HEAVY HEAVY HEART

Today I was released from being the Primary President in my ward. It has been an awesome 2+ years and I will definitely miss working with the children in my ward. They are amazing young people and they have greatly enriched my life. Here are some fun memories I have from the past 2 years:

Sadie, 3, gives the opening prayer and asks that all the children will be able to receive a college education and get married in the temple.

McCoy, 5 at the time, was listening to our Bishop talk about President Monson. McCoy interrupts and proclaims, "I KNOW him! I voted for him!"

A boy who was 10 at the time ran away from Primary and thought it would be funny to hide in the church. His mom, dad and I searched for an extended period of time for him. I spotted him way down a long hallway from me. I was wearing the highest healed shoes I own. I sprinted as fast as I could down the hallway, praying nobody would open a classroom door to see me sprinting in the hallway in high heels. Daren later told me he would have paid good money to see my high-heeled sprint!

One day in Senior Primary I asked the children if any of them wanted to come bear their testimony. I was blown away that over HALF of them came charging up wanting to share their testimony. It touched my heart.

When asked what she was thankful for, Camille (my daughter) announces that she is thankful for dirt. I was so proud! :)

When we did a service project for children in Indonesia, MANY of our children did extra chores and jobs and made sacrifices to purchase school supplies for other children who were less fortunate than they. Again, it touched my heart.

Lacy, 4, who has down syndrome gives me the BEST hugs in the entire world. I will have to sneak into Primary now and get a hug from her because they are sweeter than any candy!

When talking about our Bishop, Jacob, 7, announces loud and clear for all to hear. I LOVE our Bishop because he drives a truck!

Kaitlin, 3, in the middle of sharing time exclaims, "TEACHER TEACHER! When I turn 4 I'm going to have a Strawberry Shortcake birthday cake." I guess she just couldn't wait to share her exciting news!

I love all these kids as if they were my own. It is so fun to watch them grow and mature. It has been one of the best privileges in my entire life serving in Primary with them!

And now as we had family prayer this morning, Camille asked that her mom would be able to "find a new job" - meaning a new church calling. Little does she know, her mom is content being unemployed!

GOOD DEED

Recently I was in Las Vegas. I was driving in a really bad part of town (Charleston & Lamb - if you know the area.) All of a sudden I had a flat tire - like the kind you have to pull over immediately because you are driving on the rim type. Luckily, I didn't have the kids with me. I pulled over, looked around the parking lot and quickly realized I wasn't in the company of the tire changing crowd, if ya know what I mean. It was warm, about 100 degrees and to complicate things, everyone I tried to talk to didn't speak English. Oh, how I wished I had paid more attention in Spanish class in high school! :)

I said a prayer, stood on the sidewalk on Charleston hoping a policeman would drive by. Two actually did but didn't notice me waving my hands in distress. I got back in the car to call Daren, cry and come up a phone number to an auto club. Then I saw a nice little grandpa coming out of the store. To my excitement, he spoke English! And better yet...he knew how to change a tire. He began to change the tire but because it was so hot and he was an older gentleman, it took him a while. He was sweating really bad. I didn't want to be sitting in the air conditioned car while he was trying to use the jack to lift the car so I was in the heat right along with him. After about 15 minutes, I asked him if I could go into the store and buy him a cold drink. He said, "No thank you. Besides I have a cold beer right here in my sack." Just as he was about to finish, I reached in my purse to get some money to pay him. I only had $14 cash on me. When he finished, I handed him the $14 and told him we could go in the store to get more cash. I wanted to pay him for his time, since he was there for about 45 minutes changing the tire in the heat. He politely said, "I don't want your money." I offered him the money again and he refused. Tears came to my eyes. I couldn't believe this man's kindness. I looked at him and said, "May God bless you for your kindness." He then said, "Actually I do know of a way you can repay me. Do something nice for someone and that is all the payment I need." He turned and walked off down Charleston hot and sweaty with beer in tow. I stood there sobbing. There are good people in this world and I'm just grateful one of them happened to be buying beer on Charleston and Lamb.

Now, for my tire changing friend's challenge. I have a few ideas in store of how I'm going to repay my debt to him. I'll share that when it comes to pass. But for now, wouldn't this world be a better place if everyone did something nice for someone else without expecting anything in return? Thanks for teaching me and helping me nice grandpa in Las Vegas!

FUNNIEST FAMILY NIGHT EVER!!

I knew we were in trouble when Camille was preparing the lesson for Family Home Evening today. I was in the kitchen making dinner and she was upstairs preparing the lesson. She came downstairs to announce her lesson was ready. I asked her to share the lesson with me. Since this was the first lesson she has ever prepared on her own, I wanted to make sure it was long enough and appropriately prepared. She said, "No mom. This lesson is going to be a surprise. All I will tell you is that it is about families."

When it was time for her lesson, she began by showing different pictures. She then showed this picture and said, "In our family we shouldn't run away from home like these people are doing." We all started to laugh because we knew this a picture of Joseph resisting Potiphar's wife.
THEN she showed this picture and said, "In our family we shouldn't kill each other." We all were laughing so hard that we all started crying.

If that weren't enough, once we all composed ourselves Camille announces that we are going to do an activity. She held up this paper and said, "If you love our family then sign your name in the YES column. If you do not love our family, then sign your name in the NO column." Luckily, everyone signed in the YES column.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST, we have a neighborhood plate that we filled with treats and took to a neighbor.

I can't believe that Camille came up with all of this on her own. It was a great night and we will always remember that we shouldn't kill our family!

BABIES MAKE 7 & CAKE

TWINS ARE HERE!!

Daren's sister delivered 2 little boys yesterday. She made it to 31 weeks and each baby was over 3 pounds. They are doing well and so is their mom and dad. We are still waiting for pictures and names. So far, they are Baby A & Baby B. I still can't wrap my head around what their life is going to be like. These new twins make 5 boys under age 4! WHEW!! It is weird to think of them has a family of 7! Congrats Cade & Julene!! We are so excited for you!



Our cute little neighbor Eden turned 1 today. All week long Camille has told me everyday how excited she is that it is Eden's birthday. Since this week was spring break, Eden and her family have been in San Diego. We decided to make Eden a birthday cake since her family was traveling home today. Camille and Abby were great little helpers and we had a lot of fun baking Eden's cake. The girls were so excited to make the cake in the shape of an 'E' for Eden.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EDEN!!

SPRING BREAK

Spring Break + Las Vegas = Warm Weather, right?

Not So Much!!

Lowlights of the trip:
The weather - cold & cloudy

Abby asking me SEVERAL times each day, "Mom, why did you only bring us short-sleeved shirts? We are FREEZING!"

Forgot the camera.

Daren's laptop crashing. Did anyone hear the NOOOOOOOOOOO being yelled in hopes an Easter miracle would happen and the laptop would resurrect itself?

The unexpected purchase of a new laptop.

Coming home to find snow on the grass.

WHERE IS SPRING????

Highlights of the trip:
Daren taking the girls to see the new Hannah Montana movie. Wish I had a picture of that! It was a toss-up with who was more excited to see the movie - Daren or the girls. But it was definitely the girls!

Going out to dinner with my friend from high school, Erin. She is so fun and I'm grateful to FB for reconnecting with her.

Going to lunch with Sandy & Tammy. Those 2 are a riot! I miss them and love when we can hang out together.

Spending time together as a family - PRICELESS, cold weather and all!

NEW POTTY

And doesn't that look comfy? On Thursday night, a group of women in my church came together to make potties. This potty is to be used in an emergency, such as an earthquake when plumbing might not be available. We put the potty together and closed it up. I looked over at my friend and said, " I hope I NEVER have to open this and use this thing!" But, if you ever turn on the news one day to hear of an earthquake in Northern Utah and they say that plumbing is not available, you can rest assured that me and 47 of my neighbors all have potties!

PS-If and when the need arises, Daren, who made fun of my potty will be using a latrine. I figure the boys can dig a hole but me and the girls will be living large with our potty!

JAPAN

Tanner just completed his country report on Japan. Each student in his class were assigned to choose a country to do a report on. Tanner was one of 3 students who wanted to report on Japan. Since only 1 country could be done by a student, the teacher drew names to see who could have Japan. Tanner's stick was chosen! He was really excited to do a report on his favorite country.

I think he loves Japan so much because of the food. As many of you know, we had the great privilege of having a Japanese student stay with us last October. After a fabulous week with Sotaro, Tanner began to love Japan even more. We have still kept in touch with Sotaro and his family. In fact, they are coming to America in August. We are all SO excited for them to come. A BIG THANK YOU to Sotaro's family, especially his dad Toshiya for helping with information for Tanner's project. Tanner wrote a long report about Japan, made a poster and has a class presentation to do. Sotaro and his family sent Tanner a Japanese/English book for his birthday a few months ago. The book came in handy for the report.


Good job Tanner! Your project turned out great!!