My Life in a Curtain Bag

For Christmas this year, my mom gave each of her children a pink binder. Inside the binder she has written her memories from birth to about 12 years old. It is great reading. Along with the stories, she has included the pictures that go with the stories. As she has been preparing this great gift, she has been pouring over the many boxes of pictures she has accumulated over the years. Not only of her, but of our family. As she when through all the boxes, she also sorted the pictures by child. So as a second gift, I recieved "My life in a Curtain bag".

Maybe I will share some of the stories I am reminded of after looking through these pictures.

Dinner and a Show with Austin

Tonight at dinner, we were serenaded by Austin. For some reason, this is a regular occurrence at the dinner table. We have been having discussions about not singing at the dinner table, but it does not seem to make a difference.

Anyway - tonight's song was Axel F. If you don't know what that is, it is only because you don't know the name of the song. I am sure that if you heard someone hum it, you would know in an instance. So, Austin starts singing it for some reason and the girls all join in. When they are done,

Grandma Alger says "Isn't that from 48 Hours?"

I say, "No, I think it is from Beverly Hills Cop, but they are both Eddie Murphy movies."

Austin says, "I don't know what those movies are."

I say, "They are 80's movies."

Without skipping a beat - - Austin says, "Oh, so they are in black and white."

OH, Austin.

Then last night we had issues with the kids all leaving the table and then coming back when we were having dessert. Grandma Alger clarified the rule that if you leave the table you are done eating, therefore not getting dessert. This clarification did not go over well, so the nice grandma that Grandma Alger is said, "OK - you all know the rules now but tonight you can have some dessert."

Tonight at dinner, Austin reminds us all of the rule about not leaving the table. We go through dinner (and a show) and have a lovely time. When Austin is done with his food, he stands up and clears his plate to the counter and begins to go downstairs. The Adults at the table are still talking away with no notice of what Austin is doing. UNTIL... He come running up the stairs and grabs the table and says, "I'm still touching the table."

It took us a minute to figure out what he was doing, but somewhere during his long journey down the stairs, he remembered that if he left the table, he would not get any dessert.

OH, Austin - We love you!!@!

Another Christmas Memory

Most of my childhood memories of Christmas have something to do with West Yellowstone, MT and snowmobiling. Since I was little, my dad worked for the Boy Scouts of America for the Great Salt Lake counsel. Every year during the Christmas break, groups of scouts would go to West Yellowstone to snowmobile. We were lucky enough to join my dad during some of these trips.

I don't remember a lot of details - - just bits and pieces. I remember one trip where my dad went up ahead of us and so we took the bus. I remember seeing cars stuck on the side of the roads along the way.

Another (could be the same - I don't know) we got tee shirts for night shirts. I remember wearing the shirts and jumping on the beds at the motel with the babysitter.

Just before I turned 8, our family moved up to West Yellowstone. Our parents ran the Big Western Pine Motel. The Motel is still there, but it has a different name now. I think I have more summer memories than winter after we moved there. But I am pretty sure we went snowmobiling every Christmas day (or the day after). What a great time we had.

One Christmas Aunts and Uncles and cousins came to spend Christmas with us. I remember that one because my sisters and I all got a camera for Christmas. We must have gone through 10 rolls of 110 film while they were all there. Not many of my pictures are in focus or even centered. But we sure had a good time.

When it was time for everyone to go home, we three sisters got to go home with the Wrights. That was fun. Then Uncle Ed and Aunt Mary brought us home. At least that is how I remember it.

A very tiring week

Last week I was a first grade teacher. I don't know how I got through, but I did. I have been subbing here and there for the last 6 weeks, but really only one day a week. The only reason I even have gone that many times is that I found a friend from high school on Facebook. After chatting with her back and forth, I found that she is a teacher here in Alpine. I felt a little dumb, but I sent her an email telling her I was registered with the district to substitute teach. She thought that was great and would keep me in mind if she ever needed a sub.

About two weeks later, Ms. Jones gave my number to the teacher next door to her. That was the start of my subbing. This teacher, Mrs. Bjornberg, is pregnant and needed a teacher while she had a doctors appointment. She was so organized. (I think I have blogged about this already).

Anyway - Ms. Jones then needed me to come in some days. While I was there, Mrs. Bjornberg asked if I would be interested in subbing for her class the week before Christmas break. She was due to have her baby on the 22nd of December, but it looked like the baby was going to come earlier than that. I told her I would be happy to sub for her. In the back of my mind, there was a little voice YELLING at me - - WHAT ARE YOU DOING??????? A WHOLE WEEK?????

I did it. I survived and the students did too. I actually had a lot of fun. The first day I went in early so I could read through her plans. The first item was the explanation of the PARENT CHRISTMAS GIFT which turned out to be a wood ornament that the students got to paint. WHAT??? I WILL HAVE TO PAINT WITH 1ST GRADERS????

This is not my cup of tea. I have a hard time painting with my own kids. So much so that I don't ever let them do it.

Luckily, Mrs. Bjornberg has an AWESOME assistant that comes in the mornings to help with things the students are doing. She pulled the kids back a few at a time and had all 28 students done in two days. It was great. I never had to get close to the mess, and she helped them keep the paint only on the ornament.

The other thing this class did was share different traditions their families have. Each day two to four parents would come in and share with the students a family tradition. Many were the same, but I learned about some new ones. The one I thought would be fun to do with my family is the white elephant game. Make sure to have a gift for everyone, then while reading 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, pass the presents around in a circle. You will know when it is time to pass the present every time you hear the word THE. Read that poem sometime - - there are a lot of THEs.

I was very thankful to have a good group of kids. For the most part. There were a few I wished would be swept off to their Disneyland or cruise vacations a few days early. But I had a good time. And have already talked to Ms. Jones about being in her class for a week in January when she gets married.

I didn't think I would like subbing, but it is working. I am always nervous during the drive there in the mornings, but I am excited and happy when I am there.

Christmas Memory

I have a vivid memory of a ward Christmas party when we lived in Holiday, UT. I must have been 5 or 6 years old. I can picture the gym full of people and stations where we did different crafts. That was the year we did Shrinky Dinks for Christmas ornaments. There was a coloring page station and the best of all, a Santa Station.

Santa sat on a raised platform. I remember having to climb the stairs up to talk to him. I remember his hands. They were so familiar. Then I looked in his eyes and knew right away who he was. I then whispered in his ear - so no one else could hear me - "I know it's you Dad. I won't tell."

Do we ever slow down?

I thought that finishing school would mean that I have more time to do whatever I want. So far that is not the case. I have just replaced school work with substituting.

I did get some fun books at Barnes & Noble. Digital Fortress by Dan Brown, Deception Point by Dan Brown, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins.

I read Digital Fortress in two days. It was nice to not have to do anything for a couple of days. But then someone complained about not having any clean clothes to wear so I had to get laundry going. Then it seemed as though there was nothing to eat even though there was lots of food, so I had to go to the grocery store. I did start Deception Point. I am about half way through, but then I decided I better get some Christmas presents done. Then a teacher called for me to substitute for her class for Friday and Monday.

After subing for the whole day Friday, I came home made dinner and watched TV. My brain was fried. At 7:30 pm I was ready for bed - so I went in and thought I would read for a little while. I got through 2 pages and couldn't keep my eyes open. I was asleep before 8. I have not done that for a VERY long time. But at 6:15 am when Special K (that is the name grandpa is testing - we are not sure if she will let it stick) came in to poke my face, I was rested and ready to snuggle with her.

Then today I went with grandma to Ross. I don't think when we started at 9 am that we thought we would be gone until 3:30 pm, BUT we did get all of our shopping done. I have all my Christmas shopping done - all that's left is to wrap. And maybe a few more stocking things, but Santa can take care of that for me!

SIDE NOTE:
I did get my grades back on my finals - - B for Geology and A for Education Class. That means I passed both classes with a B and C+ respectively.

I DID IT!!!!!

I just turned in my last project. I have completed my AA in Early Education. I am pretty sure I have passed the two classes I just finished and will be looking forward to getting the small diploma. I have such a feeling of accomplishment. I am so excited.

To celebrate - I am going to Barns & Noble to buy a book or two. I will have time to read whatever I want now!!!!

I MADE IT!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving from Moab

Since I have been taking a geology class for the past nine weeks, we thought it would be fun to experience some of the exciting geology around us. We looked at different places around us. There is just so much to choose from. So, we decided to go to Arches National Park in Moab, UT. G-parents A. had not been to Delicate Arch, and neither had we, so that is where we decided to go.

We got up pretty early Wednesday morning and drove down to Moab. We got there about 11 am. We couldn't have planned the day better even if we tried. We went right into Arches National Park and started at the Visitor's Center. That was a great place to start. This stop told us what to look for, what hikes to take, and how hard they would be. We were hiking with Kelsey, so we didn't want to do anything hard. We decided to go directly to the Delicate Arch hike.

Can you see the parking lot where we started?? This picture could be considered half way. It was not as easy as we thought...

- and it took us twice as long as the "estimated time"...

but we loved it!!!

On the way back, we had the best guide to get us down the mountain. The bottom of Kelsey's shoes said Dora. We were all explorers!!!

That hike could not have been more fun. The weather was perfect, not hot, in some spots - CHILLY - but comfortable for hiking. When we finished the hike, we were ready to get some dinner and rest for the night.

Thursday morning, we went back into Arches and checked out the other, much shorter hikes.

And the weather was even better today. Beautiful sun. Beautiful sky. And the best company.We started back home and stopped at Dead Horse Point which over looks Canyon Lands National Park.

This park is four- wheeler heaven (no paved roads). We were pretty sure our Chrysler Mini-Van would not make it - so we had to get our fill from the look out point. Spectacular view.
This has been a great Thanksgiving. I am thankful for school that gave us the idea for our trip. I am thankful for family who were up for an adventure. I am thankful for Heavenly Father who created everything we saw. (At one point, some of the rock formations reminded us of Aqua Sand. We thought of how much fun Heavenly Father must have had when creating the earth.)

6 days

8 more days

The end is so near I am starting to panic a little.

Will I get the finals in on time?
Will I get good enough grades on them that I will pass the classes?
Will I be a nicer mom?
Will I be able to better help kids with thier homework?
Will I have to clean with my new extra time?
Will I be expected to put the clothes away after I have folded them?
Will I have to fold the clothes the same day they come out of the dryer?
Will I have to clean the bathroom more often?
Will I be expected to actually go for a walk and get some exercise?

I am hoping to just watch TV for a little while.

11 days left!!!

Curious busy children

I would like to think that my children are smart, thinking children. At least they usually are. The end of last week has caused me to reevaluate this thinking. 1st child along with the help of 3rd child decided to carve a small, squishy pumpkin. 3rd child was in charge if getting the knife and came back with box cutter. 1st child proceeded to carve the pumpkin but ended up carving her thumb instead. UUUUGGGGG!!!

Very calmly both children came upstairs to tell me what didn't happen. 3rd child began the story by telling me they were not carving a pumpkin. This statement was made before I knew anything was going on. 3rd child will need to work on information delivery.

While 1st child was rinsing her thumb, she then passed out. Thankfully, 2nd child was helping in the kitchen and broke 1st child's fall with her foot.

After gaining control of myself (because I was really mad!), I looked at the thumb and decided it needed stitches. So to the ER we went, because of course this was Friday night at 6 pm and I had not looked up Urgent Cares covered by our insurance.

I am grateful to be in AF. We went to the ER and before I could get the paperwork filled out, we were all ready being seen by the triage nurse. Then less than 2 minutes of sitting in the waiting room, we were taken back to see the doctor. There was no wait there either. The doctor came right in, started sticking the thumb with numbing juice, cleaned the wound, and then stitched it right up. We were out of there in about an hour. 1st child cut pretty deep, but did not hit anything that would affect the use of her thumb. She ended up with four large stitches on the outside and none on the inside. We are grateful for that.

Then Saturday afternoon, after playing in the new snow. The kids were making paper snowflakes (because the real ones were not enough). While cutting the paper, 2nd child snipped her finger. She did not need stitches, but it sure hurt.

Both 1st child and 3rd child vowed to never do that again and 2nd child said she would be more careful. I really hope they mean it!

12 years already

Allynn turned 12 today. I can't believe how time just flies by. She is growing into quite the young lady. She is super helpful all the time. She doesn't complain about much - unless she is really tired. I couldn't have picked a better first child - oh wait I did pick her. She is the best.

Last week could have been her last week in Primary sharing time, but her teacher asked her to stick around for this week to help with the class presentation. She is such a good kid, that she is going to stay and help. She is really looking forward to the Tuesday activities.

I am excited for her and feeling a little old.

4th grade

Yesterday I took a last minute sub job at the same school as last week. This was a different class. I was so excited that I was called, I forgot to ask about the class. Their school starts at 8 am and I got the call at 745 am. While I can be spontaneous, I like to have things planned so I can mentally prepare. And it was a Thursday - I don't usually have a babysitter for Kelsey on Thursdays.

I missed the call by not getting to the phone fast enough. I listened to the message and called the school right back. It was for half day - just the morning. That worked out perfect for me since The dad was going to a doctor appointment that morning. He would be able to take Ms. K with him - not always the best situation - but it worked.

I got to the class and the teacher was there. She needed to go home to be with her own daughter who has swine flu. YUCK!! Now I was worried about touching anything in the classroom. I don't want to be sick. Everything falls apart with the mom is sick. I don't want to be sick!!!! Anyway - as the teacher is leaving I ask the class what grade this is. They all tell me 4Th grade. I then replied, "Oh good, then you all know the rules and I don't have to worry about anyone breaking them." The teacher then said, "Oh yes - we have already talked about proper sub statute etiquette." She had a plan for the day all ready for me.

When she came back at lunch, I shared with her some of the fun experiences we had encountered while she was gone.
- When I went to collect the PM kids, I came back to three students getting out the frog.
- One student decided that he was going to be English for the day and spoke with an accent. When I asked him about his British accent, he corrected me by explaining he was English because he was from London. I shared with him that London was in Great Brittan, therefore he would also be British. He said, "I guess I should have known that."
- The class had a "specialty" that morning which was P.E. When I went back to collect the class, they were getting lined up and one kid called another a name so that kid scratched in retaliation. The P.E. teacher saw it, not me. Those two lost a recess.

It was a pretty good class and I would do it again. But even for a half day, I was very tired. And I did get sick. I took a long nap, but ended up with a fever. Today I rested and slept a lot of the day. But now I feel better and am ready for Halloween tomorrow.

Today starts Week 5! Only 5 weeks left!

And last payment on the van was made. Now just waiting for the title. Pray for the van. Now that it is paid off - - it cannot die!!!

I survived!!

I managed to make it through the first day of subbing. I am pretty pleased with myself. I did not sleep very well last night, for fear that I would miss the alarm go off at 6:00 AM. When 6 finally came, I was worried about getting the door and too the school on time and with a lunch. I just kept moving. I am sure by this time my adrenaline kicked in.

Kelsey got up with no problem and was excited to go to Julie's. Grandma was kind enough to lend Kelsey her High School Musical lunch bag. Kelsey took carrots, cantaloupe, a banana, and fruit snacks with her. I took a sandwich, some carrots, and celery with peanut butter.

After dropping off Ms. K. I headed over to the school. I got there with plenty of time to read over the lesson plan left by the teacher. This was the perfect class to be my first time! Not because the kids were good, but because the teacher was great!! She left the best lesson plan. She knew exactly how long everything would last. She knew the attention span of her class really well! The day just kept moving from one thing to the next.

Now for the students - there was one that I could have done without, but he was not kick out of the room horrible. In the first part of the day he was wiggly. After lunch, he came to class with something to say about everything. He was quite noisy. I was glad the tasks they were working on did not require complete silence.

I think I did an OK job. There was one moment of chaos (I felt) when it was time to transition into math and I didn't understand the game I was teaching them. It took me and extra minute to get the hang of it and then everything went very smoothly.

By the time the day was over, I feel I had a good stride going and felt I could do it again. Especially for that class. Well, for that teacher.

My adrenaline petered out while I was in the middle of making dinner. Once I sat to eat, I was not sure I would be able to get up from the table. I have managed to make it downstairs and am ready for bed. It was a good day.

Overwhelmed

I am so behind - well I was behind. I felt like I was behind in everything and only more was coming. I was behind on homework. I was behind on laundry. I was behind on cleaning the bathroom. I was behind on blogging. I was behind on my shows.

Well - I am now caught up on the homework. It is Tuesday of Week 4 of 9. I am current in both classes and have read some of what is due for Thursday. I could be better prepared for the education class assignment due Friday, but I am not. It is a PowerPoint about gender bias in schools. Sometimes I feel like the more we talk about differences and prejudices, the more prejudice I get. I will be glad to have classes over. I am moving along!!

Yesterday and today I worked on getting caught up on laundry which provided me with time to get caught up on my shows. Mostly reruns of Law and Order: Criminal Intent. I like Goren. Anyway. Laundry is washed, amazingly folded, and I can't believe - put away. I am starting to feel better.

Tomorrow is also another source of anxiety. I will be substituting for the first time. I am very nervous. I have been told several times it is just like primary - but primary only lasts for 80 minutes at the most. This will be a class of first graders from 8 am to 330 pm. I hope I am ready.

Then tomorrow afternoon, The dad's parents will roll into town for a short visit. It is fun to see and visit with them. They will be coming for dinner. I think I will make potato soup since that is really easy and will be ready fairly quickly. Had I planned better, I would have purchased something to go in the crock pot - but I didn't. It is all good. Family is good at helping!

As for the bathrooms and the vacuuming - I guess that will have to wait another day since I decided to blog instead of clean.

Week 7 is coming to a close. Only 6 weeks left.

Rocking my baked baby

Today Kelsey and I had the job of waiting for the handyman/plumber to come look at the water heater. We knew that he was scheduled to arrive at 1 PM, so to make sure we would not miss him, we came upstairs to the kitchen to wait. The timing was perfect for lunch, fix the water heater, take a nap.

At 2:30 he still had not arrived.

To pass the time, we watched TV, peeled apples on the Apple-core-peeler, made apple crisp, and sat in the rocking chair and sang songs.

At one point she was disgusted by a fly on the wall. Which made me sing a great camp favorite - "Here we sit like flies on the potty seat, flies on the potty-seat, flies on the potty seat..." That is as far as I got since she didn't like that I was singing about a potty seat.

Then we sang "If you're happy and you know it." "Jesus wants me for a Sunbeep" and "We are a happy family". Then she got quite and snuggled into my lap. This made me think of "Rock-a-bye Baby". She moved her self to be cradled in my arms. She laid there looking at me, batting her eyes, with a soft smile on her face. As though all in the world had stopped.

When the song was over she said, "Sing the other baby song."

Mom: What baby song?

Kelsey: The one where you bake the baby.

I guess we need to work on "Pat-a-Cake" a little bit more since it is the cake we bake - - not the baby.

I don't want to do my homework!!!

However - only 8 1/2 weeks left!!

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Eye Doctor

Today, Austin, Sydney and I went to the eye doctor. These two kidlets have had a hard time catching on to reading. They do OK, but are not quite up to snuff. So in an effort to help them, I took them to the eye doctor to make sure they could see the board and the books they are asked to read. Sure enough - they can see. The doctor said they can see, they can focus, the problem may be in their interpretation, and I can't help with that. So - we will continue with the efforts we are already taking. More and more and more reading. The need to practice. Sydney's teacher sent home some short lessons to help her with her decoding. For Austin - we have a great lady in our ward that works in the school district's reading recovery program. She is meeting with him to help him out.

The annoying thing is they are both so stinking smart that they are bored with practicing. I hope they will find a love of reading!

I also had my eyes checked. I already wear glasses and am in need of a new pair. I thought I just couldn't get the pair I have clean any more. Turns out, my eyes are getting worse and the prescription has changed. I was amazed at the difference during the test. The doctor also dilated all of our eyes.

I learned something about getting your eyes dilated. Not only does it make your pupils huge, but it makes your kids REALLY LOUD and OBNOXIOUS. (Maybe I was just annoyed with the stinging eyes - who knows.)

They hear everything

Last week was Stake Conference. I like Stake Conference, I must admit, because it starts at 10 am and we are done in 2 hours. Our regular block time starts at 1:00 pm. This is my nap time.

So anyway, last week was Stake Conference. The music was beautiful, the talks were great. We managed to get through the whole meeting without having to take anyone out or having the three year old stand up and ask (in her outside voice) if it was time to go to nursery. And yes, she has done that before.

NO - this time mom (me) was prepared with church related quiet activities for all four kidlets to do. And the Bishop sat in front of us, so I thought for sure that meant we would have great behavior from our children trying to impress the Bishop. And they were!! Very quiet and listening to the talks. We even know Kelsey was listening while she was coloring. How do we know this? The first speaker was a newly ordained Elder with his call to Madagascar. Yes, he said Madagascar, which caused Kelsey to stand up and say "Madagascar, I saw that movie!"

They are always listening and hear everything.

Conversation with a 3 year old

Mom: "Kelsey - why do you have the loaf of bread?"

Kelsey: "Because I am hungry. I need a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but I can't open the bread. You have to do it."

Mom: "Why didn't you ask me for help?"

Kelsey: "Because I got a chair."

Mom hands Kelsey two pieces of bread and the closed loaf of bread back. Kelsey starts to walk away. She then turns to Mom and says...

Kelsey: "I can do it, I know the ingredients."

Flushing the van and eating the paper

Today Kelsey and I took the van in to have the transmission flushed and serviced. This is not a quick process. Lucky for us there was a McDonald's within walking distance, and it had a play place.

After playing for a while, we got baby ice cream cones. Kelsey thought these were so cool. As we were sitting there enjoying our tasty treat - I bit into the cone. She was shocked and quickly asked, "Mommm, why are you eating the paper?" I told her it was the cone and that you are supposed to eat it. She gave me a funny look and kept licking hers.

Then, when there was only ice cream in the cone, she looked a little disappointed. I told her to bite it and that it was like a cookie. So she did. She thought that was so fun.

I guess I have not done a good job of exposing my children to the finer things in life.

Nothing special

The kidlets have now been in school for a whole week. They are learning new things and making friends. They come home very tired, but it is well worth it. Kelsey is not as excited about school starting because she does not get to leave when everyone else does. She and I are looking for things to do. At the end of September, the library will start their story time program. We are looking forward to that. The weather is still nice so we can be outside too. We just have to be careful because she is on an antibiotic that is photo sensitive. (nothing serious)

As for my school, I can see a small glimmer of light at the end of the very long tunnel. I am currently in the 5th week of my current 9 week block. I am taking Math 157 - Math for Elementary Teacher II. Since when did elementary kids learn statistics. I must admit that my 5th grader - now 6th grader had to help me with some of the concepts involving mean, median, and mode. Once I learned how to figure those, I had to learn about, variance, standard deviation, interquartile range of data and how to put that information into a box-and-whisker plot. That was the first two weeks. Now I am into geometry learning about rotational symmetry, reflectional symmetry, and whether polygons are regular or not. My head is swimming!

The other class I am in is AED 222 - Introduction to the Exceptional Learner. In this class I am learning about different learning abilities and disabilities. The final is comprised of me creating an IEP (individualized education program) for a make-believe student. So far I am learning the components of an IEP and which students work with one.

After these classes, I will have one 9 week block of two classes left! I am very excited!!

I have also been finger-printed and placed in the system to substitute teach in the local school district. I will be able to log into the district system to select the jobs I feel I can do, on the days I am available. I am nervous, but I will try not to have a panic attack when I accept my first job.

The Dad is just working away. He has been recognized three times in two months by customers. This afforded him the privilege of going to the "Raving Fans" lunch. He said the food was good, but would have rather been given the $10. He is learning lots and enjoying it too. He works downtown SLC. After driving his 1989 Camry without air conditioning for a week, he started taking the bus. It was a good choice. He has an hour in the morning and evening when he can check his email and his farm with the laptop. And he doesn't have to worry about the traffic.

We miss Reno, but are happy, healthy, and settling in.

First Day of School

The kidlets are so excited to be back at school. Even though they are nervous about starting a new school, they have been to Open House to see their classrooms and teachers. Now they are gone for the day. I am glad I will not hear "I'm bored" or "I'm hungry" all day long. Well, at least from those three. I cried thinking about not having my buddies with me. I cried thinking about what I was going to do with the fourth all day while they were gone.

Kelsey is not ready for them to go.
Here goes the start of a new school year.

Yellowstone National Park

For the Fourth of July weekend, we decided to go camping near Yellowstone Park just outside of West Yellowstone, where I grew up.

We had a great time looking through the town, showing the kids where I lived and played, went to school and looking for the tricky tree (which is no longer there, bummer).

This October will mark 20 years since my family moved from West Yellowstone, MT to San Jose, CA and the growth of that small town sure shows it. The last time I was there we saw much of the growth, but even in the two years since that visit, a HUGE time share complex has been added. There was also a McDonald's. Growing up we had the D & R drive-in (no longer there) and the Dairy Queen (still there and looks the same!). I even looked for the Bargain Depot which was a trinket store in an old train car. This was the place I bought a pair of black leather pants that I actually wore. (What was I thinking?) We stopped along Canyon Blvd where the first two stop lights were installed the summer before we moved. Along Canyon are the majority of the tourist shops, diners, and other small town attractions. Sydney happened to be the only child without a hat for the weekend, so she and I jumped out really quick to buy one before heading into the park. Later that night when I was looking at the receipt, sure enough we had gone into the Bargain Depot.

We showed them the school I went to which has since been converted into more shops and a new school was built in what we called the New Addition or Madison Addition.

We then took the kids into Yellowstone National Park for some fun sights and not so fun smells. Just as we were approaching Norris Geyser Basin, Jason and I rolled the windows down for the unsuspecting passengers in the back. Austin was sure he would not be getting out of the car since it smelled so bad. I actually thought the smell was pretty tame compared to my childhood memories of the stinky sulfur emanating from the geysers and fumerals.

We hiked in a little ways to Artist Paint Pots to see the beautifully colored pools and the hot mud pots. We were glad to have bug repellent because the eraser size mosquitoes were out in force.
We also made the long hike down to the rim of the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone. A hike I was not looking forward to but was pressured by The Dad to come anyway. Lucky for me, Kelsey stopped holding hands on the narrow steep trail and had to sit out the rest of the hike. At the end of the hike, The Dad turned to Allynn and said, "Now, when you come back here with your husband and he insists that you take this hike, you tell him that there are other look-out points and that you have already done this hike." I tried to warn him.That night the town had a parade and fireworks to celebrate the holiday. Unfortunately we didn't make it out of the park in time for the parade and we didn't make it to the fireworks either. When we came back to our campsite for dinner, we discovered it had rained during the day and all the sleeping bags and blankets got soaked. We spent the evening drying everything so we would be ready for bed. So - we listened to the fireworks and saw a few done by the ranchers next door.

The next day we went back into the park and hurried into Old Faithful. There we hiked around the different paths and watched Old Faithful erupt. Then it was time to get back into the van for the long ride home. We didn't see very many animals.

• Maybe 5 Bison - although the kids did get to experience
• A Bison-jam when the Bison is on the road walking like he is the only thing around and cars have to wait for him to get out of the way.
Poser Bison - who sits right on the side of the road and looks from camera to camera helping each tourist get the best face shot.






• One bald eagle sitting near the nest.


• Several Elk - but not the huge herds I remember as a kid. Mammoth Hot springs had a small heard sitting on a grassy island which caused a traffic jam.


• One white wolf that was scared off by another kid yelling, "Hey I just saw a white wolf!"


• No moose.


• No bears. We were so disappointed. Then four days later Aunt Julie saw several bears. We will just have to go again and look harder.

All in all, we had a great time and will go again.

Hoover Dam

Our next trip took us down to Arizona for Jason's graduation from the University of Phoenix.


We drove down to Las Vegas where we met up with Jason's parents, then headed south. We decided to cram as much into the trip as possible, so we first went to Hoover Dam. We were not able to stop for a tour, but we did get out for a minute (so HOT!) to look around and take some pictures.
They are in the process of building a new bridge to remove trafic from driving over the dam, I believe for security reasons.

Graduation

We stayed in Surprise, Arizona. We arrived early enough in the afternoon and it was 115 degrees that swimming was in order. Once everyone was suited up and covered in sunblock, we headed down to the pool. We had just arrived no 40 minuets earlier and the weather was calm and dry. The air was beautiful until we stepped out to get in the pool. A huge wind storm blew, and blew. I thought for sure there was a fire, but it was just a wall of sand and dirt coming right at us. I have never experienced anything like that before. Kelsey was done quickly, but The Dad and big Kidlets stayed until the pool closed. (I wish I had a picture - Think of Hildago or the Mummy)

(OK - not this bad, but you kind of get the idea!)

The next day was graduation in Glendale, AZ at the University of Phoenix stadium where the Arizona Cardinals play football.

The ceremony was great!! The Keynote speaker and the student speaker were perfect! (short and sweet). Then we watched as Jason walked across the stage to get the rolled up piece of paper that tells you to pay any outstanding balances and order your diploma. It was so fun.

Masters in Information Systems

Then for a treat, Papa took us all to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. This was fun since we had been listening to the book during all of our traveling. The best part for me was coming out of the movie and Sydney started talking about all the stuff that was missing from the movie that was in the book. She does not like to read. I hope this gave her insight to the wonderful world of reading.

The Grand Canyon

The drive home from Arizona was much longer than the drive there. In the spirit of cramming as much as we could into three days, we drove home through the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

I had never been there before. The area before the Grand Canyon was beautiful forest. So green. I had not expected that. The road through the National Park is lined with tall pine trees. Then after parking the car, we walked to the look out points and see the canyon. So beautiful. We wondered if the lines on the rock walls were from water levels dropping. It took us a good two and a half hours to drive the 25 miles through the park.

After two stops, however, Kelsey was not allowed out of the car again because she was too busy, wouldn't hold hands, and was sticking her body through the guard rails. She was not happy. After we fed her at one stop, she fell asleep.
After the park, we followed the road through the reservation to Lake Powell. We didn't get to stop there, but would like to plan a trip to go back. The whole area was to beautiful.

Needless to say, we had a fun trip. We were exhausted when we finally made it home Monday morning at 4 am. The Dad was glad he had the whole day off to recuperate from all the excitement.

This next weekend The Dad and The Boy are headed to Father and Sons camp out. Then the next weekend is camping with the Alger family at Fish Lake. Then school will start. This summer sure has flown by.

I am trying to catch up - IN BETWEEN

Between Memorial Day and the last day of school, the kids and I were able to go to Hollister for a quick weekend to spend time with Mema and Papa. We drove over the hill (Donner Pass) Friday night, and managed to make pretty good time. Saturday we got up, had breakfast, and headed to the beach. The sky was overcast and a little chilly but we went anyway.

We went to Pajaro Dunnes straight west of Watsonville. I was cold, but the kidlets were in the water (at least up to their ankles). KeeKee at one point tried to walk across a small pool of water, tripped and fell in face first. When she stood up, her major concern was that her shirt got wet. She didn't seem to be bothered that she was also covered in sand.

Everyone had a good time. The seagulls were lined up along the shore waiting for the waves to come in. At first I didn't understand what they were doing, but with each wave, small creatures were floating right in as a seagull snack wave. Allynn managed to find a live sand dollar. That was neat. And Austin found two clams. Both children decided they need to bring these creatures home with them. In the car on the way home, Austin was holding one of the clams when it started to open. You should have heard the squeal that came out of his mouth. I almost had to pull over to calm him down. He was sure it was dead when he picked it up. They put the clam back in the water. Then it looked like it was sticking its tonge out. That was a fun adveture.

Then we went to Castroville for fried atichoke hearts and the Giant Artichoke. So yummy!!!

Then back to Hollister where we all went to see UP! (squirrel!). Then Sunday morning it was time to get back to Reno for the last three days of school.

We had a great time and hope to go again one more time this summer!

Updating the Wells

I decided that since I have a final paper due on Sunday that now would be a good time to update our blog.

Since the last blog post; my brother got married; we went to West Yellowstone; Jason finished his master; we went to Arizona for graduation; and have hung out in the house and at the pool.

We are waiting for the pictures from the wedding.

I have pictures of our trip to Yellowstone.

We have graduation pictures with a stop over at the Grand Canyon.

I will have to get those downloaded so I can share them with all.

Too much going on!

1. We made it to Utah!

2. Lots of Rain.

3. We got our rec. center passes!

4. More rain.

5. Groom's (little brother) BBQ -

planned, prepared, executed! LOTS OF FUN!!!

6. Beautiful Day

7. Wedding Day

8. Beautiful Morning

9. Today it is raining again.

10. Bring on Summer (and the rain, I love it.)

Moving is awful!!

This has been the hardest move by far! Our plan was for The Dad to leave Saturday morning of Memorial Day weekend. Leaving then would have given him the weekend to get settled before he started his new job Tuesday morning. I was going to stay here with the kidlets until school ended the first week of June.

Well, as with all good plans, this one fell apart quickly.

It took us longer to load the Uhaul and then not everything fit. Turns out we have much more stuff than we thought. So, Saturday night at 9:30 pm we were still trying to load more into the truck and finally filled every space. Much to Allaha's dismay, she was the small person who had to crawl out of the very full truck after getting the last box in.
Since there were still boxes needing to go to Utah, we took out the back seats of the van and filled it with as much as we could. That meant the kids and I had to drive with The Dad to Utah. I had the absurd idea that I would drive to Utah Sunday and drive back to Nevada on Monday. We didn't get out of Reno until 2:30 pm Sunday because we didn't realize how long it takes to load the small car onto the car-transport, then load the small car with more stuff. 45 minutes out of town, I realized I would not be able to drive back Monday, so I made arrangements with the mom of the kids I watch so I could sleep Monday night and drive back on Tuesday.

We were actually surprised just how well the Uhaul + trailer cruised across the desert. We made it to Elko by 8:30 pm where we stopped for some dinner. After eating, we decided to push on to Wendover. Once over the boarder, we stopped to get some rest. We found an inexpensive motel with free WiFi. I posted my homework that was due that night and went to sleep. That was midnight. I then got up at 4 am to get everyone else up and ready to go so we could be in AF at the storage unit before the arrival of our Unload-the-truck help.

We had the best help!!! Dave, Matt, Arthur, Peter, Julie, Whitney, Mom, Dad!! All were there with big smiles and strong muscles to get that truck unloaded to the storage unit, more unloaded to the house, loaded from the house, unloaded to the storage unit, unloaded at Julie's house, and there may have been one more stop in there.

We finally finished about 2:30 pm when we went to Applebee's for some much needed lunch. After sitting at the table for about 5 minutes, KeeKee and Otie fell asleep. The Dad and I felt much the same way. After lunch we returned the truck and began to get The Dad settled so he could focus on the new job.

Tuesday morning as The Dad left for work, the kids and I said good bye and headed back to Reno. Thanks to Redbox they watched Benji: Off the leash, Happily Never After 2, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and one more,but I can't remember it right now. We made it back very tired, but safe and sound. The kids went back to school Wednesday and I watched the extras like normal, just in a very empty house. Only 5 more days and hopefully we will get back to some semblance of normal.

Totally awake at 1 am

Last night some friends took me to dinner for my birthday, which is in a few days. After getting home around 9:30 pm and getting things finished up for the evening, I finally turned off the TV and the light to go to sleep at 11:30 pm. It is now 1:48 am and I am wide away. So now is as good a time as ever to blog.

I woke up to thoughts of the friends I have made here in Reno. I have done a pretty good job of making really good friends in all the places we have lived over the last 13 years. This stop in life has been no different. These ladies have taken good care of me and our children and have given Jason a hard time when needed. I will miss them. I know I will make new friends! I will also be living closer to family, who will always be my friends. Moving to Reno has been the farthest we have lived from family (except for the year and a half in Singapore, but that was 10 years ago so it does not seem to count anymore). These people have become an extended family.

Some of these people have contributed to our family in ways they will never know. Two brethren of our ward will always be close to my heart because they were so willing to spend time with Jason when he was in need of a friend. Weeks after we had moved to Reno, Jason was still getting used to being the boss at work. The staff that he had inherited were not happy to see him, and caused a great deal of problems for him. One evening the fatigue of it all just came crashing down on him. He knew he needed a blessing, but didn't know who to call other than the bishop. When the bishop's wife answered the phone and said her husband was not available, I thought for sure Jason would stop there. Sister Bishop then gave us the name of the 1st Counselor and Jason called him.

Without missing a beat, he and another brother were at our house, after 9 pm, in less than 30 minutes to give Jason a blessing and then stayed over 2 hours sharing their own experiences with management and disgruntled employees. What a difference those two men made!! I will forever be grateful to them.

Others have been there to watch our children while I go to doctor appointments. Even by watching the extra children. Always so cheerful and encouraging. Reminding me that I have good kids. Or calling to ask if they can come over to chat. Telling me they chose to come to my house because they knew I could cheer them up. Little did they know that calling me cheered me up. Thanks, you know who you are!

Others have taken the day off to drive four hours to the Oakland Temple for a family sealing, just to sit outside with our children. Then endure a day of family and a four hour ride home. Or taken another day off just to drive 3 hours to Discovery Kingdom, so I didn't have to be the only adult with four children. Or left work in the middle of the day to pick up one of my children from school because I couldn't go get to her. Or IMing while working. Or looking at scans of cards. Or getting up early to exercise even though they hate mornings. Or hanging out really late playing Guitar Hero. Or playing cards. Or doing cartwheels. Or having spaghetti sauce, a can of corn, butter, or a Pepsi on Sunday afternoons. Not to mention the quite sacrament meetings I had because they had the baby. Or having a good cry. Thanks, you know who your are!!

Then others who came over to chat only to end up reading People. Or to watch TV because they missed it the night before and I had it recorded only to end up talking all through it. Or to entertain six children while I lay on the couch pregnant and sick to my stomach. Or to sit on the shores of Lake Tahoe, talk about nothing and something and watch the sail boats go by. Or go camping with me so I wouldn't be the only adult with four children. Or to always tell me that I am amazing on all the days I don't feel amazing. Thanks, you know who you are!

And really, for many of these things, a number of names could be placed there, so if you relate to any of this... Thanks, you have no idea the difference you have made in my life!!

Hmmm...

It has come to my attention that if the Wells are leaving Reno, they will no longer be the Reno Wells. I guess we could be just The Wells.

I will have to think about this.

Wells on the Move

It's official, the Wells are moving to American Fork, Utah. Jason has been offered a transfer position with Integra Telecom, which is the company he has been working for since October. He is looking forward to learning more about the company in this new area. He got the position because someone was promoted. We like to hear that they promote from within. He is learning a lot about customer service and the business to business telephone industry.

He starts after Memorial Day, so we will be packing up all our stuff and he will drive out that weekend. The kids and I will stay here and camp out in the house until school is out the first week of June.

We are sad to leave Reno, but are looking forward to new opportunities and adventures.

My Mother - The Graduate

Mom is a graduate secretary in the College of Health and Human Performance at BYU. From what I understand, she reads the graduate students thesis papers, edits, and helps them complete all they need to be ready to graduate and is assistant to Dr. Lindsey. She started taking classes to help her do her job better. After 8 years of taking one class per semester she has graduated with a BA in English!!

As another function as graduate secretary, she plans the graduation. She sets the program and plans the meet-n-greet (party) for after the ceremony. She decided to "walk" with the students she has been working with and the faculty she has work with for years. I think it is great that she participated in the ceremony and party she planned.

I didn't get to go to the graduation, but thanks to technology I was able to share in some of the excitement. GREAT JOB, MOM!!! You are such a great example to me and my family!!

For video go here. For fun info about mom go here.

Week 5 of 9

Last week was spring break. It snowed and was very, very cold. Then Sunday was beautiful and this week has been wonderful. Spring break this years was pretty boring. This needed break from school seemed to come very late this year. However, the nice thing about spring break being now is that we only have 5 weeks and two days left of this school year. WOO HOO!!

As for me, I am in week 5 of 9 for my current block of classes, Math & Political Science. I will be glad to finish, although I am enjoying these classes (very interesting), but that will be two more classes completed leaving 5 until I am finished. YEAH ME!

And tomorrow, Grandma graduates from BYU!! We are sad to not be there, so have a great day!

Civil Liberty of Freedom of Religion

Included in the First Amendment is the freedom of religion. There are two parts to this freedom: the establishment clause and the free exercise clause.

What does freedom of religion mean to you?

Another memory

Reading Megan's blog again has reminded me of when I was little.

I am not sure if I remember the story from experience or if I remember it from being told the story a few times from my parents. Anyway, as the story goes, one year our parents decided to give each of us our own Sing With Me. This orange hymn book was a spiral bound book of the primary songs. The first time we were given the books for family home evening, I began to tear the pages out of the book. Shocked parents tried to stop me, but I was determined to make sure everyone had a copy of the music. That way everyone could sing. I didn't know that every page was a different song.

Now it is my turn as a parent to sing those songs with my children. We have the fights over who is going to lead the music, who is going to pick the activity, and which direction the hearts on the FHE chart should move, but we continue. And the child in charge of music stands on the fireplace brick, with a chopstick in their hand, to lead us in the songs. Great memories. Thanks for reminding me Megan!

April Fool's Day

My oldest daughter is so excited about today. She has been grinning and giggling all morning. After getting myself ready for the day, I headed into the kitchen to get breakfast going. I found water all over the floor and NOBODY knew anything about it...except for Kelsey. The big kids forget that she sees everything and tells mom. As I continued to ask who made the mess, Kelsey says, "Sydney, you left water all over the place." Sydney comes into the kitchen like the cat who had swallowed the canary. All smiles, telling me to turn on get some water from the faucet. Then Allynn comes running around the corner to see. They forget that the mom is still a little smarter than they are. Allynn had taped the kitchen sink sprayer so the water would squirt all over. It would have worked if they would have cleaned up the test shot. I am glad they will be at school for most of the day, so I don't have to watch around every corner all day.

Another child hair cut.

One of my first hair cuts I remember was done by my mother at Grandma Busath's house. I do not really remember the hair cutting part, but I do remember thinking I looked like the Incredible Hulk and was very upset.

Mom fill in the blanks. I would like to hear the story again myself.

Child Haircuts

My cousin recently posted on her blog about how her daughter cut her hair (either by herself or with the help of the older, 4 year old, sister). This story reminded me of a haircut I once received.

I am not exactly sure how old I was. I think it was second grade, so I was certainly old enough to know better. Our family was living in Salt Lake City or maybe we were already in West Yellowstone. My parents went out and Uncle Ed was left in charge of us (three little girls). `

The great idea was had that we wanted "Laura Ingles" bangs. Little did my young mind realize, but Laura Ingles had GROWN her hair out so as to not have bangs. Since I didn't know this, I took the scissors and cut my bangs as close to my head as I dared. I remember being under a sheet/kitchen chair fort. After realizing what had happened. We began to wonder how we were not going to get in trouble, so I added a head band and Uncle Ed never noticed. At least I don't remember him noticing.

I do remember that school pictures were shortly after this incident. If I was kind to the readers, I would fish that picture out of a box somewhere, but I am not sure if I am that nice (or that organized).

I am sure I have forgotten some details and maybe mom and Julie can fill in the blanks. I just thought I would share a quick memory.

End of one class...

Today is the last day of Biology. I have passed the class and am ready to move on. So - tomorrow starts MTH/156 - Math for Elementary Teachers I and POS/110 - American National Government.

I am interested to see how the math class works in an online classroom. I will be using the equation writer part of MS Word. I kind of think anything will be easier than biology. The political science class will be a whole lot more writing.

In preparing for this next class line-up with my counselor - she was able to switch around the start date of some of my class with each other, so I will be done in December 2009 instead of Feb. 2010. I am very excited. I have 7 classes left which are fit into 4 nine week blocks. Merry Christmas to me!

Time to post

I have been sick for three weeks now. Congested, tired, and more. Today is a better day. I have also been doing a lot of biology homework. This week is the final week, so I have a short capstone essay due Wednesday and the final paper (1075 words) due Sunday.

Last week we attended the funeral for Jason's grandfather. We were sad to see him go, but he was 90 and not doing too well lately. Grandma will surely miss him too. It was a very nice service. We started the morning at the graveside service. So many friends came and all the family was there. After, was a memorial service at their church. It was a happy service, but something was missing. I have not been to too many non-Mormon funerals. Each time there just seems to be something missing. Mostly the talk about the great plan of happiness which tells us why we are here and where we are going next.

Grandpa Shirley is probably very busy getting reacquainted with his first wife and son who had gone before and getting to know Laurel's (Grandma's) first husband. Then I am sure he will get right to work. He strikes me as the guy that will be chomping at the bit for his temple work to be done. Jason's dad, I'm sure, is already getting the paperwork ready to get that done.

I am thankful for the knowledge I have that we will all be together again as a family.

You know you are out of shape when your whole body hurts the day after cleaning your room.
Or does that mean your room was a super mess?

3 Suckers!!

13 years ago

Anniversary Weekend

I am behind on the happenings of the Reno Wells. The biology class is not coming to me easily. I actually have to read all the text. Imagine that.

Now for fun things. Feb. 16th was our 13th anniversary. Since that day was also President's day, we decided to extend the weekend even more. We took a trip to Utah to hang out with my family and to go to the Draper Temple open house. Jason had already asked for Friday off from work and then three weeks before we were to leave, he got BINGO during a contest at work and won a half day off. So we were able to leave Thursday afternoon which added to our trip. It was a nice break and we missed most of the weather when driving there and back.

One fun thing our kids enjoyed was the RedBox stops. For those of you that don't know what RedBox is, they are vending machines of DVDs. $1.00 gets you a movie at one machine and then is able to be returned at any other machine. So we got a movie in Reno before we left, then returned that one and got a new one in Winnemucca, then Elko, then Wendover. and the same for the return ride. Watching the movies certainly helps pass the time during that drive across the desert.

Our kids enjoyed going to the open house - at least the big kids did. Kelsey's favorite part was riding the shuttle bus and getting a cookie. Austin said there was too much walking. Sydney said it was beautiful. And Allynn wants to go again and walk slower. We were able to look in the beautiful mirrors in the sealing room which was a fun experience with our little family. Then we went to Olive Garden for lunch with my mom and dad. That was on Friday - the rest of the weekend we didn't really do anything. It was nice to hang out and not have anywhere to be. Sunday the Johnson's, Peter, & Whitney came over for dinner and I ate WAY TOO MUCH! We had country style pork ribs, dad's potatoes, cheese bread (yummy!), and corn. Then played games.

A great time was had by all! Our next break is in April. We are not sure what we will do then.

My Bad...

In the last two days I have told many people what happened. I guess I forgot.

Here it is -

During P.E. her class was doing relay races outside. They were excited to be outside because it has been raining all day. Anyway - one of the races was running backwards. She was kicking it in to high gear to beat the kid next to her and she says "my feet went out from underneath me and I was either going to land on my head or my arm." He landed full weight on her straight arm.

Sorry for leaving that out!!

Our Broken Allynn

The day started out well. We all got up on time and were ready for school early. We were able to read all of Enos and say our family prayer. I had almost all of the laundry washed and folded. Kelsey and Renni had been fed and were in their quiet time spots - Renni asleep in her bed, Kelsey watching a cartoon with The Dad. I had one assignment for school done and was half way through the research part of the second assignment when I got a call from the school.

The voice on the other end of the phone told me his name and I knew it was the school nurse. He told me Allynn had an incident at school and that I needed to come get her. I must admit - the first thing that came to my mind was that she got in a fight and was in big trouble. I think because the nurse used the word incident. Anyway - I got to school and her teacher met me at the door with a very panicked look on her face. I finally made it to the nurses office where another teacher was there along with the nurse and the principal huddled around Allynn who was hunched over on herself holding her arm. This was about 2:30 pm.

As I was driving her home, we assessed the pain and decided we needed to go straight to Urgent Care. I stopped by home first to give her some Advil since I didn't know how long it would take for her to be seen by a doctor. My thought process for going to Urgent Care was they would cost less and be quicker than going to the ER. They were just that. We walked in and waited about 15 minutes before we saw the doctor. He sent us right over to get X-rays, but he could tell by looking at it that the arm was broken and that we would probably need an Orthopedic Surgeon to reduce it (set the bone). After getting the X-ray, even I could see the break. Sure enough, we were sent back to Urgent Care where that doctor was able to get a hold of the on call Orthopedic Surgeon. Then we were sent to check out and moved along to the ER where it felt like we started over.

Once we were past the reception desk in the ER, the nurse who came to get us was ready and so was the doctor so they moved pretty quickly. The Orthopedic Surgeon chatted with us for a few minutes while Allynn was hooked up to an IV so they could give her a sedative that put her out while they worked on her arm. I was very interested to watch the process, but I was asked to leave and I have decided I am OK with that.

We finally made it home 6 1/2 hours later at 9:00 pm, and she is much happier than when it all started. She was very brave! She will have a long cast which goes up her arm past her elbow for three weeks, and then she will need a short cast for three more weeks.

I have learned that broken bones need to go to the ER to be taken care of even though the Urgent Care people were very nice and helpful.