda is Student Body President

(1st day as a senior is tomorrow but went to school to help Freshmen)

4. It's QUIET!!!

Derrick went to school by himself today. No pictures of teacher or classroom (tear, tear) He's really growing up! This kid is an organizational maniac. He was the first one up and was showered, dressed and had his lunch made before anybody!! He was SUPER excited to go to school!! He's made HUGE improvements these past couple of weeks and hopefully this year will be a great year for him!! (and ME!!)

The Big Bad Freshman! (actually....low man on the totem-pole..but shhhhh) After scripture study Nathan declared that he wasn't very excited about going today. He said that he doesn't want his vacation to end. But, I think it's because he's a tad bit nervous. I definitely wouldn't classify Nathan as being an "organized" teenager. Oh, I know....teenagers in and of themselves aren't organized....but....he's REALLY unorganized!!! I'd say that He tends to add a lot of stress to his life....only because....he doesn't pay attention!!! It will be a very interesting year for him!! And for us!! I wonder how much information will be lost. And, how many midnight "Mom, I need by tomorrow...."s I'll get.....hmmmm.....We shall see :)

Of course, my first attempt got me the "I'm too cool to smile".....never fails! But, I did manage to get those corners to turn up a bit more! Can you believe how grown up he looks....WOW...totally HANDSOME!!!! :) You go Nate!!

Amanda drove him to school. Must be seriously saweet to have an older sister that's popular, drives (so your mom doesn't have to drop you off) and knows the "ins" of everything. (Side note....I would definitely classify Amanda as an organized teen....oh...she does have her moments though -ha!) Yep....two high schoolers....very interesting!

The BIG high schooler. Love how tall Nathan is getting. He looks good....his shoulders are squared as he's walking in....ready to conquer!! No swirlys for this boy!